Sheri Kunovich

Southern Methodist University | SMU · Department of Sociology

We sought to understand the motivations of undergraduate students who pursue multiple majors or degrees. Utilizing a sequential, exploratory, mixed-methods design, in phase one we interviewed 37 students currently pursuing multiple majors to determine themes in their expressed motivations. Following the development of themes, we administered a surv...

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to understand the differences in motivations, advantages, disadvantages and time of multiple-major awareness among students who pursue multiple majors based on a set of defined characteristics. The student characteristics of interest included race, gender, financial aid status, class standing, transfer status,...

Candidates running for the Polish Sejm are increasingly drawn from a wider group of occupations (1991–2011). As the percents of intelligentsia and farmers decline in the candidate pool they are replaced by candidates from middle- and low-level nonmanual occupations and business owners and the self-employed. In spite of the increased occupational di...

This paper utilizes nationally representative survey data to examine the gender gap in political knowledge in Poland. Political knowledge was assessed by asking respondents to indicate whether each of twelve national political parties was currently in the ruling coalition. We use motivation, ability, and opportunity to explain political knowledge....

Scholars have debated the impact of open-list systems on women's representation. While some argue that open lists provide a unique opportunity for voters to overcome parties' bias against women, others argue that they create additional barriers. I examine several mechanisms that impact women's representation within Poland's open-list system. Result...

Prior research highlights the relevance of gender in determining who is elected in postcommunist countries, yet there has been only limited work examining the relevance of gender in understanding voter participation. I examine the extent to which a gender gap in voting is present among Polish citizens. I use a model of voter participation previousl...

We examine the extent to which female politicians highlight their status as women by identifying with women as a group and using female roles and experiences to describe themselves. Based on a qualitative content analysis of female members' congressional web pages, we find that sexgroup identification and gender roles are selectively used in discus...

We use comparative and multilevel methods to examine attitudes toward the distribution of household labor in 32 countries. We test hypotheses derived from Baxter and Kane's (1995) gender dependence theory, which suggests complex relationships between societal-level gender dependence, individual-level gender dependence, and gender attitudes. Country...

Women's political participation and representation vary dramatically within and between countries. We selectively review the literature on gender in politics, focusing on women's formal political participation. We discuss both traditional explanations for women's political participation and representation, such as the supply of women and the demand...

Meritocratic attitudes are defined as general beliefs that education and its correlates should determine personal economic outcomes. Using the International Social Survey Project (ISSP): Social Inequality Module (1992), we examine both individual-level and country-level determinants of pro-meritocratic attitudes. According to self-interest and rati...

The authors extend previous research on women’s participation in politics by examining the role of female elites in political parties in selecting and supporting women as political candidates. They hypothesize that political parties, in their role as gatekeepers, mediate the relationship between country-level factors, such as women’s participation...

The economic changes that began with the fall of communism in 1989 have helped Poland to establish one of the strongest economies in Eastern Europe today. Not all parts of society have benefited equally from the positive economic picture however. Those who are unemployed, living on a pension, single parents, or residents of rural communities are at...

Women's low rate of participation at the highest levels of politics is an enduring problem in gender stratification. Previous cross-national research on women in national legislatures has stressed three explanations for differences in women's political representation: social structure, politics, and ideology. Despite strong theory suggesting the im...

In both Poland and the Czech Republic women are significantly less likely than men to obtain the first or top positions on electoral lists, even when political experience as candidates and elected officials is controlled, but particular types of parties are more likely to place women in top positions on electoral lists. The likelihood of women to s...

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