As millennials continue to advance in their careers, an entire generation is poised to enter new leadership roles, and many of these roles will be filled by women. With this U.S. presidential election, America is preparing to potentially welcome its first female president. So it’s a perfect time to explore an important question: How do millennials view women in leadership roles? Will this be the generation that creates more equality between the sexes?

1. Millennials and
Women in Leadership
ISSUE No
1 of 13
With the U.S. presidential election only a few weeks off, America may welcome its
first female president. This year, millennial voters overtook baby boomers as the
nation’s largest living generation, and millions of millennial women are poised to
enter new leadership roles. But is this new generation entirely gender blind?

2. Leadership
and Gender
Significant numbers of millennials still see
differences in the leadership effectiveness of
men versus women. Currently, 14% of women
and 38% of men say that men make more
effective leaders. This helps us understand why
the status quo continues in so many places
and accentuates the problem. Men and women,
generally speaking, aren’t comfortable enough
working together. This also helps us understand
why there are so few women in leadership.
Politics also plays a role as, 37% of millennial
Republicans, both men and women, believe that
men make better leaders.
M I L L E N N I A L S W H O S AY T H AT M E N M A K E
M O R E E F F E C T I V E L E A D E R S :
37% of millennial Republicans
believe that men make better leaders.
38% 14%
WomenMen

3. Millennial Democrats
are almost 3x more
likely than Republicans
to believe their gender
greatly affects their
career opportunities

4. Who’s the Boss?
Most millennial women don’t have a preference
about the gender of their boss (52%), but most
millennial men do have a preference (60%).
Currently, 40% of men prefer to have a male
boss and 30% of women prefer a female boss.
Most millennial women don’t have a
preference about the gender of their boss
M I L L E N N I A L S W H O D O N ’ T
H AV E A P R E F E R E N C E A B O U T
T H E G E N D E R O F T H E I R B O S S :
52%
Men
60%
Women

5. Cube Mates
Gender diversity leads to idea diversity. But even
so, many millennials prefer to work with others
of their same gender. Two-thirds of millennial
women and 72% of men prefer to work with
people of their own gender.
Discrimination
Doesn’t Discriminate
A sizable number of millennial men claim to have
faced workplace gender discrimination. More
millennial men (33%) than women (21%) have
felt discriminated against at work because of
their gender. And in a surprising twist, millennial
men are 50% more likely than women to say
their gender affects their career opportunities.
W O M E N W H O P R E F E R T O W O R K W I T H
P E O P L E O F T H E I R O W N G E N D E R
M E N W H O P R E F E R T O W O R K W I T H P E O P L E
O F T H E I R O W N G E N D E R
Women
21%
Men
33%
M I L L E N N I A L S W H O C L A I M T O H AV E FAC E D
W O R K P L AC E G E N D E R D I S C R I M I N AT I O N :
66% 72%

6. Men are 50% more likely
than women to say their
gender affects their
career opportunities

7. Advice and
Mentorship
Men are notorious for not wanting to ask
strangers for directions, but they brighten right
up when asking for advice in the workplace.
Millennial men (68%) and women (64%) are
similarly likely to ask a more senior woman for
advice in the workplace.
M I L L E N N I A L S L I K E LY T O A S K A
M O R E S E N I O R W O M A N F O R A DV I C E I N
T H E W O R K P L AC E :
71%
68%
Women
Men

8. Meritocracy,
Democracy
The U.S. economy has been described as a merit-
based system, but even so, many millennials don’t
see a level playing field. Only 41% of millennial
women believe that men and women are judged by
the same criteria in the workplace. And millennial
women who say their gender affects their career
opportunities are 6x more likely than men to say
they are not similarly judged by the same criteria
at work. Political perspective can also play a role in
this perception as millennial Democrats are almost
3x more likely than Republicans to believe their
gender greatly affects their career opportunities.
Over 8,000 respondents globally. The sample is matched to the
population distribution of gender, race, and intra-generational age
cohorts and has a margin of error of +/- 2.83% at the 95% confidence
interval. The sample included baby boomers (1946-1964), Gen Xers
(1965-1981), and millennials (1982-1997).
Millennial women who say their gender
affects their career opportunities are
6x more likely than men to say they
are not similarly judged by the same
criteria at work
M I L L E N N I A L W O M E N W H O B E L I E V E T H AT
M E N A N D W O M E N A R E J U D G E D B Y T H E
S A M E C R I T E R I A I N T H E W O R K P L AC E .
M E T H O D O L O G Y