Gendered Discourse in the Political Behavior of Adolescents

The roots of adult civic and political participation originate in pre-adult experiences (Verba et al. 1995) and high school extracurricular activities offer students opportunities to develop interpersonal and leadership skills. In this research, we ask whether adolescents also learn gendered norms of political discourse through extracurricular activities. This project assessed gender differences in participation at the 1999 Model United Nations of the Southwest (MUNSW) at the University of Oklahoma. Important differences in participation were observed in the number and character of speaking turns taken by male and female delegates. We find that contextual factors, such as the sex of the committee chair, the issue areas addressed by the committee, and the timing of the session in the conference significantly influence who participates in the discourse, but the percentage of female participants surprisingly does not. The character of the political discourse suggests norms dominated by masculinity.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Determinants of Collaborative Leadership: Civic Engagement, Gender or Organizational Norms?

This analysis attempts to unravel competing explanations of collaborative leadership styles of state legislative committee chairs. Specifically, the paper considers the influence of community or volunteer experience, gender, and institutional variables. The data show that women chairs are more likely than their male peers to cite as valuable the leadership skills and experiences that they gain through community and volunteer experience. Compared to their male colleagues, women committee chairs on average also report a greater reliance on collaborative strategies in the management of their committees. Prior community or volunteer experience has little or no direct effect on collaborative styles. In contrast, institutional factors have a much stronger and countervailing influence. Legislative professionalization produces a strong negative effect on collaborative style. Results suggest that conformity to institutional norms may be a more compelling influence than prior community experience. The analysis also points to the gendered nature of organizational leadership with men's and women's styles showing different associations to style depending on the number and power of women in a legislature.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

The Role of Gender in Descriptive Representation

This article broadens consideration of the gender gap from voting differ ences to the larger question of affective preferences for descriptive represen tation (Pitkin 1967). The results, based on a 1993 survey of 416 individuals, suggest that women are far more likely than men to be "gender conscious" in their evaluation of a candidate or a preferred representative. Differences among the 224 women in the sample can be traced to at least four sources. Group interests and feminist attitudes are positive sources of women's preferences for descriptive representation. Conversely, conservative political views deter some women from supporting women in politics. The results also provide partial support for Carroll's (1987) psychological and economic autonomy thesis. Finally, the results suggest that in part the "gender gap" may be a generational gap most prevalent among "baby boomers."Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline