Lawless, Jennifer L. 1975-

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Lawless, Jennifer L. 1975-

PERSONAL:

Born March 12, 1975, in New York, NY. Education: Union College, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1997; Stanford University, M.A., 2000, Ph.D., 2003.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Cranston, RI. Office—Department of Political Science, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Academic and political scientist. Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation, New York, NY, staff member, 1998; Brown University, Providence, RI, assistant professor of political science and public policy.

MEMBER:

Western Political Science Association, American Political Science Association, Midwest Political Science Association, Southern Political Science Association, Women's Fund of Rhode Island, National Organization for Women, National Women's Political Caucus, Planned Parenthood Rhode Island, NARAL, American Civil Liberties Union, Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee, Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Pi Sigma Alpha, 1997; Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Women and Politics, 2001; Sophonisba Breckinridge Award, Midwest Political Science Association, 2003 and 2005, for best paper on women and politics; Marian D. Irish Award, Southern Political Science Association, 2004, for best paper on women and politics; recipient of numerous research grants.

WRITINGS:

(With Richard L. Fox) It Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor to periodicals and academic journals, including American Journal of Political Science, Political Research Quarterly, Brown Policy Reports, Women and Politics, Social Problems, Current World Leaders, and Legislative Studies Quarterly.

Referee for a number of journals, including Journal of Politics, American Journal of Political Science, Urban Studies, Political Research Quarterly, Politics and Gender, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and American Politics Research.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jennifer L. Lawless is an American academic and political scientist. Born in New York City on March 12, 1975, she went on to graduate summa cum laude from Union College, in Schenectady, New York, with a bachelor of arts degree in political science in 1997. After graduation, she began working at the Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation in New York City, where she helped to provide educational and vocational training and services to residents in the South Bronx who were making the transition from welfare to joining the workforce. Shortly thereafter, Lawless completed a master of arts degree from Stanford University in 2000, followed by a Ph.D. in 2003, both in political science. Lawless again moved across the country to become an assistant professor of political science and public policy at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

In 2005, Lawless announced her intentions to challenge the three-term Democratic U.S. Congressman Jim Langevin in the Rhode Island Democratic Party primaries in 2006. Although she lost the election, she was able to apply some of the concepts that she dealt with in her first book, It Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office, which she wrote with Richard L. Fox. The account looks at the personal reasons why many women do not hold or run for political office in the United States. The authors surveyed 3,800 men and women on the reasons why women did not run for political office; they then interviewed a rounded sampling of those who replied for more in-depth answers. The questionnaires were sent only to those in positions that were most likely to make a run for office, including educators, lawyers, activists, and business leaders. The results indicated that women in positions equal to those of men who did run for office were less likely to run for office as they felt they did not have enough experience to run a successful campaign nor to hold elected office.

R.L. Ogmundson, reviewing the book in the Canadian Journal of Sociology, noted that the authors analyzed the data "in a highly competent manner." Ogmundson pointed out some problems with the sampling, however, stating: "What is needed is expansion of data collection in time and space." Ogmundson also suggested that "perhaps work like this needs to be supplemented by more intensive, qualitative study of the actual experiences of females who have tried to enter politics." Nevertheless, Ogmundson concluded that "for the time being however, Lawless and Fox hold the high ground on this issue." Elizabeth S. Smith, writing in the Political Science Quarterly, described the book as "an engaging, well-written, and thorough examination" of the reasons why women do not run for political office in the United States. Smith concluded that "Lawless and Fox have identified through this important research a significant obstacle to women's representation: low levels of political ambition. Given that the youngest women in their sample have the lowest overall ambition, it seems unlikely that great progress toward equality in representation in the United States will occur soon."