Investigating the Link between Transport Sustainability and the Representation of Women in Swedish Local Committees

Abstract

There are large discrepancies in the transport sector along gender lines in travel patterns and means of transportation used, but also in attitudes and norms among citizens, planners and decision-makers, with women generally more positive towards measures involving the lowering CO2 emissions. At the same time, the number of women involved in transport-related decisions is low. This is a problem for gender equality but possibly also for sustainability. A careful review of previous studies indicated a lack of analyses on the subject based on quantitative data at the local level. We investigated a possible link between women’s presence in local policymaking and more sustainable transport policies, and whether it is possible to capture such an effect. The main contribution of this paper is a methodological approach in which, besides generating unique data on representation in municipalities (confirming men’s dominance, specifically in transport policymaking), possibilities for quantitatively measuring gender and the level of sustainability in transport planning are discussed and tested. Challenges in collecting relevant data and analyzing possible covariances in the data set are discussed and presented as well as suggestions for further investigations into the possible link between gender and sustainable transport performance.

Gender Representation and Leadership in Local Transport Decision-Making Positions

“…As concluded in previous work [20], the transport area is, in the context of Sweden, comparatively unequal regarding the historic domination of men in decision-making and leadership. At the same time, it is important to reach set climate objectives and a sustainable and decarbonized transport system, and since it has been demonstrated widely that women show behaviours, preferences, and attitudes more in line with a climate agenda [21][22][23][24][25], female leadership in the transport sector is desirable.…”

“…Female political status is measured in various ways, as the percentage of women serving in legislative bodies or committees affiliated with those bodies, or as the percentage of women in administrative policymaking positions [20,31]. The concept of representation includes both the number and the political status/power of the representation [32].…”

Masculinities and femininities in sustainable transport policy: a focus on Swedish municipalities

“…The ideal types function as the analytical framework for our analysis of four cases selected from a previous quantitative study with data that ranked 179 Swedish municipalities on two dimensions: transport sustainability and representation (Winslott Hiselius et al, 2019). The sustainability dimension reflects their level in relation to a sustainability index.…”

“…In line with this, we proposed that more equal representation in political decision-making would lead to higher levels of sustainability in transport planning. We explored this connection in a recent quantitative study (Winslott Hiselius, Kronsell, Dymén, & Smidfelt Rosqvist, 2019), however, were unable to verify that higher representation (or more women's bodies) in decision-making also leads to more sustainable results. We propose it is because relations are more complex and that prevailing masculine and feminine norms impact planning and decision-making.…”

“…First, to study gender norms we propose a framework based on ideal types, used to analyze the text material with the help of four hypotheses in four municipal cases. The cases were selected from our previous quantitative study of 290 municipalities in Sweden (see Winslott Hiselius et al, 2019). We investigate if and how feminine and masculine norms influence how Swedish municipalities engage in sustainable transport planning and whether we can find evidence of a link between male and female bodies and masculinities and femininities.…”