Women in the 117th Congress
Critical Analysis
According to the data from the charts above, how many women are currently members of the U.S. Senate in the 117th Congress?
Identify one trend you see regarding female composition of the U.S. Congress in the data from the chart.
Explain the main reason for that trend.
Describe one consequence of that trend?
There are 535 human members of the U.S. Congress, even if you count Ted Cruz. What percent of U.S. Congress members are male?
Roughly half of Americans are females, almost double the share of Congress that are females. Make a claim explaining why women are still so underrepresented in Congress.
Describe two policy changes that would likely result if suddenly the percent of male and female congress members flipped.
Explain why there are so many more Democratic women in congress than Republican.
Based on the data in this chart, what year do you predict Congress will become 1/2 male and 1/2 female.
Describe the gender makeup of you your state and district congressional represented, and make a claim about how much it impacts their lawmaking and representation.
Learning Extension
Read this short, short, short and sweet, sweet, sweet Five Thirty Eight report on the incoming class of female representatives.
Action Extension
Here is a list of the 26 (17D, 9R) women currently serving in the U.S. Senate. Share your list of the top three favorite female Senators with class.