Gender gap in diplomacy: What the data reveals

The long shadow of historical barriers

Sara Chehab recalls a notable structural barrier still affecting women in diplomacy: "Up until the early to mid-1970s, married women couldn't become diplomats. There was a marriage ban. If a woman got married, she had to leave the diplomatic corps."
Even after the ban lifted, prevalent perceptions continued to exclude women from viewing diplomacy as a viable career. Given the slow pace of diplomatic career progression, with ambassadorial posts lasting multiple years, changing those perceptions and creating enough senior women diplomats takes time."It's not because these women don't exist or aren't being promoted," she explains, "but because careers take time to evolve and perceptions take time to change."

The need for supportive HR policies

Another critical barrier is the lack of family and spousal support policies within foreign services: "When a diplomat, man or woman, has children and a family, they need support. This comes through HR policies that facilitate promotion and retention. Some countries only recently introduced maternity leave for ambassadors." Speaking with diplomats worldwide, Chehab emphasises that absent or weak HR policies remain the foremost reason women struggle to enter and advance in diplomacy.

Where women are posted matters

The index now uniquely tracks host countries receiving women ambassadors. This reveals a wider disparity: "Some smaller states like Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Barbados, and Mauritius have high shares of women ambassadors," Chehab says. But major power centers, including the G7, China, India, have very low numbers of women diplomats posted there."It's not just a numbers game. Are women posted to influential capitals? To important states? The answer is, generally, no." This geographic distribution raises important questions about ongoing biases in strategic postings, though data is not yet conclusive.

Political appointments and the pipeline problem

Ambassadorial appointments often reflect political patronage, skewed towards men. With 79% of ambassadors globally being men, the odds favor male appointees. Countries like Canada, Sweden, and Finland buck this trend and have achieved or approached gender parity, largely due to feminist foreign policies.

Lessons from leading countries

Chehab notes: "Canada tops the index with 53% women ambassadors. Sweden and Finland are close behind. A key factor has been feminist foreign policy driving concrete actions like mandatory gender balance committees, unconscious bias training, gender pay gap analyses, and formal mentorship programs." Formal mentorship emerged as a vital tool, yet remains under-developed in some regions, particularly in the Middle East.

Spotlight on the Gulf and the UAE

The Middle East and North Africa region holds the lowest share of women ambassadors (10%) with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries lower still (5.6%). However, the UAE stands out for regional leadership: "The UAE has the highest share of women ambassadors in the Gulf, a national action plan for Women, Peace and Security, and hosts the UN Women Liaison Office for the Gulf." This is supported by domestic gender equality measures including a 50% parliamentary quota for women and 25% female cabinet representation.

The Index’s origins and future ambitions

The Index started with Chehab's observation: "I was curious why I saw many women trainee diplomats but few women ambassadors. Starting with 20 countries, it expanded to global coverage in 2023." Looking ahead, Dr. Chehab hopes for a rise to 30-35% women ambassadors globally, more Arab women in senior posts, and deeper data analysis linking gender representation to broader social indicators.

This article is based on an exclusive interview recorded in 2025 for The Diplomat’s Cabinet podcast. For more insights, subscribe to our newsletter and listen to the full episode.