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The Costa Rica experiment finds an absence of traditional gendered leadership templates. Women are viewed as leaders for cabinet posts and as legislators, capable in masculine policy areas, and able to win votes. Participants evaluate candidates significantly more favorably when the party name is not present on the speech, and when the candidate is from their preferred party. In Costa Rica, women appear to “look like the norm” for candidates for both male and female participants and across family situations and social classes. However, party has a larger effect than candidate gender on evaluations. The Costa Rican findings fit expectations in the literature as Costa Rica has broad incorporation of women in government, a historic government focus on social welfare programs, has no military, and uses party-focused, closed-list PR elections.

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