WASHINGTON, D.C. March 2, 2022 (Pew Forum): More than half a century ago, India was one of the first countries in the world to elect a woman as prime minister, and the country currently has several highly influential women politicians, including Sonia Gandhi, the head of one of the major national parties. Today, most Indians say that “women and men make equally good political leaders,” and more than one-in-ten feel that women generally make better political leaders than men, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey of nearly 30,000 adults throughout India. Only a quarter of Indian adults take the position that men make better political leaders than women.
Yet, in domestic settings, Indians tend to say men should have more prominent roles than women. About nine-in-ten Indians agree with the notion that a wife must always obey her husband, including nearly two-thirds who completely agree with this sentiment according to the survey, which was conducted between late 2019 and early 2020. The full report covers perceptions of gender discrimination; how Indian attitudes on gender compare globally; the strong influence of education and religion in gender attitudes; the minimal differences in gender attitudes between Indian men and women, and between adults of different ages; and regional and state-level variation in how gender roles are viewed.
The full report can be read here:
https://www.pewforum.org/2022/03/02/how-indians-view-gender-roles-in-families-and-society