Both women and men still believe in outdated stereotypes, new research from Unilever claims.
The research found that 77 per cent of men believe that a man is the best choice to lead a ‘high stakes’ projects. More surprisingly, the study also revealed that 55 per cent of the women surveyed believed this to be true as well.
The Unilever study, which surveyed over 9,000 men and women across eight countries, also found that 67 per cent of women felt pressurised to ‘get over’ inappropriate behaviour.
Of those surveyed, 55 per cent of men and 64 per cent of women agreed that men do not challenge each other over such behaviours.
60 per cent of women and 49 per cent of men also claimed that these stereotypes personally impacted on their careers, life or both.
Speaking about the study, Keith Weed, Unilever’s chief marketing and communications officer, said, “Stereotypes and social norms have a huge impact on gender equality issues globally.”
“Whether consciously or unconsciously we are all subject to the biases in our mindsets.”
The research is part of an on going initiative from Unilever, who launched #Unstereotype in June last year with the aim to move its brands away from gender stereotypes and positively represent both men and women.
The reason such stereotypes persist is because they remain generally true. Thus, to call them “outdated”, as Unilever does, is merely propaganda.