Millennials and Women in Leadership

ISSUE No 1 of 13

With the U.S. presidential election only a few weeks off, America may welcome its first female president. This year, millennial voters overtook baby boomers as the nation’s largest living generation, and millions of millennial women are poised to enter new leadership roles. But is this new generation entirely gender blind?

Leadership and GenderSignificant numbers of millennials still see differences in the leadership effectiveness of men versus women. Currently, 14% of women and 38% of men say that men make more effective leaders. This helps us understand why the status quo continues in so many places and accentuates the problem. Men and women, generally speaking, aren’t comfortable enough working together. This also helps us understand why there are so few women in leadership. Politics also plays a role as, 37% of millennial Republicans, both men and women, believe that men make better leaders.

M I L L E N N I A L S W H O S AY T H A T M E N M A K E M O R E E F F E C T I V E L E A D E R S :

37% of millennial Republicans believe that men make better leaders.

38% 14%

WomenMen

Millennial Democrats are almost 3x more likely than Republicans to believe their gender greatly affects their career opportunities

Who’s the Boss?Most millennial women don’t have a preference about the gender of their boss (52%), but most millennial men do have a preference (60%). Currently, 40% of men prefer to have a male boss and 30% of women prefer a female boss.

Most millennial women don’t have a preference about the gender of their boss

M I L L E N N I A L S W H O D O N ’ T H AV E A P R E F E R E N C E A B O U T

T H E G E N D E R O F T H E I R B O S S :

52%Men

60%Women

Cube MatesGender diversity leads to idea diversity. But even so, many millennials prefer to work with others of their same gender. Two-thirds of millennial women and 72% of men prefer to work with people of their own gender.

Discrimination Doesn’t DiscriminateA sizable number of millennial men claim to have faced workplace gender discrimination. More millennial men (33%) than women (21%) have felt discriminated against at work because of their gender. And in a surprising twist, millennial men are 50% more likely than women to say their gender affects their career opportunities.

W O M E N W H O P R E F E R T O W O R K W I T H P E O P L E O F T H E I R O W N G E N D E R

M E N W H O P R E F E R T O W O R K W I T H P E O P L E O F T H E I R O W N G E N D E R

Women

21%

Men

33%

M I L L E N N I A L S W H O C L A I M T O H AV E FA C E D W O R K P L A C E G E N D E R D I S C R I M I N A T I O N :

66% 72%

Men are 50% more likely than women to say their gender affects their career opportunities

Advice and MentorshipMen are notorious for not wanting to ask strangers for directions, but they brighten right up when asking for advice in the workplace. Millennial men (68%) and women (64%) are similarly likely to ask a more senior woman for advice in the workplace.

M I L L E N N I A L S L I K E LY T O A S K A M O R E S E N I O R W O M A N F O R A D V I C E I N T H E W O R K P L A C E :

71%

68%Women

Men

Meritocracy, DemocracyThe U.S. economy has been described as a merit-based system, but even so, many millennials don’t see a level playing field. Only 41% of millennial women believe that men and women are judged by the same criteria in the workplace. And millennial women who say their gender affects their career opportunities are 6x more likely than men to say they are not similarly judged by the same criteria at work. Political perspective can also play a role in this perception as millennial Democrats are almost 3x more likely than Republicans to believe their gender greatly affects their career opportunities.

Over 8,000 respondents globally. The sample is matched to the population distribution of gender, race, and intra-generational age cohorts and has a margin of error of +/- 2.83% at the 95% confidence interval. The sample included baby boomers (1946-1964), Gen Xers (1965-1981), and millennials (1982-1997).

Millennial women who say their gender affects their career opportunities are 6x more likely than men to say they are not similarly judged by the same criteria at work

M I L L E N N I A L W O M E N W H O B E L I E V E T H A T M E N A N D W O M E N A R E J U D G E D B Y T H E S A M E C R I T E R I A I N T H E W O R K P L A C E .

M E T H O D O L O G Y