The historical and social context of career women politicians' experiences: The case of Eastern Samar, Philippines

• Main Author: Cafe, Dindo Palce
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2006
• Subjects: Women politicians > Philippines > Samar Island; Women—Political activity > Philippines > History; Political Science
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/13563
• Institution: De La Salle University

This paper epitomizes the experiences of career women politicians in the local electoral politics in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines by invoking the Sociological Imagination Theory. The study aims to describe the historical and social context of career women politicians' experiences. Two methods were used in this paper. One is review of secondary data from different government offices. Another is qualitative interviews of 19 key informants. Sociological Imagination served as a frame for analysis of data.The historical political profile of women is consistently lower than men in all levels of local government (i.e. provincial, municipal, and barangay). Social institutions or phenomena that honored women's political experiences include education, economic situation of the province, media, family, government laws, church, and organizational factors or political party.The insights gained from this study are: a) to stress the essential roles of education and occupation as success factors for women in politics, b) to point out the need for programs and policies that promote the welfare of women, c) to serve as eye opener for other women as well as men on the predicaments of women career politicians.