But the most influential factor, scholars say, is a series of quotas that have gradually been imposed to ensure that women are represented in government. While the origin of the policies goes back decades, it was only after the advent of multiparty politics in the 1980s that women began to make significant strides.

The front-runner in the current campaign is Tsai Ing-wen, 59, of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. She lost her first bid for the presidency in 2012 but has maintained a strong lead in polls this time. Her chief contender, from the long-powerful Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, is Hung Hsiu-chu, 67, the vice president of Taiwan’s legislature.

The contest contrasts sharply with the situation scarcely more than 100 miles away in mainland China, which considers the self-ruled Taiwan part of its territory. The mainland has had a dearth of female leaders despite a Communist Party ideology that emphasizes the importance of women to society. Only two of the country’s 25 Politburo members are women, and none have reached the top echelon of political power, the Politburo Standing Committee.

Elsewhere in the region, the president of South Korea, Park Geun-hye, is the daughter of the man who held that office from 1962 to 1979. The former Philippine president Corazon C. Aquino was the wife of a senator, and her successor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is the daughter of a former president. Bangladesh’s president, Sheikh Hasina, is a daughter of the country’s first president, and its former prime minister Khaleda Zia was the wife of a former president.

But in Taiwan, neither Ms. Tsai nor Ms. Hung has a family connection to a prominent male politician.