Women in Congress: Statistics and Brief Overview
Released: 2019-04-09T00:00:00

Introduction

Including the first woman to serve in 1917, a total of 365 women have been elected or appointed to serve in the U.S. Congress. That first woman was Jeannette Rankin (R-MT), who was elected on November 9, 1916, to the 65 th Congress (1917-March 4, 1919).

Table 1 details this service by women in the House, Senate, and both chambers.

The 116 th Congress began with 131 women. Table 2 shows that women account for

23.7% of voting Members in the House and Senate (127 of 535); 24.2% of total Members in the House and Senate (131 of 541, including the Delegates and Resident Commissioner); 23.4% of voting Representatives in the House (102 of 435); 24.0% of total Members in the House (106 of 441, including the Delegates and Resident Commissioner); and 25.0% of the Senate.

This report includes historical information, including the (1) number and percentage of women in Congress over time; (2) means of entry to Congress; (3) comparisons to international and state legislatures; (4) records for tenure; (5) firsts for women in Congress; (6) African American, Asian Pacific, Hispanic American, and American Indian women in Congress; and (7) women in leadership. It also provides a brief overview of research questions related to the role and impact of women in Congress.

For additional biographical information—including the names, committee assignments, dates of service, listings by Congress and state, and (for Representatives) congressional districts of the women who have served in Congress—see CRS Report RL30261, Women in Congress, 1917-2019: Service Dates and Committee Assignments by Member, and Lists by State and Congress , by Jennifer E. Manning and Ida A. Brudnick.

Since the 65 th Congress (1917-1918), the number of women serving in Congress generally increased incrementally, and on a few occasions, decreased. In an exception to these incremental changes, the elections in 1992, which came to be known popularly as the "Year of the Woman," represented a jump in the number of women in Congress. As a result of this 1992 election, whereas the 102 nd Congress (1991-1992) concluded with 34 women, on the first day of the 103 rd Congress (1993-1994), the number of women in Congress increased 58.8%, to 54 women. More recently, the 115 th Congress concluded with 115 women, and on the first day of the 116 th Congress, the number of women in Congress increased 13.9%, to 131 women.

Figure 1 shows the changes in the number of women serving in each Congress. For a table listing the total number of women who have served in each Congress, including information on turnover within a Congress, please see Table A-2 in the Appendix .

Figure 2 shows division of men and women in Congress historically and in the 116 th Congress.

As seen in Figure 3 , 49 states (all except Vermont), 4 territories (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), and the District of Columbia have been represented by a woman in Congress at some time since 1917.

Four states (Alaska, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Vermont) have never elected a woman to the House.

Eighteen states have never been represented by a female Senator. Fourteen states have been represented by one female Senator, 12 have sent two, and 6 states have sent three.

How Women Enter Congress: Regular Elections, Special Elections, and Appointments

Pursuant to Article I, Section 2, clause 4 of the U.S. Constitution, all Representatives enter office through election, even those who enter after a seat becomes open during a Congress. By contrast, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified on April 8, 1913, gives state legislatures the option to empower governors to fill Senate vacancies by temporary appointment.

The 56 women who have served in the Senate entered initially through three different routes:

34 entered through regularly scheduled elections, 17 were appointed to unexpired terms, and 5 were elected by special election.

As Figure 4 shows, approximately 70% (39) of all women who have served in the Senate initially entered Senate service by winning an election (regular or special). Approximately 30% of women Senators entered the Senate initially through an appointment. Of the 17 women who entered by appointment, 10 served less than one year.

Since the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1913, nine years prior to the first appointment of a woman to fill a Senate vacancy, 200 Senators have been appointed. Of these appointees, 91.5% (183) have been men, and 8.5% (17) were women.

Women in Congress as Compared with Women in Other Legislative Bodies

International Perspective

The current total percentage of voting female representation in Congress (23.7%) is slightly lower than averages of female representation in other countries. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), as of January 1, 2019, women represented 24.3% of national legislative seats (both houses) across the entire world. In the IPU database of worldwide female representation, the United States ties for 78 th worldwide for women in the lower chamber. The Nordic countries (Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, and Norway) lead the world regionally with 42.3% female representation in national legislatures.

State-House Perspective

The percentage of women in Congress also is lower than the percentage of women holding seats in state legislatures. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, in 2019, "2,117, or 28.7% of the 7,383 state legislators in the United States are women. Women currently hold 504, or 25.6%, of the 1,972 state senate seats and 1,613, or 29.8%, of the 5,411 state house or assembly seats." Across the 50 states, the total seats held by women range from 13.8% in Mississippi to 50.8% in Nevada.

Since the beginning of the 92 nd Congress (1971-1972), the first Congress for which comparative state legislature data are available, the total percentage of women in state legislatures has eclipsed the percentage of women in Congress (see Figure 5 ). The greatest disparity between the percentages of female voting representation in state legislatures as compared with Congress occurred in the early 1990s, when women comprised 6.0% of the total Congress in the 102 nd Congress (1991-1992), but 18.3% of state legislatures in 1991. The gap has since narrowed.

Female Election Firsts in Congress

First woman elected to Congress. Representative Jeannette Rankin (R-MT, 1917-1919, 1941-1943). First woman to serve in the Senate. Rebecca Latimer Felton (D-GA) was appointed in 1922 to fill the unexpired term of a Senator who had died in office. In addition to being the first female Senator, Mrs. Felton holds two other Senate records. Her tenure in the Senate remains the shortest ever (one day), and, at the age of 87, she is the oldest person ever to begin Senate service. First woman to succeed her spouse in the Senate and also the first female initially elected to a full six-year term. Hattie Caraway (D-AR, 1931-1945) was first appointed in 1931 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband, Thaddeus H. Caraway (D-AR, House, 1913-1921; Senate, 1921-1931), and then was subsequently elected to two six-year terms. First woman elected to the Senate without having first been appointed to serve in that body and first woman to serve in both houses of Congress . Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) was elected to the Senate and served from January 3, 1949, until January 3, 1973. She had previously served in the House (June 3, 1940, to January 3, 1949). First woman elected to the Senate without first having been elected to the House or having been elected or appointed to fill an unexpired Senate term. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-KS, 1979-1997). First woman elected Speaker of the House. As Speaker of the House in the 110 th and 111 th Congresses (2007-2010), Nancy Pelosi held the highest position of leadership ever by a woman in the U.S. government. She was elected Speaker again at the beginning of the 116 th Congress.

Records for Length of Service

Longest total length of service by a woman in Congress. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who served from January 3, 1977, to January 3, 2017, holds this record (40 years, 10 of which were spent in the House). On March 17, 2012, Senator Mikulski surpassed the record previously held by Edith Nourse Rogers (R-MA). Longest length of service by a woman in the House. On March 18, 2018, currently serving Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) surpassed the record previously held by Representative Rogers. Representative Kaptur has been serving in the House since January 3, 1983 (36 years). Representative Rogers served in the House for 35 years, from June 25, 1925, until her death on September 10, 1960. Longest length of service by a woman in the Senate. Senator Mikulski also holds the record for length of Senate service by a woman (30 years). In January 2011, she broke the service record previously held by Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME), who served 24 years in the Senate and 8.6 years in the House.

Women Who Have Served in Both Houses

Sixteen women have served in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) was the first such woman, as well as the first woman elected to the Senate without first having been elected or appointed to fill a vacant Senate seat. She was first elected to the House to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband (Clyde Smith, R-ME, 1937-1940), and she served from June 10, 1940, until January 3, 1949, when she began her Senate service. She served in the Senate until January 3, 1973.

African American Women in Congress

Twenty-five African American women serve in the 116 th Congress, including 2 Delegates, a record number. The previous record number was 21, including 2 Delegates, serving at the end of the 115 th Congress.

A total of 47 African American women have served in Congress. The first was Representative Shirley Chisholm (D-NY, 1969-1983). Senator Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL, 1993-1999) was the first African American woman to have served in the Senate. The African American women Members of the 116 th Congress are listed in Table 3 .

Asian Pacific American Women in Congress

Ten Asian Pacific American women serve in the 116 th Congress. Patsy Mink (D-HI), who served in the House from 1965-1977 and again from 1990-2002, was the first of 13 Asian Pacific American women to serve in Congress. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) is the first Asian Pacific American woman to serve in both the House and Senate.

Hispanic Women in Congress

Twenty Hispanic or Latino women have served in Congress, all but one in the House, and 15 of them, a record number, serve in the 116 th Congress. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL, 1989-2018) is the first Hispanic woman to serve in Congress, and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV, 2017-present) is the first Hispanic woman Senator.

American Indian (Native American) Women in Congress

Representatives Sharice Davids (D-KS) and Deb Haaland (D-NM), both first elected to the 116 th Congress, are the first female enrolled members of federally recognized tribes to serve in Congress.

Women Who Have Served in Party Leadership Positions19

A number of women in Congress, listed in Table 6 , have held positions in their party's leadership. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds the highest position of leadership in the U.S. government ever held by a woman. As Speaker of the House in the 116 th Congress, she is second in the line of succession for the presidency. She also served as Speaker in the 110 th and 111 th Congresses. In the 108 th , 109 th , and 112 th -115 th Congresses, she was elected the House Democratic leader. Previously, Representative Pelosi was elected House Democratic whip, in the 107 th Congress, on October 10, 2001, effective January 15, 2002. She was also the first woman nominated to be Speaker of the House. Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME), chair of the Senate Republican Conference from 1967 to 1972, holds the Senate record for the highest, as well as first, leadership position held by a female Senator. The first woman Member to be elected to any party leadership position was Chase Going Woodhouse (D-CT), who served as House Democratic Caucus Secretary in the 81 st Congress (1949-1950).

Women and Leadership of Congressional Committees

As chair of the House Expenditures in the Post Office Department Committee (67 th -68 th Congresses), Mae Ella Nolan was the first woman to chair any congressional committee. As chair of the Senate Enrolled Bills Committee (73 rd -78 th Congresses), Hattie Caraway was the first woman to chair a Senate committee. In total,

26 women have chaired a House committee (including select committees); 14 women have chaired a Senate committee (including select committees); 1 female Senator has chaired two joint committees (related to her service on a standing committee); and 2 female Representatives have chaired a joint committee.

In the 116 th Congress, there are currently nine committees led by women: five standing committees in the House, one standing committee in the Senate, one select committee in the House, one select committee in the Senate, and one joint committee.

Women in Congress: Examinations of their Role and Impact

As the number of women in Congress has increased in recent decades, and following the large increase in women following the 1992 elections in particular, numerous studies of Congress have examined the role and impact of these women.

Central to these studies have been questions about the following:

The legislative behavior of women in Congress, including whether the legislative behavior of female Members differs from their male counterparts. For example, what has the increase in women in Congress meant for descriptive representation (i.e., when representatives and those represented share demographic characteristics, such as representation of women by women) and substantive representation (i.e., representation of policy preferences and a linkage to policy outcomes)? This also includes examinations of whether women Members sponsor more "women's issues bills" or speak more frequently on the House floor about women. These examinations also include questions regarding whether there are any differences in roll call voting behavior between men and women Members of Congress, with a focus on successive Members in the same district, in the same party, or in the chamber overall. The "effectiveness" of female legislators, particularly in comparison to male legislators. These studies have examined bill sponsorship and cosponsorship; women's success in shepherding sponsored bills or amendments into law; committee work; success in securing federal funds; consensus building activities and efforts to form coalitions; effectiveness while in the majority and minority; and their impact on the institution overall. The path that leads women to run for office, comparative success rates of female compared with male candidates, and career trajectory once in Congress. This includes professional backgrounds and experience, barriers to entry, and fundraising; the so-called widow effect, in which many women first secured entry to Congress following the death of a spouse; and reelection efforts and influences on decisions regarding voluntary retirement or pursuing other office.

Appendix. Total Number of Women Who Served in Each Congress