Students, professor to present on the “gender double bind” at political science conference

Holistic education that reaches beyond the classroom is a central principle to CSB/SJU’s liberal arts pedagogy. But because of the way formal schooling is set up in the U.S., most students think of education as the process of being taught during a semester of study, according to political science professor Pedro dos Santos. CSB seniors Brianna Kreft, Lizbet Martinez and Brigid Smith, however, have extended their education through a multi-year undergraduate research project on “the gender double- bind” alongside dos Santos.

On Oct. 1, the group will present to the American Political Science Association—the largest organization of political scientists in the country—at their conference in Seattle. The annual gathering serves as an opportunity for professionals to discuss important topics in the field. The students and dos Santos were selected through an application process, but presentations by undergraduates are rare due to the scale of the conference. Being accepted last spring was the fulfillment of a long-term goal for the project.

“That was exciting because I’ve brought students into the research before, and I’ve done co-author works and presented them in smaller regional conferences… but this one is a professional organization,” dos Santos said.

The presentation is on “the gender double bind” and the research featured in their co-authored paper. They are hoping to gain some feedback on this paper with the hopes of eventually publishing. The students also said that they are excited to learn from the other presentations and make connections with experts in the field.

“[The gender double bind is] when women especially, are punished for being too masculine and for being too feminine,” dos Santos said.

According to their research, women in leadership roles are forced to maintain impossible double standards, which are not expected of men in the field.

“They have to fit leadership roles which are stereotypically masculine traits like being assertive and strong, but they also have to fit feminine traits which are like caring and sensitive. And those two things don’t go together, so they get criticized for doing both of them,” Smith said.

They studied this nuanced phenomenon in depth through a case study on former Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff, who was elected in 2011 and impeached in 2016. Joining other students who were originally working on the project, Kreft, Martinez and Smith learned to read and code interviews of Brazilian political experts which were conducted by dos Santos and his colleague, Farida Jalalzai. Through this process, they studied how the term and impeachment of Brazil’s first female president was affected by her gender expression, a concept which Kreft said can also be applied to other female world leaders.

“I draw a lot of parallels between her and Hillary Clinton… on how the double bind influenced the 2016 election,” Kreft said. “The historic image of what a president looks like in the U.S., for sure, is male… [so] even for someone who is progressive thinking, it’s a different image than you’re used to.”

They hope their presentation will inspire conversations on how to better understand and alleviate the barriers to leadership for women around the world. As aspiring female leaders themselves, Kreft and Smith said this project held a personal significance.

“This research is vital. You see Kamala Harris and… how important the image of a female in the vice president position is, think of what that would do for young girls if the president was a female,” Kreft said. “I think our research is important for the next woman and the next girl who just wants to lead the world.”

Dos Santos said when he works with students on undergraduate research it is a slight adjustment for them to understand how it works to truly extend learning beyond the classroom.

“[I] try to put students in the mindset that things need to go beyond the semester for it to actually come to fruition,” he said.

But the process of digging deeper into a subject which interests them allowed these students to learn about the research process, build collaborative habits and connect their formal education to their passions.

“It’s changed so much from when we first started it… the time that we’ve put into it… has allowed it to change and flow into what it is today,” Kreft said.

Smith also noticed the academic and social benefits of a thorough extracurricular research project.

“I would definitely recommend [it]. It’s been such a huge learning experience… doing this research project since my sophomore year and [learning] skills that otherwise I wouldn’t be able to,” she said.