Women’s Participation in Public Administration in Vietnam: A Case Study of Policy and Practice from 1986 to the Present

ABSTRACT

This paper highlights major trends in Vietnamese women’s representation in public administration (PA) since 1986 and critically explains them within the framework of the gender mainstreaming policy. A systematic review of gendered documents indicates that women’s participation in PA has improved over time. However, their representation in top leadership remains persistently low and fluctuates at all levels despite reinforced national machinery for gender equality (GE) and a series of enacted legislation and policies. Removing structural gender biases, relocating GE national machinery, and solving conflicts between gendered and PA legislation are key recommendations for bridging gaps between gendered quotas and reality.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender equality
• policy
• practice
• public administration
• women

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. “In 1978, Vietnam invaded Cambodia to topple the bloody, genocidal regime of the Khmer Rouge, which had been attacking Vietnam’s southern provinces. But then, instead of withdrawing its military from Cambodia and Laos, Vietnam consolidated its military hold over both countries. Most foreign aid from the United Nations and from developed countries was frozen or withdrawn at that time, and the flow of assistance from these sources did not resume until a decade later” (Banister, 1993, pp. 4, 4).

2. https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/human-rights/index.html

3. https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

4. https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/gender-equality/

5. https://www.unwomen.org/en/get-involved/beijing-plus-25/about

6. https://www.unwomen.org/en/get-involved/beijing-plus-25/about

7. https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

8. “Increasing the proportion of women in public institutions makes them more representative, increases innovation, improves decision-making and benefits whole societies” – António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, Message on International Women’s Day 2017.

9. Only 36.6% of central government bodies have women in leadership. The proportion of women in decision-making positions is even lower at a local level (34.9% in provinces, 26.5% in districts, and 17.9% in communes). Another gendered quota – all public agencies with 30% or more women in the workforce must have women in leadership – is far from being reached.

10. The barriers faced by Vietnamese women can be categorized into six groups: (1) influence of decision-makers in government and politics; (2) discriminatory legal frameworks and public policies; (3) fewer opportunities for job rotation and training; (4) gender-related stereotypes and norms; (5) women challenging their own advancement; and (6) a lack of access to informal resources and levers of influence necessary for political power (UNDP, 2014, p. 8).