Women on Gender Equality

• In Event: 3553 - Gender Inequality: Gender Ideology and Expectations

Abstract

Global indices of gender inequality are designed to reflect the lived experiences of women. New evidence from seven cross-national surveys covering 150 countries and more than 2 million respondents, however, suggests that women’s experiences and ideals are not clearly related to global indices of gender equality. In countries rated as gender-unequal according to metrics such as health, labor-force participation, and political representation, women do not consistently assess their lives as less free, less in their control, or less satisfying than men report in the same countries. Women in these countries are more likely than women in index-equal societies to report that they have equal rights with men, suggesting that expectations of equality may have outpaced the achievement of equality. These findings reflect a tension that dates back to the beginning of the women’s rights movement in the late 18th century, between universal criteria of gender equality and an emphasis on subjective understandings of women’s priorities.

Authors

• Charles Kurzman, University of North Carolina

• Willa Dong, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

• Brandon Gorman, State University of New York-Albany

• Karam Hwang, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

• Renee Ryberg, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

• Batool Zaidi, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill