Study: Climate Awareness Is Higher Among Women

Rabat – While the gender gap is primarily evoked in the context of equal socio-economic opportunities, a large body of research suggests that the gender divide goes beyond, potentially even reshaping the world’s perception of one of humanity’s most relevant issues in climate change.

According to converging research results, women are on average more likely than men to be concerned about the world’s exposure to environmental threats.

A survey of research from leading American universities indicates that women tend to have stronger pro-climate stances and beliefs.

Almost all studies assessing climate perception along the lines of gender, race, and ethnicity have concluded that perception of climate-related risk and vulnerability tend to be higher among women compared to men.

In one research published by Yale’s communication department in 2018, women were found to have consistently higher risk perceptions of how climate change would affect them personally.

While both the women and men who took part in the research seemed to be aware of climate change, stating that it is a contemporary reality and that it was caused by humans, women were found to have a higher level of awareness of how it could tangibly affect plants, animals, and future generations.

Female participants were also found to be more supportive of climate change mitigation government policies, with more women endorsing strict emission-reduction policies, the Yale research indicates.

Earlier research also suggests that there is a knowledge gap between women and men on climate-related issues.

Despite having a higher level of climate awareness, one research conducted in 2010 additionally suggests that women scored on average lower than men on scientific knowledge relating to climate change.

In particular, the 2010 study found that women were more likely than men to express uncertainty about a variety of climate-related questions.