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Women and the vote
Political science professor urges young women to vote, study political issues
By: Emily Guevara
Issue date: 10/29/04 Section: News
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As a child, Nikki Van Hightower was aware of differences in the treatment of men and women. When the women's movement took off in the 1970s, she understood what it was about.
It wasn't until she was working on her doctorate at New York University that she realized she cared greatly about gender issues and decided to get involved in the movement.
Van Hightower, a political science professor at Texas A&M and interim director of women's studies in the Department of Political Science, urged women to study the issues that affect them and vote in line with their interests in order to affect policy changes.
"About 38 million women - mostly young and single and people who have a lot at stake in the election - did not vote in the year 2000," Van Hightower said. "Because women are not equitably represented, of course, their voices are not heard as much in the policy-making process, and so knowing who we're voting for, as women, is very important."
Van Hightower was the keynote speaker at the fourth seminar in the "Diversity and Democracy" series Thursday in the Sterling C. Evans Library.
Van Hightower outlined the historical exclusion of women in the government and their present-day underrepresentation.
She cited role expectations, family obligations and the finances needed to run for office as some of the reasons for the lack of women in office.
Though women are underrepresented in government, Van Hightower said, that as voting citizens they have a significant impact.
"Since the mid-1980s, women have had a higher rate of turnout than men," she said. "In the 2000 presidential election, women voted at a 3.1 percent greater proportion than men. That means that they're important because candidates are paying a lot of attention to that vote."
Van Hightower said the issues that historically affect who women vote for reflect a difference in policy preferences from men.
These issues include the use of force to solve problems and reproductive health care, among others.
"For women these issues are so important that they are likely to be the voting issues," Van Hightower said.
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