Gender inequalities in political participation and political engagement among young people in Europe: Are young women less politically engaged than young men?
| Author | Maria Grasso,Katherine Smith |
| Published date | 01 February 2022 |
| Date | 01 February 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211028813 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211028813
Politics
2022, Vol. 42(1) 39 –57
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/02633957211028813
journals.sagepub.com/home/pol
Gender inequalities in political
participation and political
engagement among young
people in Europe: Are young
women less politically engaged
than young men?
Maria Grasso
Queen Mary University of London, UK
Katherine Smith
Nottingham Trent University, UK
Abstract
This paper contributes to the literature by examining gender inequalities in political participation
and political engagement among young people from a comparative perspective. By analysing
data on young people from nine European countries collected in 2018, we examine gender
inequalities in participation in various modes of conventional and unconventional activism as
well as related attitudes, broader political engagement and key determinants, cross-nationally,
in order to provide a detailed picture of the current state of gender inequalities in political
activism among young people in Europe. Our results allow us to speak to extant theorising about
gender inequalities by showing that the extent of political inequality between young men and
women is less marked than one might expect. While the gender gaps in political participation for
activities such as confrontational types of protest are small or absent, we find that young women
are actually more active in petitioning, boycotting, and volunteering in the community. Young
men instead are more active than young women in a majority of the nine countries analysed
with respect to more institutional forms of participation linked to organizations and parties,
various types of online political participation, and broader political engagement measures, such as
internal political efficacy and consumption of political news through various channels. However,
young men also appear to be more sceptical at least of certain aspects of democratic practice
relative to young women.
Keywords
gender inequalities, political engagement, political participation, young people, youth politics
Received: 11th June 2020; Revised version received: 26th May 2021; Accepted: 3rd June 2021
Corresponding author:
Maria Grasso, School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End
Road, London E1 4NS, UK.
Email: m.grasso@qmul.ac.uk
1028813POL0010.1177/02633957211028813PoliticsGrasso and Smith
research-article2021
Special Issue Article
40 Politics 42(1)
Introduction
Political participation is fundamental for democratic government since it allows the peo-
ple to have a say in how society is run (Bessant and Grasso, 2019). However, research has
documented important inequalities in political engagement within populations (Giugni
and Grasso, 2021). In particular, studies have examined gender inequalities, finding
mixed evidence. Today, across the globe, we have made strides towards gender equality
and as such one might expect to find smaller political inequalities between women and
men, particularly among the youngest generations. Is this the case? Is there a significant
difference in the level and types of political participation between young men and women?
To analyse these questions, we look at recent evidence from an original survey conducted
in 2018 across nine European countries and focus on young people, that is, those aged
18–34 when the data were collected: born between 1984 and 2000, so, Millennials or Gen
Y-ers. This focus on young people from a comparative perspective is key for contributing
to the extant literature in novel ways as it allows us to focus in on contemporary levels of
gender inequalities which would have been impacted on by recent patterns of socialisa-
tion, i.e. of the last 20 years or so (Grasso and Giugni, 2021). Moreover, while previous
studies have revealed important findings in relation to gender inequalities in political
participation, we are interested in extending the analysis of gender inequalities across a
wider variety of political participation indicators, as well as among indicators linked to
broader political engagement. Importantly, we develop on previous work through the
analysis of recent cross-national data on young people’s political participation and their
broader political engagement across nine European countries.
As have others (e.g. Coffé and Boldenzahl, 2010), we also aim to develop on previous
research by analysing not only inequalities in institutional forms of participation linked to
the workings of the democratic government (Janoski, 1998). While these modes are impor-
tant, they provide only a limited picture and it has become increasingly essential to analyse
inequalities by gender in modes of action linked also to ‘citizen-initiated and policy-ori-
ented’ or ‘activist’ types. Indeed, as Coffé and Boldenzahl (2010) note, we have now
adopted broader approaches to the analysis of political participation in the literature
(Dalton, 2006, 2008; Giugni and Grasso, 2017; Norris, 2002; Wattenberg, 2002). It is
therefore important to look at inequalities according to different types of actions and
related attitudes since different types of resources are required for different types of actions
and people make sense of them differently (Coffé and Boldenzahl, 2010; Dalton, 2006;
Pattie et al., 2003). As such, only looking at one type of political repertoire could poten-
tially underestimate or overestimate the picture of gender inequalities, and thus not provide
an accurate reflection of the actual gender gap situation. Indeed, women have been found
to be active in more informal efforts and organizations (Bourque and Grossholtz, 1998;
Coffé and Boldenzahl, 2010; Sarvasy and Siim, 1994; Siim, 2000; Stover and Cable, 2017)
and as such, it remains important to analyse other modes of political action and related
attitudes side by side to come to a deeper understanding of where gender inequalities might
lie. In addition, analysing patterns across nine European countries allows us to see to what
extent findings can be generalised across contexts, forms and related participatory atti-
tudes. As Pfanzelt and Spies (2018) note in their study on Germany, ‘studying youth
engagement is highly informative because participation at early age paves the way for
future engagement’. We extend the focus by analysing data on young people from nine
European countries examining a wide variety of indicators of political participation and
also broader political engagement in order to move forward research in this area.
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