Girls today care less about gender stereotypes, parents still entrenched in bias, LEGO study says

Girls today are ready to break free from gender-based stereotypes about play and creative activities, but their parents — and society at large — are holding them back by clinging to those stereotypes, according to a new study commissioned by the LEGO group.

The study, which included surveys of children aged 6-14 as well as their parents, was conducted as part of LEGO’s new campaign ‘Ready For Girls,’ and their new commitment to remove gender bias from their products moving forward.

A total of 6,844 children and parents across China, Czech Republic, Japan, Poland, Russia, U.K. and the U.S. took online, opt-in surveys as part of the study, which sought to discover whether parents and children see creativity as gendered. 

The Geena Davis Institute carried out the research, and found that girls feel far less restricted by gender stereotypes than boys of the same age -- 74 per cent of boys believe some activities are just for girls and some are just for boys, compared to only 62 per cent of girls who believe the same, according to survey results.

Girls, for instance, were more likely to say that it’s alright for girls to play football and boys to dance ballet, with 82 per cent responding positively compared to 71 per cent of boys.