--- title: "1. Views of the state of gender equality in politics" description: "A narrow majority of U.S. adults (53%) say there are too few women in high political offices in the United States today. Some 37% say there are about the right number of women and 8% say there are too many women elected to higher offices. The share saying there are too few women in high […]" date: "2023-09-27" authors: - name: "Juliana Menasce Horowitz" job_title: "Senior Associate Director, Research" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/juliana-menasce-horowitz/" - name: "Isabel Goddard" job_title: "Former Research Associate" link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/isabel-goddard/" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/09/27/views-of-the-state-of-gender-equality-in-politics/" categories: - "Election 2024" - "Gender & Leadership" - "Gender & Politics" - "Gender & Politics" - "Gender Equality & Discrimination" - "Kamala Harris" - "U.S. Elections & Voters" datasets: - name: "American Trends Panel Wave 131" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/dataset/american-trends-panel-wave-131/" --- # 1. Views of the state of gender equality in politics [![Bar charts showing most women and Democrats say there are too few women in high political offices in the U.S. today](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/ST_2023.09.27_Women-Leaders-Politics_1-01.png?w=420)](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/09/27/views-of-the-state-of-gender-equality-in-politics/st_2023-09-27_women-leaders-politics_1-01-png/) A narrow majority of U.S. adults (53%) say there are too few women in high political offices in the United States today. Some 37% say there are about the right number of women and 8% say there are too many women elected to higher offices. The share saying there are too few women in high political offices is down from 59% since [we last asked this question in 2018](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/09/20/women-and-leadership-2018/). Views on this differ widely by gender and political affiliation. And there are also differences between Democratic men and women and between Republican men and women. #### By gender Most women (63%) say there are too few women in high political offices. Three-in-ten say there are about the right number of women and just 5% say there are too many. Views are more divided among men: 42% say there are too few women and 46% say there are about the right number. About one-in-ten men (11%) say there are too many women in high political offices. #### By partisanship Three-quarters of Democrats and Democratic leaners say there are too few women in high political offices today. A much smaller share of Republicans and Republican leaners (29%) say the same. A majority of Republicans (56%) say there are about the right number of women in these offices. *Republican women *are about twice as likely as *Republican men *to say there are too few women in high political offices (40% vs. 19%). Republican men are about as likely to say there are too few women in these elected offices as they are to say there are too many. About six-in-ten Republican men (62%) say there are about the right number of women in high political offices, compared with 51% of Republican women. Majorities of *Democratic men and women *say there are too few women in high political offices. But Democratic women (82%) are more likely than Democratic men (67%) to say this. ### The ideal number of women and men in high elected positions [![Bar chart showing about 1 in 5 Democrats who say there are too few women in high elected offices would prefer more women than men in these positions](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/ST_2023.09.27_Women-Leaders-Politics_1-02.png?w=420)](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/09/27/views-of-the-state-of-gender-equality-in-politics/st_2023-09-27_women-leaders-politics_1-02-png/) Most people (77%) who say there are too few women in high political offices say it would be ideal to have about an *equal number of men and women *in these offices. About one-in-ten (9%) say it would be ideal if there were more women than there are now but still *not as many women as men*. And 13% say it would be ideal to have *more women than men* in these positions. Majorities of Democrats and Republicans who say there are too few women in high elected offices say it would be ideal for there to be about an *equal number of men and women*. Still, there are some differences in these views by party. Among those who say there are too few women in these offices: - 18% of Democrats – but just 4% of Republicans – say it would be ideal for there to be *more women than men* in high political offices. - Republicans (15%) are about twice as likely as Democrats (7%) to say it would be ideal to have more women in high political offices than there are now, but still *not as many women as men*. ### Will there ever be as many women as men in high political offices? [![Bar chart showing about half of U.S. adults think there will eventually be as many women as men in high political offices](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/ST_2023.09.27_Women-Leaders-Politics_1-03.png?w=420)](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/09/27/views-of-the-state-of-gender-equality-in-politics/st_2023-09-27_women-leaders-politics_1-03-png/) Looking ahead, about half of Americans (52%) say that, as more women run for office, it is only a matter of time before there are as many women as men in high political offices. A smaller but sizeable share (46%) say men will continue to hold more high political offices in the future. These views are unchanged from five years ago. #### By gender A majority of men (58%) say it’s only a matter of time before there are as many women as men in high political offices. A smaller share of women (46%) say the same, while 51% say men will continue to hold more of these positions, even as more women run for office. #### By partisanship More than half of Republicans (54%) say it’s only a matter of time before there are as many women as men in high elected offices. Democrats are more divided: 51% agree, while 48% say men will continue to hold more high political offices in the future. Majorities of *Republican and Democratic men* (59% and 57%, respectively) say there will eventually be as many women as men in high political offices. *Republican women* are about evenly divided, while *Democratic women *are somewhat more likely to say men will continue to hold more of these offices (53%) than to say it’s only a matter of time before there are as many women as men in these positions (45%). --- **Next:** [2. Views of obstacles for women seeking high political office](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/09/27/views-of-obstacles-for-women-seeking-high-political-office.md)