Before you start reading this article, I’d like to ask you for a little favor: For a few seconds, take a look around you. What do you see? I bet there’s at least one woman. At least one. Working alongside of you in the office, passing you by on the sidewalk, next in line to order a cup of coffee, sitting next to you in a meeting. Maybe you are even one these women.
According to The World Bank, 49.6% of the world population is female. Yes, you read that correctly: Half of the world’s population is female. Meaning a significant amount of women, day in and day out, are participating in and contributing to society. Today, International Women’s Day, is a day we pay tribute to all the women in this world, although they rightfully deserve recognition and respect every day of the year.
At Netquest, we are constantly collecting the thoughts, opinions, and behaviors of women all around the world because a woman’s input in the market research industry matters. Women’s input matters in research, in business, and in overall society. Today is a day where we want to make that especially known.
Today, on International Women’s Day, we are sharing 5 noteworthy facts extracted from our women panelists around the globe, thanks to our profiling tool which allows us to segment our respondents based on many attributes, including demographics.
1. Many women are professionally working. Yet, not many are in management positions or higher.
More than 50% of our female panelists are working women. By working we mean outside of the home, in a professional environment (Leaving aside the fact that they all may work inside the home as well. That is not an attribute we chose to pull data about). Of course, this percentage changes with every country: For example, in Spain 60% of women work professionally, outside of their homes. But, that percentage is much lower in other European countries such as France or the UK, where only about 47% of women are working.
A common critique about gender equality issues in the workplace is the ratio between male to females in management positions. Traditionally the majority of CEOs and C-Suite executives are men. Actually, there’s more men who are named John or David leading S&P1500 companies than there are overall female CEOs.
If we have a look at our profiled panelists, the percentage of women holding a management position is around 18%. While, the number of men in management is above 32%. Are women bridging the gap? Well, it seems there’s room for improvement!
It is noteworthy that some of our women panelists are freelancers (A.K.A. brave women taking on an independent, entrepreneurial way of life). This number is small, with only about 6% of women freelancers in Portugal to about 17% of our women Mexican panelists.
2. As a result, many women contribute to their household incomes
So, why do women choose to work? Although there may be many reasons one chooses to work (such as self-esteem or personal development) one of the most common reasons is to earn a living. Today, 52% of our women panelists say they are actually contributing to their total household incomes.
3. If you’re looking to understand consumers, women are a major target.
We should first have a look at the country where consumption is culture. Yes, I’m referring to The United States. In the US, 76.2% of female panelists have made a purchase within the last 30 days. Additionally, 55.4% of those women used their mobile phone to make their purchases.Yet in Mexico, Portugal and Argentina, 50% of our profiled women said they had made a purchase in the last 30 days, but less than 40% have done so using their phones.
4. Women are increasingly interested in athletic activities and sports.
Women are stereotypically seen as caregivers. Even though in some cases that may be true, women are displaying they have many other interests aside from what’s stereotyped. As an example, there is an increasing amount of athletic women in Netquest Panels.
Around 60% of women exercise regularly in countries such as Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Colombia, Peru, Italia, Francia and Germany. Oddly though, this percentage dips to about half in the UK and in the US where only around 30% of our women panelists practice any sport at all.
Women are not only increasingly more athletic, women enjoy watching sports too. Do you remember the Super Bowl? Our Behavioral Data showed that 47% of the people who watched the 2018 Super Bowl were women and 69% of those women reported they watch the NFL all the time or almost all the time. Sports is not a man’s business anymore!
5. Driving women are driven
Not so long ago, a psychologist friend of mine said that the act of driving a car can be interpreted as one of the many abilities that display one is able lead their own life. That day, I decided I had to get my driving license once and for all. (Who wouldn't like to lead their life?) But, not all women are as lucky as myself. Just last year, Saudi women were fighting for their right to drive. Around the world, women are choosing and even fighting to be able to drive. We should interpret this, as my friend said, as a metaphor for the need to lead our own lives as women.
The women in our panel are not only driving, but a large percentage own their very own cars (51.8 % in Spain and 46.3% in the UK). Additionally, many are planning to buy a car in the following months (37.5% in Mexico and 36% in Chile). What’s the most exciting thing, is that many women take the responsibility of ensuring their vehicles receive the support and maintenance needed (45.5% in the US).
The famous feminist writer, Virginia Woolf, once wrote, “For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” It’s time women are no longer anonymous, but rather emphasized, respected, and recognized. Our goal at Netquest is to give all people the opportunity to express their genuine opinions, especially women. With this information, we provide high quality, representative data that comes from real people of our society.
Today on March the 8th 2018, our panel is composed of 1,579,932 genuine women from 26 different countries. These women are worth researching, understanding, and valuing which is why we encourage them to share their genuine opinions with us every single day. Thank you all for making it possible.
