WOMEN’S WORK? THE DISTRIBUTION AND PRESTIGE OF PORTFOLIOS IN THE CANADIAN PROVINCES* DONLEY T. STUDLAR* AND GARY F. MONCRIEF** Historically not only have women cabinet ministers in Western democra- cies been few in number, but they have generally been limited to “women’s ministries” such as education, health, social services, and culture. This arti- cle systematically investigates the responsibilities and prestige of portfolios that women cabinet ministers in the ten Canadian provinces have held over a 21-year period, 1976–1997, an era in which their share of cabinet posi- tions rose from less than 4% to almost 25%. Although still concentrated in traditional women’s ministries, they have diversified the portfolios they hold. Using a tri-fold classification of portfolios into (1) important, (2) mid- dle range, and (3) junior positions, we find that women increasingly have achieved more prestigious portfolios, perhaps a reflection of the reduced number of cabinet positions in the 1990s and more concerted attempts to promote women. But the law of increasing disproportion still exists, at least in overall terms of the relative prestige of cabinet positions. In party leadership, in senior administrative posts, in parliaments and in gov- ernments, the few women included concentrate on specialized matters, such as health, education, motherhood, family welfare, housing, etc.—that is, on all problems which, in the general opinion, are considered to be of special interest to women (Duverger 1955, 123–124). Within each strategic elite the proportion of women declines as we move from lower to higher strata (Putnam 1976, 36). Despite the fact that the cabinet is the apex of political power in a parlia- mentary system, women political appointees are one of the most under- studied groups in political elites. In contrast to the numerous studies of women in legislatures, there is little systematic data-based research on women as cabinet ministers, perhaps because there are usually few women in any individual cabinet. This paper fills this gap by providing the first systematic, overtime research comparing the relative prestige of women’s and men’s cabinet positions in any polity. The paper utilizes data from all ten Canadian provinces over a 21-year period, 1976–1997, to investigate the extent to which women’s patterns of ministerial *West Virginia University **Boise State University Governance: An International Journal of Policy and Administration, Vol. 12, No. 4, October 1999 (pp. 379–395). © 1999 Blackwell Publishers, 350 Main St., Malden MA 02148, USA, and 108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JF, UK. ISSN 0952-1895