Malta leads the EU in disagreeing that measures such as the gender quota system can solve the underrepresentation of women in politics, despite having a gender quota system itself.
This emerged from a Eurobarometer survey on gender stereotypes, which asked if “temporary measures (eg quotas) are necessary to overcome the existing underrepresentation of women in politics”.
At 62 per cent, Maltese respondents registered the highest disagreement with the statement, significantly above the EU average of 36 per cent.
Just over a third of Maltese respondents agreed with this statement, below the EU average of 55 per cent.
Malta is one of 13 countries in the EU with systems to try to ensure gender balance within national elections. The results of the study could suggest Maltese citizens are unsatisfied with its system, which has been in place since 2021.
The system allows for a potential increase in parliamentary seats to ensure gender balance. If no more than two parties are elected and one gender makes up less than 40 per cent of the available seats, a maximum of 12 seats, six on either side of the house, are added.
The system has only been in place for one general election and some experts have questioned its impact, which could explain public scepticism.
After the election, a monitoring board with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the measures “serve to reinforce the two-party dominance in the legislature while failing to address structural barriers to the representation of women in parliament and their participation in political life”.
It suggested the system be revisited and revised in advance of the next elections.
Ambitious men
The majority of those surveyed (68 per cent) think men are more ambitious than women in politics, which sits above the EU average of 47 per cent. Some 42 per cent of respondents also agree that women are less interested than men in positions of responsibility in politics, which is slightly above the EU average of 35 per cent.
Despite these figures, most respondents (58 per cent) believe that having more women in politics leads to better policy decisions, which is in line with the EU average of 60 per cent.
Three-quarters of Maltese respondents disagreed with the claim that women lack the qualities and skills to fill positions of responsibility in politics, a figure in line with the EU average.
Overall, most respondents did not believe that men would necessarily make better leaders than women, with around a quarter (27 per cent) of the respondents agreeing that men would make better leaders than women, in line with the EU average.
Also, in line with the EU average, just over a fifth of respondents believe that women are too emotional to be good leaders.
Only 14 per cent of respondents believe that women are treated better than men in politics. This is the highest percentage in the EU.