Europe’s Gender Equality Lens (1999–2024): A Bibliometric Analysis of Institutionalist and Post-Structuralist Frames

European gender equality research now constitutes a substantial and internally diverse body of scholarship, yet the ways in which it is conceptually organized are rarely examined directly. This article maps the field’s underlying structure by analyzing recurring patterns in the language scholars use to frame gender inequality. Drawing on a bibliometric and vocabulary-based framing analysis of 2,241 English-language social science articles published between 1999 and 2024 and indexed in Scopus, the study examines titles and abstracts using theoretically informed dictionaries associated with institutionalist and post-structuralist approaches. The analysis uncovers a persistent theoretical dichotomy: institutionalist and post-structuralist viewpoints constitute separate conceptual clusters that influence the definition, explanation, and remediation of gender inequality in the literature. Alongside these dominant orientations, a small but enduring group of publications combines elements of both, while a broader residual category reflects neighboring disciplinary traditions. Longitudinal evidence shows that institutionalist and post-structuralist approaches have expanded concurrently rather than in a converging manner. The dual configuration sheds light on the persistence of unresolved debates within feminist scholarship and demonstrates the value of reflexivity regarding theoretical choices and their implications for policy-oriented research.