American University did a study on why there is such gap between men and women running for office in the United States. These were researchers’ conclusions:
- Women are substantially more likely than men to perceive the electoral environment as highly competitive and biased against female candidates.
- Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin’s candidacies aggravated women’s perceptions of gender bias in the electoral arena.
- Women are much less likely than men to think they are qualified to run for office.
- Female potential candidates are less competitive, less confident, and more risk averse than their male counterparts.
- Women react more negatively than men to many aspects of modern campaigns.
- Women are less likely than men to receive the suggestion to run for office – from anyone.
- Women are still responsible for the majority of childcare and household tasks.
It’s a fascinating read and reminded me of a discussion at Netroots Nation last year, in which former congressional candidate Krystal Ball said that women often don’t feel that they are sufficiently prepared to run for office whereas men run anyway. Ball, by the way, is an articulate television pundit who ran for office with a newborn baby in her 20s.
What say you about this study? Have you ever flirted with running for office? What stopped you?
