Women's Representation Survey for the Government Equalities Office

To help mark International Women’s Day on 8th March 2010, the Government Equalities Office commissioned Ipsos to conduct a survey on women’s representation in business and government. Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,071 adults in Great Britain aged 16 + between 20th and 24th February 2010.

• View the full report.

Importance of women and men having an ‘equal say’ in decision-making

Around three-quarters of the public are in favour of men and women having equal say over decisions. However, people attach different levels of importance to these, dependent on the extent to which people feel the decision affects them directly, and whether there is explicit reference to impact on ‘men and women’ rather than ‘the public as a whole’. It would appear that when people consider decisions about something that will particularly affect them (i.e. local services) or explicitly have a bearing on women and men rather than ‘everyone’ (i.e. in the workplace) then they place greater importance upon the equal representation of women and men.

People more likely to say that it important that women and men have equal say over decisions in the workplace (82%) compared with business decisions or political decisions (72% and 73% respectively). There is least difference between men and women’s views with regard to the importance of equal say in decisions that affect local services. There is greatest difference in opinion between men and women with regard to international political decisions. Women are significantly more likely than men to think that having an equal say is important on decisions about politics, economics, the workplace and local services, while men are significantly more likely than women to say that having an equal say between the sexes is not important.

Decision-making in government and finance 

People are most in favour of good balance of women and men in making decisions about schools (66%), local councils (64%), the NHS (63%) and in the Courts (63%). They are least likely to express a preference for good balance in policing decisions (54%) and economic decisions (55%).

A small proportion of respondents think that women are more suited to decisions about the NHS and health services (6%) and how schools are run (4%). Conversely, over one in ten people think that decisions about how the police fight crime should be mostly made by men (13%) and slightly fewer say the same about finance decisions that affect the economy (7%). There are no significant differences between men and women in these preferences.

Equal representation among men and women in the workplace

When exploring public perceptions about the extent to which it is preferable that different jobs are dominated by one sex, for judges, teachers and doctors, people are more likely to prefer a good balance of men and women working in these roles. Around two-thirds think that there should be a good balance between the sexes in each of these (60%, 66% and 63%). These professions are largely public sector roles and it may be that equal representation is of greater importance to the general public due to this.

By contrast, the public are more divided about engineers and investment bankers. A similar proportion say that it does not matter whether these jobs are mostly held by men or mostly by women and say that there should be a good balance between them, with around two in five people saying it does not matter and the same proportion saying there should be a good balance. A significant minority of people think that investment bankers should be mostly men (9%), while a quarter of the public feel that engineers should be mostly men (25%).

Women are significantly more likely than men to think that there should be a good balance of men and women in jobs. By contrast, men are significantly more likely than women to think that it does not matter which gender holds the majority of positions in different jobs and industries. 

Representation of women and men in senior management teams in business

The majority of people in Britain believe that it matters whether men and women are equally represented on the senior management teams that run companies. Agreement that it is preferable for a good balance of men and women to be involved in decision-making on senior management teams tends to be strongest where they impact upon customers or workplace practices. For example, seven in ten people think that diversity in senior management teams leads to more family-friendly employment practices (71%); this rises to almost three quarters of women (74%).

Most people agree that ‘businesses with a good balance of men and women at senior management level will be better at understanding their customers’. Eight in ten (80%) of people agree, while half strongly agree (50%). This suggests that equal representation of men and women is seen as important in achieving fair outcomes.

Men place less importance upon equal representation on company boards than women. For example, they are significantly more likely to disagree that businesses without women in senior roles are losing out on the best talent (30% compared to 23% of women). Similarly, men are also more likely to say that it ‘doesn’t matter’ whether men and women are equally represented (53%) than women (43%).

There is a difference in the strength of views of men and women about the importance of equal representation in senior management. Whilst the pattern of agreement between men and women is broadly similar across most of the statements, women tend to be more strongly in favour of equal representation on senior management teams than men. For example, over half of women strongly disagree that because men have more experience in senior management roles, they will be better at running companies (54%), compared to a third of men (33%). However, both men and women attach importance to equal representation in senior management.

Current levels of women in government and business

When presented with the current level of women in Parliament and on the senior management teams of businesses in the UK, around two-thirds of people think the number of women is too few.

Women are significantly more likely than men to say this is the case in Parliament, although the difference between the views of women and men about current levels of women directors in business is not statistically significant.

The impact of women in government

There is no consensus in the public mind on whether male MPs are as effective as female MPs at representing in Parliament the interests of women in Britain; just over half (54%) of people believe this to be the case. There is no significant difference between the views of men and women.

However, eight in ten people (82%) agree that having women MPs helps to ensure that policies and laws reflect the needs of women, such as on maternity leave and on domestic violence. On this, women are more likely than men to agree (86% compared to 78% of men).

The future of equal representation

 When considering the future of equal representation of men and women in different institutions, men and women hold very similar expectations. People do not consider equal gender representation as something that will happen in the short term i.e. within the next five years. Instead, four out of ten (41%) people think that there will be equal numbers of men and women in Parliament and on senior management teams in five to twenty years time, and 37% of people think it will take this long before there are equal numbers acting as world leaders making international political decisions.

A significant minority (around one in five) think that there will never be equal numbers of men and women in Parliament, senior management teams or acting as world leaders.

• Download the topline results
• Download the data tabulations 

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,071 adults in Great Britain aged 16+ 

• Interviews were conducted by telephone between 20th-24th February 2010 
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population 
• Where percentages do not sum to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, the exclusion of  “don’t know” categories, or multiple answers. Throughout the volume, an asterisk (*) denotes any  value of less than half a per cent 
• Unless otherwise stated, results are based on all respondents