visualize the extent to which sovereign ministries eluded women under the Fifth Republic

“I was only the second to hold this position.” It was after saying these words that Catherine Colonna left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday January 12, the day after the government reshuffle. Within the executive now led by Gabriel Attal from Matignon, no woman is present in one of the five sovereign ministries of Interior, Justice, Defense, Foreign Affairs and Economy, according to the interpretation of the Council of State.

“Equality between women and men can also and must also be expressed at the heart of the sovereign domain, where the defense of the most fundamental interests of our Nation is at stake”defended the outgoing minister during the handover of power with her successor, Stéphane Séjourné. “No woman in a regal ministry. We are here, cool, relaxed about the great cause”also denounced on Sandrine Rousseau, EELV deputy from Paris, in reference to gender equality, elevated to the rank of “great cause” of Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term.

Less than one nomination in ten

This monopolization of sovereign ministries by men has been a constant since the birth of the Fifth Republic in 1958. In total, out of 262 full-time appointments to the five ministries mentioned above, only twenty-one concerned women, compared to 239 for men, according to franceinfo calculations (see our chart below). For every one of these prestigious portfolios held by a woman, ten on average are held by men.

In detail, there are even fewer women who have held these positions, since some have been ministers in different governments. This is the case of Michèle Alliot-Marie, Catherine Colonna’s only predecessor in Foreign Affairs, present in seven different governments between 2002 and 2011.

Christiane Taubira was Keeper of the Seals in four governments of Jean-Marc Ayrault and Manuel Valls, under François Hollande. Florence Parly, Sylvie Goulard (Defense), Nicole Belloubet, Rachida Dati, Marylise Lebranchu, Elisabeth Guigou (Justice) and Christine Lagarde (Economy) are the other female ministers concerned.

If the under-representation of women in these positions is glaring, it differs depending on the ministries concerned. We see the greatest imbalance for the portfolios of the Interior, Foreign Affairs and the Economy: at Beauvau, the Quai d’Orsay or Bercy, only two women have been appointed since 1958, compared to around fifty men. in each case. The figures are slightly better in Defense and Justice (six presences in governments out of fifty, and nine out of fifty-two), but remain very far from parity.

Before 1997, nothingness

The situation is obviously very different depending on the era. Thus, no woman held a sovereign ministry during the mandates of Charles de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and François Mitterrand. It was not until 1997 and the government of Lionel Jospin that Elisabeth Guigou was appointed to Justice, while Edith Cresson became in 1991 the first woman to occupy the position of Prime Minister.

A slight shift began at the turn of the 21st century, with the emergence of the question of parity in politics as a real societal subject. A constitutional law for “promote equal access for women and men to electoral mandates and elective functions” was for example promulgated in 2000, but the situation does not change radically in government: six out of forty-three sovereign ministries are occupied by women under the presidency of Jacques Chirac (14%), seven out of nineteen under Nicolas Sarkozy (36 .8%), four out of twenty-eight under François Hollande (14.3%).

Restricted to social ministries and state secretariats

Since 2017 and the accession of Emmanuel Macron to the Elysée, four out of twenty-six sovereign ministries have been occupied by women (15.4%). Is it to compensate for this lack of parity in these areas that Catherine Vautrin and Amélie Oudéa-Castéra were appointed to expanded portfolios, respectively for Labor and Health, and for National Education, Sports and the Paris 2024 Games? ?

The numerical ratio between women and men should be balanced with the appointment planned for next week of secretaries of state and ministers delegates. “Women have their place everywhere”, said Catherine Colonna before passing the torch of Foreign Affairs to Stéphane Séjourné. Within the government, however, they are very often confined to social ministries (which are not necessarily less resourced) or to portfolios linked to a limited scope.