The role of gender on international security has received a great deal of attention. In crucial political arenas, women are conspicuously absent, and this lack of representation permits male interests to take precedence. In 2017, the global average percentage of women in parliament was only 23.3%, a gain of 6.5% over the previous decade. Does the occurrence of violent conflict change when women become leaders or when their participation in parliament increases? There is a varied range of explanations that supports or contradicts the assertion that women in leadership positions lead to less conflict and war. This research aims to evaluate the conduct of female leaders during crises. It is impossible to prove that female pacifism creates a less conflicted system. However, it does contribute to the notion that a women-only leadership would be just as conflicted as the existing patriarchal institutions, albeit in a different manner.
The study conducted a desk study research method. It aimed to answer specific questions related to primary research. Secondary research was conducted by looking at already existing secondary data. The obtained data were analyzed through thematic analysis. The findings suggest that women may have distinct gender values than males due to their different social positions. Women leaders must overcome sex role stereotypes. Women in influential positions may use their experiences as voters and members of society in their policy choices as leaders. The widest gender disparity occurs between men and women in the intellectual core of politics (foreign affairs). This has driven women to favor other paths over foreign policy and war, so we may anticipate female leaders in powerful positions to behave differently than males. / Master of Arts / Gender and its influence on international relations has gained interest worldwide. Notably, women today are few in the political scene. Consequently, male interests are dominant. For example, the number of female parliamentarians has increased slightly over the last few decades. Nevertheless, whether women leaders result in less conflict and war remains a question. This thesis evaluates the conduct of women leaders during conflict and war. According to the findings, the answer as to whether women leaders cause less conflict and war is inconclusive. In fact, just like male leaders, women leaders are just as likely to result in more conflict and war. However, women leaders are faced with specific sex-role stereotypes. Moreover, women leaders are more likely to address social issues based on their experiences. These factors may influence female leaders to behave differently than men.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/112306 |
| Date | 27 October 2022 |
| Creators | Woods, Arthur Leo IV |
| Contributors | Political Science, Brantly, Aaron F., Dupuy, Arnold C., Stivachtis, Ioannis |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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