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Gender, Race and Political Ambition: The Case of Ontario School Board Elections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2020

Adrienne M. Davidson Open the ORCID record for Adrienne M. Davidson [Opens in a new window] ,
R. Michael McGregor  and
Myer Siemiatycky
Adrienne M. Davidson*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, McMaster University, Kenneth Taylor Hall, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4M4
R. Michael McGregor
Affiliation:
Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street JOR700, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3
Myer Siemiatycky
Affiliation:
Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street JOR700, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3
*
*Corresponding author. Email: adrienne.davidson@mcmaster.ca
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Abstract

The political underrepresentation of women and racial minorities in Canadian politics is well documented. One political arena that has yet to be examined in this respect, however, is school boards. Using data from a candidate survey conducted during the course of the 2018 Ontario school board elections, as well as demographic data collected on the entire population of school board candidates, we explore the unique characteristics of school board elections. The research note begins by describing the gender and racial composition of candidates and trustees in Canada's most populous province. It then considers the ways in which school board elections may serve as a launchpad to higher office for either of these two traditionally underrepresented groups, as we explore the features of progressive political ambition, recruitment into school board campaigns and the relative electoral success of racialized candidates and women in this local office. While women do very well in school board elections, they are significantly less likely than their male counterparts to have the desire to move up to provincial or federal politics. Meanwhile, racialized candidates contest school board election in significant numbers and report similar levels of progressive ambition relative to their white counterparts, but they fare exceptionally poorly in school board elections.

Résumé

Résumé

La sous-représentation politique des femmes et des minorités raciales en politique canadienne est bien documentée. Un espace politique qui n'a pas encore été examiné à cet égard, cependant, est celui des conseils scolaires. À l'aide des données d'un sondage mené auprès des candidates et des candidats aux élections scolaires de 2018 en Ontario, ainsi que des données démographiques recueillies sur l'ensemble de la population des candidat-e-s, nous explorons les caractéristiques uniques des élections des conseils scolaires. La note de recherche commence par décrire le genre et la composition raciale des candidats et des administrateurs dans la province la plus populeuse du Canada. Sont ensuite examinées les façons dont les élections scolaires peuvent servir de tremplin vers des postes supérieurs pour l'un ou l'autre de ces deux groupes traditionnellement sous-représentés, en examinant les caractéristiques de l'ambition politique progressive, le recrutement lors des campagnes et le succès électoral relatif des candidates et des candidats racialisés dans ces fonctions locales. Bien que les femmes affichent une remarquable réussite aux élections des conseils scolaires, elles sont beaucoup moins enclines que leurs homologues masculins à se lancer en politique provinciale ou fédérale. Pendant ce temps, les personnes racialisées se présentent en grand nombre aux élections des conseils scolaires et font état de niveaux d'ambition progressive semblables à ceux de leurs homologues blancs, mais leur succès est exceptionnellement bas dans les élections des conseils scolaires.

Keywords

school board electionspolitical candidatesgenderracerepresentationélections des conseils scolairescandidats et candidates politiquegenreminorités racialesreprésentation
Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 53 , Issue 2: Special Section: COVID-19 Short Research Papers , June 2020 , pp. 461 - 475
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2020

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