Publication Date

Winter 11-29-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in History & Political Thought, Political Science Concentration (MA)

Department

Political Science

Committee Chair

Dr. Simon Zschirnt

Committee Member

Dr. Fei Luo

Committee Member

Dr. Deborah Blackwell

Committee Member

Dr. James Norris

Abstract

The lack of female representation in politics has long been established, as over the years there has been a rise in political participation that still fails to be representative of the general population. Women that seek positions in office often fail to garner the support that many male candidates quickly get, as women face gender stereotypes and sexism at almost every turn. Many studies have failed to look at how the Hispanic population evaluate women seeking political leadership and how engrained gender roles and stereotypes are when it comes to the evaluation of female and male candidates. This thesis examines not only the prevalence of gender stereotypes and roles that Hispanics within the border region might have, but also considers the importance that acculturation might have upon the evaluation of women candidates. The goal this thesis aims to accomplish is to test the prevalence of these variables and the effect these have upon evaluation of candidates based on gender and to compare the results to other studies that have used predominantly White populations in order to further examine whether a difference exists based on race/ethnicity. Data was gathered through the distribution of an online survey to undergraduate students at Texas A&M International University and the total sample size was 522 participants. The findings indicated that Hispanics within this sample had more egalitarian iv attitudes towards women seeking office, and in comparison, to other studies there were less gender stereotypes held about the competence that women office seekers had on different issues such as healthcare and education. Moreover, it was also seen how acculturation played a substantial role in whether individuals would vote for a male candidate or remain neutral. These findings serve to complement and further fill the contrasting literature gap that exists when it comes to Hispanic gender role attitudes and evaluation of women candidates, as scholars have failed to reach a consensus regarding how egalitarian Hispanics might be.

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