Madeleine Albright helped change the face of diplomacy

Shattering the glass ceiling

The secretary of state — or foreign affairs minister in other countries — oversees foreign policy and diplomatic relations. This is typically a high-profile executive branch position. In the United States, for example, the secretary of state helps shape U.S. overseas policy and is the first Cabinet member in the presidential line of succession.

WhenAlbright became secretary of state in January 1997, this position was male-dominated, not only in the United States but around the world. Only 39 other women (from 33 countries) had served as foreign affairs ministers. And women had rarely held the position in the most powerful nations. Among Group of Seven countries, for example, only Italy and Canada had previously appointed women to lead the foreign affairs ministry.

Since Albright’s nomination, many more women have come to power — 206 women, in fact, have followed in her footsteps over the past 25 years. An additional 85 countries have had at least one woman in the post. With the recent appointment of Annalena Baerbock in Germany, each of the G-7 states has had at least one female foreign affairs minister.

But women remain underrepresented

Despite this progress, women are still underrepresented in the foreign affairs ministry. Worldwide, 80 percent of current foreign affairs ministers are men, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. And almost 80 countries, including China and Russia, have never had a woman in the post.

More generally, women make up just 22 percent of cabinet ministers worldwide. And they are especially unlikely to hold the most prestigious and powerful inner-cabinet portfolios.

Like with the foreign affairs ministry, women often remain excluded from the finance portfolio (treasury secretary). Our study of the defense portfolio also found that between 1991 and 2012, only 55 women were appointed as defense ministers in 41 different countries. Despite major gains for women in President Biden’s 2021 Cabinet, in the United States no woman has ever been secretary of defense.

When do women get high-profile cabinet appointments?

Given the male-dominated status quo, how do women like Albright access positions like secretary of state? Our research shows that women’s presence in elected political positions matters. Two things happen when there are more women in the legislature: There’s a larger pool of women who are considered qualified for cabinet positions, and people expect that women should be included in executive branch posts.

But it’s not just women’s representation in politics that matters. Indeed, when Albright came to power, women held only 11 percent of seats in Congress. Our NSF-funded research shows that a country’s position in the international community also plays a role. Women are most likely to gain access to the defense portfolio, for example, when the position is focused on promulgating peace and restoring human rights.

Albright’s appointment reflects these broader trends, as she came to power in the aftermath of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet…