Where does the pipeline get leaky? The progressive ambition of school board members and personal and political network recruitment

Abstract

ABSTRACT Public school boards are a significant exception to the significant gender gap in political representation. Throughout the country, 44 percent of board members are women; this is a potentially significant female candidate pool for higher office, given that, for example, of the state legislators who held prior elective office, 26 percent of them had served on a school board. With such a collection of experienced candidates, why then, are so few women progressing to higher levels of office? Drawing on findings of a survey of a representative sample of more than 300 elected school board members in the state of Pennsylvania, I extend the limited research on the role of networks of recruitment’s impact on the progressive ambition among elected school board members and discusses the factors in both personal and political network recruitment associated with gender differences. I also highlight the largest delta between men and women: interest in running for state legislature. Implications for the deficient pipeline of women to higher office and potential remedies are discussed.