As many of you know, I’m double majoring in political science and women’s studies. These fields of study overlap quite often, but one of the most notable intersections which is researched consistently in both spheres is what political analysts call the “gender gap.” This term can be used in several different situations, but generally it refers to the difference between men and women in each context. Some of such contexts include the pay gap, the average level of education in men and women, the number of male vs female CEOs, the number of men vs women in the military and the positions they hold, voting patterns and political participation by sex, and the percent of women vs. men in government positions. What I want to call everyone’s attention to in this blog entry, is the gender gap in political ambition.
Feminists and political scientists alike both want to know the reason women make up 51% of the U.S. population, but only hold 20% of seats in the Senate, 18% of seats in the House, and make up only 10% of State Governors. What is it that is keep American women out of office?
It can’t just be that women aren’t electable–that’s no longer a valid claim in this century. Today, women tend to get elected more often than men… At least when they run. Women who run also receive more press coverage (Meeks) and are able to raise more money from individual donors (Crespin and Dietz).
So why are there so few in our government? New studies show that it may simply be that girls have less interest in running for political office–in other words, they lack the political ambition of men.
But it doesn’t start out this way. Caroline Heldman, associate professor of Political Science at Occidental College, said in in an interview for the 2012 film, Miss Representation, that when children are seven years old, boys and girls report wanting to become president in roughly equal numbers. But by the time they’re fifteen, the number of girls who say they would like to be president decreases dramatically as compared to the boys (Newsom).
A 2013 Study by Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox examines this gender gap in detail on college campuses, and reveals that, when asked how often they had thought about running for office, undergraduate women were about 50% more likely than men to report they’d never thought about it, about 25% less likely than men to say that it had crossed their minds, and only half as likely as men to have thought about it multiple times.
But the question remains: Why? What is happening to women between the ages of seven and fifteen that are causing them to suddenly not be interested in political office. Fox and Lawless offer five reasons:
- Young men are more likely to be socialized by their parents to think about politics
as a career path. The same survey that asked undergraduates how many times they’d thought about running for office also found that women were less likely than men to discuss politics with their parents at home. Most importantly, women were less likely to be encouraged by either their father or mother to run for office, and more likely to be discouraged by both parents to run. Parental support is a key factor when it comes to pursuing any field not just politics. It comes as no surprise that this variable would be linked to political ambition.
2) Young men tend to be exposed to more political information than women. This exposure can occur through class or clubs in school, peer associations, and media habits (e.g. men are more likely to watch shows like The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. Fox and Lawless found that male undergraduates were significantly more likely to have taken a class in politics or which discussed politics. They were also more likely to have participated in political or student government or in college, and more likely to discuss politics with their friends.
3) Young men more likely to have played organized sports and perhaps for this reason seem to care about winning. I know this can seem like a stretch, but their has been several positive correlations made between playing a competitive sport in high school or college and attaining political office. And guess what? Women were about ⅔ as likely to have played a varsity or junior varsity sport than men.
4) Young women are less likely to receive encouragement to run for office–from anyone. We already talked about how women are less likely to be encouraged by their parents, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. Men are also significantly more likely to be encouraged to run for office by their grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings, teachers, coaches, religious leaders, and their friends. This variable, by the way is extremely significant. If you look at people who currently hold office, you’d be extremely hard pressed to find a single one of them–male or female–that had not be encouraged to run for office. This encouragement plays a huge role in whether or not someone runs for office, and women are only receiving about ⅔ of what men are.
5) Young women are less likely than men to believe that they are qualified to run for office–even if they are just as qualified. This could be for any number of reasons. Of course, some of this stems from the fact that women don’t participate in as many political organizations, or take as many classes in politics. But when they do take those classes, I suspect it’s because of a lack of encouragement, as we suggested above.
So what can we do do close the gender gap? The first thing to consider is perhaps requiring students to take a politics class in high school. This would not just teach students about our political system–which is a good idea all in its own. It would also ensure that men and women enter college on a more even playing field when it comes to political knowledge. We also need to get women politically active early in life, because being involved in these political organizations is strongly linked to political activism later in life (Burns, Schlozman, and Verba). Finally, we have to encourage more girls to run for office. If someone has good idea, and you feel they’d make a strong candidate, tell them–it doesn’t matter what gender they are! Also, if that person had never been encouraged before, imagine the impact you’d be making on them. And who knows! Maybe they’ll be the next great world leader.
Burns, Nancy; Schlozman, Kay Lehman; and Verba, Sidney. “‘What Happened at Work Today?’: A Multistage Model of Gender, Employment, and Political Participation.” The Journal of Politics, vol. 61, no. 1 (29-53). The University of Chicago Press, Feb. 1999. Web. 19 Oct., 2015.
Crespin, Michael H. and Deitz, Janna L. “If You Can’t Join ‘Em, Beat ‘Em: The Gender Gap in Individual Donations to Congressional Candidates.” Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 63, No. 3 (581-593). Sage Publications Inc., Sept. 2010. Web. 19 Oct., 2015.
Fox, Richard L. and Lawless, Jennifer L. “Girls Just Wanna Not Run The Gender Gap in Young Americans’ Political Ambition.” School of Public Affairs. Women and Politics Institute, March 2013. Web. 19 Oct., 2015.
Meeks, Lindsay. “Is She ‘Man Enough’? Women Candidates, Executive Political Offices, and News Coverage.” Journal of Communication, vol. 62 (175-193). International Communication Association, 2012. Web. 19 Oct., 2015.
Newsom, Jennifer Siebel. “Miss Representation.” Girl’s Club Entertainment, 22 Jan., 2012. Film.
O’Brien, Meredith. “Stop Selling Sexism to Our Daughters!” Modern Mom. Mom, Inc., 2015. Web. 19 Oct., 2015.
Tags: Ambition, Gender, Gender Gap, politics