Parity in Management Positions in Local Public Administration in Portugal

This study aims to analyse parity in management positions in Public Administration. Two districts. The analysis focuses on the study of various indicators of candidates and elected officials for the Presidency of Municipal Councils and candidates and elected officials for the Assembly of the Republic. The data was collected from the Portal do Eleitor website (https://www.portaldoeleitor.pt/Default.aspx) and from the website of each local council. For the Presidency of City Councils, data from the last four electoral periods were considered: 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021. For the number of candidates and elected representatives to the Assembly of the Republic, the last five periods were considered: 2009, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2022.The analysis concludes that there has been a slight improvement in terms of gender parity in public administration management positions. The data considered for the case study confirms the increase of women in politics. In management bodies, the number of women has increased over the years, mainly due to the implementation of the Parity Law. The study focused only on two districts in Portugal and analysed local authorities, not other public sector bodies. The study comes coupled with the implementation of the Parity Law, which is the main driver behind this positive increase in female candidates and elected representatives in Portugal. Contributing to raising awareness of gender equality, particularly in public administration.