In recent years, an increasing number of women have taken on public and political roles. Despite this progress, women remain underrepresented in local governments. Participants in a debate organized by the European Parliament Office in Warsaw pointed out that family responsibilities, cultural stereotypes, lack of confidence, and insufficient support from male politicians remain among the main barriers limiting women’s participation in political life. Experts emphasize that the presence of women in local government is crucial and that greater encouragement for women to engage in politics is needed.
Growing presence of women in public life
“More and more women are present in public life,” said Magdalena Biejat, Deputy Marshal of the Polish Senate from the New Left, speaking to Newseria news agency. “Until now, women have primarily dominated social organizations, but increasingly they are becoming village heads, politicians, council members, and eventually members of parliament. The path often begins with engagement at the lowest level, closest to local communities.”
According to Biejat, this trend is a positive development because greater female participation in local government can encourage other women to see politics as a space open to them.
Aleksandra Kosiorek, the Mayor of Gdynia, also emphasized that women’s participation in political and social life continues to grow.
“The percentage of women actively involved in political, social, and local government life is steadily increasing,” she said. “However, there is still a lot of work ahead to encourage more women to take part.”
Women still below the EU average in politics
Data from Statistics Poland (GUS) show that women currently hold 29 percent of seats in the Polish parliament, compared with 25 percent in 2015. Despite this improvement, Poland remains below the European Union average of 33 percent.
At the local government level, the situation has also improved over the past decade. In 2024, women occupied roughly one-third of seats in municipal councils, city councils with county rights, and regional assemblies, compared with one-quarter in 2015. In county councils, women accounted for about 25 percent of representatives in 2024, up from around 20 percent ten years earlier.
However, according to Dr. Justyna Wasil from the Department of Public Administration at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, women are still significantly underrepresented in executive positions.
“Women increasingly engage in public life and politics, but these two categories should be distinguished,” Wasil explained. “Women are often active at the lowest level, particularly in local councils and rural self-governments. However, when we talk about female mayors or municipal leaders, their numbers are still very small.”
Local leadership but few women in top positions
Statistics illustrate this imbalance. At the end of 2024, 40,722 people held the position of village head (sołtys) in Poland, including 20,150 women, meaning women account for nearly half of these grassroots leadership roles.
However, women are much less likely to serve as mayors, town mayors, or city presidents. In 2024, women held 16 percent of these positions (397 out of 2,477 offices), although this still represents an improvement compared with 11 percent in 2015.
According to Aleksandra Kosiorek, one reason for the lower participation of women is a lack of confidence.
“The absence of women often results from the fact that many do not believe strongly enough in their own success,” she said. “There is still a lot of grassroots work ahead of us to change habits and encourage women, because they are extremely valuable members of local government life.”
Family responsibilities remain a major barrier
Research conducted by the Institute of Public Affairs (ISP) confirms that family responsibilities remain one of the key obstacles. According to the report “Women in Local Politics: Participation of Female Candidates in the 2024 Local Elections,” many female candidates reported that combining political work with raising children is particularly difficult.
As a result, many women decide to run for office only when their children are already adults or relatively independent.
Magdalena Biejat emphasized that caregiving responsibilities still fall disproportionately on women.
“There are still many barriers for women in political life,” she said. “One of the most basic is caregiving work. Women are most often responsible for looking after children. We are the ones more frequently asked who is taking care of the child when we run election campaigns. We are also more often responsible for organizing childcare.”
This makes it much harder to combine political engagement with family life, particularly since many local government roles – such as village head or council member – are often unpaid and based on voluntary work.
Cultural stereotypes and social expectations
Experts also highlight the role of cultural stereotypes in shaping women’s political participation.
“Women are often raised to perform different social roles than men,” said Dr. Wasil. “Although this barrier is gradually disappearing, stereotypes still influence how society perceives women’s suitability for political leadership.”
Such stereotypes can affect both men’s and women’s attitudes, contributing to discrimination during local elections and limiting women’s opportunities to compete for leadership positions.
At the same time, women are increasingly well educated. According to the GUS report “Human Capital in Poland 2020–2024,” in 2024 40.2 percent of women held a university degree, compared with 28.3 percent of men.
“In the 1990s, women faced discrimination in the labor market, which encouraged many young women to pursue higher education,” Wasil noted. “Today those women have built successful careers and are entering local government and politics.”
Gender stereotypes in election campaigns
Interviews conducted by the Institute of Public Affairs also show that gender stereotypes appear during election campaigns and even after women assume office. Female politicians often face comments related to their appearance or age, rather than their political qualifications.
Women frequently report that they have had to prove their competence both during their academic careers and later in public life.
Another barrier, according to Biejat, is the lack of support from male politicians.
“Unfortunately, men still tend to support other men rather than women,” she said. “They encourage other men to participate in politics more often than women. That is why quotas – and hopefully one day parity – are so important.”
Electoral quotas and representation
Currently, electoral law in Poland requires that at least 35 percent of candidates on electoral lists be of each gender in elections to legislative bodies (except in municipalities with fewer than 20,000 residents).
According to the ISP report, in 2024 regional assembly elections women accounted for 46.8 percent of candidates, compared with less than 30 percent in 2010. Women ultimately won 32.3 percent of mandates.
However, no similar mechanisms exist for elections to executive positions such as mayor or city president. As a result, the share of female candidates in these races remains much lower.
In 2024, women accounted for just over 20 percent of candidates running for mayoral positions. Since 2010, the number of female candidates for village heads has increased by 7.9 percentage points, while the share of female candidates for mayor positions increased by 7.8 percentage points. Growth among candidates for city president positions has been slower, increasing by about five percentage points.
Women shaping more inclusive cities
Supporters of greater female participation argue that women bring important perspectives to local governance.
“The presence of women in local government guarantees attention not only to major infrastructure projects but also to the everyday needs of communities,” said Mayor Kosiorek. “Issues such as kindergartens, schools, and public spaces where families can spend time are often noticed first by women.”
Magdalena Biejat added that women often prioritize accessibility and social services.
“If we want sidewalks adapted for elderly people or persons with disabilities, efficient public transport, public toilets, or elevators in public spaces, women will take care of these issues,” she said. “If we want social services to function well and public spaces to be accessible to everyone, women often think about these needs more frequently than men.”
She also noted that public institutions are unlikely to gain full public trust if women are underrepresented within them.
Grassroots leadership and community engagement
Women are particularly visible in grassroots leadership roles, such as village heads or local community leaders.
“These are local leaders whose leadership style is different from that of council members or mayors,” explained Dr. Wasil. “It is very grassroots, often unpaid work focused on communicating the needs of local communities to municipal authorities.”
Female village leaders often demonstrate strong responsiveness to community needs, particularly those of elderly people, people with disabilities, and vulnerable groups, emphasizing a community-oriented approach to governance.
Institutional support for women’s participation
New legislation proposed by the Polish government could further increase women’s participation in local governance. The initiative aims to introduce women’s councils as formal advisory bodies in municipalities, counties, and regions.
Such councils have existed informally in Poland since 2010, but their development has been limited by the lack of clear legal regulations. The new framework would allow them to represent women’s interests before local government authorities and initiate projects benefiting local communities.
According to Katarzyna Kotula, Poland’s Minister for Equality, strengthening these institutions could help increase women’s participation in decision-making bodies over the long term.
Continuing efforts to break the glass ceiling
The debate titled “Women in Local Governments – How to Break the Glass Ceiling?”, organized by the European Parliament Office in Warsaw, highlighted both the progress made and the challenges that remain.
Although the number of women in politics and local government continues to grow, experts agree that overcoming cultural stereotypes, balancing family responsibilities, and strengthening institutional support will be essential to achieving greater gender equality in political representation.
For many observers, increasing women’s participation in local government is not only a matter of fairness but also an opportunity to create more inclusive, responsive, and community-focused governance across Poland and Europe.
