A Woman's place is in the House or the Senate

What % of the seats in the 116th U.S. Congress will be held by women?

NPR

*Note: these numbers could change as final votes are tallied.

1. How Perfectly Accurate was your prediction?

2. Describe one trend you see in the charts?

3. How do you explain that trend?

4. What is one consequence of that trend?

5. Is this trend good or bad news?

6. Would it be fair to call 2018 the year of the woman?

7. Before you get too happy or angry about these numbers: If 23% of the Congress is female, what is 77% of congress?

8. While the number of Female Democrats in congress is increasing, the number of female republicans is falling. Why do you think that is?

9. If you were to extend the trends from this chart, what percentage of the two houses would you predict will be female by 2040?

10. At the same time As the US Congress has become less popular it has become more female. Explain whether there is any causation in this fact.

11. What is one policy that you think will change in the 116th congress since more females than ever are in the U.S. Congress?

12. There is a debate about whether Nancy Pelosi should resume the job of Speaker of the House in the 116th Congress. Based on your knowledge of U.S. politics and the data in the chart, make a claim about whether Pelosi should be elected Speaker.

13. In terms of gender parity, how do you think the U.S. Congress compares to other countries around the world?*

14. has your state ever been represented in either the Senate or the House by a woman?*

15. Explain how voter turnout and demographics in the 2018 midterm election impacted the number of women in the 116th U.S. Congress.*

Visual Extension

Learning Extension

Check out this 538 analysis of the Year of the Woman.

Action Extension

Survey your friends and classmates. Ask them if they would like to run for Congress. Analyze the Data by gender and share your results in class or online.