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What helps or hinders women’s equality

Read the research


To support the launch of King’s College London’s World Questions  event series with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Julia Gillard, the Global Institute for Women’s LeadershipPolicy Institute and Ipsos MORI surveyed 20,000 people across 28 countries to explore public perceptions of what helps or hinders women’s equality.

Key findings include:

  • Globally, men (18 per cent) are twice as likely as women (nine per cent) to say that gender equality has already been achieved in their country.
  • Around the world, people are more likely to say intelligence is important for women to get ahead (28 per cent) than for men (20 per cent), and that never giving up is key (25 per cent for women vs 16 per cent for men).
  • Women (15 per cent) are twice as likely as men (seven per cent) to have their looks cited as a key factor in their success.
  • Personal networks are seen as more important for men’s success. Globally, 22 per cent say being connected is key for men, compared with 13 per cent who say the same for women.