The Gender Gap in Self-Perceived Understanding of Politics in Canada and the United States

Abstract

Despite the gains women have made since the advent of second-wave feminism, women remain less confident than men of their ability to understand politics. This gender gap has remained unchanged for decades, yet it has attracted surprisingly little scholarly attention in recent years. This article uses data from the 2000 American and 2004 Canadian election studies to assess whether differences in women's and men's socioeconomic resources help to explain the gender gap. We also examine whether there are differences in the ways that socioeconomic resources affect women's and men's self-perceived ability to understand politics. We focus particular attention on the effects of parenthood on women's confidence in their understanding of politics. Finally, we consider the role of feminism and gender role conceptions.

Tracing the Gender Gap in Political Interest Over the Life Span: A Panel Analysis

“…The lesser presence of prominent female politicians contributes to transmit the implicit message that “politics is not for them.” In short, politics has historically been and remains identified as a “ male affair ” because it is men who rule (Fox & Lawless, ). Empirical evidence shows that men and women's perceptions about how they fit into the political sphere are intrinsically different, with women showing lower self‐perceptions of their abilities (Gidengil, Giles, & Thomas, ). However, a previous study using a survey experiment shows that providing participants positive feedback about their performance on a test of political knowledge substantially increases women's declared interest in the political realm so that the gender gap vanishes (Preece, ).…”

The Complexity Conundrum: Why Hasn't the Gender Gap in Subjective Political Competence Closed?

“…Explanations focusing on feminist mobilization and changes in gender role socialization have proved equally disappointing. Several studies find that generational differences are unrelated to political self-confidencẽ Beckwith, 1986: 88;Christy, 1985;Gidengil et al, 2008!. However, these studies were cross-sectional and were therefore unable to disentangle generational from life-cycle effects. Perceptions of appropriate gender roles have changed significantly since the advent of the second and third waves of the feminist movement.…”

The Roots of the Gender Gap in Political Knowledge in Adolescence

“…Women can come to believe that politics is a man's world, leading them to lose efficacy and confidence about their ability to influence politics. Indeed, women are more likely to say that politics is too complicated to understand (Gidengil et al 2008) and less likely than men to feel that they are informed about politics in campaign seasons (Banwart 2007). The finding that men appear to be more willing to guess on tests of political knowledge while women are more likely to respond ''don't know'' to political questions also suggests that women are not as confident as men in their ability to understand and engage in politics (Atkeson and Rapoport 2003;Kenski and Jamieson 2001;Mondak and Anderson 2004).…”

“…In adulthood, women's political engagement is affected by both resource disadvantages (in the patterns of lower education and income of women compared to men) as well as the demands of family roles and childcare (Bennett and Bennett 1989;Burns et al 2001;Gidengil et al 2008). These differences in the social roles and responsibilities of men and women can contribute to lower levels of political knowledge among women (Delli Carpini and Keeter 2000).…”