Leader News Hartwick Welcomes Zoe Oxley for Return of Rude Memorial Lecture

Union College Professor of Political Science Zoe Oxley will deliver the 2023 Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, March 1, at 4 p.m. in the Celebration Room, Shineman Chapel House, on the Hartwick College campus. Her presentation, “This One’s for the Boys: How Gendered Political Socialization Limits Girls’ Political Ambition and Interest” is free and open to the public.

Oxley is part of a team whose latest research on gender and political socialization has been featured in top academic journals and a number of media outlets, including Forbes, NPR’s “All Things Considered,” The 19th, WNYC’s “The Takeaway,” and The Conversation. They found that through the process of gendered political socialization, children learn about the political world, about societal gender roles, and about gender in politics. Drawing from surveys of and pictures made by over 1,600 children from across the United States, Oxley and her colleagues find that girls increasingly see political leadership as a “man’s world.” Simultaneously, as children grow older, they internalize gendered expectations, which direct their interests toward professions that embody the gendered traits that fit with their own sex. One result of this mismatch between women and politics is that girls are less interested in political engagement than are boys.

Oxley received her Ph.D. from Ohio State University. She is nationally recognized scholar in the field of political psychology, the former president of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society, and the co-author of dozens of academic journal articles as well as a leading textbook, Public Opinion: Democratic Ideals, Democratic Practice.

“I am thrilled that Professor Zoe Oxley will be sharing her important and fascinating research with the Hartwick and Oneonta community,” said Political Science Department Chair Laurel Elder. “Professor Oxley and her colleagues gathered amazing data from elementary school kids and were able to show that, even in the 21st century, the idea that politics is a man’s world is being communicated to children. This research is of paramount importance to the future of our democracy.”

Earlier in the day, Oxley will also be leading an informal discussion with students, faculty and staff members, discussing her area of expertise (political psychology), her work as the former editor of The Undergraduate Journal of Politics, and her experiences taking students to New Hampshire to work on presidential campaigns and to countries around the world to learn about different health care systems.

This year’s Lecture will also be videotaped and archived at the College’s YouTube page.

Leslie Rude was an outstanding Hartwick College faculty member and administrator. Following his death in 1998, Professor Emeritus Norma Hutman and Marion Rude established the Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture Series to reflect his passionate interests in political science and public speaking and his commitment to public life. The purpose of the Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture is to bring a prominent speaker with political expertise to the Hartwick campus each year to share ideas with students, faculty, and community members about issues pertinent to the current political climate.

For additional information on the Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture, contact Elder at 607-431-4887 or at [email protected].