Story County has achieved gender-balance

PARTICIPANTS LISTEN TO SPEAKERS AT THE PAST READY TO RUN IOWA WORKSHOPS. THE WORKSHOPS ENCOURAGE WOMEN TO RUN FOR POLITICAL OFFICE.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CATT CENTER FOR WOMEN AND POLITICS

Story County has achieved genderbalance, however representation statewide still stagnates

By Robbie Sequeira Gannett

Despite women outnumbering men in 90 of Iowa’s 99 counties, their membership on local boards and commissions has yet to reach 50 percent, a new report from Iowa State University’s Carrie Chapman Catt Center shows.

That’s despite a 2009 law that requires gender equity and balance on Iowa’s municipal commissions, committees, boards and councils.

The report, based on 2020 data, found that 14 counties — including Story — have achieved gender balance on seven appointed boards and commissions, but that the improvement in equity has been slow since the first few years after the law took effect.

“Since the law came into effect, (gender-balance) has improved, both in terms of the number of women holding seats and the numbers boards that are gender-balanced,” said Kelly Winfrey, assistant professor at ISU and coordinator of research and outreach for the Catt Center. “But the biggest improvement was when the law was enacted in 2012, and when we did our next data analysis in 2014 — and it’s still improved but it’s much more gradual.”

The other counties that have met gender-balance requirements, according to the Catt Center data, are Allamakee, Clayton, Dallas, Floyd, Guthrie, Hardin, Harrison, Lee, Madison, Ringgold, Van Buren, Wapello and Winneshiek.

In Iowa, if a board carries an even number of members, a particular gender cannot make up more than one-half of the total membership. For odd-numbered boards, the rule for gender balance is half minus one.

The Catt Center created the Gender Balance Project to compile the data because the state does not require cities and counties to track or report gender-balance statistics.

The new report shows an increase in gender-balanced boards from 59 percent in 2018 and 67 percent in 2020. Winfrey said, however, that the number of women being appointed to leadership positions on boards and commissions has not increased.

Not only did the number of seats held by women on municipal boards and commissions decrease slightly from 2018 to 2020, there is a disparity in the number of women holding leadership positions on city and county boards, she said.

At the county level, the report shows only 33 percent of board members are women and 25 percent are chairs.

“The caveat is we aren’t seeing much of an increase in women’s representation, which suggests women are just being placed on different boards,” Winfrey said. “Gender balance is important because of the different perspectives that women can bring to a group or board, and how these can help shape decision that can benefit a wide variety of people.”

Winfrey said one way boards and commissions can improve representation is through recruiting.

“When I talk to women who are interested in serving on boards and commissions, many of them aren’t sure where they can find vacancies or how to” apply, she said. “I think counties and cities generally need to do a better job at publicizing that and getting more women involved in the process.”

Winfrey recommended that recruiters send notices of vacancies to advocacy groups such as the League of Women Voters and its Ready to Run Iowa: Campaign Training for Women workshop.

Future studies, Winfrey hopes, can dive into data of intersectionality — figuring how many women of color are serving on these boards and commissions.

“We contact city managers and administrators for information on their boards and commissions and oftentimes they don’t have demographic information available,” she said. “While we don’t have data on it, there’s certainly no better representation at elected levels, which is not good.”

Nine municipal boards and commissions were studied for the report, including the Airport Board, Civil Service Commission, Historic Preservation Commission, Housing Services Board, Human Rights Commission, Library Board of Trustees, Planning and Zoning Commission, Water Works Board of Trustees and Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Seven county boards studied were Adjustment, Compensation, Conservation, Health, Planning and Zoning, Review and Veteran Affairs.