The situation in Austria

Compared to the three other countries involved in the project, Austria has the lowest share of female mayors: only 7.7 per cent of town halls are run by women (2018 figure). This corresponds to 146 women – in a total of 2,100 municipalities.

Austria is markedly further ahead at the other political levels, however: the share in local councils is 23 per cent, and in federal-state parliaments 32.5 per cent. The highest share is in the current National Council where 39.4 per cent of parliamentarians* are women – putting Austria above the average for EU countries.

Why are women so underrepresented in leading positions in local political structures?

Voluntary engagement and reconciling work, family and political office

As in the other countries, a lot of this has to do with the fact that it is more difficult for women to reconcile work, family and political office than men. One indicator of this is the fact that the average age of female mayors is clearly higher than that of their male colleagues. The situation in Austria is aggravated by the fact that the role is very widely understood to be a ‘subsidiary function’ performed in principle ‘on top of’ a civilian profession.

According to a 2016 survey by the Austrian Association of Municipalities, which for the first time analysed the situation vis-à-vis gender aspects, approx. 70 to 80 per cent of male mayors practise a civilian profession compared to 54 per cent in the case of women. As both salary and social security after loss of office (e.g. the recognition of periods of office in pension terms) are unsatisfactory, according to the study, you literally have to be able to ‘afford’ the office of mayor, irrespective of whether the office-holder is male or female. This is true both financially and with regard to time, since, regardless of whether the office is a full-time or a subsidiary post, an estimated 30 hours per week are usually needed for it. Traditional notions of gender roles are certainly also a factor, particularly in small, rural, more conservative municipalities.

Networks for female mayors

A key player is the Austrian Association of Municipalities, which in recent years has been increasingly addressing this question. For a few years now, it has been organising successful network meetings with, and for, female mayors. The annual events are hosted by the female mayor of a city or municipality and combine information, qualifications and informal exchanges in a programme lasting several days. 

An important building block for future efforts is the targeted recruiting of young talent. In addition, around 16 per cent of deputy mayors are female and these more than 300 women represent substantial potential that could be actively encouraged.

Mentoring programmes, such as those offered in Lower Austria, for example, are suited to this purpose. Actual progress can be recorded here, as the share of women is above 10 per cent, the highest among all of Austria’s nine federal states.  

But in the long run structural changes and reforms will certainly be needed in order to make the office attractive for women – as is increasingly the case for men – or to design it so that it can be better reconciled with the realities of life and also take account of social changes, such as changing roles and the increasing participation of women in the labour market.