Feminism in Scotland: Self-identification and stereotypes

A questionnaire concerned with gender issues was completed by 2029 women and 2137 men students at a Scottish University. Of the women respondents, 1252 answered a question about whether they thought of themselves as feminists; 5% ticked 'always', 9% 'often', 59% 'occasionally' and 27% 'never'. Women in the 36-45 year old age bracket and postgraduate women were most likely to identify as feminists. This question was included in a factor analysis with items concerning gender roles. It loaded strongly only on the third factor, which linked strong feminist identification to an endorsement of an essentialist model of gender differences. Analysis of extended comments in response to a question about the image of feminism indicated that both male and female students were affected by negative stereotypes of feminism in the media. It was concluded that the study showed a somewhat stronger level of identification with feminism than previous studies.