1. Millennials & Gender
November 2010
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2. > Millennials and Gender
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3. What We’ll Cover Today
_ About the Study
_ Shaped by Boomers
_ Women Unleashed
_ The Masculine Miasma
_ Blurred Roles and Identities
_ What Do Millennials Want?
_ What It Means for Brands
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4. About the Study
_ Proprietary online survey by MicroDialogue, summer 2010
_ 500 aged 18–25 and 100 aged 40–55 in each of 5 markets (n=3,000); data
in deck comes from millennials only
_ Due to enormous cultural and historical differences influencing gender in
East vs. West, we’re focusing here only on gender relations in France, U.K.,
and U.S.
_ Extensive secondary research
_ Contributions from Euro RSCG agencies in Europe and U.S.
France U.K. U.S. China India
n=600 n=600 n=600 n=600 n=600
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5. Inheriting a World Shaped by Boomers
Digital Advances
Youthful
rebellion,
freedom—
more
openness
about sex
and
Image: Creative Commons/joi@flickr.com
pleasure Image: Creative Commons/SpreePiX-Berlin.com
Attitudes and Culture
A generation
of hothouse
flowers—
cosseted and
watched over
Image: Creative Commons/WilliamsProjects.com
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6. Life Before Women’s Lib?
Image: Creative Commons/dklimke@flickr.com Image: Creative Commons/dklimke@flickr.com
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7. To Millennials, It’s Unreal!
Image: Creative Commons/thepeachmartini@flickr.com Image: Creative Commons/dklimke@flickr.com
Image: Creative Commons/dklimke@flickr.com
Millennials are not only digital natives, they are also native to a gender-
remapped society
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8. Hence, the Generational Disconnect
b. 1947
Image: Creative Commons/TheTalkingHand@flickr.com
“I am not a feminist.
I hail men. I love men.”
“I'm not some Tammy Wynette
standing by my man.” -Lady Gaga
Image: Creative Commons/TheCrankyGeek@flickr.com
—Hillary Clinton
b. 1986
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9. In <40 Years, We’ve Gone from This…
“Bill—I’m annoyed
over this! Let 1,000
alumni sons or other
well qualified guys
in FIRST—their
livelihood depends
on a university
education. Women’s
DON’T!”
1972 note from director of development
Arthur J. Horton to Princeton University
president William G. Bowen on eve of
Princeton’s admitting women
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10. …to This…
_ 57% of bachelor degrees _ 56% of students in higher
education
_ 61% of master’s
_ Outperform boys at all
_ 51% of doctorate degrees
levels of education
Outperform boys at every
level academically
Image: NorthernSun.com
In the last 1/3 of 20th century, in every society in which females have been given equal
access to education, they have proved more than equal to males.
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11. …and This:
_ Women are primary or co-breadwinner for 2/3 of families
_ Btwn 1997 and 2007, # of women-owned businesses +44%, 2x as
fast as men-owned firms
_ 40 years ago, women owned 5% of small businesses;
now they own 30%
Source: Jobs and Economic Security for America’s Women,
National Economic Council, October 2010 Image: Creative Commons/safoocat@flickr.com
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12. “A Man Should Earn More than His Female Partner”
% Agree
35
30
30
25
21
20
16 15
15 14
10
6
5
0
UK France US
Male Female
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13. Workplace is Increasingly a Woman’s World
_ Rise of post-industrial economies and
spread of technology have made world of
work gender neutral
_ Most jobs, especially high-paying jobs,
don’t require physical strength or
endurance—there’s no intrinsic
advantage to being male
_ Many emerging jobs require skills that
come more naturally to women; in fact,
men dominate just 2 of the 15 job
categories projected to grow most over
next decade
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14. New Rules: Tone Down the Testosterone
_ Today’s highly civilized, highly networked
societies rely on complex rules and
restrictions; they leave little scope for old-
style testosterone-driven aggression
_ Increasing emphasis on more “female”
styles of cooperation and collaboration
_ Suggestions that women in power might
have averted financial crisis
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15. Which Is Not to Say Women’s Struggle is Over…
_ Almost 50 years after Equal Pay
Act, women are still paid 77¢ to
man’s $1
_ Only 2.6% of Fortune 500 cos
are led by female CEO; only
15.2% of their board seats are
filled by women
_ At top 100 law firms, only 17%
of equity partners are women
Source: Jobs and Economic Security for America’s
Women, National Economic Council, October 2010
Image: xeeliz@flickr.com
…but millennials are less apt to perceive institutionalized sexism or believe
barriers will keep them as individuals down; we’ve entered postfeminist era
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16. …but the Trend Is Clearly UP
“Women live longer than men.
They do better in this economy.
More of ’em graduate from
college. They go into space and
do everything men do, and
sometimes they do it a whole lot
better. I mean, hell, get out of
the way—these females are going
to leave us males in the dust.”
—Ronald Ericsson, biologist who pioneered
sperm separation for gender selection
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17. “It Will be Women Who Lead the Change in the World”
% Agree
70 65
59
60 54
50 43 43
40 35
30
20
10
0
US France UK
Male Female
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18. And What of Millennial Guys?
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19. The Boy Crisis (TrueEquality.com)
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20. And That’s Not Just in the West
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21. Gender Once Came with Clear-Cut Guidelines…
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23. Now Roles Are Less Distinct
Image: Creative Commons/MichelleFoocault@flickr.com
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24. “A Man Should Be Masculine”
% Agree
70
59
60
49 49 49
50 46
40 37
30
20
10
0
UK France US
Male Female
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25. “A Woman Should Be Feminine”
% Agree
70
62
60 56 54
49 48
50
43
40
30
20
10
0
US France UK
Male Female
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26. For women, the dissolution of gender boundaries
has meant more freedom and opportunity—a
chance to broaden their identities
For men, it has caused confusion
If a man is no longer head of household,
sexual aggressor, protector, and
provider…what is he?
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27. Seriously, What Are Men For?
_ All through history women have
been regarded as secondary to
men in status and value
_ Now science has shown that
female, not male, is the default
gender for all embryos
_ The short Y-chromosome that Unlike any previous
determines male sex is gradually generation, millennials
losing its genes and could become
have grown up in a media
extinct
environment that is
_ With IVF and same-sex coming to regard women
relationships well established, as the mainstays and
there is serious discussion about men as secondary
whether men are necessary at all
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28. Getting a Little Nervous?
Image: Creative Commons/jonathan mcintosh@flickr.com
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29. And yet, millennial women aren’t looking to
take over the world
They want partners they can count on…
…and even some degree of return to tradition
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30. “Men Should Be the Ones to Lead and
Initiate in Romance”
% Agree
50
44
45 41
40
35 33
30 26
24
25
20 18
15
10
5
0
US France UK
Male Female
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31. They Don’t Want to Have or Do It All;
They Want Balance
_ Millennial women have seen firsthand that for previous generations of
women, “having it all” also meant “doing it all”
_ Their response: “No thanks”
_ Unlike their feminist mothers, they don’t feel they have anything to
prove in the workplace, and they aren’t willing to sacrifice everything
for a paycheck
Image: Creative Commons/ninahale@flickr.com
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32. “Which of the Following Best Describes Your
Ambition in Life?”
U.S. Male 17 23 5 24 32
U.S. Female 26 11 1 29 33
French Male 38 13 1 35 13
French Female 39 9 2 41 9
U.K. Male 27 22 4 26 21
U.K. Female 29 13 2 31 24
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Living with Someone Being Rich Being Having an Feeling Useful
I’ve Chosen Famous Exciting Job to Society
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33. “What Do You Look at First When Looking for a Job?”
U.S. Male 32 8 4 26 30
U.S. Female 30 6 4 22 38
French Male 33 4 6 24 33
French Female 29 5 3 24 40
U.K. Male 46 7 4 20 24
U.K. Female 31 4 4 18 42
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Salary Company Ethics Company Work Atmosphere Ability to Balance
Product(s) Work and Life
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34. Mostly, They Want Each Other
Image: Creative Commons/kevindooley@flickr.com; kristiewells@flickr.com
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35. Which of the Following Best Describes What
“Happiness” Means to You?
U.S. Male 22 12 3 42 20 2
U.S. Female 13 22 62 16 5
French Male 22 9 4 48 12 6
French Female 18 42 57 9 10
U.K. Male 20 11 3 43 22 1
U.K. Female 16 51 61 13 4
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Freedom Money Power Love
Friendship Having Children
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36. “What Is Your Biggest Fear for the Future?”
Being poor Being sick
Being sick Being alone
Being homeless Being poor
Being unsuccessful Being homeless
Being alone Being unsuccessful
Being bored Being bored
Males Females
Though ratings were close, the genders lean slightly toward tradition, with
millennial men fearing poverty and lack of success more than do women, while
women are more fearful of being alone.
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37. What Does It Mean for Marketers?
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38. Stop and Think
_ Just because it’s the postfeminist
era doesn’t mean we’re not going
to notice sexist stereotypes
_ We were far from the only ones
to notice iPad ads showing a man
reading the NYT or WSJ, while a
woman is busy creating a photo
album or reading a Nicholas
Sparks novel
Image: Creative Commons/steverhodes@flickr.com
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39. Stop Man-Bashing
_ Millennial men and women aren’t at
war—and never have been
_ Young women want to be able to
count on men, and it’s not helpful to
either sex to constantly see men
(especially husbands) depicted as less
than capable or responsible
_ Let’s see more role models and fewer
buffoons
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40. Toss Out Gender Prescriptions
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41. For more insights from Euro RSCG
research, please visit www.prosumer-
report.com.
And follow us on Twitter
(@prosumer_report).
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