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Huge Barriers/ Progress Made for Women in Political Leadership - Coggle…
Huge Barriers/ Progress Made for Women in Political Leadership
Slowed Growth in Political Representation
The year 2024 was slowest in 20 years for female representation in politics. This is with over half the global population participating in major elections. This is highlighting the reality that female politicians are facing due to slowed growth and deep seated barriers (Venema, Hegarty, Robertson 2024).
The first major issue to highlight is Global Regression (the downward trend of gender parity across the world). This may be due to the fact that global narratives are shifting back towards negatively impacting women. "There has been an increase in attacks on women in public life, online and in person, according to studies in many different countries" (Venema, Hegarty, Robertson 2024). I also think the idea that because of the reinforced image of men in contemporary politics and the lack of powerful women imagery.
Nearly 2/3 of the 46 countries where results were confirmed the number of the women elected fell. There was more likely to be growth in countries with quotas but still nothing close to parity. There is not one issue to blame therefore there is not one simple solution.
Global/Timeless Barriers to Participation
The sources collectively dive into the complexity of maintained structural obstacles and challenges
I think that the three main groups of understood barriers include; Psychological and Socialization Barriers (Like the Ambition Gap as stated by Lawless and Fox), Structural and Systemic Barriers (The Institutional Disadvantage as explained by Barclay) and overall Prejudice and Stereotyping.
One barrier that stood out to me was the lack of parent and external encouragement- While men are twice as likely as women to have thought about running for office "many times," only 29% of female respondents reported parental encouragement to run for office later in life, compared to 40% of male respondents (Lawless and Fox 2013). This one stood out to me because of the normalization of discourse could really make all the difference. This could be a huge equalizer in the growth of political ambition.
Electoral designs play a large role in the structural barriers. "Kittilson and Schwindt-Bayer argue that electoral institutions are gendered, in that they trigger different responses in men and women. This is an important and ground-breaking contribution, since the assumption that electoral systems have consistent effects across citizen traits has been the accepted norm in analyses of the consequences of these institutions" (Kitilson et al 2012). I agree with this classification and the give and take of introducing gender quotas and watching women's political activity and awareness increase is important even if quotas aren't full proof.
One overall issue that affects all issues is the fact that Broader biases persist, such as the finding that a significant number of Americans would not vote for a woman president, and that voters imagine the first female president must be both "tough" and "likable" (Schneider and American University's Women and Politics Institute). While overall the public seems to understand that when women work in government it works better but when they are trying to picture a women in an executive role they are blinded by stereotypes.
One area that I think women could capitalize on is "Podcast Politics" as highlight by American University. "Podcast Politics: More than half of voters listen to political podcasts monthly; younger men credit “bro culture” shows with shaping the 2024 election outcome" (Schneider and American University's Women and Politics Institute). This is an easier form of popular media to capitalize on, one of the reasons being it takes out the complexity of framing women on visual media. It also allows for women politicians to combat engrained narratives by long form conversation techniques.
Institutional and Role Compatibility Challenges
Symbolic Effects of Institutions are incredibly impactful in women's attitudes toward their representativeness and inclusiveness. In each of the case studies, the changing institutional contexts offer the scientific goldmines of a natural experiment. Yet their selected cases also add a layer of complication to the discussion. For example, their choice of Russia introduces another variable into the analysis: the death of a democracy. The particular electoral reform that they discuss, after all, essentially marks the end of any anti-Putin legislators participating in policy making, thereby pushing an at-best hybrid regime into solid authoritarian territory (Kittlson et al 2012).
A huge limitation is the fact that few parliaments offer maternity leave which in turn "puts women off" seeking office. Women still generally bear more caring responsibilities than men, which can negatively affect how they are viewed by voters and their internal narrative surrounding working (Venema, Hagerty, and Robertson 2024). This is a societal issue that bleeds into the institutional makeup of chambers and leadership roles.
Double Blind and the Negative Consequences that accompany it.
There are two forms of prejudice: less favorable evaluation of women’s potential for leadership because leadership ability is more stereotypical of men than women and less favorable evaluation of the actual leadership behavior of women than men because such behavior is perceived as less desirable in women than men (Eagly and Karau 2002). Role congruity prejudice contributes to women’s lesser access to leadership roles because they are ascribed less leadership ability. This bias is especially strong at the highest levels of leadership, where the difference between the female gender role and the masculine leader role is most extreme and most explained in contemporary media.
The no-win scenario, that women face when aspiring to or occupying political or leadership roles due to deep-seated gender stereotypes and prejudice. This situation is explained through the Role Congruity Theory (RCT) of Prejudice Toward Female Leaders, which highlights the conflict between expected female behavior and expected leader behavior (Eagly and Karau 2002).
Gender Gap in Political Ambition
Gender gap in political ambition:
Young men are more likely than young women to be socialized by their parents to think about politics as a career path.
From their school experiences to their peer associations to their media habits, young women tend to be exposed to less political information and discussion then do young men.
Young men are more likely than young women to have played organized sports and care about winning.
Young women are less likely than young men to receive encouragement to run for office from anyone.
Young women are less likely than young men to think they will be qualified to run for office, even once they are established in their careers (Lawless and Fox 2013).
When thinking about expanding on the list that Lawless uses to understand the gender gap I want to tie in the interview with Rosie Campbell as reported by BBC. She stated that they often have to be "nudged". I originally associated this nudging with the process of running for office or even during their term. The more pressing issue is that the conversation surrounding following this path or considering running is much more important. The lack of societal narrative normalizing women in these roles needs to combated on a larger scale (Venema, Hegarty, Robertson 2024)
Self-Doubt: This inhibits female students interest in candidacy more significantly than it does for men, which cannot be taught.
"Open bias at the top: Four in ten Americans say they personally know someone who would not vote for a woman president" (Abel 2025). This stat is striking for two reasons, that 40% of American voters would not cast their vote for a women, due to ignorance or embedded stereotypes. The second being that this conversation is taking place in the first place. Based on the readings of the week I would heavily associate this with patterns of pessimism and the inability to see past all the other disadvantages like financial and hostility barriers.