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Victims of Circumstances: Women in Pursuit of Political Office

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Timothy Bledsoe  and
Mary Herring
Timothy Bledsoe
Affiliation:
Wayne State University
Mary Herring
Affiliation:
Wayne State University
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Abstract

Women have long faced special barriers in their efforts to gain election to political office. We show that the hurdles women encounter go beyond the often-described familial responsibilities and occupational disadvantages to include perceptual and political barriers unique to women. Using a two-wave, five-year panel of people serving on city councils, we find women likely to pursue higher office only under particular conditions—conditions that seem to matter little to men. Additionally, the success of women in pursuing higher office is more closely tied to the circumstances in which they find themselves than is the success of men. We suggest that the motivational circumstances of women and men in pursuing a political career are more complex than previously assumed. It is not just that men and women differ in their career attitudes and perceptions but that these attitudes and perceptions have different meaning for the two sexes.

Type
Research Notes
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 84 , Issue 1 , March 1990 , pp. 213 - 223
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1990

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