A recent survey from Talker Research has found that 35 percent of women overall feel that their gender has held them back in their personal and professional lives.
According to the survey of 2,000 adult women, 45 percent of respondents said that their ideas are more likely to be dismissed, while 35 percent said they are not taken as seriously as men. About one-third of respondents also said they are paid less than their male colleagues and are underestimated by their peers.
Younger women were significantly more likely to say their gender has held them back, with 50 percent of Gen Z respondents reporting they have been held back in life simply because they are a woman. One-third of Gen Z respondents also said they get fewer responses to job applications than their male peers and that they struggle to get health concerns addressed quickly and accurately. Among millennial women, about a quarter say they have felt held back because they were expected to be parents, with one-fifth of this age group reporting prior pressure to be a stay-at-home mother.
Despite these hardships facing younger women, the majority of Gen Z respondents believe gender equity is on the horizon. About three in five Gen Z women believe it is likely that gender gaps in pay, health care, and leadership will close in their lifetimes.