Reaching substantive female representation among decision-makers: A qualitative research study of gender-related experiences from the health sector in Mozambique

Background
Achieving significant female representation in government at decision-making levels has been identified as a key step towards achieving gender equality. In 2015, women held 39.6% of parliamentary seats in Mozambique, which is above the benchmark of 30% that has been suggested as the turning point for minority representation to move from token status to having a sizable impact. We undertook a study to identify gender-related barriers and facilitators to improving women-centered policies in the health sector.
Methods
We conducted in-depth interviews with 39 individuals (32 women, 7 men) involved at a senior level in policy making or implementation of woman-centric policies within the Mozambique Ministry of Health and affiliated institutions. We used a semi-structured interview guide that included questions on difficulties and facilitating factors encountered in the policy making process, and the perceived role of gender in this process. We used both deductive and inductive analysis approaches, starting with a set of pre-identified themes and expanding this to include themes that emerged during coding.
Results
Our data suggest two main findings: (1) the women who participated in our study generally do not report feeling discrimination in the workplace and (2) senior health sector perceive women to be more personally attuned to women-centric issues than men. Within our specific sample, we found little to suggest that gender discrimination is a problem professionally for female decision-makers in Mozambique. However, these findings should be contextualized using an intersectional lens with recognition of the important difference between descriptive versus substantive female representation, and whether “percentage of women” is truly the best metric for gaging commitment to gender equality at the policy making level.
Conclusions
Mozambique’s longstanding significant representation of women may have led to creating an environment that leads to positive experiences for female decision-makers in the government. However, while the current level of female representation should be celebrated, it does not negate the need for continued focus on female representation in decision-making positions.

背景
在政府决策层级实现较高比例的女性代表，被视为推进性别平等的关键举措。2015年，莫桑比克女性占据议会39.6%的席位，这一比例高于30%的基准线——该基准线被认为是少数群体代表从象征性地位转向产生实质性影响的转折点。本研究旨在识别莫桑比克卫生领域完善以女性为中心的政策过程中，与性别相关的阻碍因素与促进因素。
方法
我们对莫桑比克卫生部及其附属机构中，参与以女性为中心的政策制定或执行的39名高层人员（32名女性、7名男性）开展了深度访谈。我们采用半结构化访谈提纲，内容涵盖政策制定过程中遇到的困难与促进因素，以及性别在该过程中的感知作用。本研究同时采用演绎与归纳两种分析方法：先基于预设的主题框架展开分析，再拓展至编码过程中浮现的新主题。
结果
本研究数据呈现两项核心发现：其一，参与本次研究的女性群体普遍未感受到职场歧视；其二，卫生领域高层人员认为，相较于男性，女性对以女性为中心的议题更具共情力。在本次特定样本中，几乎没有证据表明性别歧视是莫桑比克女性决策者在职业领域面临的问题。不过，对上述结果的解读需结合交叉视角，需明确区分描述性女性代表与实质性女性代表的重要差异，同时需反思“女性占比”是否为衡量政策制定层面性别平等承诺的最佳指标。
结论
莫桑比克长期以来较高的女性代表比例，或许已为政府中的女性决策者营造了积极的职业环境。尽管当前的女性代表水平值得肯定，但这并不意味着无需持续关注决策岗位中的女性代表问题。