MY BIG SISTER THE TOWN SUPERVISOR - FAMILY LEADERSHIP TRAINING IS NOTJUST FOR BOYS

This study investigates gender similarity in the effects of birth orde r upon political leadership. Town supervisors were the leaders studied as there are a considerable number of women who attain this level of leadership. Questionnaires about birth order and family size were gain ed from 66 women who were town supervisors in New York State in 1992 a nd compared to a randomly selected sample of 57 male town supervisors. It was found that women as well as men town supervisors were more lik ely to have been first born in their families. However whereas gender does not apparently influence the relevance of birth order for leaders hip, it clearly does exert an influence on the level of political lead ership attained. Women town supervisors gained their positions in town s that were considerably smaller than tile towns led by the male super visors. Discussion concerned the nature of family experiences that con tribute to leadership training, including those that may be different for girls and boys. Further research is needed to clarify barriers to female assertion of political leadership at more senior levels, becaus e as this study shows, female leadership is being trained in families.