CHAPEL HILL — Political tech is a space rapidly gaining in importance, says UNC-Chapel Hill grad student Kirsten Adams. But it also lies at the intersection of two historically male-dominated fields: politics and technology.

“We knew there hadn’t been any other books dedicated solely to the field of political technology and women’s experiences in it,” she says. “We felt it was important to address this gap, especially in the wake of the #MeToo movement and heading into the 2020 election.”

Enter “Recoding the Boys’ Club: The Experiences and Future of Women in Political Technology” —  written by Adams, a Park Fellow and doctorate student in the Hussman School, along with UNC Hussman School Associate Professor Daniel Kreiss, and five recent UNC Hussman School alums: Jenni Ciesielski (’19), Haley Fernandez (’18), Kate Frauenfelder (’18), Brinley Lowe (’19), and Gabrielle Micchia (’19).

“The book’s aim is to help people create more gender equitable and inclusive workplaces more broadly — ones that value the ideas and skills of all those who work in them,” she said.

The book is ready for preorder with Oxford University Press or on Amazon, and will launch on July 17.

WRAL TechWire’s Chantal Allam recently had the chance to get the scoop. Here’s what she had to say:

  • How did the project come about?

The initial idea for this project came in the course of an undergraduate class at UNC and continued in an independent study, leading to a public report published in May 2018 and presented to around 100 practitioners at GoogleDC. A smaller group of the research team continued to conduct additional research and write this book over the course of the past two years. I have attached the book cover, some photos from our GoogleDC presentation in 2018, and some graphics.

  • Talk to me a little bit more about the book’s aim. 

Our aims for this book were twofold: First, to reveal the experiences of women in the field of political tech, and second, to help people and campaigns create more gender equitable and inclusive workplaces. It is animated by the voices of 45 women working on 12 presidential campaigns across four cycles.

Kirsten Adams

  • What is the field of “political technology” exactly?

“Political technology” is a comparatively new field encompassing work in technology, digital media, data, and analytics for political campaigns and causes. Political tech is a space rapidly gaining in importance, but it also lies at the intersection of two historically male-dominated fields: politics and technology.

In the book, we focus on political tech in the context of U.S. presidential campaigns to show how the field grew into what it is today and discuss what makes it so unique for politics–and so difficult for women to navigate.

  • ​How did you go about collecting your research?

First, we analyzed hiring data for political tech staffers employed by U.S. presidential campaigns over four election cycles as well as the 2020 Democratic primary campaigns. We compiled a list of staffers from Democracy in Action, which organizes public data on campaign staffing, and paired it with employment history data from publicly available websites to analyze patterns in employment histories. This part of the process illuminated how women are underrepresented in political technology and how they don’t have access to the same leadership and decision-making positions or entrepreneurial opportunities as men.

But to fully understand women’s experiences in the field, we also conducted in-depth interviews with 45 women working on 12 Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns across four cycles. Our book is animated by the voices of these women, who helped us capture the complexity of campaigns and their internal struggles over when things like gender and race shaped their experiences, and when they didn’t.

  • What were some of the most noteworthy interviews, and revelations that came out of those sittings?

It’s hard to choose! One of the most poignant findings that came out of these interviews was the understanding that representation alone is not enough. Even when women get their foot in the door in this field, they struggle to gain a seat at the table and have their voices heard in meaningful ways. We found this comes in large part from different cultural expectations of men and women in this field that shape women’s opportunities within it. Because of this, women discussed facing a variety of challenges in terms of making their voices feel heard, and experiencing formal and informal forms of exclusion from the political “boys’ club.”

But across many of our interviews, there was also a resounding acknowledgement of a broader lack of accountability present in these campaigns–particularly through the lack of HR infrastructure–and no venue to speak out about working conditions, inappropriate behavior, sexual harassment, and underperforming colleagues. When talking about the broader campaign culture, one of our interviewees said something that particularly resonated with me: “Everybody has been making the same jokes that every time a new article comes about #MeToo, like when is it hitting campaigns?” The limited time frames of campaigns often detract from the time and resources to provide policies, structure, and aid to staff, and this is compounded by a mentality that staffers’ well-being or family responsibilities must come second to the goals of the campaign.

  • What are some of the most important messages that the book highlights?

One goal we had when writing this book was to help people create more gender equitable and inclusive workplaces, and in our final chapter, we offer a clear way forward for political campaigns. The women we interviewed talked to us about how they felt campaigns could do better with respect to gender equity, both in political tech and more broadly. We incorporated these insights into our final chapter, where we harness their insights to make nine recommendations for how candidates, campaign leaders, the media, and staffers themselves can create work environments that promote diversity and equity.