More than half (53%) of Americans say there are not enough women in high political offices, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. This is down six percentage points since 2018.

Fifty-two percent of Americans believe that in time, there will be equal gender representation. But there are several major reasons why women don’t hold these offices: “women have to do more to prove themselves than men” (54%), “gender discrimination” (47%), “many Americans are not ready to elect a woman to a higher office” (46%) and “family responsibilities” (44%).

The report finds that a small percentage (18%) of U.S. adults say it’s “extremely/very important” for a woman to be elected as president in their lifetime. However, most respondents (64%) say that it is “not at all/ not too important.” 

Men (73%) more than women (57%) agree with this statement. Republican/Republican leaning respondents (86%) also agree more than Democrat/Democrat leaning respondents (43%) that electing a female president in their lifetime was “not at all/not too important.”

“Half or more say that a woman president would be neither better nor worse than a man or that a president’s gender doesn’t matter when it comes to their handling of various policy areas or to several leadership traits,” Juliana Menasce Horowitz and Isabel Goddard write. “Still, more than a third say a woman president would do better than a man when it comes to: handling education (46%), handling health care (45%), working out compromises (39%) (and) maintaining a respectful tone in politics (37%).”

To read the full report, click