Running for Public Office: Closing the Gender Gap

When it comes to running for and being elected to public office, in spite of recent progress, a gender gap persists. The Wilson Center’s Women in Public Service Project recently convened a panel to explore the reasons for the disparity. What will it take to encourage more women to run? And what is being done to change the equation?

When it comes to running for and being elected to public office, in spite of recent progress, a gender gap persists. The Wilson Center’s Women in Public Service Project recently convened a panel to explore the reasons for the disparity. What will it take to encourage more women to run? And what is being done to change the equation? 

Speakers (listed in order of appearance)
Gwen Young
Director, Women in Public Service Project
Wilson Center

Michelle Bekkering
Director, Global Initiatives and Senior Gender Advisor
International Republican Institute

Sandra Pepera
Director, Gender, Women, and Democracy
National Democratic Institute

Jessica Reis
Vice President
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research

Global Women's Leadership Initiative

The Global Women’s Leadership Initiative has hosted the Women in Public Service Project at the Wilson Center since June, 2012. The Women in Public Service Project will accelerate global progress towards women’s equal participation in policy and political leadership to create more dynamic and inclusive institutions that leverage the full potential of the world’s population to change the way global solutions are forged.   Read more

Global Women's Leadership Initiative