Albertans’ Views on Gender

Michelle Maroto | University of Alberta | maroto@ualberta.ca 

Lori Thorlakson | University of Alberta | thorlaks@ualberta.ca

June 12, 2020

Introduction

Gender issues have increasingly been in the spotlight in both federal and provincial politics. In 2015, Alberta introduced the first gender-balanced cabinet in Canada, followed in November by a gender-balanced cabinet at the federal level. Calls to recruit more women to politics have also highlighted the hostile environment that many women face on the campaign trail and in public office. LGBTQ issues have also featured prominently in provincial politics in political debates over Gay-Straight Alliances. This research brief presents findings on Albertans’ attitudes on gender discrimination and political participation in Alberta from the 2019 Viewpoint Alberta Study (1).

Discrimination

Figure 1 presents survey results regarding perceptions of gender discrimination and government help for women in Alberta. Most participants believed that women experienced at least some discrimination on a regular basis. Approximately 59% of respondents indicated that women experienced a "little" or a "moderate" amount of discrimination. Only 7% answered "a great deal," and 19% thought that women experienced no discrimination at all. In terms of government support for women, 59% of respondents believed that government was providing "about the right amount" of help for women.

Aggregate data showed that most Albertans believed that women experienced some level of 

discrimination in the province, but women were more likely to report experiences of 

discrimination than men.

Figure 1: Perceptions of discrimination against women and government help for women in Alberta

These views were divided by gender, however. Figure 2 breaks down these responses by gender, highlighting  important disparities in views around discrimination and government support. Men were almost twice as likely  as women to say that women did not experience any discrimination in Alberta. In total, 26% of men responded  "none at all" to this question compared to 14% of women. 

Female respondents were also more likely to indicate that the government does not do enough to help women,  but men were more likely to say that the government does too much. Forty-one percent of women said that the  government did not do enough, compared to 26% of men, and 3% of women said the government does too  much, compared to 11% of men. Views on the extent of gender discrimination also varied by party  identification—over 27% of United Conservative Party (UCP) identifiers responded that women did not  experience any discrimination in Alberta, compared to just under 10% of New Democratic Party (NDP)  identifiers.

Figure 2: Perceptions of gender discrimination against women and government help for women in Alberta by respondent gender

Support for Women in Politics

Figure 3 presents results from a series of questions gauging support for women in politics. Respondents were  asked to voice support for four statements on a scale ranging from "strongly oppose" to "strongly support." The  statements included the following: "How much do you support or oppose: The prime minister appointing an  equal number of women and men to the federal cabinet? The premier appointing an equal number of women  and men to the provincial cabinet? More women running for provincial office in Alberta? The use of quotas to  increase women's involvement in provincial politics in Alberta? 

When asked to report levels of support for appointing equal numbers of men and women to federal and  provincial cabinet and for women running for provincial office in Alberta, respondents were generally  supportive. Support was highest for abstract statements regarding more women running for office with 51% of  respondents supporting this statement. Respondents were less supportive when asked about the use of quotas  to increase women's involvement in provincial politics in Alberta. Only 30% supported the use of quotas.

Albertans were generally supportive of increasing women's involvement in politics. However,

responses varied by gender with women voicing much more support for women in politics.

Figure 3: Response to questions gauging support for women in politics, all respondents

These responses again varied with gender. Figure 4 shows the answers to the same four questions for male and  female respondents. Overall, women were more supportive of all initiatives to increase female involvement in  politics. In terms of supporting an equal number of men and women being appointed to federal and provincial  cabinets, 56% of women supported both initiatives, compared to about 31% of men. Fifty-nine percent of  women said that they would support more women running for office in Alberta, but only 42% of men agreed  with such a policy. Finally, 40% of women said that they would support the use of quotas to increase women's  involvement in provincial politics in Alberta. This was double the percentage of men.  

Generational differences in perceptions of discrimination against women were small. A similar percentage of  respondents from Gen X (born between 1965 and 1979), Millennials (born between 1980 and 1994) and Gen Z  (born in 1995 and after), between 23 and 24%, say that there is "a great deal" or "a lot" of discrimination against  women, a larger percentage than we find among Boomers or the Silent Generation. Gen Z also stands out,  however, for having the largest percentage of respondents (nearly 25%) who replied "none at all" to this  question. At the same time, Millennials and Gen Z exhibited the highest degree of support for quotas as a policy  tool. In comparison to the moderate differences in perception of discrimination across generations, the higher support for gender quotas by these two younger generations was stark: nearly 55% of Millennials and 71% of Gen Z supported quotas, compared to 47% of respondents across all generations.

Figure 4: Response to questions gauging support for women in politics by respondent gender

Attitudes toward the LGBTQ community

Figure 5 presents survey results on perceptions of discrimination against lesbian, gay, and transgender Albertans, as well as views about the degree of help the government is providing.

Figure 5: Perceptions of discrimination against gay, lesbian, and transgender persons in Alberta, perceptions of government help for gays and lesbians

More than half of Albertans said that lesbians and gays face either a great deal, a lot or a moderate amount of  discrimination. Just over 13% replied "none at all" when asked how much discrimination this group faces. When  asked if the government is doing "not enough," the "right amount," or "too much" for gays and lesbians, nearly  27% of respondents said "not enough," 47% felt the government was doing the "right amount," and 25% said  "too much."  

Perceptions of discrimination against gay, lesbian, and transgender Albertans also differed by gender, as shown  in Figure 6. Women were more likely to perceive discrimination with disparities most obvious with the  percentage of respondents indicating "a great deal" or "none at all." They were also more likely to respond that  the government was not doing enough to help. Thirty-one percent of women noted that the government was  not doing enough to help gays and lesbians, compared to 21% of men.

Figure 6: Perceptions of discrimination against gay, lesbian, and transgender persons in Alberta, perceptions of government help for gays and lesbians by respondent gender

Expanding on these views, Figure 7 presents respondent views regarding whether parents should have the right to be informed if their child joins a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) group at school for all respondents and broken down by gender. The issue of whether parents should be informed if their child joins a Gay-Straight Alliance emerged as a contentious issue during the provincial election campaign last year and it is one that divides Albertans. Just over half of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that parents should be told if their child joins a GSA, and 49% disagreed. Positions on this issue vary somewhat along gender lines. A majority of men (57.6%) agreed that parents should be informed if their child joins a GSA while a majority of women (55%) disagreed. The starkest differences, however, are by party identity. Over 75% of respondents who identify as UCP supporters agreed that parents have a right to be informed if their children join a GSA, compared to less than 19% of NDP supporters. There are clear differences between generations. Only among the oldest generations, the Boomers (born between 1944 and 1964) and the Silent generation (born 1943 and before), do we find majorities that agree that parents have a right to be informed if their children join a GSA.

Figure 7: Views on whether parents should be informed in their child joins a GSA, all respondents and by respondent gender

Summary

The opinion data show a persistent divide in perceptions of discrimination. Men tend to perceive the lowest degree of discrimination against both women and LGBTQ persons. The majority of respondents believe that current policies are sufficient to address discrimination. The survey results also show that gender issues are political, with perceptions of discrimination and support for policy responses falling along partisan lines.

Methodology of the Viewpoint Alberta Survey

The Viewpoint Alberta Survey was conducted between October 22 and November 21, 2019. The survey was deployed online by Qualtrics. A copy of the survey questions can be found here: https://bit.ly/2PvQV2C. Qualtrics coordinates the survey with an online panel system that targets registered panelists who meet the demographic criteria for the survey. Survey data are based on 820 total responses (number varies across questions) with a 17-minute average completion time. The Viewpoint Alberta Survey was led by co-principal investigators Jared Wesley and Loleen Berdahl. It was funded by an Alberta-Saskatchewan Research Collaboration Grant from the Kule Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Alberta and the College of Arts and Science at the University of Saskatchewan.

Endnotes

1. The Viewpoint Alberta Survey was funded by an Alberta-Saskatchewan Research Collaboration Grant from the Kule  Institute for Advanced Study (University of Alberta) and the College of Arts and Science (University of Saskatchewan). The survey was completed for the research team, led by co-principal investigators Loleen Berdahl  and Jared J. Wesley. Neither the funding bodies nor the research team is responsible for the analyses or  interpretations presented here.