Democrat Dan Malloy and Republican Tom Foley have pledged to make their best effort at naming women to half of about 75 high-level jobs in the next administration.
It seems like an obvious political promise for the two major-party gubernatorial candidates to make – given that ahigher proportion of women generally turn out to vote than men.
But candidates in other states have balked at making the pledge, said Teresa Younger, the executive director of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women.
The PCSW is part of a national coalition to extract a promise of gubernatorial candidates to move toward gender parity, something that has been largely achieved in medical and law schools, but has eluded state service and politics.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell has placed women in 37 percent of the 75 high-level jobs identified by the commission, which makes the state a leader in getting more women involved in governmental careers, Younger said.
“She set a very high bar,” Younger said today after an event to publicize the pledges by Foley and Malloy.
Rell named women to top posts that had been dominated by men, including the commissioners of correction and economic development.
As part of the new effort, the commission is gathering resumes for consideration by the next governor, who will take office in January. More information about the effort, called ConnGAP, and how to submit a resume is available online.