A recent global study conducted by Ipsos in collaboration with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London highlights that Generation Z (Gen Z) men and women are more divided than any other generation on issues related to gender equality.
Generation Z, or Gen Z, is the generation of people born between the late 1990s and early 2010s. They are also known as Zoomers or post-millennials. Today, March 8, most Gen Zers would be roughly 13 to 29, although the views of those 18 to 29 remain the focus.
So, what’s at the heart of these massive differences in gender?
- 53% of Gen Z women identify as feminists, compared to only 32% of Gen Z men, resulting in a significant gap of 21 percentage points.This gap is larger than in previous generations, such as Millennials (14-point difference) and Gen X (8-point difference).
- 57% of Gen Z men agree that efforts toward women’s equality have gone too far and discriminate against men, compared to 36% of Gen Z women, marking a 20-21 percentage point difference.
The study underscores a growing generational divide, particularly among young men, who are more likely to feel that gender equality efforts have gone too far and discriminate against men.
When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.
In the business world, I see a lot of educated, focused, hardworking women. They are getting jobs and promotions because they are deserving, not because society wants to shaft men. And it’s a fact that women, overall, mature faster than men, so an equal platform will likely favor women among folks 18 to 35.
Incidentally, about 56% of young men in Generation Z said they voted for Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election while only about 40 percent of women 18 to 29 supported the same candidate. Overall, Gen Z voters favored Harris 52 to 46 percent.
The Trump Campaign did a fine job of appealing to young men by projecting a “macho” or “manly” image. Researchers suggest that Trump’s appeal is partly due to the “fragile masculinity” hypothesis, where men who feel insecure about their masculinity are drawn to Trump’s strong, assertive persona. This is despite Trump himself not necessarily embodying physical strength or traditional masculine traits.