ABSTRACT
The present chapter provides a focused overview of gender equality in the civil service in six European countries: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The institutional mechanisms for gender equality and gender mainstreaming tools are relatively well developed, although there are nuances across the countries. However, standardised Human Resources tools and purposely designed frameworks and tools for personnel management vary: only two countries have implemented an array of tools. Overall, the figures on gender parity in employment and also tentative insights into remuneration are sobering. There still exists a glass ceiling for women in the civil service in all six countries. As this does not seem to be the result of institutional mechanisms for gender equality, gender mainstreaming and HR tools, other mechanisms and practices (e.g. profiling or gender bias in recruitment, selection, promotion, and part-time work), which may also vary widely across different government departments, presumably play a role.
