Psychology
Gender, Candidate Selection, and the Gender Gap in Political Ambition
Quick fact
In a landmark 2001 study, Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox found that women are less likely than men to even consider running for office, driven partly by lower self-perceived qualifications—women often wait until they feel highly qualified, while men run when they feel merely encouraged.
Why this is interesting
Why do so few women run for office—even when they have similar credentials to men? The answer lies not just in who is chosen, but in who even decides to step forward.