The defeat of N-D-P Leader Rachel Notley in Alberta's election means there will soon be no women premiers in Canada.
Women made up nearly half of provincial and territorial leaders in 2013, but those ranks have thinned as a succession of female premiers lost their re-election bids.
Political pundits wonder if the defeats are part of a trend rooted in negative assumptions about women's leadership capabilities.
Melanee Thomas, a University of Calgary political scientist, says women leaders still face a double-standard regardless of their party affiliation or defining policy issue.
She says their gender is not the number one factor -- it is the way people interpret what they do.
The list of women leaders defeated in recent years include Christy Clark in B-C., Alison Redford in Alberta, Kathleen Wynne in Ontario, Pauline Marois in Quebec, Kathy Dunderdale of Newfoundland and Labrador and Eva Aariak in Nunavut.
The University of Ottawa's Genevieve Tellier says female politicians today often opt for a more collaborative approach to government, resulting in a perception that they lack conviction or the ability to act decisively.
