Claire Gothreau has been awarded the Roberta Sigel Early Career Scholar Paper Award for her paper titled “Do Citizens Discriminate Against Women Candidates? Evidence from a 20-Country Conjoint Study,” co-authored with Associate Professor Lasse Laustsen. The award is presented by the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP).

The award-winning paper examines voters' attitudes towards female (and male) political candidates. The researchers demonstrate that, despite the underrepresentation of women in political positions, voters generally prefer female politicians. The analysis is based on experiments conducted in no fewer than 20 countries, with only one of these showing a preference for male candidates.

The research has been praised by the award committee:

“The scope, timeliness, and theoretical and methodological rigor of the research make it a stand-out paper led by an early career researcher,” state the members on the ISPP website.

Both societal-level and individual-level factors influence whether voters prefer female candidates. A high number of female representatives in parliament, gender equality, and a high level of democracy are positively associated with a preference for female politicians. At the individual level, voter preferences are influenced by being female, leaning politically to the left, and opposing hostile sexism.

“I am very grateful to receive this award, and thankful to ISPP and the award committee for this honour. Our paper addresses the persistent underrepresentation of women in politics around the world, and getting this recognition gives me the confidence to continue working on this important topic,” says Claire Gothreau about receiving the award.

Claire Gothreau is now the second CEPDISC researcher in a row to receive the Roberta Sigel Award. Last year, Nicolas Haas received the same award.