underrepresentation of women in politics

Our Own Glass Ceilings

By Ruth Marcus
Wednesday, May 28, 2008; A13
The Washington Post


As Hillary Clinton cracks her head against what she likes to call "the highest and hardest glass ceiling," there's no doubt that she craves the presidency as much as any man does.

But a new report from the Brookings Institution suggests an unexpected reason for the relative paucity of women elsewhere in political office and the dearth of credible female presidential candidates: an ambition gap.

"Somewhat surprisingly," write political scientists Jennifer Lawless of Brown University and Richard Fox of Loyola Marymount, women's underrepresentation "is not because of discrimination against women candidates. In fact, women perform as well as men when they do run for office. In terms of fundraising and vote totals, the consensus among researchers is the complete absence of overt gender bias."

Rather, the "fundamental reason for women's underrepresentation is that they do not run for office. There is a substantial gender gap in political ambition; men tend to have it, and women don't."

Surveying thousands of business leaders, educators and political activists, Lawless and Fox found "clear and compelling evidence that women, even in the highest tiers of professional accomplishment, are substantially less likely than men to demonstrate ambition to seek elected office." These results held true regardless of age, partisan affiliation, income and profession.

Equally unsettling, they note, this ambition gap is not shrinking. The number of women seeking political office grew steadily during the 1980s, and surged in the early 1990s -- remember the Year of the Woman? -- but has since leveled off. Today, women account for fewer than one out of four elected statewide officials, one in six members of Congress, and -- perhaps most relevant considering the traditional road to the presidency -- eight of 50 governors.

Why this reluctance to take the political plunge? "Women are less likely than men to be willing to endure the rigors of a political campaign," Lawless and Fox write. "They are less likely than men to be recruited to run for office. They are less likely than men to have the freedom to reconcile work and family obligations with a political career. They are less likely than men to think they are 'qualified' to run for office."

Oh, boy -- oh, girl?-- does that ring true.

The women in the survey were far less likely to be married or have children than the men were, and those who did had their hands full: 60 percent of the women, compared with 4 percent of the men, said they were responsible for the majority of child care.

As Beloit College political scientist Georgia Duerst-Lahti put it, "Women may now think about running for office, but they probably think about it while they are making the bed." Chugging down the Mommy Track may leave little time for pursuing a third, often all-consuming career.

The ambition gap also reflected an underlying, and pronounced, cockiness gap. One-third of men, but just one in five women, rated themselves "very qualified" to hold political office; twice as many women (12 percent) as men (6 percent) considered themselves "not at all qualified." Men were more likely to try for federal office, women for the local school board. Nearly half the women, but fewer than a third of the men, said they did not "have thick enough skin" to run.

Those responses resonated with my own experiences. Becoming a parent tempered my career ambitions in ways I never anticipated. There are jobs I once wanted -- jobs I'd be good at, actually -- that now I would not pursue.

If the gender tables were turned, would Michelle Obama leave two young daughters at home to run for president? How would voters respond if she did? Would her husband put his career on hold to manage the family?

When the governor of Alaska gave birth the other day to her fifth child, my initial, not-especially-enlightened thought was: How in the world will she manage that? I have just two kids to juggle and no state to run, and I'm dropping balls left and right.

The cockiness gap, too, has parallels in the opinion-writing business. The undeniable underrepresentation of women on op-ed pages has always struck me as more a function of limited supply (women willing to speak out) than inadequate demand (male chauvinist editors). It is intimidating to put your opinions out there, especially in an age of online, highly personal vitriol. It takes a certain unbecoming arrogance to believe you have something valuable to say -- even one time, no less week after week.

Sometimes the hardest glass ceilings are the ones women impose, whether knowingly or unconsciously, on ourselves.

marcusr@washpost.com

Become a Mentor!

Good Afternoon,

I write to you today in these times of recession to ask you to spend. But spend a little differently.

I would like you to spend social capital. All my life I have had a plethora of role models that helped open up the world to me through athletics, arts and crafts and civics. Unfortunately, as most of you know, most youth raised in Roxbury and the surrounding areas are not as fortunate.

For the past 8 or 9 years I have committed myself to being the same type of positive role model for youth as my mentors were for me. I have worked at Dorchester's Little House engaging young people in the evening teen program. I have worked with Dorchester Bay's Youth Force and Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative's Youth Council. It is some of the most gratifying moments of my life not only spending time with young people but watching and helping them develop into young adults with life skills and strong values.

In our community the need for more mentors is great (especially men) ! There are over 3,000 young people in the 02119 zip code alone between the ages of 7-14. Many of them in low income single family households.

My current work is as a recruitment coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay.

Here's is where the spending happens. . .

You yourself can spend time (a commodity most people think they don't have) and volunteer to spend a couple of hours, a couple of times a month for a year with a young person who's life you can impact merely through a one to one friendship. . .for more details please ask. . .there is a great process that matches you with a young person with similar interests and a fantastic infrastructure that supports you the child and the child's family throughout.

or

You might know of a person who potentially would be a great "Big" in which case please help them connect with me.

or

You may know of an upcoming event where I could possibly share information with people.

or

You may work for a company or organization that supports or encourages community involvement and philanthropic efforts. In which case I would love to contact HR or a decision maker that could facilitate an information session either downtown at our home offices (dinner, my treat for the session) or on site at your company/organization (lunch, my treat for the session).

I know your time is valuable, and you may be thinking what would I do with the child. "Littles" as we call them have told me that some of their enjoyable activities are things we as adults consider chores. (washing the car, planting flowers, running errands, seeing parts of Boston they have never seen before, going to events that Big Brothers Big Sisters get tickets for and pass on to "Bigs" at no charge)

Please think about it. . . and if you have any ideas how to increase mentoring of the young people in our community don't hesitate to share it.

I thank you in advance,

Carlos Henriquez

(617)956-0291 work

(617)642-4195 work cell

chenriquez@bbbsmb.org

ADDITIONAL NOTES RE: FINAL CASE STUDY

Interview Transcripts:

Please include these in AT LEAST ONE presentation ready copy in an appendix/annex

Consent Forms:

Please include your consent forms in BOTH presentation ready copies in an appendix/annex

Interview Guides:

Please include your consent forms in BOTH presentation ready copies in an appendix/annex

Great job to all last nights presenters!

And good luck to everyone in the final presentations and with the final case study.

Do not forget your two copies and envelopes.

I will be marking you down if you misuse APA style and for grammar/spelling mistakes.

Good luck!
Jasmine

Summer Internships in NOLA

The Southern Institute for Education and Research is accepting applications from graduate and undergraduate college students for unpaid summer internships. Two full-time positions are available to run through August 15, 2008. Interns will be responsible for their own travel and housing. They will collaborate with the Institute's staff on new projects aimed at racial healing and reconciliation in the aftermath of Katrina and promoting effective social justice volunteer service.

Based at Tulane University, the Southern Institute is a non-profit race relations center dedicated to improving ethnic relations in the Deep South through tolerance education and communications training. Founded in 1993, the Southern Institute's programs help young people understand the causes and consequences of prejudice by examining the past. For the adult community, the Southern Institute offers programs on communal trauma and race and a highly acclaimed cross-cultural communication workshop that enables participants to understand and work effectively with people from different cultures.

Interested applicants should send a cover letter and resume to Meredith Bethune at mbethune@tulane.edu by May 20.