Kate Middleton has been named the top female role model of 2022, according to new national research.

Catherine, Princess of Wales landed in top spot, polling more than a third (35%) of the nationwide vote.

The former prime minister, Liz Truss, who resigned from her role after just 44 days, finished third in the nationwide survey, receiving just under a quarter of the vote (23%). While Rochelle Humes, former singer with pop group The Saturdays, (25%) finished in second place.

The survey, conducted by UK social enterprise Girls Out Loud, investigated the UK’s outlook on women’s career paths in response to the news that new reforms could lead to thousands of firms being exempt from gender pay gap reporting.

Girls Out Loud is an enterprise dedicated to raising the aspirations of girls up and down the UK, helping them find their voice and instilling confidence, self-assurance and self-esteem ahead of their adult years.

Elsewhere, the survey revealed that the majority of the UK believes nursing (42%) is the number one job that still has ‘female bias’. Other jobs listed also included hairdresser (39%), cleaner (32%), teacher (28%) and waiting staff (24%).

What’s more, over 1 in 10 (15%) of those surveyed do not feel there are more jobs available to women since they first started their career.

Jane Kenyon, founder of Girls Out Loud, said: “It’s really important that we continue to champion young girls, so they have equal opportunities as they progress through life. Our survey discovered that many people still believe certain jobs have female bias and it’s important we remove this stigma from society.

“It’s also clearly important to the British public that women are able to land those top jobs. The impact of having a female Prime Minister (only our third ever) is undoubtedly inspiring to the younger generation, as seen by Liz Truss polling in third place.

“But being a teenage girl in today’s society is a challenge. There are constant threats from the media and elsewhere that can lead to a serious identity crisis for girls throughout the UK. Girls Out Loud is proud to work within communities to deliver real aspiration, real change and long-lasting success.

“The latest government reforms surrounding the lack of gender pay-gap reporting is worrying to see, as we need to make sure conversations continue in the search for equality in the work place”.

The survey also revealed that 15% of those who started their career between 1970 and 1980 believe there are more jobs for women available in the present. However, these figures become smaller as the years progress, with just 8% stating there are more jobs from they began their career between 2010 and 2020.

To find out more about Girls Out Loud and to get involved, please visit the website here: https://girlsoutloud.org.uk/

TOP TEN FEMALE ROLE MODELS OF 2022:

KATE MIDDLETON (35%)
ROCHELLE HUMES (25%)
LIZ TRUSS (23%)
HOLLY WILLOUGHBY (21%)
QUEEN CAMILLA (18%)
MOLLY MAE (17%)
MEGHAN MARKLE (15%)
EMMA WATSON (15%)
DAME DEBORAH JAMES (12%)
STACEY DOOLEY (11%)