More than 1000 Girls took part - read their answers!

Most of the 1085 girls who answered the questionnaire were from the UK.  We also had answers from Nigeria, Pakistan, Czech Republic and Poland - though not enough to draw conclusions about differences in points of view between the different countries. 

Remember, this questionnaire is not scientific. 

The information below is a general summary.

Q1 - who in your family do you most admire?
Mums got most votes from their daughters:

1st     Mother                  477 votes            44%
2nd     Father                  270 votes            25%
3rd     Grandmother          162 votes            15%
4th     Grandfather           128 votes            12%
5th     Brother and Sister   97 votes each      9% each

It was possible to vote for more than one family member.  So of the 44% who voted for their mothers, some may also have voted for their fathers. 

Aunts and Uncles got some support, and of those who opted for "Others", the most common names were cousins, with some great-grandparents, friends, god parents - and a couple of pet rabbits!

Q2 Who has the major say in your family

50% of girls said Mum has the major say (540 votes), with Dad getting 36% of the vote and just 4% choosing the "I do" option.

Of those who said "Other" almost everyone said that both parents decided together or there was an equal say between everyone in the household.

Q3 If you could choose, would you rather be male or female?

A clear winner here: the majority would be female with 748 votes, or 69%.   Among hundreds of positive replies, girls said "I am happy as I am" and looked forwards to motherhood --- and shopping!

239 or 22% don't care - some said we have equal rights, so what difference does it make?

Just 94 or 9% would rather be male - most girls noted that "things are much easier for them".  Some girls said they would like to avoid physical differences between male and female experience, such as the pain of child birth.  Others wanted to side step the pressure of thinking about appearances.

Q4 On an average day, I spend most of my time thinking about...

Friends come first!

26% or 281 votes for "My studies"
6% or 61 votes for "Clothes and make up"
17% or 183 votes for "A boy / boys"
35% or 378 votes for "My friends".

Q5 Will your life be better or worse than your Mum's?

The biggest group - nearly half of all answers - were positive about improved lives for women.  Lots of girls said that education makes the difference.  A tiny number think that the future is bleak.

45% or 490 girls think their lives will be better
2% or 25 girls think their lives will be worse
24% or 264 girls think their lives will be about the same
and 27% or 298 girls don't know.

Q6 Who would you most like to be?

Hollywood glamour wins out in this selection - actress Keira Knightly easily beat her nearest rival, Leona Lewis.

1st    Keira Knightly             331     30%
2nd   Leona Lewis               183      17%
3rd   Rebecca Adlington       178      16%
4th    Kate Middleton           101     9%
5th    Katie Price                 85        8%
6th   Amy Winehouse           65       6%

Q7 Which of these older women do you admire the most?

Harry Potter author JK Rowling swept aside her rivals for the "most admired" spot - with Margaret Thatcher taking an impressive second position.

321 or 30% for JK Rowling
214 or 20% for Baroness Thatcher
182 votes or 17% for Dame Helen Mirren
133 or 12% for Katie Price
131 votes or 12% for Madonna
128 or 12% for Jules Oliver
42 or 4% for Sarah Palin

Q8 Have you heard of Marie Curie?

Most girls have have heard of Marie Curie - 70% said YES to this question.

21% gave specific details about Marie Curie's contribution to science mentioning X-rays, radioactivity, radiation and Radium. 
13% of girls mentioned the charity bearing her name.   
And just a few seemed to have confused Marie Curie with pop diva Mariah Carey...

Q9 Have you heard of Feminism?
 
80% have heard of Feminism and more than 56% think it is relevant.  12% said Feminism is not relevant.

Q10 Who would be your ideal partner for life?

Although there's a fair amount of interest in money (16% would like to spend their lives with a multimillionaire) ... more than half of girls put character at the top of their wish list for a life partner.

16% are interested in a multimillionaire
51% are looking for a kind person
13% would like an intelligent person
Just 2% don't want a partner for life.

A few alternatives were suggested:  "a kind millionaire" - sounds promising - "rich and good looking", or "the boyfriend i have now but with more money in the future".

Plenty of girls wanted to get a sense of humour in the mix - is this the ideal: "An intelligent, funny, kind, sensitive romantic person" ?
 

Q11 On motherhood...

Most of the girls who answered this question are in the 'have it all' generation - looking for a balance between worklife and motherhood.

702 girls or 65% said, "I'll balance career and children".
236 girls or 22% said, "I'll put my children before my career".
97 girls or 9% were "not particularly interested: I'll put my career first".
and 38 or 4% "don't want to have children".

When asked about when they hope to become mothers, a small number (still) weren't interested - but the vast majority opted for the middle path - 83% would like to have children when they are between 26-37 years old.

Q12 A girl's success depends upon.

Girls are expecting to carve out their careers through education.

725 or 67% said success depends on  a good education and a well paid job
90 or 8% voted for success in business
64 or 6% voted for becoming a good wife and mother
And 47 or 4% voted for being beautiful
25 or 2% voted for becoming famous
Just 16 or 1% voted for finding a rich partner.

Q13  When you grow up...

Even though author JK Rowling was the most admired older woman in Question 7, authors didn't come top for careers as an adult.  

Of the choices given, businesswoman was the most popular - nearly a third of all girls were attracted by business.  Modelling trailing behind getting the lowest score with just 8%.   12% of girls would follow in Marie Curie's footsteps.

328 or 30% would like to be a businesswoman
162 or 15% would like to be a celebrity
131 or 12% would like to be a pioneering scientist, honoured with Nobel prizes
99 or 9% would like to be an author
90 or 8% would like to be a model.

Lots of girls made other suggestions - doctors and teachers, athletes and vets were all popular choices.  A couple of girls wanted to make chocolate, another wants to be a test pilot for the Royal Air Force, several looked forwards to becoming a forensic scientist, while others just wanted to be "normal".

Q14 On equal rights for women

On the whole, girls are optimistic about women's rights - the vast majority think that women have made progress (87%) with nearly half of them agreeing that women and men are now equal. 

47% think women have made progress but are not equal
40% think women are now equal to men
3% think women are now better off than men
2% think women are nowhere near equal to men.

How did they do that?

The World Class Girls questionnaire is now closed.  Many thanks to all the schools which took part. 

If you have been working on a project with your partner school about girls or gender please tell us about it.  Email worldclass@bbc.co.uk.

If you have other ideas for questionnaires which could be useful for schools working together around the world, email worldclass@bbc.co.uk.