Le cause del gap di partecipazione, tra relazioni e contesto

This study applies a “gender oriented” perspective to investigate differences between political participation and social involvement related to gender. After the analysis of Italian official data (Istat) about this dimension, we focus on a survey addressed to university students. The goal is to assess reasons of the current substantial gender gap, avoiding the effects of differences in education and socio-economic conditions. Special attention was paid to the relational dimension, shifting between the impact of strong (intimate) and weak ties. The underlying hypothesis is that gender differences imply different paths of socialization, differences in relational involvement and, at last, particular features of participation. Socialization mechanisms are the main causes of this gap, with social participation of young women and political participation of men. Reason of this substantial gender gap concerns social versus political mechanisms of involvement. This is quite evident when you look at men’s and women’s attitudes splitting between instrumental and expressive positions.The presence of different relational dynamics prevailing with respect to gender: social capital of women is predominantly “bonding”, while men have more weak ties, associated with the “bridging” social capital. These differences may affect the perception of oneself and of their ability to act.