Gender and Informational Inequality: Evidence from Tunisia

• In Event: New Political Elites: Formation, Consolidation, and Contestation

Abstract

This paper explores how gender and national identity influence inequalities in information access among elite networks in data-scarce countries, with a focus on Tunisia. Recognizing information as a critical resource for power and decision-making, the study hypothesizes that women and foreign nationals in elite circles face structural disadvantages in accessing quality information. Employing a mixed-methods approach that combines a social network analysis of an original dataset on elites in Tunisia with ethnographic insights, this paper demonstrates how women end up being as marginalized in elite networks as foreign nationals. It uses betweenness centrality as a standard measure designed to capture information access in elite networks by quantifying the extent to which individuals act as bridges within the network. It helps identify those who hold strategic positions in the flow of information. Individuals with high betweenness centrality are seen as gatekeepers or brokers, controlling and influencing the spread of information. This measure is particularly useful in examining how gender and national identity might affect one's ability to access and control information within elite circles, as it highlights not just the presence in the network but the critical role of these individuals in information dissemination. The measured inequality demonstrates that women are not as integrated into elite networks and thus have limited access to the information that flows through these elite networks. Such findings would highlight the structural barriers women face in accessing and influencing the flow of information in these circles. Despite institutional efforts to increase women's representation in government organizations, gendered exclusionary social microdynamics prevent Tunisian women from having the same access to information as Tunisian men.

Author

• Mohamed-Dhia Hammami, Maxwell School, Syracuse University