Despite the perceptions that America is progressing toward gender equality in politics, a study by School of Public Affairs Associate Professor Jennifer Lawless and Professor Richard Fox of Loyola Marymount University suggests otherwise.
Although Lawless does not believe her study applies to all cases, she identified a trend of women being less politically motivated.
“What we found in the study is that by looking at a random sampling of college students, we found that women were less politically motivated,” Lawless, who teaches in the Department of Government, said.
Lawless and Fox’s report, “Girls Just Wanna Not Run,” randomly surveyed 18- to 25-year-olds and formed an argument that women are less likely to consider entering the political world.
The study’s findings highlight a need for young women to be empowered from an early age. Lawless emphasizes the need for early parental support, encouraging women to play competitive sports and organizational efforts to get women involved in politics, according to the report.
“My concern is that it’s less likely to appear on women’s radar screens in the first place,” Lawless told The Huffington Post.
The study also asked women and men how they feel they can best bring about change, with women seeing their participation in charities as being more effective than entering into politics.
Lawless attributes this view of women to society’s institutionalized notions of gender.
“It’s the way that politics have been perceived,” Lawless said. “There is a notion that women have to be twice as qualified to get half as far.”
Lawless and Fox are involved in a multi-pronged approach to bridge this gender gap. The details are still being worked out, Lawless said.
An event in May at AU will unveil their findings to D.C. policymakers. In addition, their report will be sent to relevant political figures as well as to women’s high schools and colleges nationally to spread the impact of their findings, Lawless said.
Lawless said she lacks optimism about future female politicians if no change occurs. Looking back on the past six election cycles, there are actually fewer female governors than previous years, Lawless said.
“There has been this general idea that the next generation looks different, with these women in politics such as [former Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton getting attention, and that we just need to be patient,” she said. “However, the gender gap today we uncovered is just as big as 10 to 50 years ago. There is a lack of change over time and across generations, and that is particularly troubling.”
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