Dawn Teele Studies What Factors Lead Women to Run for Political Office

Since the 2016 election, scores of women across the nation have enlisted in political campaign training programs like Emerge America and Ready to Run. Dawn Teele, an assistant professor of political science, is gathering their data to understand why some women throw their hats in the ring while others don’t.

In a new research project, “Nudging Women to Run,” Teele, along with scholars at Rutgers University, Yale University and the University of California, Berkeley, surveyed alumnae of women’s campaign-training programs and is in the process of designing experimental innovations to encourage women to launch political campaigns.

Within five years of participating in a six-week Emerge America training program, about 50 percent of alumnae have run for or been appointed to political office.

“Converting a group of ‘interested’ women into actual political candidates is extremely important for the representation of women all over the country and in all levels of government,” Teele says. “It’s amazing to see how many women go through the training, which costs a lot of time and money, but do not run.”

Click here to read the full article.