The Milken Institute

The Harris Poll and The Milken Institute produce an annual report to evaluate some of the greatest challenges facing people globally.

The Listening Project

Listening is the first step in connecting the needs of people with the capital and ideas to advance a thriving world. Now in its fourth year, The Milken Institute-Harris Poll Listening Project surveys socioeconomic, institutional, and political barriers across the world through the eyes of ordinary people by starting with a simple premise: What issues, if solved, would build more meaningful lives for people, their families, and communities.

For the fourth installment of this project, we have shifted our focus to a more domestic yet systemic problem – gender inequity in corporate America. It is no secret that significant gaps exist in America’s workforce in compensation, representation, or opportunities for advancement. Women – especially women of color – express frustrations at all levels of the organizational chart. Moreover, these widely acknowledged challenges persist despite a broad cultural conversation.

However, while the existing inequity problems are all too familiar, the solutions are not. With this research, The Milken Institute and Harris Poll seek to identify what it takes to move the needle by isolating specific programs and policies executives tell us are potentially viable through trial and error in their firms.

To find these solutions at corporate levels, we listened to the voices at both ends of the spectrum; executive women in the Milken Institute Executive Circle – the women who have defied the odds and climbed to the top of the corporate ladder and employed American women (ages 22 to 41) who represent the next generation of leaders.

The Milken Institute and The Harris Poll will share the results from the 2023 “The Listening Project” report during the “Women’s Leadership and the Face of the Modern C-Suite” panel at the 26th Milken Institute Global Conference at 1:00 pm ET on Tuesday, May 2. To watch and learn more about the discussion and panelists, please click here. And to download the 2023 Listening Project report, please click here. Follow the Global Conference on social media with #MIGlobal.

2023 Listening Project

Get the 2023 Report

The Milken Institute-Harris Poll 2023 Listening Project examines gender inequity in corporate America. The report sought to listen to the voices at both ends of the spectrum – executive women of the Milken Institute Executive Circle and younger employed women – in order to detail the continued barriers faced by women as well as the solutions that could move the needle.

DOWNLOAD the 2023 report
2022 Report 2021 Report 2020 Report

The Listening Project Insights

Methodology & Sources

COVID Tracker

The Harris Poll has conducted a weekly survey since March 14, 2020, among approximately 2,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older per week for a total of 115 weeks and counting, totalling over 230,000 respondents. Each survey tracks a core set of questions measuring public opinion on the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other ad-hoc questions on other aspects of American society.

JUST Capital-Harris Poll, May 7-11, 2020

This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll in partnership with JUST Capital from May 7-11, 2020 among 1,005 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

JUST Capital-Harris Poll, June 25-29, 2020

This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll in partnership with JUST Capital from June 25-29, 2020 among 2,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

HUE-Harris Poll December 2021

This survey of the U.S. general population was conducted online within the United States from December 4, 2021, to December 6, 2021, among 2,163 adults ages 18 and over by The Harris Poll on behalf of Hue, an organization focused on diversity and inclusion for marketers. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

Sustainable Brands-Harris Poll, 2020

This survey of the U.S. general population was conducted online within the United States from July 29 to August 10, 2020, among 3,700 adults ages 18 and over by The Harris Poll on behalf of Sustainable Brands. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

2020 Listening Project

In February 2020, The Harris Poll fielded a survey among 10,125 adults in 27 countries. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Harris Poll re-fielded the survey in September 2020 among another 19,000 respondents in 12 countries with various levels of COVID-19 impact. Additionally, The Harris Poll oversampled six countries especially hard-hit by COVID-19 (as determined by deaths per cases) to dig deeper into these countries. Data in each country was weighted to be nationally representative of the country based on standard demographics for each country. Market research in authoritarian countries syndicates many respondents with a “socially desirable answer”, in which respondents tend to overreport their support for their government. As such, China data in this study should be viewed with a lower level of confidence. Wave 1 was conducted from February 21 to March 11, 2020 among 10,125 adults across 27 countries: France, South Korea, Australia, The United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, The United States, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Russia, Indonesia, Turkey, Mexico, China, India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria, Philippines, Kenya, Venezuela, Ukraine, Brazil, and Malaysia. Wave 2 was conducted from September 15 to October 2, 2020 among 19,000 adults across 12 countries (Australia, The United Kingdom, The United States, Japan, Mexico, China, India, Italy, Nigeria, Philippines, Brazil, Malaysia) with an oversample in 6 countries: Brazil, India, Italy, Mexico, The United Kingdom, and The United States.

2021 Listening Project

The Harris Poll conducted two surveys online from July 30 to August 11, 2021, among 5,839 adults ages 18 and older and August 25 to September 9, 2021, among 10,214 adults ages 18 and older in the same 27 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, The United Kingdom, The United States, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela). Country selection was based on accredited and widely accepted global indices from World Bank Economies Groupings (calculated using the World Bank Atlas method) and the Milken Institute Global Opportunity Index. These indices allowed us to choose a group of countries tiered by key economic and social indicators such as levels of economic income, opportunities, and standards of living and balanced across geography, country size, GDP, etc.

Data in each country were weighted to be nationally representative of the country based on standard demographics for each country which include gender, region, race/ethnicity, household income, education, employment, marital status, and size of household where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population.

Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the online panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. Market research in authoritarian countries syndicates many respondents with a “socially desirable answer”, in which respondents tend to overreport their support for their government. As such, China data in this study should be viewed with a lower level of confidence.

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