gender roles research paper topics

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100 Gender Research Topics For Academic Papers

Gender research topics are very popular across the world. Students in different academic disciplines are often asked to write papers and essays about these topics. Some of the disciplines that require learners to write about gender topics include:

Sociology Psychology Gender studies Business studies

When pursuing higher education in these disciplines, learners can choose what to write about from a wide range of gender issues topics. However, the wide range of issues that learners can research and write about when it comes to gender makes choosing what to write about difficult. Here is a list of the top 100 gender and sexuality topics that students can consider.

Controversial Gender Research Topics

Do you like the idea of writing about something controversial? If yes, this category has some of the best gender topics to write about. They touch on issues like gender stereotypes and issues that are generally associated with members of a specific gender. Here are some of the best controversial gender topics that you can write about.

How human behavior is affected by gender misconceptions
How are straight marriages influenced by gay marriages
Explain the most common sex-role stereotypes
What are the effects of workplace stereotypes?
What issues affect modern feminism?
How sexuality affects sex-role stereotyping
How does the media break sex-role stereotypes
Explain the dual approach to equality between women and men
What are the most outdated sex-role stereotypes
Are men better than women?
How equal are men and women?
How do politics and sexuality relate?
How can films defy gender-based stereotypes
What are the advantages of being a woman?
What are the disadvantages of being a woman?
What are the advantages of being a man?
Discuss the disadvantages of being a woman
Should governments legalize prostitution?
Explain how sexual orientation came about?
Women communicate better than men
Women are the stronger sex
Explain how the world can be made better for women
Discuss the future gender norms
How important are sex roles in society
Discuss the transgender and feminism theory
How does feminism help in the creation of alternative women’s culture?
Gender stereotypes in education and science
Discuss racial variations when it comes to gender-related attitudes
Women are better leaders
Men can’t survive without women

This category also has some of the best gender debate topics. However, learners should be keen to pick topics they are interested in. This will enable them to ensure that they enjoy the research and writing process.

Interesting Gender Inequality Topics

Gender-based inequality is witnessed almost every day. As such, most learners are conversant with gender inequality research paper topics. However, it’s crucial to pick topics that are devoid of discrimination of members of a specific gender. Here are examples of gender inequality essay topics.

Sex discrimination aspects in schools
How to identify inequality between sexes
Sex discrimination causes
The inferior role played by women in relationships
Discuss sex differences in the education system
How can gender discrimination be identified in sports?
Can inequality issues between men and women be solved through education?
Why are professional opportunities for women in sports limited?
Why are there fewer women in leadership positions?
Discuss gender inequality when it comes to work-family balance
How does gender-based discrimination affect early childhood development?
Can sex discrimination be reduced by technology?
How can sex discrimination be identified in a marriage?
Explain where sex discrimination originates from
Discuss segregation and motherhood in labor markets
Explain classroom sex discrimination
How can inequality in American history be justified?
Discuss different types of sex discrimination in modern society
Discuss various factors that cause gender-based inequality
Discuss inequality in human resource practices and processes
Why is inequality between women and men so rampant in developing countries?
How can governments bridge gender gaps between women and men?
Work-home conflict is a sign of inequality between women and men
Explain why women are less wealthy than men
How can workplace gender-based inequality be addressed?

After choosing the gender inequality essay topics they like, students should research, brainstorm ideas, and come up with an outline before they start writing. This will ensure that their essays have engaging introductions and convincing bodies, as well as, strong conclusions.

Amazing Gender Roles Topics for Academic Papers and Essays

This category has ideas that slightly differ from gender equality topics. That’s because equality or lack of it can be measured by considering the representation of both genders in different roles. As such, some gender roles essay topics might not require tiresome and extensive research to write about. Nevertheless, learners should take time to gather the necessary information required to write about these topics. Here are some of the best gender topics for discussion when it comes to the roles played by men and women in society.

Describe gender identity
Describe how a women-dominated society would be
Compare gender development theories
How equally important are maternity and paternity levees for babies?
How can gender-parity be achieved when it comes to parenting?
Discuss the issues faced by modern feminism
How do men differ from women emotionally?
Discuss gender identity and sexual orientation
Is investing in the education of girls beneficial?
Explain the adoption of gender-role stereotyped behaviors
Discuss games and toys for boys and girls
Describe patriarchal attitudes in families
Explain patriarchal stereotypes in family relationships
What roles do women and men play in politics?
Discuss sex equity and academic careers
Compare military career opportunities for both genders
Discuss the perception of women in the military
Describe feminine traits
Discus gender-related issues faced by women in gaming
Men should play major roles in the welfare of their children
Explain how the aging population affects the economic welfare of women?
What has historically determined modern differences in gender roles?
Does society need stereotyped gender roles?
Does nature have a role to play in stereotyped gender roles?
The development and adoption of gender roles

The list of gender essay topics that are based on the roles of each sex can be quite extensive. Nevertheless, students should be keen to pick interesting gender topics in this category.

Important Gender Issues Topics for Research Paper

If you want to write a paper or essay on an important gender issue, this category has the best ideas for you. Students can write about different issues that affect individuals of different genders. For instance, this category can include gender wage gap essay topics. Wage variation is a common issue that affects women in different countries. Some of the best gender research paper topics in this category include:

Discuss gender mainstreaming purpose
Discuss the issue of gender-based violence
Why is the wage gap so common in most countries?
How can society promote equality in opportunities for women and men in sports?
Explain what it means to be transgender
Discuss the best practices of gender-neutral management
What is women’s empowerment?
Discuss how human trafficking affects women
How problematic is gender-blindness for women?
What does the glass ceiling mean in management?
Why are women at a higher risk of sexual exploitation and violence?
Why is STEM uptake low among women?
How does ideology affect the determination of relations between genders
How are sporting women fighting for equality?
Discuss sports, women, and media institutions
How can cities be made safer for girls and women?
Discuss international trends in the empowerment of women
How do women contribute to the world economy?
Explain how feminism on different social relations unites men and women as groups
Explain how gender diversity influence scientific discovery and innovation

This category has some of the most interesting women’s and gender studies paper topics. However, most of them require extensive research to come up with hard facts and figures that will make academic papers or essays more interesting.

Students in high schools and colleges can pick what to write about from a wide range of gender studies research topics. However, some gender studies topics might not be ideal for some learners based on the given essay prompt. Therefore, make sure that you have understood what the educator wants you to write about before you pick a topic. Our experts can help you choose a good thesis topic . Choosing the right gender studies topics enables learners to answer the asked questions properly. This impresses educators to award them top grades.

What is gender equality?

Equality between the sexes is a huge part of basic human rights. It means that men and women have the same opportunities to fulfil their potential in all spheres of life.

Today, we still face inequality issues as there is a persistent gap in access to opportunities for men and women.

Women have less access to decision-making and higher education. They constantly face obstacles at the workplace and have greater safety risks. Maintaining equal rights for both sexes is critical for meeting a wide range of goals in global development.

Inequality between the sexes is an interesting area to study so high school, college, and university students are often assigned to write essays on gender topics.

In this article, we are going to discuss the key peculiarities of gender equality essay. Besides, we have created a list of the best essay topic ideas.

What is the specifics of gender equality essay?

Equality and inequality between the sexes are important historical and current social issues which impact the way students and their families live. They are common topics for college papers in psychology, sociology, gender studies.

When writing an essay on equality between the sexes, you need to argue for a strong point of view and support your argument with relevant evidence gathered from multiple sources.

But first, you’d need to choose a good topic which is neither too broad nor too narrow to research.

Research is crucial for the success of your essay because you should develop a strong argument based on an in-depth study of various scholarly sources.

Equality between sexes is a complex problem. You have to consider different aspects and controversial points of view on specific issues, show your ability to think critically, develop a strong thesis statement, and build a logical argument, which can make a great impression on your audience.

If you are looking for interesting gender equality essay topics, here you will find a great list of 100 topic ideas for writing essays and research papers on gender issues in contemporary society.

Should you find that some topics are too broad, feel free to narrow them down.

Powerful gender equality essay topics

Here are the top 25 hottest topics for your argumentative opinion paper on gender issues.

Whether you are searching for original creative ideas for gender equality in sports essay or need inspiration for gender equality in education essay, we’ve got you covered.

Use imagination and creativity to demonstrate your approach.

Analyze gender-based violence in different countries
Compare wage gap between the sexes in different countries
Explain the purpose of gender mainstreaming
Implications of sex differences in the human brain
How can we teach boys and girls that they have equal rights?
Discuss gender-neutral management practices
Promotion of equal opportunities for men and women in sports
What does it mean to be transgender?
Discuss the empowerment of women
Why is gender-blindness a problem for women?
Why are girls at greater risk of sexual violence and exploitation?
Women as victims of human trafficking
Analyze the glass ceiling in management
Impact of ideology in determining relations between sexes
Obstacles that prevent girls from getting quality education in African countries
Why are so few women in STEM?
Major challenges women face at the workplace
How do women in sport fight for equality?
Women, sports, and media institutions
Contribution of women in the development of the world economy
Role of gender diversity in innovation and scientific discovery
What can be done to make cities safer for women and girls?
International trends in women’s empowerment
Role of schools in teaching children behaviours considered appropriate for their sex
Feminism on social relations uniting women and men as groups

Gender roles essay topics

We can measure the equality of men and women by looking at how both sexes are represented in a range of different roles. You don’t have to do extensive and tiresome research to come up with gender roles essay topics, as we have already done it for you.

Have a look at this short list of top-notch topic ideas .

Are paternity and maternity leaves equally important for babies?
Imagine women-dominated society and describe it
Sex roles in contemporary western societies
Compare theories of gender development
Adoption of sex-role stereotyped behaviours
What steps should be taken to achieve gender-parity in parenting?
What is gender identity?
Emotional differences between men and women
Issues modern feminism faces
Sexual orientation and gender identity
Benefits of investing in girls’ education
Patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes in family relationships
Toys and games of girls and boys
Roles of men and women in politics
Compare career opportunities for both sexes in the military
Women in the US military
Academic careers and sex equity
Should men play larger roles in childcare?
Impact of an ageing population on women’s economic welfare
Historical determinants of contemporary differences in sex roles
Gender-related issues in gaming
Culture and sex-role stereotypes in advertisements
What are feminine traits?
Sex role theory in sociology
Causes of sex differences and similarities in behaviour

Gender inequality research paper topics

Examples of inequality can be found in the everyday life of different women in many countries across the globe. Our gender inequality research paper topics are devoted to different issues that display discrimination of women throughout the world.

Choose any topic you like, research it, brainstorm ideas, and create a detailed gender inequality essay outline before you start working on your first draft.

Start off with making a debatable thesis, then write an engaging introduction, convincing main body, and strong conclusion for gender inequality essay .

Aspects of sex discrimination
Main indications of inequality between the sexes
Causes of sex discrimination
Inferior role of women in the relationships
Sex differences in education
Can education solve issues of inequality between the sexes?
Impact of discrimination on early childhood development
Why do women have limited professional opportunities in sports?
Gender discrimination in sports
Lack of women having leadership roles
Inequality between the sexes in work-family balance
Top factors that impact inequality at a workplace
What can governments do to close the gender gap at work?
Sex discrimination in human resource processes and practices
Gender inequality in work organizations
Factors causing inequality between men and women in developing countries
Work-home conflict as a symptom of inequality between men and women
Why are mothers less wealthy than women without children?
Forms of sex discrimination in a contemporary society
Sex discrimination in the classroom
Justification of inequality in American history
Origins of sex discrimination
Motherhood and segregation in labour markets
Sex discrimination in marriage
Can technology reduce sex discrimination?

Most controversial gender topics

Need a good controversial topic for gender stereotypes essay? Here are some popular debatable topics concerning various gender problems people face nowadays.

They are discussed in scientific studies, newspaper articles, and social media posts. If you choose any of them, you will need to perform in-depth research to prepare an impressive piece of writing.

How do gender misconceptions impact behaviour?
Most common outdated sex-role stereotypes
How does gay marriage influence straight marriage?
Explain the role of sexuality in sex-role stereotyping
Role of media in breaking sex-role stereotypes
Discuss the dual approach to equality between men and women
Are women better than men or are they equal?
Sex-role stereotypes at a workplace
Racial variations in gender-related attitudes
Role of feminism in creating the alternative culture for women
Feminism and transgender theory
Gender stereotypes in science and education
Are sex roles important for society?
Future of gender norms
How can we make a better world for women?
Are men the weaker sex?
Beauty pageants and women’s empowerment
Are women better communicators?
What are the origins of sexual orientation?
Should prostitution be legal?
Pros and cons of being a feminist
Advantages and disadvantages of being a woman
Can movies defy gender stereotypes?
Sexuality and politics

Feel free to use these powerful topic ideas for writing a good college-level gender equality essay or as a starting point for your study.

No time to do decent research and write your top-notch paper? No big deal! Choose any topic from our list and let a pro write the essay for you!

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136 Research Questions about Gender Roles

In this gender roles topics list, we delve into the complex societal constructs that shape perceptions of masculinity and femininity. Look through the research questions about gender roles to examine their historical evolution, impact on individuals and relationships, and the ongoing efforts to challenge traditional stereotypes.

⚠️ TOP 7 Research Questions about Gender Roles

🏆 creative title for gender roles essay, 🎓 interesting gender roles research questions, ✍️ gender roles essay topics for college, 💡 simple gender and society essay topics, ❓ more research questions about gender roles.

The Social Construction of Gender Roles
Gender Roles Effects on Children Development
“Lanval”: Summary & Analysis of Gender Roles and Courtly Love
Changing Gender Roles in Families
Gender Roles in Modern Society: Structural-Functional vs. Conflict Perspectives
Gender Roles in Medea – Stereotypes & Resistance
Gender Roles in “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Atwood
Japanese vs. American Male Gender Roles American males perceived their women as weak and powerless creatures requiring protection, whereas the Japanese male stereotypes envisioned their women as being subordinate to men.
How Society Influences the Gender Roles Society should reconsider some of the gender roles to close the gap and give people equal opportunities to thrive and explore.
Gender Roles in “The Simpsons” While young male spectators are offered different role models with different behavior, female ones receive as role models mostly physically attractive characters.
Gender Roles in Married at First Sight and Other Media Sources Every society and culture have different gender role expectations. This paper focuses on the comparison of the media sources’ assumptions about genders.
Gender Roles and Inequalities in Advertisement The perfume for men, Dior Sauvage, was released in 2019, and an advertising campaign supported it with Johnny Depp.
Gender Roles and Culture in Different Ages Until recently, gender differences were consistent around the globe. Women were supposed to be homemakers, and men were expected to support their families.
Gender Roles Within Greek Society Gender roles in Greek society were determined by social and cultural traditions, position of women in society and their significance as citizens.
Social Restrictions on Gender Roles in “A Doll’s House” by Ibsen Many literary works assess various aspects of life, and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House explores important social matters.
Gender Roles in the Boys Don’t Cry Movie Boys Don’t Cry is a famous movie directed by Kimberly Peirce. It explores the influence of rigid gender-based behavioral expectations on a person’s well-being and safety.
Gender Roles in the Buddhist Culture In the Buddhist culture, women are considered weak beings and require men to provide them with protection. Furthermore, men are considered to be the strong and family breadwinners.
Gender Roles in a Modern Society Throughout the history of humanity, a woman has been assigned the role of being dependent on a man and, to some extent, subordinate to him.
Aspects of Parenting and Gender Roles For children to develop a healthy understanding of gender roles, it is essential that parents choose the right approach to their formation.
Gender Roles in Society: Hinduism and Buddhism Both Hindu and Buddhist beliefs have a strained relationship with the concept of gender, while in the two cases, men and women are supposed to be equal, it is not really true.
“I Love Lucy”: Retrospect, Supporting and Subverting Gender Roles Despite its humorous and light-hearted nature, as well as significantly aged jokes, the sitcom “I Love Lucy” can disclose a lot of information about the epoch that it depicted.
Understanding Different Gender Roles and the Impact on Marketing There are traditional and nontraditional gender roles that determine how male and female models are used in commercials.
Absurd of Predetermined Gender Roles in Literature This essay aims to analyze “The Importance of Being Earnest,” “Blood Relations,” and “Essay” to argue for the absurdity of predetermined gender roles in society.
Male Gender Roles and Women
Alternative Gender Roles Among Various Cultures
Sex Discrimination and Gender Roles
Blaming the Victim Phenomenon and Its Relation to Gender Roles
Class and Gender Roles in Raising Arizona
Gender Roles and Attitudes Towards Family Life and Paid Work in Romania
Emotions, Morality, Gender Roles, and Aggression From the Japanese Perspective
Male Gender Roles and Sexuality: Implications for Women’s Aids Risk and Prevention
Gender Roles and Its Effect on Women‘s Standards
The Correlation Between Gender Roles and the Salem Witch Trials
Gender Roles and Identity in Children
Family Structure and Gender Roles
Gender Roles and Early Childhood
Attraction, Gender Roles, and Homosexuality Assignment
Gender Roles Affect Male and Female
Modern Times Trends and Gender Roles
Incan Society and Gender Roles
Sexism and Reversed Gender Roles in Literature
Education, Gender Roles, and Humanism
Gender Roles and Psychology in Human Behaviors
Fashion Based Upon Gender Roles and Culture
Sexuality and Gender Roles in TV Sitcoms
Gender Roles and Popular Religions
Gender Roles and Issues Regarding Feminisms and Masculinity
Japanese-American Families Gender Roles
Gender and Gender Roles Are Shaping Our Perspective of Humans
Femininity and Gender Roles
Gender Roles and Socialisation of Hyper Masculinity
Gender Roles and Its Impact on Individual‘s Self Esteem, Self
The Gender Binary and Gender Roles and Expectations
The Movie”Smurfs”: The Problem of Gender Roles The gender roles in the Smurfs are polarized and fixed between male and female stereotypes, which is a mentality of the past.
Advertising and Gender Roles Mass media, especially television imposes certain stereotypes on our consciousness and the most interesting thing is that we take these stereotypes as examples.
Discussion of Gender Roles in Modern World During human history, gender stereotypes have been widespread, and the community has defined the person’s role based on gender.
Division of Labor and Traditional Gender Roles Labor within the family was traditionally divided along gender lines, with the male and female genders being assigned specific responsibilities.
Gender Roles in Hung Liu’s Paintings The purpose of this article is to show how Hung Liu conveys the social and gender issues of her time in her paintings.
Forum: Gender and Gender Roles Gender refers to the different characteristics concerning femininity and masculinity that influence a person’s identity.
Gender Roles and Psychological Health The emergence of traditional gender roles and the images of masculinity and femininity can be regarded as an attempt to organize society and create stable social structures.
Disney Princesses: How Movies Impact Gender Roles Gender roles stand for an ever-changing concept that is going to be exploited by Disney in accordance with the exceptional values characteristic of the target audience.
Gender Roles From Sociological, Medical, and Religious Perspectives Essay discusses the Sociological, Medical, and Religious views on gender roles, and the author’s experience and reflections on the topic.
Gender Roles in Glaspell’s “Trifles” Play This paper discusses the gender roles and the oppression of women in Glaspell’s “Trifles”. Characters’ interactions reveal how society viewed spousal abuse.
Stereotypes of Gender Roles The paper details the scientific justification, impacts, development, prevention strategies, and how gender role stereotypes can be addressed.
Society’s Conception of Gender Roles in Media This article aims to explore some examples of how media depict gender roles and how this impacts our understanding of gender as part of an individual’s identity and expression.
“Straightlaced: How Gender’s Got Us All Tied”: The Generation Z and Gender Roles The documentary “Straightlaced: How Gender’s Got Us All Tied” by Debra Chasnoff explores the lives of teens through the lens of gender roles.
Gender Roles in Advertisements Gender roles were a vital tenet, more so in the conformity era of the 1950s. For men, their roles as breadwinners dictated their responsibility.
Culture as a Key Point to the Gender Issue Gender is based on social and cultural expectations rather than on physical traits. Thus, culture is the key point to the gender issue.
Gender Roles Depiction in “Antigone” by Sophocles The notion of gender has always been a subject for a continuous discussion, formerly claiming a distinct line between the roles of each gender.
Gender Roles and Behaviors: Different Perspectives Blum’s paper on the topic is far more convincing than similar works by Gay and Devor due to its exquisite use of rhetorical devices and relevant supporting statistics.
Gender Roles and Sexually Explicit Materials The paper is about the reflection on the male and female gender roles and the insights into sexually explicit materials.
Gender Roles and Social Groups Males who share the traditional vision of gender roles are more likely to commit sexual harassment. Persons who belong to the ethnic minorities less discriminates different social groups.
Gender Stereotypes in Families: Parents’ Gender Roles and Children’s Aspirations Psychologists have paid significant attention to gender stereotypes, and many important trends have been identified and evaluated. Researchers use various methodologies.
Parents’ Gender Roles and Children’s Aspirations Croft et al. state that parents inflict their implicit and explicit beliefs concerning gender roles in their children. The social role theory is used as a theoretical framework.
Women’s Stereotypes of Gender Roles Distribution The study will attempt to unveil the reasons for the persistence of females’ gender stereotypes concerning the distribution of gender roles in society.
Gender Roles in Cartoons Most people believe that children can use the portrayals of gender in cartoons arrangement to establish their roles of their gender and to understand their roles in their culture.
Social Construction Theory and Gender Roles
Stereotypes and Gender Roles of Men
Gender Roles and Social Construction of Gender
Privacy, Time Orientation, and Gender Roles
Indian Societies: Gender Roles in the Ramayana
Cultural Transmission and the Evolution of Gender Roles
Racism, Colonialism, Gender Roles and Education in the Life of Marcus Garvey
Gender Roles Affect Women’s, Social Standing
The Rigidity and Inflexibility of Gender Roles
Changing Gender Roles Among Men and Women
Ancient Greek Marital and Gender Roles
Opinions About Gender Roles in Cultural Context
Gender Roles and Inequality During the 21st Century
Sexism and Gender Roles Throughout America
Husband and Wife: The Semiotics of Gender Roles in Latin America
Modern Femininity and Gender Roles
Feminism and Gender Roles in Old Literature
Gender Roles and Expectations of Men and Women
The Customs and Gender Roles of Human Society
Hegemonic Gender Roles Are Based on Heterosexual
Social Media and Society Negatively Influence Gender Roles
Gender Roles and Change During the 1950s
Traditional Gender Roles Since the 1800s and 1900s
The Classification and Characteristics of the Gender Roles in the Society
Gender Roles and Its Impact on the Family Structure
Barbados Culture Gender Roles and Working Life
The Gender Roles Have Been Distinguished Throughout Our History
Patriarchy and Gender Roles in Genesis
Islamic Women and the Gender Roles in Muslim Culture
Gender Roles Affect the Lives of Every Human Being
Are Gender Roles Damaging Society?
Why Is It Important to Discuss Gender Roles?
What Are the Main Gender Roles?
How Does Gender Roles Affect Society?
Why Is It Important to Learn About Gender Roles Stereotypes?
Why Is It Important to Study Gender Roles and Society?
What Are the Factors That Influence Gender Roles?
Why Do Gender Roles Change Over Time?
What Are Some Challenges With the Change in Gender Roles?
How Do You Teach Students About Gender Roles?
How Do Gender Roles Affect Work?
What Is the Role of Gender Roles in Workplace Collaboration?
How Are the Gender Roles Represented in Australian Short Stories?
What Are Gender Roles Determined By?
What Are Some Important Facts About Gender Roles?
Why Are Homosexuals Not Bound by Typical Male/Female Gender Roles?
How Does Culture Influence Gender Roles?
How Are Gender Roles Divided?
How Do Gender Roles and Stereotypes Affect Children?
How Caryl Churchill Achieves Coherence Through Fragmentation and Inversion of Gender Roles in Cloud Nine?
How Does Shakespeare Use Gender Roles in Macbeth?
Is There a Difference in the Effects of Gender Roles in Males and Females?
What Is the Difference Between Gender Roles and Gender Stereotypes?
How Important and How Harmful Gender Roles Are?
How Society and Biological Drives and Instincts Shape the Gender Roles?
How Does the Family Affect Gender Roles?
How Does Aristophanes Represent Gender Roles in Lysistrata?
Why Are Gender Roles Important in Literature?
What Are the Four Gender Roles Theories?
How Children Develop Gender Roles?

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StudyCorgi . "136 Research Questions about Gender Roles." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/gender-roles-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2022. "136 Research Questions about Gender Roles." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/gender-roles-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Gender Roles were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 21, 2024 .

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65 Amazing Gender Dissertation Topics – A List of Well Researched Topics

Published by Owen Ingram at January 2nd, 2023 , Revised On August 15, 2023

The concept of gender describes the differences in characteristics, behaviours, and responsibilities between males and females. Gender studies explore the complicated concerns that arise from the interaction of men and women.

It is essential that you thoroughly understand the subject before you begin writing your dissertation . It is imperative that you choose an interesting topic for your thesis in order to get a decent grade. As you progress through your dissertation, an excellent topic will provide you with direction and help you jump-start the process.

Below is a list of excellent gender studies dissertation topics you can learn and research. We provide a wide range of topics for you to use as is or modify as you wish. Getting a great grade on your dissertation has never been simpler.

Gender Dissertation Topics Ideas & Examples

Are multicultural companies fostering racial unity and, as a result, gender disparities?
Will women’s empowerment result in oppositional gender discrimination?
A balanced examination of women’s freedom and participation in large corporations and competitive sports
How correct were our forefathers in changing the power imbalance toward patriarchy?
Examine the disadvantaged status of rural women and the tainted treatment of infertile women
Is racism or superstition more prevalent in Africa: the effect of gender discrimination?
The impact of children in homes with a purely patriarchal society
Explore the disparities in women’s perspectives in industrialized and developing nations
Examine the dynamics of female objectification in films throughout the world
The criminal syndicate’s inhumane treatment of women
Gender diversity’s role in creativity and scientific discovery
How can cities be made safer for women and girls?
The role of schools in teaching children gender-appropriate behaviours
Feminism in social interactions brings women and men together as groupings
Why are females more vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation?
Examine the glass ceiling in management and the role of ideology in shaping sex relations
Obstacles to females’ access to decent education in UK nations
The effects of gender differences on the human brain
How can we teach boys and girls that they have the same rights as females?
Discuss gender-neutral management methods
Promotion of equal sporting opportunities for men and women
The real-life materialization of the YouTube beauty community
Stress and eating pathology in transgender adolescents: a feminist scientific investigation
Gender discrimination’s implications and effects on the human brain
Identifying and examining patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes in family relationships
What factors make it difficult for girls in African and Asian nations to obtain a quality education?
Toy segregation and sex education: should boys and girls be treated differently?
What is feminism’s role in strengthening social relationships between men and women?
Plaintiffs’ role in restoring legal arguments for same-sex marriage
Understanding gender subjectivity in the lesbian culture somewhere over the rainbow nation
The lesbian and gay movement’s agitation and the countermovement’s response in the United Kingdom
Addressing the global decline in women’s political participation, both formally and informally
Stereotypical images of women’s effects on implied cognition
The social construction of multiple births in the 20th century
How the working woman deals with social binaries
Why should parents support the education of girls?
What aspects of sex discrimination exist?
What factors lead to workplace inequality?
What motivates discrimination against women in developing nations?
How do misconceptions about gender impact behaviour?
What functions do films play in challenging gender stereotypes?
Is there a way to end gender inequality through education?
Women’s childhood trauma as a result of nationalist subjectivity
Youth, gender, and citizenship in women’s colleges during World War i: “what can a woman do?”
What parental actions should be taken to achieve gender parity?
Absence of women in leadership positions
Telling the truth of refugee and immigrant women: witnessing memory
The experiences of males in traditionally feminine jobs
Work-life balance of men and women has changed after the feminist movement
A feminist viewpoint on women’s divorce counselling
A behaviour guide for feminist family therapists
The debate over black feminist theory
An analysis of the anti-violence campaign by black feminists
Sex segregation and emotional labour in women’s and men’s workplaces
Women and men are on par: Workplace discrimination, gender roles, and public policy
The ramifications for oneself of equating a slender feminine ideal with success in life
Influences of the media, as well as social and individual differences, on women’s body esteem
In the direction of a theory of women’s body image resilience
In college women, body image and appearance management practices
Review of body image and eating disorders in older persons
Premenstrual syndrome and our female criminal companions: a feminist problem
Why do women commit suicide at lower rates than men?
Men being harmed by women is a significant societal issue
Differences between men’s and women’s hourly wages
A comparison of the career growth of male and female managers

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How to Pick a Great Gender Dissertation Topi c:

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Focus on a certain subject area so you may proceed the right way. To make your dissertation engaging to the audience, it is important to be detailed and original with your topic. Do extensive study on the subject you plan to write about. To gather the most recent information about your subject, browse the internet, the newspaper, and books.
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EDITORIAL article

Editorial: gender roles in the future theoretical foundations and future research directions.

$\nAlice H. Eagly$

1 Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
2 Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Editorial on the Research Topic Gender Roles in the Future? Theoretical Foundations and Future Research Directions

The study of gender has become a major focus of research in psychology and in social psychology in particular. Among early contributors to this study, Eagly (1987) formulated social role theory to explain the behavior of women and men as well as the stereotypes, attitudes, and ideologies that are relevant to sex and gender. Enhanced by several extensions over the intervening years, this theory became a pre-eminent theory of gender in social psychology ( Eagly and Wood, 2012 ). Also, over the last decades, social psychologists have developed a variety of related approaches to understanding gender, including, for instance, theories devoted to stereotype threat, status, backlash, lack of fit to occupational roles, social identity, and categorization. The conference that preceded this Research Topic, sponsored by the European Association of Social Psychology and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, featured work that fit within the broad umbrella of social role theory and related approaches.

The contemporary interest in the psychology of gender reflects its centrality in the understanding of social behavior. Gender continues to be a driving force in world politics and economics, as evident in the struggles of women to attain parity in political and economic institutions, the transformative impact of the #me-too movement, and the falling birthrates in many nations as women opt for careers instead of large families. In addition, binary gender itself is facing challenge as the two primary sex categories of female and male yield to accommodate multiple gender and sexual identities, including non-binary identities and transgender status.

One of the central topics of the social psychology of gender is gender stereotypes, understood as consensual beliefs about the attributes of women and men. Although describing the content of gender stereotypes might seem to be a task already accomplished many decades ago (e.g., Broverman et al., 1972 ), research on this matter has continually expanded. Not only has recent research described change in gender stereotypes over time ( Eagly et al., 2019 ), but also this Research Topic includes the Hentschel et al. article that identifies facets underlying these stereotypes' two primary dimensions of agency and communion. Their analysis of agency thus reveals the facets of independence, instrumental competence, and leadership competence and of communion yields the facets of concern for others, sociability, and emotional sensitivity. Other advances in stereotype research consider intersectionalities between gender and other social attributes as well as the prescriptive aspect of gender stereotypes by which they define what members of each sex should and should not do. Illustrating these advances, Koenig's research explores prescriptive stereotypes for the intersections of gender with age from toddlerhood to old age. Among her findings is a weakening of these gender stereotypes in relation to elderly women and men.

Gender stereotypes exert influence in daily life even when they compete with the influences of other social roles. In particular, occupational roles have demands that may be more or less consistent with gender roles. In extending social role theory to account for such circumstances, Eagly and Karau (2002) argued that the female gender stereotype is generally inconsistent with leader roles because of the expectations that women are communal and that leaders, like men, are agentic. Consequently, women can suffer discrimination in relation to leadership roles because many people believe that they are insufficiently agentic to perform effectively as leaders. Manzi raises the issue of whether parallel discriminatory processes exist for men who occupy or seek to occupy roles with primarily communal demands. The article by Block et al. further addresses men's occupancy of communal roles by analyzing the low representation of men in healthcare, early education, and domestic (HEED) roles. Their research shows that, consistent with gender stereotypes, men tend to have agentic values that focus on status, competition, and wealth and thus are not attracted to careers with a focus on caring for others. However, as Van Grootel et al. demonstrate, men tend to underestimate the extent to which other men approve of men's communal traits and behaviors. Correction of this pluralistic ignorance fosters men's greater endorsement of communal values and support for progressive gender-related social change. In a different demonstration of how to reduce the power of existing gender stereotypes, Olsson and Martiny review research on exposure to counterstereotypical role models. They conclude that such exposures do hold promise for promoting counterstereotpical goals and aspirations, especially in girls and women.

For leadership, gender makes a difference, given the definition of leadership primarily in culturally masculine terms that disfavor women. Vial and Napier offer clever demonstrations that people do view agentic traits as more important than communal traits for successful leaders, thus confirming women's disadvantage for attaining leader roles. Communal traits appear to be a nice, but inessential add-on for leaders. Another disadvantage for women, as shown by Player et al. , is that male candidates for leadership are valued more highly for their perceived potential to be a good leader rather than their past performance. Female candidates, in contrast, are valued more for their past performance and given relatively little credit for their potential. Consistent with the female stereotype of low agency, women thus have the burden of proving their leadership competence rather than merely being trusted to have potential for the future. As shown by Gruber et al. , some women do emerge as leaders, and greater facial attractiveness facilitates their emergence by fostering the ascription of social competence to them. These researchers have yet to investigate the importance of facial attractiveness to male leaders.

Increasing gender diversity in organizations is surely an important social goal for advocates of gender equality. Yet, organizational processes are not so simple that merely adding women catalyzes gains for other women. In fact, women in leadership roles do not necessarily work to change organizational norms to insure equal opportunity for other women, as Sterk et al. argue. Instead, senior women may accept negative stereotypes about women's lesser capacity for leadership. Such “queen bee” senior women may distance themselves from junior women and thus exert negative effects on them. Moreover, as van Dijk and van Engen explain, despite the presence of gender-diverse work groups, organizational behaviors are often constrained by self-reinforcing gender role expectations that perpetuate traditional gender-unfair practices.

Gender stereotypes exert influence in other situations as well. One such setting is high-stakes aptitude tests whose outcomes affect the opportunities of women and men. As shown by the Leiner et al. research on Austrian medical school aptitude tests, there are intriguing sex differences in the ways that female and male test takers perceive the test situation. In particular, the women experienced greater test anxiety than men and perceived the test as less fair. Another realm of social behavior that is fraught with gender issues is sexual coercion and rape. Gravelin et al. provide a thorough review of what is now a large research literature on tendencies to blame the victim of acquaintance rape. Also related to sexual violence is an incident in Germany of mass sexual assault on New Year's Eve of 2015. The discourse that ensued receives careful analysis by Hannover et al. One question that Germans faced is whether the largely Muslim perpetrators of these assaults were motivated by particularly sexist attitudes toward girls and women that emanated from their religion. The findings of this research instead implicated, not a particular religion, but high levels of religiosity and fundamentalism as precursors of the sexist beliefs that fostered violence against women.

In a world in which gender is always in flux, the future of gender relations is uncertain. To help understand this future, Gustafsson Sendén et al. asked Swedes to indicate what they think that the traits of Swedish women and men were in the past, are in the present, and will be in the future. Replicating earlier research by Diekman and Eagly (2000) , respondents perceived women to increase in agentic traits over time but remain more communal than men. Such beliefs, derived from the abstract belief that gender equality is increasing, may not reflect actual changes in stereotype content over time ( Eagly et al., 2019 ).

The contemporary challenges to the binary view of sex, gender, and sexuality receive important exploration in the essay by Morgenroth and Ryan . They review earlier writing by the philosopher Judith Butler, who advocated “gender trouble” that would disrupt the binary view of gender. As these authors suggest, Butler's ideas can guide understanding of some of the ways that performance socially constructs gender in society. Butler's writings on performativity and related themes can provide intriguing hypotheses for systematic empirical exploration by social psychologists. In the meantime, other social psychologists argue that the way forward in gender theory entails exploring how gender is and is not socially constructed by producing research that also considers the biological grounding of some patterns of male and female behavior ( Eagly and Wood, 2013 ). From this interactionist perspective, nature, and nurture are intertwined in producing the phenomena of gender.

The articles included in this Research Topic are broadly positioned across the field of social psychology, which encompasses a wide range of themes pertaining to sex and gender. Some of these themes link social psychology to other areas of psychological specialization, such as personality, developmental, cultural, industrial-organizational, and biological psychology as well as to the other social science disciplines of sociology, political science, and economics. In invoking other disciplines and psychology subfields, many of the authors whose work appears in this Research Topic recognize the importance of social roles as a central integrative concept in theories of gender. These articles thereby complement social role theory by reaching out to build an extended theoretical foundation for gender research of the future.

Author Contributions

Both authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Broverman, I. K., Vogel, S. R., Broverman, D. M., Clarkson, F. E., and Rosenkrantz, P. S. (1972). Sex-role stereotypes: a current appraisal. J. Soc. Issues 28, 59–78. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1972.tb00018.x

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Diekman, A. B., and Eagly, A. H. (2000). Stereotypes as dynamic constructs: women and men of the past, present, and future. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 26, 1171–1188. doi: 10.1177/0146167200262001

Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex Differences in Social Behavior: A Social-Role Interpretation . Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Google Scholar

Eagly, A. H., and Karau, S. J. (2002). Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. Psychol. Rev. 109, 573–598. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.109.3.573

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Eagly, A. H., Nater, C., Miller, D. I., Kaufmann, M., and Sczesny, S. (2019). Gender stereotypes have changed: a cross-temporal meta-analysis of US public opinion polls from 1946 to 2018. Am. Psychol . 18:494. doi: 10.1037/amp0000494

Eagly, A. H., and Wood, W. (2012). “Social role theory,” in Handbook of Theories in Social Psychology , eds P. van Lange, A. Kruglanski, and E. T. Higgins (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications), 458–476. doi: 10.4135/9781446249222.n49

CrossRef Full Text

Eagly, A. H., and Wood, W. (2013). The nature–nurture debates: 25 years of challenges in understanding the psychology of gender. Perspect. Psychol. Sci. 8, 340–357. doi: 10.1177/1745691613484767

Keywords: gender prejudice, social role theory, communion, agency, gender stereotypes, gender roles

Citation: Eagly AH and Sczesny S (2019) Editorial: Gender Roles in the Future? Theoretical Foundations and Future Research Directions. Front. Psychol. 10:1965. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01965

Received: 07 August 2019; Accepted: 09 August 2019; Published: 04 September 2019.

Edited and reviewed by: Eva G. Krumhuber , University College London, United Kingdom

Copyright © 2019 Eagly and Sczesny. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Alice H. Eagly, eagly@northwestern.edu

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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131 Gender Research Topics To Attain Top Grades

Are you looking for a gender topic to use for your research project, research proposal, thesis, or dissertation? You are definitely at the right place. We have 131 diverse gender research topics that will lead you to a point of research to get to the bottom of a certain phenomenon.

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What Is Gender?

Gender is portrayed by the socially constructed characteristics found in males and females. Gender defines the behaviors, norms, and gender roles of males and females. However, it differs in certain societies. However, gender can lead to specific social and economic inequalities in society.

The other popularly confusing phenomenon is sex which refers to the unique biological and psychological characteristics of males, females, and intersex persons. Hugely, gender influences people’s experiences and access to different social amenities.

If gender issues interest you, you can consider doing gender development and gender studies courses or units in college. You will get a better understanding of the relationships between one’s gender and society.

The Different Parts Of A Thesis

A thesis has three major parts which include the introduction, body, and last part.

Introductory Part The thesis introductory party should entail the cover page, description page, table of contents, list of figures, and list of tables. This may differ based on the kind of thesis that you are doing.
Body The body content can vary based on the topic of gender that you are doing. If you are doing a research report topic; it should contain the introduction of the topic, theoretical basis, project implementation, research results, and discussion. If you are doing a development project report the body should contain the introduction, objectives, project background, theoretical basis, project implementation, and discussion.
The last part This part should contain a list of references and appendices.

Gender Research Topics

Are you searching for ideal topics on gender? You can consider using any of these for your research paper, project, or assignment. You can’t miss an ideal one to use for your paper:

General impacts of globalization on experiences around gender.
Dynamics found in gender development.
Effects of discrimination based on gender at jobs and careers.
Promotion of gender equality in the world in the 21 st
The known social construction of gender roles.
Discuss whether gender is natural or acquired from the surrounding.
Is gender a role, biological sex, or culturally acquired?
How does gender impact social media interactions?
Evaluate the changing gender roles in families.
How are gender roles portrayed in cartoons?
Effects of gender biases in the workplace.

Topics About Gender

Do different topics about gender interest you? Then consider any of these for your research project, research paper, proposal, and much more:

The best modes to use to teach students about gender equality.
Evaluate women’s empowerment in society.
Common challenges faced by women in the workplace.
Classification of gender dysphoria.
Evaluate sex, gender, and inequalities
Evaluate gender stereotypes and misunderstandings.
Importance of mass media in solving gender issues.
How does society portray gender and sexuality?
Influence of gender stereotypes in individuals.

Gender Topics

Equality should be achieved in schools, workplaces, and social places. We are social beings and need to find a way to boost equality in society to prevent anyone from feeling left out:

Gender disparity in science.
Evolution of discrimination in society in the previous centuries.
Similarities between racism and gender inequality.
Social roles men and women.
Gender roles in the current society.
Why is discrimination dominant in certain places?
How has LGBT evolved?
The rights of single mothers in society?
Gender role definition.
The advantages of feminism in the growth of society.

Gender-Related Topics

Here are any gender-related topics which you can use for your thesis, dissertation, proposal, or project. If you have an interest in the field, what are you waiting for?

The relation between culture and body self-image.
Forms of gender violence in society.
Gender role in medicine and science.
Role of women in the progress of the world economy.
The possibility of reaching gender equality in modern society.
The kind of stereotypical depictions of women in the media.
Role of women on Earth.
How does religion diminish male roles in society?
Division of labor for different genders in the workplace.
Does gender influence income inequality?

Gender Studies Research Topics

Gender studies courses and the unit have gained popularity in different universities. The world is growing with each passing day, and it is important to understand how different genders interact in different institutions:

The reality of the gender pay gap in the current society.
Relation between culture and gender stereotypes.
The root of gender stereotypes.
Gender stereotypes are found on TV.
How does gender inequality affect kids’ upbringing?
Gender barriers faced by women in educational establishments.
Causes of gender-based violence in the world.
Family issues are caused by the gender disparity globally.
The attitudes towards gays and lesbians.
The Importance of maternal and paternal leaves for the newborn baby.

Gender Inequality Research Paper Topics

The world should provide a safe space for everyone. Therefore, you can use these gender inequality research paper topics to dig deeper into the kind of inequalities people go through:

Gender concepts integrated into Artificial Intelligence.
Gender diversity roles in scientific discovery.
Major causes of gender imbalance.
Relation between sports, women, and media institutions.
The advantages and disadvantages of being a feminist.
Importance of parents’ investment in girls’ education.
Factors that cause inequality in the workplace.
How gender misconceptions affect behavior.
Steps that can be taken by parents to achieve gender parity.

Sociology Research Topics On Gender

Sociology entails the study of social interactions. If that interests you then these sociology research topics on gender will do the trick:

The genderized occupations in society.
Gender stereotypes in different regions.
How are men and women treated differently in law?
The known gender roles in the family.
Women’s rights history in different countries.
Advantages and disadvantages of gender identification in society.
Mental perception of gender in society.
Legalization of LGBT in families.
How does gender studies impact self-esteem?
The origin and dangers of feminism.

Gender Topics For Research

Gender equality, and achievement will play a huge role in improving productivity in the workplace, school, and social places. Advocating for gender equality for both men and women is crucial:

Why are girls more likely to fall victim to sexual exploitation?
Key obstacles that prevent girls from accessing quality education.
Methods that can be used to promote equal opportunities for women and men in society.
Impact of gender diversity in scientific innovations.
Common gender-neutral management practices.
The contrast of the wage gap between both genders.
Evaluate gender roles in society.
Can men fight for their rights as feminists do?
Evaluate gender discrimination and promotion over time.
Can education help solve inequality issues?

Gender Issues Topics For Research Paper

What resources do you use for research? You can search on the internet, and use scholarly articles, documentaries, books, and PDFs to get the information that you need:

Evaluate work-home conflict as a result of gender inequality.
Factors influencing inequality in developing countries.
Best way to address gender-based issues at the workplace.
Relation between gender and leadership in education.
Bullying issues in education based on gender.
A social perspective on gender issues and sexuality.
Best modes of addressing gender equality.
Relation between globalization, liberalization, and gender equality.
Major gender issues in international relations.
How does gender influence the recruitment of individuals in the workplace?

Best Gender Research Paper Topics

Which gender issues have you encountered in society? These are some other topics that can bring you into the limelight. Attaining gender equality in society is important:

Scarcity of water and effect on gender inequality.
Unequal division of economic growth in society.
Factors that lead to gender inequality in the workplace.
Gender inequality in retirement and employment.
Relation between poverty and gender.
Gender inequalities that lead to women’s rights movements.
Gender stereotypes issue and contribute to gender inequality.
Effects of gender inequality in economic development.
Dire consequences of gender inequality.
The importance of women fighting for gender equality.

Gender Research Paper Topics

You can use any of these gender research paper topics to make your proposal, project, thesis, or dissertation, which will help to make your paper really good. But if this whole writing process is difficult for you, you can find dissertation writers for hire .

Manifestation of gender inequality in society.
From your perspective is it possible to fully achieve gender equality?
Future outcomes of the present gender inequality.
How does gender blindness impact gender inequality?
Economic aftermaths of gender inequality.
Relation between gender equality and politics.
Evaluate gender inequality from a psychological perspective.
Best modes to tackle gender inequality at home.
How is gender inequality portrayed in sports?
Should women and men perform specific roles?

Women And Gender Studies Research Topics

When it comes to gender issues, women are the most affected. Therefore, there is a need to balance the issue so that both men and women can share the same rights:

Women’s views on long-existing gender stereotypes.
How are gender roles portrayed in movies, news, and TV shows?
Gender stereotypes in children
Evaluate gender as portrayed in literature
Gender mainstreaming in institutions.
Gender role effects on childhood development.
How are gender stereotypes developed in families?
Parents’ gender roles and children’s aspirations.
Emotional perception of gender inequality.
The disparity between gender stereotypes in the Eastern and Western culture

Research Topics On Gender Inequality

If you are planning to do a research paper on gender. These are the perfect topics to start with. You can find data for different topics easily on the internet:

Gender stereotypes in athletic management.
Effect of globalization on gender norms and experiences.
Feminization and gender issues in education
Relation between gender equality and women’s rights.
The global perception of female leadership and gender equity.
The effects of gender discrimination in social media and how it affects individuals.
Transgender and gender non-conforming in children.
Race and Gender public relations.
Gender socialization and ageism.
Gender differences in financial knowledge acquisition.

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33 Best Women’s and Gender Studies Paper Topics

Gender equity is among the trending issues around the globe. This has been characterized by women empowerment movements in various countries and rules geared towards protecting women in multiple societies.

To do this, institutions have focused on studies on gender, thus empowering women to reduce their vulnerability. The regular changes bring about diverse gender paper topics, making it hard to settle for a specific idea for your thesis paper.

This article will suggest some gender issues topics for the research paper to boost your brainstorming efforts.

Women’s Gender Studies Paper Topics

Gender research paper topics.

Factors that discourage parents from providing their daughters with a decent education in third world countries
Discrimination against women in the workplace and how to overcome the bias
A case study on the psychological implications of single parenting on women
Differences in raising of a girl and boy child and the limitations of their societal expectations
Evolution of movements against gender discrimination
The role of marital partners in the well being
Reasons as to why women are underrepresented in the upper tier of business management
Do family roles in couples hold back the career progress of the wife?
Why elections are biased towards male candidates: Steps to overcoming the bias
Analyzing gender-based violence in various countries across the globe

Research topics in gender studies

How to instill the culture of gender equity in children at a tender age
The role of women in the development of the world economy
Measures that you can take to protect women from gender violence in cities
Women wage-gap across the globe and steps to bridge the gap
Gender role stereotype: their relevance in early days and why their relevance in the modern society
Development of gender studies and the impact of gender studies in women empowerment
Maternity and paternity leave: Are both necessary? Are parenting roles defined for each gender?
Is education a viable option for eliminating societal gender bias?
Factors that contribute to gender inequality within developing countries
Are women inferior to their male counterparts? Factors behind the stereotype and approaches to do away with this stereotype

Feminist research paper topics

The role of environment in the mental growth and role assumption among women
Masculinity vs. femininity: Does the societal view of each gender contribute to the overall gender bias?
Role of mainstream media in eradicating gender bias in society
Famous feminist literary works and their impact on the societal view of gender
How to eliminate sexual exploitation among women in developed and developing countries
Historical roots of male chauvinism and the effect on the feminist movement in Africa
Role of African Women in society and steps to ensuring gender equality
A case study on how social media is shaping the view of feminism
Why feminism is viewed as men hatred in some societies
The impact of little female representation on women political participation

Women’s studies research paper topics

Reasons why women were barred from serving in the US military until 2013. Factors that led to the change.
How women’s health and rights have been associated throughout history
What factors made it easy for Japan to adopt equality laws compared to its European counterparts

How to choose a gender paper topic

When studying gender, the selection of a good topic is essential to have an easy writing process. When brainstorming a subject for your gender papers, you may follow the following tips:

Formulate questions – after reading the thesis statement, formulate a question regarding the main idea encapsulated in the statement.
Compile a keyword list – when formulating your topic, you may consider writing the keywords on the trending issues within the subject. Next, interconnect these keywords and determine how a single case can tackle your ideas.
Check available information – before settling on a topic, check for the availability of materials to back your arguments. However, steer free of issues that have been over addressed as they may limit new ideas without plagiarizing existing work.

30+ environmental science topics for research papers, top 40 social science topics for research papers, leave a reply cancel reply.

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How To Write An Essay On Gender Roles Topics

There is one basic rule any student should always follow when creating essays of this kind. This is meeting the requirements of the traditional structure of the academic paper. Here is how it will look like in your case:

Introduction: Make sure to create an eye-catching beginning of your paper. The best thing to come up with a nice introduction is to pick up the most controversial option among various interesting women's studies topics. This way, you will grab the interest of the reader right from the start. By the way, it is important to be brief and come up with a striking thesis at the end of your introduction.
Main part: Here comes the main info you want to share with the audience. As a rule, you will need to find several powerful arguments about gender roles, feminism, or other related topics. You are expected to come up with convincing arguments that will support the facts, discovered during your research. Moreover, you can share your own understanding of gender power, the issues related to this area in modern society, as well as provide some recommendations on how to solve them.
Conclusion: This is a brief summary of your paper. Avoid writing about any new facts in this part but just sum up your research facts and ideas.
Bibliography. The last part of your academic paper is a list of sources you’ve used for creating an essay. Don’t forget to add a bibliography list to your paper to get the best scores for your assignment.

Gender Roles And Issues Topics

Gender roles have been constantly changing. This means you can find tons of ideas to write a brilliant essay about gender roles and their development throughout the years.

Men And Women Roles In Childcare
Women’s Roles In The 20th Century
The Psychology Of Gender
Women’s Rights
Gender Roles And Employment
Women’s Roles During The Industrial Revolution
Gender Roles In Building A Career
The Concepts Of Gendered Society
Gender-related Issues In The Modern World
Psychological Differences Between Men And Women
Women’s Roles In The Ancient World
Women’s Roles In The Middle Ages
Women In Combat
Women In Non-traditional Roles
The Theories Of Gender Development
The Basic Concepts Of Gender Identity
Men And Women In Politics
Traditional Feminine Traits
Differences In The Behavior Of Men And Women
The Attitude In Different Societies Towards Women
Importance Of Girl’s Education
The Pros And Cons Of Changing Gender Roles

Women-Related Studies Topics: Abortions

Abortion has been among the most controversial topics for years. Moreover, it continues to be one of the burning issues in modern society, too. In case you are looking for a modern, sharp, and disputable idea for your academic paper, feel free to choose a topic about abortion.

Abortion Rights In The USA
The Risks Of Abortion
Pros And Cons Of The Right Of Abortion
Abortion Rights In Asia
Abortion Rights In Europe
Sex-selective Abortion
Women’s Movements Related To Abortion
Abortion: Cases And Controversies
Abortion Policies: A Global Review
The Times When Abortion Was A Crime
Abortion And Politics
The Modern Ways Of Birth Control
Abortion And Democracy
Abortion In Judaism
The Abortion Question
Psychological Conditions After Abortion
Abortion And Depression
Abortion And Further Pregnancies
The Benefits Of Reproductive Freedom
Defense Of Abortion
Abortion And Ethics
Abortion In India
Fertility Control In Different Countries
Fertility And Abortion
Abortion: Public Opinion
Abortion From Doctor’s Retrospective

Gender Stereotypes Research Paper Topics

Although we live in a developed society, there are still lots of gender stereotypes thousands of people believe in. Many of these stereotypes are related to gender, as well as relationships in families. You can create a gender stereotypes research paper using one of the following ideas.

Patriarchal Stereotypes In Family Relationships
Gender Stereotypes In The Advertisement
Gender Stereotypes On TV
Gender Stereotypes In The Gaming Industry
Gender Stereotypes In Different Countries
Sei Shonagons Pillow Book Analysis
The Psychology Of Stereotyping
Dominance Stereotypes
Ways To Fight Gender Stereotypes
Gender Stereotype Activation: Basic Concepts
Gender-role Stereotyping And Career Aspirations
Gender Role Stereotyping In Children's Imaginary Friends
Gender Stereotypes Dynamics
Stereotyping And Discrimination
Gender Stereotypes In Different Age Groups
Stereotypes About Same-sex Marriages
Adoption Of Sex-role Stereotyped Behaviors
Sex-role Stereotypes

Women's Rights Topics: Gender Inequality

Gender inequality has been an issue in most countries for centuries. However, in many societies, this problem still continues to be sharp. Therefore, one of the topics on gender inequality might become an excellent choice for many students.

Gender-neutral Language
The Issue Of Gender Inequality In The Modern World
How To Fight Gender Inequality
Gender Inequality Policies
Primary Source Analysis On Gender Ain't A Woman
Racial And Gender Inequality In African Countries
The Modernization Of Gender Inequality In Brazil
Class, Race, Gender, And Inequality
The Indications Of Inequality Between The Sexes
Inequality And Education
Inequality At The Workplace
Factors Causing Gender Inequality
Inequality In Business
Sexuality And Politics

Gender Studies Research Topics: Psychology Of Gender

The psychology of gender is one of the most interesting topics for discussion. You will definitely find lots of the newest research on this issue and will be able to write a fresh and up-to-date academic paper.

Camel And Cactus Test
Femme Invisibility
Benevolent Sexism
Determining The Relations Between Different Sexes
Gender-parity In Parenting
Sex-role Theory In Sociology
Men And Women In Sports
Impact Of Discrimination On The Development Of Boys And Girls
Lack Of Female Leaders In Politics
Women Without Children: Issues And Opportunities
Discrimination In Marriage
Technology And Gender Psychology
Modern Gender Norms
The Future Of Gender Norms
The Role Of Motherhood In The Lives Of Women
How To Solve A Work-home Conflict Of Modern Women

Gender Reassignment Studies Topics

Gender reassignment is becoming common in the modern world. But are there any issues for changing gender in different societies? What makes people change their sex or sexual preferences? You can freely describe these issues in your essay and get top grades for your assignment.

Heterosexual Transvestites
Homosexuals In Military
Polysexual In The Modern World
Transsexuals: Basic Concepts And Features
Who Are Transgenders?
Origin Of Sexual Orientation
Why Do People Become Transgenders?
Transgender Identities
Socializing Transgenders
Bisexuals In A Modern Society
Gender Reassignment In Muslim Cultures
Sex Reassignment And Personal Identity
Rethinking Gender And Therapy

Powerful Gender Research Topics

There are many controversial topics you can write about in your academic paper. For example, same-sex marriages, legalization of prostitution, sexuality, and many others.

Legalization Of Prostitution
Same-sex Adoption Rights
Same-sex Marriage
Signs Of Sexuality
Gender-based Violence
Human Trafficking
Healthy Relations Between Sexes
Types Of Abuse And How To Stop It
The Role Of Women In The Modern World
The Problem Of Gender Diversity
Determining Sexual Orientation
Psychology Of Gender
Men Vs. Women: Who Is Stronger?
Types Of Sexual Orientations
Gender And Mental Health

How To Write A Gender-Related Academic Paper

There is nothing new that choosing a research topic for women gender studies is not easy. However, picking up the most fitting option among hundreds of gender and feminist research paper topics is only half of the job you need to do complete your assignment. So, what else are you expected to do to get the best scores in a class?

Create an essay with a flawless structure
Do advanced research via different channels
Write in a proper voice and tone
Use up-to-date and impressive facts and arguments
Represent the best examples to support your ideas
Split your main ideas into paragraphs in a logical and well-structured way
Express your own views wisely and properly
Use a particular voice and tone
Avoid any grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes
Make sure not to have any typos
Add a polished and correct bibliography
Use only modern and reliable sources
Make your introduction shine
Create a great summary with no new facts and ideas
Use proper formatting

Following all these rules often seem amazingly difficult for many learners. In case you are one of them, no worries. The secret truth is that lots of diligent students often pay for essay online . And you can do that, too! This way, you will get a brilliant essay created by skilled and professional writers with absolutely no effort.

References:

Writing tips for beginners
The best research techniques
The history of feminism
Influential women in wellness
Women during the American Civil War
The role of women during the industrial revolution
Books about women

84 Gender Issues Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best gender issues topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good essay topics on gender issues, ❓ essay questions about gender and sexuality.

Gender Issues in the Movie “The Stoning of Soraya M.” Gender roles and the discrimination of women have been the main topics of concern in most movies in the recent past. The movie shows women as inferior to men as illustrated by the differentials in […]
Gender Issues: Femininity and Masculinity Depiction of the Portuguese visitors to Benin by artist in the 16th century clearly emphasizes on that exclusion of women and the embrace of masculinity. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
Gender Inequality as a Global Issue This essay will examine some of the causes that affect the gap in the treatment of men and women, and its ramifications, particularly regarding developing countries.
Gender Issues in the Movie “The Accused” by J. Kaplan Diffusion of responsibility could be used to explain his action in that Kurt’s action was as a result of the negative influence by his male counterparts who shouted to him that he holds Sarah down, […]
Gender Issues: Education and Feminism These experiences in many times strongly affects the individual’s understanding, reasoning, action about the particular issue in contention In this work two issues of great influence and relevance to our societies are discussed.
Gender Issues of Equality and Representation in the K-12 Education System This paper examines the gender issues of equality and representation in the K-12 education system and gives out the major findings based on the observed trends from the structured study of literature in the area.
Gender Issues in the School Environment Studies show that the school does not convene the needs of a child in the way that is expected because of the narrower understanding of the terms masculinity and femininity.
Japanese Geisha and Gender Identity Issues The paper notes that geisha women/girls pamper male egos and thus play a role in upholding the status quo where the male gender is perceived as stronger than the female gender.
Sexuality and Gender Issues: One and the Same? People and media often state that sex and gender are the same issues and that a person can be identified as either male or female.
Gender Issues in Eastern Religions Coontz discusses these issues from the context of economic status of the American women and their limited role in society at the time.
Supporting Female Victims of Domestic Violence and Abuse: NGO Establishment The presence of such a model continues to transform lives and make it easier for more women to support and provide basic education to their children.
Comparing Liberation Discourses: Women’s and Gay/Lesbian Movements in the US and Latin America One of the major similarities between the liberation of women and gay/lesbian movements was the desire to change people’s mindsets.
The Issue of Gender Inequality Reflection Unfortunately, in the opinion of many, inequality in their treatment is even more pronounced, forming a third group from such persons in addition to binary people and positioning them at the end of the list.
Issues of Sex and Gender in Society Today: Equal Pay Over time, laws in the form of the Equal Rights Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Discrimination in Hiring Act of 1967 came into being.
Crimes and Victimization: Gender Issues Generally, a common way to perceive the dynamic between men and women in the context of crime and deviance underestimates women’s capacity to be self-sufficient and expects to see the predator-prey relationships between the genders.
The Issue of Transgender in Sporting Activities Transgender women’s increased body strength and mass make it unfair for them to compete with cisgender women in the same sporting categories. The IOC sets the recommended testosterone level for transgender women to participate in […]
The Issue of Gender Inequality After Covid-19 To date, the role of women in society has increased many times over, both in the economic, social, and political spheres of public life.
American Movies: Racial and Gender Issues Peel corrects for the Obama era and takes the situation to the point of absurdity – Rose’s parents and their friends, elderly rich whites, go out of their way to show their openness. The film’s […]
Gender Gap Issues: Case Study This area of the analysis will draw on experiences related to the use of the transformative leadership style in promoting reform in the education sector and the role that educational leadership plays in influencing its […]
Gender Issues in the Law and Order Arena This is therefore an analysis of the gender issues that affect the service providers and especially of the female gender during their duty of service in the law and order arena by critically looking at […]
Gender Issue in Büchner’s Woyzeck One of the reasons supporting this claim is the choice and use of characters in this play. The author uses a male to be the main character in the play.
Gender and Racial Issues as Portrayed by P. Mcintosh and S. Farough Despite acknowledging the fact that the white males also experience some of the things that the others do, he blames society for failing to eradicate the default existence of racial and gender superiority.
Gender Issue in Choosing and Hiring Candidates in the Healthcare Organization The issue of gender may therefore be a good consideration in hiring candidates to fill certain vacancies in the healthcare organizations.
Gender Issues in International Relations So the practices and protection of human rights depend largely upon the type of political system in place and the willingness of the people to support that political system.
Employee Issues: Gender Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Discrimination Sexual harassment is not always sexual in nature for instance, in a case where a man assaults women based purely on the woman’s gender.
Women in Developing Countries: Globalization, Liberalization, and Gender Equality Owing to issues of gender, the voices of women in developing countries are never heard when it comes to the creation of trade agreements and policies or in their negotiations.
Women Labour: Gender Inequality Issues Sexual category or gender is an ingredient of the wider socio-cultural framework that encompasses the societal attributes and opportunities connected with individual male and female and the conduit between women and men and girls and […]
Issues Surrounding Gender Inequality in the Workplace The main objective of the constructionist point of view is that it is aimed at uncovering how the individuals and the groups tend to participate in the creation of their perceptions of gender and women […]
Institutions and Gender Discrimination Issues In addition, parents buy clothes and toys that reflect gender issues in society and this contributes to the development of gendered stereotypes.
Sociology Issues: Language, Culture and Gender Sociology is, understandably enough, rendered as a study of society, i.e, the analysis of the links between the members of a society, the roles and functions of these members, and the relationships between them.
Diversity Organizations and Gender Issues in the US A lot has changed with regard to the status of women in the United States in the recent past. In the past, GLBT people had no say in society and in other parts of the […]
Trans-Bathroom Debacle as a Gender Issue in Law One of the issues on the LGBT movement’s agenda is the problem of the definition of “biological sex” and the “bathroom bills”.
Gender Equality Issues in the Workplace Environment Hence, the gathering of information to validate the allegations is central to the resolution of the gender issue in the case study.
Gender Equality: Plan to Address the Issue The vice president of administration and finance should use a powerful plan to address the issues affecting the institution. To begin with, I will use a powerful plan to address the issues affecting different female […]
Gender Issues and Sexuality: Social Perspective and Distinction It is rather interesting to note that society today has such a well-established preconception regarding genders that when presented with alternatives to such established norms the result has been subject to confusion, disdain, at times […]
Pressing Issues in Femininity: Gender and Racism When speaking of the current issues in femininity, women are not reduced to their roles of housewives to the extent to which they used to be.
Gender and Bullying Issues in Nursing A lack of tolerance for workplace harassment and bullying is likely to lead to the deterioration of the situation and further misunderstanding and tension in an organization.
Race, Gender, and Sexuality Issues in Sports On balance, it is possible to note that the world of sports can be characterized by such features as white and masculine dominance.
Hormone Therapy: Human Sexuality and Gender Issues For as long as we have reasons to suspect the opposite, I suggest prior evaluation as a necessary element of hormone therapy access.
Gender and Leadership Issues in Education The specified step will require the use of a different leadership strategy; particularly, the adoption of the transformative approach that will help alter the behavioral patterns of the learners should be suggested.
Gender Issues in the New Testament However, such attempts in the church are met with resistance and even use of the Bible verses to disapprove of women’s role in the leadership. The modern church needs to be progressive and allow women […]
Gender, Race and Class Issues in Education Learning process functions in a dynamic but systematic process that is greatly influenced by the main objective, sub objectives, and the environment in which learners are subjected to in the process of knowledge acquisition.
Racial and Gender Issues in the USA Only the events of the first half of the 20th century were able to change this image; however, it still exists, and unconsciously some people adhere to the ideas of the past.
Gender, Age and Racial Inequality Issues Despite a significant progress of developed European countries in that sphere, the childcare in the U.S.is considered more of a woman matter, thus a mother ends up having two jobs: first, the one where she […]
Gender Equality and Globalization’ Issues Since the world policies adopt a new progressive direction, the idea of gender equality enters the category of the ultimate Millennium development goals.
Gender Equity Issues in Work Practices The best way to proceed with the gathering of information is to arrange for individual discussions with members of the leadership team to discuss the allegations and core issues and values involved.
Gender-Based Violence in India: Issues and Solutions According to the pioneers of the campaign, every person can embrace the best practices in order to deal with gender-based violence.
Social Issues: Gender Segregation The Code recognizes the “inherent dignity and worth of every person and to provide for equal rights and opportunities without discrimination”.
Gender Discrimination in the Workplace: Resolving Glass Ceiling Issue The enactment of this proposed policy will not only address the issue of women discrimination in organisations, but also in the top management positions. The implementation of this proposed government policy will require all the […]
Addressing Issues of Gender and Sexuality Men have dominated issues of leadership and this has lead to wide gender gap between men and women in the society.
Gender Issue and the Feminist Movement Nevertheless, the peculiarities of the relations between heterosexual parents and the division of their roles in families can influence greatly the child’s perception of the gender roles in the future.
Gender Issues and the Term “Queer” In the case where performativity is linked to the discourses ability to produce the named then power assumes the role of discourse in the performative domain.
Gender Issues and Post-Colonialist Mood in Supernova Dewi, however, does not interpret the given statement as the fact that knowledge is the source of power and power is the source of knowledge. The depth and palette of emotions that a single phrase […]
Inequality as a Gender Issue in the Workplace However, at the turn of the 20th century there was a rapid wave of social change that began to recognize and appreciate the role of a woman as an equal contributor to society, therefore, women […]
Addressing Gender-based Issues at the Work Place In order to successfully supervise across the gender divide in the work place, the supervisors in any organization should put the gender disparities into consideration.
Gender Issues and Feminist Movement There are much irony and repetition in Brady’s essay the author tries to resemble the style of a small child speaking about his wife and a family to compare his cognition and considerations with the […]
Analysis of Gender Issues in the Media The message in the advertisement simply showed that women are able to control men by using their bodies in a certain way.
Why Is Gender an Important Issue?
What Are Gender Issues in Education?
What Are Some Gender Issues in the Workplace?
How Does Gender Role Affect Society?
What Causes Gender Roles to Change?
Why Are Gender Roles So Important?
What Causes Gender Roles in Society?
When Did Gender Become an Issue?
What Is the Connection of Gender Issues With the Past and Present?
How Are Culture and Gender Issues Related to Education?
How Media Presents Gender and Gender Issues?
How Post War Countries Continue to Face Gender Issues?
How Does Gender Affect Public Relations Income?
What Are the Gender Issues in Online Gaming?
What Makes a Gender Identity?
When Was Gender Created?
How Does Gender Affect Health?
What Is Called Gender Bias?
What Is Gender Sensitivity?
What Factors Affects Gender Identity?
Why Is Gender Important in Society?
What Are the Benefits of Gender?
Why Does Gender Balance Matter?
How Can We Reduce Gender Discrimination?
What Is the Role of Gender in Socialization?
What Is the Role of Gender Stereotyping?
What Are the Triple Roles of Gender?
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Gender and Politics

Gender and Politics Research Paper Topics

The gender gap in political representation: causes and consequences
Gender quotas in politics: pros and cons
Women’s rights and political participation in the Middle East
Women’s representation in local government: a case study of a specific country or region
Masculinity and political leadership: how gender affects perceptions of leadership qualities
Women’s access to political power in post-conflict societies
Gender and political violence: how violence affects men and women differently
The impact of gender on voting behavior
The role of women in peacebuilding and conflict resolution
Gender mainstreaming in international development policy: successes and challenges
Intersectionality in politics: how race, class, and gender intersect to shape political outcomes
The gendered impact of globalization on the labor market and political participation
Gender and environmental politics: exploring the links between gender, environmentalism, and politics
The impact of gender on political ideology and party affiliation
Gender and political rhetoric: how gendered language affects political discourse
The role of men in promoting gender equality in politics
Feminism and political theory: historical and contemporary debates
The impact of gender on political socialization and political attitudes
The gendered nature of political scandals: how men and women are affected differently
Women’s role in authoritarian regimes: case studies of specific countries
The gendered impact of austerity policies on welfare states and social programs
Gender and political participation in online spaces: how digital platforms are changing the landscape of political participation
Women’s representation in the judiciary: a comparative analysis
The impact of gender on media coverage of political campaigns
Gender and international security: exploring the links between gender, security, and conflict
The gendered impact of immigration policies and migration flows
Gender and political corruption: how gender affects perceptions of corruption and ethics in politics
Women’s role in political parties: a comparative analysis
The impact of gender on political trust and legitimacy
The gendered impact of economic liberalization and privatization policies
Women’s representation in international organizations: a case study of the United Nations
The role of gender in the formation of public policy and political decision-making
Gender and political communication: how gender affects political messaging and public opinion
The impact of gender on the formation and implementation of foreign policy
Gender and the politics of social movements: exploring the role of women in movements for social change
Gender and the politics of reproductive rights: a comparative analysis of policy and activism
Women’s access to education and its impact on political participation
The gendered nature of political institutions and processes: a comparative analysis
Gender and the politics of identity: exploring the links between gender, race, and ethnicity in political discourse
The impact of gender on the politics of healthcare and healthcare policy
Women’s participation in local community governance: a case study of a specific region or country
The impact of gender on political accountability and transparency
Gender and political decision-making in the private sector: a comparative analysis
The gendered impact of natural disasters on political outcomes and policy responses
Women’s role in the politics of climate change: exploring the links between gender, the environment, and politics
The impact of gender on political violence and terrorism
Gender and the politics of nationalism: exploring the links between gender, nationalism, and identity
Women’s role in the politics
The Role of Intersectionality in Women’s Political Participation: An Analysis of Racial, Ethnic, and Class Differences in Political Mobilization.
Women’s Representation in Political Leadership: Examining the Glass Ceiling in Parliaments and Executive Offices.

Women have historically been excluded from political decision-making, with men dominating positions of power in most political systems. This has led to a lack of representation of women’s perspectives and experiences in political decision-making, resulting in policies that do not adequately address the needs of all members of society. While progress has been made in increasing the number of women in political leadership roles in many countries, women continue to face unique challenges in accessing and exercising political power. These challenges include gender bias, discrimination, and social norms that prioritize men in political leadership.

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One way to address these challenges is through the use of quotas and affirmative action policies to increase the representation of women in political decision-making. Quotas have been implemented in many countries around the world, with varying degrees of success. Some argue that quotas are necessary to overcome the structural barriers that prevent women from accessing political power, while others argue that quotas are unfair and can lead to the selection of less qualified candidates. Regardless of the effectiveness of quotas, it is clear that increasing the representation of women in political decision-making is essential to creating more equitable and inclusive policies.

Feminist movements have also played a critical role in shaping political discourse and pushing for gender equality in political systems. Feminist movements have highlighted the ways in which gender shapes political systems and policies, and have worked to mobilize women to become more active in political decision-making. These movements have also pushed for policy changes to address gender-based violence, discrimination, and other issues that disproportionately affect women. By bringing attention to these issues, feminist movements have helped to shape political discourse and create more space for women to participate in political decision-making.

Despite these efforts, women continue to face significant challenges in accessing and exercising political power. Women remain underrepresented in political decision-making in many countries, and face unique challenges in accessing the resources and support needed to succeed in these roles. Addressing these challenges will require a sustained effort to increase the representation of women in political decision-making and to create more supportive and inclusive political environments.

In conclusion, gender and politics is a critical area of inquiry in political science, exploring the ways in which gender shapes political systems, policies, and outcomes. Women have historically been excluded from political decision-making, resulting in policies that do not adequately address the needs of all members of society. Quotas and affirmative action policies, as well as feminist movements, have been instrumental in addressing these challenges and increasing the representation of women in political decision-making. However, significant challenges remain, and continued efforts will be needed to create more equitable and inclusive political systems.

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Sociology of Gender — Gender Roles

Essays on Gender Roles

Hook examples for gender roles essays, "breaking the mold: challenging traditional gender roles" hook.

"Society's mold for gender roles has been set for centuries. Explore the courageous stories of individuals who have shattered stereotypes and challenged the status quo."

"From Pink to Blue: The Influence of Media on Gender Stereotypes" Hook

"Media has played a significant role in perpetuating gender stereotypes. Examine how TV, movies, and advertising continue to shape our perceptions of masculinity and femininity."

"The Gender Pay Gap: Unveiling the Inequality" Hook

"Behind the paycheck lies a stark reality—the gender pay gap. Delve into the reasons behind this disparity and the ongoing fight for pay equity."

"Double Standards: The Burden of Gender Expectations" Hook

"Society often imposes double standards on genders. Discuss the societal pressures and expectations that individuals face and their consequences."

"Reimagining Roles: The Evolution of Gender in the 21st Century" Hook

"The 21st century has witnessed a reimagining of traditional gender roles. Explore the shifts in gender dynamics and how they impact our communities, families, and workplaces."

"Feminism: Empowering Voices, Redefining Roles" Hook

"Feminism has been a driving force in challenging gender norms. Share stories of feminist movements and their impact on dismantling stereotypes and empowering women."

"Parenting Without Borders: Gender-Neutral Approaches" Hook

"Gender-neutral parenting is gaining momentum. Discuss the benefits and challenges of raising children without rigid gender expectations."

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The Role of Gender in Communication and Its Effectiveness

Gender roles and norms in modern society, gender roles in different cultures: north america and middle east, the major gender equality debates, let us write you an essay from scratch.

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Gender Roles and Discrimination in Woman at Point Zero

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Gender Roles in Asian Culture: Their Reflection in Literature

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A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex.

Talcott Parsons, Geert Hofstede, John Money, West and Zimmerman.

Biological factors, culture, religion, media.

Dressing: women wear skirts, men wear pants. Childhood behavior: boys play with guns, girls - with dolls. Sensitivity: men don’t cry, women do. Care taking: comes naturally to women. Working: men work outside, women at home.

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Sex, Gender and Sexuality
Gender Stereotypes
Gender Criticism
Discourse Community
Sociological Imagination
Cultural Appropriation
American Identity

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Key findings on Indian attitudes toward gender roles

Indian adults nearly universally say it is important for women to have the same rights as men, including eight-in-ten who say this is very important. At the same time, however, there are circumstances when Indians feel men should receive preferential treatment: 80% agree with the idea that “when there are few jobs, men should have more rights to a job than women,” according to a new Pew Research Center report .

The report, based on a face-to-face survey of 29,999 Indian adults fielded between late 2019 and early 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic , looks at how Indians view gender roles at home and in society more generally. The survey, which was also the basis for a 2021 report on religion in India , was conducted by local interviewers in 17 languages and covered nearly all of India’s states and union territories.

Here are key findings from the report.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to find out how Indians view gender roles in families and society. It is based on the March 2022 report “ How Indians View Gender Roles in Families and Society ,” and is part of the Center’s most comprehensive, in-depth exploration of Indian public opinion to date. For this report, we surveyed 29,999 Indian adults ages 18 and older living in 26 Indian states and three union territories. The sample included interviews with 22,975 Hindus, 3,336 Muslims, 1,782 Sikhs, 1,011 Christians, 719 Buddhists, 109 Jains and 67 respondents who belong to another religion or are religiously unaffiliated. Many findings from the survey in India were previously published in “ Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation ,” which looked in detail at religious and national identity, religious beliefs and practices, and attitudes among religious communities. The survey also included several questions on gender roles in Indian society, but these questions were not analyzed in the previous report and are now being published for the first time. Interviews for this nationally representative survey were conducted face-to-face in 17 languages from Nov. 17, 2019, to March 23, 2020.

Respondents were selected using a probability-based sample design that would allow for robust analysis of all major religious groups in India, as well as all major regional zones. Data was weighted to account for the different probabilities of selection among respondents, and to align with demographic benchmarks for the Indian adult population from the 2011 census.

Here are the questions used in this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology .

International survey data referenced in this analysis can be found at the following links: 2019 Global Attitudes Survey , 2015 Global Attitudes Survey , Central and Eastern Europe , Latin America . Each survey’s methodology can also be found via these links.

Indians broadly accept women as political leaders. India has a long history of women holding political power, from the 1966 election of Indira Gandhi , one of the world’s first woman prime ministers, to other well-known figures, such as Jayalalitha , Mamata Banerjee and Sushma Swaraj .

The survey results reflect this comfort with women in politics. Most adults say that women and men make equally good political leaders (55%) or that women generally make better leaders than men (14%). Only a quarter of Indian adults take the position that men tend to make better political leaders than women.

A bar chart showing that most Indians see women and men as equally good political leaders

While most Indians say that men and women should share some family responsibilities, many still support traditional gender roles. For instance, 62% of adults say both men and women should be responsible for taking care of children, while roughly a third of adults (34%) feel that child care should be handled primarily by women. Similarly, a slim majority (54%) say that both men and women in families should be responsible for earning money, yet many Indians (43%) see this as mainly the obligation of men.

A bar chart showing that nearly three-quarters of adults in India say both men and women should make financial decisions in a family

Meanwhile, nearly nine-in-ten Indians (87%) completely or mostly agree with the notion that “a wife must always obey her husband.” This includes a majority of Indians (64%) who completely agree with this sentiment. Women are only modestly less likely than men to say that wives should obey their husbands in all situations, and most Indian women express total agreement with this sentiment (61% vs. 67% among men). (Throughout this report, differences in opinion between men and women are modest. In other words, Indian women typically are not much more likely than Indian men to express egalitarian views on gender roles.)

An overwhelming majority of Indian adults say it is very important for families to have both sons and daughters, and a substantial share are accepting of sex-selective abortion. Indians are united in the view that it is very important for a family to have at least one son (94%) and, separately, a daughter (90%). Historically in Indian society, though, families have tended to place higher value on their sons than their daughters, a custom broadly referred to as “ son preference .” One enduring manifestation of son preference has been the illegal practice of sex-selective abortions – using ultrasound or other tests to learn the sex of a fetus and terminating the pregnancy if the fetus is female.

The survey finds that four-in-ten Indians say it is either “completely acceptable” or “somewhat acceptable” to “get a checkup using modern methods to balance the number of girls and boys in the family,” a euphemism that connotes sex-selective abortion. In contrast, roughly half of adults (53%) say that this practice is either somewhat or completely unacceptable .

A bar chart showing that four-in-ten Indians say it is acceptable to balance gender makeup of family via modern methods

Most Indians (63%) say sons should be primarily responsible for parents’ last rites or burial rituals, although attitudes differ significantly across religious groups. Religious funeral practices for loved ones are widely seen as very important in India, and at least according to Hindu tradition , sons must perform last rites for a parent to ensure freedom for the soul in the afterlife.

Most Muslims (74%), Jains (67%) and Hindus (63%) say sons should be primarily responsible for funeral rituals, but far fewer Sikhs (29%), Christians (44%) and Buddhists (46%) expect this from sons. (Muslims and Christians were asked about “burial rituals,” while all other respondents were asked about “last rites.”) Instead, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists are more likely to say that both sons and daughters should be responsible for their parents’ last rites. Very few Indians, regardless of religion, say daughters should be primarily responsible for funeral rituals.

Muslims are more likely than other Indians to support traditional gender roles in families, while Sikhs are often the least likely community to hold such views. For example, while most Indian Muslims (61%) say that men in a family should be primarily responsible for earning money, just 17% of Sikhs say this. And Muslims are more than twice as likely as Sikhs to assign sons the primary responsibility of caring for aging parents (43% vs. 17%).

A table showing that Sikhs are least likely to hold a variety of traditional views toward gender roles

Indians favor teaching boys to respect women as a way to improve women’s safety. As described in a previous Pew Research Center report , roughly three-quarters of Indian adults (76%) say violence against women is a “very big problem” in their country. Police cases registered as “crimes against women” nearly doubled between 2010 and 2019 , and rapes and murders of women have led to massive protests across India . The survey asked respondents which of two options is more important to improve the safety of women in their community: teaching boys to respect all women or teaching girls to behave appropriately.

About half of Indians (51%) say it is more important to teach boys to respect all women, while roughly a quarter (26%) say it is more important to teach girls to behave appropriately. An additional quarter of Indian adults don’t take a clear position between those two options, instead voicing that some combination of the two approaches is necessary, that improved law and order through policing will improve the situation, or that women are already safe.

A bar chart showing that four-in-ten Indians say marriage with traditional gender roles is more satisfying

Compared with people in other countries around the world, Indians have relatively traditional views on gender roles. Although Indian adults are roughly in line with the global median in their support for equal rights for women, by two other measures the Indian public appears much more conservative, according to a series of other surveys conducted by the Center in recent years.

Only one out of 61 countries surveyed has a higher share of adults than in India who agree completely with the notion that men should have greater rights to a job than women when jobs are scarce. And just two out of 34 countries surveyed exceed India in the shares who say a marriage is more satisfying if the husband provides for the family and the wife takes care of the house and children. On this question, the percentage of Indians who take this view (40%) is well above the global median (23%).

Note: Here are the questions used in this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology .

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Changing gender roles and attitudes and their implications for well-being around the new millennium

Helen sweeting.

1 MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8RZ UK

Abita Bhaskar

Michaela benzeval.

2 Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ UK

Frank Popham

Associated data.

Given evidence that gender role attitudes (GRAs) and actual gender roles impact on well-being, we examine associations between GRAs, three roles (marital status, household chore division, couple employment) and psychological distress in working-age men and women. We investigate time-trends reflecting broader social and economic changes, by focusing on three age groups at two dates.

We used British Household Panel Survey data from 20- to 64-year-olds in heterosexual couple households in 1991 ( N = 5,302) and 2007 ( N = 6,621). We examined: levels of traditional GRAs according to gender, age, date, household and employment roles; associations which GRAs and roles had with psychological distress (measured via the GHQ-12); whether psychological distress increased when GRAs conflicted with actual roles; and whether any of these associations differed according to gender, age or date.

Gender traditionalism was lower among women, younger people, those participating in 2007 and in ‘less traditional’ relationships and households. Psychological distress was higher among those with more traditional GRAs and, particularly among men, for those not employed, and there was some evidence of different patterns of association according to age-group. There was limited evidence, among women only, of increased psychological distress when GRAs and actual roles conflicted and/or reductions when GRAs and roles agreed, particularly in respect of household chores and paid employment.

Conclusions

Although some aspects of gender roles and attitudes (traditionalism and paid employment) are associated with well-being, others (marital status and household chores), and attitude-role consistency, may have little impact on the well-being of contemporary UK adults.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00127-013-0730-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Introduction

Over the latter part of the twentieth century and into the first decades of the twenty-first century, societal gender role attitudes (henceforth GRAs, also termed gender role beliefs or ideology) have become more egalitarian among both men and women [ 1 ], paralleling broader social and economic changes. There have been striking increases in the proportion of adults choosing to cohabit rather than marry [ 2 ] and also, among women, particularly those with children, in the proportion in employment (UK employment rates in 1974 and 2003, respectively, were 95 and 86 % in men, 67 and 73 % in childless women and 36 and 58 % in mothers) [ 3 ]. In contrast, although men’s involvement in domestic work rose from the 1960s, it reached a plateau in the mid 1990s, changing little in the following decade [ 1 ].

The implications of these changes in attitudes and roles for other aspects of life are not well understood. In particular, it has been suggested that ‘internalisation of sex roles and gender stereotypes and the ramifications of these roles, both of which can be measured at an individual level, are rarely among the inputs studied when health is the output’ (p. 370) [ 4 ]. Changes in GRAs and roles, or changes in the meanings associated with particular roles are, therefore, important in respect of the impact they might have on patterns of psychological distress in men and women [ 5 , 6 ]. In this paper we focus on how GRAs and indicators of men’s and women’s actual roles in the home and the labour market are associated with psychological distress. Inclusion of both GRAs and roles means we can investigate the relative importance of each. Analyses are based on data from the UK British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) which allows us to look at men and women from three different working age groups (20–34, 35–49 and 50–64) at two different dates (1991 and 2007).

Gender roles and attitudes: patterning and associations with well-being

Traditional GRAs privilege men’s roles in paid work and their status as the family ‘breadwinner’, while assuming women should prioritise caring for the home and family over other roles. Egalitarian GRAs, in contrast, support equality in all domains [ 7 ]. More traditional GRAs are more common among men [ 7 – 9 ] and older generations [ 10 – 12 ]. Several studies suggest they may be also associated with greater psychological distress. For example, more traditional GRAs were associated with poorer well-being among ‘Dutch mainstreamers’ and both Caribbean and Mediterranean immigrant men and women living in the Netherlands [ 8 ], while a study of 45- to 79-year-olds in the UK found GRAs was unrelated to mental health among men, but women with more traditional GRAs had poorer mental health [ 13 ]. Another UK study found more traditional GRAs were positively associated with suicidal thoughts in early and late middle-aged cohorts [ 14 ].

Existing evidence on gender-related roles rather than attitudes is very mixed. Shared household responsibilities are more likely among those with more egalitarian beliefs and higher levels of education, and among childless couples where both partners are working [ 8 , 15 – 17 ], although there is some evidence from Sweden that the association between parenthood and traditional gender differences in household tasks might be changing [ 18 ]. Several studies have reported lower well-being among both men and women who spend more time on housework, who live in households where household responsibilities are shared less equally and/or who perceive that household responsibilities are not equally shared [ 8 , 19 , 20 ]. However, some find no associations between the actual division of household labour and well-being [ 21 ]. Others find that poorer mental health among both men and women is associated with only certain types of domestic work such as routine and unavoidable (‘female’) tasks, but not with tasks such as gardening or home repairs which are more commonly undertaken by men [ 5 ]. Still others have suggested that well-being is related to other forms of ‘family work’ (such as childcare or ‘emotion work’ like suggesting solutions to their partner’s problems), but not housework [ 22 ]. Some studies have found associations between measures of actual or perceived levels of housework and marital satisfaction or well-being among women but not men [ 19 , 23 – 26 ]. The role of paid employment, which among women is more likely among those with more egalitarian GRAs [ 27 ], is generally associated with lower psychological distress among both men and women [ 19 , 28 – 30 ].

However, it is plausible that roles and attitudes should be considered in tandem, in respect of their relationships with well-being. In particular, consistency between attitudes and roles (i.e. whether an individual’s GRAs as more traditional or egalitarian are in line with their household and paid employment roles) may be important for predicting well-being. This notion can be traced back to the observation by Komarovsky [ 31 ] during the 1930s that unemployed American men were more likely to suffer depression if they had a traditional economic provider and ‘boss’ self-identity than if they perceived their role as father and husband was more important. All but two [ 1 , 25 ] of the studies of this ‘fit between self and situation’ (p. 638) [ 32 ].which we have identified have been conducted in the US and many have been based on small samples. Most focus on ‘fit’ between GRAs and household chores with marital satisfaction as the ‘outcome’, and a smaller number examine GRAs and employment status. Surprisingly, none have investigated another role which might plausibly be linked with GRAs in association with well-being, namely marital status.

Most studies of attitude-role inconsistency find that attitudes have a moderating effect on the relationship between employment and/or household chores and well-being, although there are a few exceptions [ 5 , 25 , 33 ]. We are aware of only one UK study in this area, based on analysis of data from participants in the 2002 and 2006 British Social Attitudes Surveys who were married/cohabiting and employed. It found that women categorised as ‘incongruent liberal’ (with egalitarian GRAs but more traditional division of household chores) were more likely to report disagreement over chores, while ‘congruent liberals’ (egalitarian GRAs and more egalitarian division of chores) were more likely to report a lack of stress at home. No such associations were found among men [ 1 ]. Several other (US) studies also suggest that inconsistency between GRAs and household chore division is associated with poorer well-being; most such studies have focused on women. For example, unequal division of housework was related to lower perceived spousal support and lower psychological well-being among egalitarian but not traditional wives [ 34 ]. Unequal housework division was also associated with perceived unfairness and poorer reported marital relationships, again in egalitarian but not traditional wives [ 35 ]. Another study found receipt of practical support in the home from a husband was associated with self-assessed marital quality more strongly among egalitarian than traditional wives [ 7 ], while among traditional, but not egalitarian wives, those whose husbands did more child-care than they had expected prenatally had higher levels of psychological distress [ 21 ]. A study of husbands found those with more traditional beliefs who performed fewer chores and those with more egalitarian beliefs who performed more chores had higher marital satisfaction than those whose beliefs and roles conflicted [ 17 ]. Finally, among members of couples with new babies or young children, marital satisfaction was lower for those with more traditional attitudes but more egalitarian division of household chores [ 16 ].

Among the smaller number of studies focusing on GRAs and employment status, analyses have also found conflicting attitudes and roles to be associated with psychological distress. Thus, a study which measured symptoms of depression found wives were less depressed when their preferences for doing paid work or not were consistent with their actual employment status and husbands were less depressed when their wives’ employment status matched what they stated they would prefer their wives to be doing [ 36 ]. Similarly, among working wives, ‘ambivalent co-providers’ (who realised their income was necessary but believed their husband should be the main breadwinner) had lower levels of marital satisfaction than those who believed in shared financial responsibility [ 37 ]. Among women with more egalitarian views, psychological distress was greater among housewives compared with those in employment [ 32 ] and those who returned to work part-time rather than full-time after childbirth [ 21 ].

Secular changes add further complexity and, as noted earlier, there is evidence of substantial differences in the experiences of people from different generations, even those not far apart in age. Thus, in the UK, there have been major changes in patterns of marriage and cohabitation, family formation, education and female employment since the mid Twentieth century [ 11 , 38 ]. However, studies of GRAs, roles and well-being have not paid attention to generational differences, nor whether having views which conflict with prevailing cultural trends and expectations is important. As gender relations and gender roles have changed over time, we might expect generational differences in the associations which GRAs and what we have termed ‘couple roles’ (specifically marital status, the gender balance of household chore performance and of the couple’s employment) have with psychological distress. For example, it has been suggested that those less committed to a particular identity will be less psychologically distressed by household arrangements which conflict with that identity [ 15 ], and it may be that for younger generations of women, egalitarian GRAs are so taken for granted [ 39 ] that they are actually less important. Consistent with this, one study found that education and employment status were strong predictors of GRAs in two older cohorts of women (aged 63–71 and 42–50 in 1996), but not in a younger cohort (aged 18–26) [ 40 ], and another that GRAs were associated with suicidal thoughts in early and late middle-aged cohorts, but, again, not in a younger cohort [ 14 ].

Our paper is based on data from the BHPS, as are several other studies in this area [ 10 , 13 , 27 , 41 ]. The most recent analysis (2011) and by far the most relevant here, examined how gender, family-related variables and GRAs were associated with psychological distress. The analysis focused on married couples aged 45–79 years who provided data in 2001. It found significantly increased levels of psychological distress among husbands reporting early fatherhood and co-residence with a child/children aged 16 or more, and among wives with traditional GRAs, while having had a child when aged 35 or more reduced levels of psychological distress among wives [ 13 ]. Our analysis, which draws on BHPS data obtained in 1991 and 2007, builds on this, using the same measure of psychological distress (the GHQ-12). It includes GRAs and several aspects of ‘couple roles’ (marital status, and the gender balance of both household chore performance and the couple’s paid employment) allowing us to investigate the association of each with psychological distress and, importantly, examine the effects of conflict between GRAs and each ‘couple role’. We include education in our analyses, given its known association with GRAs, ‘couple roles’ [ 8 ] and psychological distress [ 42 ] and also adjust for the presence of dependent children in the household as this is likely to affect the level and type of household chores.

On the basis of the existing literature we set out to test a number of hypotheses. We expected the following results:

Less traditional GRAs in women, younger people and people participating in the more recent BHPS wave [ 7 – 12 ].
Less traditional GRAs among people with more education and among those in ‘less traditional’ heterosexual couple relationships (i.e. cohabiting rather than married; the man doing/substantially sharing household chores; the woman employed and/or the man not employed; no dependent children) [ 8 , 15 – 17 ].
Greater psychological distress among the following groups: those with more traditional GRAs [ 8 , 13 , 14 ]; those reporting the gender-balance of household chores to be less equitable [ 8 , 19 , 20 ] (especially for women [ 19 , 23 – 26 ]); and those not in employment [ 19 , 28 – 30 ].
Greater psychological distress when GRAs conflict with actual roles (i.e. traditional GRAs combined with cohabitation rather than marriage, the man doing more chores and/or the woman as sole breadwinner, or egalitarian GRAs combined with marriage, the woman doing more chores and/or the man as sole breadwinner), again, particularly among women [ 1 , 7 , 16 , 17 , 21 , 32 , 34 – 37 ].

We include data from three different working-age groups (20–34, 35–49 and 50–64) collected at two different dates 16 years apart (1991 and 2007), allowing us to explore whether relationships differ by age and over time.

Data were taken from Waves 1 (1991) and 17 (2007—the most recent to include items measuring GRAs) of the BHPS, an annual survey of a nationally representative UK sample. The original sample included each adult (age 16+) member of more than 5,000 households, comprising around 10,000 individual interviews. Original sample members have been followed over successive waves; if they move out of their original household, all adult members of their new household are interviewed as are any adults moving in with an original sample member. Booster samples were added for Scotland and Wales in 1999 and for Northern Ireland in 2001. These respondents have been followed up over time and are included in the 2007 sample studied here to maximise our sample size, provided they meet the other eligibility criteria. The survey conforms with the Ethical guidelines of the Social Research Association in respect of confidentiality and informed consent [ 43 ].

Since our focus was on attitudes and gender divisions of labour between people in heterosexual couple households, we removed single parents, students, same-sex couples, etc., and also those living in households comprising more than one couple, where the division of roles was likely to be more complex. We removed other adult household members of couple households for the same reason. We also limited our sample to those of working age (20–64 years) and removed ‘proxy’ respondents (in whose respect GRAs were not measured). These exclusions reduced the initial sample sizes from 10,264 to 5,422 (1991) and from 14,910 to 6,934 (2007) (detailed numbers at each stage of this process available in Supplementary Table 1). Limiting the samples to those with complete cases on all variables resulted in final samples of 5,302 (1991) and 6,621 (2007) (see Table 1 ). Within these numbers there were 1,760 who participated at both dates: 821 from the 20- to 34-year-old age group in 1991 (of whom 750 were aged 35–49, and 71 were aged 50–64, in 2007) and 939 from the 35- to 49-year-old age group in 1991 (who were all aged 50–64 in 2007). Thus the dataset actually comprises 10,163 respondents, 3,542 (35 %) of whom participated only in 1991, 4,861 (48 %) only in 2007 and 1,760 (17 %) at both dates.

Table 1

Numbers (and percentages) of men and women in each age group at both dates with tests for significances of: gender differences for each age group at each date; differences between the three age groups for men and women at each date; and differences between the two dates for men and women in each age group a

a Basic distributions and analyses of group differences based on unweighted data

b Based on responses to four items asking who did particular household chores, each scored −1 if mostly done by the man, +1 if mostly the woman and 0 if shared or done by someone else. In this collapsed scale, ‘man does (almost) all’ = scores −4 or −3, ‘man does more’ = scores −1 or −2, equally shared = score 0, ‘woman does more’ = scores 1 or 2, ‘woman does (almost) all’ = scores 3 or 4

Psychological distress was measured via the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) [ 44 ] which has been extensively used as a screening instrument in large population surveys of psychological morbidity [ 45 , 46 ]. The GHQ is a brief self-report instrument for the detection of mental disorders in the community and among primary care patients. It was designed as a measure of state; thus respondents are asked to consider ‘the past few weeks’. The 12 items focus on both inability to carry out normal functions (e.g. ‘been able to enjoy your normal day-to-day activities’; ‘been able to concentrate on whatever you’re doing’) and the emergence of distressing symptoms (e.g. ‘felt constantly under strain’; ‘been losing confidence in yourself’). Each item includes four answer options ranging from ‘more than usual’ to ‘much less than usual’ (normal functions) or from ‘not at all’ to ‘much more than usual’ (distressing symptoms). Although the measure can be used categorically (those in the population scoring above specified cut-offs), it can also be scored as a Likert scale (0–1–2–3, resulting range 0–36), as we have done here, since we are interested in associations along the full spectrum of psychological distress. The GHQ is one of the most thoroughly tested of all health measures, and validation studies have been undertaken in many different countries [ 47 – 49 ]. Its psychometric properties are well established, with previous studies of the GHQ-12 reporting split-half reliability of 0.83 and alpha coefficients ranging from 0.82 to 0.90 [ 46 ].

To measure traditional GRAs, BHPS respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement (five-point scale, strongly agree—strongly disagree) with six statements. Three represented more traditional opinions (‘a pre-school child is likely to suffer if his or her mother works’; ‘all in all, family life suffers when the woman has a full-time job’; ‘a husband’s job is to earn money; a wife’s job is to look after the home and family’) and three more egalitarian opinions (‘a woman and her family would all be happier if she goes out to work’; ‘both the husband and wife should contribute to the household income’; ‘having a full-time job is the best way for a woman to be an independent person’). The egalitarian statements were reverse coded so that a higher score indicated more traditional values, and a ‘traditionalism’ scale (possible range 1–5) was constructed using the mean of the scores for the six statements. This method is identical [ 27 ] or very similar [ 13 ] to that used in previous studies of GRAs within the BHPS and also to other studies of GRAs conducted in the US, UK and elsewhere in Europe [ 7 , 8 , 40 , 50 – 52 ]. The internal consistency of the traditionalism scale (alpha coefficientss), calculated for males and females in each of the three age groups at each of the two dates, ranged from alpha = 0.68 (20- to 34-year-old males in 2007) to alpha = 0.75 (20- to 34-year-old males in 1991). In other studies which provide these details, the alpha values for traditionalism scales also fall around 0.70 [ 7 , 8 , 13 , 27 ].

Three ‘couple role’ variables were included. Marital status was categorised as married vs. cohabiting. To investigate the gender-division of household chores, we created a gender-balance of daily chores scale based on responses to four items asking who did the grocery shopping, cooking, washing/ironing and cleaning. Studies have found these chores to be some of the most time-consuming [ 53 ] and ‘low-control’ in the sense of being routine and unavoidable [ 5 ]. (Note that we did not include items relating to childcare because they were not applicable to all respondents.) Each item was scored -1 if the man mostly did that chore, +1 if the woman did it and 0 if the chore was shared or done by someone else. Positive values on the resulting scale (range −4 to +4), therefore, represent more chores being performed by the woman. (Previous studies suggest that men tend to over-report their involvement in chores [ 1 , 8 ]. Where both couple members had responded, it was possible to determine their agreement in respect of who did each chore: if the woman responded ‘mostly self’ and the man ‘mostly spouse/partner’ this was agreement; however, if the man also responded ‘mostly self’, this was disagreement. Analyses [not shown] of levels of agreement found these were 80 % for ‘who does the cleaning’, 84 % for cooking and 85 % for grocery shopping and washing/ironing.) Finally, information on economic activity allowed couple employment to be categorised as both couple members employed (both full- and part-time paid employment or self-employed); only the man; only the woman; or neither (both couple members unemployed, retired, family care, full time student, long-term sick/disabled, maternity leave, government training scheme, other).

To account for educational level we used highest academic qualification, categorised as none; ‘O’ level/CSE or equivalent (basic secondary school qualifications); ‘A’ level or equivalent (secondary school qualifications required for university entrance); or university/college. Our analyses also included the BHPS-derived variable dependent children in the household, defined as those aged under 16, or aged 16–18 and in school or non-advanced further education, not married and living with a parent.

All analyses were carried out in Stata 11.1. Frequencies and descriptive statistics were obtained for the measures by gender, age group and date, with differences (gender differences for each age group at each date; differences between the three age groups for men and women at each date; and differences between the two dates for men and women in each age group) in proportions via Chi square and in means via bivariable linear regression ( t -statistic).

Although a small proportion of respondents (17 %) participated in both 1991 and 2007, the fact that these dates were 16 years apart meant that no respondent was in the same age-group at the two dates. Since analyses (described below) suggested very few differences between 1991 and 2007 in the associations which either traditionalism or GHQ had with ‘couple roles’, the decision was made to combine data from the two dates separately for each age-group and to focus on differences between the three age groups, for which there was more evidence.

To explore the relationship between traditionalism and marital status, the gender-balance of chores, couple employment, highest qualifications and dependent children in the household, a series of bivariable linear regression models were run separately for each of six gender and age sub-groups (i.e. men and women aged 20–34, 35–49 and 50–64), having combined the data from 1991 to 2007. Within each age group, regression models also examined whether associations differed for men and women (interactions with gender) and between 1991 and 2007 (interactions with date). In order to determine whether the separate regression coefficients obtained for the three age-groups differed from each other, the Stata ‘seemingly unrelated estimation’ (suest) procedure was used. This procedure is able to account for the fact that the separate regressions may feature (some of) the same respondents. Thus, to obtain the row of figures showing associations between marital status and traditionalism in Table 3 , we ran the following: bivariable regressions of marital status on the traditionalism score for both men and women in each of the three age-groups; regressions including marital status, gender and the marital status by gender interaction on the traditionalism score for each of the three age-groups; regressions including marital status, date and the marital status by date interaction on the traditionalism score for both men and women in each of the three age-groups; and ‘seemingly unrelated estimation’ to compare the regression coefficients in 20- to 34-year-olds vs. 35- to 49-year-olds, 20- to 34-year-olds vs. 50- to 64-year-olds, and 35- to 49-year-olds vs. 50- to 64-year-olds, for both men and women (detailed in Supplementary Table 2). Similar bivariable linear regression models then examined associations between GHQ and date, traditionalism, the three ‘couple role’ variables, qualifications and dependent children in each of the six gender and age sub-groups, also identifying differences according to gender, date and age-group (Table 4 and Supplementary Table 3). These were followed by multivariable linear regression models to examine the mutually adjusted associations between GHQ and date, traditionalism, the ‘couple role’ variables, qualifications and dependent children in each of the six sub-groups (Table 5 ).

Table 3

Unadjusted relationships with Traditionalism score: coefficients and significance for men and women, and significance of gender difference in each age group; indication of any significant differences between the two dates; and indication of any significant differences between the three age groups (further details in Supplementary Table 2)

a Significant interaction with date in youngest cohorts

b Significant interaction with date in middle cohorts

c Significant interaction with date in oldest cohorts

d Significant difference between youngest and middle cohorts

e Significant difference between youngest and oldest cohorts

f Significant difference between middle and oldest cohorts

Table 4

Unadjusted relationships with GHQ Likert score: coefficients and significance for men and women, and significance of gender difference in each age group; indication of any significant differences between the two dates; and indication of any significant differences between the three age groups (further details in Supplementary Table 3)

Table 5

Mutually adjusted relationships with GHQ likert score: coefficients and significance for men and women in each age group

Finally, in order to examine whether levels of psychological distress were higher when attitudes conflicted with actual roles, additional multivariable models also included interactions between the traditionalism score and each of the three ‘couple role’ variables (Supplementary Table 4). To further investigate any significant interactions, separate analyses were conducted for those in the lowest and highest tertiles of traditionalism (representing the least and most traditional individuals) in each sub-group (Table 6 ).

Table 6

Mutually adjusted relationships with GHQ likert score—‘egalitarian’ and ‘traditional’ women in each age group

Bold = significant interactions with (continuous) traditionalism (i.e. those shown as p < 0.100 on Supplementary Table 4)

Given the inclusion of the booster samples in 2007 and the differential response to each survey wave, cross-sectional inverse probability weights [ 43 ] have been applied to all analyses (unless indicated) of the two separate waves employed here. These weights ensure each wave is representative of the general population in those years, but very slightly reduce the size of the 2007 sample (which includes booster samples that were proportionately oversampled originally, and so are down-weighted).

Descriptive results

In Table 1 , which describes the samples and shows the significance of differences according to gender, age-group and date, perhaps the most striking finding is differences in levels of cohabitation according to both date and age-group: in our sample around 3 % of 50- to 64-year-olds in 1991 were cohabiting, compared with half of 20- to 34-year-olds in 2007. Differences according to age group were evident for all five variables (marital status, gender-balance of chores, couple employment, highest qualification and dependent children) among both men and women and at both dates (all significant p < 0.001). Thus, among the 50- to 64-year-olds at both dates, levels of cohabitation were lowest, the woman was more likely to do (almost) all the chores, the proportions reporting that only the woman was in paid employment or that neither couple member worked were highest, educational qualifications were lowest and the proportion reporting any dependent children in the household was much lower than in either of the other two age groups. Differences according to date were also evident for all five variables among both men and women in every age group (all significant p < 0.001) with just a few exceptions. The exceptions included couple employment (no differences between 1991 and 2007 among 35- to 49-year-old women, while in all other groups the proportions reporting both couple members worked were higher at the later date) and dependent children in the home (no differences between 1991 and 2007 for 20- to 34-year-old men and both 20- to 34 and 35- to 49-year-old women, while in older groups the proportion with dependent children was higher at the later date).

At neither date, and in none of the three age groups was there a gender difference in marital status; however, in both the 20- to 34-year-old and 35- to 49-year-old groups, reports that chores were shared or done by the man were significantly more likely to made by men than women (similar gender differences among the oldest age groups were not significant at either date). While levels of chore sharing were somewhat higher among the youngest age groups and at the later date, even among 20- to 34-year-old respondents in 2007, around 70 % of men and women reported that chores were done more by the woman, 18 % of men and 14 % women that they were equally shared, and only 12 % men and 8 % women that they were done more by the man. Among 50- to 64-year-olds at both dates, greater proportions of men reported that both couple members worked and greater proportions of women reported that neither did, while in 2007 the proportion reporting only the man worked was higher among women. There were significant gender differences in qualification levels in every age group in 1991 and the mid and oldest age groups in 2007 (all p ≤ 0.001, all higher qualifications among men). Finally, while there were no gender differences in reports of dependent children in the household among 20- to 34-year-old, 35- to 49-year-old men in 1991 and 50- to 64-year-old men at both dates were more likely than women to report living with dependent children.

Group differences in traditionalism

The first set of analyses in relation to our hypotheses examined whether traditionalism was lower: among women; among younger people; at the later of the two dates; among those in ‘less traditional’ heterosexual couple relationships; and among those with higher qualifications.

Table 2 shows traditionalism and GHQ likert scores in 1991 and 2007, both overall and by gender- and age-band. Traditionalism scores were significantly lower among women than men in both 1991 (gender difference t = −6.7, p < 0.001) and 2007 ( t = −5.4, p < 0.001), with somewhat greater gender differences among older age-groups. Among both men and women, traditionalism increased significantly with age at both dates and was higher at the earlier date in each age group.

Table 2

Mean (standard error) traditionalism and GHQ Likert scores for men and women in each age group at both dates with tests for significances of: gender differences for each age group at each date; differences between the three age groups for men and women at each date; and differences between the two dates for men and women in each age group

Table 3 shows the unadjusted relationships that the three ‘couple role’ variables, qualifications and dependent children in the household had with traditionalism, among men and women in each age band. Data from the two dates were combined since, as the right-hand section of the table shows, additional analyses demonstrated very few interactions with date (further details available in Supplementary Table 2). In all gender and age sub-groups, traditionalism was significantly lower among cohabiting than married respondents and traditionalism was positively associated with the female doing more chores. However, as the far right-hand section of the table shows, the association between traditionalism and the gender-balance of chores was significantly lower among 50- to 64-year-old men and women than those in the younger two age-groups. When compared with couple members from households where both were employed, traditionalism was significantly higher when only the man was employed (particularly in the younger two age groups) and when neither couple member worked (this relationship was weaker, although still significant, among women in the oldest age-group). Among women in all three age-groups, traditionalism was significantly lower among those with university/college education compared with those who had no qualifications; similar trends for men were non-significant. Finally, among both 20- to 34-year-old men and, to a lesser extent, 35- to 49-year-old men and women, traditionalism was higher among those with dependent children. However, there were no significant associations between traditionalism and dependent children in the oldest age-group. The pattern of associations was very similar for men and women, with only three significant interactions with gender (among the 20- to 34-year-olds, the positive association between traditionalism and dependent children was stronger in women; among the 35- to 49-year-olds, lower levels of traditionalism for those with university/college qualifications compared with none, was only significant in women; and among 50- to 64-year-olds, levels of traditionalism were increased to a greater extent among men than women when neither couple member worked compared with when both worked).

Overall, this first set of analyses shows lower traditionalism among women, younger people, those taking part in the survey at the more recent date and both men and women in ‘less traditional’ relationships and households. Although some associations with traditionalism differed between age groups, there was very little evidence of different associations in either men compared with and women or in 1991 compared with 2007.

Associations with psychological distress

The next set of analyses examined the associations which traditionalism and the three ‘couple role’ variables had with psychological distress. Education and the presence of dependent children in the household were also included in the models; education because of its associations with GRAs, roles [ 8 ] and psychological distress [ 42 ], and dependent children because of their assumed effect on household chores. Table 4 , therefore, shows the unadjusted relationships which traditionalism, each of the ‘couple role’ variables, highest qualification and dependent children had with GHQ Likert score. Again, results are shown for men and women in each age band and data from the two dates were combined since additional analyses showed almost no differences according to date (see right-hand section of Table 4 and further details available in Supplementary Table 3). Unadjusted associations between GHQ score and date are shown: among 35- to 49-year-old and, even more so, 50- to 64-year-old women, psychological distress was significantly higher in 2007 than in 1991.

In all gender and age sub-groups, higher traditionalism was associated with poorer mental health; all associations between traditionalism and GHQ score were significant and positive. Marital status was not related to GHQ score. However, in both 35- to 49-year-old and 50- to 64-year-old women there was an association between the gender-balance of chores and GHQ, with lower GHQ scores among those who reported doing more chores themselves. The far right-hand section of Table 4 shows that this contrasts with a non-significant association in the opposite direction among 20- to 34-year-old women. Couple employment showed by far the most marked associations with GHQ. When only the woman worked (compared with when both couple members did), GHQ scores were significantly higher among men of all ages, but particularly 35- to 49-year-olds; they were also significantly higher among 20- to 34-year-old women although not women in either of the other two age groups. When neither couple member worked, GHQ scores were significantly higher among men of all ages (although the association was strongest among 35- to 49-year-olds and weakest among 50- to 64-year-olds) and among women in the two younger age groups. GHQ scores reduced with increasing qualifications in most sub-groups, although the difference between those with none compared with university/college level qualifications was only significant among 20- to 34-year-old women and 50- to 64-year-old men and women. Finally, GHQ scores were higher for those with dependent children compared with none in both younger and older age groups (significant among all except older women), but there were no associations between dependent children and GHQ score among 35- to 49-year-olds. As the table shows, there were a number of significant interactions with gender, particularly in the oldest age group (GHQ score negatively associated with the woman doing more chores in women only and with university entry level qualifications in men only, and positively associated with only the woman working and with neither couple member working, in men only).

The mutually adjusted relationships which date, traditionalism, each of the ‘couple role’ variables, highest qualification and dependent children had with GHQ Likert score among men and women in each age band are shown in Table 5 . Mutual adjustment increased the strength of the relationship with date, resulting in significantly higher scores in 2007 compared with 1991 for both men and women in the 35- to 49-year-old and 50- to 64-year-old age groups. Adjustment weakened associations between traditionalism and GHQ score in the youngest age group, but had no impact in the two older age groups. Adjustment also had very little impact on associations between GHQ score and both the gender-balance of chores and couple employment. However, it reduced relationships between GHQ score and education in the 20- to 34-year-old women and between GHQ score and dependent children in 20- to 34-year-old men and women, to non-significance.

Overall, these analyses suggest that psychological distress was higher among those with more traditional GRAs. There was no evidence of lower psychological distress in households where men took on some of the chores; indeed, the opposite was the case among mid and older age women. In all gender and age sub-groups apart from the oldest women, psychological distress was most clearly associated with the man not working (i.e. only the woman worked or neither couple member worked).

Is psychological distress higher when attitudes and roles conflict?

Our third set of analyses examined whether levels of psychological distress were higher when attitudes conflicted with actual roles. In order to do this, additional multivariable analyses were conducted for each of the six gender and age sub-groups, entering all variables (as Table 5 ) together with the interactions between traditionalism and each of the three ‘couple role’ variables (marital status, gender-balance of chores and household work). The results of the interaction analyses are shown in Supplementary Table 4. Among men, none of the possible 15 interactions were significant at p < 0.10; however, among women five were significant at this level.

In order to further investigate the interactions found for women, separate analyses were conducted for those in the lowest and highest tertiles of traditionalism (representing women who we describe as ‘egalitarian’ and ‘traditional’) in each age sub-group. These analyses examined the mutually adjusted associations which each of the three couple role variables, date, qualifications and dependent children had with GHQ score. Table 6 shows the results; the five boxes indicate significant ( p < 0.10) interactions with traditionalism.

As Table 5 shows, each of these results ‘fits’ the hypothesis of greater psychological distress when attitudes and roles conflict. Thus, among 20- to 34-year-olds, ‘egalitarian’ cohabiters had lower, while ‘traditional’ cohabiters had higher GHQ scores than married women. In other words, among these young women in less traditional (cohabiting) households, psychological distress was somewhat lower among those with ‘egalitarian’ GRAs (the group for whom attitudes and role were consistent) and higher among those with ‘traditional’ GRAs (conflicting attitudes and role). Among the 35- to 49-year-olds, doing more chores oneself (rather than sharing them, or the man doing more) was associated with a significantly lower GHQ score among ‘traditional’, but not ‘egalitarian’ women. (Note also a similar pattern among the 50- to 64-year-old women, although this interaction was non-significant.) The remaining three of these interaction results related to couple employment. Thus, among both 20- to 34 and 50- to 64-year-olds, GHQ scores were significantly higher among ‘egalitarian’, but not ‘traditional’ women in households where the man was the sole breadwinner, compared with women in households where both couple members worked. Further, among the 20- to 34-year-olds, GHQ scores were significantly higher among ‘traditional’, but not egalitarian women in households where they themselves were the sole breadwinner, compared with women in households where both couple members worked.

Our analyses, based on UK samples of younger, middle and older working-age men and women in 1991 and 2007, aimed to examine levels of traditionalism and associations between GRAs, ‘couple roles’ and psychological distress. Expectations of lower traditionalism among women, younger people, at the later of the two dates, those in ‘less traditional’ heterosexual couple relationships (cohabiting, the man doing/sharing chores, the woman employed and/or the man not employed, no children) and those with more qualifications were, by and large, upheld. Previous studies suggest much of the generational difference is explained by educational level and, for females, labour market experience and marital status [ 8 , 40 ]. Other authors suggest relationships between female GRAs and their labour market participation [ 27 ], family formation [ 54 ] and division of household responsibilities [ 35 ] are reciprocal, but that this is less the case for men, for whom there are more pressures to remain in full-time employment [ 55 ]. Given this, we might have expected to find stronger associations between GRAs and our ‘couple employment’ measure for women. However, this was not the case, and it should also be recognised that for many women, as well as men, labour market and lifestyle choices are subject to structural and normative constraints [ 15 , 52 , 56 ].

Gender traditionalism was positively associated with psychological distress in both men and women; analysis of a BHPS sample of older married couples found similar associations, but in women only [ 13 ]. Previous authors have suggested this relationship is the result of the benefits felt by all from there being more equal sharing of power and status [ 8 ] or the possibility that those with traditional views feel at odds with contemporary society [ 14 ]. The results of a cross-cohort, cross-national analysis of changes in the traditionality of actual female roles are at variance with these ideas. This study found that despite lower traditionality in younger cohorts across both developed and developing countries, gender differences in anxiety disorders and almost all mood disorders remained stable. However, there was one exception: excess prevalence of major depressive disorder in women decreased as female gender roles became more egalitarian, which the study’s authors interpret as meaning that increasing female opportunities lead to improved female mental health [ 6 ].

There is evidence that, on average, mental health is better among married than unmarried people, particularly for men [ 57 ]. However, studies do not generally find the effects extend to those who cohabit [ 58 , 59 ], a result which has been attributed to the poorer quality of their relationships [ 60 , 61 ]. It is, therefore, somewhat puzzling that we did not find significant differences in GHQ scores between respondents who were cohabiting compared with married. This might reflect the continuing erosion of a distinction which held deep social significance until the mid twentieth century at least, particularly when a couple had children. If so, we might have expected a different pattern of associations at the two dates, or when the youngest and oldest age-groups were compared, given increasing rates (and normalisation) of cohabitation. However, there was no evidence of this either. Presumably if we had included a measure of relationship quality, we would have found this to be associated with psychological distress [ 62 ].

Several, but by no means all, previous studies have found lower well-being among both men and women who spend more time on housework, who share household responsibilities less equally and/or perceive them to be shared less equally [ 8 , 19 , 20 ]. A number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain why shared tasks might benefit both men and women, including the ideas that equitable relationships promote well-being and that the symbolic meaning of men’s contribution to the household is important [ 34 ]. We found no association between the gender-balance of household chores and psychological distress in men. In addition, and contrasting with a trend towards increasing distress among women in the youngest age-group who did more chores themselves, women in the mid and oldest age-groups who reported doing more chores had lower levels of distress. Importantly, however, our subsequent analyses, discussed later, suggested these results were driven by associations among women with more traditional GRAs.

Among men, particularly those of mid working age, not being in paid employment was associated with psychological distress, consistent with previous BHPS analyses [ 41 , 63 ] and a substantial amount of other evidence [ 29 , 30 ]. However, although women in the two younger age groups living in households where neither they nor their partner worked had higher levels of psychological distress (perhaps as a result of the associated poverty [ 28 ]), there was less evidence that women’s psychological distress was higher when they themselves were not in paid employment, but their partner was. Further, in the oldest age-group, psychological distress was raised among men who were not in paid employment, but not among women whose partners did not work. This might have been because the partners of these women were slightly older than themselves and thus defined as ‘retired’ rather than ‘unemployed’. More generally, stronger effects of unemployment on the mental health of men than women have been attributed to links between paid employment and masculine identity and the associated greater stigmatisation of male unemployment, together with the fact that because men generally earn more money than women, unemployed men tend to receive less financial support from working wives or partners than unemployed women receive from working husbands [ 30 ]. Indeed, for some women, their household’s economic circumstances will have allowed them to choose not to enter the labour market. In relation to this, it is interesting that one study found unhappily married wives were more likely to move into full-time employment than happily married ones [ 64 ].

This notion of choice leads to our final set of analyses, interactions conducted to see whether psychological distress might be greater when GRAs (as more traditional or egalitarian) conflicted with actual household and paid work roles. This was not the case for men. However, for women, there was some rather weak evidence that GRAs-role consistency might matter, particularly in respect of couple employment. It has been argued that GRAs act as ‘a kind of lens’ through which women view the division of household labour (p. 1031) [ 35 ] and, it might be added, other aspects of their lives as well. In line with this, we found evidence that a ‘traditional’ gender-balance of household chores was related to lower levels of psychological distress in mid and older working age women with ‘traditional’ GRAs. We might ask why ‘egalitarian’ women did not show increased psychological distress when faced with a ‘traditional’ household chores balance. The reason might be that such a situation is simply accepted. There is evidence that even among young, unmarried, undergraduates, females continue to expect inequity in the division of household labour and child-care [ 65 ] and that although women generally do more household chores they tend not to perceive this as unfair [ 53 ], perhaps because they compare themselves with other households with a similar or less equal gender-division, feel they are more competent to do the work, or more valued by it [ 66 , 67 ].

In respect of couple employment, there was evidence in two age-groups that psychological distress was higher among those women who had more egalitarian attitudes but were in a household where the man was the sole breadwinner, and/or among those with more traditional attitudes who were themselves the sole breadwinner. These results are each in line with the notion that while women with more egalitarian attitudes might feel confined by the traditional ‘housewife’ role, women with more traditional attitudes are not, but are instead more psychologically distressed by the ‘breadwinner’ role. However, we would have more confidence in this conclusion had we seen consistent interactions reflecting greater psychological distress among both women with more egalitarian attitudes in male breadwinner households and women with more traditional attitudes in female breadwinner households, which we did not. We would also have been more confident had we seen similar interactions among all age groups, which we did not. It is likely that a number of other factors will have affected these relationships, including whether the woman’s husband or partner held traditional or egalitarian GRAs (although previous studies, including analyses of the BHPS find moderate correlations between the GRAs of men and their wives or partners [ 10 , 68 ]), the nature of the woman’s employment (in particular whether full- or part-time) and her other roles. The authors of one paper which found no evidence that lack of fit between attitudes and behaviour impacted on marital dissatisfaction suggested that such inconsistencies may be tolerated as ‘unavoidable consequences of individual circumstances’ (p. 183) [ 33 ], while those of the two other analyses with similar findings provide no explanations [ 5 , 25 ]. What is interesting, is that it was the youngest age-group of women who showed most evidence of greater distress when GRAs and actual roles conflicted. In the introduction to this paper, we noted the suggestion that egalitarian GRAs are taken for granted among younger women [ 39 ] and suggested this might mean they are less important for this age-group. However, our analyses suggest the opposite.

We saw some differences in associations between GRAs, roles and psychological distress according to age, but there was almost no evidence of differences between the two dates. This is surprising, given increased egalitarianism, levels of cohabitation and participation of men in chores and of women in the labour market, evident not only in UK society generally over the life-course of the various respondent sub-groups [ 11 , 38 ], but also when examining our dataset by age and date. One reason might be that although changes in GRAs and roles did occur over the 16-year period, they were not large enough to impact on relationships with psychological distress. This is particularly the case for GRAs; for example, among the youngest age groups in our analyses mean traditionalism (on a 1–5 point scale) reduced by around 0.1 points in both men and women between 1991 and 2007. UK data on GRAs are only available from the early 1980s, and an examination of trends from 1980 to 2002 concluded that changes had been ‘surprisingly modest’ (p.167), while acknowledging that there may have been more marked changes before 1980 [ 50 ]. It is, therefore, possible that we might have seen more contrast had similar data been collected several decades earlier, at the time of greater political activity around gender equality.

Our study had a number of strengths. Unlike many studies in this area, ours was based on relatively large samples. Our measure of psychological distress, the GHQ-12, is a valid and reliable self-administered screening tool which was designed to detect mental disorders in community samples and has been extensively used in both surveys and clinical settings [ 45 , 46 ]. Our use of the GHQ-12 as a continuous measure of psychological distress ensured analytic power: if relationships were present, we should have detected them.

There are also a number of limitations, principal among which is that, given the already rather complex nature of the relationships we examined, some of our measures were fairly crude. In particular, we categorised respondents simply as in paid employment or not, rather than separating full- and part-timers. If we had done this, the combined ‘man’ and ‘woman’ employment variable would have been cumbersome. However, accounting for hours worked, particularly among women (since it has been suggested that it is only women’s full-time work which is associated with more equal chore division [ 1 ]) might be important. Given evidence of the importance of multiple roles and of work-life balance for well-being [ 23 , 41 , 69 ], analyses examining combinations of ‘couple roles’ might have revealed relationships with psychological distress not evident when examining each independently, as we did here. A second possible limitation is that our measure of chores did not include certain forms of ‘family work’ which some have found to be associated with well-being [ 22 ]. However, the chores we included were those identified in other studies as some of the most time-consuming [ 53 ] and ‘low-control’ [ 5 ], exactly the type of chores which one study found were associated with increased psychological distress [ 5 ]. Third, it is possible that had we chosen to focus on satisfaction with the marital/partner relationship (rather than psychological distress) as our dependent variable, we might have found clearer associations between this and our ‘couple role’ measures. Finally, although we controlled for dependent children in the household, analyses based on more detailed categorisations of children were precluded since there were very few/no respondents in the youngest age groups with older children or in the oldest age group with pre-schoolers.

Consistent with previous studies, gender role attitudes within the British Household Panel Survey around the new millennium were patterned according to gender, age, date and actual household and employment roles, and psychological distress was higher among those with more gender-traditional attitudes and, particularly among men, those not in paid employment. Associations between psychological distress and both marital status and household chore division were only seen in certain sub-groups of women, and it was only among women that we saw the rather weak and inconsistent evidence of lower well-being when GRAs and actual role conflicted. Although this may result from study limitations, it may reflect cultural differences since most previous studies in this area were conducted in the US. Finally, although we observed some different patterns according to age, there were almost none according to date, perhaps because changes in GRAs between 1991 and 2007 were not large enough to impact on relationships with psychological distress.

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Acknowledgments

All authors are all funded by the UK Medical Research Council (University of Glasgow Cost Centre 25605200, Project Codes 68094 and 68090) and are grateful to the UK Data Archive for access to the British Household Panel Survey (ESDS usage number 67492). They would also like to thank Sally Macintyre for review of an earlier draft. They alone bear responsibility for the analyses and interpretation of the data reported here.

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

The BHPS conforms with the Ethical guidelines of the Social Research Association in respect of confidentiality and informed consent.

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Essays on Gender Roles

"From Pink to Blue: The Influence of Media on Gender Stereotypes" Hook

"The Gender Pay Gap: Unveiling the Inequality" Hook

"Double Standards: The Burden of Gender Expectations" Hook

"Reimagining Roles: The Evolution of Gender in the 21st Century" Hook

"Feminism: Empowering Voices, Redefining Roles" Hook

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The Role of Gender in Communication and Its Effectiveness