Politics and Gender: Students Explore the Intersection

By Melissa R. Michelson, Ph. D., Dean of Arts & Sciences and Professor of Political Science, with Bianca Barros '21, Victor Garcia '21, and Rasmia Shuman '22

Melissa Michelson: I teach a number of political science classes at Menlo College, ranging from Latinx Politics to Civil Liberties to Political Marketing. In all of those classes, I often talk about the role of gender and how it

Michelson interacts with other identities, including race and partisanship. In general, women are more likely to need to be recruited to run for office (rather than thinking to do so on their own), and often are working in supportive (invisible) roles rather than as candidates for office. When elected, they are more likely to focus on issues of family and childcare, compared to their male peers. Women of color like Senators Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mazie Hirono, former Senator Shirley Chisholm, and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris are role models for many women, and their stories illustrate the multiple challenges of their intersectional identities.

Having already had a taste of the fascinating ways in which race and gender matter in politics, three of my students approached me with the idea of having a group IDR (individual directed research) class to learn more. Instead of the individual work of a classic IDR, we designed the course as a weekly Zoom where the students would all read some of the same books and papers and could meet with the professors who authored that work to ask them questions. It was amazing. My colleagues were enthusiastic participants, and the small scale of the “class” allowed each of the three students space to explore their specific topics of interest. Their final projects—a magazine, a website, and a series of podcasts—are brilliant, and I’m so proud to share them with the Menlo community.

Bianca Barros '21: The Gender and Race in U.S. Politics IDR with Professor Michelson was one of my all-time favorite classes at Menlo. Every week we were exposed to new materials in the field of gender equity in politics. I focussed my research on the obstacles women face when running for office and the overall representation of women in politics. The best part was that Professor Michelson invited the authors of the top-tier research papers and books in the field to speak to our class. I was amazed with the opportunity to hear from researchers and politicians who were leading the movement towards greater equity, and wanted to extend the same opportunity to the Menlo community and beyond. I worked on transforming highlights of the guest lectures into a podcast series in partnership with WILD Club (Women in Leadership Development) at Menlo. So far, we have three published episodes that include topics such as the politics of identity in the U.S. with Dr. Nadia Brown, gender stereotypes in politics with Dr. Jennifer Lawless and the symbolic empowerment of Kamala Harris with Dr. Evelyn Simien. I plan to publish more content from the IDR and will continue my research beyond politics in the future, interviewing other experts and diving into how gender equity can be improved in different industries. Stay tuned!

Victor Garcia ‘21: My first thought for presenting material from the IDR was to create a website with a live dashboard. Though I did not have the technical skills to do that, the website aspect stuck with me and I continued to look up political candidates’ election websites. Some of the politicians had a blog about their experiences on the campaign trail, and that inspired my idea of a blog. A blog could be shared, would be easy to follow, and I could publish episodes in my portfolio. A blog would also open conversations about the barriers that exist for Latinx candidates and even candidates of color running for office. When my first episode aired, I got about 100 views on the first day, including friends and some of the candidates I know, with one sharing it on their campaign Facebook page! To this day the viewership continues to grow incrementally. This is one of my proudest projects.

Rasmia Shuman ‘22: In my Independent Research on Women in Politics, I was able to pursue the root of why there is a lack of female representation in politics, and even in the field of political science. Experts came to the class to help us understand the challenges women faced before, during, and after entering the political arena. Several of the experts expressed hope for further representation for women, especially women of color. When potential women candidates have the information that they can run, and will be supported when they do, an educated push for more representation in leadership can be effective. Thus, my individual Magazine shares the enlightenment that our guest speakers, and my mentor Dean Melissa Michelson, have provided me. It is a platform to encourage others to educate themselves on the challenges and opportunities in this field and make change within.