Special Siena College Poll: Student Survey on Gender-based Issues
- Majority of New Yorkers say women do not have equal opportunities in the workplace or in government
- Sexual harassment and different expectations from society cited as major obstacles to achieving equal rights between men and women in the United States
- 41% say 19th Amendment is most important milestone in advancing women’s position
Crosstabs Press Release Presentation Booklet
Loudonville, NY. According to a new Siena College Research Institute poll conducted as part of a Community-Based Research course (COMD 210) at Siena College, across issues in the equal rights movement, in the workplace, and in politics, men and women share different views. Students from the course developed a series of questions querying the workplace, healthcare, and politics with the objective to viewing these issues through the lens of gender.
Equal Opportunity
Seventy percent of New Yorkers are convinced that women and men have the same opportunities to pursue an education. Similarly, 68 percent of New York residents also believe that men and women have the same opportunities to receive high quality health care. But at least half of New Yorkers believe across multiple demographics that men and women do not have the same opportunities in the workplace, 54 percent overall, and in government, 50 percent.
Nearly all New Yorkers say it is either very or somewhat important for women to have equal rights with men in the United States and 52 percent say the country has not gone far enough to give women equal rights with men. Nearly two-thirds of women, 62 percent, believe the country has not gone far enough while only four in ten men say the United States has not gone far enough to give women equal rights with men. Despite New Yorkers believing the country has not gone far enough, nearly 6 in 10 residents, 59 percent, say the country has made progress compared to 10 years ago.
Obstacles to Equal Rights
Two-thirds of New York residents believe that sexual harassment is a major obstacle to women achieving equal rights with men in the United States. Similarly, 54 percent of respondents also believe that society’s different expectations for men and women is a major obstacle. At least 47 percent of New York residents say that both women not having the same legal rights as men and not having enough women in positions of power are major obstacles to women achieving equal rights with men.
The Economy and the Gender-Wage Gap
Of New Yorkers currently working, 49 percent say that their employer has more men in leadership positions than women in leadership positions. Of those currently working, more than three-quarters of New Yorkers feel pressure in balancing their careers and families. At a slightly higher rate than women, at least 80 percent of men in New York report that they feel a great deal or a fair amount of pressure to support their families financially, to be successful in their job or career, and to focus on their responsibilities at home.
Eighty-seven percent of New Yorkers believe that the pay difference between men and women is a very or somewhat serious issue. When asked about possible reasons that the gender-wage gap exists, a majority of residents, 58 percent, believe women being treated differently by employers is a major reason for the gender-wage gap. Over four in ten residents say that a major reason for the pay gap is due to the jobs that women work in and how women balance work and family.
Healthcare
Nine out of 10 residents say they have a primary care physician and of those respondents with a primary care physician, 27 percent of New Yorkers have had difficulty getting an appointment with their doctor over the past two years. A third of the respondents, 34 percent, who say they have a primary care doctor stated they have experienced feeling that their symptoms have been dismissed by their health care provider. A majority of New Yorkers with a child in their household state they have experienced this feeling of dismissal. Additionally, people below the age of 50 years reported feeling dismissed by their primary care physician in the state of New York at twice the rate of respondents above age 50. Owen Clark, a senior at Siena stated, “I found it interesting that the younger a person is, the more they feel that the practitioner was dismissing their claims.” Despite these feelings, of all respondents with a primary care physician, 94 percent are completely or somewhat satisfied with the amount of time they spend with their doctors. Thirty-nine percent of New Yorkers say they have received mental health care services or treatment, with a majority of respondents under 50 years of age saying they have gotten care contrasted by less than three in 10 of respondents over the age of 50 years.
Politics
Ninety percent of New York residents agree that a woman is equally as capable as a man to hold the office of the President of the United States. The level of support does not carry over to potential LGBTQ+ presidential candidates, with 49 percent of respondents agreeing that they are not ready to elect an LGBTQ+ President. Hesitancy to elect an LGBTQ+ President varies by gender with 59 percent of men agreeing they are not ready to elect a President who identifies as LGBTQ+ compared to 38 percent of women. Miranda Gilbert, a junior at Siena mentioned, “It was pretty striking to see that 60% of men are not ready to elect an LGBTQ+ member as President.” When asked whether abortion should be illegal or legal, 40 percent of New York residents said abortion should be illegal, while 54 percent say it should be legal. Fifty-eight percent of women say abortion should be legal compared to 48 percent of men.
Odds and Ends
New Yorkers are split on the direction of the state with 46 percent stating New York is on the right track and 40 percent saying the state is moving in the wrong direction. While 65 percent of registered Democrats say New York is on the right track, 72 percent of Republicans say New York is moving in the wrong direction. When asked about the direction of the nation, less than four in ten New Yorkers, 37 percent, say the country is on the right track with a majority, 52 percent, saying the nation is moving in the wrong direction. Similar to the partisan breakdown for the direction of the state, 57 percent of Democrats say the United States is on the right track while 80 percent of Republicans say the United States is moving in the wrong direction.
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This study was conducted April 14 – 17, 2023, among 854 New York State residents as part of a Community-Based Research course at Siena College with support from the Siena College Research Institute. Of the 854 respondents, 854 respondents were drawn from a proprietary online panel (Lucid). Data from collection modes was statistically adjusted by age, party by region, race/ethnicity, region, and gender to ensure representativeness. It has an overall margin of error of +/- 3.8 percentage points including the design effects resulting from weighting. The Siena College Research Institute, directed by Donald Levy, Ph.D., conducts political, economic, social, and cultural research primarily in NYS. SCRI, an independent, non-partisan research institute, subscribes to the American Association of Public Opinion Research Code of Professional Ethics and Practices. For more information, call Don Levy at (518) 783-2901. For survey crosstabs: www.Siena.edu/SCRI/.
