Abstract
The ‘gender ambition gap’ is seen as a key explanation for women’s political under-representation around the world, with women significantly less likely than men to be interested in running for elected office. This ‘gender gap’ has also become the dominant frame of political training programmes aimed at recruiting and preparing prospective women candidates. However, this conventional wisdom has come under increasing critique, with studies pointing to ongoing party political, institutional and systemic barriers to women’s political inclusion. Increasingly, work in the field has moved away from individual-level explanations of (and solutions to) women’s under-representation, towards a more comprehensive and contextual understanding of the gendered dynamics of candidate emergence.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Gender and Politics |
Editors | Zoe Lefkofridi |
Publisher | Edward Elgar Publishing |
Publication status | Accepted/In press - 9 Jul 2024 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- gender
- political ambition
- political representation
- comparative politics
- candidate emergence
- political parties