Gender inequality in leadership positions The role of part-time employment in seven European countries

between part-time work and a leadership position is mediated by gender, as employment levels and gender have often been confounded in empirical studies in the past. European countries. Our results confirm that part-time work is related to the gender gap in leadership positions in all countries studied, with a negative correlation between reduced working hours and holding a supervisory position, and with women being much more likely than men to work part-time. Our findings also suggest that part-time penalties, i.e. the negative association between reduced working hours and having supervisory responsibilities, are gender-specific, but in the sense that they are more pronounced for male workers. Our findings further imply that the extent of part-time penalties is not related to the prevailing part-time culture in a country.