Women lawmakers Study finds "sharp differences" between male and female state legislators Archived article from Dec 7, 2001 By Joni Scanlon   A study by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) finds that the presence of women lawmakers makes state legislators of both genders likelier to consider how laws affect women, racial and ethnic minority groups, and the economically disadvantaged. The study, entitled "Women State Legislators: Past, Present and Future," was made public during CAWP's fifth national Forum for Women State Legislators, held in California Nov. 15-17. Women legislators from 45 states attended the conference. "Our study also found sharp differences in attitudes between female and male legislators on a number of public policy issues, regardless of their respective political party," noted Debbie Walsh, director of CAWP. "We found that both Democratic and Republican women are more likely than their male counterparts to support liberal or moderate positions on a variety of issues. One of our most striking findings is that Republican women are more likely than Democratic men to work on legislation to help women." Women legislators were more likely than men to favor: harsher penalties for hate crimes legally recognized civil unions for gay and lesbian couples laws permitting minors to obtain legal abortions without parental consent. Women lawmakers were more likely to oppose: overturning Roe vs. Wade government-funded school vouchers the death penalty a constitutional amendment to permit prayer in public schools. The study, which involved a nationwide telephone survey of 1,094 male and female state legislators, follows a similar study conducted by CAWP in 1988. While findings of the new study mirror many of the conclusions reached in the earlier one, researchers noted a few differences. For example, they found that women state legislators are now less likely than in 1988 to belong to traditional women's organizations such as the League of Women Voters, Business and Professional Women, and the American Association of University Women. But they are now more likely to belong to feminist organizations such as the Women's Political Caucus and the National Organization of Women. Women legislators are better educated than in 1988, and more of them are in occupations in traditionally male-dominated fields, other than law and agriculture, the study found. "A majority of women legislators have attended graduate school or received professional education beyond college -- a notable increase since 1988," said Susan Carroll, senior research associate at CAWP. "However, women legislators in 2001 are still more likely, as in 1988, to have occupational experience in traditionally female-dominated fields, such as education and health care," Carroll added, "and they continue to be older than their male colleagues."

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