Addressing the lack of representation for girls in politics!

So, I would like to begin by addressing the fact that there is not a massive gulf between male and female voter turnout in the UK. In fact, when both men and women were asked, in a 2019 survey, whether they were likely to vote in a national election, there was a 2% difference in the amount of respondents who had replied ‘yes’, a result of 65% women and 67% men (Democratic Audit UK, 2019). However, there is a large problem with the representation of women within politics. Shockingly, research has shown that women hold fewer than a quarter of legislative seats worldwide despite representing half of the global population! How is this even possible?

First, we must ask: why are women so underrepresented in politics? One reason for this underrepresentation is because of the way that females from a young age are socialised politically. Particularly within the classroom, girls are not taught how to be “outspoken” and “demanding” which are key traits of those in political roles; in fact, some theorists suggest that women have simply not had enough negotiation training when young and therefore, shy away from leadership roles (Harris, 2014); I know I did! Despite the inclusion of political teachings in schools as well as open classroom policies, young girls still often remain quieter than boys who are much more likely to dominate conversations or debates in the classroom setting (Sadker & Sadker, 1991). This complies with harsh gender roles which limit the way that different genders act, particularly in young children where these roles are ingrained into them from the family or education. This is expected to lead young girls further away from roles where they are likely to have to debate and more into gender specific roles such as careers leading from subjects such as English and Art. Interestingly, research shows that women feel that they need to have a full understanding of something to fully participate. As young girls are not likely to get much political education from either their family or education, they are less interested in participating full within political systems and instead find their own ways of participating through activism or roles such as school governor (Ondercin & Jones-White, 2011)

Similarly, another reason for the lack of representation of girls in politics is the lack of self-belief in becoming political leaders. Due to a cycle of underrepresentation, women do not hold much power within these political systems and so are unable to act as role models for younger girls. Notably, female representation has only just increased to over a third of members within the House of Commons, now up to 34%, a staggering total of 220 women elected (Watson, Uberoi, Mutebi, Bolton, & Danechi, 2021) but this is nowhere close to being enough! Comparably, the United Kingdom is 39^th for the number of women represented within parliament, with Rwanda and Bolivia almost doubling their number of female MP’s! To say that the UK have gender equality would definitely be an overstatement. Interestingly, some theorists suggest that this lack of interest in becoming politicians is a result of the lack of knowledge that girls have about politics from a young age. When presented with a political test, boys were much more knowledgeable in their answers, whereas girls were much more likely to choose the ‘I don’t know’ option (Simon, 2017). But does this really mean that girls know less? Or are they just more likely to answer ‘I don’t know’ on a test? Although, this research has been criticised for the use of multiple choice tests and when given a larger and broader political test, result on knowledge were somewhat similar with certain genders dominating certain political areas. For example, girls were much more able to recognise local members of parliament while boys had a wider knowledge of international political affairs (Simon, 2017). In spite of this, girls are still massively lacking in confidence when competing against boys for these roles. Only 46 women in history have been lucky enough to obtain a role within the cabinet and only 6 remain in the cabinet at the moment. The picture below demonstrates where women are heads of their government:

It is crucial to encourage women to get into politics so that all genders feel represented within their government as well as to encourage young girls’ aspirations. A way for us to elect more women into political roles could be through reserving seats for women to encourage them to apply. By broadening the chances for women to become elected, there is likely to be a large increase in applications from women. However, this goes against the idea of encouraging gender equality by favouring women for their gender rather than their suitability for the role. To ensure that women are represented in politics, it is very important to ensure that both genders have a full understanding of their local politics at a young age. This can be done by increasing citizenship education or changing the way that children are gendered; particularly in the classroom setting where boys are likely to dominate their ‘classroom politics’.

Bibliography

Democratic Audit UK. (2019, January 3). Has the gender gap in voter turnout really disappeared? Retrieved from Democratic Audit: https://www.democraticaudit.com/2019/01/03/has-the-gender-gap-in-voter-turnout-really-disappeared/

Harris, R. H. (2014, November 13). 5 reasons why there aren’t more women in politics and business. Retrieved from The Business Journals: https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/growth-strategies/2014/11/5-reasons-why-there-arent-more-women-in-politics.html

Ondercin, H., & Jones-White, D. (2011). Gender Jeopardy: What is the Impact of Gender Differences in Political Knowledge on Political Participation?†. Social Science Quarterly, 675-694.

Sadker, & Sadker. (1991). The Issue of Gender in Elementary and Secondary Education. Review of Research in Education, 269-334.

Simon, A. (2017). How can we explain the gender gap in children’s political knowledge? American Behavioural Scientist, 222-237.

Watson, C., Uberoi, E., Mutebi, N., Bolton, P., & Danechi, S. (2021). Women in Politics and Public Life. London: House of Commons Library.