Women’s History Month Brings
Reflections on Women in Public Service
March is Women’s History Month, and recently, I celebrated the 99th Annual International Women’s Day with the Weston Chapter of the American Association of University Women.
International Women's Day is a global day of celebration of the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. My remarks to the AAUW included a discussion the status of women in the political arena and the perspectives they bring to public service. In honor of Women’s History Month, I thought I’d share some of these comments with you.
From the 1980’s to the early ‘90s, the number of women in state legislatures increased steadily – reaching 20 percent in the “Year of the Woman” in 1992. But since then, we’ve only seen a 4 percent increase. Overall, there are just over 1,800 women serving in state legislatures, holding about 24 percent of all legislative seats.
Some states are better than others, ranging from the South Carolina Senate, which is the only state legislative body in the country that is entirely male, to the New Hampshire Senate, which is the only majority-female legislative chamber in the country.
Florida is just under the national average, with women comprising 23 percent of state legislators. We have had only two female Senate Presidents – Gwen Margolis and Toni Jennings served as Senate Presidents – and we have never had a female Speaker of the House. And believe it, or not, when I become the Leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus this fall, I will be the first woman to do so.
Though we have made progress, there is still much work to be done. The key to electing more women to office is encouraging them to run in the first place, and then by having women already in office mentor them. Academic studies comparing state legislative candidates running for office – after you adjust for whether they are incumbents, challengers, or running for open seats – show that women are just as likely to win as men.
But when you look at motivation to run for office, there is a difference. In surveys of people in careers that tend to produce legislative candidates – law, education, business and community activism – men were 35 percent more likely to consider running for office than women.
The reasons most often cited by women survey respondents were that they hadn’t been recruited, didn’t think they could balance work and family with public service, didn’t perceive the political environment as fair, and didn’t want to endure the rigors of political campaigns, including fundraising.
As the incoming Senate Democratic Leader, this presents me with a challenge. Part of my job is to recruit Democratic candidates to run for Senate seats. My first priority in recruitment, of course, is to pick qualified and dynamic candidates who can go out and win seats for our party.
But also on my mind are the challenges I know women face in taking the plunge to run for office. So, too, is the difference in their approach to public service once they are elected. In my experience, women feel added pressure to be as effective as their male counterparts, and they thus work harder and put more effort into preparing themselves for committee meetings and Session than their male colleagues.
I also think female legislators bring a different perspective to their legislative work, particularly in the areas of health care, education and social services. While I know there are plenty of men who are caregivers, women are still far more likely to be responsible for the bulk of household and child care duties in their homes. And even those whose children are grown, often have only a few years before they become caregivers for their aging parents.
I can’t believe for a second that someone who has never been a primary caregiver looks at programs like respite care for Alzheimer’s patients or developmentally disabled children the same way as a person – usually a woman – who has personally had to care for a relative with dementia. Nor can I believe they would support reducing the quality of care in nursing homes.
At a time when the legislature is facing a $3 billion dollar budget deficit, and cuts are being proposed to just about every aspect of health care and services for children, the elderly and disabled, I can’t help but wonder if maybe services for people in need would be a higher priority if we had more women in public service.
Perhaps as we continue to see more women in state legislators, we will begin to see a shift in policymakers’ views on these issues. Until then, I will continue working to educate my colleagues on the importance of education and health and human services – and of course, continue helping more women get involved in the political process.
As always, I appreciate the opportunity to serve as your State Senator, and I welcome your comments and questions on any issue related to Florida government. Please feel free to contact my office at (954) 747-7933 or by e-mail at rich.nan.web@flsenate.gov.
