he council area with the most women elected is Belfast, on 16. But even here, they represent just over a quarter (26.6%) of the total councillors in the area, with 44 men also elected.
The council area with the least women elected is Lisburn and Castlereagh City, which has only seven. This accounts for just 17.5% of the total councillors in this district.
Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Fermanagh and Omagh, and Mid and East Antrim council all have nine female councillors, again some of the lowest across Northern Ireland.
Assembly
Of the 108 MLAs sitting at Stormont, just over a third are female — 33 compared to 57 males.
Similarly, 223 of Westminster’s 650 MPs are female, again just over a third.
Just two of the Stormont parties have more women than men — the Green Party and Sinn Fein.
The Greens’ two MLAs are both women, and Sinn Fein has 15 women compared to 12 men following a number of recent co-options.
Of the 26 DUP MLAs, just six are women. It has the largest percentage of men of all the parties.
The UUP has 10 MLAs. Nine of them are male, with Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Rosemary Barton its sole female Assembly member.
Police
Within the PSNI, almost all senior level officer positions are held by men.
The three most senior positions, the Chief Constable, Deputy Chief Constable and the Assistant Chief Constable, are occupied by men.
Less than half of the Chief Superintendents in the PSNI are women, with men occupying 17 of the 23 positions.
The same goes for Superintendents, where women make up just 26% of the total, as well as Chief Inspectors (31.6%) and Inspectors (28.8%).
At sergeant level, women occupy only 27% of the 1,070 roles available. Of the 5,224 constables working for the PSNI, just 30.8% are female.
Judiciary
Of the seven presiding members of the judiciary, two are female — the Lady Chief Justice and the Presiding Lay Magistrate. The Presiding Coroner, Presiding County Court Judge, Presiding District Judge, Presiding Master and Presiding District Judge (Magistrates) are men.
The three Lord Justices of Appeal are male, but just one of the 10 High Court judges are male.
Only six of the 20 County Court judges are female.
At district judge level, only six of the 17 judges in place are female.
Universities
At Queen’s University Belfast, the number of female professors increased from 52 (21.7%) to 95 (29.2%) between 2016 and 2021, representing a rise of more than 82% in five years.
Almost 43% of senior management staff and just over 50% of lecturers are female.
The university recently appointed former US First Lady Hillary Clinton as its first female Chancellor.
A spokesperson for Queen’s said: “Queen’s University is at the forefront of gender equality and is a recognised leader in equality initiatives.
“The university currently holds three gold, six silver and five bronze Departmental Athena SWAN Awards and a silver institutional award, which recognise sustained work and commitment of our staff to advancing gender equality.”
Schools
While there was an increase in the number of male teachers in 2019/20, women still dominate education roles across Northern Ireland.
Prior to that, the proportion of male teachers working in all schools had been falling.
According to figures released by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, the proportion of male and female teachers varies greatly according to the type of school. At nursery level, for example, there are currently no male teachers or principals.
In primary and preparatory schools, 15.5% of teachers are male.
In post-primary schools, 30.2% of teachers are male, and in special schools, 20.3% of teachers are male.
Women make up 69.2% of principals and 84.8% of vice-principals.
In primary and preparatory schools, 60% of principals are female compared to 84.5% of all teachers in primary and preparatory schools being women.
Similarly, in all post-primary schools, 45.1% of principals are female compared to 69.8% of all post-primary teachers being women.
In grammar schools, 53% of principals are male, while at non-grammars, 55.9% of principals are male.
The Education Authority employs 127 females and 81 males in senior management roles.
Its chief executive is a woman, as are three of its five executive directors.
At assistant director level, there are 11 women and seven men, with this trend continuing at principal level.
Health Service
Women make up 58.8% of the total number of GPs on the Northern Ireland Performers List.
This percentage includes trainees and emergency registered practitioners, as well as GP vaccinators.
Within the five health and social care trusts, it is fairly balanced at a senior level in terms of gender.
More women hold director, chief executive or other high-ranking positions.
But men dominate most of the consultant level jobs, with 60% of the total 2,107 positions occupied by male members of staff.
