She Should Run Releases Women’s Political Pulse Report

We’re thrilled to announce the release of a new research report titled Tuned out: How toxic politics is changing the way women lead. The research indicates that while a majority of women are increasingly disengaging from political news and citing a decreased likelihood of running for office due to political dysfunction, they continue to actively support and take action for their communities on important issues.

Utilizing She Should Run data and surveys conducted with partners at CREDO Mobile, we found that when it comes to staying politically informed, more than half of women engage with political news less than they did five years ago. The report outlines the reality that American women have little patience for negative political doom loops and are instead channeling their time and energy into activities that make a difference in their communities.

Additionally, we saw that while 66.3% of women indicated that they are less likely to consider running for office because politics seems toxic, almost the same proportion–63.43%–ranked either bringing change to their community or pursuing issues they care about as the top reason that would motivate them to consider running for office. Moreover, while women appear to be tuning out of the political noise, a remarkable 94.1% of women have engaged in four or more civic activities in the last two years, further highlighting the disconnect many women have between their own civic engagement and the impact they could have as an elected official.

“We are in an extremely challenging time for our democracy, particularly for women,” said She Should Run Founder and CEO, Erin Loos Cutraro. “We cannot let nonstop political turmoil deter us from taking actions, large or small, that will matter for years and generations to come. Women have always stepped up, partly because we’ve always had to, and the need for collective action has never been greater. Inaction is not an option this election year.”

The data revealed:

• More than half of women (53.3%) are following political news less than they did five years ago, compared to just 12.1% of women who are engaging more. Similarly, 41% of women are volunteering less, and 38.6% of women report feeling less engaged in their work.
• In contrast, while it would appear that women are tuning out of political doom loops, a remarkable 94.1% of women have engaged in four or more civic activities in the last two years.
• While 66.3% of women indicated that they are less likely to consider running for office because politics seems toxic, almost the same proportion–63.43%–ranked either bringing change to their community or pursuing issues they care about as the top reason that would motivate them to consider running for office.
• 45.7% of women are spending more time on social media now than they were five years ago.
• 61.14% of women surveyed reported that they have never considered running for office.
• If they were to run, only 14.1% of women said they would do so within the next two years. Women who have more closely interacted with She Should Run indicate a shortened timeline, with 39.5% saying they would run within the next two years.

Read the full report here.