The number of women elected to public office is not representative to its population, and Iowa lags behind most of the nation in electing women to office.

“Women in Government,” sponsored by the Committee on Lectures took place Wednesday in the Memorial Union. The program focused on unequal representation of women in government.

Iowa is one of five states that has not elected a woman to Congress.

Ellen Pirro, a professor and operator of a research and consulting firm, and Jennifer Smyser, manager of the Cecelia Burnett campaign, have worked together to study women in government.

Pirro said Iowa is in the heart of the country and the heart of politics, but a glass ceiling exists for women elected to office. Below the county supervisor level, she said, most women consider public service as volunteer work.

In campaigning, women are not good fund raisers, Smyser said, because a stigma is attached to women asking for money.

Pirro said women are socialized to be that way. “Men just seem to be a little better at that,” Smyser said.

They agreed the idea of family can hurt a woman candidate. “It’s a really strange thing that works against women no matter what,” Pirro said. Women with children who run for office are often criticized for not being home with their families.

This “bad mother” stigma can be electoral death, Pirro said. Women without children are condemned because they supposedly do not know enough about the average American family, she said. “The women can’t win.”

Women are often considered not strong enough, or “not man enough,” to be politicians, Smyser said.

Iowa still lags behind much of the nation. “In general, Iowa has an anti-female semitism,” Pirro said. Because Iowa has a large older population, older ideas remain in voter beliefs. While there are men who won’t vote for a female candidate, “there are also a lot of women who don’t vote for women,” added Pirro.