Women senators devoted more attention to policy areas traditionally associated with women, such as health and education. However, formal testing showed that party, rather than sex, was the best predictor of issue communication, particularly regarding communal (women's) versus competitive (men's) issues. "By looking at those issues typically associated with women versus those associated with men (communal vs. competitive), I find that party rather than sex is the best predictor of issue communication" (Russel 2021).