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

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 -- 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 Gallup 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.

	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
Gallup, 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.

	Possible
	%
United States	93
Uruguay	92
Venezuela	92
Chile	91
Argentina	90
Colombia	90
Panama	89
Mexico	89
Ecuador	88
Costa Rica	88
Gallup, Feb. 17-28, 2020; Gallup 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.

	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
Gallup, 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.

	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
Gallup, Feb 17-28, 2020; Gallup 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.

	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
Gallup, 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, Gallup 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.

	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
Gallup, 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.

	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
Gallup, Feb. 17-28, 2020; Gallup 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 Gallup's Country Data Set details.

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