Women account for 50.5% of the American population but only assume about a fourth of the United States Congress. Both chambers were created with the intention of accurately representing the American people, yet women currently hold only 129 of 435 seats in the House of Representatives, and 25 of 100 seats in the United States Senate.
Studies show that this disparity isn’t due to a lack of qualification to run, underperformance once elected, or blatant sexism – women just aren’t running for office.
Jennifer Lawless, Commonwealth Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, identifies this discrepancy as the “gender gap in political ambition.” In her studies alongside Richard Fox, a professor of Political Science and International Relations at Loyola Marymount University, they found that women are less likely to be open to the idea of running for office because it does not occur to them that they are capable of it.
“Women have been socialized by their family members, their friends, their teachers, the media, not to consider themselves qualified to run for office,” said Lawless. “Or, another way of thinking about it is that men have been socialized to consider themselves as qualified to run for office.”
Learned self-doubt often keeps women out of the political realm, despite performing just as well as their male counterparts. Lawless and Fox found evidence of these differences when observing the disparities between male and female “potential candidates,” a group that consists of lawyers, business leaders, educators, and political activists. Despite having identical resumes, female potential candidates are more than three times as likely as men to say they’re “not at all qualified” to run.
“Women are less likely than men to receive the suggestion to run from anyone – whether it be a friend, colleague, family member, or even party official,” explained Lawless. “And there, we argue that those gatekeepers and those people that could be sources of encouragement have also actually been socialized not necessarily to think about women in positions of political power.”
Underrepresentation perpetuates the cycle of women not running for office, because people rarely view women as leaders.
Progressive states like California are no exception. California has voted blue in every presidential election for the last 30 years, yet does not exhibit true equality in gender representation. Yet, out of 52 districts, only 17 are represented by women.
The political ambition gap is so pervasive, that it has consumed every level of government, in every area of the United States. “It doesn’t matter where you look and in what realm, if you’ve got a male dominated environment, the likelihood is that men are more likely to thrive in it and women are more likely to doubt it,” said Lawless.
Of the nine offices she studied, ranging from local to federal elected positions, women were found to be significantly less likely than men to express interest in running for eight of them. (The only position with no gender gap is the school board.) She found that more than twice as many men than women said they might be interested in being a mayor, governor, or member of Congress someday. Only 40% of women surveyed said they would consider running for city council opposed to 51% of men.
“We deconstruct the narrative when we prove it wrong,” said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Heather Hutt, the first woman in history to be appointed as a voting member for the 10th District. “Women must participate in politics, and assume leadership positions, to ensure that our voice is being heard and represented in society,” said Hutt.
The Councilwoman is a walking example of the positive impact that female leaders and an upbringing in community service and government can have on women’s political ambition. Mentored by Assemblywoman Gwen Moore, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and her “Forever Boss” Vice-President Kamala Harris, she was surrounded by women making history.
Although, it is not to say that her journey to representing CD10 was easy. As the first Black woman to hold this position, gender impacts her political experience every day.
“As Shirley Chisholm says, ‘If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.’ We make progress when more women have a seat at the table. Representation matters.”
When women do run, they win – or at least, they win as often as men. Due to party-line voting and the general publicity of politics, women are much less likely to face discrimination in the political arena in comparison to other industries.
“Going back 40 years now, when women run for office they’re just as likely as men to win their races, they’re just as likely to raise as much money, for the last 10 years or so their media coverage has generally looked the same,” said Lawless.
Lawless and Fox’s studies reveal that women are also just as likely as men to respond positively to encouragement to run. “Focusing on the premier agents of political socialization – family, peers, school, and media – and how they detract from women’s future candidacy can help narrow the gender gap in political ambition,” said Fox.
The environment in which children grow up alters their political ambition down the line, and fostering an atmosphere where women feel emboldened to become tomorrow’s leaders is essential to mending this disparity.
“I think the best way to encourage women to run for office is by showing them that they can do it. It’s important for women to grow up seeing other women dominate in leadership positions, so that they can see and believe that they are able to be in these positions, as well,” said Hutt.
When observing the six main deterrents that individuals cited when justifying not wanting to run for office, the reasons were not inherently gendered. Responses included experiencing a loss of privacy, enduring a negative campaign, raising money, or dealing with the press. Lawless and Fox found that 45% of men, compared to 59% of women, are deterred by at least one aspect of electoral politics. Women are nearly three times as likely as men to be deterred by all six.
These rates of discomfort – from both men and women – surrounding the political process indicate that the way campaigning is set up in the United States deters potential candidates of all genders from politics.
“Another question to ask,” Lawless said, “and a bigger question that we have often grappled with is: Who are we actually encouraging to run for office here?”