Women in the Office: MP Staff in Canada
Date
2019-08-23
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Abstract
In Canadian political science, Member of Parliaments’ (MP) staff are rarely studied. When mentioned, research only examines staff in relation to MPs’ interaction with their constituency office. As an understudied, poorly understood group, this thesis investigates who works for an MP and why they do so. I argue MP staff are important to study due to their direct interaction with constituents dealing with federal government issues. Using two unique datasets, – the Government Electronic Directory Services dataset and data collected in November and December 2018 from a survey of MPs’ employees across Canada - this study addresses four main research questions: who works for an MP and why; who uses their staff position to advance their political ambition; what are the main benefits and drawbacks for working for an MP; and how are these processes gendered? Results show that across Canada, regardless of political party, the gender of the MP and region, more women are employed by MPs than men. Helping constituents and their communities are rewarding aspects of working for an MP, though women report different, more rational motivations for their work than do men. Staff report poor office management, long hours, and low compensation as consistent drawbacks. Approximately one in four staff experience harassment within their jobs, the majority being women. As a starting point, this thesis aims to ignite future research about staff’s role in representation in Canada, our understanding of how gender influences this process, and staff’s overall involvement in Canadian politics.
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Constituency Offices, Political Staff, Women in Politics, Gender, Canadian Politics, Harassment, Front-line Politics, Harassment in Politics, Member of Parliaments' Staff, Member of Parliament
Citation
Cloutier, M. N. (2019). Women in the Office: MP Staff in Canada (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.