Do we judge politicians differently based on party and gender?

What are you currently working on?

I am very excited to be analysing – along with colleague Ragnhild Muriaas - some data from the Norwegian Citizen Panel concerning how people evaluate the consequences of a political scandal. Specifically, are people less forgiving towards scandalized women politicians – or men? Does the political affiliation of a politician matter for how harshly citizens judge them when they report fraudulent travel expenses or give friends a benefit in appointments to various offices? I have also spent a lot of time recently on trying to understand what makes some parliaments have plenty of experienced politicians – while other parliaments are composed of newcomers to politics only.

What did you find out?

Well, it is still early days, but it looks like Norwegians judge women on the left more harshly than women on the right. In other words, if you are a female politician in the Labour Party and finger with your travel expenses, people believe that you are less suitable for a position in the cabinet afterwards, than if you are a woman doing the same thing from the Conservative Party.

What is it with this topic that you specifically like to work with?

All my work is done within the realm of the so-called SUCCESS-project, a large ERC-funded project which studies gender gaps in political endurance. Being born and bred within what is perceived as a highly gender equal context in comparative terms, it is very fascinating to explore how gender equality in politics has several layers. For example, while our parliament is nearly completely gender balanced, there are still differences between men and women in who makes it to the senior ranks of parliamentarians, i.e. those that stay the longest. The gender gaps among seniors are decreasing, but still there, even in Norway. Understanding gender equality in different ways is thus paramount.

What equality-related challenges are present in established democracies?

In representative terms, there is still a way to go in most countries when it comes to the most basic gender equality goal, namely that of securing a gender balanced parliament – and cabinet. As a way of example, only 32 percent of representatives in lower chambers in Europe are women in 2025. Another challenge was alluded to above, linking to the political careers of women and men. Men still persist longer than women in the parliamentary arena, meaning that men still have an easier access to authority and positions in contemporary parliaments. This can call into question both the representativeness and legitimacy of our parliaments.

Will you be doing anything fun on the International Women’s Day?

I am going to Fredrikstad to visit a dear friend this weekend, so hopefully we can attend some 8^th of March event there – not the least to introduce my youngest son, now 10 months old (important to start early) to the importance of women’s rights!