University of Adelaide study finds Julia Gillard has been treated badly - really badly, so badly that it's affecting the national interest
Wednesday, 15 January 2014
There are a few points about this study conducted by the YWCA and the University of Adelaide.
1. It's based on a survey of 112 women within the YWCA. The results come only from those women who were motivated to fill out the survey.
2. It's a reflection of how those women percieve Ms Gillard's treatment rather than an empirical analysis of Ms Gillard's treatment. To that extent, it's a reflection of how well Ms Gillard's media image has been crafted.
3. The barracking implicit in the positioning and headline of the story is a worry. The premise is that "Julia Gillard was treated badly" - versus say Bob Kernohan?
So, let's get some empirical analysis ourselves. Can someone point me towards an easy to use online survey program please? Also any lists with contact details for selected groups who might care to participate in an online survey - say police associations, ethical lawyers or similar.
Here's a link to the Adelaide Advertiser's story.
More women turning off politics after Julia Gillard was badly treated
MOST women with political aspirations are less likely to pursue them because they think former Prime Minister Julia Gillard was treated badly, a survey has found.
The YWCA and University of Adelaide survey found about a third of respondents wanted to enter politics, but two-thirds of them were less likely to be interested in the future.
Of women over the age of 31, eight out of 10 said they were less likely to stand having seen Ms Gillard treated negatively by the media, while about 57 per cent of those aged 18 to 21 were less likely.
Respondents said they often saw her being criticised about how she looked and that she was treated in a demeaning manner.
Most of the 112 respondents thought the media treated male and female politicians differently, and most though Ms Gillard was treated particularly badly.
The report concedes that the survey "may have been biased" because it was distributed through the YWCA, so a certain demographic was more likely to respond.
Report author Blair Williams told The Advertiser that she personally was disillusioned.
"Since seeing Gillard, I thought maybe (politics) is not for me. I wondered what other women felt," she said.
According to the report, Ms Gillard was "systematically treated in an unfair and biased manner by mainstream media due to her gender".
YWCA community programs manager Jemma Taylor agrees, saying events such as the Liberal Party fundraiser that featured a sexist "joke menu" about Ms Gillard and the excuses for that menu made her angry.
"Seeing the way she was treated brought it to light how much more difficult it would be," she said.
Her college Claire Tatyzo, a YWCA project officer, said Ms Gillard was treated differently because she was female and that if Ms Gillard mentioned that people tried to silence her by accusing her of playing the "gender card".
So there you go. If fewer women enter leadership positions because Julia Gillard is being treated badly, then it follows that more will enter if we treat her better. So it's in the national interest hey!