Does electing female political leaders reduce gender stereotypes about leadership? Scholars know little about how the increasing presence of female executives alters gender stereotypes about political leadership. Some studies suggest gender stereotypes change slowly because they are embedded in cultural values and structural factors that reinforce traditional gender roles. Other research suggests stereotypes change more quickly with the increasing presence of female political leadership. We address this question by examining the effect of being governed by a female mayor in Mexico. We find that the presence of a current female mayor reduces gender stereotypes among males. However, past female mayors have little effect on current gender stereotypes about leadership. Our results suggest women must be present in executive offices more frequently to produce long-term change in gender stereotypes.
AtkesonLonna RaeCarrilloNancy. 2007. “More Is Better: The Influence of Collective Female Descriptive Representation on External Efficacy.” Politics & Gender3 (1): 79–101.
2.
BaldezLisa. 2007. “Primaries vs. Quotas: Gender and Candidate Nominations in Mexico, 2003.” Latin American Politics and Society49 (3): 69–96.
3.
BarabasJasonJeritJennifer. 2010. “Are Survey Experiments Externally Valid?” American Political Science Review104 (2): 226–42.
4.
BeamanLoriChattopadhyayRaghabendraDufloEstherPandeRohiniTopalovaPetia. 2009. “Powerful Women: Does Exposure Reduce Bias?” The Quarterly Journal of Economics124 (4): 1497–1540.
5.
BhavnaniRikhil R.2009. “Do Electoral Quotas Work after They Are Withdrawn? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India.” American Political Science Review103 (1): 23–35.
6.
Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL). 2012. “América latina, el caribe y la península ibérica: Mujeres alcadesas electas, último dato disponible. [Latin America, the Caribbean and the Iberian Peninsula: Elected Female Mayors, Most recent available data.]” Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe. http://www.cepal.org/oig/ws/getRegionalIndicator.asp?page=08&language=spanish (accessed April 17, 2014).
7.
ChaneyElsa M.1979. Supermadre: Women in Politics in Latin America. Austin: University of Texas Press, Austin.
8.
DanielsonMichael S.EisenstadtTodd A.YelleJennifer. 2013. “Ethnic Identity, Informal Institutions, and the Failure to Elect Women in Indigenous Southern Mexico.” Journal of Politics in Latin America5 (3): 3–33.
9.
DasguptaNilanjanaAsgariShaki. 2004. “Seeing Is Believing: Exposure to Counterstereotypic Women Leaders and Its Effect on the Malleability of Automatic Gender Stereotyping.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology40:642–58.
10.
DasguptaNilanjanaGreenwaldAnthony G.2001. “On the Malleability of Automatic Attitudes: Combating Automatic Prejudice with Images of Admired and Disliked Individuals.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology81 (5): 800–14.
11.
DeloitteTouche. 2000. Women in Elected Office. New York: Deloitte & Touche.
12.
De PaolaMariaScoppaVincenzoLombardoRosetta. 2010. “Can Gender Quotas Break Down Negative Stereotypes? Evidence from Changes in Electoral Rules.” Journal of Public Economics94:344–53.
13.
DiekmanAmanda B.EaglyAlice H.2000. “Stereotypes as Dynamic Constructs: Women and Men of the Past, Present and Future.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin26:1171–88.
14.
DiekmanAmanda B.EaglyAlice H.MladinicAntonioFerreiraMaria Cristina. 2005. “Dynamic Stereotypes about Women and Men in Latin America and the United States.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology36 (2): 209–26.
15.
DolanKathleen. 1996. “Support for Women Political Candidates: An Examination of the Role of Family.” Women & Politics16 (2): 45–60.
16.
EaglyAlice H.SteffenValerie J.1984. “Gender Stereotypes Stem from the Distribution of Women and Men into Social Roles.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin15:543–48.
17.
Escobar-LemmonMariaTaylor-RobinsonMichelle M.2005. “Women Ministers in Latin American Government: When, Where, Why?” American Journal of Political Science49 (4): 829–44.
18.
FalkErikaKenskiKate. 2006. “Issue Saliency and Gender Stereotypes: Support for Women as Presidents in Times of War and Terrorism.” Social Science Quarterly87 (1): 1–18.
19.
FoxRichard L.OxleyZoe M.2003. “Gender Stereotyping in State Executive Elections: Candidate Selection and Success.” Journal of Politics65 (3): 833–50.
20.
FranceschetSusanKrookMona LenaPiscopoJennifer M.2012. “Conceptualizing the Impact of Gender Quotas.” In The Impact of Gender Quotas, edited by FranceschetSusanKrookMona LenaPiscopoJennifer, 3–24. New York: Oxford University Press.
21.
FranceschetSusanThomasGwynn. 2010. “Renegotiating Political Leadership: Michelle Bachelet’s Rise to the Chilean Presidency.” In Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office, edited by MurrayRainbow, 177–95. Santa Barbara: Praeger.
22.
FunkKendall D.2015. “Gendered Governing? Women’s Leadership Styles and Participatory Institutions in Brazil.” Political Research Quarterly68 (3): 564–78.
23.
HedlundRonald D.FreemanPatricia K.HammKeith E.SteinRobert M.1979. “The Electability of Women Candidates: The Effects of Sex Role Stereotypes.” The Journal of Politics41 (2): 513–24.
24.
HiltonJames L.von HippelWilliam. 1996. “Stereotypes.” Annual Review of Psychology47:237–71.
25.
HinojosaMagda. 2010. “‘She’s Not My Type of Blonde’: Media Coverage of Irene Sáez’s Presidential Bid.” In Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office, edited by MurrayRainbow, 31–48. Santa Barbara: Praeger.
26.
HuddyLeonieTerkildsenNayda. 1993a. “Gender Stereotypes and the Perception of Male and Female Candidates.” American Journal of Political Science37 (1): 119–47.
27.
HuddyLeonieTerkildsenNayda. 1993b. “The Consequences of Gender Stereotypes for Women Candidates at Different Levels and Types of Office.” Political Research Quarterly46:503–25.
28.
IversenTorbenRosenbluthFrances. 2008. “Work and Power: The Connection between Female Labor Force Participation and Female Political Representation.” Annual Review of Political Science11:479–95.
29.
JalalzaiFarida. 2013. Shattered, Cracked or Firmly Intact? Women and the Executive Glass Ceiling Worldwide. New York: Oxford University Press.
30.
KarpJeffrey A.BanducciSusan. 2008. “When Politics Is Not Just a Man’s Game: Women’s Representation and Political Engagement.” Electoral Studies27:105–15.
31.
KerevelYann P.2012. “Ambition, Electoral Competition and Legislative Representation in Mexico, 1997–2009.” PhD diss., University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
32.
KerevelYann P.AtkesonLonna Rae. 2013. “Explaining the Marginalization of Women in Legislative Institutions.” Journal of Politics75 (4): 980–92.
33.
KingGaryTomzMichaelWittenbergJason. 2000. “Making the Most of Statistical Analyses: Improving Interpretation and Presentation.” American Journal of Political Science44:341–55.
34.
KochJeffrey W.2000. “Do Citizens Apply Gender Stereotypes to Infer Candidates’ Ideological Orientations?” Journal of Politics62:414–29.
35.
LawlessJennifer L.2004. “Women, War, and Winning Elections: Gender Stereotyping in the Post-September 11th Era.” Political Research Quarterly57 (3): 479–90.
36.
LinvillePatricia W.FischerGregory W.SaloveyPeter. 1989. “Perceived Distributions of the Characteristics of In-Group and Out-Group Members: Empirical Evidence and a Computer Simulation.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology57:165–88.
37.
McDermottMonika. 1997. “Voting Cues in Low-Information Elections: Candidate Gender as a Social Information Variable in Contemporary United States Elections.” American Journal of Political Science41 (1): 270–83.
38.
McDermottMonika. 1998. “Race and Gender Cues in Low-Information Elections.” Political Research Quarterly51 (4): 895–918.
39.
MillerSr. Barbara. 1984. “The Role of Women in the Mexican Cristero Rebellion: Las señoras y las religiosas.” The Americas40 (3): 303–23.
40.
MorenoAlejandro. 2009. La decisión electoral: Votantes, partidos y democracia en México [The Electoral Decision: Voters, Parties and Democracy in Mexico]. Mexico City, Mexico: M.A. Porrúa.
41.
MorganJanaBuiceMelissa. 2013. “Latin American Attitudes toward Women in Politics: The Influence of Elite Cues, Female Advancement, and Individual Characteristics.” American Political Science Review107 (4): 644–62.
42.
MurrayRainbow. 2010a. “Conclusion: A New Comparative Framework.” In Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office, edited by MurrayRainbow, 223–47. Santa Barbara: Praeger.
43.
MurrayRainbow. 2010b. “Introduction: Gender Stereotypes and Media Coverage of Women Candidates.” In Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office, edited by MurrayRainbow, 3–27. Santa Barbara: Praeger.
NorrisPippaInglehartRonald. 2001. “Cultural Obstacles to Equal Representation.” Journal of Democracy12 (3): 126–40.
46.
PiscopoJennifer M.2010. “Primera dama, prima donna? Media constructions of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina.” In Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office, edited by MurrayRainbow, 197–219. Santa Barbara: Praeger.
47.
ReynoldsAndrew. 1999. “Women in Legislatures and Executives of the World: Knocking at the Highest Glass Ceiling.” World Politics51:547–72.
48.
RodriguezVictoria E.2003. Women in Contemporary Mexican Politics. Austin: University of Texas Press, Austin.
49.
RoseMelody, ed. 2013. Women and Executive Office: Pathways and Performance. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
50.
SanbonmatsuKira. 2002. “Gender Stereotypes and Vote Choice.” American Journal of Political Science46 (1): 20–34.
51.
ScheinVirginia E.MuellerRuediger. 1992. “Sex Role Stereotyping and Requisite Management Characteristics: A Cross Cultural Look.” Journal of Organizational Behavior13 (5): 439–47.
52.
ScheinVirginia E.MuellerRuedigerLituchyTerriLiuJiang. 1996. “Think Manager—Think Male: A Global Phenomenon?” Journal of Organizational Behavior17 (1): 33–41.
53.
SchmidtGregory D.SaundersKyle L.2004. “Effective Quotas, Relative Party Magnitude and the Success of Female Candidates: Peruvian Municipal Elections in Comparative Perspective.” Comparative Political Studies37 (6): 704–24.
54.
Schwindt-BayerLeslie A.2006. “Still Supermadres? Gender and the Policy Priorities of Latin American Legislators.” American Journal of Political Science50 (3): 570–85.
55.
Schwindt-BayerLeslie A.2010. Political Power and Women’s Representation in Latin America. New York: Oxford University Press.
56.
SmithEliot R.1990. “Content and Process Specificity in the Effects of Prior Experiences.” In Advances in Social Cognition, edited by SrullThomas K.WyerRobert. S.Jr.WyerRobert S.Jr.vol. 3, 1–59. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.
57.
SmithEliot R.ZarateMichael A.1992. “Exemplar-Based Model of Social Judgment.” Psychological Bulletin99 (1): 3–21.
58.
Vázquez GarcíaVerónica. 2010. “Mujeres y gobiernos municipales en México: Lo que sabemos y lo que falta por saber. [Women and Municipal Government in Mexico: What We Know and Don’t Know]” Gestión y Política Pública19 (1): 111–54.
59.
WelchSusanSigelmanLee. 1982. “Changes in Public Attitudes toward Women in Politics.” Social Science Quarterly63 (2): 312–22.
60.
WittenbrinkBerndJuddCharles M.ParkBernadette. 2001. “Spontaneous Prejudice in Context: Variability in Automatically Activated Attitudes.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology81:815–27.
61.
WolbrechtChristinaCampbellDavid E.2007. “Leading by Example: Female Members of Parliament as Political Role Models.” American Journal of Political Science51 (4): 921–39.
62.
ZetterbergPar. 2009. “Do Gender Quotas Foster Women’s Political Engagement? Lessons from Latin America.” Political Research Quarterly62 (4): 715–30.
63.
ZetterbergPar. 2012. “Political Engagement and Democratic Legitimacy in Mexico.” In The Impact of Gender Quotas, edited by FranceschetSusanKrookMona LenaPiscopoJennifer, 173–89. New York: Oxford University Press.
