Is it a Chasm? Is it a Canyon? No, it is the Gender Gap

The Forum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 611-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather L. Ondercin
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Vote Choice ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Gubernatorial Elections ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Women Candidates ◽  
Race And Class ◽  
Midterm Elections

Abstract Many speculated that we would observe a gender gap in vote choice of historic proportions in the 2018 midterm elections. However, the 2018 gender gap was similar to gender gaps in previous elections. I argue that the gender gap is not about a specific candidate or election but is driven by gender differences in partisan attachments. Variation in the gender gap in Senate and gubernatorial elections highlight that the gender gap does not advantage a particular candidate or party and that women candidates do not increase the size of the gender gap. Race and class intersect with gender to shape the partisan attachments and vote choice of men and women. Finally, while the candidates and events surrounding the 2018 election likely did not impact the gender gap in 2018, I discuss how the 2018 election will shape the gender gap in future elections.

scholarly journals Do Women Get Fewer Votes? No.

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Semra Sevi ◽  
Vincent Arel-Bundock ◽  
André Blais
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Time Trends ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Women Candidates ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
The Difference

AbstractWe study data on the gender of more than 21,000 unique candidates in all Canadian federal elections since 1921, when the first women ran for seats in Parliament. This large data set allows us to compute precise estimates of the difference in the electoral fortunes of men and women candidates. When accounting for party effects and time trends, we find that the difference between the vote shares of men and women is substantively negligible (±0.5 percentage point). This gender gap was larger in the 1920s (±2.5 percentage points), but it is now statistically indistinguishable from zero. Our results have important normative implications: political parties should recruit and promote more women candidates because they remain underrepresented in Canadian politics and because they do not suffer from a substantial electoral penalty.

Do Men and Women Have Different Policy Preferences in Africa? Determinants and Implications of Gender Gaps in Policy Prioritization

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 611-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Gottlieb ◽  
Guy Grossman ◽  
Amanda Lea Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Social Vulnerability ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Infrastructure Investment ◽  
Economic Empowerment ◽  
Formal Representation ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Social Empowerment

Policies designed to increase women’s representation in Africa are often motivated by the assumption that men and women have different policy preferences. This article finds that gender differences in policy priorities are actually quite small on average, but vary significantly across policy domains and countries. The study leverages this variation to show that the economic and social empowerment of women influences the size of gender gaps in the prioritization of two important domains. In particular, women’s participation in the labor force – an indicator of economic empowerment – narrows the gender gap in the prioritization of infrastructure investment and access to clean water, while social vulnerability widens the gap on prioritizing infrastructure investment. Finally, the article shows that the places where women and men have the most divergent policy preferences – and thus where formal representation is most important – are precisely the places where women are currently the most poorly represented and least active in formal politics.

scholarly journals Gen Z, Gender, and COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 1019-1027
Author(s):  
Melissa Deckman ◽  
Jared McDonald ◽  
Stella Rouse ◽  
Mileah Kromer
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Statistical Models ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Vote Choice ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Financial Situation ◽  
Generation Z ◽  
The Impact

AbstractUsing a national survey of Generation Z conducted in late May 2020, we measure attitudes about the impact of the coronavirus on personal health, financial and job concerns, views about shelter-in-place laws, and 2020 voting intentions. Gen Z women express greater health and economic concerns and support for shelter-in-place measures than their male counterparts, but this gender gap is largely mitigated by party and other covariates. Party also mediates the differences between young male and female voters concerning the influence of the coronavirus on their vote choice in 2020. Notably, women have significantly greater concern about the impact of COVID-19 on their personal financial situation, while Gen Z men express more concern about their personal health amid COVID-19 in more fully specified statistical models. This research contributes to the growing literature that examines not only the sorting effect of party on the gender gap but also how different identities—in this case, generation—can help explain the persistent political divides between men and women.

scholarly journals The continuum of election violence: Gendered candidate experiences in the Maldives

2021 ◽  
pp. 019251212097711
Author(s):  
Elin Bjarnegård
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Full Range ◽  
External Observer ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Political Candidates ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Women Candidates ◽  
Election Violence ◽  
The Continuum

Research on election violence often does not capture its psychological and gendered dimensions. Gender differences on the continuum of violence, as acknowledged in other fields, are applied here to election violence. Specifically, this article explores ways to unveil the forms of election violence that are hidden from the view of an external observer because they are either not carried out in public or not recognized as violence. Survey data and interview material was collected from men and women political candidates participating in the 2014 national elections in the Maldives. The study concludes that the continuum of violence is relevant for adequately assessing the full range of illegitimate acts used against men and women candidates to affect electoral races. Women candidates in the Maldives were more exposed than men candidates to threats and to verbal and figurative sexualized aggression.

scholarly journals The gender gap in aversion to COVID-19 exposure: Evidence from professional tennis

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0249045
Author(s):  
Zuzanna Kowalik ◽  
Piotr Lewandowski
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Prize Money ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Professional Tennis ◽  
Country Differences ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Cross Country

We study the gender differences in aversion to COVID-19 exposure using a natural experiment of the 2020 US Open. It was the first major tennis tournament after the season had been paused for six months, held with the same rules and prize money for men and women. We analyze the gender gap in the propensity to voluntarily withdraw because of COVID-19 concerns among players who were eligible and fit to play. We find that female players were significantly more likely than male players to have withdrawn from the 2020 US Open. While players from countries characterized by relatively high levels of trust and patience and relatively low levels of risk-taking were more likely to have withdrawn than their counterparts from other countries, female players exhibited significantly higher levels of aversion to pandemic exposure than male players even after cross-country differences in preferences are accounted for. About 15% of the probability of withdrawing that is explained by our model can be attributed to gender.

Linked Fate, Black Voters, and Black Women Candidates

Sister Style ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 164-171
Author(s):  
Nadia E. Brown ◽  
Danielle Casarez Lemi
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Black Politics ◽  
Vote Choice ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Women Candidates ◽  
Linked Fate ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Black Voters

This chapter examines how linked fate—a feeling of closeness to group members—may shape how Black voters respond to Black women candidates. It provides a brief review of the relevant literature on linked fate and colorism, a novel inclusion to this foundational concept in Black politics. The chapter includes colorism in an analysis of linked fate and its significance to vote choice, and it more fully fleshes out these implications for the appeal of Black women candidates to men and women voters who report a sense of linked fate. Using experimental data, the authors do not find strong evidence of heterogeneity by linked fate. The chapter ends with a discussion of how Black women candidates’ bodies influence vote choice.

The gender gap in voter turnout: An artefact of men’s over-reporting in survey research?

2021 ◽  
pp. 136914812110568
Author(s):  
Daniel Stockemer ◽  
Aksel Sundstrom
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Moderate Evidence ◽  
Official Records ◽  
Cross National

Is there a gender gap in voting? Most cross-national survey research on gender inequalities in voter turnout finds that men have a higher probability to vote than women. Yet, some studies using validated turnout data shed some doubt on this finding. We revisit the question of a gender gap in voting using official records. In more detail, we compare the gender gap in turnout between survey data and official electoral figures across 73 elections. Our results highlight that in surveys, men still report higher turnout in most countries. However, official electoral figures reveal contrasting trends: across countries, women are, on average, more likely to vote. We also test two explanations for this difference in turnout between official figures and surveys: (1) men over-report voting more than women and (2) the survey samples of men and women are different. We find some, albeit very moderate, evidence for the first explanation. We find some, albeit very moderate, evidence for the first explanation and no support for the second explanation. All in all, our research nevertheless suggests that scholars should be careful in using surveys to detect gender differences in voting.

scholarly journals Explaining the Gender Gap in Math Test Scores: The Role of Competition

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muriel Niederle ◽  
Lise Vesterlund
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Test Taking ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Math Test ◽  
Math Test Scores ◽  
Competitive Test ◽  
The Right

The mean and standard deviation in performance on math test scores are only slightly larger for males than for females. Despite minor differences in mean performance, many more boys than girls perform at the right tail of the distribution. This gender gap has been documented for a series of math tests including the AP calculus test, the mathematics SAT, and the quantitative portion of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). The objective of this paper is not to discuss whether the mathematical skills of males and females differ, be it a result of nurture or nature. Rather we argue that the reported test scores do not necessarily match the gender differences in math skills. We will present results that suggest that the evidence of a large gender gap in mathematics performance at high percentiles in part may be explained by the differential manner in which men and women respond to competitive test-taking environments. The effects in mixed-sex settings range from women failing to perform well in competitions, to women shying away from environments in which they have to compete. We find that the response to competition differs for men and women, and in the examined environment, gender difference in competitive performance does not reflect the difference in noncompetitive performance. We argue that the competitive pressures associated with test taking may result in performances that do not reflect those of less-competitive settings. Of particular concern is that the distortion is likely to vary by gender and that it may cause gender differences in performance to be particularly large in mathematics and for the right tail of the performance distribution. Thus the gender gap in math test scores may exaggerate the math advantage of males over females.

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