Do Women Know Less About Politics Than Men? The Gender Gap in Political Knowledge in Europe

Abstract

This article analyses the gender differences in political knowledge in a rarely studied area: Europe. The results are obtained via two-level hierarchical linear models using the 2009 European Election Studies, Voter Study (EES) and show that men provide more correct answers and less “Don’t Know” (DK) answers than women, whereas gender differences in providing incorrect answers are not relevant. Additionally, these findings show that even after controlling the varying access of men and women to resources and opportunities, significant gender differences in knowledge remain. Two factors distinctively affect the knowledge of men and women: age and education. First, and as a direct consequence of generational changes, the gender gap increases to a great extent with age. Second, the gender gap among low educated citizens is about twice as large as it is among their highly educated counterparts.