The gender gap was featured in news story after news story of election coverage. But the 1996 election also witnessed tremendous methodological confusion in calculating the size of the gap in the presidential race, with television networks calculating a gender gap of 16% and the New York Times describing an 11% gender gap. Networks compared the percentage of women voting for Clinton with women voting for Dole, while the New York Times calculated the difference between levels of support for Clinton between male and female voters.

Still other political analysts calculated the gender gap by measuring the difference between women’s support for Clinton and Dole and comparing that figure with the difference between men’s support for the two candidates, which produces a 17% gap.

So, what was the gender gap in 1996? The gender gap represents the difference in voting patterns between men and women. The correct way to calculate the gender gap is to assess gender differences in preferences for a particular candidate, party, or issue. The New York Times was right. President Clinton’s victory was the result of an 11 point gender gap.

Comparing women’s level of support for one candidate with women’s support for another candidate does not accurately capture differences in voting between women and men, which is the clear objective of "gender gap" methodology. The impact of the gap on election outcome cannot be assessed by adding the difference between women’s level of support for two candidates to the difference between men’s level of support for the two candidates.

The gender gap was first identified and popularized in 1980 by Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal, who as President of the National Organization for Women noted an 8% difference between male and female support for Reagan in his election over Carter. In that race, Reagan won support from 55% of men, but only 47% of women.

For more information on the origins of the gender gap, order a book just a little ahead of its time, How and Why Women Will Elect the Next President by Eleanor Smeal, Harper and Row, 1984.