Market researcher Ipsos has found that six in 10 Singaporeans (62%) believe that when it comes to giving women equal rights with men in Singapore, things have gone far enough. A breakdown of the data revealed a higher agreement among men (68%) compared to women (55%) on this sentiment.
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| Source: Ipsos research report: International Women's Day 2024. Respondents voted on the statement "There are actions I can take to help promote equality between men and women". Across a 31-country average, nearly two in three people (64%) agreed there are actions they can take to help promote equality between men and women. Around a quarter of people think there is nothing they can do (23%). There were no meaningful differences by gender. |
The insights are from Ipsos' latest global study, carried out in collaboration with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London for International Women’s Day. The survey was conducted among ~24,000 people across 31 countries, which includes ~500 Singaporeans.
Ipsos looked deeper into the results, and found that almost half of Singaporeans (48%) think that we have gone so far in promoting women’s equality that we are discriminating against men. Notably, a significant 57% of Singaporean men echoed this sentiment on discrimination, as opposed to 29% of women.
While most Singaporeans (67%) admit that there are actions that they can take to help promote equality between men and women, there is still a fear among Singaporeans in advocating gender equality with 48% of Singaporeans saying that they are scared to speak out for the equal rights of women because of what might happen to them. In fact, more than half (58%) of Singaporeans agreed that men are being expected to do too much to support equality.
In business, almost two-thirds of Singaporeans think that male and female leaders are equally good at creating a financially successful and innovative company (58% and 60% respectively). Among those with a preference, there is a significant difference between those that think male or female business leaders are better. In both aspects of creating a financially successful company and an innovative one, 16% think males are better, and only 8% think females are better.
Respondents demonstrated a tendency to favour male bosses (36%) over female bosses (10%). However, the majority of respondents (51%) maintained a neutral stance, expressing no particular preference.
Katharine Zhou, Country Manager for Ipsos in Singapore commented: “It's revealing to see a majority believe that women's rights in Singapore have reached an adequate level, yet there is a significant gender difference in these perceptions. The concern expressed by 48% of respondents that the promotion of women’s equality might be discriminating against men is notable and warrants further examination.
"It is also interesting to note the apprehension among Singaporeans about advocating for gender equality. This could be attributed to various sociocultural factors and shows us that while we have made progress, there is still work to be done."
Zhou noted that there is a tendency to associate certain roles and capabilities with specific genders. "This points to a potential unconscious bias in our society," she said. "These findings call for a more comprehensive dialogue on gender equality, one that transcends familiar arguments into an increased appreciation of the nuanced sentiments that are emerging.”
Global findings include:
- Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to think agree that a man who stays home to look after his children is less of a man (25%, 27% respectively) than Gen X (20%) and Baby Boomers (11%). But within the generations there are differences in opinion. There is a 20-percentage point difference between Gen Z men (60%) and Gen Z women (40%) when it comes to thinking women’s equality discriminates against men.
- Two in three (65%) across 31 countries agree that women won’t achieve equality in their country unless men taken actions to support women’s rights too.
- Half (51%) of people across a 30-country average believe men are being expected to do too much to promote equality and fewer than two in five (39%) identify themselves as feminists.
