Women in State Policy Leadership, 1998

Women in State Policy Leadership, 1998 - 2005

An Analysis of Slow and Uneven Progress

A Report of the Center for Women in Government & Civil Society

University at Albany, State University of New York

Winter 2006

Highlights

· Across the country, women's share of the highest elected and appointed offices in state government increased only slightly between 1998 and 2005.

· In 40% of the states, women's overall share of top executive, legislative, and judicial posts, compared to their share of the population, actually fell, remained level, or increased by less than .01 percentage points in the eight-year period.

· Women achieved some progress within each branch of government. The largest gain for women, 5.7 percentage points, occurred among highest state court justices. By contrast, the percentage of women state legislators increased by less than one percentage point over the eight-year period.

· Between 1998 and 2005, the pattern of only one woman justice serving on the highest court of many states changed significantly. Women judges have now won election or appointment to two or more judicial leadership posts in over half the states.

· The gender gap in state policy leadership is greatest among state legislators. It is three times larger than the gender gap among top advisors in governors' offices, where the difference between the percentage of positions held by women and men is the smallest.

· In the United States today, eight women are governors; 15 women are lieutenant governors; and 15 women are chief justices of the state's highest court.

Notes on Methodology

This report documents trends between 1998 and 2005 in the status of women in five major categories of policy leadership in state government: statewide elected officials; top advisors in governors' offices; department heads; state legislators; and state highest court justices.

Data Sources

Statewide elected officials: Women's Leadership Profile Compendium Report, 1998, Center for Women in Government & Civil Society; State Yellow Book, A Leadership Directory, Summer 2005; Women in Statewide Elective Executive Office 2005, Center for American Women and Politics (Nov. 2005).

Top advisors in governors' offices/department heads: Center for Women in Government & Civil Society Survey (data collected from February – May 1997); Center for Women in Government & Civil Society Survey (data collected from May - October 2004). Top advisors include policy-influencing titles such as chief of staff, legal advisor, and budget director. Department heads include heads of departments, agencies, offices, boards, commissions, and authorities. Only persons appointed by current governors are included.

State legislators: Women in State Legislatures 1998, Center for American Women and Politics, (Nov. 1998); Women in State Legislatures 2005, Center for American Women and Politics, (August 2005).

State highest court justices: Women's Leadership Profile Compendium Report, 1998, Center for Women in Government & Civil Society; 2005 data collected in October 2005 from official websites of highest state courts.

Definition of state-based representativeness ratios

The ratios measure the degree to which different groups are represented as appointed and elected state policy leaders. To calculate the representativeness ratio (rep. ratio) for women policy leaders in state government, the percentage of policy leader positions occupied by women across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches is divided by the percentage of women in the state's population (2000 Census data).

The value of rep. ratios ranges from 0 to 1. It is closer to 1 if the gender composition of policy leaders mirrors that of the general population. A value closer to 0 is indicative of the underrepresentation of women as state policy leaders relative to their share of the state's population.

Acknowledgements

Project Staff

Project Director: Judith R. Saidel, Ph.D.

Project Associate: Xiaolei Chen

Project Associate: Alison C. Olin

We acknowledge with appreciation the Ford Foundation’s generous support of the Appointed Policy Makers in State Government Project.

National Trend Analysis

Women Remain Significantly Underrepresented in State Government

Leadership Positions

Executive, Legislative, Judicial Posts Combined

Across the country, women's share of the highest elected and appointed offices in state government increased only slightly - 1.6 percentage points - over an eight-year period. These positions include: statewide elected officials; state legislators; highest court judges; department heads; and governor's office top advisors.

In 40% of the states, women's overall share of top executive, legislative, and judicial posts, compared to their share of the population, actually fell, remained level, or increased by less than .01 percentage points between 1998 and 2005.

The percentage of women state political leaders increased in 34 states, but in most of these states gains were relatively modest.

In every state, women's representation in the top ranks of political leadership in 2005 fell below expected levels of participation based on their percentage of the state's population. Women have achieved at least two-thirds of the leadership posts that would reflect their share of the population in only six states.

Some Progress Achieved by Women within Each Branch of Government

Among the three branches of government, the largest gain for women, 5.7 percentage points, occurred in the leadership cohort of highest state court justices. By contrast, the percentage of women state legislators increased by less that one percentage point over the eight-year period.

Within the ranks of executive branch leadership, the sub-group of appointed department heads experienced the greatest advance - 6.1 percentage points. This group includes gubernatorial appointments to the chief executive position at the helm of departments, agencies, offices, boards, commissions, and authorities.

Tokenism Surpassed by Women Justices on Most Highest State Courts

National Snapshot, 2005

Between 1998 and 2005, the pattern of only one woman justice serving on the highest court of many states changed significantly. Women judges have now won election or appointment to two or more judicial leadership posts in over half the states. Women serve as chief justice in 15 states. In three states-New York, Ohio, Washington-women hold four judicial seats. Indiana, Kentucky, and Oregon are the only states with no women judges on the highest court.

Gender Gap Persists in State Policy Leadership

The gender gap in state policy leadership is greatest among state legislators. It is three times larger than the gender gap among top advisors in governors’ offices.

Ranking of States

(Note: States are ranked on the basis of representativeness ratios, defined in Notes on Methodology, inside front cover. Representativeness ratios are rounded to two decimal places, whereas the calculation of the state ranking is based on numbers with more than two decimal places.Therefore, the states that appear to have identical representativeness ratios in the table are in fact different and are ranked according to their additional decimal numbers.)

About the Center

Additional Project Publications

Saidel, Judith R.,Tamika R. Black and Xiaolei Chen. “Exercising the Power of Appointment: An Analysis of Variation in Gubernatorial Appointments,” Government, Law and Policy Journal,Vol. 7, No. 2 (Winter 2005), 42-45.

Saidel, Judith R. and Loscocco, Karyn. "Agency Leaders, Gendered Institutions, and Representative Bureaucracy," Public Administration Review,Vol. 65, No. 2 (March/April 2005), 158-170.

Saidel, Judith R. National and Individual State Women’s Leadership Profiles, Center for Women in Government & Civil Society, Fall 2004.

Saidel, Judith R. Appointed Policy Makers in State Government Five-Year Trend Analysis: Gender, Race and Ethnicity, Center for Women in Government & Civil Society, Winter 2004.

Saidel, Judith R. and Riccucci, Norma M. "Women State Agency Heads and Their Leadership," Spectrum: The Journal of State Government,Vol. 75, No. 1 (Winter 2002), 18-19.

Riccucci, Norma M. and Saidel, Judith R. "The Demographics of Gubernatorial Appointees: Toward An Explanation of Variation," Policy Studies Journal,Vol. 29, No. 1 (2001), 11-22.

Riccucci, Norma M. and Saidel, Judith R. "The Representativeness of State-Level Bureaucratic Leaders: A Missing Piece of the Representative Bureaucracy Puzzle," Public Administration Review, Vol.57, No. 5 (September/October 1997), 423-430.

The Center for Women in Government & Civil Society is part of the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York. Through research, teaching, training, leadership development, networking, and public education, the Center works to:

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