Women Create Fewer Online Petitions Than Men — But They’re More Successful

Hollie Russon Gilman—along with Tiago Peixoto, Jonathan Mellon, and Fredrik M. Sjoberg—wrote about the gender gap in petitions for the Washington Post.

Hillary Clinton’s candidacy for U.S. president reignited debate about gender inclusiveness in politics and the rate at which women participate. Many studies have shown that women do not participate as much as men in many aspects of offline politics. Yet this may be changing as a result of new technology. In new research, recently published by the Kennedy School, we ask whether women participate as much as men in online petitions — a new and important way of organizing online.