By William C. Shelton

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

The United States ranks 78^th in the world in women’s political representation. This is a shame because evidence is unequivocal that organizations that include women in their leadership produce better outcomes than those that don’t.

In the private sector, for example, a Gallup study of 800 business units found that those that were gender-diverse produced significantly better revenue and net profit results. The financial research firm MSCI reports that between 2011 and 2016, U.S. companies with at least three women on their boards had earnings per share 45% higher than those with none. And the Catalyst organization reports that return on invested capital for companies with the most women directors is 26% higher than those with the least.

The women of the BOA: (L to R) Alderman At-Large Mary Jo Rossetti, Ward 7’s Katjana Ballantyne, and Ward 2’s Maryann Heuston. ~ Photo by Emily Thoman

We see similar outcomes in the political realm. On average, congresswomen sponsor 3 more bills and cosponsor 26 more bills per term than congressmen. They bring in 9% more money for their districts.

Researchers have offered a series of explanations for these differences. And I see evidence to support all of them in the three women whom Somerville is blessed to have as representatives to our Board of Aldermen. They are Ward 2’s Maryann Heuston, Ward 7’s Katjana Ballantyne, and Alderman At-Large Mary Jo Rossetti.

Reporting on her research in the Harvard Business Review, Professor Judy Rosenorfound that men are more likely to view leadership as a sequence of transactions with others, while women tend to frame a “web of inclusion” that is circular and inclusive, rather than hierarchical. A corroborating studyin the journal Women & Politics finds that in legislative committees “women tend to work in a less hierarchical, more participatory and more collaborative way than male colleagues.”

Maryann Heuston agrees. She tells me that women learn early that they have to include a broad variety of interests and considerations. “When you have to be half-awake all night – listening to a baby cry, or worrying if your mother is OK in some healthcare setting, or worrying about your partner’s something or other – and at the same time, you have a big job – you have a broader lens. That broad lens means that we tend to see the whole spectrum of a problem.”

KatjanaBallnatyne concurs. “A 360-degree view is essential, because good decisions require a context of good information.” She includes her ward’s state legislators and school committee representative in her spring and fall office hours. And no subject is off limits.

Another explanation of women legislators’ effectiveness is offered by a friend of mine. She says that men tend to be less comfortable asking questions than women are. Indeed, research has shown that gender-diverse teams tend to produce smarter solutions because they focus on facts and process those facts more effectively.

I first noticed Alderman Heuston’s cogent questioning during the 2011 decision to bond Federal Realty’s Assembly Square infrastructure. But she, in turn, cites Alderman Rossetti’s “astounding attention to detail.”

She’s right of course. Mary Jo Rosetti shows up at meetings well before they begin, with all her documentation required to ask serious questions. She chairs Legislative Matters which, unlike other committees, meets twice per month, steering the Board through seriously important legislation.

Alderman Ballantyne is no slouch either. She bores in on issue after issue. When her questions don’t yield satisfactory answers, she submits Board orders seeking data on housing affordability, revenue impacts of proposed zoning, cumulative SomerVision results, updates on specific developments, and much more.

A study entitled “Beyond Sameness and Difference” in State Politics and Policy Quarterly suggests another reason for women politicians’ effectiveness. Constituents perceive them as more responsive and as more sensitive to community concerns.

This may be because they are. Responding to a Rutgers University survey, 50% of female legislators cited “citizens as very helpful sources of support,” and 57% preferred an “open vs. closed-door process,” versus 36% and 32%, respectively, for their male counterparts.

Yes. AldermenHeuston and Rossetti have led initiatives in direct response to citizen concerns regarding the environment, rodents, flooding, and protection of such vulnerable groups as children in need of program and sports supplies.

Confronting a complex and high-impact development proposed for the Clarendon Hill Housing/North Street Project, Alderman Ballantyne has initiated and led multiple community meetings, drawing in tenants, residents, state legislators, and representatives from the city’s planning, public works, schools, and legal staffs.

And it seems that virtually any community meeting that I attend in any ward, I encounter Mary Jo Rossetti.

A final explanation for the acumen of women in politics comes from neuroscience. Clinical studies in Britain, Switzerland, and Russia provide evidence than women are better at multitasking. What they can’t tell us is whether women are born with this capacity, or develop it by fulfilling their societal roles.

The Director of the Center for American Women and Politics, Debbie Walsh, has suggested that “Women run for office to do something, and men run for office to be somebody.” The former is certainly true for Somerville’s aldermanic women.

For Alderman Rossetti, it was improving our schools. Based on Mary Jo’s diligent work and leadership in the PTA and School Council, Somerville’s first elected African-American woman, Anita Harris, urged her to run for the School Committee when she stepped down.

Mary Jo herself stepped down when her children were no longer in school. Then friends and neighbors encouraged her to run when Alderman at Large Bruce Desmond announced that he would not seek reelection.

For Maryann Heuston, the motivation was aging parks, nonexistent community gardens,crumbling streets,irresponsible businesses, and frequent and severe floods in the ward in which she grew up. For Katjana Ballantyne, it was the interrelated problems of anemic city finances, dwindling housing affordability, scarce jobs, and a development pattern that was not generating the commercial property tax revenues necessary to solve them.

Each of these women has made a demonstrable difference on the issues that initially motivated them, while taking on others. And I believe that they have made a difference collectively as well as individually. Three impacts that I can identify are a greater emphasis on quality-of-life issues, increased expectations of accountability, and more intense attention to fiscal responsibility.

Yet for all that they bring, women remainmore reluctant than men to enter politics. Doing so requires them to challenge barriers, defy stereotypes, manage multiple and conflicting expectations, and anticipate that their actions will be scrutinized and second-guessed.

So while only 18% of women in the U.S. participate in government leadership positions, it’s a wonder that even that many find the courage to do so. But when they do, we are all the better for it.