Women are minority in governments and come to power with greater demand

This conclusion is part of a study by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation entitled “Who Governs Portugal? Ministerial profiles in comparative perspective”, coordinated by researchers António Costa Pinto and Marcelo Camerlo, who analyzed the profiles of all Portuguese ministers from 1976 to 2025 and compares the Portuguese case with other democracies in southern Europe, such as Spain, Italy and Greece.

In a text entitled “Gender and access to executive power”, authored by Edna Costa, it is concluded that “between 1976 and 2025, of the 398 holders of ministerial portfolios that integrated the inaugural governments, only 60 were women (15%), contrasting with 338 men (85%)”.

“ This disparity, both in percentage terms and in absolute numbers, shows the persistent under-representation of women in access to executive positions, even in a context of democratization and increasing the value of gender equality”, reads the text.

The analysis reveals that until 1985 there was “an almost total absence of women”, the first appointment with Leonor Beauty in the X Government led by Cavaco Silva, for the Health folder.

From this point on, “slow growth” is observed. If in 1995, António Guterres registered “greater openness to the appointment of ministers”, and the governments of José Socrates “deepened this trend, first exceeding 30% in 2009”, in 2011, Passos Coelho appointed only two ministers (18%).

Although António Costa, in 2015, raised this number to four, the approach to a joint executive would take place only in 2019, when, under Costa's leadership, the government becomes the first to exceed the 40% threshold and in 2022, it even reaches 53% of female representation.

“ More recently, the governments of Luís Montenegro (2024-2025) maintain high values (41% and 37.5%), suggesting a possible consolidation, although it is premature to affirm the durability of this trend,” she adds.

Another conclusion of this study is that ministers have higher academic qualifications than ministers (50% with doctorate versus 25% of men) and “depend disproportionately on technical credentials for access to power”, and they are required greater technical expertise to assume a governmental position.

With regard to the distribution of portfolios, in view of the period from 1976 to 2025, “women holding ministerial portfolios in Portugal are more concentrated in peripheral portfolios and in the social area”.

“The female presence in the strategic core of the government — where decision-making power and the most significant budgetary resources are concentrated — is residual, confirming the persistence of barriers to access to the government center. This underrepresentation in the central portfolios substantially limits the capacity of women ministers to influence the executive’s structuring decisions”, reads in the text.

The study also highlights another determining factor: among women, partisan affiliation serves as a necessary condition to access the hard core of the government, while in peripheral portfolios more than half of ministers (53.7%) are independent, recruited by their technical capital.