A fresh NBC-commissioned study reveals a growing divergence in how Gen Z women and men view their paths forward -- particularly when it comes to work, ambition, and the definition of success. While both groups value meaningful employment, their priorities around career progression, work-life balance, and financial security frequently diverge -- shaping the next frontier in shaping and leading tomorrow's workforce.
The NBC News Decision Desk poll compares Gen Z men who voted for Trump and Gen Z women who voted for Harris (as well as the reverse) on what they consider essential to a successful life.
The data shows a sharp gender and political divide in priorities:
In America's cultural imagination of the 1970s and 1980s, success for men and women was narrowly scripted. Men were expected to pursue careers, provide financial security, and maintain family stability. Women, despite gains from the women's movement, were still pressured to prioritize marriage and children -- even as they pushed for greater access to the workforce and higher education.
Half a century later, the roles appear to have flipped. This new NBC News poll reveals that Gen Z women -- especially those who supported Vice President Kamala Harris in the last election -- place the highest value on fulfilling careers, financial flexibility, and emotional stability. By contrast, Gen Z men -- disproportionately aligned with Donald Trump -- place greater importance on marriage, children, and traditional family life. It is a startling generational inversion.
The poll results underscore a truth I observe firsthand as a global women's and corporate speaker, and best-selling author, engaging with young professionals: Gen Z women are increasingly independent-minded, career-focused, and unwilling to define their success solely in terms of family. Their overwhelming support for Kamala Harris reflects this ethos. Harris herself embodies the new trajectory: an accomplished lawyer, senator, and vice president who married later in life after building her career.
On the other side stands President Trump, and conservative podcasters like Joe Rogan, whose "masculine man" message appeals to a cohort of young men -- predominantly white, but also at least 15-20% or more of Black and Latino men (with Latino men having a huge shift toward Trump in 2024 despite immigration issues being front and center) -- who crave a return to a more traditional order. His political identity has become fused with the idea that manhood and success are defined by family formation, financial dominance, and control of the cultural narrative.
This role reversal is radical not simply because men and women now prioritize different things, but because it reflects the collision of gender and politics. Gen Z women are not merely breaking with tradition -- they are openly rejecting the June Cleaver archetype of their grandmothers' 1950s era. Their vision of success is expansive: it includes careers, financial autonomy, and emotional well-being, with marriage and children as optional add-ons rather than defining markers.
Meanwhile, tribal politics' influence has galvanized a generation of young men toward older ideals. Having children, getting married, and securing financial independence rank among their highest values -- even as their female peers redefine success in more individualistic, career-first terms.
What leaps off the page in the NBC data is how independence dominates Gen Z's definition of success -- with one striking exception. For Harris-aligned men and women, autonomy and self-direction ranked first, while marriage and children fell to the bottom of their lists. Even Trump-supporting women, though more traditional than their Harris-leaning peers, still placed independence near the top while elevating family into their upper tier. Only Trump-supporting men broke the pattern, putting family formation above autonomy. The throughline is unmistakable: across most of Gen Z, freedom to chart your own course -- not marital or parental status -- has become the clearest marker of success.
For leaders and employers, these shifting priorities carry real consequences. The future workplace must adapt to a talent pool where Gen Z women -- the most educated female cohort in American history -- will not tolerate outdated barriers to advancement or rigid definitions of success. They will demand flexibility, purpose-driven work, and inclusive cultures that honor their autonomy.
At the same time, companies cannot ignore the significant share of young men who value stability, marriage, and family. Understanding these divergent perspectives is essential for building workplaces that can both attract and retain talent across the gender spectrum.
What this poll ultimately reveals is not just a divide between men and women, but two competing visions of freedom. Trump's America looks backward -- toward a gender order where men lead families and women follow. Harris's America looks forward -- toward a redefinition of success that allows women to ascend to the presidency, to lead corporations, to marry later if at all, and to live on their own terms.
As America approaches its 250th anniversary next July 4, 2026, Gen Z is showing us that the meaning of success is being radically rewritten. Women are chasing careers. Men are prioritizing family. And the tug-of-war between these visions will shape not only the workplace of the future but the soul of the nation itself.
As an aging Gen Xer who has two nieces in this Gen Z cohort, I am excited for their unlimited future and possibilities as bi-racial women in America. They will have opportunities that my generation of doctors, lawyers, engineers, educators, scientists, and politicians helped to forge as trailblazers. But they too will be blazing a new pathway for the women that come after them—one of financial independence, vast personal freedom, and lots of choices about when and how they want to marry or start a family.