Gender & Leadership

Women account for 28% of the 67 judges Trump has appointed to the federal courts since taking office, well below the share appointed by Barack Obama but higher than the share appointed by any other Republican president. Seven of the 67 judges (10%) are racial or ethnic minorities.

While women are still underrepresented in top corporate jobs, there has been a small increase in the share of women executives in such positions over the past decade.

Men and women in America generally agree on many of the qualities and competencies they see as essential for political and business leaders to have. But there are notable differences in the importance they ascribe to some of those qualities.

A majority of Americans would like to see more women in top leadership positions in business and politics, but many are skeptical there will ever be gender parity in these areas. Views about the state of female leadership vary by party and gender.

Women are running for Congress in record numbers this year, and most Americans say this is a good thing. But there’s little consensus among the public about how – or whether – things would change if more women were elected. More than four-in-ten Americans say they personally hope a woman will be elected president in their lifetime.

Only about 5% of the chief executive officers of 1,500 companies we examined were women. Among the tier of executives just below the CEO in terms of pay and position in the corporate hierarchy, 11.5% were women.

Most Americans see fundamental differences between men and women in their traits and characteristics and in the pressures they face from society.

The U.S. has more foreign students enrolled in its colleges and universities than any other country in the world. Explore data about foreign students in the U.S. higher education system.

Most Democrats are dissatisfied with the nation's progress on gender equality, while more than half of Republicans say it has been about right.

Women in the U.S. are substantially more likely than men to say gender discrimination is a major problem in the technology industry.