A Women-Friendly Parliament? Gendered Gaps in Political Career Seniority in the European Parliament

The European Parliament (EP) is widely recognized for its commitment to gender equality, including the gendered representation of its members (MEPs). As the EP continues its efforts toward achieving greater gender parity, it is crucial to examine how political careers within this supranational institution may differ by gender. This paper investigates whether career seniority for women in the EP diverges from that of their male counterparts and, if it diverges, explains why. If the EP is indeed the gender-friendly institution it aspires to be, we would expect women to display a career seniority that is similar – or even greater – than men. By analysing the seniority of all 4.170 MEPs having served in the EP since 1979, our Cox regression models (survival analysis) reveal a significant trend: women exhibit a higher "survival rate" in the EP compared to men. This gender gap in career seniority is explained by what we refer as the “openness” of the multilevel structure of opportunities to women (both at the domestic and European levels). Overall, we attribute this difference to varying career opportunities for men and women (both within the EP and beyond the EP), as well as the comparatively greater supportiveness of the EP for women relative to national political arenas.