This One’s for the Boys: How Gendered Political Socialization Limits Girls’ Political Ambition and Interest

• Published in: The American political science review 2022-05, Vol.116 (2), p.484-501
• Main Authors: BOS, ANGELA L., GREENLEE, JILL S., HOLMAN, MIRYA R., OXLEY, ZOE M., LAY, J. CELESTE
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Ambition; Aspiration; Boys; Child Development; Children; Children & youth; Curricula; Elementary School Students; Extracurricular activities; Gender differences; Girls; Hypotheses; Older children; Political advertising; Political Attitudes; Political leadership; Political science; Political socialization; Politics; Professions; Sex differences; Sex roles; Socialization; Stereotypes; Women; Women and politics
• ISSN: 0003-0554; 1537-5943
• DOI: 10.1017/S0003055421001027

This article develops and tests a new theoretical framework, gendered political socialization, which offers important insights into how children perceive gender in politics and the consequences of these perceptions on sex differences in political interest and ambition. Based on data from 1,604 children who live in four different regions across the United States, we find that children not only perceive politics to be a male-dominated space, but with age, girls increasingly see political leadership as a “man’s world.” Simultaneously, as children grow older, they internalize gendered expectations, which direct their interests toward professions that embody the gendered traits that fit with their own sex. One result of this mismatch between women and politics is that girls express lower levels of interest and ambition in politics than do boys.