Scholars and policy-makers have worked for decades to understand and improve the representation women receive from national and international political organizations. Tali Mendelberg, professor of politics at Princeton University, spoke to a large crowd in Metcalf Hall on March 2, arguing that these efforts will often fall short unless they also address institutional rules that impede women’s voices. The Second Annual Silas Peirce Lecture was a big success, as Mendelberg dove into the groundbreaking experimental research from her book, The Silent Sex, co-written with Christopher F. Karpowitz of Brigham Young University and published by Princeton University Press.
The Silent Sex shows how institutional rules of a deliberative body dramatically affect who speaks up, how people interact, who is the most influential, and even what types of issues are covered. Organizations can focus on increasing the number of women in decision-making roles, but if the rules and norms within the organization remain unbalanced, women’s voices will remain silenced.
The research conducted by Mendelberg and Karpowitz “brings clarity and insight to one of today’s most contentious debates. The Silent Sex provides important new findings on ways to bring women’s voices into the conversation on matters of common concern” (Princeton University Press).
Mendelberg is a professor of politics at Princeton University. Her primary areas of research are inequality and politics. She has published articles in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, Perspectives on Politics, Political Behavior, Political Psychology, and Political Communication. Professor Mendelberg holds a PhD from the University of Michigan.
The annual Peirce Lecture was established by the heirs of Silas Peirce, treasurer of Boston University (1911-1922) and University Trustee (1899-1922).