Recent research has revealed some stark findings that young women are put off entering parliament and working in politics.
Despite the fact that the Australian government has achieved gender parity (although not across the entire parliament), and there have been well publicised reforms to the parliamentary workplace as a long-needed response to a disgraceful history of documented abuse, the research shows that that young women are reluctant to be a member of parliament.
The interviews conducted with young women and men regarding their ambitions are insightful. The published research illuminates the extent to which gender stereotypes and the performance of politics in public spaces have the result of dissuading young women from even contemplating participation in politics and political discussions, let alone pursuing a path to become a politician.
As a millennial who has recently been elected to the House of Representatives, there is much that I relate to in both the apprehensions of young women entering politics as well as my own experience in politics. I joined the Australian Labor Party around 20 years ago. It is an uncomfortable reality that I found it hard to participate: Young Labor seemed very male-centric, I frequently felt like I didn’t fit in. I remember volunteering on a campaign and being called in urgently to the office one day to fix up mistakes made by the paid campaign staff, who were all young men.
Obviously, that incident was not terminal to my involvement, but I look back and see many moments like this where I thought it was not for me. Whether I or anyone ends up as a member of parliament is not the point of involvement in and of itself too: political parties need to look like our communities, need to be inclusive places for those who share values. I can only imagine it is harder still for women who are from underrepresented backgrounds, who have disabilities and who are marginalised in other ways. It is therefore so disheartening that women are counting themselves out of contributing in this way to public life and it is bad for society.
I am proud to be a part of a government that is has 53 per cent of women, and many of my colleagues – men and women – are from diverse backgrounds. There is clearly so much more to do though to encourage younger generations to consider politics, so our parliaments are truly representative places.
Young women and men have named the masculinised performance of politics in the public sphere – the aggression and conflict – as off-putting, and I find it that way myself sometimes too.
Debate is a key part of the work we do as legislators, and I am very happy to fight for causes and outcomes I care about, I am incredibly persistent. But when conflict itself becomes the point, rather than a genuine contest of ideas, and conflict is performed in a way research has identified as “highly gendered” then it isn’t that surprising that young women might view parliament as somewhere that they are not welcome.
The Set the Standards report made several recommendations about how the rules that govern the parliament – the Standing Orders – might be amended to encourage a more respectful, safer, equal workplace. Recommendations regarding more family friendly hours have been implemented in the House of Representatives, and an inquiry has made further recommendations regarding gendered language and disorderly conduct. There has been significant progress over the last few years that should be welcomed.
It is obvious though, that the perception of politics as a “boys club”, to quote comments from young women in the recent research, remains.
The horrible allegations of sexual misconduct and the culture of parliament have had an impact on young women pursuing political careers.
So, what can be done to change things? To ensure that our parliaments are places that are safe, and attractive workplaces for a diverse range of people? I do not have all the answers, but some solutions to the problem would appear to be improving party and political cultures through the introduction of affirmative action targets, something my own party has already done, as well as targeted mentoring and training programs for those who are underrepresented or face structural barriers to participation.
And, of course, there is a responsibility all parliamentarians have to create better workplaces and set an example. I am not perfect, but I do want to play whatever part I can in setting an example. I want to be productive in my contributions, even when the debates are robust, without being aggressive for its own sake.
I hope that the next study of the attitudes and perceptions of young people regarding politics as a career are vastly different. When different voices inform legislation and policy, we have better legislation and policy. We’ve seen already that pay inequality and gendered violence are taken more seriously, due to the presence of more women in the chamber. I know that with even more diversity in parliaments, our laws, and our nation will be even stronger.