Seven hundred and sixty-eight adolescents from five countries and regions (USA, Spain, Hong Kong, Qatar, and Malaysia), aged 13-19 (M = 15.78; SD = 1.28) years, responded to a questionnaire designed to determine who was their most admired famous adult or hero. Male heroes clearly outnumbered admired females (73.3% vs. 26.7%). There was a pattern of same-sex choices, but it was more likely for girls to choose male heroes than for boys to choose females. Over half of the admired adults were athletes, and movie, television, and music stars. Regarding the personally known adults, there was a more balanced choice of males and females, with parents as the most frequent choice. Results suggest that society continues to fail in providing an adequate supply of female role models.A clear example of society's bias towards males is adolescents' preference of male heroes and masculine attributes over female ones. It is possible that this preference even serves to perpetuate this inequality over the decades. It was suggested in the earlier studies that society presented mostly males as exemplars of human excellence and achievement and therefore it was understandable that youth would turn to men as their primary source of heroes (Darrah 1898).In recent years, the number of women joining the workplace has increased and improvements in the closing of the gender gap have been reported. Furthermore, modernisation has brought about drastic changes in the ways young people around the world access information, which is now far from the traditional linear model of direct transmission. Given these societal changes, it is worth exploring if adolescents' choice of heroes is moving towards greater equality alongside other societal changes. Specifically, we will examine if (a) adolescents' choice of heroes and admired adults continues to show an imbalance in favour of male figures; (b) admired characteristics in heroes and personally known adults reflect gender-based social attributes; and (c) there are cross-cultural differences in hero choices and hero attributes.