Experiencing the executive: Gender, ministers and institutions in Scotland

Abstract

Women are historically under-represented amongst government ministers. While most research on gender and executives concentrates on who gets to (and stays at) the top, we examine the executive as a gendered institution, investigating how ministers experience the ‘heart of the machine’ once they get there. Using documentary sources and interviews with former ministers, we explore these dynamics through a case study of the early years of the (then) Scottish Executive (1999-2007), examining how men and women ministers navigated the complex rules and relationships of government in a new institution, and moving the research agenda on gender and the executive in the UK beyond Westminster and Whitehall. While we find evidence of both nominal and substantive change – in terms of ministerial recruitment, portfolio allocation and different ways of working – our findings highlight the continuing drag of the Westminster model on the ‘making’ of the Scottish Executive, limiting possibilities for innovation.