A Report of the Center for Women in Government & Civil Society
University at Albany, State University of New York
Winter 2006
Highlights
· Across the country, women’s share of the highest elected and appointed offices in state government increased only slightly between 1998 and 2005.
· In 40% of the states, women’s overall share of top executive, legislative, and judicial posts, compared to their share of the population, actually fell, remained level, or increased by less than .01 percentage points in the eight-year period.
· Women achieved some progress within each branch of government. The largest gain for women, 5.7 percentage points, occurred among highest state court justices. By contrast, the percentage of women state legislators increased by less than one percentage point over the eight-year period.
· Between 1998 and 2005, the pattern of only one woman justice serving on the highest court of many states changed significantly. Women judges have now won election or appointment to two or more judicial leadership posts in over half the states.
· The gender gap in state policy leadership is greatest among state legislators. It is three times larger than the gender gap among top advisors in governors’ offices, where the difference between the percentage of positions held by women and men is the smallest.
· In the United States today, eight women are governors; 15 women are lieutenant governors; and 15 women are chief justices of the state’s highest court.
