gender gap

The gender gap in American salaries is well documented, but it turns out this disparity in pay extends into the political realm as well. Women also donate much less to political campaigns than their male counterparts.

California boasts two female senators.

We are the only state to advance women's reproductive rights in the last few years.

The state is rapidly moving forward on the Affordable Health Care Act and there has been paid family leave in California since 2002, though it is underused.

But don't be misled. Even here we have a political gender gap that is actually widening, not closing.

Women can and do run for office, but their path to politics differs from the one most men follow. Women are generally asked to run and likely to have been recruited. Men tend to initiate their own candidacy, and worry less about if they are qualified or not. Women tend to feel under qualified, regardless of their background and experience.

We invite you to read the full article published February 11, 2014

As world leaders met on a global stage for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this past week, it wasn’t hard to notice that something was missing. Women make up half of our planet’s population, yet this year only 15% of the attendees at one of the world’s most important gatherings of decision makers and influencers were female.

“In Chile, the skirt’s in charge,” blared the headline of Santiago tabloid La Cuarta the day after Michelle Bachelet and Evelyn Matthei advanced to a second round in the country’s presidential race. Voters today will pick between the two life-long politicians in the first presidential election in Latin America where all the candidates are female.But having such high-profile women in Chilean politics masks a country that is falling behind its peers on women’s issues.

When Chileans vote Sunday for their next leader, they will choose between a former president seeking to expand access to higher education broadly and a staunch conservative opposing tax increases aimed at reducing Chile’s high levels of inequality.
The fact that both candidates — Michelle Bachelet, a former president who narrowly missed a first-round victory in November, and Evelyn Matthei, her right-wing opponent — are women reveals an area where Latin America is surging: the empowerment of female leaders in politics.

The MPs making obscene gestures at Sarah Champion and other women in the Commons are the backbench nonentities.