Gender mainstreaming in the pandemic recovery: Women’s substantive representation across the policy cycle

The Covid-19 pandemic represents a crucial case for how crises responses mitigate or exacerbate their gendered impact. The project investigates the political determinants of gender mainstreaming in the national implementation of the EU recovery plan. Quantitative text analysis indicates the mandate of gender mainstreaming was heterogeneously successful in making gender equality salient. The projects addresses the drivers of mainstreaming through elite interviews for the critical cases of Italy and Spain, Southern countries lagging behind in economic gender gaps differing for progress in women’s political empowerment. The analysis contributes to understanding how substantial representation supports gender-sensitive crisis responses.