Women, Gender, and Politics

N14 - Gender and Stereotypes

Date: May 31 | Time: 03:45pm to 05:15pm | Location: Classroom - CL 417 Room ID:15723

Chair/Président/Présidente : Cheryl Collier (University of Windson)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Linda Trimble (University of Alberta)

Gender Stereotypes, Social Desirability, and the Foundations of the Political Gender Gap: Philip Chen (Beloit College), Allison Harell (Université du Québec à Montréal), Tania Gosselin (Université du Québec à Montréal), Melanee Thomas (University of Calgary)
Abstract: In our quest to understand the long-standing gender gap in political knowledge, interest and ambition, recent research (McGlone, Aronson, & Kobrynowicz, 2006; Pruysers & Blais, 2014) suggests a potential role for stereotype threat. That is, the perception of stereotypes about women in politics increases anxiety and cognitive load, reducing women’s performance on political knowledge tests and, in turn, their interest in politics. But public opinion polls show low levels of endorsement of said stereotypes, presenting a challenge to the underlying premise of the stereotype threat literature. Using a list experiment modeled after Streb, Burrell, Frederick, and Genovese (2008), but focused on stereotypes about female voters, we find high levels of stereotype endorsement across a number of different demographic and political sub-groups. In addition, we utilize an Implicit Association Test coupled with an embedded experiment to demonstrate the role that implicit and explicit stereotypes play in evaluations of potential political candidates. These findings underscore the prevalence and power of gender stereotypes in shaping knowledge, interest, ambition, and the potential candidate pool.

Gender and Speechmaking in Parliament: Tania Gosselin (Université du Québec à Montréal), Allison Harell (Université du Québec à Montréal), Melanee Thomas (University of Calgary), Philip Chen (Beloit College)
Abstract: Many studies discuss the gender gap in political representation, the effect of electoral quotas, and women’s presence in parliaments or cabinets on policy. By comparison, women’s legislative behavior has received considerably less attention. Notably, only a handful of studies consider speechmaking in political institutions. The small number of studies and the varying settings (eg different countries’ parliaments, senates or political committees) in which they were conducted limit generalizations but findings suggest that women speak less often (Back, Debus, Muller 2014), give shorter speeches (Brescoll 2011), and are interrupted more frequently (Mattei 1998) than men. To investigate whether speechmaking in the Canadian parliament exhibits gendered patterns, the paper proposes an analysis of 100 speeches delivered by MPs in 2016. We expect to find less and shorter speeches by women, as well as more negative interruptions when women speak. We also analyze the content of members’ statements to assess whether men and women representatives emphasize different issues and use distinct frames when they speak about their constituency.

Gender and Party Leader Exits: Brenda O'Neill (University of Calgary), David Stewart (University of Calgary)
Abstract: The number of women chosen to lead political parties at the provincial and federal level in Canada has increased in recent years. The improving trend in their selection does not, however, appear to be matched by the nature of their exits. In 2014 alone, three of five sitting premiers – Kathy Dunderdale, Alison Redford and Pauline Marois – resigned their posts after relatively brief tenures and particularly harsh treatment from their parties, the media and the general public. Using data on all party leaders selected between 1980 and 2017 at both levels of government, we examine the gendered nature of party leader exits. Are women party leaders in a more precarious position than men, and at greater risk of failure and criticism? Specifically, we seek to develop a typology of exit types that will allow for a comparative evaluation of how, when and why women and men party leaders exit their posts. Our findings suggest that the rules of the game differ for the women and men who lead political parties in Canada.