Political Science & Public Policy

Laura Gutiérrez Zárate

Political scientist specializing in gender, public policy, social movements, and violence against women

I study how social movements, party competition, political representation, and institutions shape public policy and legislative change, with a particular focus on violence against women. I am a member of the research group Democracy, Elections and Citizenship (DEC) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Alongside my academic work, I advise international organizations on gender equality and multilateral reform, bringing research findings into policy practice.

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About

Academic Trajectory

I hold a PhD in Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (2025, Cum Laude, International Mention), with a thesis on feminist mobilization, political contestation, and the making of violence against women policy. I also hold a Master's in Public Policy and Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Bachelor's in Business Administration from Universidad Panamericana, Guadalajara.

I have nearly a decade of university teaching experience, having taught at the UAB, IBEI, Sciences Po, and Tecnológico de Monterrey, across undergraduate and master's programs in political science and international relations.

Before my doctoral studies, I spent over a decade in public administration in Mexico at the state and municipal level, leading social development projects in marginalized neighborhoods and building multisectoral partnerships across civil society, academia, the private sector, and government to address structural inequality.

Research Agenda

How Advocacy, Parties, and Institutions Shape Gender Policy

My research examines how feminist mobilization translates into legislative and policy change. Current and recent work includes:

Gender-based violence policy

Analysis of how violence against women becomes institutionalized through legislation, party competition, advocacy, and public-policy design.

Women's movements and evidence use

Research on how feminist movements build leadership, use evidence, frame claims, and influence legal and policy agendas.

Representation, parties, and democracy

Work on political representation, gender equality, democratic attitudes, polarization, and citizen engagement in Spain, Mexico, and Latin America.

Framing of gender and feminism

How feminism and gender are constructed and contested in public discourse, including how opposition movements frame gender and power.

Research Projects

Dynamics of Gender Polarization

PI: Eva Anduiza | IGOP / Department of Political Science and Public Law, UAB | 2025 – 2028

Analyzes the drivers and consequences of affective polarization around gender-equality issues, examining public attitudes and political discourse.

Political Emotions in Motion: Causes and Consequences

PI: Carol Galais González | Department of Political Science and Public Law, UAB | 2021 – 2025

Investigates how emotional responses shape political action and mobilization in contentious political environments.

POLAT Panel and DEMOTRADEOFF

Survey design, data preparation, and expert questionnaire work

Contributed to survey design, data preparation, and expert questionnaire administration for longitudinal tracking of political attitudes in Spain.

Publications

Selected Publications & Research Outputs

Peer-reviewed articles

León, M., Gutiérrez-Zárate, L., & Ferrioli, F. (2026). The Politics of Gender Equality: Violence Against Women Legislation and Party Competition, Evidence from Spain. European Journal of Politics and Gender.

DOI / record

Gutiérrez-Zárate, L. (2024). Towards Effective Women's Movements Against Violence: The Role of Organizational Conditions in Promoting Leadership Capital. Social Movement Studies.

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Book chapters

Barbet, B., Gutiérrez-Zárate, L., & Prada, E. (2024). Associacionisme. In C. Galais (Coord.), Participació i implicació política de la joventut catalana (pp. 101–124). Generalitat de Catalunya.

DOI / record

Barbet, B., Gutiérrez-Zárate, L., & Prada, E. (2024). Participació política. In C. Galais (Coord.), Participació i implicació política de la joventut catalana (pp. 125–166). Generalitat de Catalunya.

DOI / record

Barbet, B., Gutiérrez-Zárate, L., & Prada, E. (2024). Actituds vers el sistema de govern. In C. Galais (Coord.), Participació i implicació política de la joventut catalana (pp. 167–200). Generalitat de Catalunya.

DOI / record

Datasets

Pannico, R., Tomic, D., Gutiérrez-Zárate, L., et al. (2024). POLAT Panel: Spanish Political Attitudes Dataset (12 waves).

DOI / record

Works in progress

The Olimpia Movement's Use of Evidence to Influence Digital Violence Legislation.
The Manosphere and the meaning of 'women': Framing feminism, gender, and power (with Yevgeniy Kondratov).

Teaching

Courses Taught

I teach political science, comparative politics, and gender and politics courses across undergraduate and master’s levels, in Spanish and English. My teaching draws on active learning methodologies developed and applied across institutions in Europe and Latin America. I have also supervised master’s-level thesis research.

2025–2026

Political Science

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona · Undergraduate

2025–2026

Politics and the Contemporary World

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona · Undergraduate

2023–2024

Building a Feminist International System Through Multilateralism

Sciences Po · Master's

2022–2023