The biographies of ministerial advisers: why and how gender and career trajectories matter

The chapter focuses on English-language research about ministerial advisers’ biographies, in particular their sociodemographic backgrounds and career trajectories. It surveys the field, and takes an original approach by analysing ministerial advisers, and their workplaces, through the lens of gender. The importance and impact of gender remains under-researched in the scholarship on ministerial advisers - it is a significant gap, and one which this chapter addresses. A second major focus is on the career trajectories of ministerial advisers - the chapter analyses the social and political implications of their career steps. The chapter also explores issues of representation, systemic problems of gender disadvantage, and important developments such as the distortion of policy-making in favour of private interests, as well as the emergence of a new type of professional actor.