[Applause]
women are in politics that’s not news
shouldn’t be surprising that fact is not
even a unique phenomenon we might even
could all agree that women have been
involved in politics since the Garden of
Eden Eve cannot dissolve herself from
what would be the ensuing reallocation
of cost and benefits
women have been civically astute mindful
of community and public service
politically engaged since before the
founding of the American Democratic
Republic they have stood for they have
fought for full equal rights in 1776
Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her
husband John Adams of the content of
Congress in Philadelphia
she stressed to him remember the ladies
in your deliberations about the American
experience
we will not be bound by any laws that
you’re making where we don’t have a
voice or representation she hoped that
ladies would be remembered that they
would be involved women in society and
not servants to men and power having a
voice in politics has not come quickly
it wasn’t until the 19th amendment in
1920 that women emerged as equal
partners and democracy that they could
actually send in positions of power when
men had to take a stand today we are
seeing more women involved in politics
than we have ever they are fighting
through their struggle for the vote
they are electorally viable and they are
making a difference we see women stand
before our nation’s capital domes they
look confidently yet getting into these
positions of power has been very slow
and women today
only comprised very few of our elected
positions only 325 women have ever
served as the United States
representative or as a United States
Senator
that’s only 3% of all individuals who
have ever served in the Congress women
are serving that today they are only
19.4% of Congress we only have four
women who are governors and nearly 25%
of all state legislators or women maybe
you’re wondering I’ve wondered why does
it matter if we have women in politics
why does it matter should we be
concerned that women have been gaining
positions in politics growth glacially
slowly no they haven’t been moving and
progressing fast women have an important
role because they are standing for other
women women had n powers and in position
of leadership can actually represent the
voices of the women and our society
their standing or others this has
prompted me to ask this question why do
women seek public office what motivated
them to serve in politics and do women
who are already serving in politics
women who are currently involved are
they role models do they have the
ability to influence another generation
of women to run for office and most
importantly for this talk and for our
discussion how do we get more women
involved in American politics how do we
get more women involved in politics
academics researchers like myself we
spend a lot of time talking about the
themes and gender in politics
one of the first themes that we talk
about is women’s descriptive
representation their roles in our
governmental system
and the past and the career trajectories
that they have taken to get into office
we talked about how gender affects that
decision whether they have political
ambition what type of candidate they
will be as well as the strategies they
will employ when they’re in office a
second theme that we talked about in
gender in politics is actually the
distinctive roles women play when they
are in office what issues they will lead
on how they will affect the government
policies that will come out of our
system yet connected to those two themes
is something that is important and that
is how women have a unique place for
each other women can be role models
women can be influential when they are
serving women affect representation and
women can affect policymaking deciding
to run for political office is very
different for women than it is for men
in many ways that decision is structured
by many environmental factors contextual
factors and relational factors and I
have argued through my research that the
past women take into office are very
mired but they are structured by women
modeling the behavior of other women
these women have an influence winners
inspire imitators if women can see
someone being politically involved and
engaged and active if they see someone
in the political pipeline they are
encouraged to run women politicians are
role models from this I have learned
that these are not static
representatives for some women it has
been different to get involved in
politics but for others they need to
have a path and an example to follow
over the course of the last couple years
I have interviewed over 60 different
female politicians and have asked that
simple question
why did you get involved in politics
what motivated you and from this I built
a typology of women and how they have
advanced into politics the first one I
would like to share with you is the
spicy I can political pioneer these are
women who are self-motivated they do not
need anyone to encourage them to run for
office or be engaged in politics this is
Jeannette Rankin who is our first
American political pioneer she was
elected to the knight United States
House of Representatives in 1917 she was
not going to believe her prescribed role
was to stay at home she stated the women
were half the population we should be
half the Congress and she opened the
door for women into the United States
House in the middle there is Bella Abzug
she campaigned in the 1960s on the
women’s rights platform and she
campaigned stating that women belong in
the house and that’s house with the
capital h o USD again hear championed
that she was running as a woman for
women other women have become a part of
politics because they were immersed into
a public life by marriage or by birth so
these are women who were born into
politics took on the family’s role
either helping their fathers or their
husbands in the political world so
Eleanor Roosevelt once stated that it’s
the duty of a woman to be interested in
whatever her husband is interested in
whether that’s politics books or a
particular dish for dinner one of the
congresswoman that I spoke with who
succeeded her husband actually stated
that her husband opened the door for her
but once she ran she was bitten by the
political bug and she wanted to serve
and make a difference two women have run
for governor because their husbands
could not run for governor again and
that was Marian Ferguson or Ma Ferguson
out of Texas and Lurleen Wallace ma
Ferguson
actually stated that if the Texas voters
would vote for her she would get advice
from her husband and Texas would get to
governor’s for the price of one
the third category these women are not
connected and may give some acclaim to
their family for motivating them in
politics but they were inspired by
someone they worked with or they were
inspired by a woman they may have never
met so we see here senator Susan Collins
out of Maine and she actually has and
holds the Senate seat from her former
boss senator William Cohen and she gives
a lot of discussion about he inspired
her to run Rob early she held the seat
that once was held by her boss
represented Ron Dellums and she
campaigned actually that she would be
carrying on the baton another woman that
I spoke with discussed how she had
interned for a congressman one summer
and that she really was impressed by the
clout that he had in the chamber and the
work he was doing for his people and
that showed that she wanted to do the
exact same thing
these women are politically inspired
adherence to those mentors the final
category her ladies political Protege so
much of the political conscience of
these women is stemmed from actual the
encouragement of seeing a woman succeed
in politics these women follow some of
them the exact path of another woman
into political office
Margaret chase Smith shirley Chisholm
Barbara Jordan Patricia Schroeder these
are congressional women who were role
models for others
senators Olympia Snowe and Senator Susan
Collins remain both credit Margaret
chase Smith as the reason why they were
running for office that she had opened
the door in Maine for them to be
involved diana deject her trail to
political office was blaze right after
her role model Patricia Schroeder
when Patricia shredder decided to retire
she endorsed Diana to jet and at a press
conference in Denver in 1996
representative Schroeder told Diana to
jet here are my congressional shoes and
Diana’s response was I feel like
Cinderella her ambitions to be involved
in politics they followed just by taking
the shoes of one lady and then each step
she had to Congress Diana DeGette is
referred to in many ways today as the
Schroeder clone women who have been
successful in politics create a path by
which other women can follow but women
don’t need just to have a role model
they’re gonna look too partisan wins the
political environment they’re gonna
actually think of the relationships
around them and whether they should run
or not but they will think of those who
have been successful before them they
will think about the path that has
already been blazed and they will model
their career choice to run for office
after many of these women understanding
what motivates women to run for office
helps us to understand our
representative government it helps us to
understand who’s involved but it’s more
than that
understanding role models and the impact
they have on politics has always
fascinated me and it’s very personal as
a young woman I was very fascinated
about politics and wanted to get
involved and I started my legislative
career as an intern in the Georgia
General Assembly and then I was
fortunate to move on and work for
congressmen and while I was there I
realized that the system is still full
of the good-old-boy domination of
politics women were there and they had
seats as representatives or senators or
lobbyists or legislative assistants but
they were not in the inner circles of
policy decision
they were siloed to certain areas
specific expertise and I said why are
they here given this climate why are
they putting themself before the public
to serve what is it that is truly
motivating them would I find a woman who
can inspire me could I find a mentor who
would walk me through what it would take
to be a candidate for office as well I
said are there women here who are
encouraging other women and I did find a
mentor but she was in higher education
and she was a professor he sparked all
of my intellectual curiosity ‘he’s more
about politics and she also said to me
please go and interview more women in
politics than you will learn from them
if we have female role models we are
more likely as women to run for office
we will be inspired we will be
encouraged we will see the symbolism the
acceptance of those other women in
politics and we will run now you might
ask well dr. Owen are you gonna run for
office one day not so sure but I know
that there are women out there I can
look to who can inspire me and we have
to get rid of seeing the Mean Girls and
being a part of a mean-girl culture to
one another we have to find women who
will lift us up encouraged us to take
the next step remember that every woman
we see run for political office she is
making a step a small step for some a
large step for others but she is making
a step to encourage more women to run
and if we can find a mentor if we can
find a role model that inspires us then
we can take those winning examples to
other girls and ladies and inspire them
to be involved in politics because it’s
not about encouraging women it’s not
just about women in math and sciences
it’s about women in politics and women
engaged because women who are
politics and women who are engaged can
really shape our public the public
discourse and our features thank you
you
women are in politics that’s not news
shouldn’t be surprising that fact is not
even a unique phenomenon we might even
could all agree that women have been
involved in politics since the Garden of
Eden Eve cannot dissolve herself from
what would be the ensuing reallocation
of cost and benefits
women have been civically astute mindful
of community and public service
politically engaged since before the
founding of the American Democratic
Republic they have stood for they have
fought for full equal rights in 1776
Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her
husband John Adams of the content of
Congress in Philadelphia
she stressed to him remember the ladies
in your deliberations about the American
experience
we will not be bound by any laws that
you’re making where we don’t have a
voice or representation she hoped that
ladies would be remembered that they
would be involved women in society and
not servants to men and power having a
voice in politics has not come quickly
it wasn’t until the 19th amendment in
1920 that women emerged as equal
partners and democracy that they could
actually send in positions of power when
men had to take a stand today we are
seeing more women involved in politics
than we have ever they are fighting
through their struggle for the vote
they are electorally viable and they are
making a difference we see women stand
before our nation’s capital domes they
look confidently yet getting into these
positions of power has been very slow
and women today
only comprised very few of our elected
positions only 325 women have ever
served as the United States
representative or as a United States
Senator
that’s only 3% of all individuals who
have ever served in the Congress women
are serving that today they are only
19.4% of Congress we only have four
women who are governors and nearly 25%
of all state legislators or women maybe
you’re wondering I’ve wondered why does
it matter if we have women in politics
why does it matter should we be
concerned that women have been gaining
positions in politics growth glacially
slowly no they haven’t been moving and
progressing fast women have an important
role because they are standing for other
women women had n powers and in position
of leadership can actually represent the
voices of the women and our society
their standing or others this has
prompted me to ask this question why do
women seek public office what motivated
them to serve in politics and do women
who are already serving in politics
women who are currently involved are
they role models do they have the
ability to influence another generation
of women to run for office and most
importantly for this talk and for our
discussion how do we get more women
involved in American politics how do we
get more women involved in politics
academics researchers like myself we
spend a lot of time talking about the
themes and gender in politics
one of the first themes that we talk
about is women’s descriptive
representation their roles in our
governmental system
and the past and the career trajectories
that they have taken to get into office
we talked about how gender affects that
decision whether they have political
ambition what type of candidate they
will be as well as the strategies they
will employ when they’re in office a
second theme that we talked about in
gender in politics is actually the
distinctive roles women play when they
are in office what issues they will lead
on how they will affect the government
policies that will come out of our
system yet connected to those two themes
is something that is important and that
is how women have a unique place for
each other women can be role models
women can be influential when they are
serving women affect representation and
women can affect policymaking deciding
to run for political office is very
different for women than it is for men
in many ways that decision is structured
by many environmental factors contextual
factors and relational factors and I
have argued through my research that the
past women take into office are very
mired but they are structured by women
modeling the behavior of other women
these women have an influence winners
inspire imitators if women can see
someone being politically involved and
engaged and active if they see someone
in the political pipeline they are
encouraged to run women politicians are
role models from this I have learned
that these are not static
representatives for some women it has
been different to get involved in
politics but for others they need to
have a path and an example to follow
over the course of the last couple years
I have interviewed over 60 different
female politicians and have asked that
simple question
why did you get involved in politics
what motivated you and from this I built
a typology of women and how they have
advanced into politics the first one I
would like to share with you is the
spicy I can political pioneer these are
women who are self-motivated they do not
need anyone to encourage them to run for
office or be engaged in politics this is
Jeannette Rankin who is our first
American political pioneer she was
elected to the knight United States
House of Representatives in 1917 she was
not going to believe her prescribed role
was to stay at home she stated the women
were half the population we should be
half the Congress and she opened the
door for women into the United States
House in the middle there is Bella Abzug
she campaigned in the 1960s on the
women’s rights platform and she
campaigned stating that women belong in
the house and that’s house with the
capital h o USD again hear championed
that she was running as a woman for
women other women have become a part of
politics because they were immersed into
a public life by marriage or by birth so
these are women who were born into
politics took on the family’s role
either helping their fathers or their
husbands in the political world so
Eleanor Roosevelt once stated that it’s
the duty of a woman to be interested in
whatever her husband is interested in
whether that’s politics books or a
particular dish for dinner one of the
congresswoman that I spoke with who
succeeded her husband actually stated
that her husband opened the door for her
but once she ran she was bitten by the
political bug and she wanted to serve
and make a difference two women have run
for governor because their husbands
could not run for governor again and
that was Marian Ferguson or Ma Ferguson
out of Texas and Lurleen Wallace ma
Ferguson
actually stated that if the Texas voters
would vote for her she would get advice
from her husband and Texas would get to
governor’s for the price of one
the third category these women are not
connected and may give some acclaim to
their family for motivating them in
politics but they were inspired by
someone they worked with or they were
inspired by a woman they may have never
met so we see here senator Susan Collins
out of Maine and she actually has and
holds the Senate seat from her former
boss senator William Cohen and she gives
a lot of discussion about he inspired
her to run Rob early she held the seat
that once was held by her boss
represented Ron Dellums and she
campaigned actually that she would be
carrying on the baton another woman that
I spoke with discussed how she had
interned for a congressman one summer
and that she really was impressed by the
clout that he had in the chamber and the
work he was doing for his people and
that showed that she wanted to do the
exact same thing
these women are politically inspired
adherence to those mentors the final
category her ladies political Protege so
much of the political conscience of
these women is stemmed from actual the
encouragement of seeing a woman succeed
in politics these women follow some of
them the exact path of another woman
into political office
Margaret chase Smith shirley Chisholm
Barbara Jordan Patricia Schroeder these
are congressional women who were role
models for others
senators Olympia Snowe and Senator Susan
Collins remain both credit Margaret
chase Smith as the reason why they were
running for office that she had opened
the door in Maine for them to be
involved diana deject her trail to
political office was blaze right after
her role model Patricia Schroeder
when Patricia shredder decided to retire
she endorsed Diana to jet and at a press
conference in Denver in 1996
representative Schroeder told Diana to
jet here are my congressional shoes and
Diana’s response was I feel like
Cinderella her ambitions to be involved
in politics they followed just by taking
the shoes of one lady and then each step
she had to Congress Diana DeGette is
referred to in many ways today as the
Schroeder clone women who have been
successful in politics create a path by
which other women can follow but women
don’t need just to have a role model
they’re gonna look too partisan wins the
political environment they’re gonna
actually think of the relationships
around them and whether they should run
or not but they will think of those who
have been successful before them they
will think about the path that has
already been blazed and they will model
their career choice to run for office
after many of these women understanding
what motivates women to run for office
helps us to understand our
representative government it helps us to
understand who’s involved but it’s more
than that
understanding role models and the impact
they have on politics has always
fascinated me and it’s very personal as
a young woman I was very fascinated
about politics and wanted to get
involved and I started my legislative
career as an intern in the Georgia
General Assembly and then I was
fortunate to move on and work for
congressmen and while I was there I
realized that the system is still full
of the good-old-boy domination of
politics women were there and they had
seats as representatives or senators or
lobbyists or legislative assistants but
they were not in the inner circles of
policy decision
they were siloed to certain areas
specific expertise and I said why are
they here given this climate why are
they putting themself before the public
to serve what is it that is truly
motivating them would I find a woman who
can inspire me could I find a mentor who
would walk me through what it would take
to be a candidate for office as well I
said are there women here who are
encouraging other women and I did find a
mentor but she was in higher education
and she was a professor he sparked all
of my intellectual curiosity ‘he’s more
about politics and she also said to me
please go and interview more women in
politics than you will learn from them
if we have female role models we are
more likely as women to run for office
we will be inspired we will be
encouraged we will see the symbolism the
acceptance of those other women in
politics and we will run now you might
ask well dr. Owen are you gonna run for
office one day not so sure but I know
that there are women out there I can
look to who can inspire me and we have
to get rid of seeing the Mean Girls and
being a part of a mean-girl culture to
one another we have to find women who
will lift us up encouraged us to take
the next step remember that every woman
we see run for political office she is
making a step a small step for some a
large step for others but she is making
a step to encourage more women to run
and if we can find a mentor if we can
find a role model that inspires us then
we can take those winning examples to
other girls and ladies and inspire them
to be involved in politics because it’s
not about encouraging women it’s not
just about women in math and sciences
it’s about women in politics and women
engaged because women who are
politics and women who are engaged can
really shape our public the public
discourse and our features thank you
you
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