The Significance of Women in Congress from Women Members’ Perspectives

Despite being over just 19.4 percent of the 114th U.S. Congress (2015-16), women have had a significant influence on institutional dynamics and outcomes. Drawing upon in-depth, personal interviews with more than three-quarters of women members of the 114th Congress, conducted by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, we identify women’s distinct contributions to legislative policy and processes. Unlike previous impact literature that relies primarily on traditional measures of gender differences in congressional behavior (e.g. roll call votes, bill sponsorship), this paper contributes greater nuance, detail, and first-person insights into the ways that gender diversity matters in the U.S. House and Senate. We look specifically at commonalities in experience, motivation, and perspective that are identified by women members, while also analyzing diverse types and sites of influence by women with different racial/ethnic, party/ideological, geographic, and professional backgrounds and identities. In addition to providing key insights into Congress as a gendered institution, this paper grapples with the important influence of partisanship and party polarization on member strategies and behaviors.