Here on Scienceblogs, manyofusponderthegenderdisparityinthesciences, but the gap goes well beyond the ivory towers into another area we discuss at The Intersectionworth exploring:
Congress: women hold 87, or 16.3%, of the 535 seats in the 110th US Congress -- 16, or 16.0%, of the 100 seats in the Senate and 71, or 16.3%, of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. In addition, three women serve as Delegates to the House from Guam, the Virgin Islands and Washington, DC.
So if half the population has about 16% representation across the board on Capitol Hill, what's going on? Now while I've got a few suggestions, I like the way former Representative Florence Dwyer (R-NJ, 1957-1973) put it:
"A Congresswoman must look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, speak on any given subject with authority and most of all work like a dog."
Sounds familiar and poses quite a formidable challenge... Do readers agree, or are there additional reasons that far more men are seeking public office?
[The 16 female senators of the 110th U.S. Congress: (front row) Claire McCaskill, Dianne Feinstein, Maria Cantwell, Lisa Murkowski, and Olympia Snowe; (back row) Blanche Lincoln, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Barbara Boxer, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mary Landrieu, Debbie Stabenow, Susan Collins, Barbara Mikulski, Elizabeth Dole, Amy Klobuchar, and Patty Murray.]
