By Leisha DeHart-Davis, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill & Tope Olofintuyi, Research Assistant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This blog was originally posted on the League of Women in Government site at  ttps://leagueofwomeningovernment.com 

How can local governments create gender-inclusive workplaces? This is an important question given substantial evidence that gender-balanced leadership makes for more effective organizations. Yet women are still woefully underrepresented in the senior ranks of America’s cities and counties. As a result, local government organizations need to be intentional in pursuing gender inclusivity.

An assistant city manager recently told me about her frustration with a team she had formed to work on a special project for the city. Their task was to develop solutions to reduce the number of errors in the utility bills sent to customers.

Like many organizational issues, this one was not restricted to one department, so she pulled together a cross-functional team of employees to identify the source(s) of the errors and recommend ways to fix them. These were smart, dedicated folks who had a proven track record of getting the job done.

Feedback received in a routine graduate course evaluation generated a process of reaction and curiosity in me recently, all of which led to an insight that will be useful in the future as I work with and teach Millennials.

The question posed: “What changes in the material, if any, do you feel might strengthen this course?”

The response from the student: “Including sample papers for all assignments.”

What professional paths do people take to become city or county managers?  After all, most of our citizens are barely aware this position exists in our communities or that it might be a desirable career goal.

Research typically focuses on the complexities of the local government management profession rather than the career paths of local government managers.

Though women comprise more than half of the United States population, they are significantly underrepresented at all levels of government. Several studies aim to explain why, and all come to similar conclusions. Women are less likely to consider running for political office than men, they are less likely to be encouraged to run, and they often consider several factors like motherhood and gender stereotypes when making their decisions about whether to run.