The political gender gap of Gen Z: A new era of divergence

As the presidential campaign enters the final few months, the race is a toss-up (538 polling average). One voter group — Gen Z — appears to be more enthusiastic after Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.

It’s also clear that the Harris campaign views younger voters as important to their winning coalition, with their decision to make this year’s Democratic National Convention “the Influencer Convention” by giving space that is usually reserved for traditional media to content creators and featuring several influencers as convention speakers.

Although conventional wisdom suggests that Harris should benefit from a surge in youth voting, a growing gender gap among Gen Z voters makes the impact of young voters less certain and raises important questions about why young voters, thought to be more liberal than previous generations of voters, have become strongly polarized along gender lines. The values and attitudes underlying this growing gender gap might be particularly problematic for Harris and other female political leaders in the future.

Research suggests that the youngest voters have been shaped by events occurring during their lifetimes, as members of this generation grew up during a period marked by significant social, economic and political upheaval. The global pandemic, the rise of social media, the #MeToo movement, increasing awareness of climate change and the Trump presidency are just a few of the events that have shaped their worldview.

Polling data consistently shows that members of Gen Z have processed these events differently. According to a Pew Research Center survey, young women in Gen Z are significantly more likely to identify as Democrats than their male counterparts.

This is a stark contrast to older generations, where the gender gap is much narrower. Additionally, Gen Z women are more likely to prioritize issues such as health care, climate change and racial justice, while young men place a higher emphasis on economic issues and government spending.

Gen Z males and females also differ on issues related to equality and the role of government in enforcing equality. A July YouGov poll found large gaps on issues like affirmative action and whether men were discriminated against in society.

These findings correspond with our research that argues that Gen Z men and women greatly differ on the role of men and women in politics. At the foundational level, young women were twice as likely as young men to think that discrimination was a barrier to women being elected to high office. This difference was more pronounced for older generations.

On the question of whether men or women made better political leaders, Gen Z males were significantly more likely than males in any other generational cohort — millennial, Gen X, baby boomer or silent generation — to say that males made better political leaders. Finally, the most important reason why Gen Z males claimed they don’t want more women in high offices is because “women aren’t tough enough.” Gen Z males identify this reason more frequently than males in other generational cohorts.

Our research questions why Gen Z males are so different from Gen Z women and even males in other cohorts. Although Gen Z men and women have similar life events and educational experiences, they view the role of gender differently. Although our work is preliminary, we believe that the media habits of Gen Z males and females help explain the misogyny of some males.

Males in this cohort tend to favor Reddit, Discord and Barstool Sports, while their female counterparts favor TikTok and Facebook. Although they contain a wide range of messages, the outlets and programs favored by males tend to promote very traditional gender role ideas. Thanks to social media algorithms, one click on a gender-based post will ensure that they see more posts like that one, building an echo chamber in which extremist views become normalized.

Researchers of political socialization, like political scientist Gary Jacobson argue for “generational imprinting,” or the idea that each generation is socialized into a set of political beliefs that last for decades. If Gen Z men and women are becoming more divided about whether women should be political leaders, this could have short and long-term consequences. 

In the short run, the increased enthusiasm of young voters in 2024 may not be as beneficial for Harris as many think. An early August SurveyUSA poll showed Donald Trump leading Harris among likely Gen Z voters, with the majority of males supporting Trump and the majority of females supporting Harris.

Gender gaps on many of the country’s most pressing issues also raise questions about the future of gender politics in the U.S. As young women continue to push for greater representation and policy change on issues that disproportionately affect them, the backlash from segments of young men may intensify. This could lead to an even more polarized political environment, where gender becomes an increasingly contentious fault line.

David B. McLennan is a professor of political science at Meredith College and director of the Meredith Poll. Whitney Ross Manzo is an associate professor of political science at Meredith College and associate director of the Meredith Poll.