Â鶹´«Ã½AV

skip to main content
World
U.S.: Nine in 10 See a Woman Leading the U.S. in 10 Years
World

U.S.: Nine in 10 See a Woman Leading the U.S. in 10 Years

by

Story Highlights

  • 93% in U.S. see the possibility of a female leader in the next decade
  • 26% would prefer a female manager, while 46% have no preference
  • 64% say #MeToo movement helps reduce sexual harassment and assault

Fitting with the U.N.'s theme for International Women's Day this year -- women in leadership -- Â鶹´«Ã½AV looks at the never-before-released results on a series of questions that we asked on this topic in 2019 and early 2020.

Â鶹´«Ã½AV asked women and men in 74 countries -- including the U.S. -- questions in four areas that are key to starting conversations in an action-driven way: women's leadership in politics and in the workplace, their opportunities for education, and whether movements such as #MeToo help to reduce harassment and sexual abuse of women.

Nearly All Americans Think a Woman Could Be Their Country's Leader in 10 Years

While women in the U.S. have yet to shatter the presidential glass ceiling, Americans almost universally think it is possible for the country to have a female leader within the next 10 years. Notably, 93% of U.S. adults said this when Â鶹´«Ã½AV asked the question in February 2020, amid an election cycle in which a record seven women ran for president, with one of them going on to become the country's first female vice president.

At that time, nearly all women -- and men -- saw a female leader as a possibility, with 92% of women and 94% of men saying this could happen within a decade. At least nine in 10 Americans in all major demographic groups saw this as a possibility.

More Than Nine in 10 Americans Say It Is Possible a Woman Will Lead the U.S. in the Next Decade
In your opinion, is it possible or not possible that a woman could be the leader of this country within the next 10 years?
Possible Not possible
% %
All Americans 93 7
Gender
Male 94 6
Female 92 7
Age
18-29 98 2
30-49 94 6
50-64 92 8
65+ 90 10
Â鶹´«Ã½AV, Feb. 17-28, 2020

The U.S. tops the list of the 74 countries where this question was asked. Other countries in the top 10, with the highest percentages of the population saying it's possible for a woman to lead the country someday soon, include several that have had female heads of state, including Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica. Nearly 60 countries around the world have had a female leader since the 1960s.

Top 10 Countries Most Likely to Say a Woman Could Lead Their Country
In your opinion, is it possible or not possible that a woman could be the leader of this country within the next 10 years?
Possible
%
United States 93
Uruguay 92
Venezuela 92
Chile 91
Argentina 90
Colombia 90
Panama 89
Mexico 89
Ecuador 88
Costa Rica 88
Â鶹´«Ã½AV, Feb. 17-28, 2020; Â鶹´«Ã½AV World Poll, 2019

Nearly Half in U.S. Have No Gender Preference for Managers

Although men still make up the majority of managers in the U.S., women have obtained the majority of the nearly 5 million new jobs in management created since 1980.

For a fairly sizable percentage of Americans, whether their manager is a woman or a man makes little difference. Nearly half of Americans in 2020 (46%) said they have no preference in whether their manager is a man or a woman. Americans who did have a preference divided evenly between preferring a male (27%) or a female (26%) manager.

Men (58%) were far more likely than women (35%) to say they have no gender preference for a manager. However, both women and men who had a preference were evenly divided over which gender they preferred for a new manager.

Americans' preferences differed more by age than by gender -- but even those differences were relatively small. Younger Americans tended to prefer a female manager, while older adults slightly favored a male manager.

Nearly Half of Americans Have No Preference for the Gender of Their Manager
Suppose you were taking a new job and had your choice of a manager. Would you prefer to work for a man or a woman?
Man Woman No preference (vol.)
% % %
All Americans 27 26 46
Gender
Male 22 19 58
Female 31 33 35
Age
18-29 27 34 38
30-49 22 26 51
50-64 28 24 47
65+ 33 22 45
(vol.) = volunteered response
Â鶹´«Ã½AV, Feb. 17-28, 2020

As in the U.S., substantial proportions of residents in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member states that were surveyed do not have a gender preference for a manager.

Among those with a preference, Americans were the most closely divided. But while Americans were split between preferring a male versus a female manager, residents of Mexico and Chile showed a clear preference for a female manager. Residents with a preference in the other OECD countries preferred a man.

Prefer for Manager Gender Among Select OECD Countries*
Suppose you were taking a new job and had your choice of a manager. Would you prefer to work for a man or a woman?
Woman Man No preference (vol.)
% % %
Mexico 41 15 40
Chile 37 24 37
United States of America 26 27 46
Israel 23 35 40
Slovakia 23 47 26
Poland 20 29 42
Greece 19 31 48
Lithuania 16 22 45
Hungary 15 35 46
Latvia 10 43 41
Estonia 9 30 58
*This question was not asked in other OECD countries; (vol.) = Volunteered response
Â鶹´«Ã½AV, Feb 17-28, 2020; Â鶹´«Ã½AV World Poll, 2019

Americans' Views of Equality for Women in Education

Although women outnumber men on U.S. college campuses and have for years, Americans still lean toward giving an available university scholarship to a woman rather than a man in situations where a male and female candidate are equally qualified. While 43% volunteered that it would depend or they would give the scholarship to either a man or a woman, 38% said they would give the scholarship to a woman and just 10% would give it to a man.

Americans' Views on Awarding a Scholarship to an Equally Qualified Man or Woman
Suppose a university is going to give just ONE scholarship that pays all expenses related to education. There are two people who are equally qualified -- a young man and a young woman. In your opinion, who should receive this scholarship, the man or the woman?
The man The woman Either/It depends (vol.)
% % %
All Americans 10 38 43
Gender
Male 11 29 50
Female 8 47 37
Age
18-29 14 40 39
30-49 5 39 46
50-64 9 40 41
65+ 14 34 44
(vol.) = Volunteered response
Â鶹´«Ã½AV, Feb. 17-28, 2020

About three in 10 U.S. men (29%) say they would award the scholarship to the female candidate, compared with nearly half of U.S. women (47%). With most of the rest not saying who should get the scholarship, relatively few men (11%) or women (8%) say they would opt for the male candidate.

Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Said the #MeToo Movement Reduces Violence

While the #MeToo movement first emerged in the U.S. in 2006, it rose to national and then international prominence in 2017. Two years on, Â鶹´«Ã½AV measured the perceived influence the movement had in 74 countries.

Nearly two in three U.S. adults (64%) indicated they believe the movement has reduced sexual harassment and abuse of women in their country. There was little difference between men's and women's views on the issue, with 63% of men and 65% of women both agreeing that #MeToo has reduced harassment and violence.

Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Say Movements Like #MeToo Help Reduce Harassment and Sexual Abuse of Women in the U.S.
"MeToo" is a worldwide movement to publicly condemn sexual harassment and sexual assault of women. Do you think movements like MeToo help to reduce harassment and sexual abuse of women in this country?
Yes No Never heard of (vol.)
% % %
All Americans 64 32 3
Gender
Male 63 34 3
Female 65 31 3
Age
18-29 68 29 2
30-49 61 32 6
50-64 63 34 0
65+ 64 33 2
(vol.) = volunteered response
Â鶹´«Ã½AV, Feb. 17-28, 2020

Given that the #MeToo movement originated in the U.S., it's not that surprising that Americans are more likely than those outside the U.S. to have heard of it and to have an opinion about it. In the U.S., the movement has been credited with inspiring new legislation and workplace rules intended to protect women from harassment and assault.

Compared with residents of other OECD countries, Americans are the most likely to say similar movements have had an effect. However, in most countries, those who have heard of #MeToo are more likely to say it has helped reduce harassment and sexual abuse of women than not.

Perceptions of the Impact of Movements Like #MeToo in Select OECD Countries*
"MeToo" is a worldwide movement to publicly condemn sexual harassment and sexual assault of women. Do you think movements like MeToo help to reduce harassment and sexual abuse of women in this country?
Yes No Never heard of (vol.)
% % %
United States of America 64 32 3
Mexico 51 33 7
Israel 50 20 23
Chile 46 25 25
Greece 39 13 43
Hungary 36 20 38
Lithuania 28 19 42
Estonia 26 18 43
Slovakia 26 23 45
Poland 25 16 50
Latvia 18 14 57
*This question was not asked in other OECD countries; (vol.) = volunteered response
Â鶹´«Ã½AV, Feb. 17-28, 2020; Â鶹´«Ã½AV World Poll, 2019

Implications

As Americans ponder the future of female leadership and gender equality this International Women's Day, there are definite bright spots for the country. Even before the election of Kamala Harris to the second-highest office in the land, the vast majority of Americans saw the prospect of a woman leading the country within the next decade as a real possibility.

Additionally, 72% of Americans would either prefer a female manager or have no preference for the gender of that person. These developments largely point to a substantial comfort with or expectation of female leaders at both the highest level of society and the level nearest to the people.

For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review .

Learn more about how the works.


Â鶹´«Ã½AV /poll/330530/u.s.-nine-woman-leading-u.s.-years.aspx
Â鶹´«Ã½AV World Headquarters, 901 F Street, Washington, D.C., 20001, U.S.A
+1 202.715.3030