L’évolution de la promotion de l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes au sein de l’administration: Le cas de l'Administration Fédérale Suisse

This article reviews the evolution of the promotion of gender equality within the Swiss federal public administration, presents the development of gender equality policy overtime and discusses the implementation of its main measures. After a first policy stage based solely on guidelines, the development of equality policy within the Swiss federal administration has increasingly resulted in more constraining measures that aim at realizing gender equality. In spite of this dramatic policy redesign, equality policy impact remains contrasted and women’s career still face a glass ceiling. The feminization of civil service is slow and women concentrate mainly at lower positions. In addition, the pay gap between female and male civil servants remains important. One of the main causes of this contrasted result is certainly to be found in the heterogeneous implementation of gender equality among the different departments of the Swiss federal administration.