Most Americans say being a man helps a person get ahead in the U.S.

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More Americans say being a man helps than hurts a person’s ability to get ahead in the United States these days, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. By contrast, more Americans say being a woman hurts rather than helps.

Six-in-ten U.S. adults say being a man helps a lot or a little when it comes to a person’s ability to get ahead in the U.S., compared with 14% who say it hurts (either a lot or a little). The picture is very different when it comes to being a woman: Half of adults say this hurts a person’s ability to get ahead and 24% say it helps.

Views about whether being a man or a woman helps or hurts have not changed much since we asked these questions in 2019 and 2020. And as in the past, there are significant differences among key demographic groups in people’s perceptions of the advantages or disadvantages of being a man or woman in the U.S. today.

Does being a man help or hurt a person’s ability to get ahead in the U.S.?

Some 67% of women say being a man helps a person’s ability to get ahead at least a little, including 48% who say it helps a lot. By comparison, 52% of men say being a man helps, and 28% say it helps a lot.

Gender gaps on this question persist among White adults, but there are no differences between Black or Hispanic women and men on whether being a man helps. (The number of Asian women and men surveyed is too small to analyze their responses separately.) Women younger than 30 are more likely than women ages 30 and older to say being a man helps a person get ahead (76% vs. 64%). There are no age differences among men on whether being a man helps or hurts.

Similarly, women with different levels of education have varying views of whether men have an advantage based on their gender. Women with a bachelor’s degree or more education are more likely than those with some college or less education to say that being a man helps (79% vs. 61%). Among men, there are no differences in views by these education levels.

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