“Large Childcare Center Plan Shot Down in Southington” – Patch, Southington, CT
These headlines, pulled from news outlets around the country, all have one thing in common – they show the countless ways that local appointed boards and commissions make critical decisions that affect our lives. But our new national research suggests that critical viewpoints are missing on many of these boards and commissions: the viewpoints of women.
In the first national study of its kind, we collected data on thousands of board members in cities in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia. Our analysis found that women fill only 39% of these cities’ board seats. Our analysis also found that women have less representation on some boards than on others. You can read the full study, with all of our findings here.
Why does this matter? In a perfect world, every public servant would understand the needs of all the members of their community, and would advocate equally for all those needs. In reality, this is not the case. We need reflective representation to ensure that all voices are heard. Reflective representation in an elected or appointed body is representation that reflects the demographics of the community it serves. Women make up about 50% of the population in most communities. So, we would say that gender composition on a board, council or legislature is more “reflective” as women make up closer to 50% of that body. Similarly, we could look at other demographics of a community to see if its elected and appointed positions reflect the diversity of the community in terms of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, etc.
Scholars have identified numerous ways that women’s presence on decision-making bodies impacts the decisions that body makes.
First, some research suggests that - to put it simply - women get things done. When more women make up a party’s leadership, that party is more likely to fulfill its election promises. In Congress, women sponsor more bills and secure more discretionary spending than their male counterparts, and spend more time on constituency service.
Second, women’s involvement in politics inspires engagement and confidence from other women. “...[W]omen know more, care more, and talk more about politics when they see more women running for and occupying public office,” write Beth Reingold and Jessica Harrell from Emory University. This is particularly true among women voters who are of the same party as women politicians. Researchers at the University of New Mexico found that when there are more women in state legislatures, women in those states are more likely to say that state officials care what they think – a measure of how responsive they think the government is to their needs. Women in office also inspire new generations to serve; girls’ exposure to women politicians makes them more likely to indicate intentions to be politically active in the future.
Finally, various studies have found that women in office are more likely to sponsor, vote for or adopt policies related to issues that are particularly salient for women, a phenomenon called “substantive representation.” Women engage more on policy related to women’s health, women’s economic and social well-being, and women’s rights. A 2016 analysis of 151,824 bills introduced in the U.S. House over a 40-year period found women taking the lead on bills about housing; civil rights; labor, employment and immigration; education; and law, crime, and family. Taken together, this body of literature suggests that women are more attentive to the lived experiences of other women and understand how those experiences translate into particular policy needs and priorities.
Most of the research on reflective representation looks at women’s presence in elected office. Yet there’s plenty of reason to believe that women’s representation matters on local appointed boards, too. The headlines above show that every day, local appointed boards and commissions make decisions about issues that affect our lives. Many of these issues, like childcare, disproportionally affect women – making it even more important that women’s voices are present where decisions are being made. For these reasons, 39% simply isn’t good enough.
It is important to note that although the research exposes the gap, progress is being made through our Appointments Project, which offers training and resources that inspire and equip women to serve. Hundreds of women have participated in the program, and many participants have been appointed to boards and commissions.
As we move forward, we must continue to strive to build societies where local appointed boards and commissions reflect the diversity that is present in our communities. Our report contains a number of recommendations for making this happen. Together, we can make reflective representation a reality in local government.