Female teens feel less equal as they grow up: survey

Six out of 10 Canadian girls between the ages of 14 and 17 feel they have the same opportunity as men to lead, according to a recent survey. But by the time they are 18 to 24 years old, only 36 per cent believe they have that same opportunity.

Also, in the younger age group 66 per cent saw themselves as equal to boys. But in the older group that diminished to 44 per cent. And there are ideas about why views about equality harden as women get older.

“These surveyed women are talking about the reality that they see in their lives in this country,” says Jennifer Donville, a senior advisor at Plan International Canada which commissioned the survey.

“While we’ve made excellent progress in gender equality, and it’s a work in progress always, I think that we still see systemic barriers for women’s empowerment, especially when we get into the workplace, and we look at media, etc.”

‘Systemic barriers’ to women remain

Donville thinks schools have done a good job of creating a “gender equal environment” and encouraging boys and girls equally to lead and explore. “But I think that as they enter the broader world we see some of those systemic barriers pushing up against them. I think that we see that in those responses.”

Donville acknowledges that Canada has changed and there are more women in leadership roles that girls can see as role models. (After the election of the Liberal Party in 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau created a cabinet comprised of an equal number of men and women)

But she says more needs to be done to change remaining systemic barriers for women. On an individual level, she says people should provide more mentorship for women and she also encourages people to download a how-to guide for having conversations with youth about gender equality.

Jennifer Donville describes results of survey on women’s feelings about equality.

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