scholarly journals Does Exposure to Gender Role Models Increase Women’s Political Ambition? A Field Experiment with Politicians

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-166
Author(s):  
Florian Foos ◽  
Fabrizio Gilardi
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Political Ambition ◽  
Female Politicians ◽  
Political Office ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Positive Effect

AbstractThere is a persistent gender gap in motivations to run for political office. While exposure to role models is widely believed to increase women’s political ambition, there is little field experimental evidence on whether exposure to female politicians in realistic settings can increase political ambition. We conducted a field experiment in which a sample of 612 female students was randomly assigned to receive emails inviting them to an event that included career workshops with female politicians, or no email. The treatment increased interest in the ongoing national election campaign, but, against expectations, did not have any positive effect on political ambition. Our results suggest that female politicians who discuss their experience bluntly, instead of following a motivational script, may fail to motivate other women to pursue a political career. These results highlight the need for more research into the type of events and messages that bring more women into politics.

scholarly journals Gender Differences in the Choice of Major: The Importance of Female Role Models

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 226-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Porter ◽  
Danila Serra
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Female Role ◽  
Choice Of Major ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Introductory Classes ◽  
Positive Effect

We conducted a field experiment aimed at increasing the percentage of women majoring in economics. We exposed students enrolled in introductory classes to successful and charismatic women who majored in economics at the same university. The intervention significantly impacted female students’ enrollment in further economics classes, increasing their likelihood to major in economics by 8 percentage points. This is a large effect, given that only 9 percent of women were majoring in economics at baseline. Since the impacted women were previously planning to major in lower-earning fields, our low-cost intervention may have a positive effect on their future incomes. (JEL A22, C93, I23, I26, J16)

scholarly journals The Value of Transfer of Knowledge in Bridging the Gender Gap in STEM

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5426
Author(s):  
Ana Jesús López ◽  
Dolores Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Young Female ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Future Application ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
Low Visibility

Spanish researchers’ recent evaluations regarding the transfer of knowledge have shown that activities that could help close the gender gap in STEM areas are penalized upon evaluation. The results were very disappointing and, upon inspection, could lead readers to reach certain conclusions: first, Spanish researchers transfer research to society in a mediocre way; second, female researchers are even less capable of transferring knowledge in a profitable, beneficial way; and third, activities without a high economic impact for either society or research institutions are not promoted and do not boost the prestige of researchers in this research area. With the help of an ad hoc questionnaire responded to by 513 researchers (both male and female), we examined the causes of the low scores received by female researchers and whether transfer of knowledge activities focused on promoting STEM among female students end up penalizing the female researchers dedicated to those activities. This issue is compounded by the problem of the low visibility of female role models for young female students. The conscientious analysis of the results of the questionnaire may help to improve the fairness of future application rounds, avoiding subsequent disastrous results and encouraging researchers and administrators to work toward fostering an equal society, even if no economic value is directly derived from female-led research.

Endurance at the Top: Gender and Political Ambition of Spanish and Swedish MPs

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (03) ◽  
pp. 596-621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Galais ◽  
Patrik Öhberg ◽  
Xavier Coller
Keyword(s):  
Family Support ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Ambition ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Female Politicians ◽  
Gender Policies ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Different Cultures

The gender gap in political ambition is an important explanation for the absence of women in legislative assemblies. However, previous research on this matter is limited by two facts: it is conducted mostly in the United States and does not pay much attention to cultural and institutional factors. In this article, we test the extent to which established mechanisms behind female politicians' career ambitions—such as differentiated political socialization and family support for men and women—are related to gender inequality among parliamentarians. We also draw attention to other lesser-known aspects, such as political culture and gender policies. To do so, we compare Spain and Sweden, two countries with a relatively high number of female members of parliament (MPs) but different cultures and gender policies. We make use of two representative surveys on Swedish and Spanish MPs. The results show that female MPs in Spain have to sacrifice their family life more than Spanish males and Swedish MPs regardless of sex. In addition, Spanish female MPs' long-term political ambitions are more dependent on family support. Female MPs' ambition in Sweden, in turn, is highly influenced by a politicized upbringing.

scholarly journals „Blasse Mädchen“ im Spiegel – Zur Berichterstattung über Politikerinnen im Wahlkampfjahr 2013 am Beispiel von Medientexten über Katja Kipping

2016 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anke Heier
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Frame Analysis ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Online Platform ◽  
News Magazine ◽  
News Magazines ◽  
Female Politicians ◽  
Political Office ◽  
The Media

This paper examines how the news magazine Der Spiegel and the online platform Spiegel Online (SPON) portrayed the politician Katja Kipping from the German party Die LINKE during the election campaign in 2013. Kipping is since 2012 chairman of the party Die LINKE and contributes to the increasing number of women in politics in recent years. The debate on sexism in everyday life and politics and the discussion related to the appointment of Ursula von der Leyen as the first female German defense minister has shown that an increasing number of women in politics does not automatically lead to the opinion that women are suitable for a political office. Since der Spiegel is one of Germany’s most influential weekly news magazines, it is important to be aware of the contribution it makes to a person’s image in the media and the influence on the election campaign, because if this image is undifferentiated, the reader may reduce the image even more. This reinforces the process of stereotyping. The purpose is to analyze to what extent der Spiegel and SPON spread a unilateral or a differentiated picture or concept and what features of the investigated person that are highlighted. Methodologically, the study is based on the questionnaire for frame analysis by Ziem, modifies it and applies a sequence of questions adapted to female politicians.

Partisanship, the Personal Vote, and Constituency Service

2019 ◽  
pp. 226-242
Author(s):  
Jennifer Bussell
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Baseline Response Rate ◽  
Baseline Response ◽  
History Of ◽  
Constituency Service ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Small Positive Effect

Chapter 8 tests observable implications of the book’s theory on constituency service’s supply, using the field experiment introduced in Chapter 3 to assess politicians’ motivations to respond to petitions. It shows that indicators of a personal vote—that the petitioner has voted for the politician in the past—can have a small positive effect on the quality of a politician’s response, if not the baseline response rate. This chapter also investigates whether information on local blocking affects politicians’ willingness to respond. It shows that, in states with a long history of local elections, politicians interpret information about a failure to receive assistance locally as an indicator of local partisan blocking and, combined with information on electoral history, an indication that the petitioner is a supporter or persuadable voter. Consistent with qualitative evidence from politician shadowing, this experimental evidence substantiates the argument that politicians use constituency service to reach potential supporters.

Discovering, Developing, Teaching

2020 ◽  
pp. 143-158
Author(s):  
Bill Emmott
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Consumer Electronics ◽  
Admission Rates ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The University ◽  
National Universities

A common gender stereotype holds that women are less suitable to be scientists than men even though there is no evidence for this proposition. In Japan, a big gender gap in STEM subjects in high school translates into low numbers of female students studying science at university and low admission rates of females to national universities for which all applicants for all degrees are required to sit an exam in science. But role models do exist to encourage the younger generation, and some national universities are trying hard to encourage more female students to study science, technology, and mathematics. Interviews with three role models who took science degrees and went on to successful careers in academia, finance, and consumer electronics, show that barriers are considerable but that they can be overcome. An interview with the president of Nagoya University, Matsuo Seiichi, examines what the university is doing to try to close the gender gap.

Internet Pornography Addiction and Effects of Excessive Pornography Consumption: A University Tunku Abdul Rahman Undergraduate Student Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahsha Vaksalla
Keyword(s):  
Female Students ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Negative Dimension ◽  
Internet Pornography ◽  
Pornography Consumption ◽  
The World ◽  
Research Population ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Pornography Addiction ◽  
Positive Effect

Pornography is a debatable subject, both in Malaysia and around the world. Some feel it is harmless while others feel it is damaging. Pornography can bring about its own impact to the viewers. In Malaysia, the trend of viewing pornography among youngsters’ has been increasing. Studies have also shown Pornography can lead to unhealthy behaviors as a result of too much viewing. This study was conducted to discover the addiction level and the consumption effects on students at a Malaysian University. The researchers used purposive sampling to distribute questionnaires. The Scale used was the Internet Pornography Addiction Test and the Pornography Consumption Effects Scale consist of Positive and Negative dimension used to conduct the research. The research population (N=120) was students’ from University Tunku Abdul Rahman of Malaysia. There were significant relationship between the addiction and consumption. There were significant differences between the Positive and Negative Dimension as well. The Negative Effect Dimension is higher than the Positive Effect Dimension. There were significant differences between male and female students towards pornography addiction. However, there were not any significant differences among the genders in internet consumption. Male scored higher than female in the Internet Pornography Addiction. There were no significant differences between gender in the Positive and Negative Dimension.

Breaking the Metal Ceiling

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Campos ◽  
Markus Goldstein ◽  
Laura McGorman ◽  
Ana Maria Munoz Boudet ◽  
Obert Pimhidzai
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Occupational Segregation ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Small Enterprises ◽  
Labour Market Participation ◽  
Female Labour Market Participation ◽  
Sub Saharan

Evidence from developed and developing countries indicates that there is significant gender segregation within the labour market, with women more likely to work in low-productivity sectors or less profitable businesses. This chapter looks at occupational segregation which significantly contributes to the earnings gender gap worldwide. The chapter studies the differences in outcomes for male and female enterprises and their sectors in sub-Saharan Africa, a region of high female labour market participation and entrepreneurship. Data on Uganda show that women breaking into male-dominated sectors make as much as men, and three times more than women staying in female-dominated sectors. Factors including entrepreneurial skill/abilities and credit/human capital constraints do not explain women’s sectoral choices. However, information about profitability of their small enterprises, male role models’ influence, and exposure to the sector from family and friends are critical in helping women circumvent or overcome norms undergirding occupational segregation.

A Trump Effect? Women and the 2018 Midterm Elections

The Forum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 569-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Lawless ◽  
Richard L. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Ambition ◽  
Candidate Emergence ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Midterm Elections ◽  
Election Results ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Negative Feelings

Abstract From the moment Donald Trump took the oath of office, women’s political engagement skyrocketed. This groundswell of activism almost immediately led to widespread reporting that Trump’s victory was inspiring a large new crop of female candidates across the country. We rely on a May 2017 national survey of “potential candidates” and the 2018 midterm election results to assess whether this “Trump Effect” materialized. Our analysis uncovers some evidence for it. Democrats – especially women – held very negative feelings toward Trump, and those feelings generated heightened political interest and activity during the 2018 election cycle. That activism, however, was not accompanied by a broad scale surge in women’s interest in running for office. In fact, the overall gender gap in political ambition today is quite similar to the gap we’ve uncovered throughout the last 20 years. Notably, though, about one quarter of the Democratic women who expressed interest in running for office first started thinking about it only after Trump was elected. That relatively small group of newly interested candidates was sufficient to result in a record number of Democratic women seeking and winning election to Congress. With no commensurate increase in Republican women’s political engagement or candidate emergence, however, prospects for gender parity in US political institutions remain bleak.

scholarly journals The Effects of Professor Gender on the Postgraduation Outcomes of Female Students

ILR Review ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 001979392199483
Author(s):  
Hani Mansour ◽  
Daniel I. Rees ◽  
Bryson M. Rintala ◽  
Nathan N. Wozny
Keyword(s):  
Air Force ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
United States Air Force ◽  
Postgraduate Education ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Air Force Academy ◽  
Career Trajectories ◽  
Bachelor's Degrees ◽  
Scientists And Engineers ◽  
Potential Determinant

Although women earn approximately 50% of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) bachelor’s degrees, more than 70% of scientists and engineers are men. The authors explore a potential determinant of this STEM gender gap using newly collected data on the career trajectories of United States Air Force Academy students. Specifically, they examine the effects of being assigned female math and science professors on occupation choice and postgraduate education. The results indicate that, among high-ability female students, being assigned a female professor leads to substantial increases in the probability of working in a STEM occupation and the probability of receiving a STEM master’s degree.

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