Beyond Hierarchy: Network Architecture and Gender Neutrality in Ecuadorian Government Auditing
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23041836Keywords:
Leadership, gender, auditing, complex networks, governance, public administrationAbstract
This study examines the manifestation of female technical leadership within the management network of Ecuador’s Supreme Audit Institution through the lens of complex network theory. The research responds to the growing need to understand how relational dynamics of leadership and cooperation operate within public institutions from a perspective distinct from econometric approaches. The article seeks to identify patterns of female leadership within the operational structure of the Ecuadorian audit network, considering the functional roles and gender of each auditor involved in government auditing.
The study adopts a quantitative approach based on complex network analysis applied to an anonymized institutional database. Drawing on these data, the researchers constructed a collaboration network comprising 2,442 nodes and 22,565 ties, to which they applied centrality, density, and assortativity metrics, together with non-parametric statistical tests, to assess structural differences. The empirical data reveal a low-density network in which highly connected nodes tend to collaborate with one another. The analysis also identifies a significant presence of women within the technical supervision core, alongside relevant functional brokerage performed by support roles.
The findings indicate that brokerage varies unevenly across functional roles but not across genders, suggesting that the institution operates predominantly through a gender-neutral and technically oriented structure. Nevertheless, the gender gap in brokerage widened over the period under analysis. Female leadership primarily manifests itself through women’s structural integration into the network’s technical coordination spaces.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Jessica Matute-Petroche, Lissete Reyes-Vanegas, Carlos Redroban-Ortiz, Josue Jesús Cabrera-Ruilova
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