30 survey questions about gender equality

Building a culture where everyone can thrive starts with understanding how employees experience your organization through a gender lens. Whether you're measuring perceptions of equality, identifying gaps in representation, or gathering feedback on workplace policies, thoughtful survey questions about gender equality can uncover the insights you need to drive meaningful change.

A gender equality survey is a questionnaire designed to measure how people of different genders are treated within an organization or workplace. Historically, traditional gender equality efforts focused on ensuring equal rights and opportunities between men and women.

Modern surveys recognize that gender inequality affects people across a spectrum–including nonbinary, transgender, agender, and other gender identities. A gender equality survey help organizations understand experiences across all gender identities and identify areas where they can create a more equitable workplace.

What do questions about gender equality answer? A survey related to gender should include questions regarding discrimination, salary satisfaction, advancement opportunities, training and development opportunities, length of service, and relevant demographic information.

Gender equality surveys can transform your organization in several key ways:

Related: Get started with our Gender And Politics Survey Template. 

Let's explore essential questions that can help you understand and improve gender equality in your workplace. We've organized these questions into key themes to help you build a comprehensive picture of your organization's gender dynamics.

Creating an inclusive culture means ensuring everyone feels respected and heard. These gender equality survey questions help gauge whether your workplace truly welcomes and values people of all genders.

Each of the following examples below are Likert scale questions. See further below for a list of other common survey types.

Related: Curious to see more questions to ask about gender equality in the workplace? Check out our Gender in the Workplace Survey Template. 

Understanding how gender impacts career progression is crucial for building equitable pathways to success. These questions illuminate whether advancement opportunities are truly accessible to all.

Fair compensation goes beyond base salary. These questions help you evaluate whether your total rewards package supports employees equitably across genders.

Supporting work-life balance is essential for retaining talent of all genders. These questions assess whether your flexibility policies and culture work for everyone.

Your talent pipeline shapes your organization's future. These questions examine whether your hiring practices attract and welcome diverse candidates.

Seeing is believing when it comes to equality. Sam Gutierrez, senior research scientist at SurveyMonkey, recommends using established benchmarks when evaluating representation and other DEI measures:

"There are government and nonprofit organizations that have demographic data benchmarks and representation, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]," he says. "They can help organizations understand if certain groups are underrepresented in their workplace."

These questions assess whether employees see themselves represented at all levels of your organization.

A workplace free from harassment and discrimination is essential for employee wellbeing and retention. These questions help you evaluate what will be crucial for creating an environment where all employees feel secure speaking up about misconduct.

Participation in growth opportunities should be accessible to all. These questions explore whether your professional learning and growth programs serve everyone equitably.

Sometimes the most valuable insights come from letting employees share their thoughts freely. These questions allow employees to submit their own answers,  inviting deeper reflection and specific suggestions.

Related: Get started in minutes with a DEI survey template.

The structure of your gender equality survey directly impacts the quality and honesty of the responses you receive. Here's how to design your survey to encourage open, authentic feedback while gathering data you can act on:

Employees need to feel safe sharing honest feedback about their experiences, especially on sensitive topics like gender equality. Consider enabling anonymous responses in your survey settings, and clearly communicate to participants that their individual responses won't be identifiable. You can use custom data to track high-level demographics, like department or tenure, while excluding personal information, like names or email addresses.

This balance between gathering necessary demographic data and protecting privacy requires careful consideration.

Gutierrez emphasizes the importance of careful demographic data collection: "Understand exactly which demographic questions you need to gather from respondents. If you don't need to know certain information, it's best to not risk making respondents uncomfortable.”

Gutierrez continues, “Be transparent about how employee data will be used and why you need to ask sensitive questions. Always allow respondents to skip questions that may make them feel uncomfortable."

Standardize your quantitative data collection with consistent rating scales throughout your survey. Likert scales (as exemplified above) work particularly well for measuring attitudes and experiences for several reasons:

Combine closed-ended and open-ended questions to build a complete picture of gender equality in your workplace. A good practice is to use closed-ended questions with rating scales to identify trends and patterns, then follow up with open-ended questions to understand the "why" behind the numbers. This approach helps you:

A good practice for any survey is to keep your survey focused and efficient to maintain high-quality responses. Consider these strategies to avoid overwhelming your respondents:

This thoughtful approach to survey timing and length helps maintain high response rates and can help ensure you receive meaningful feedback.

Building an inclusive survey requires thoughtful attention to language and structure. "To ensure survey questions are culturally sensitive and inclusive of all gender identities, consult experts who have a better understanding of terms and usage, especially when it comes to region, ethnicity, gender, and political lean," advises Gutierrez.

Here are a few ways to ensure your survey respects and includes all respondents:

Gender equality isn't just an ethical imperative; its business case is compelling. Organizations that prioritize gender diversity see remarkable benefits that impact their bottom line and workplace culture. Research shows that companies embracing gender equality experience several key advantages:

In fact, McKinsey's research reveals that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 9% more likely to achieve above-average profitability compared to those in the bottom quartile.

Despite progress in recent decades, gender inequality continues to impact women and other underrepresented groups. Organizations must take deliberate steps to ensure everyone is treated equally, with the same opportunities to advance and succeed.

Creating meaningful change through gender equality surveys requires thoughtful planning and execution. A successful survey program should:

Ready to start measuring and improving gender equality in your organization? Learn more about using surveys for DEI initiatives to get started today.