The World Economic Forum has issued its fifth Global Gender Gap Report. The annual report was first compiled in 2006. There has been an encouraging trend since the start of these studies; a majority of the countries surveyed have made progress in closing the gender gap.
The study reviews the following issues to arrive at its scores:
- Economic participation and opportunity – outcomes on salaries, participation levels and access to high-skilled employment
- Educational attainment – outcomes on access to basic and higher-level education
- Political empowerment – outcomes on representation in decision-making structures
- Health and survival – outcomes on life expectancy and sex ratio
The US made a respectable jump from 31st to 19th, the first time that it has ranked among the top 20. The improvement was mainly caused by the higher ratio of females in senior positions in Obama’s administration resulting in improved scores for political empowerment.
Still, the US could set its ambition higher. The highest ranked African country was Lesotho, ranking eighth. Lesotho has made remarkable progress since ranking 43rd in 2006, then with a score of 0.6807 – now improved to 0.7678. A score of 1.0000 would indicate that the gender gap was completely closed.
Saadia Zahidi, Director, Head of Constituents, World Economic Forum gives a succinct summary of the report’s findings:
Some trad med coverage:
Nordic Nations Remain Gender-Equality Leaders
PARIS — Iceland and three other Nordic countries continue to lead the world in gender equality, and the United States made significant progress over the last year in reducing economic and social gaps between women and men, according to a report to be issued Tuesday by the World Economic Forum.
The forum, a nonprofit group based in Switzerland, ranked 134 countries according to how much they had reduced gender disparities over the past year in the areas of economic participation, education, political empowerment and health. Iceland, which is still climbing out of a deep recession that began in late 2008, maintained its top position from a year earlier, followed by Norway, Finland and Sweden. New Zealand came in fifth.
[…]
One of the biggest decliners in the 2010 report was France, which tumbled to 46th place from 18th in 2009. The drop was mainly attributed to the departure this year of several high-ranking women from the government of President Nicolas Sarkozy. The report also found that women continued to hold a minority of management positions and that gender wage gaps remained significant.
From the report itself (page 21): full report
While many global indexes tend to be tied to income levels, thus providing an advantage to the
rich Nordic economies, the Global Gender Gap Index is disassociated from the income and resource level of an
economy and instead seeks to measure how equitably the available income, resources and opportunities are distributed between women and men. Despite this feature of the Index, these countries emerge as top performers and true
leaders on gender equality.
Maybe having a lesbian Prime Minister has been helpful even as Iceland has suffered through an economic downturn worse than most other nations have…
Nordic Nations Do Most to Encourage Gender Equality, Study Says
Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) — The world is moving toward greater equality between men and women, with Iceland keeping its lead in a ranking of 134 nations and the U.S. climbing into the top 20, according to a report by the World Economic Forum.
[…]
“It’s very encouraging that more countries are becoming aware of why it’s important to reduce the gender gap and are starting to explore policies that may be needed,” Saadia Zahidi, head of the Forum’s Women Leaders and Gender Parity program, said in an interview.Gender equality fosters competitiveness and growth in both rich and poor countries, Zahidi said. Worldwide, gaps are narrowing between men and women’s health and education, while women lagged behind in economic participation, which includes salaried and skilled jobs, according to the report.
Indeed, overall, the report index suggests a strong correlation between gender equality and national competitiveness. The talent of a nation contributes to its ability to compete and failure to include females to the fullest extent in education, economic activity and the political process may result in the absence of the most creative solutions to problems and crisis that may arise.
Top 15:
1 Iceland – no change from 2009 – score 0.8496
2 Norway – Up from 3rd – score 0.8404
3 Finland – Down from 2nd – score 0.8260
4 Sweden – No change – score 0.8024
5 New Zealand – No change – score 0.7808
6 Republic of Ireland – Up from 8th – score 0.7773
7 Denmark – No change – score 0.7719
8 Lesotho – Up from 10th – score 0.7678
9 Philippines – No change – score 0.7654
10 Switzerland – Up from 13th – score 0.7562
11 Spain – Up from 17th – score 0.7554
12 South Africa – Down from 6th – score 0.7535
13 Germany – Down from 12th – score 0.7530
14 Belgium – Up from 33rd – score 0.7509
15 UK – No change – score 0.7460
…
19 United States – Up from 31st – score 0.7411
Source: World Economic Forum