Young men and women are drifting apart politically—CMC students are no different.
Across the globe, the data reveal a growing political divide between young men and young women. In the U.S., young men are more likely to identify with the political right, and young women are more likely to identify with the political left. Moreover, the political gap is often wider among college-educated men and women.
This year, the Salvatori Center conducted its quadrennial student political attitudes survey. The results show that CMC students exhibit growing political divides along gendered lines. Of the survey respondents, 99 identified as men, 75 identified as women, and 4 identified as nonbinary. For the analysis below, third-party and “undecided” responses were excluded.
Among men, 54% identified as Democrat, 20% identified as Independent, and 26% identified as Republican. Among women, 73% identified as Democrat, 14% identified as Independent, and 13% identified as Republican. In other words, the data show a 19-point “gender gap” in Democratic identification and a 13-point gender gap in Republican identification.
Among men, 71% preferred Harris, and 29% preferred Trump. Among women, 86% preferred Harris, and 14% preferred Trump. The gender gap in presidential candidate preference was 15 points.
Men and women also diverged across a number of specific political issues. Many of the issue-specific gender gaps were larger than the gender gaps in political identification. All differences in proportions described below were significant at a 95% confidence level.
Men and women were split over standardized test scores. The majority of men (58%) were in favor of reinstating test scores as an admissions requirement, and the majority of women (63%) were opposed, making for a gender gap of 16 points.
Men and women were also split over race-based affirmative action—the majority of men (67%) were opposed, and the majority of women (63%) were in favor. This 30-point gender gap was the third-largest across all issues.
The next question asks, “How should the government balance conflict between religious liberty and anti-discrimination legislation that protects traits such as gender and sexual orientation in public accommodations?” Men were 8 points more likely than women to favor prioritizing religious liberty (14% versus 6%), and women were 19 points more likely than men to favor prioritizing anti-discrimination legislation (48% versus 29%).
When asked about attitudes towards police, men were 17 points more likely than women to favor increasing police funding (42% versus 25%) and women were 24 points more likely than men to favor decreasing police funding or abolishing the police (48% versus 24%).
Women were also 15 points more likely than men to favor additional restrictions on purchasing guns (94% versus 79%).
Men and women were split sharply on the question of whether the U.S. should raise the corporate tax rate. The majority of men (54%) favored lowering or maintaining the corporate tax rate, and the majority of women (83%) favored raising the corporate tax rate. This 37-point gender gap was the second-largest across all issues.
Surprisingly, men and women showed the largest divergence in their opinions on the electoral college. The majority of men (61%) opposed replacing the electoral college with a direct popular vote, and the majority of women (79%) favored replacing the electoral college with a direct popular vote. This 40-point gender gap was the largest across all issues.
When asked, “How optimistic are you about the future of American democracy?”, men were 16 points more likely than women to be optimistic (39% versus 23%), and women were 12 points more likely than men to be pessimistic (50% versus 38%).
The final question of the survey asked respondents to select from a list of options the three issues that mattered most to them. The top five issues for men were the economy, the environment, foreign policy, preserving liberal democracy, and healthcare. The top five issues for women were abortion, the environment, healthcare, preserving liberal democracy, and racial equity. Men’s top issue (the economy) did not make the top five issues for women, and women’s top issue (abortion) did not make the top five issues for men.
There were not statistically significant differences between men’s and women’s responses to questions regarding student encampments, abortion, marijuana, border security, amnesty for undocumented immigrants, the environment, global trade, federal spending, Ukraine, and Israel-Palestine.
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