This archive report was first published on 21 July 2019.
According to a nationally representative study published on July 18, 2019, women are now regarded as equally competent as men in the United States. The study, conducted by Northwestern University, analyzed 16 opinion polls with over 30,000 adult respondents, revealing a significant shift in gender stereotypes.
The study found that most adults now report that women and men are equal in general competence, with 86% of respondents in a recent poll conducted in April 2018 agreeing that men and women are equally intelligent. However, 9% of respondents believed that women are more intelligent, compared to 5% who thought men are more intelligent.
Lead author Alice Eagly noted that while communal stereotypes have changed, portraying women as more compassionate and affectionate, men are still viewed as more ambitious, aggressive, and decisive. Eagly attributed the increase in women's perceived competence to their increasing labor force participation and education, but noted that occupational segregation underlies the other findings.
"The current stereotypes should favor women's employment, because competence is, of course, a job requirement for virtually all positions," Eagly said. "Also, jobs increasingly reward social skills, making women's greater communion an additional advantage."
However, the study also found that women's lesser ambition, aggressiveness, and decisiveness are a disadvantage in relation to leadership roles, which require more agency than communion.
The study was published in the journal American Psychologist.
