While previous research has focused on how ministers’ credentials determine which portfolio they are appointed to, the positions that former ministers get in their post-ministerial career are basically unexplored (Blondel 1991:153). Given the gender segregation of relevant portfolios (be them defined as ‘inner’, ‘prestigious’, or ‘masculine’, among other classifications), that is, the fact that female ministers generally tend to be assigned to less relevant portfolios in cabinets (Escobar-Lemmon and Taylor-Robinson 2010), former ministers’ post-careers might also be gendered. Portfolios vary in their degree of parliamentary contact, amount of interactions with interest groups and private companies, media attention received as well as relative authority within the cabinet. Therefore, those ministers holding less relevant portfolios might well have lower chances to obtain prestigious positions in their subsequent careers (in the public or private sector). Using data from 23 advanced industrial democracies, this paper will explore the effect of gender-biased portfolio allocation on the subsequent careers of ministers. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it will examine whether portfolio allocation affects ministers’ length of tenure in office. Second, the paper will explore the positions former ministers get. In both cases gender differences will be analyzed while controlling for other relevant variables such as seniority, professional background or political experience.
