March 17, 2021

Speaker to explore the gender gap in politics

Kamala Harris
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Vice President Kamala Harris takes the oath of office on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

“The Gender Qualification Gap: Why Women Still Have To Be Better than Men to Win Elected Office,” featuring Nicole Bauer, assistant professor of political communication at Louisiana State University, will take place at 11:30 a.m. March 29 via Zoom.

The 2020 election cycle was a benchmark year for women political candidates, with women setting new records in state legislatures, in Congress, and, of course, with the first woman, a woman of color no less, elected to be vice president. Indeed, women’s representation is at its highest level ever in American history. Yet, women’s under-representation persists at every level of elected office in the U.S.

This talk examines how the perception of political leadership through the lens of masculinity poses gendered obstacles for women running for elected office and explains what women have to do to overcome these challenges to win elected office. Register here.

The event is sponsored by University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s departments of Political Science, Women’s and Gender Studies, and University of Nebraska–Lincoln Faculty Senate.