Why women don't run for office

By Janie boschma
Illustrations by ELLEN WEINSTEIN
06/12/17 05:00 AM EDT

Women represent 20 percent of Congress, 25 percent of state legislature seats and 12 percent of governorships. They hold 24 percent of statewide elected offices, such as attorney general and lieutenant governor. While women have proven that they can raise money and win elections at comparable, if not higher, rates than men, too few women run for office at all.

A new survey, sponsored by POLITICO, American University and Loyola Marymount University, finds that President Donald Trump’s election has mobilized Democratic women to take political action. Democratic women are signing petitions and making donations at much higher rates than they did before the election. But the poll also shows that women in both parties remain significantly less likely than men to have thought about running for office—even after Trump’s victory.

What would it take to get more women to run? POLITICO has examined the factors that dissuade women from running—starting at a young age and persisting over the course of their educations and careers—and the key moments when they could be urged to reconsider:

It Starts in Childhood

Two keys to cultivating girls’ interest in running for office later in life are parental encouragement and sports. Political scientists Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox have found that college students who played varsity or junior varsity sports were much more likely to have considered running than those who did not. Women who played sports were about 25 percent more likely to exhibit political aspirations.

In high school, boys and girls report almost equal interest in politics, and they are equally likely to participate in student council. The gender gap opens up in college, when more men begin to get involved in politics on campus and to consider running one day. Both college-aged men and women report being encouraged to run for student government at nearly equal rates, but family and friends were far more likely to encourage men to consider a run for political office later in life.

Parental encouragement “has the potential to be a great equalizer,” say Lawless and Fox. Half of college students whose mothers regularly urged them to run for office said they would “definitely like to run in the future,” compared to only 3 percent among those who received no maternal encouragement. Fathers have a similarly profound effect on political ambition—suggesting that childhood is an ideal place to begin encouraging women to think about running for office.

Collegiate Confidence Gap

In college, men’s political ambition grows, while women’s fades. While only a third of high school girls doubt they’d ever be qualified to run, half of college women have the same doubts.

Self-doubt shadows women’s aspirations much more often than men’s, according to Lawless and Fox. College-age men who didn’t think they’d ever be qualified to run for office were still 50 percent more likely than women with the same doubts to consider running anyway.

College men also report talking about politics with friends and visiting political websites at higher rates. Men are almost twice as likely to join College Republicans or College Democrats.

Hitting the School Board Ceiling

The lack of confidence continues well beyond college, even among women with relevant political and policy experience. When Lawless and Fox polled women and men among “feeder” careers (business, law, education and politics/activism), they found that women were almost equally likely to have had relevant political experience, including extensive policy research, public speaking, soliciting funds and interacting with public officials. But when asked if they thought they were qualified to run for office, only 57 percent of those women said they thought they were qualified or very qualified, compared to 73 percent of men.

There is an important exception, however: One arena in which women are willing to run for office—and do seem to feel qualified—is the local school board. A poll of school superintendents estimates that women represented 43 percent of the nation’s school board members in the 2014-15 school year. Women are particularly well-represented in larger, urban school districts.

If recruiters were to target school board members by appealing to their desire to transform their communities, research suggests more would run for higher office. Women were significantly more likely to indicate a desire to volunteer in their communities and to rate working for a charity as the best avenue for improving the world.

Recruiters Look in the Wrong Places

When women are recruited, they respond just as positively as men. But more men report being urged to run by political operatives, colleagues and family members.

Recruiting women from local school boards, parent-teacher associations and other offices below the county level would be the easiest place for party leaders to continue to close the gap at higher levels of office, according to a 2008 nationwide survey of county party leaders. Most county party leaders of both parties already recruit among sub-county officeholders, but are far less likely to recruit among education and child-related networks—precisely where they would find the most women with untapped political potential.

Why women don't run for office

The Gender Gap in Political Ambition

When potential candidates who have considered running for office first thought about it

It Starts in Childhood

Students who said they might want to run for political office someday

Students who reported being encouraged to run for student government and for political office later in life

Collegiate Confidence Gap

Political confidence and experiences
among students who ...

Students who have thought about running for office

Hitting the School Board Ceiling

College students’ future aspirations and attitudes on how to create societal change

If you wanted to make your community or country a better place, which path would you be most likely to pursue?

Recruiters Look in the Wrong Places

Potential candidates who reported being encouraged to run

County party leaders look for candidates in these networks

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The Gender Gap in Political Ambition

When potential candidates who have considered running for office first thought about it

It Starts in Childhood

Students who said they might want to run for political office someday

Students who reported being encouraged to run for student government and for political office later in life

Collegiate Confidence Gap

Political confidence and experiences among students who ...

Students who have thought about running for office

Hitting the School Board Ceiling

College students’ future aspirations and attitudes on how to create societal change

If you wanted to make your community or country a better place, which path would you be most likely to pursue?

Recruiters Look in the Wrong Places

Potential candidates who reported being encouraged to run

County party leaders look for candidates in these networks

Political confidence and experiences
among students who ...