Latin America: Ready for Women to Lead

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

Gallup asked women and men in 74 countries 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.

Most in Latin America Think a Woman Could Lead Them in the Next 10 Years

Although Latin America had as many as four female presidents leading their respective countries in 2014, since then, the region has had a dearth of female heads of state. However, strong majorities across all countries -- ranging from a low of 75% in Guatemala to a high of 92% in Uruguay and Venezuela -- expect this could change in the next 10 years.

	Possible	Not Possible	Woman already leads my country*
	%	%	%
Uruguay	92	5	--
Venezuela	92	6	--
Chile	91	6	--
Argentina	90	7	--
Colombia	90	9	--
Panama	89	9	--
Mexico	89	9	--
Ecuador	88	9	--
Costa Rica	88	9	1
Bolivia	86	10	--
El Salvador	86	9	--
Paraguay	86	10	--
Dominican Republic	85	13	--
Peru	84	14	--
Brazil	84	12	--
Jamaica	79	16	1
Honduras	79	17	--
Nicaragua	78	13	1
Guatemala	75	20	--
* Volunteered response
Gallup World Poll, 2019

The fact that few people in most countries entertain that it is not possible for a woman to lead their countries reflects how relatively commonplace it has been in Latin America. Between 2006 and 2018, at least one woman occupied the top political office in a Latin American country. And, while no woman currently serves as president, at the time of the surveys, eight served as vice presidents, and women held nearly 29% of the region's cabinet positions.

Despite concerns about women backsliding at the top levels of leadership, women -- and men -- are both confident in the eventuality that they could have a female leader someday soon. Similar high percentages of women and men in every country say that a woman could lead their respective country in the next decade. This includes in Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Costa Rica, where women have already occupied the top political office, and strong majorities of both say it could happen again.

Female Managers Preferred Over Male Managers

In the years leading up to the pandemic, data from the International Labor Organization showed Latin America and the Caribbean, along with Europe, were leading the way in increasing the percentage of women in management positions. And, in several countries in Latin America, more managers were women than men.

This appears to be the preferred situation in most countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. In every country surveyed, if people had a preference, they say they would prefer to have a female manager rather than a male manager. A median of 46% across the 19 countries say they would prefer to have a female manager -- if they could choose -- while a median of 22% say they would prefer a male. Nearly three in 10 (28%) have no preference.

	Woman	Man	No preference
	%	%	%
Dominican Republic	57	29	12
Peru	55	20	22
Colombia	54	22	20
Panama	52	24	20
Paraguay	48	20	31
Honduras	48	22	25
Brazil	47	23	28
El Salvador	47	19	28
Bolivia	47	18	30
Ecuador	46	15	36
Venezuela	45	26	27
Guatemala	45	28	21
Nicaragua	44	22	28
Mexico	41	15	40
Jamaica	38	32	25
Chile	37	24	37
Argentina	36	25	37
Costa Rica	34	22	41
Uruguay	28	16	53
World Poll, 2019

Women and men in the region both generally prefer to have a female manager, but women are far more likely than men to feel this way and to have a preference at all. A median of 56% of women say they would prefer a female manager -- if they could choose -- and 20% say they would prefer a male. Among men, a median of 33% prefer a female as a manager, and 24% prefer a male -- 38% have no preference.

More Believe Similarly Qualified Women Should Get College Scholarships

Women in Latin America have been catching up with men in higher education over the past several decades, and in most countries in the region, women now make up a larger share of tertiary graduates.

Despite these strides for women, in every country across the region, people are more likely to say that similarly qualified women rather than men should get a university scholarship if only one such scholarship was available. A median of 50% say the scholarship should go to the woman, while 9% say to the man. One in three (33%) have no preference.

	Woman	Man	No preference
	%	%	%
Dominican Republic	73	12	12
Venezuela	68	5	25
Colombia	68	7	23
Honduras	63	10	24
Brazil	62	7	28
Panama	61	9	26
Nicaragua	57	10	28
Guatemala	56	15	25
Peru	53	11	33
El Salvador	50	12	33
Paraguay	50	10	37
Ecuador	49	6	42
Argentina	49	8	41
Bolivia	47	10	38
Mexico	46	5	47
Costa Rica	43	7	48
Jamaica	43	25	22
Chile	42	6	49
Uruguay	41	3	50
World Poll, 2019

Both women and men in every country are more likely to say scholarships should go to women, but again, women are more likely than men to feel this way and to have a preference. A median of 58% of women in the region say the scholarship should go to the woman, while just 5% say to the man. Among men, a median of 42% say the scholarship should go to the woman, and 13% say the man. The rest have no preference.

Movements Such as #MeToo Are More Likely Seen as Helping Women

In a number of countries in Latin America, there have been movements similar to #MeToo in the U.S. This includes #NiUnaMenos, which started in Argentina and spread across a region that continues to grapple with high levels of domestic violence and some of the highest femicide rates in the world. These problems have only been compounded during the COVID-19 lockdowns, as women find themselves trapped at home with their abusers -- like may other women around the world.

Several of the movements are credited with driving positive change for women in the region, including pressuring lawmakers to include gender parity in Chile's new constitution. And, people surveyed across Latin America in 2019 are largely aware of these movements and generally think they help reduce harassment and sexual abuse of women in their countries. In Argentina, for example, 45% of residents say that these types of movements are helpful, while 30% say they are not.

	Yes	No
	%	%
Dominican Republic	56	28
Brazil	55	27
Colombia	55	29
Ecuador	55	24
Nicaragua	54	26
Venezuela	53	25
El Salvador	52	26
Mexico	51	33
Panama	51	33
Guatemala	51	35
Costa Rica	50	32
Bolivia	48	25
Peru	48	37
Honduras	48	31
Chile	46	25
Argentina	45	30
Jamaica	45	26
Uruguay	44	26
Paraguay	31	21
World Poll, 2019

Women and men across the region are both more likely to see these movements as helpful than not, but women notably are somewhat less convinced than men. A median of 48% of women compared with 53% of men say that these movements help reduce harassment and sexual abuse of women in their countries.

Implications

In Latin America, based on these questions, the foundation exists to build a more equal future for women and men in a COVID-19 world. Women and men in the region are ready for women to lead -- in politics, in the workplace and in the classroom.

But problems with violence and inequality remain significant hurdles for women in the region, and much of this cannot change until women are viewed with more respect and dignity -- and lawmakers enact policies that support that. And in that regard, Gallup data show both of these are perceived to still be in short supply. As they have for the past decade, Latin American countries in 2020 continued to dominate the list of countries where women are viewed as being treated with the least respect -- which is supported by the high numbers in the region who are mistreated physically and mentally.

Listen to Johanna Godoy discuss the issues facing women in Latin America today and in the future.

Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works.