Do women face workplace discrimination? Poll shows how teen views have shifted

Many American teenagers believe women encounter significant discrimination in the workplace, polling reveals.

About half of 12th graders in a Pew Research Center survey said women face a good or great deal of discrimination when it comes to getting equal pay for equal work, gaining leadership positions, and getting elected to political office.

Girls were far more likely than boys to say women face prejudice, according to the poll, which was conducted in 2022 as part of a long-running research project that has sampled thousands of high school students.

The gap in perception between girls and boys has increased over the past 30 years, and a larger share of high school seniors now say women face significant discrimination in some workplace areas than in 1992.

How 12th graders view discrimination toward women

Fifty-three percent of 12th graders said they believed women are discriminated against a good or great deal in gaining leadership positions. A much smaller share, 21%, said they face some, and 26% said they face very little or no discrimination.

The vast majority of girls, 70%, said there is a good or great deal of discrimination on this issue, while just 33% of boys said the same.

Similarly, 52% of high school seniors said women face a good or great deal of discrimination when it comes to getting elected to political office. Twenty-one percent said they face some, and 27% said they face very little or none.

Here, the gender gap was about the same, with 68% of girls saying women encounter a good or great deal of discrimination and 32% of boys saying the same.

Additionally, 48% of high school seniors said women face a good or great deal of prejudice when it comes to getting equal pay for equal work, while 21% said they faced some, and 31% said they face very little or none.

Sixty-seven percent of girls said women encounter a good or great deal of discrimination on this issue, while 24% of boys said the same.

A significantly smaller share of 12th graders, 37%, believed women face a good or great deal of negative bias in obtaining top jobs. Twenty-eight percent said they faced some, and 35% said they faced very little or none.

The majority of girls, 51%, said women face a good or great deal of discrimination, while 20% of boys said the same.

Change in views on discrimination over time

By comparing the recent results to those from a similar survey conducted in 1992, researchers determined the gender gap has widened on perceptions of discrimination on all four issues.

Further, the share of 12th graders who see women as facing significant discrimination in two areas — getting equal pay and gaining leadership positions — has increased markedly.

In 1992, 40% of 12th graders said women face a good or great deal of discrimination when it comes to getting equal pay for equal work. Now, that figure has grown to 48%.

Similarly, in 1992, 48% of 12th graders said women face a good or great deal of bias in gaining leadership positions. In the latest survey, that figure was 53%.

In contrast, the share of 12th graders who believe women face significant discrimination in getting elected to political office and obtaining top jobs has decreased.

In 1992, nearly two-thirds of high school seniors, 65%, said women encounter a good or great deal of discrimination in getting elected to political office, while 52% said the same in 2022.

Forty-one percent of 12th graders said women encounter a good or great deal of bias when it came to getting top jobs in 1992, while 37% said the same in 2022.

This story was originally published October 11, 2024 at 10:12 AM with the headline "Do women face workplace discrimination? Poll shows how teen views have shifted."