Women's status in Higher leadership positions in Ethiopia since 1991

Gender equality in decision-making positions is crucial to achieving the goals of good governance, peace, democracy, and inclusive/sustainable development. The major aim of this research article is to investigate the representation trend of women in higher decision-making positions over the last thirty years, since 1991. The federal three organs of government (law formulating, law enforcing, and law interpreting bodies) were the focus of this research. This research is a mixed type of research that inculcates both qualitative and quantitative data types. Secondary data sources from relevant government institutions were mostly used. The data analyzed through content analysis of documents and presented via descriptive data presenting techniques. The result of this research disclosed the underrepresentation of women’s in Ethiopian federal higher leadership positions across the last three decades, despite today’s some advancement of women’s involvement in decision-making positions. Furthermore, Women never held certain higher-level leadership positions, such as the Prime Minister position, which seems to be forbidden for women. Women made up 23%, 19%, 19%, and 24% of the legislature, the House of Federation (HoF), ministerial posts, and judicial bodies, respectively. Women are visibly underrepresented in the Ethiopian executive body as compared to others. Thus, substantial policy and practical initiatives are needed to remove institutional, social, and economic barriers to boost women's advanced visibility in senior leadership roles.

Methods
This study employed a mixed-methods research approach by incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data types. The quantitative data provides a numerical and figurative description of women's representation status in higher leadership positions over the past 30 years, while the qualitative data explores the implications of the raw data by referring to related empirical studies. This study primarily depends on secondary data sources. Records from higher government institutions such as the House of People’s Representatives, the House of Federation, and other pertinent institutions and documents provided the intended secondary data for the study. After obtaining data, a desk review of the most important findings and a content analysis of the documents were conducted. The data was presented in descriptive statistics such as percentages, tables, and figures.