With the institutionalization of its Gender Affairs Division, a gender perspective is now embedded in strategic planning, leadership, and communications. From 2020 to 2025, the number of women holding ambassador roles has increased from 12 to 24, representing 26% of all ambassadors, and to 41% of leadership positions for the same period.

UN Women’s 2025 “Women in politics” map notes that as of 1 January 2025, only 22.9 per cent of ministers heading ministries worldwide are women, and "most influential policy areas, such as foreign affairs, financial and fiscal affairs, home affairs, and defence remain largely controlled by men."[7] It also highlights that Chile is among a small group of countries with gender‑equal cabinets (50 per cent women heads of ministries), but this overall parity does not necessarily extend to specific portfolios like foreign affairs and defence, which globally tend to be led by men.[7]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that it will "apply a gender variable in the positions of women in Chile and abroad, with the aim of detecting and establishing the existing gaps and biases in female participation in the different areas and levels of the Foreign Service." The announcement frames this as part of a feminist foreign policy and acknowledges that there are gender gaps in positions and levels within the ministry’s Foreign Service that need to be identified and addressed.

Chile’s National Plan of Action on Women, Peace and Security assigns responsibilities to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense to "keep disaggregated statistics by sex" of Chileans serving in multilateral agencies.[9] The plan’s existence indicates an institutional recognition of the need to monitor and improve women’s participation in foreign and defence policy, but it does not itself provide current figures of the proportion of women in decision‑making positions within these ministries.[9]

In the article on Chile’s feminist foreign policy, the authors state that within Chile’s diplomatic career, there is a gender gap in senior positions. They note that, as women move from ministerial advisers to ambassadors, they cease to be part of the diplomatic staff and become senior officials, and that although there has been progress, women remain underrepresented in ambassadorial and top decision-making posts compared to men. The text frames this as a vertical segregation problem consistent with the concept of a ‘glass ceiling’ within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Using public data on the Chilean foreign service, this analysis finds that "of 68 people working as ambassadors in postings abroad, both in countries and international organizations, 19 are women. The figure represents 27.9% of the total." It notes that under President Gabriel Boric, 37 ambassadors have been appointed, of whom 14 are women (38%). Disaggregated by diplomatic rank, only the Third Secretary level is gender‑balanced, with women at 51%. "In the Minister‑Counsellor rank there are currently no women. In the Counsellor rank, only 15% are women. In the First Secretary rank, they represent 31% of the total; in the Second Secretary rank, 36% are women." Overall, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that among 453 officials in the diplomatic career, 129 are women, "28% of the total"; excluding career ambassadors, women are 26% of staff. The study also notes that between 2000 and 2018 "Chilean women have never exceeded 20% of total embassy leadership positions."

The study of Chile’s Senior Public Management System (SADP) for 2010–2017 finds that “only 29% of the senior management positions were awarded to a woman,” concluding that there is an unbalanced representation between men and women in the allocation of senior management positions in central government institutions, which constitutes a glass ceiling in Chile’s public senior management.[Dirección Nacional del Servicio Civil 2017]. The article’s data table shows that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Relaciones Exteriores) has a negative gender gap in senior public management positions, with an indicator of 21.6 for women and 36.4 for men (a −14.8% gender gap), placing it among ministries with unfavorable conditions for women’s access to senior posts.

Chile’s guidelines "recognize the persistence of gender gaps that hinder the full participation of women in all decision-making areas of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs", facilitating not only entry but retention of female leadership. Chile, for example, aims to increase the presence of women in embassies without specifying a target. Chilean representatives confirmed to us that they are working on indicators that will make it possible to measure the results of their FFP, but this is still a work in progress.

Using data from Chile’s National Civil Service Directorate (DNSC) for 2010–2017, the authors report that across the public sector “only 29% of the competitions for senior public management (ADP) positions were awarded to women.” They highlight that women’s representation in the public sector is lower than men’s, at “43% in directive-scale positions and 30% in senior management positions subject to the SADP,” and classify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs among seven ministries (Agriculture, Sport, Energy, Environment, Mining, Foreign Affairs and Transport and Telecommunications) with a negative gender gap in senior management positions, indicating that women are underrepresented at the top compared with men.

SecurityWomen’s 2025 statistics on women in defence leadership list countries with a current female Defence Minister or equivalent; Chile does not appear on this list.[8] The compilation underscores that, although some states in the region have appointed women as defence ministers, the defence portfolio in many countries, including Chile at present, continues to be headed by men.[8]

Some initial findings demonstrate that there has been an increase in the entry of women as negotiators, especially in trade negotiation processes. More and more women have served as negotiators, such as Alicia Frohmann and Luz Sosa as chapter heads. However, although recent efforts have increased the proportion of female ambassadors, women continued to be in a small minority. Advances in gender equality "did not carry over into the foreign service nor were they sustained over time since they were not institutionalized".

Women are less likely than men to advance to management positions in Chile. When women do work in Chile, they earn significantly less than men do. The proportion of women who earn a low-income is about 1.6 times as high as that of men in Chile and women are less likely to advance to management.

The International Center for Research on Women’s Feminist Foreign Policy Index 2023 ranks Chile 9th among 48 countries. Chile launched its feminist foreign policy in 2023, emphasizing gender equality and women’s rights in foreign policy. However, available data shows that women remain under-represented in senior diplomatic positions and that internal reforms to improve representation are ongoing rather than complete.

The Women, Peace and Security Focal Points Network entry for Chile notes that Chile has adopted two National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security, the first structured around objectives and actions committed by relevant ministries.[1] These plans involve the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense and are intended to mainstream gender perspectives and enhance women’s participation in peace and security decision‑making, but the resource does not provide specific, up‑to‑date statistics on women’s representation in leadership posts in those ministries.[1]

The official communication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that on 27 August the Division of Gender Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile begins to operate. The post explains that this new Division is created to mainstream the gender perspective in Chile’s foreign policy and to promote equal opportunities between women and men in the Foreign Service, implicitly acknowledging the existence of gender inequalities and the need to improve women’s participation in positions of responsibility within the ministry.

Barnes and O’Brien’s cross‑national study on "The Appointment of Female Defense Ministers" finds that women’s access to the defence ministry remains rare globally; only 41 countries had appointed a female defence minister in the post‑Cold War era, and high‑prestige portfolios such as defence are disproportionately held by men.[6] The study situates defence ministries among the cabinet posts least likely to be led by women, reflecting broader patterns of low female representation in senior defence decision‑making roles.[6]

In our country, according to figures from the Ministry of Women and Gender Equity, in 2018 only one out of four management positions in companies was held by a woman. Chile currently has its lowest women’s employment rate since 2010, at only 41.7%, against 62.7% for men, according to the latest employment survey by the National Statistics Institute (INE 2020).

This review of gender issues aims to uncover the main gender gaps in the country, and to identify potential policy recommendations that could help closing them. It highlights persistent gaps in women’s representation in leadership and decision-making positions across sectors in Chile, despite legal and policy advances to promote gender equality.

An Americas Quarterly article on "The Rising Role of Women in the Hemisphere’s Militaries" notes that since 2000, Chile adopted a Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan in 2009 and has allowed women into the armed forces across roles.[2] However, the piece underscores that full integration of women into defence and security forces, including leadership and decision‑making positions, remains incomplete in many Latin American militaries and that senior ranks are still male‑dominated.[2]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that it has created a Division of Gender Affairs in the Foreign Ministry. The press note states that the division "will strengthen the participation of women in diplomatic spaces and international negotiations, along with reinforcing the coherence of the country’s foreign policy with its gender‑equality commitments." The establishment of this division is framed as a response to the "low presence of women in leadership and decision‑making positions in the diplomatic service," which the ministry seeks to address through targeted policies.

Chile’s foreign policy has been about promoting the norms of democracy and human rights multilaterally, which is consistent with and underpins the country’s adoption of feminist foreign policy. Feminist foreign policy initiatives in Chile include commitments to improve women’s representation and participation in foreign policy decision-making, but implementation has faced institutional and cultural obstacles.

The official Chilean government page for the Ministry of National Defense lists the current Defence Minister, Fernando Barros, and senior leadership, all presented as male.[3] While the page is primarily biographical and does not include aggregate statistics on women’s representation, it reflects that, at least at the ministerial level, the defence portfolio is currently headed by a man rather than a woman.[3]

The WE-APEC Roundtable on Women’s Leadership in Business, hosted by Chile, brought together government, private sector, and civil society representatives to discuss strategies to increase women’s participation in leadership and decision-making. Discussions highlighted that women remain underrepresented in top leadership roles and that more data and targeted policies are needed to close these gaps.

The Montevideo Consensus gender indicator 5.5.2, compiled by ECLAC, explains that the "proportion of women in managerial positions" measures the share of women among all persons employed in managerial posts, with a recommended breakdown between total management and senior/medium management. Applied to Latin American public sectors, including Chile, these data show that women are less represented in senior and high-level management compared with overall employment, with particularly low shares in ministries related to foreign affairs, defense and security, which are highlighted as male-dominated domains.

This regional analysis of women in public administration in Latin America notes that although women represent 52% of public employees on average in the countries studied, only 23.6% occupy level‑1 leadership positions (equivalent to ministers) and 44.2% occupy level‑4 posts (directors). It explains that in sectors such as "planning, international relations, security and public works" women hold only 38% of leadership positions, compared to 45.9% in social sectors. These data suggest lower female representation in decision‑making roles in ministries dealing with defense and foreign affairs than in other sectors.

UN Women’s global data on women’s leadership and political participation state that, as of 1 January 2024, women hold 23.3% of cabinet minister posts leading policy areas worldwide. It notes that women are particularly underrepresented as ministers in areas such as defense and foreign affairs, which remain among the portfolios with the lowest shares of women ministers. The data emphasize that gender parity has not been reached in these sectors in most countries, including in Latin America.

Across Latin America, including Chile, women’s participation in senior positions in defense ministries and armed forces remains limited, with women often concentrated in administrative or support roles rather than high-level decision-making posts. In Chile, reforms to integrate gender perspectives in defense have begun, but women’s representation in top command and strategic roles is still low compared to their overall presence in the institution.