importance of gender gap essay

Gender Equality: Why it Matters, Especially in a Time of Crisis

Bossoutrot Sylvie, Country Manager, World Bank Armenia

We have achieved much in recent history on the path to gender equality, but we have a long way to go to ensure equal endowments, participation, and voice for women.

The stakes are even higher now that the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) is ravaging the world, as times of great crisis often put women on the front lines. Women predominate in key roles as nurses, social workers, and caregivers.  They are also working as doctors and volunteers, and as political and community leaders making critical decisions about how to address the public health, social, and economic effects of the crisis.  Women’s participation will be vital to our success against this shared global threat.

Let us first acknowledge the progress made so far…

Today, we tend to take it for granted that women can vote. But - with the exception of a few frontrunners like New Zealand, Australia, and Finland - universal suffrage became a reality only after World War I. Eventually, voting rights for women were introduced into international law in 1948 by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Women have also taken advantage of increased opportunities to serve as leaders. In 2019, women held nearly 1 in 4 legislative seats worldwide  - more than double their share in 1995. Management positions are also more likely to be held by women now than twenty years ago, though parity is still a long way off.

With greater representation comes improved outcomes. Looking at education, the world has seen enormous progress in reducing gaps between girls and boys across a variety of important areas such as enrollment rates and literacy outcomes.

In health, fewer mothers are dying in childbirth and significant increases in female life expectancy have followed. With few exceptions, women now outlive men in virtually every country.

In terms of labor participation, more women in countries at every level of income have been engaging in economic activities beyond non-market work in the home.

Around the world, many national reforms have been enacted in recent years to improve the status of women in the workplace, in marriage, and especially to protect women from violence.

Yet, there is still a long way to go…

Despite this meaningful progress, important gender gaps remain. These vary in scale from country to country and take different forms - from physical violence and deprivations to unequal opportunities in work or political life.

The World Health Organization estimates that over 1 in 3 women worldwide will experience violence in their lifetime.

Sadly, the risk of being subjected to violence increases in times of distress, such as the outbreak of COVID-19. The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Dubravka Simonovic, warned that it was “very likely that rates of widespread domestic violence will increase, as already suggested by initial police and hotline reports.”

Gender disparities also take shape in unequal opportunities to participate fully in economic life. UN Women found that women are less likely than men to participate in the labor market and more likely to be unemployed.

Women are paid less, earning 77 cents to every dollar earned by a man, and bear disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work (performing 76 percent of total hours of unpaid care work worldwide). In fact, if women’s unpaid work were assigned a monetary value, one study of six countries has suggested that it would constitute between 10 and 39 percent of GDP . 

These opportunity gaps suggest that women could be disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Women make up a larger share of health and social care workers around the world: 70 percent in 104 countries . Also, early analysis from the World Bank indicates that those in caregiving roles may face an increased burden in the wake of school closures, with working mothers finding themselves even more stretched than usual in trying to juggle home-based work, home-schooling, childcare, and housework.

Inequality of access is also a key concern. Globally, nearly 40 percent of women in wage employment are estimated to lack access to social protection .

Women are less likely than men to have access to financial institutions or to have a bank account. Although women-owned enterprises represent more than 30 percent of registered businesses worldwide, only 10 percent of women entrepreneurs have the capital they need to grow their businesses.

These gender gaps impose real costs on society…

As the World Bank Group’s Women, Business, and the Law 2020 points out, “equality of opportunity is good economics.” Indeed, it is estimated that women’s lagging participation in employment and entrepreneurship cost the world about 15 percent of its GDP .

In considering a “full potential” scenario in which women participated in the economy identically to men, McKinsey concluded that this would add $28 trillion (26 percent) to annual global GDP by 2025 as compared to business as usual.

Yet when girls are allowed to dream and realize their potential, we are all better off…

To quote the famous early 20 th century Armenian novelist and activist, Zabel Yesayan, “a woman is not born into this world to be pleasing. A woman is born to develop her mental, moral and physical abilities.”

Over the course of history, many women have embarked on a path of self-realization to the benefit of our society. Some are famous, some less so, but each contributed to advancing the world, whether by promoting human rights and peace, forging ahead in science, or serving on the front lines to save human lives and protect public health.

Let us pay tribute to just a few.

Marie Curie was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize (twice!) - in physics in 1903 for her work on radioactivity, and again in chemistry in 1911 for her study of the elements polonium and radium.

The first Chinese female Nobel laureate, Tu Youyou, received the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for her discoveries in advancing treatment for malaria, which have since saved millions of lives.

Katherine Hannan, responding to the Red Cross’s call for nurses, volunteered just as the United States entered WWI and the Spanish flu began to ravage the army and eventually the world. She quickly rose through the ranks to head nurse and superintendent, overseeing 100 nurses.

Mother Teresa was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her tireless humanitarian work on behalf of the poor and ailing in Calcutta.

And, today, women are helping lead the battle against COVID-19: on March 7, the Chinese authorities recognized 20 female medical workers for their outstanding and heroic role in the country's fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

Carolina Elliott, a local woman from Charlotte, North Carolina, in the United States, is organizing food deliveries to help doctors and nurses get “through grueling 12-hour shifts.” “Because when you’re busy in the hospital like that,” she says, “you don’t have time to think about food.”

Shobha Luxmi is one of the doctors leading the fight against COVID-19 in Pakistan. She heads an isolation ward for coronavirus patients at a Karachi hospital, which receives 500 patients a day. “I have almost been working round the clock. I just get a few hours of sleep, and even then I am thinking about the hospital,” she recounts .

And we also look up to the many anonymous and silent female heroes around the world who are caring for the growing number of sick people and helping the vulnerable who have been affected by the current pandemic.

Despite the added burdens, crises present an opportunity to improve gender equality…

Unfortunately, we are likely to see some setbacks in gender equality during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. The European Institute of Gender Equality has stated that the closure or near-closure of businesses could have a severe effect on women-dominated professions (such as flight attendants, hairdressers, and tour operators), and unpaid care work will continue to increase.

In highlighting the gendered impact of COVID-19, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has stated that, “Targeted measures to address the disproportionate impact of the crisis on women and girls are needed.”

The COVID-19 crisis has put unprecedented pressure on governments, development organizations, and communities. While we strive urgently to respond, we should not lose sight of our goal to achieve gender equality. Instead, we should make it part of our overall effort to tackle these unprecedented challenges and come out stronger afterward.

With contributions from Armine Grigoryan (Consultant, World Bank, Armenia) and Amanda Green (Consultant, World Bank).

10 Reasons Why Gender Equality is Important

Gender equality seems like a faraway dream these days. While progress has been made, the numbers from groups like UN Women tell a discouraging story. Over 2 billion women don’t have the same employment options as men. At the current rate, it will take about a century to close the global pay gap. While human trafficking affects men and women , women and girls make up over 70% of the world’s human trafficking victims. In the face of this data, gender equality needs to be a priority. Why? Here are 10 reasons why it’s important:

#1. It saves lives

Because of their lack of empowerment and resources in many places, women and girls face life-threatening risks. Natural disasters are one example. At the 2005 World Conference on Disaster Reduction, experts discussed how gender inequality plays a role in death and injury. Other data shows that climate change, which makes natural disasters more dangerous, puts women and girls in even more vulnerable positions. Bringing a gender perspective into discussions allows women to play a bigger role in their own protection.

#2. It results in better healthcare

Research shows that in general, women receive worse medical care than men. There are many reasons for this, including lack of education and lower incomes. Sexism in the medical research community also leads to worse care. Diseases that affect women more than men (such as chronic pain conditions) aren’t as well-researched. They’re often not taken as seriously by medical professionals. When women are equal in society, their health will be impacted positively.

#3. It helps businesses

When women receive the same education and job opportunities as men, they can improve any organization they join. Studies show that diversity of all types (gender, race, sexual identity, etc) increases an organization’s productivity and innovation. One 2016 study from the University of California looked at big companies in the state with some women in the top leadership positions. They performed better than the companies with mostly men at the top.

#4. It’s good for the economy

Women’s impact doesn’t stop with individual companies and organizations. Studies show that increasing women’s participation in the economy is good for the economy. In OECD countries, if the female employment rates were raised to match Sweden, it would lead to a GDP increase equivalent to $6 trillion. Gender pay gaps end up costing the economy.

#5. Children are healthier

When women make their own reproductive choices, they provide better care for the children they do have. With income options equal to men, mothers can offer education, healthcare, and healthier food to their children. Studies also show that reduced infant mortality is linked to higher levels of education. Children raised in gender-equal environments will do better than those raised with inequality.

#6. It leads to better legal protections

Under the law, women aren’t well-protected from domestic sexual and economic violence . Both of these types of violence affect a woman’s safety and freedom. Increasing women’s legal rights keeps them safe and able to build productive happy lives.

#7. It leads to better racial equality

Gender equality and race equality are closely linked. Within issues like the gender pay gap, race plays a big role. White and Asian women earn more than black, Hispanic, and native women. In the United States, black women face a higher risk of death from pregnancy-related causes. When gender equality considers race as a factor, it improves race equality at the same time.

#8. It reduces poverty

Poverty rates are the highest among young girls. As boys and girls get older, the gender gap in poverty gets larger. This is likely because girls don’t receive the same education and job opportunities as boys, and when girls marry, they often don’t work. Gender inequality keeps women and their families trapped in cycles of poverty . When women receive better education, healthcare, and job opportunities, they can thrive. Investing in gender inequality is a sustainable, highly-effective way to reduce poverty.

#9. It reduces human trafficking

While men are also victims of human trafficking, women and girls make up the majority. They’re more vulnerable and traffickers see them as easier targets. With better education and job options, women and girls don’t end up in trafficking situations as often. Gender equality can also help strengthen a country, reducing poverty and instability. These fuel human trafficking.

#10. It can lead to peace

Research shows that gender equality is linked to peace , even more so than a country’s GDP or level of democracy. States with better gender equality are less likely to use military force. When a country addresses major areas of gender inequality like education and employment, it fosters peace.

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About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

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Women and Girls – Closing the Gender Gap

Equality between men and women was a core tenet enshrined in the UN Charter in 1945. Yet, 75 years later, women and girls live in a world of widespread gender inequality. Turning this around is a priority of the UN in 2020 which also marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action ; the 20th anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security; and the 5th anniversary of the Sustainable Development Goals. The 2030 Agenda is clear: Gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls is a goal in itself (Sustainable Development Goal 5) as well as a catalyst for the achievement of all the other goals. Ultimately, development will only be sustainable if its benefits accrue equally to both women and men. The world has a decade left to turn this promise into action .

The past decades have seen important progress for women and girls. Overall, however, change has been uneven and incremental. At the current rate of change, the global gender gap will not close for another 100 years . As the Secretary-General warned , “change is coming at a pace that is too slow for the women and girls whose lives depend on it”. Over the next 10 years, the global community must act with urgency and determination to accelerate progress and achieve gender equality for all women and girls everywhere.

ENDING DISCRIMINATION IN LAW AND PRACTICE

Although it is 40 years since the adoption of the Convention on all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979), discrimination remains commonplace in law and practice. On one hand, 131 countries have added 274 gender-related reforms to laws and regulations over the past decade, however it is estimated that more than 2.5 billion women and girls live in countries with at least one discriminatory law on the books. These statues restrict women’s ability to make decisions about marriage, divorce, and child custody; and to make choices about getting a job or starting a business , among others.

Meanwhile, violence against women remains a human rights abuse on a massive scale. One in five women globally has experienced sexual and/or physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner in the past year. While in the 1990s, laws against domestic violence were uncommon, today they are in place in around three quarters of countries. This is important progress, largely driven by feminist activism , although much more needs to be done to ensure implementation, and to provide services and access to justice for survivors.

ENVISIONING A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY WITH GENDER EQUALITY AT ITS CORE

Current economic models have failed to generate progress and prosperity for all. The economic opportunity gap widened this year compared to last year, following an overall stall from 2006-2020 (although, it is still better than 14 years ago). As a result, the promise of economic empowerment remains unfulfilled for the majority of the world’s women. Globally, the gender gap in labour force participation among adults (25-54) has stagnated over the past 20 years. Less than two thirds of women (62 per cent) are in the labour force, compared to 93 per cent of men.

Of those women who are employed, 58 per cent are in the informal economy earning low wages and lacking social protection. Unpaid care and domestic work remain stubbornly feminized compromising women’s ability to earn an income and build up assets for their later life. This work sustains families and economies. Yet, it remains largely invisible and poorly supported. The climate crisis brings into focus the need for alternative development pathways. Scaling up investments in the care economy and ensuring that women benefit from new green jobs is critical for such pathways to succeed. In addition, it is an untapped benefit to the world economy: estimates show that closing the gender gap could increase global GDP by 35 per cent on average.

Furthermore, although financial inclusion is on the rise globally, a gender gap persists :  80 per cent of women-owned businesses with credit needs are underserved, and women in developing countries are  nine per cent less likely than men to have a bank account. Women’s equal access to financial services not only unlocks economic potential, but also gives women a say in their own financial decisions.

ERADICATING POVERTY THROUGH GENDER-RESPONSIVE SOCIAL PROTECTION AND PUBLIC SERVICES

While extreme poverty has declined dramatically between 1990 and 2015, across regions, poverty remains gendered. Globally, women aged 25-34 globally are 25 per cent more likely than men to live in extreme poverty. Most of these women lack access to social protection and public services that would provide them with sustainable routes out of poverty.

Despite progress in girls’ education, nearly half a billion women and girls aged 15 years and over are illiterate and just 39 per cent of rural girls attend secondary school. However, estimates show that based on current trends, the educational attainment gender gap can be fully closed in 12 years, in large part due to advancements in some developing countries. Increasing women’s access to education has been shown to increase women’s labor force participation rates ; delay marriage and having children; and leaves women less vulnerable to violence.

Thanks to better access to maternity care, fewer women die in childbirth today compared to 20 years ago. Yet, women’s sexual and reproductive rights remain far from realized. In 2019, 190 million women of reproductive age worldwide who wanted to avoid pregnancy did not use any contraceptive method, an increase from 156 million in 2000. Boosting investments in gender-responsive social protection and public services, such as health and education, is critical to closing these gaps.

CLOSING THE LEADERSHIP GAP AND UNLEASHING THE POWER OF WOMEN’S COLLECTIVE ACTION

Power and decision-making remain overwhelmingly dominated by men. Women’s representation in parliaments has more than doubled from 11 per cent in 1995, but men still hold three quarters of seats. Men also hold 73 per cent of management positions and are 70 per cent of climate negotiators. In peace negotiations, the numbers are even more dismal. In spite of conclusive evidence that where women are engaged in formal peace processes, agreements are more inclusive and durable , women make up just 13 per cent of peace negotiators and 4 per cent of signatories.

Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America have made the most yearly progress in reducing the political empowerment gap this since 2012, whereas the gap in East Asia and the Pacific is regressing. If we continue at the current pace, by 2030 nearly 2 billion (roughly half of) women and girls will still face discrimination in opportunities for public leadership.

While access to formal decision-making remains limited, women are claiming space and taking on leadership roles not only in feminist organizations, but in a range of movements for social justice, making the connections between gender equality, climate justice, workers’ rights, racial equality and more. Women human rights defenders and activists face smear campaigns, physical attacks, harassment and intimidation. Funding for their work is often scarce. And yet, new generations of young feminists continue to bring energy and innovative strategies to the struggle for women’s rights.

LOOKING FORWARD

Gender equality remains unfinished business in every country of the world. Women and girls have less access to education and healthcare, too often lack economic autonomy and are under-represented in decision-making at all levels. The progress that has been made towards gender equality over the past quarter of a century, though slow and incremental, does however show that change is possible.

Legal reform, strengthening gender-responsive social protection and public service delivery, quotas for women’s representation, and support for women’s movements are all strategies that have made a difference and should be scaled up. In the UN Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs, governments, the UN, civil society, and the private sector, working together, have the potential to transform the lives of women and girls, for the benefit of all.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Sustainable Development Goal 5 | Achieve Gender Equity and Empower All Women and Girls

UN Women | Women’s Rights in Review 25 Years after Beijing

Report of the Secretary-General | Review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+25)

UN Women | The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

World Bank |Women, Business, and the Law Report 2020

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Closing the equity gap

Jeni Klugman

Caren Grown and Odera Onyechi

Why addressing gender inequality is central to tackling today’s polycrises

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Africa Growth Initiative, Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution

As we enter 2023, the term “ polycrisis ” is an increasingly apt way to describe today’s challenges. 1 Major wars, high inflation, and climate events are creating hardship all around the world, which is still grappling with a pandemic death toll approaching 7 million people.

Faced with such daunting challenges, one might well ask why we should be thinking about the gender dimensions of recovery and resilience for future shocks. The answer is simple: We can no longer afford to think in silos. Today’s interlocking challenges demand that sharp inequalities, including gender disparities, must be addressed as part and parcel of efforts to tackle Africa’s pressing issues and ensure the continent’s future success.

“We can no longer afford to think in silos. … Gender disparities, must be addressed as part and parcel of efforts to tackle Africa’s pressing issues and ensure the continent’s future success.”

The burdens of the pandemic have been unequally borne across regions and countries, and between the poor and better off. Inequalities exist around gender—which can be defined as the “socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, attributes and opportunities that any society considers appropriate for men and women, boys and girls” and people with non-binary identities. 2 As Raewyn Connell laid out more than two decades ago, existing systems typically distribute greater power, resources, and status to men and behaviors considered masculine . 3 As a result, gender intersects with other sources of disadvantage, most notably income, age, race, and ethnicity.

This understanding is now mainstream. As recently observed by the IMF, “The gender inequalities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic follow different paths but almost always end up the same: Women have suffered disproportionate economic harm from the crisis.” 4 Among the important nuances revealed by micro-surveys is that rural women working informally continued to work through the pandemic , but with sharply reduced earnings in Nigeria and elsewhere. 5 And as the burden of child care and home schooling soared, rural households headed by women were far less likely than urban households to have children engaged in learning activities during school closures.

Important insights emerge from IFPRI’s longitudinal panel study (which included Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda) covering income loss, coping strategies, labor and time use, food and water insecurity, and child education outcomes. 6

Among the especially adverse impacts for women were greater food and water insecurity compared to men, including worrying about insufficient food and eating less than usual, while a large proportion of women also did not have adequately diverse diets. Moreover, many women had to add hours to their workday caring for sick family members, and their economic opportunities shrank, cutting their earnings and widening gender income gaps.

While today’s problems seem daunting, there remain huge causes for optimism, especially in Africa. Over the past three decades, many African countries have achieved enormous gains in levels of education, health, and poverty reduction. Indeed, the pace of change has been staggering and commendable. As captured in the Women Peace and Security Index , which measures performance in inclusion, justice, and security, 6 of the top 10 score improvers during the period 2017-2021 were in sub-Saharan Africa. [GIWPS.2022. “Women Peace and Security Index” Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.] The Democratic Republic of Congo was among top score improvers since 2017, as the share of women with financial accounts almost tripled, to 24 percent; and increases exceeding 5 percentage points were registered in cell phone use and parliamentary representation. In the Central African Republic, improvements were experienced in the security dimension, where organized violence fell significantly, and women’s perceptions of community safety rose 6 percentage points up to 49 percent.

Looking ahead, efforts to mitigate gender inequalities must clearly be multi-pronged, and as highlighted above—we need to think outside silos. That said, two major policy fronts emerge to the fore.

Ensure cash transfers that protect against poverty , are built and designed to promote women’s opportunities, with a focus on digital payments. 7 Ways to address gender inequalities as part of social protection program responses 8 include deliberate efforts to overcome gender gaps in cell phone access by distributing phones to those women who need them, as well as private sector partnerships to subsidize airtime for the poorest, and to make key information services and apps freely available . 9 Programs could also make women the default recipient of cash transfer schemes, instead of the head of household. Furthermore, capacity-building initiatives can be built into program design to give women the skills and capabilities needed to successfully manage accounts and financial decisionmaking. 10

Reducing the risk of violence against women. Women who are not safe at home are denied the freedom from violence needed to pursue opportunities that should be afforded to all. In 2018, 10 of the 15 countries with the worst rates of intimate partner violence were in sub-Saharan Africa—in descending order of average intimate partner violence these were, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Zambia, Ethiopia, Liberia, South Sudan, Djibouti, and Uganda.

“As the burden of child care and home schooling soared, rural households headed by women were far less likely than urban households to have children engaged in learning activities.”

Conflicts and crises multiply women’s risk of physical, emotional, and sexual violence . During the pandemic, risk factors like economic stress were compounded by service closures and stay-at-home orders, which increased exposure to potential perpetrators. 11 Several governments responded by strengthening existing help services , including police and justice, supporting hotlines, ensuring the provision of psychological support, and health sector responses. 12 Examples of good practice included an NGO in North-Eastern Nigeria, which equipped existing safe spaces with phone booths to enable survivors to contact caseworkers.

However, given the high levels of prevalence and often low levels of reporting, prevention of gender-based violence is key. Targeted programs with promising results in prevention include community dialogues and efforts to change harmful norms, safe spaces, as well as possibilities to reduce the risk of violence through cash plus social protection programs. These efforts should be accompanied by more systematic monitoring and evaluation to build evidence about what works in diverse settings.

Finally, but certainly not least, women should have space and voices in decisionmaking. This case was powerfully put by former President Sirleaf Johnson in her 2021 Foresight essay, which underlined that “ economic, political, institutional, and social barriers persist throughout the continent, limiting women’s abilities to reach high-level leadership positions .” 13 Persistent gender gaps in power and decision-making, not only limits innovative thinking and solutions, but also the consideration of more basic measures to avoid the worsening of gender inequalities. Overcoming these gaps in power and decision-making requires safeguarding legal protections and rights, investing in women and girls financially, and opening space for women in political parties so that women have the platforms to access high-level appointed and competitive positions across national, regional, and international institutions. 14

Strengthening fiscal policy for gender equality

Senior Fellow, Center for Sustainable Development, Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution

Research Analyst, Center for Sustainable Development, Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution

It is often said that women act as “shock absorbers” during times of crisis; this is even more so in the current context of climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increased geopolitical conflict. These three global crises have simultaneously stretched women’s ability to earn income and intensified their unpaid work. Well-designed fiscal policy can help cushion the effects of these shocks and enable women and their households to recover more quickly.

Over 60 percent of employed women in Africa work in agriculture, including in small-scale food production; women are the primary sellers in food markets, and they work in other sectors such as informal trading. At the same time, women are an increasing share of entrepreneurs in countries such as Ghana and Uganda, even as they face financial and other constraints to start and grow their firms. [Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL). 2020. “Supporting Women Throughout the Coronavirus Emergency Response and Economic Recovery.” World Bank Group. ] In addition to earning income for their households, women bear the major responsibility for unpaid domestic activities such as cooking; collecting water and fuelwood; caring for children, elderly, and other dependents—so women are more time-poor than are men.

African women and entrepreneurs have been impacted disproportionately more than men by the triple shocks mentioned earlier. Extreme weather events disrupt food production and agricultural employment, making it harder for women to earn income . 15 16 17 The pandemic and conflict in Ukraine further intensified women’s paid and unpaid activities . 18 19 Beyond climate change and the war in Ukraine, localized conflicts and insecurity in East and West Africa exposes women and girls to gender-based violence and other risks as they seek to support their families and develop new coping strategies. 20 21 22

“Responding to these shocks necessitates a large infusion of resources. In this context, fiscal policy can be deployed more smartly to advance gender equality and create an enabling environment for women to play a greater role in building their economies’ recovery and resilience.”

Responding to these shocks necessitates a large infusion of resources. In this context, fiscal policy can be deployed more smartly to advance gender equality and create an enabling environment for women to play a greater role in building their economies’ recovery and resilience. Public expenditure supports critical sectors such as education, health, agriculture, social protection, and physical and social infrastructure, while well-designed tax policy is essential to fund the public goods, services, and infrastructure on which both women and men rely.

Gender-responsive budgets, which exist in over 30 countries across the continent, can be strengthened. Rwanda provides a good model for other countries. After an early unsuccessful attempt, Rwanda invested seriously in gender budgeting beginning in 2011. 23 24 The budget is focused on closing gaps and strengthening women’s roles in key sectors—agriculture, education, health, and infrastructure—which are all critical for short- and medium-term economic growth and productivity. The process has been sustained by strong political will among parliamentarians. Led by the Ministry of Finance, the process has financed and been complemented by important institutional and policy reforms. A constitutional regulatory body monitors results, with additional accountability by civil society organizations.

However, raising adequate fiscal revenue to support a gender budget is a challenge in the current macro environment of high public debt levels, increased borrowing costs, and low levels of public savings. Yet, observers note there is scope to increase revenues through taxation reforms, debt relief, cutting wasteful public expenditure, and other means. 25 26 We focus here on taxation.

Many countries are reforming their tax systems to strengthen revenue collection. Overall tax collection is currently low; the average tax-to-GDP ratio in Africa in 2020 was 14.8 percent and fell sharply during the pandemic, although it may be rebounding. 27 Very few Africans pay personal income tax or other central government taxes, 28 29 and statutory corporate tax rates (which range from 25-35 percent), are higher than even the recent OECD proposal for a global minimum tax 30 so scope for raising them further is limited. Efforts should be made to close loopholes and reduce tax evasion.

As countries reform their tax policies, they should be intentional about avoiding implicit and explicit gender biases. 31 32 33 34 Most African countries rely more on indirect taxes than direct taxes, given the structure of their economies, but indirect taxes can be regressive as their incidence falls primarily on the poor. Presumptive or turnover taxes, for example, which are uniform or fixed amounts of tax based on the “presumed” incomes of different occupations such as hairdressers, can hit women particularly hard, since the burden often falls heavily on sectors where women predominate. 35 36

Property taxes are also becoming an increasingly popular way to raise revenue for local governments. The impact of these efforts on male and female property owners has not been systematically evaluated, but a recent study of land use fees and agricultural income taxes in Ethiopia finds that female-headed and female adult-only households bear a larger tax burden than male-headed and dual-adult households of property taxes. This is likely a result of unequal land ownership patterns, gender norms restricting women’s engagement in agriculture, and the gender gap in agricultural productivity. 37

“Indirect taxes can be regressive as their incidence falls primarily on the poor. Presumptive or turnover taxes … can hit women particularly hard, since the burden often falls heavily on sectors where women predominate.”

Going forward, two key ingredients for gender budgeting on the continent need to be strengthened. The first is having sufficient, regularly collected, sex-disaggregated administrative data related to households, the labor force, and other survey data. Investment in the robust technical capacity for ministries and academia to be able to access, analyze, and use it is also necessary. For instance, the World Bank, UN Women, and the Economic Commission for Africa are all working with National Statistical Offices across the continent to strengthen statistical capacity in the areas of asset ownership and control, work and employment, and entrepreneurship which can be used in a gender budget.

The second ingredient is stronger diagnostic tools. One promising new tool, pioneered by Tulane University, is the Commitment to Equity methodology, designed to assess the impact of taxes and transfers on income inequality and poverty within countries. 38 It was recently extended to examine the impact of government transfers and taxes on women and men by income level and other dimensions. The methodology requires standard household-level data but for maximum effect should be supplemented with time use data, which are becoming more common in several African countries. As African countries seek to expand revenue from direct taxes, lessons from higher income economies are instructive. Although there is no one size fits all approach, key principles to keep in mind for designing personal income taxes include building in strong progressivity, taxing individuals as opposed to families, ensuring that the allocation of shared income (e.g., property or non-labor income) does not penalize women, and building in allowances for care of children and dependents. 39 As noted, corporate income taxes need to eliminate the many breaks, loopholes, and exemptions that currently exist, 40 and countries might consider experimenting with wealth taxes.

In terms of indirect taxes, most African countries do not have single-rate VAT systems and already have zero or reduced rates for basic necessities, including foodstuffs and other necessities. While it is important to minimize exempted sectors and products, estimates show that goods essential for women’s and children’s health (e.g., menstrual health products, diapers, cooking fuel) should be considered part of the basket of basic goods that have reduced or zero rates. 41 And while African governments are being advised to bring informal workers and entrepreneurs into the formal tax system, 42 it should be noted that this massive sector earns well below income tax thresholds and already pays multiple informal fees and levies, for instance in fees to market associations. 43 44

Lastly, leveraging data and digital technologies to improve tax administration (i.e., taxpayer registration, e-filing, and e-payment of taxes) may help minimize costs and processing time, and reduce the incidence of corruption and evasion.32 Digitalization can also be important for bringing more female taxpayers into the net, especially if digital systems are interoperable; for instance, digital taxpayer registries linked to national identification or to property registration at the local level. However, digitalization can be a double-edged sword if privacy and security concerns are not built-in from the outset. Women particularly may need targeted digital financial literacy and other measures to ensure their trust in the system. Recent shocks have worsened gender inequality in Africa. It is therefore important now, more than ever, to invest in strengthening fiscal systems to help women and men recover, withstand future shocks, and reduce gender inequalities. While fiscal policy is not the only tool, it is an important part of government action. To be effective and improve both budgeting and revenue collection, more and better data, new diagnostic tools, and digitalization will all be necessary.

• 1. Martin Wolf. 2022.“How to think about policy in a policy crisis”. Financial Times.
• 2. WTO. 2022. “Gender and Health”. World Health Organization.
• 3. Connell RW. 1995. “Masculinities”. Cambridge, UK. Polity Press.
• 4. Aoyagi, Chie.2021.“Africa’s Unequal Pandemic”. Finance and Development. International Monetary Fund.
• 5. WB.2022. “LSMS-Supported High-Frequency Phone Surveys”. World Bank.
• 6. Muzna Alvi, Shweta Gupta, Prapti Barooah, Claudia Ringler, Elizabeth Bryan and Ruth Meinzen-Dick.2022.“Gendered Impacts of COVID-19: Insights from 7 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia”. International Food Policy Research Institute.
• 7. Klugman, Jeni, Zimmerman, Jamie M., Maria A. May, and Elizabeth Kellison. 2020. “Digital Cash Transfers in the Time of COVID 19: Opportunities and Considerations for Women’s Inclusion and Empowerment”. World Bank Group.
• 8. IFPRI.2020. “Why gender-sensitive social protection is critical to the COVID-19 response in low-and middle-income countries”. International Food Policy Research Institute.
• 9. IDFR.2020. “Kenya: Mobile-money as a public-health tool”. International Day of Family Remittances.
• 10. Jaclyn Berfond Franz Gómez S. Juan Navarrete Ryan Newton Ana Pantelic. 2019. “Capacity Building for Government-to-Person Payments A Path to Women’s Economic Empowerment”. Women’s World Banking.
• 11. Peterman, A. et al.2020. “Pandemics and Violence Against Women and Children”.Center for Global Development Working Paper.
• 12. UNDP/ UN Women Tracker.2022. “United Nations Development Programme. COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker”. United Nations Development Programme. New York.
• 13. McKinsey Global Institute .2019. “The power of parity: Advancing women’s equality in Africa”.
• 14. Foresight Africa. 2022. “African Women and Girls: Leading a continent.” The Brookings Institution.
• 15. One recent study in West, Central Africa, East and Southern Africa found that women represented a larger share of agricultural employment in areas affected by heat waves and droughts, and a lower share in areas unaffected by extreme weather events. Nico, G. et al. 2022. “How Weather Variability and Extreme Shocks Affect Women’s Participation in African Agriculture.” Gender, Climate Change, and Nutrition Integration Initiative Policy Note 14.
• 16. Carleton, E. 2022. “Climate Change in Africa: What Will It Mean for Agriculture and Food Security?” International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).
• 17. Nebie, E.K. et al. 2021. “Food Security and Climate Shocks in Senegal: Who and Where Are the Most Vulnerable Households?” Global Food Security, 29.
• 18. Sen, A.K. 2022. “Russia’s War in Ukraine Is Taking a Toll on Africa.” United States Institute of Peace.
• 19. Thomas, A. 2020. “Power Structures over Gender Make Women More Vulnerable to Climate Change.” Climate Change News.
• 21. Kalbarczyk, A. et al. 2022. “COVID-19, Nutrition, and Gender: An Evidence-Informed Approach to Gender Responsive Policies and Programs.” Social Science & Medicine, 312.
• 22. Epstein, A. 2020. “Drought and Intimate Partner Violence Towards Women in 19 Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa During 2011-2018: A Population-Based Study.” PLoS Med, 17(3).
• 23. Stotsky, J. et al. 2016. “Sub-Saharan Africa: A Survey of Gender Budgeting Efforts. IMF Working Paper 2016/512.
• 24. Kadama, C. et al. 2018. Sub-Saharan Africa.” In Kolovich, L. (Ed.), Fiscal Policies and Gender Equality (pp. 9-32). International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• 25. Ortiz, I. and Cummins, M. 2021. “Abandoning Austerity: Fiscal Policies for Inclusive Development.” In Gallagher, K. and Gao, H. (Eds.), Building Back a Better Global Financial Safety Net (pp. 11-22). Global Development Policy Center.
• 26. Roy, R. et al. 2006. “Fiscal Space for Public Investment: Towards a Human Development Approach.”
• 27. ATAF, 2021.
• 28. Moore, M. et al. 2018. “Taxing Africa: Coercion, Reform and Development. Bloomsbury Publishing.
• 29. Rogan, M. 2019. Tax Justice and the Informal Economy: A Review of the Debates.” Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing Working Paper 14.
• 30. African Tax Administrative Forum (ATAF). 2021. African Tax Outlook 2021.
• 31. Stotsky, J. et al. 2016. “Sub-Saharan Africa: A Survey of Gender Budgeting Efforts.” IMF Working Paper 2016/512.
• 32. Coelho, M. et al. 2022. “Gendered Taxes: The Interaction of Tax Policy with Gender Equality.” IMF Working Paper 2022/26.
• 33. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 2021. Gender and Capital Budgeting.
• 34. Grown, C. and Valodia, I. 2010. Taxation and Gender Equity: A Comparative Analysis of Direct and Indirect Taxes in Developing and Developed Countries. Routledge.
• 35. Joshi, Anuradha et al. 2020. “Gender and Tax Policies in the Global South.” International Centre for Tax and Development.
• 36. Komatsu, H. et al. 2021. “Gender and Tax Incidence of Rural Land Use Fee and Agricultural In¬come Tax in Ethiopia.” Policy Research Working Papers.
• 38. Lustig, N. 2018. “Commitment to Equity Handbook: Estimating the Impact of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty.” Brookings Institution Press.
• 39. Grown, C. and Valodia, I. 2010. “Taxation and Gender Equity: A Comparative Analysis of Direct and Indirect Taxes in Developing and Developed Countries.” Routledge.
• 40. Cesar, C. et al. 2022. “Africa’s Pulse: An Analysis of Issues Shaping Africa’s Economic Future.” World Bank.
• 41. Woolard, I. 2018. Recommendations on Zero Ratings in the Value-Added Tax System. Independent Panel of Experts for the Review of Zero Rating in South Africa.
• 42. It is important to distinguish between firms and individuals that are large enough to pay taxes but do not (which include icebergs, e.g., which are registered and therefore partially visible to tax authorities but do not pay their full obligations) and ghosts, e.g., those which should register to pay but do not and there invisible to tax authorities) and firms and individuals that are small and potentially but not necessarily taxable such as street vendors and waste pickers. Rogan, M. (2019). “Tax Justice and the Informal Economy: A Review of the Debates.” Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing Working Paper 14.
• 44. Ligomeka, W. 2019. “Expensive to be a Female Trader: The Reality of Taxation of Flea Market Trad¬ers in Zimbabwe.” International Center for Tax and Development Working Paper 93.

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06 | Climate Change Adapting to a new normal

Foresight Africa: Top Priorities for the Continent in 2023

On January 30, AGI hosted a Foresight Africa launch featuring a high-level panel of leading Africa experts to offer insights on regional trends along with recommendations for national governments, regional organizations, multilateral institutions, the private sector, and civil society actors as they forge ahead in 2022.

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Ten things to know about gender equality

In 2015, the 193 member countries of the United Nations came together to commit to 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 5 focused on gender equality and set the ambitious target of achieving gender equality  and empowering women and girls everywhere by 2030. Five years later, large gender gaps remain across the world, and the early evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a regressive effect on gender equality.

How can we ensure that the role of women in the workplace and in society is central to efforts to rebuild economies in the COVID-19 era, and that women do not fall further behind? As world leaders at the UN General Assembly assess progress, look ahead to recovery, and commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Beijing declaration , we offer our perspectives on the ten things everyone should know about gender equality.

1. Tackling the global gender gap will boost global GDP

Gender inequality is not only a pressing moral and social issue but also a critical economic challenge. A 2015 report from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), The Power of Parity: How advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth , explored the economic potential available if the global gender gap was narrowed. Five years ago, women generated 37 percent of global GDP despite accounting for 50 percent of the global working-age population. The research found that in a best-in-region scenario in which all countries match the performance of the country in their region that has made the most progress toward gender equality, $12 trillion a year could be added to GDP in 2025. That would be equivalent in size to the GDP of Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined, and roughly double the likely growth in global GDP contributed by female workers between 2014 and 2025 in a business-as-usual scenario. Both advanced and developing economies would stand to gain considerably; all regions could achieve at least 8 percent in incremental GDP over business-as-usual levels. In a full-potential scenario in which women match men’s participation in the workforce, their sector mix, and their full-time mix of jobs, the additional GDP opportunity could be $28 trillion, or an additional 26 percent of annual global GDP in 2025. That would be roughly equivalent to the GDP of the United States and China. As we note in item number 6, the COVID-19 pandemic has added new urgency—and new risks—to achieving the economic benefits of gender parity. We have updated our calculations accordingly.

2. Progress toward gender equality has been marginal since 2015; large gaps remain

Even before the COVID-19 crisis, global progress in tackling gender gaps—in both work and society—had been marginal since 2015. MGI mapped 15 indicators of gender equality in work (how men and women engage in paid work, how they share unpaid work, and their representation in high-productivity and formal jobs, and in leading positions in the economy) and society (essential services and enablers of economic opportunity like digital and financial inclusion, legal protection and political voice, and physical security and autonomy). Gender equality in society and gender equality in work are correlated based on MGI’s analysis of 125 countries. While absolute scores on equality in society tend to be higher than those of equality in work for most countries, we found virtually no countries with high equality on social indicators and low equality in employment and labor markets. This suggests that solutions need to tackle both.

We aggregated the 15 indicators into a Gender Parity Score, or GPS, ranging from zero (no gender equality) to one (full gender equality). In the past five years, progress has been marginal. Gender gaps remain across all regions (Exhibit 1). In 2015, the global GPS was 0.60; today, it is 0.61. For gender equality in work, the overall score in 2019 was 0.52, up from 0.51 in 2015. For gender equality in society, the overall score in 2019 was 0.67, up from 0.66 in 2015. These trends are similar across regions. The Middle East and North Africa region experienced the biggest increase in gender equality, rising from a global GPS of 0.47 in 2015 to 0.50 in 2019. However, some regions have experienced declines in either gender equality in work or gender equality in society since 2015.

All is not doom and gloom—there are significant bright spots to celebrate. Maternal mortality is decreasing in most places, and literacy and secondary education enrollment are increasing in many countries. At work, too, most countries are making slow and steady progress in equality. McKinsey has conducted research on gender diversity in North American companies in partnership with LeanIn.Org on since 2015. The research finds that 87 percent of North American companies today report gender diversity is a top priority , compared with 74 percent in 2015, but this reported priority still needs to translate into more decisive action. Representation of women in the C-suite in North America has increased to 21 percent, from 17 percent in 2015.

3. Over the past two decades, while women in advanced economies have made large gains as workers, consumers, and savers, they have faced rising costs and insecurity

Although women in advanced economies of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have made far-reaching gains as workers, consumers, and savers  over the past two decades, much of this progress has been offset by rising costs and new forms of insecurity that disproportionately affect women. Between 2000 and 2018, women accounted for two-thirds of 45 million jobs created in 22 OECD countries, but many of these jobs were part-time or independent work that were less secure and offered lower pay and fewer benefits. In this period, female part-time employment increased by 2.3 percentage points, versus a 0.7-percentage-point increase in full-time employment for women. As consumers, women—and men—benefited from a sharp decline in the prices of many discretionary goods and services such as communications and recreation, but that was offset by rising costs of housing, healthcare, and education that absorbed 54 to 107 percent of the average household’s income gains in Australia, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. As savers, the outlook for women is also challenging. One study found that while women’s median net wealth is higher overall than it was two decades ago, a large gender gap remains. In Europe, women’s median net wealth is 62 percent that of men.

4. Women continue to work a double shift at home

While women face inequality in the world of work, they also face inequalities in the home. Around the world, women do three times as much unpaid care work as men. As one of many examples around the world, the “double shift” is a fact of life for millions of women in China , who go out to work but then do the lion’s share of work in the home as well. On average, they work nearly nine hours a day, and only about half of that is paid. Putting the two together, on average women in China work almost one entire day a week more than men. In some countries like India, women do almost ten times as much unpaid care work as men. This phenomenon is by no means confined to developing economies; it is a consistent fact that women work a double shift in advanced economies, too. In the United States, for instance, women still do almost twice as much unpaid care work  as men; 54 percent of women but only 22 percent of men report doing all or most of the housework . Even among individuals who earn the majority of their household’s income, 43 percent of women who are primary household income earners continue to do all or most of the household work, compared with only 12 percent of men. In addition, working women are more likely than their male colleagues to have a working spouse: 81 percent of women are part of a dual-career couple and have two careers to balance, while only 56 percent of men are part of a dual-career couple.

5. Women face growing challenges from automation

Growing automation adoption adds to the challenges that women face in the workplace. MGI research  found that the share of women whose jobs are replaced by machines and will likely need to make job transitions due to automation is roughly the same as for men: up to one in four over the next decade may have to shift to a different occupation. Between 40 million and 160 million women globally may need to transition between occupations by 2030, often into higher-skill roles (Exhibit 2).

The particular challenge for women is that long-standing barriers make it harder for them to adapt to the future of work. Women and men alike need to develop (1) the skills that will be in demand; (2) the flexibility and mobility needed to negotiate labor-market transitions successfully; and (3) the access to and knowledge of technology necessary to work with automated systems, including participating in its creation. Unfortunately, women often face long-established and pervasive structural and societal barriers that could hinder them in all three of these areas. Women may have less time to refresh or learn new skills or to search for employment because they spend much more time than men on unpaid care work. They may also face financial constraints in doing so. And they may not have the professional networks and sponsors that could make it easier for them to navigate job transitions, among other factors. Moreover, women tend to have less access to digital technology and lower participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields than men. If women make these transitions, they could find more productive, better-paid work; if they don’t, they could face a growing wage gap or leave the labor market altogether.

6. The challenge for women is now even greater as they experience economic fallout from COVID-19

Although the early evidence suggests that the COVID-19 infection has been more deadly for men than women—the death rate for men in countries like China, Italy, and South Korea has been almost double the rate for women—women’s economic prospects have been hit the hardest. On employment, our research  has found that women’s jobs globally are 1.8 times as vulnerable to this crisis as men’s jobs. Women make up 39 percent of global employment but accounted for 54 percent of overall job losses as of May 2020. Globally, part of the reason is that women are disproportionately represented in industries that are expected to decline the most in 2020 due to COVID-19 (Exhibit 3). Another factor is that during the pandemic, even more unpaid care work such as childcare and home schooling fell to women as nurseries and schools closed; in the United States, for example, the amount of time women spend on household responsibilities has increased by 1.5 to two hours, according to one study . The pandemic may have had noneconomic consequences for women, too—some reports suggest that the prevalence of violence against women from an intimate partner may have increased during lockdowns . If no action is taken to counter the gender-regressive impacts of COVID-19, we calculate that global GDP growth could be $1 trillion lower in 2030 than it would be if women’s unemployment simply tracked that of men in each sector. That hit to growth could be even larger if increased childcare responsibilities, a slower recovery, and reduced public and private spending on services such as education and childcare force women to leave the labor market permanently. However, if action is taken to advance gender equality, $12 trillion could be added to global GDP in 2030 compared with the baseline, as noted earlier; this implies a $13 trillion potential compared with the gender-regressive scenario in which global GDP slides back by $1 trillion in 2030. A middle path—taking action only after the crisis has subsided rather than now—would reduce the potential opportunity by more than $5 trillion.

7. We can grow our way out of some gender equality issues but not others

Even if policy makers and companies manage to craft a robust economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, there is no guarantee that a resumption of economic growth will help revive progress toward gender equality. For many years, it has been clear that economic growth (rising per capita GDP) does not lift all segments of the population—we cannot grow our way out of some aspects of gender equality.

In MGI’s 2015 power of parity report, we identified ten “impact zones.” These are the largest concentrations of gender inequality, where action to tackle gender gaps would have the most impact. In five global impact zones, gender inequality is high whether women live in an advanced or emerging economy: blocked economic potential (including women’s participation in leadership positions and formal work), time spent in unpaid care work, fewer legal rights, political underrepresentation, and violence against women. Today, for every 100 men in leadership positions globally, there are just 37 women. One in three women globally, including in developed countries like the United States, has experienced violence from an intimate partner at some time in her life. In these impact zones, economic growth alone is insufficient to guarantee progress; sustained and proactive interventions will be needed.

In contrast, in some geographies, economic growth could help advance gender inequality in five regional impact zones where certain aspects of gender inequality are most prominent. They are low labor-force participation in quality jobs (in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa), low maternal and reproductive health (in sub-Saharan Africa), unequal education levels (in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa), financial and digital exclusion (in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa), and girl-child vulnerability (in China and South Asia). For many of these impact zones, economic growth can increase the provision of services that could help improve outcomes. In Africa, for instance, rising per capita GDP should enable more healthcare provision, reducing maternal mortality. As countries increase their standard of living, girls typically attain increasing levels of education. In developed countries, women are now outperforming men academically on many dimensions. In the United States, for example, women receive 57 percent of college degrees, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, and have higher overall average GPAs (but still lag behind men in STEM graduation rates).

8. Companies that are gender and ethnically diverse outperform their peers

Advancing gender equality is not just an opportunity for countries; companies also stand to gain. McKinsey research on Diversity Matters (2015), on Delivering through Diversity (2018), and most recently in May 2020 on Diversity Wins examined whether companies with higher levels of both gender and ethnic diversity have greater economic performance. The 2020 research examined a data set of more than 1,000 large companies in 15 countries and found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity were 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile. Companies in the top quartile of ethnic and cultural diversity were 36 percent more likely to outperform on profitability. The highest-performing companies on both profitability and diversity had more women in line roles (that is, owning a line of business) than in staff roles on their executive teams. The research also found a penalty for bottom-quartile performance on gender diversity: companies in the bottom quartile for both gender and ethnic diversity were 27 percent more likely to underperform the industry average than all other firms.

Given all the competing priorities arising from the current pandemic, there is a significant risk that inclusion and diversity may recede as strategic priorities for organizations as companies focus on recovery. Downgrading diversity could well be a mistake, compromising performance and thwarting efforts to strengthen recovery over time.

9. The corporate career pipeline for women is leaky, especially early on

Over the years, our research with LeanIn.Org has found some progress in the advancement of women through the corporate pipeline in North America. In the 2019 Women in the Workplace  report, we found that, of entry-level workers, 48 percent were women, compared with 45 percent in 2015. Women made up 21 percent of the C-suite, compared with 17 percent in 2019. However, as these numbers show, women are underrepresented at all levels of organizations, and the pipeline is leaky between the entry level and the C-suite. The biggest obstacle to women on the corporate ladder is a “broken rung” in the first step up to the manager level. For every 100 men hired or promoted to manager, there are only 72 women—and only 58 black women. After this initial degree of drop-off, it is very difficult for women to make up the ground lost. If differences in promotion rate are aggregated across five years, this equates to a difference of one million women in leadership roles.

Women of color are especially underrepresented in the North American workforce and face the steepest drop-offs. In North America, 18 percent of entry-level positions are held by women of color, but their representation in the C-suite is 4 percent, according to our 2019 Women in the Workplace research. These outcomes are mirrored in the day-to-day experiences of women of color in the workforce—56 percent of black women say they and their peers have equal opportunity for growth, compared with 69 percent of white women. Women of color also experience more workplace “microaggressions.” For example, 40 percent of black women and 30 percent of Asian women say they needed to provide more evidence of their competence than others, compared with 28 percent of white women and 14 percent of men.

We find similar trends across the world. Across Asia–Pacific , for instance, there is only one woman in leadership positions for every four men. In some countries in East Asia, there are only 12 to 20 women leaders for every 100 men.

10. All stakeholders need to work together to maintain and accelerate progress on gender equality

There is a huge amount to do, particularly given that the automation age and now COVID-19 mean that women face new challenges on top of old ones. The only way to breathe new life into efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goal 5 is for the main stakeholders to work together on comprehensive solutions to the complex issue of gender inequality. As governments design stimulus programs and companies look for restart strategies in the wake of the pandemic, it will be important not to ignore potential gender consequences; indeed, it’s time to double down by putting gender at the heart of these initiatives to capture opportunities. More data will be needed to ensure greater transparency and understanding of gender consequences.

National governments can enable change on a broader front using the law. For instance, they can remove legal barriers against women working (such as regulations prohibiting women from working night shifts) and can enforce laws protecting women from violence. The policy tool kit is wide-ranging, from financial support for women such as cash transfers, to tax regulations, childcare programs, and ensuring that public infrastructure is built and designed with gender in mind. The importance of reducing the gender gap in who takes responsibility for caregiving cannot be overstated, and governments can play an important role here. Some governments have enacted quotas to ensure a minimum level of women in leadership roles. Others have accelerated gender equality through incentives for women’s education, entrepreneurship, and business lending, for instance. Nongovernmental organizations also have an important role to play, for example in shaping attitudes and social norms. Many governments and NGOs have developed fruitful partnerships with companies to scale new solutions quickly. Finally, stimulus programs can be used to help invest in women and girls.

Companies can act on a number of fronts starting with their own employees, attracting, retaining, and promoting women and understanding where the pinch points in the talent pipeline are greatest. Leaders need to champion gender diversity, ensuring that hiring and promotions are fair and fostering an inclusive and respectful culture. In the COVID-19 era, many companies are exploring family-friendly policies, including flexible and part-time positions, to support workers experiencing an increased childcare burden, as well as rethinking performance reviews and promotions. Companies can use this moment to design and put in place policies and practices that can support women in the long term. Companies can also use their supply chains and procurement practices to support women-owned businesses and hold suppliers accountable to diversity and inclusion targets.

Individuals need to make a contribution, too, from advocating for themselves in their own careers to helping others advance through sponsorship and mentorship. At work, they can be proactive in supporting talented women and speaking up if they see unconscious bias or microaggressions. In their personal lives, they can explore their own biases, both conscious and unconscious. If they have families, they can aim to raise sons and daughters who are not constrained by gender. If they are investing, they can back companies that are driving gender equality in a way that is consistent with their values.

Five years after the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals, progress on gender equality has been modest at best, and now the effort to narrow gender gaps faces new challenges in the form of automation trends and the regressive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With only ten years left to meet Goal 5, progress needs to accelerate. Achieving equality for half the world’s population is a global imperative that risks being undermined by competing priorities in a complex world and by the challenges of recovering from the pandemic. Creating more opportunity for women and the next generation is an aspiration and a very real goal that can lift the global economy as well as contributing to a more just society. It is a goal we need to meet collectively.

The authors wish to thank MGI’s co-chair James Manyika, based in San Francisco, and MGI director Jonathan Woetzel, in Shanghai, for their ongoing contributions to gender equality research.

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Gender equality and education

Gender equality is a global priority at UNESCO. Globally, 122 million girls and 128 million boys are out of school. Women still account for almost two-thirds of all adults unable to read.

UNESCO calls for attention to gender equality throughout the education system in relation to access, content, teaching and learning context and practices, learning outcomes, and life and work opportunities. The  UNESCO Strategy for gender equality in and through education (2019-2025)  focuses on a system-wide transformation to benefit all learners equally in three key areas: better data to inform action, better legal and policy frameworks to advance rights and better teaching and learning practices to empower. 

What you need to know about education and gender equality

"her education, our future" documentary film.

Released on 7 March for 2024 International Women’s Day, “Her Education, Our Future” is a documentary film following the lives of Anee, Fabiana, Mkasi and Tainá – four young women across three continents who struggle to fulfill their right to education. 

This documentary film offers a spectacular dive into the transformative power of education and showcases how empowering girls and women through education improves not only their lives, but also those of their families, communities and indeed all of society. 

Key figures

of which 122 million are girls and 128 million are boys

of which 56% are women

for every 100 young women

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• From access to empowerment: operational tools to advance gender equality in and through education
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Global Gender Gap Report 2023

Benchmarking gender gaps, 2023

The Global Gender Gap Index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 to benchmark progress towards gender parity and compare countries’ gender gaps across four dimensions: economic opportunities, education, health and political leadership.

The goal of the report is to offer a consistent annual metric for the assessment of progress over time. Using the methodology introduced in 2006, the index and the analysis focus on benchmarking parity between women and men across countries and regions.

The level of progress toward gender parity (the parity score) for each indicator is calculated as the ratio of the value of each indicator for women to the value for men. A parity score of 1 indicates full parity. The gender gap is the distance from full parity.

The analysis in this report is focused on assessing gender gaps between women and men across economic, educational, health and political outcomes based on the data available (Figure 1.1).

For further information on the index methodology, please refer to Appendix B.

Country coverage​

To ensure a global representation of the gender gap, the report aims to cover as many economies as possible. For a country to be included, it must report data for a minimum 12 of the 14 indicators that comprise the index. We also aim to include the latest data available, reported within the last 10 years.

The report this year covers 146 countries. In this edition, Croatia rejoins the index, whereas Guyana drops out.

Among the 146 countries included this year are a set of 102 countries that have been covered in all editions since the inaugural one in 2006. Scores based on this constant set of countries are used to compare regional and global aggregates across time.

It should be noted that there may be time lags in the data collection and validation processes across the organizations from which the data is sourced, and that all results should be interpreted within a range of global, regional and national contextual factors. The Economy Profiles at the end of the report provide a large range of additional data.

Global results

The Global Gender Gap score in 2023 for all 146 countries included in this edition stands at 68.4% closed. Considering the constant sample of 145 countries covered in the 2022 and 2023 editions, the overall score changed from 68.1% to 68.4%, an improvement of 0.3 percentage points compared to last year’s edition. When considering the 102 countries covered continuously from 2006 to 2023, the gap is 68.6% closed.

Compared to last year, progress towards narrowing the gender gap has been more widespread: 42 of the 145 economies covered in both the 2022 and 2023 editions improved their gender parity score by at least 1 percentage point since the previous edition and 40 other countries registered gains of less than 1 percentage point. The economies with the greatest increase in score (gains of 4 percentage points or more) are Liberia (score: 76%, +5.1 percentage points since the previous edition), Estonia (78.2%, +4.8 percentage points), Bhutan (68.2%, +4.5 percentage points), Malawi (67.6%, +4.4 percentage points), Colombia (75.1%, +4.1 percentage points) and Chile (77.7%, +4.1 percentage points).

While there is an increase in the number of countries registering at least a marginal improvement, such progress is mitigated by an increase in the number of countries with declining scores steeper than 1 percentage point (from 12 in 2022 to 35 in 2023).

Table 1.1 shows the 2023 Global Gender Gap rankings and the scores for all 146 countries included in this year’s report. Although no country has yet achieved full gender parity, the top nine countries (Iceland, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, Nicaragua, Namibia and Lithuania) have closed at least 80% of their gap. For the 14th year running, Iceland (91.2%) takes the top position. It also continues to be the only country to have closed more than 90% of its gender gap. The global top five is completed by three other Nordic countries – Norway (87.9%, 2nd), Finland (86.3%, 3rd) and Sweden (81.5%, 5th) – and one country from East Asia and the Pacific – New Zealand (85.6%, 4th). Additionally, from Europe, Germany (81.5%) moves up to 6th place (from 10th), Lithuania (80.0.%) returns to the top 10 economies, taking 9th place, and Belgium (79.6%) joins the top 10 for the first time in 10th place. One country from Latin America (Nicaragua, 81.1%) and one from Sub-Saharan Africa (Namibia, 80.2%) – complete this year’s top 10, taking the 7th and 8th positions, respectively. The two countries that drop out of the top 10 in 2023 are Ireland (79.5%,11th, down from 9th place) and Rwanda (79.4%, 12th, down from 6th place in 2022).

Performance by subindex​

This section discusses the global gender gap scores across the four main components (subindexes) of the index: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. In doing so, it aims to illuminate and explore the factors that are driving the overall average global gender gap score.

Summarized in Figure 1.2, this year’s results show that across the 146 countries covered by the 2023 index, the Health and Survival gender gap has closed by 96%, Educational Attainment by 95.2%, Economic Participation and Opportunity by 60.1% and Political Empowerment by 22.1%.

When looking at the sample of 145 countries included in both the 2022 and 2023 editions, results show that this year’s progress is mainly caused by a significant improvement on the Educational Attainment gap and more modest increases for the Health and Survival and Political Empowerment subindexes. The Economic Participation and Opportunity gender parity score has, however, receded since last year.

The score distributions across each subindex offer a more detailed picture of the disparities in country-specific gender gaps across the four dimensions. Figure 1.3 marks the distribution of individual country scores attained both overall and by subindex.

More than two-thirds (69.2%) of countries score above the 2023 population-weighted average Gender Gap Index score (68.4%). Similar to 2022, Afghanistan (40.5%) ranks last, at the lower end of the distribution, with a difference of 27.8 percentage points compared to the mean. In fact, Afghanistan registers the lowest performance across all subindexes, with the exception of the Health and Survival subindex, where it takes the 141st position, ranking below the bottom 5th percentile. The country scoring penultimate in the global ranking is Chad (57.0%), which deviates from the average score by 11.3 percentage points.

Health and Survival, followed by Educational Attainment, continue to display the least amount of variation of scores, whereas the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Political Empowerment subindexes continue to show the widest dispersion of scores. The range of scores in this year’s gender gap in Economic Participation and Opportunity has not changed since last year: the difference between the highest scores (89.5%) and the country with the lowest scores (18.8%) remains extensive (70.8%).

Countries that report relatively even access for men and women when it comes to Economic Participation and Opportunity include economies as varied as Liberia (89.5%), Jamaica (89.4%), Moldova (86.3%), Lao PDR (85.1%), Belarus (81.9%), Burundi (81.0%) and Norway (80%). At the bottom of the distribution, apart from Afghanistan, the countries that attained less than 40% parity include Algeria (31.7%), Iran (34.4%), Pakistan (36.2%) and India (36.7%).

A closer look at performance across the five indicators composing this subindex reveals that an important source of gender inequality stems from the overall underrepresentation of women in the labour market. The global population-weighted score indicates that, on average, only 64.9% of the gender gap in labour-force participation has been closed. Comparing the 102-country constant sample scores of 63.8% for 2023 and 62.9% for 2022, this marks a partial recovery. Chapter 2 examines recent dynamics in labour-force participation and related labour-market outcomes in more detail.

Though stark income gaps continue to hinder economic gender parity, with almost half (48.1%) of the overall earned income gap yet to close, results indicate that many countries experienced improvements since last year. Ninety-six countries (out of the 145 included in 2022 and 2023) progressed in bridging income gaps. The highest-scoring countries on this dimension include Liberia, followed by Zimbabwe (97.6%), Tanzania (90.3%), Burundi (88.3%), Barbados (88.1%) and Norway (85.1%), which all stand at above 85% parity. At the bottom of the distribution, Iran (17.1%), Algeria (19.2%) and Egypt (19.7%) display some of the largest inequalities between the incomes of men and women, scoring less than 20% parity.

When it comes to wages for similar work, the only countries in which the gender gap is perceived as more than 80% closed are Albania (85.8%) and Burundi (84.1%). Merely a quarter of the 146 economies included in this year’s edition score between 70%-80% on this indicator. These include some of the most advanced economies, such as Iceland (78.4% of gap closed), Singapore (78.3%), United Arab Emirates (77.6%), United States (77.3%), Finland (76.3%), Qatar (74.5%), Saudi Arabia (74.1%), Lithuania (74.1%), Slovenia (73.5%), Bahrain (72.8%), Estonia (71.4%), Barbados (71.2%), Luxembourg (70.4%), New Zealand (70.4%), Switzerland (70.3%), and Latvia (70.1%). The lowest-ranking countries on this dimension are Croatia (49.7% of the gap closed) and Lesotho (49.4%). Compared to last year’s performance, Bolivia, El Salvador and South Africa registered the largest improvements in score, of 5 percentage points or more.

Cross-country disparities are more pronounced in terms of the gender gap in senior, managerial and legislative roles, which globally stands at 42.9%. Ten countries assessed this year – six of which located in Sub-Saharan Africa – report parity on this indicator. Afghanistan, Pakistan and Algeria rank at the bottom, with less than 5% of professionals in senior positions being women. When it comes to professional and technical positions, 71% of the gender gap has been closed globally. Whereas women’s representation in managerial roles relative to men’s has improved by at least 1 percentage points for 38 countries, gender parity in professional and technical roles has improved for only 20 countries by the same measure (at least 1 percentage points).

Educational Attainment is the subindex with the second-highest global parity score, with only 4.8% of the gender gap left to close. When looking at the subset of 145 countries included in both 2022 and 2023, the number of economies with full gender parity in Educational Attainment has increased from 21 to 25. Cross-country scores on this dimension are less dispersed than for the Economic Participation or Political Empowerment subindices, with the majority (80.1%, or 117 out of 146) of participating countries having closed at least 95% of their educational gender gap. Similar to last year, Afghanistan is the only country where the educational gender parity score is below the 50% mark, at 48.2%. At the bottom of the distribution, we also encounter the Sub-Saharan countries of Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Angola, Niger and Mali – all with scores above 60%, but below 80% in educational parity (between 63.7%-77.9%).

Across indicators of the subindex, gender parity is lowest for literacy rate: globally, 94% of the gender gap in the proportion of those over 15 years of age who are literate has closed. Fifty-six countries have achieved full parity in literacy rate, whereas Afghanistan and Sub-Saharan countries such as Mali, Liberia, Chad and Guinea all register parity scores below 55%. When it comes to enrolment in primary education, full parity scores are more widespread: 65 countries register equivalent rates of enrolment in primary education for boys and for girls. The rest of the countries included this year display at least 90% parity, apart from the Sub-Saharan countries of Mali, Guinea and Chad, which score within the 80.4%-89.9% range.

Cross-national variation is wider for both secondary and tertiary enrolment. Whereas most countries (135) included in this edition closed at least 80% of their gender gap in secondary enrolment, a handful of countries remain below this threshold, with Congo (64% of the gap closed), Chad (58.3%) and Afghanistan (57.1) ranking last. Geographical disparities are even starker for tertiary education. While 101 countries display full parity on this indicator, including Cambodia as the most recent to reach the 1 parity mark this year, 18 more countries stand within the 80.2%-99.5% range, while several countries from Sub-Saharan Africa (such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire), Southern Asia (Afghanistan), and Eurasia and Central Asia (Tajikistan) still have between 21.7% (Côte d’Ivoire) and 71% (Afghanistan) of their gaps left to close.

The Health and Survival subindex displays the highest level of gender parity globally (at 96%) as well as the most clustered distribution of scores. The majority of countries (91.1%) register at most 2 percentage points above the average, and only a handful of others (13 out of 146) register at most 2.4 percentage points below the average. Twenty-six countries – most from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa – display the top score of 98% parity, 1 whereas Qatar, Viet Nam and populous countries such as Azerbaijan, India and China all score below the 95% mark.

Qatar’s lower overall ranking is driven by relatively lower parity in terms of healthy life expectancy. Though in most countries women tend to outlive men, in five Middle Eastern and North African countries (Morocco, 99.9%; Bahrain, 99.3%; Algeria, 99%; Jordan, 98.7%; Qatar, 95.5%), one from Sub-Saharan Africa (Mali, 99.3%) and two from Southern Asia (Pakistan, 99.9%, and Afghanistan, 97.1%), the reverse is true.

For Viet Nam, Azerbaijan, India and China, the relatively low overall rankings on the Health and Survival subindex is explained by skewed sex ratios at birth. Compared to top scoring countries that register a 94.4% gender parity at birth, the indicator stands at 92.7% for India (albeit an improvement over last edition) and below 90% for Viet Nam, China and Azerbaijan.

Finally, the Political Empowerment subindex registers once again the largest gender gap, at only 22.1% of the gap closed and the greatest spread of scores across countries. Iceland stands out as best performer, with a 90.1% parity score, which is 13.6 percentage points greater than the country ranking second (Norway) and 69 percentage points above the median global score (21.1%). In addition to the first two ranked, only 10 other countries out of the 146 included this year score above the 50% parity score: New Zealand (72.5%), Finland (70%), Germany (63.4%), Nicaragua (62.6%), Bangladesh (55.2%), Mozambique (54.2%), Rwanda (54.1%), Costa Rica (52.4%), Sweden (51.2%) and Chile (50.2%). The lowest parity scores are found for: Myanmar (4.7%), Nigeria (4.1%), Iran (3.1%), Lebanon (2.1%), Vanuatu (0.6%) and Afghanistan (0%).

Iceland and Bangladesh are the only countries where women have held the highest political position in a country for a higher number of years than men. In 67 other countries, women have never served as head of state in the past 50 years.

In terms of the share of women in ministerial positions, 11 out of 146 countries, led by Albania, Finland and Spain, have 50% or more ministers who are women. However, 75 countries have 20% or less female ministers. Further, populous countries such as India, Türkiye and China have less than 7% ministers who are women and countries like Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon have none.

As regards to parity in the number of seats in national parliaments, five countries stand at full parity: Mexico, Nicaragua, Rwanda, the United Arab Emirates and (as of this year’s edition) New Zealand. The countries with the least representation of women in parliament (less than 5%) are Maldives (4.8% of the gender gap closed), Qatar (4.6%), Nigeria (3.7%), Oman (2.4%) and Vanuatu (1.9%). Though still below the 40% parity threshold, Benin and Malta saw the largest improvements for this indicator, experiencing a rise of 26.6 and 23.2 percentage points, respectively.

Progress over time

By calculating how much the gap has, on average, reduced each year since the report’s first edition in 2006, using a constant sample of 102 countries, it is possible to project how many years it will take to close each of the gender gaps for each of the dimensions tracked. The 17-year trajectory of global gender gaps is charted accordingly in Figure 1.4.

This year’s results leave the total progress made towards gender parity at an overall 4.1 percentage-point gain since 2006. Hence, on average, over the past 17 years, the gap has been reduced by only 0.24 percentage points per year. If progress towards gender parity proceeds at the same average speed observed between the 2006 and 2023 editions, the overall global gender gap is projected to close in 131 years, compared to a projection of 132 years in 2022. This suggests that the year in which the gender gap is expected to close remains 2154, as progress is moving at the same rate as last year.

The Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex now stands at 59.8% based on the 102 countries in the constant sample (non-constant score 60.1%). This subindex is the only one that receded compared to 2022. There is a drop of 0.2 percentage points since 2022, but an improvement of 4.1 percentage points since 2006. The ebbing of the upward trend seen in last year’s edition can be partially attributed to the drop in the subindex scores for 66 economies including highly populated economies such as China, Indonesia, Nigeria, etc. As a result, it will take another 169 years to close the economic gender gap.

The Educational Attainment subindex displays the highest gender parity score (96.1%) on the basis of 102 countries in the constant sample (non-constant score 95.2%). The 0.8 percentage-point increase since last year places it from second to top-ranked across all subindices. While the development has not been unfaltering over time – accelerating then plateauing at various points in time and dropping in 2017-2018 and 2022 – the time-series analysis shows a definitive upward trend overall. Its improved performance as well as a steady pace of progress on average over the 2006-2023 period leads to an estimation of 16 years to close the gap.

The Health and Survival gender parity score stands at 95.9% based on the constant sample of 102 countries (non-constant score 96%). It is a modest improvement compared to last year (+0.2 percentage points) and an actual drop of 0.3 percentage points compared to 2006. Despite this slight long-term drop, the index has consistently stayed above the 95% mark since the inception of the index in 2006.

Based on the constant sample of 102 countries included in each edition from 2006 to 2023, the global Political Empowerment gender gap this year is 22.5% (non-constant score 22.1%), which is a slight improvement of 0.1 percentage points over 2022. A slower pace of improvement, however, means that it will now take another 162 years to completely close this gap, a significant step backwards compared to the 2022 edition. Yet, the 2023 score is the highest absolute increase of all four subindexes since 2006: 8.2 percentage points compared to 4.4 percentage points for Educational Attainment, which is the subindex with the second-greatest improvement.

Performance by region

The Global Gender Gap Report 2023 categorizes countries into eight regions: Eurasia and Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, Southern Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Countries in each regional group are listed in Appendix A.

Gender parity in Europe (76.3%) surpasses the parity level in North America (75%) this year to rank first among regions. Closely behind Europe and North America is Latin America and the Caribbean, with 74.3% parity. Trailing more than 5 percentage points behind Latin America and the Caribbean are Eurasia and Central Asia (69%) as well as East Asia and the Pacific (68.8%). Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 6th (68.2%), slightly below the global weighted average score (68.3%). Southern Asia (63.4%) overtakes the Middle East and North Africa (62.6%), which is, in 2023, the region furthest away from parity.

Using the 102-country constant sample to assess trends over time suggests that Southern Asia as well as Latin America and the Caribbean experienced an improvement of 1.1 percentage points and 1.7 percentage points, respectively, since the last edition. Sub-Saharan Africa improves marginally (+0.1 percentage points) while Eurasia and Central Asia (-0.01 percentage points), East Asia and the Pacific (-0.02 percentage points), and Europe (-0.02 percentage points) show a slight decline. North America (-1.9 percentage points) and the Middle East and North Africa (-0.09 percentage points) suffer more significant setbacks in overall gender parity.

The longer-term trends offer further insights into progress in the regional gender parity profiles. In comparison to the inaugural edition in 2006, the Latin America and the Caribbean region has improved the most, with an increase of 8.4 percentage points over the past 17 years. Europe (+6.1 percentage points) and Sub-Saharan Africa (+5.2 percentage points) are the other two regions that have improved by more than 5 percentage points. North America (+4.5 percentage points), the Middle East and North Africa (+4.2 percentage points) and Southern Asia (+4.1 percentage points) have improved by more than 4 percentage points, though parity scores in all three regions have backslid in recent editions. Eurasia and Central Asia (+ 3.2 percentage points) and East Asia and the Pacific (+ 2.8 percentage points) have seen the slowest to progress since 2006.

A more nuanced picture emerges from the heat map in Figure 1.6, which disaggregates regional scores by subindex and represents higher levels of parity using a darker colour. Most regions have achieved relatively higher parity in Educational Attainment and Health and Survival. The advancement in Economic Participation and Opportunity is more uneven, with Southern Asia closing 37.2% of the gender gap and North America closing more than double. Regions continue to have the most significant gaps in the Political Empowerment subindex, with only Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Europe recording more than 35% parity.

Eurasia and Central Asia

At 69% parity, Eurasia and Central Asia ranks 4th out of the eight regions on the overall Gender Gap Index. Based on the aggregated scores of the constant sample of countries included since 2006, the parity score since the 2020 edition has stagnated, although there has been an improvement of 3.2 percentage points since 2006. Moldova, Belarus and Armenia are the highest-ranking countries in the region, while Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Türkiye rank the lowest. The difference in parity between the highest- and the lowest-ranked country is 14.9 percentage points. At the current rate of progress, it will take 167 years for the Eurasia and Central Asia region to reach gender parity.

Regional gender parity on Economic Participation and Opportunity has been steadily increasing. Overall, 68.8% of the gender gap has closed, which is a 0.5 percentage-point improvement since the last edition. Six out of 10 countries, led by Moldova, Belarus and Azerbaijan, have at least 70% parity on this subindex. All countries in the region except Kyrgyzstan have made varying degrees of progress since the 2022 edition, with Moldova and Armenia making the most progress. Furthermore, all countries in the region have advanced towards parity in estimated earned income. Türkiye and Tajikistan demonstrate the least parity on Economic Participation and Opportunity, with Türkiye being the only country that has closed less than 60% of the gap on this subindex.

Eight out of 10 countries have more than 99% parity on the Educational Attainment subindex, resulting in 98.9% parity for the region. Türkiye and Ukraine, the region’s two most populous countries, have a persistent disparity in secondary enrolment. Barring Türkiye and Tajikistan, all countries have attained parity in enrolment in tertiary education.

At 97.4% parity, Eurasia and Central Asia has only three out of 10 countries that have less than 97% parity for the Health and Survival subindex. Azerbaijan and Armenia, home to more than 13 million people combined, have some of the lowest sex ratios at birth in the world. Finally, seven out of the 10 countries have reached parity in healthy life expectancy.

Compared to other regions, Eurasia and Central Asia has the lowest gender parity in Political Empowerment and suffers a 1 percentage-point setback since 2022. Its score of 10.9% is barely half the global score of 22.1%. Only Armenia, Ukraine and Tajikistan have made at least a 1 percentage-point improvement. While more than one-fifth of ministers in Moldova and Ukraine are women, Azerbaijan continues to be one of the handful countries with a male-only cabinet. Further, five of the 10 countries in the region have more than 25% women parliamentarians. With female presidents in Georgia and Moldova, there has been some improvement in female head-of-state representation in the last 50 years.

East Asia and the Pacific

East Asia and Pacific is at 68.8% parity, marking the fifth-highest score out of the eight regions. Progress towards parity has been stagnating for over a decade and the region registers a 0.2 percentage-point decline since the last edition. While 11 out of 19 countries improve, one stays the same and eight (including China, the world’s second-most populous country) recede on the overall index. New Zealand, the Philippines and Australia have the highest parity at the regional level, with Australia and New Zealand also being the two most-improved economies in the region. On the other hand, Fiji, Myanmar and Japan are at the bottom of the list, with Fiji, Myanmar and Timor-Leste registering the highest declines. At the current rate of progress, it will take 189 years for the region to reach gender parity.

Compared to the last edition, six out of 19 countries improved on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, depleting the regional parity score by 1.1% to 71.1%. Nine out of 17 countries that have the data have shown drops in the share of women in senior official positions. However, 13 out of 19 countries improved parity in estimated earned income since the last edition. Overall, Lao PDR, the Philippines and Singapore register the highest parity for the subindex and Fiji, Timor-Leste and Japan register the lowest.

At 95.5%, East Asia and the Pacific has the second-lowest score on the Educational Attainment subindex compared to other regions. Malaysia and New Zealand are at full parity, along with nine other countries in the region, with more than 99% scores. China, Lao PDR and Indonesia, with more than 1.7 billion people, have the lowest parity. Cambodia and Thailand are the only countries in this region with more than 1 percentage-point increase in parity over 2022. Thailand improves parity in enrolment in secondary education while Cambodia improves on literacy rate and enrolment in primary and tertiary education.

On the Health and Survival subindex, Singapore attains gender parity in sex ratio at birth, joining seven other countries across the world with the same achievement. However, 11 out of 19 countries saw declining parity in sex ratio. This contributes to the region’s slight depletion of parity on this subindex, by 0.02% to 94.9%.

Parity in Political Empowerment sees a partial recovery of 0.7 percentage points to 14.1% since the last edition. However, this is still below the 2018 edition score of 17.1%. Seven countries – including the populous countries such as China, Japan and Indonesia – have regressed on this subindex since 2017. Compared to the previous edition, 13 countries have improved, led by Australia, New Zealand and Philippines. Australia and New Zealand had a considerable increase in the share of women ministers. Fiji, Myanmar and Korea have regressed the most among the six other countries where progress on Political Empowerment has reversed.

Across all subindexes, Europe has the highest gender parity of all regions at 76.3%, with one-third of countries in the region ranking in the top 20 and 20 out of 36 countries with at least 75% parity. Iceland, Norway and Finland are the best-performing countries, both in the region and in the world, while Hungary, Czech Republic and Cyprus rank at the bottom of the region. Overall, there is a decline of 0.2 percentage points in the regional score based on the constant sample of countries. Out of the 35 countries covered in the previous and the current edition, 10 countries, led by Estonia, Norway and Slovenia, have made at least a 1 percentage-point improvement since the last edition. Ten countries show a decline of at least 1 percentage point, with Austria, France and Bulgaria receding the most. At the current rate of progress, Europe is projected to attain gender parity in 67 years.

At 69.7% parity in Economic Participation and Opportunity, Europe stands third behind North America and East Asia and Pacific on this dimension. Gender parity has receded by 0.5 percentage points compared to last year based on the constant sample of 102 countries. Norway, Iceland and Sweden have the highest parity on Economic Participation and Opportunity, while Italy, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have the lowest. In comparison to the last edition, 13 countries (including populous France and Germany) have declined by at least 1% and eight countries have improved by at least 1 percentage point. The shares of senior officer positions held by women have reduced in 17 out of 35 countries that have data. Only 10 countries have at least 60% parity in senior officer positions, yet 28 out of 36 countries have full parity in women’s share of technical roles.

On Educational Attainment, the region is almost at parity and all countries score more than 97%. There is full parity in enrolment in tertiary education, while 20 out of 35 countries reach parity in secondary education and 21 countries in primary education.

On Health and Survival, 97% parity is achieved. The trend, however, is negative. There has been a 0.6 percentage-point decline since the 2015 edition, driven by the reduction in gender parity in healthy life expectancy by at least 1 percentage point in 23 out of 36 countries. On sex ratio at birth, 20 out of 36 countries are at full parity and the other countries are close to parity.

Gender parity in Political Empowerment had been consistently increasing in the last decade until last year; currently, it stands at 39.1%. Based on the constant sample of countries, there has been a decline of 0.5 percentage points since the last edition. Overall, Iceland, Norway and Finland have the highest score on the Political Empowerment subindex, while Romania, Cyprus and Hungary are at the bottom of the table. Led by Estonia, Slovenia and Latvia, 15 out of 35 countries have had at least a 1 percentage-point improvement while 13 countries have seen at least 1 percentage-point decline.

Latin America and the Caribbean

With incremental progress towards gender parity since 2017, Latin America and the Caribbean has bridged 74.3% of its overall gender gap. After Europe and North America, the region has the third-highest level of parity. Since the last edition, seven out of 21 countries (including relatively populous countries like Colombia, Chile, Honduras and Brazil) have improved their gender parity scores by at least 0.5 percentage points, while five countries have seen a decline in their parity scores by at least 0.5 percentage points. This has led to a 1.7 percentage-point increase in overall gender parity since last year. Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Jamaica register the highest parity scores in this region and Belize, Paraguay and Guatemala the lowest. At the current rate of progress, Latin America and the Caribbean will take 53 years to attain full gender parity.

Parity in Economic Participation and Opportunity in Latin America and the Caribbean is at 65.2%, the third-lowest regional score, ahead of the Middle East and North Africa as well as Southern Asia. Yet it marks an 0.7 percentage-point improvement since the last edition, with all countries except four improving their scores. Jamaica, Honduras and the Dominican Republic have seen the most progress on this subindex since the last edition. These three countries, along with 14 others have improved their parity scores in estimated earned income since 2022. Further, eight countries have a one-percentage-point higher share of senior positions held by women compared with the last edition.

Latin America and the Caribbean has achieved 99.2% parity on the Educational Attainment subindex: 14 out of 20 countries have more than 99% parity on their literacy rates. In addition, all of the 18 countries that have data on enrolment in tertiary education have attained full parity on this indicator. Further, the number of countries with parity in enrolment in secondary education is 16, while nine countries have attained full parity in enrolment in primary education.

In comparison to other regions, Latin America and the Caribbean has the highest parity on the Health and Survival subindex, at 97.6%. All countries have attained parity in sex ratio at birth and six out of 21 countries have perfect parity in healthy life expectancy.

At 35% parity, the region has the second-highest score, after Europe, on the Political Empowerment subindex. Based on the constant sample of countries there has been a 0.6 percentage-point improvement in parity since 2022. Overall, nine out of 21 countries have experienced at least a 0.5 percentage-point improvement and nine have seen a decline of more than 0.5%. Colombia, Chile and Brazil are not only the region’s top-ranked countries; they are also the most improved. Five out of 21 countries in this region have seen at least a 1 percentage-point improvement in the share of parliamentary positions held by women.

Middle East and North Africa

In comparison to other regions, Middle East and North Africa remains the furthest away from parity, with a 62.6% parity score. This is a 0.9 percentage-point decline in parity since the last edition for this region, based on the constant sample of countries covered since 2006. The United Arab Emirates, Israel and Bahrain have achieved the highest parity in the region, while Morocco, Oman and Algeria rank the lowest. The three most populous countries – Egypt, Algeria and Morocco – register declines in their parity scores since the last edition. On the other hand, five countries, led by Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, have increased their parity by 0.5% or more. At the current rate of progress, full regional parity will be attained in 152 years.

When it comes to Economic Participation and Opportunity, 44% of the gender gap has been closed, ranking the region 7th out of eight regions, just above Southern Asia. There is highly uneven progress in parity on this subindex among different countries. Algeria’s level of parity, 31.7%, is less than half of that of Israel which has closed 68.9% of the gender gap. The United Arab Emirates and Egypt have registered increases in both the share of women senior officer positions and the share of women in technical positions. Further 10 out of 13 countries in the region have advanced towards parity in estimated earned income by at least 0.5 percentage points.

The Middle East and North Africa is at 95.9% parity on the Educational Attainment subindex, and Israel is the only country in the region to have full parity. Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan come close, with more than 99% gender parity. Relatively more populous countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt have the lowest parity on this subindex, and they also have the lowest parity in literacy rate. Only four countries (Israel, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan) have more than 99% parity in literacy rate. Seven countries achieve parity in secondary education and 10 countries in tertiary education.

The region records 96.4% parity in Health and Survival, and all countries except Qatar have achieved more than 95% parity, while all countries have attained perfect parity in sex ratio at birth. However, in five countries healthy life expectancy for women is lower than that of men.

The Middle East and North Africa also has the second-lowest regional parity in political empowerment at 14%. Based on the sample of countries covered continuously since 2006, parity on the Political Empowerment subindex has regressed by 1 percentage point since last year. Parity has declined in seven out of 13 countries, including the region’s most populous countries – Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia – and increased in six other countries, led by Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. Bahrain, Kuwait and Lebanon have also seen significant increases in the share of parliamentary positions held by women, while Israel and Tunisia have seen a drop on this indicator since 2022. In terms of ministerial positions held by women, only Tunisia, Bahrain and Morocco have more than 20% female ministers, while Saudi Arabia and Lebanon continue to have an all-male cabinet. Apart from Tunisia and Israel, no country in this region has had a female head of state in the last 50 years.

North America

Just behind Europe, North America ranks second, having closed 75% of the gap, which is 1.9 percentage points lower than the previous edition. While Canada has registered a 0.2 percentage-point decline in the overall parity score since the last edition, the United States has seen a reduction of 2.1 percentage points. At the current rate of progress, 95 years will be needed to close the gender gap for the region.

North America has achieved the highest gender parity score among all regions, 77.6%, on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. This marks a 0.2 percentage-point increase in the parity score since the last edition. Canada improved by 0.5 percentage points and the United States by 0.2 percentage points. Parity in wage equality for similar work and estimated earned income increased in both countries.

Regional parity on the Educational Attainment subindex stands at 99.5%. While Canada has achieved full parity, the United States barring enrolment in secondary education, is virtually at parity for literacy rate, enrolment in primary education and enrolment in tertiary education.

With a score of 96.9%, North America ranks 5th out of eight regions on the Health and Survival subindex. The region has seen a 1 percentage-point decline in parity in health since 2013. For example, parity for healthy life expectancy, at 1.03, is more than just Middle East and North Africa and Southern Asia. Women’s healthy life expectancy has declined more than that of men since 2013 in both Canada and the United States, further contributing the reduction in parity on this subindex.

The decline in the overall regional gender parity score can be partially attributed to the 7.7 percentage-point decline on the Political Empowerment subindex, which currently stands at 26.1%. Both the United States and Canada have increased the share of parliamentary positions held by women. However, the measured share of women ministers has dropped significantly – particularly in the United States, where the share declined from 46.2% to 33.3% – which has affected the overall regional score on this subindex. This is partly explained by a stricter definition of what qualifies as a ministerial position being applied in the source database produced by UN Women. See Appendix B for more detail.

Southern Asia

Southern Asia has achieved 63.4% gender parity, the second-lowest score of the eight regions. The score has risen by 1.1 percentage points since the last edition on the basis of the constant sample of countries covered since 2006, which can be partially attributed to the rise in scores of populous countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Along with Bhutan, these are the countries in this region that have seen an improvement of 0.5 percentage points or more in their scores since the last edition. On the other hand, parity has backslid by 0.5 percentage points or more in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Nepal. Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka are the best-performing countries in the region, while Pakistan and Afghanistan are at the bottom of both the regional and global ranking tables. At the current rate of progress, full parity will be achieved in 149 years.

Compared to other regions, Southern Asia remains the furthest away from parity on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, having closed 37.2% of the gap. However, based on the constant sample of countries covered since 2006, there has been an improvement of 1.4 percentage points since the last edition. This can be partially attributed to the progress of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. All three have advanced towards parity on the labour-force participation rate and estimated earned income indicators. On the other hand, parity has receded in the Maldives and Nepal. Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives have the region’s highest parity scores on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, while Pakistan and Afghanistan are the countries that lag the most behind.

Ranking fifth out of eight regions, Southern Asia has closed 96% of the gender gap on the Educational Attainment subindex. India, Sri Lanka and Maldives have the highest regional parity scores, while. Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan have achieved less than 95% parity. Afghanistan is a negative outlier, having closed only 48.1% of the gender gap. Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and India are either at parity or close to parity in enrolment in secondary education. On enrolment in tertiary education – barring Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan – all countries are at full parity, though levels are low for both men and women.

Southern Asia has the second-lowest regional parity score on the Health and Survival subindex, at 95.3%. Based on the constant sample of countries covered by the index since 2006, that is a 1.1 percentage-point improvement since the last edition. Pakistan, India, the Maldives and Nepal have improved by varying degrees. All four countries have bettered their sex ratios at birth, with Pakistan and India making the most improvement. No country except Sri Lanka has attained full parity in healthy life expectancy.

Similar to other regions, the widest gender gap on the index is on the Political Empowerment subindex. Behind Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America, Southern Asia’s is the fourth-highest score among the eight regions, at 25.1% parity. Based on the constant sample of countries, this is the only subindex for this region that has experienced a setback: there has been a 1% reduction in parity since the last edition. Only the Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal improved their scores. Parity has backslid in Iran, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, as the share of ministerial positions held by women has dropped in these countries since 2022. Further, Nepal and Afghanistan have seen negative changes in parity in parliamentary positions, while other countries have not seen much change.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa’s parity score is the sixth-highest among the eight regions at 68.2%, ranking above Southern Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. Progress in the region has been uneven. Namibia, Rwanda and South Africa, along with 13 other countries, have closed more than 70% of the overall gender gap. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali and Chad are the lowest-performing countries, with scores below 62%. And while there has been progress of 0.5 percentage points or more in 17 out of 36 countries, scores for 17 countries have seen decline of 0.5 percentage points or more since the last edition. Based on the constant sample, this marks a marginal improvement of 0.1 percentage points. At the current rate of progress, it will take 102 years to close the gender gap in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa has closed 67.2% of the gender gap on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. Liberia, Eswatini and Burundi are at the top of the ranking table, while Benin, Mali and Senegal have attained the least parity. At the indicator level, there has been an improvement of 0.5 percentage points or more in parity in estimated earned income in 20 out of 36 countries. Further, the share of technical positions assumed by women has increased for more than 1 percentage point in six countries, including populous countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia. Seven countries – including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Rwanda – have seen greater than 1 percentage-point rise in the share of senior officer positions held by women.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest-ranked region in closing the gender gap on Educational Attainment, with a parity score of 86%, and only Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia have achieved full parity. Sixteen countries have achieved less than 90% parity on this subindex, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad achieving the lowest scores. There has been an improvement of 0.5 percentage points or more in parity in 23 out of 36 countries, with gains in parity in literacy rate in 23 out of 36 countries. However, the number of countries with 90% or more parity decreases with enrolment in successive levels of education. Apart from Mali, Guinea and Chad, all countries have more than 90% parity in enrolment in primary education, and 16 have reached full parity. Ten countries have less than 90% parity in secondary education and 21 countries less than 90% parity in tertiary education.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the third-highest parity score, 97.2%, on the Health and Survival subindex, following Latin America and the Caribbean and Eurasia and Central Asia. Twenty-five countries have more than 97% parity. Niger, Liberia and Mali are lowest-performing countries on this subindex. All countries have attained parity in sex ratio at birth, and 11 out of 36 countries are at parity for healthy life expectancy.

With five countries having less than 10% parity and five countries with more than 40% parity, progress has been highly uneven when it comes to Political Empowerment. On average across the region, 22.6% parity has been achieved. Based on the constant sample of countries covered on the index since 2006, this is an improvement of 1.1 percentage points compared to the last edition. Nineteen countries, including the populous Nigeria, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have improved on this subindex by 0.5 percentage points or more. Further, Ethiopia, Togo, Tanzania, Namibia and Uganda currently have heads of states who are women.

In-focus country performances: Top 10 and 15 most populous

This section illustrates the state of country-level gender parity across the four dimensions and sheds light on important dynamics. The share of the global female population represented by the countries discussed in this section is both statistically and strategically significant to monitoring and benchmarking efforts. Based on the data that was officially reported for the period covered in this edition, distinct trends and shifts were observed in the index’s top 10 as well as the 15 most populous countries, 2 which, combined, represent two-thirds of the world’s female population.

Top 10 countries

Iceland continues to incrementally advance towards gender parity since the inaugural 2006 edition and ranks 1st for the 14th consecutive year. Iceland has closed 91.2% of the gender gap, which is 0.4 percentage points higher than the previous edition. The overall gender parity ranking is buoyed by its relatively strong performance across the Political Empowerment and Economic Participation and Opportunity subindexes. Iceland has almost doubled its gender parity score in Political Empowerment since 2006. Iceland has been led by a female head of state for 25 of the last 50 years and more than two-fifth of its ministerial and parliamentary positions are held by women, which has propelled the country to close 90.1% of the gender gap. While Iceland ranks relatively high at 14th (score 79.6%) on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, the gender parity score has suffered setbacks since 2021 (84.6%) and now is closer to its 2017 level. Specifically, parity in wages and in representation among senior officials has declined since 2021. However, since 2006, Iceland maintains parity in the share of women in technical roles. On Health and Survival, parity marginally regresses, partly owing to the 1.5 years decline in the healthy life expectancy of women since the 2020 edition. On Education Attainment (99.1%) Iceland remains almost at parity.

Progress towards gender parity in Norway has been steady, resulting in Norway improving its gender parity score to 87.9% and climbing one rank to the 2nd position in this year’s index. A major part of Norway’s continuous improvement can be ascribed to its achievements on Political Empowerment (score 76.5%), which has increased by 27.1 percentage points since 2006. Women now assume 50% of the ministerial positions and 46.2% of parliamentary positions. Further, the country had a female head of state for 18 of the last 50 years. Norway also reaches parity in enrolment rates in primary education and tertiary education. However, gender parity on the Economic Opportunity and Participation (80%) subindex – though recovered slightly since the last edition – is still 1.8 percentage points below the 2016 level. Since 2016, the gender gap in estimated earned income has shrunk and full parity in technical roles has been achieved and maintained. However, the gender gap in senior roles (score 50.3%) has been widening and its labour-force participation rate (84.5%) is yet to recover since the pandemic hit. Additionally, women’s healthy life expectancy at birth of 71.6 years is still 2.7 years below the 2020 edition, worsening the gap in health attainment by 1.1 percentage point to 96.1% compared to results from the 2020 edition.

After a sharp rebound in gender parity scores between 2017 and 2021, Finland’s progress has been marginal. It advances by 0.3 percentage points since the last edition to register 86.3% parity in the 2023 edition, ranking 3rd globally. Finland maintains its longstanding gender parity on Educational Attainment. The recent tenure of a female head of state and parity at ministerial position boosts parity on Political Empowerment to 70%, which is the fourth highest score on this pillar globally. Yet, progress on Economic Participation and Opportunity (78.3%) seems to be stagnating, marked by slight reversals in parity at senior positions and wage equality since the last edition. However, women have been representing 50% or more of technical positions since the inaugural 2006 edition. On the other hand, like several other high-income economies, 3 the healthy life expectancy of women declined by almost 1.5 years since 2006, partly widening the present gender gap on Health and Survival (97%).

In the last five years, New Zealand has gained more than 5 percentage points to close 85.6% of the overall gender gap, ranking 4th globally in 2023. With parity in parliamentary positions, and a female head of state for 16 of the last 50 years, New Zealand has the world’s third-highest level of parity on Political Empowerment. New Zealand has bridged the gender divide in enrolment across all levels of education and literacy rate. In terms of Economic Participation and Opportunity (73.2%), there remains a 12.5% gender gap in labour-force participation. Estimated earned incomes of both men and women have been increasing since 2006, but men’s income increased at a higher rate than that of women, worsening the gap (score 64.2%) by 4 percentage points since. On Health and Survival, women have lost three years of healthy life expectancy since the 2020 edition, reducing parity on the subindex (score 96.6%).

Sweden maintains its rank of 5th since the last edition; it has closed 81.5% of the gender gap, 0.7 percentage points lower than the 2018 edition. With 46.4% women parliamentarians and 47.8% women ministers who head ministries, Political Empowerment is at 50.3% parity. Parity on Economic Participation and Opportunity (79.5%) has also stagnated recently, and even reversed by 1.7 percentage points since the last edition. The gap in labour-force participation seems to be at a standstill, while parity in estimated earned income declined by 7.3 percentage points since the last edition. On the upside, the share of women in technical positions has remained at more than 50% since the 2006 edition and there has mostly been steady progress in the share of women in senior positions over the last decade. Sweden also achieves a full parity score on Educational Attainment. However, parity in Health and Survival (96.3%) has been sliding because of an almost 1.3 years loss in female healthy life expectancy at birth since the 2020 edition.

Germany sustains its upward trajectory in gender parity, climbing four ranks since last year to 6th position and registering an additional 1.4 percentage points to a score of 81.5%. This advancement is due mainly to the increase of the share of women in parliamentary and ministerial positions, which have boosted the Political Empowerment subindex (63.4%) by 8.4 percentage points since 2022. Germany has also attained parity in enrolment in all levels of education except for secondary education. However, a backslide in parity in wage equality and estimated earned income has depleted the parity on Economic Participation and Opportunity (66.5%) by 6.9 percentage points since 2018. While parity has been achieved and sustained in technical roles, the share of women in senior positions is back at the 2018 level (parity score 41.3%). On Health and Survival, Germany is plateauing at 97.2% parity.

Nicaragua is the highest-ranking Latin American country on the index. It maintains its 7th rank from the last edition and only marginally improves to 81.1% parity. Progress has been plateauing since 2017 on the overall index. Nicaragua has achieved gender parity on Educational Attainment and has been at a standstill at 97.8% parity on the Health and Survival subindex. The share of women in ministerial and parliamentary positions has been surpassing the 50% mark in recent years. However, the overall parity score on Political Empowerment has stagnated, at 62.6% since the last edition. Despite ranking relatively high on the other dimensions, Nicaragua’s performance lags on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, where only 64% parity is attained. The widest gap exists in the share of women in senior positions followed by wage equality.

Ranked 8th is Namibia , the highest-ranking Sub-Saharan African country in this edition, which has attained 80.2% gender parity, a 0.5 percentage-point decline since the last edition. Namibia has achieved full parity on both the Health and Survival and Educational Attainment subindexes, although their absolute levels of attainment are low for both women and men. With 56% of technical workers and 43.6% of senior officers being women, Economic Participation and Opportunity is at 78.4% parity and is ranked 19th globally. However, after a phase of rapid and broad-based increase in economic parity up until 2018, parity has been flagging. This is mostly due to a 4.8 percentage-point decline in parity in estimated earned income and 2 percentage-point decline in parity in labour-force participation rate since 2018. Namibia has achieved 44.3% parity in Political Empowerment with 44.2% women parliamentarians, 31.6% women ministers and a female prime minister in power since 2015.

Lithuania re-enters the top 10 and ascends two ranks since the 2022 edition to 9th position. The parity score at 80.0%, is 0.1 percentage point higher than previous edition. Lithuania’s improvement in its gender parity profile after 2020 can be attributed to the surge in share of women in parliamentary positions and electing a female prime minister, resulting in 46.6% parity on the Political Empowerment subindex. Lithuania has covered 76.7% of the gender gap on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. This dimension is however marked by mixed performance across the indicators. While parity has backtracked in senior positions and estimated earned income since 2022, full party in technical roles has been sustained, and perceptions of wage equality for similar jobs have improved by 0.2 percentage points. For Educational Attainment (98.9%) and Health and Survival (98%), Lithuania edges towards parity.

The newest entrant to the top 10 is Belgium at 10th position. It has closed 79.6% of the overall gender gap, indicating a recovery of 5.7 percentage points since 2017. Most of the development is on the Political Empowerment subindex, where it has reached full parity in ministerial positions and women in 42.7% of parliamentary seats, marking significant improvements since 2017. Further, Belgium remains at parity on Educational Attainment. Perception of wage equality for similar jobs and share of women in senior positions have also been increasing incrementally, and parity has been achieved in technical roles. Overall, 72.8% of the gender gap is closed on Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. However, a decline in gender parity in healthy life expectancy since 2017 has been gradually depleting its parity in the Health and Survival subindex (96.8%).

15 most populous countries

China ranks 107th and has achieved 67.8% gender parity. Compared to the previous edition, this represents an 0.4 percentage-point decline in score and a decline of five positions in rank. China is at 93.5% parity on Educational Attainment, with full parity on tertiary education. On Economic Participation and Opportunity, China has closed 72.7% of the gender gap and attains 81.5% parity in labour-force participation rate. It also secures 11.4% parity on Political Empowerment, with 4.2% women ministers and 24.9% women parliamentarians. China continues to have one of the lowest sex ratios at birth (89%), affecting parity levels on the Health and Survival subindex (93.7%, 145th).

India has closed 64.3% of the overall gender gap, ranking 127th on the global index. It has improved by 1.4 percentage points and eight positions since the last edition, marking a partial recovery towards its 2019 (66.8%) parity level. The country has attained parity in enrolment across all levels of education. However, it has reached only 36.7% parity on Economic Participation and Opportunity. On the one hand, there are upticks in parity in wages and income; on the other hand, the shares of women in senior positions and technical roles have dropped slightly since the last edition. On Political Empowerment, India has registered 25.3% parity, with women representing 15.1% of parliamentarians, the highest for India since the inaugural 2006 edition. On the Health and Survival index (95%), the improvement in sex ratio at birth by 1.9 percentage points to 92.7% has driven up parity after more than a decade of slow progress.

Ranked 43rd, the United States has closed 74.8% of its overall gender gap. On Educational Attainment, the country is at parity or virtually at parity across all levels of education except secondary education. On the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex (78%), the United States has recovered almost to its 2018 level of parity. Income parity (67.5%) has been gradually improving, however the share of women in senior positions has been receding over the last two editions of the index. Further, over the last decade, women’s healthy life expectancy has declined by five years and men’s by close to three years. This has worsened gender parity in Health and Survival outcomes (97%) by 0.9 percentage points since the 2013 edition. The country’s parity on Political Empowerment stands at 24.8%, with a marginal improvement in the share of women parliamentarians and still no female head of state.

Indonesia ’s gender parity scores were improving steadily until they dropped in 2021. In this edition, Indonesia (87th) maintains the same 69.7% score as last year, sustaining a recovery to almost match its 2020 parity level. On Economic Participation and Opportunity, there is 66.6% parity, indicating a partial recovery to its 2020 parity level (68.5%). Since 2020, the share of women senior officials has dropped from 55% to 31.7%, while the share of technical workers has increased from 40.1% to more than 50%, thus attaining parity. Further, there has been marginal improvement in parity in estimated earned income, though the gap remains wide: for every dollar of income earned by a man, a woman earns just 51.9 cents. The Political Empowerment subindex is at 18.1% parity, with 21.6% women parliamentarians and 20.7% women ministers. Parity across Educational Attainment (97.2%) and Health and Survival (97%) remain virtually unchanged compared to the 2022 edition.

Pakistan (142nd) is at 57.5% parity, its highest since 2006. It has improved by 5.1 percentage points on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex in the last decade to attain 36.2% parity, though this level of parity remains one of the lowest globally. There is broad progress across all indicators on this subindex, but particularly in the share of women technical workers and the achievement of parity in wage equality for similar work. Despite relatively high disparities, parity in literacy rate and enrolment in secondary and tertiary education are gradually advancing, leading to 82.5% parity on the Educational Attainment subindex. On Health and Survival, Pakistan secures parity in sex ratio at birth, boosting subindex parity by 1.7 percentage points since 2022. Like most other countries, Pakistan’s widest gender gap is on Political Empowerment (15.2%). It has had a female head of state for 4.7 years of the last 50 years, and one-tenth of the ministers as well as one-fifth of parliamentarians are women.

Brazil’s parity at 72.6% is 57th globally and at its highest parity level since 2006. Brazil has appointed women in 36.7% of ministerial positions, the highest in its history. Further, there has also been a 2.9 percentage-point increase in women parliamentarians (share, 17.7%). Combined, they have almost doubled the parity level on Political Empowerment (26.3%) since the previous edition. There has also been marginal improvement on the Economic Participation and Opportunity dimension. While parity in technical positions is sustained, parity in estimated incomes is at 62.8%, despite registering some improvement compared to the 2022 edition. There is full parity in Health and Survival outcomes, based on sex ratio at birth and healthy life expectancy. On the Educational Attainment subindex (99.2%), apart from enrolment in primary education, there is full gender parity in literacy rate, secondary education and tertiary education.

Nigeria’s parity is at 63.7% (130th), 1 percentage point lower than its 2013 level. Since then, parity on the Political Empowerment subindex has receded from 11.9% to 4.1%, due to a decline in parity in both parliamentary and ministerial positions. Further, parity on Educational Attainment has been fluctuating in recent years and has only marginally improved over the last decade; currently, its 82.6% parity is one of the lowest in the world. Its absolute levels of women’s literacy rates and enrolment rates across levels of education have also been lagging. Nigeria has perfect parity for sex ratio at birth, which has contributed to a 96.7% parity on the Health and Survival subindex. Further, with a global ranking of 54th, its Economic Participation and Opportunity score (71.5%) has experienced both advances and setbacks over the last decade. Nigeria has more than 64% representation of women in senior positions, but women earn only 50% of the income earned by men.

With the highest gender parity in Southern Asia, Bangladesh ranks 59th globally, with a score of 72.2%. The country’s trajectory is mostly characterized by continuous progress on Political Empowerment. At 55.2% parity, Bangladesh ranks seventh globally on this subindex. It has had a woman head of state for 29.3 years out of the last 50 years, the longest duration in the world. However, its shares of women in ministerial (10%) and parliamentary positions (20.9%) are relatively low. On Health and Survival (96.2%), there is parity in sex ratio at birth. However, gender parity in healthy life expectancy has been dropping as men’s life expectancy has been increasing faster than that of women since the 2020 edition. Bangladesh’s Educational Attainment parity is at 93.6%. Both women and men’s literacy rate and enrolment in secondary and tertiary education has been increasing steadily over the last decade. While there is now full parity in enrolment in secondary education, for literacy rate and enrolment in tertiary education, there remains a persistent gap. At 43.8% parity, Bangladesh’s Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex performance is one of the lowest globally (139th). However, this marks a recovery to its 2020 parity level. Improvement in the estimated earned income since 2021 edition has helped drive this recovery, as the gaps across the other indicators show less change.

Ranked 33rd, Mexico’s 76.5% parity is 0.1 percentage points better than the previous edition, though its rank drops by two positions. On Educational Attainment, Mexico is close to subindex parity, with full parity in enrolment in secondary and tertiary education and 98.4% parity in literacy rate. Despite this, there is persistent gender disparity in labour-force participation (57.6%), and women’s estimated earned income is only 52.3% of that of men. Further, only 38.5% of senior officers are women. However, women represent almost half of the country’s technical workers. Overall, Mexico’s 60.1% parity on Economic Participation and Opportunity stands at 110th globally. On Health and Survival, women have lost 2.4 years and men have lost 1.5 years of healthy life expectancy since the 2020 edition, widening the subindex gender gap by 0.4 percentage points (97.5%). With parity in parliamentary positions, 42.1% women ministers and no woman head of state yet, the Political Empowerment subindex is at 49% parity, the same as the last edition.

Japan’s parity declines slightly for the second consecutive year since the 2021 edition. With a parity of 64.7% (125th), it has slipped 0.25 percentage points compared to the previous editions and now stands nine positions lower in the rankings. Japan’s parity in Political Empowerment at 5.7% is one of the lowest in the world (ranking 138th). Ten percent of its parliamentary positions and 8.3% of ministerial positions are held by women, while there has not been any female head of state. There is almost full parity on both the Educational Attainment and Health and Survival subindexes. There has been 1.1% improvement in parity at estimated earned income since the last edition; 54.2% of women are in the labour force and 12.9% of senior officers are women. Japan’s Economic Participation and Opportunity parity is at 56.1% and ranks 123rd out of 146 countries.

Ethiopia ranks 75th, having closed 71.1% of the gender gap. Compared to the previous edition, it has improved by 0.6 percentage points. Ethiopia has had a woman president the past 4.35 years, along with 41.3% incumbent woman parliamentarians and 40.9% women ministers. This results in a closing 43.1% of the gender gap on the Political Empowerment subindex, almost triple its score since a decade back (14.6% in 2013). On Health and Survival, Ethiopia is close to parity (97.1%). By contrast, on Educational Attainment, though parity across the indicators is gradually improving, Ethiopia has one of the lowest parity levels globally (135th) at 85.4%. After some fluctuations, parity on Economic Participation and Opportunity is also low, at 58.7%. Labour-force participation parity is at 72.7% and women earn 66.1% of men’s estimated earned income. Only 25.4% of senior officers and 34.3% of technical positions are held by women.

The Philippines has achieved 79.1% gender parity and ranks 16th globally. Despite an improvement of three positions and 0.88 percentage points since last year, this is only a partial recovery towards its 2018 parity level (79.9%). With 26% women cabinet ministers, the Philippines has recovered on that indicator. However, the gap widened in the share of parliamentarians who are women (37.6% parity), thus effectively decreasing overall parity on the Political Empowerment subindex (40.9%) by 0.7 percentage points since 2018. The Philippines is almost at parity on Educational Attainment (99.9%). After being close to parity on Health and Survival since 2006, the country has regressed on this subindex (96.8%) due to a slight decline in sex ratio at birth. On Economic Participation and Opportunity, the Philippines maintains full parity in senior officer and technical workers, though women’s income is just 71.6% that of men.

Egypt is at 62.6% parity and ranks 134th. Egypt advanced towards parity between the 2017 editions (60.8%) and 2021 editions (63.9%), before regressing for the subsequent 2022 (63.5%) and the current edition. Since 2021, there has been a 3 percentage-point decline in parity on the Educational Attainment subindex, due to slight backslides in parity in enrolment in secondary and tertiary education. At 96.8% parity, Health and survival remains virtually unchanged. However, on Economic Participation and Opportunity, a 6.8 percentage-point increase in the share of women in senior officer (share 12.4%) and a 4.3 percentage-point increase in the share of women in technical positions (35.1%) since the 2022 edition have boosted subindex parity by 1.7 percentage points to 42%. Further, with 27.5% women parliamentarians and 18.8% women ministers, there is 17.5% parity on Political Empowerment.

Viet Nam , with a score of 71.1% and a global rank of 72nd, continues its gradual progress towards gender parity. It has progressed by 2.3 percentage points since 2007 (score 68.9%) when it was first covered. As compared to the last edition, it has advanced by 0.62 percentage points as well as 11 positions in rank. While the 2022 edition reported no female ministers, there are now 11.1% women ministers, driving up the parity score on the Political Empowerment subindex from 13.5% to 16.6%. Viet Nam’s sex ratio at birth has been one of the country’s lowest-performing indicators and it suffered further setbacks, worsening the Health and Survival parity by 0.4 percentage points to 94.6%, which is among the lowest in the world. On Educational Attainment, Viet Nam is at 98.5% parity. There is also full parity in the share of women as technical workers, and women earn 81.4% of men’s estimated earned income. Labour-force participation parity is at 88.1%, though only 25.6% of the senior officials are women. Overall, Viet Nam is at 74.9% parity on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo ranks 140th, with 61.2% of the gender gap closed. This is a 3 percentage-point improvement since 2018 when the country was first included in the index. Most of this improvement can be attributed to its progress on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Political Empowerment subindexes. The country has advanced its parity in estimated earned income, senior officials and technical workers. Further, on the Political Empowerment subindex, the share of women in parliamentary and ministerial positions has also risen since the 2018 edition. The other dimension where the Democratic Republic of the Congo has advanced is Educational Attainment (68.3% parity), although it still ranks among the lowest (144th) globally. This increase is driven by progress in parity in literacy rate and enrolment in secondary education. On Health and Survival, the country has achieved full parity in sex ratio at birth, attaining 97.6% subindex parity.

Everything you need to know about pushing for pay equity

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Workers worldwide look forward to payday. But while a paycheck may bring a sense of relief, satisfaction, or joy, it can also represent an injustice—a stark reminder of persistent inequalities between men and women in the workplace.

The gender pay gap stands at 20 per cent , meaning women workers earn 80 per cent of what men do. For women of colour, migrant women, those with disabilities, and women with children, the gap is even greater.

The cumulative effect of pay disparities has real, daily negative consequences for women, their families, and society, especially during crises. The widespread effects of COVID-19 have plunged up to 95 million people into extreme poverty, with one in every 10 women globally living in extreme poverty . If current trends continue, 342.4 million women and girls will be living on less than $2.15 a day by 2030.

What do we mean by equal pay for work of equal value?

Equal pay for work of equal value, as defined by the ILO Equal Remuneration Convention , means that all workers are entitled to receive equal remuneration not only for identical tasks but also for different work considered of equal value. This distinction is crucial because jobs held by women and men may involve varying qualifications, skills, responsibilities, or working conditions, yet hold equal value and warrant equal pay.

In 2020, New Zealand passed the Equal Pay Amendment Bill , ensuring that women and men are paid equally for work that’s different but has equal value, including in chronically underpaid female-dominated industries. 

It is also important to recognize that remuneration is more than a basic wage; it encompasses all the elements of earnings. This includes overtime pay, bonuses, travel allowances, company shares, insurance, and other benefits.

Why does the gender pay gap persist?

The gender pay gap originates from ingrained inequalities. Women, particularly migrant women, are overrepresented in the informal sector. Look around you, from street vending to domestic service, from coffee shop attendants to subsistence farming. Women fill informal jobs that often fall outside the domains of labour laws, trapping them in low-paying, unsafe working environments, without social benefits. These poor conditions for women workers perpetuate the gender pay gap.

Women also do  three more hours of daily care work  than men , globally. This includes household tasks such as cooking, cleaning, fetching firewood and water, and taking care of children and the elderly. Although care work is the backbone of thriving families, communities, and economies, it remains undervalued and underrecognized. Try calculating your daily load with  UN Women’s unpaid care calculator .

The  motherhood penalty exacerbates pay inequity, with working mothers facing lower wages, a disparity that jumps as the number of children a woman has increases. Lower wages for mothers are linked to reduced working time, employment in more family-friendly jobs that tend to be lower paying, hiring and promotion decisions that penalize the careers of mothers, and a lack of programmes to support women’s return to work after time out of the labour market.

Restrictive, traditional gender roles are also spurring pay inequalities. Gender stereotypes steer women away from occupations traditionally dominated by men and push them toward care-focused work that is often regarded as “unskilled,” or “soft-skilled” and therefore, lower paid.

Furthermore, discriminatory hiring practices and promotion decisions that prevent women from gaining leadership roles and highly paid positions sustain the gender pay gap.

Why is pay equity an urgent issue?

Pay equity matters because it is a glaring injustice and subjects millions of women and families to lives of entrenched poverty and opportunity gaps. At the current rate, we risk leaving more than 340 million women and girls in abject poverty by 2030 , and an alarming 4 per cent could grapple with extreme food insecurity by that year.

Women also experience significantly lower social protection coverage than men, a discrepancy that largely reflects and reproduces their lower labour force participation rates, higher levels of temporary and precarious work, and informal employment. All these factors contribute to lower income , savings, and pensions of women and gendered poverty in old age.

What should be done?

As more women are plunged into poverty, the fight for equal pay and pay equity takes on a new sense of urgency because those who earn the least are most damaged by income discrepancy.

In the United States, Black women earn only 63.7 cents , Native women 59 cents , and Latinas 57 cents for every dollar that white men earn. Where money is tight, lower pay can prevent women and families from putting food on the table, securing safe housing, and accessing critical medical care and education—impacts that can perpetuate cycles of poverty across generations.

It is urgent that we put female workers on equal footing as male workers. In a world on the brink of a looming care deficit,  women make up 67 per cent of workers providing essential health and social care services globally . Governments must address underpaid and undervalued jobs in the care sector, including in education, health care and social services, all jobs that women predominantly occupy.

What does the data say about pay equity around the world? 

Unequal pay is a stubborn and universal problem. Despite significant progress in women’s education and labour market participation, progress in closing the gender pay gap has been too slow. At this pace, it will take  almost 300 years to achieve economic gender parity .

Women workers’ average pay is generally lower than men’s in all countries and for all levels of education, and age groups, with women earning on average 80 per cent what men ear n. Women in male-dominated industries may earn more than those in female-dominated industries, but the gender pay gap persists across all sectors.

While gender pay gap estimates can vary substantially across regions and even within countries, higher income countries tend to have lower levels of wage inequality compared to low and middle-income countries. However, estimates of the gender pay gap understate the real extent of the issue, particularly in developing countries, because of a lack of information about informal economies, which are disproportionately made up of women workers, so the full picture is likely worse than what the available data shows us.

Explore  UN Women’s report on the gender pay gap in Eastern and Southern Africa .

Closing the gender pay gap requires a set of measures that push for decent work for all people. This includes measures that promote the formalization of the informal economy, bringing informal workers under the umbrella of legal and effective protection and empowering them to better defend their interests.

Ensuring workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively is an important part of the solution. Women must be involved in employer and union leadership, enabling legislation that establishes comprehensive frameworks for gender equality in the workplace.

Economic empowerment Chief at UN Women Dr. Jemimah Njuki says that, “The gender pay gap requires all stakeholders, including employers, governments, trade unions take full responsibility and work side by side to address these challenges. Women deserve equal pay for work of equal value”.

[Last updated February 2024] 

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Gender Equality Essay

Everyone should live as they want in society, and there should be no discrimination. Equality in society is achieved when all people, regardless of their caste, gender, colour, profession, and status rank, are considered equal. Another way to describe equality is that everyone gets the same rights and opportunities to develop and progress forward. Here are a few sample essays on ‘Gender Equality’.

100 Words Essay On Gender Equality

Gender equality is the belief that men and women should be treated and perceived as equals in society, including all areas such as education, employment, and in decision-making positions. It is a fundamental human right and a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world.

Despite significant progress in advancing gender equality, women and girls continue to face barriers and discrimination in many areas of society. This includes the gender pay gap, difficult access to education and employment opportunities, and limited representation in leadership positions. Creating a more equal society benefits everyone, as it leads to greater prosperity and happiness for all. It is important for individuals, communities, and governments to work towards achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls to reach their full potential.

200 Words Essay On Gender Equality

Gender equality is the equal treatment and perception of individuals of all genders in society.

Importance Of Gender Equality

Gender equality is important because it is a fundamental human right and is necessary for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable society. When everyone, regardless of their gender, is treated fairly and has equal opportunities, it can lead to greater prosperity and happiness for all.

Additionally, gender equality can have a positive impact on economic growth and development. When women and girls are able to fully participate and get proper education and employment opportunities, it can lead to increased productivity and innovation. It can also contribute to more balanced and representative decision-making, which can lead to more effective and fair policies and practices.

Furthermore, gender equality is essential for promoting social justice and fairness. When women and girls are marginalized and discriminated against, it can lead to a range of negative outcomes, including poverty, poor health, and reduced opportunities for personal and professional development. Overall, the promotion of gender equality is important for creating a more equal, fair, and just society for all.

Encouraging Gender Equality

Efforts to promote gender equality must involve the active participation and engagement of both men and women. This includes challenging and changing harmful gender norms and stereotypes, and promoting policies and laws that protect and advance the rights of women and girls.

500 Words Essay On Gender Equality

Everyone in the country has the same fundamental freedom to pursue happiness whichever way they see fit. It's possible if people of various backgrounds (race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic class, gender) are treated with respect and dignity. Gender disparity is the most noticeable kind of prejudice. Gender discrimination persists even in many modern nations and calls for immediate action. When men and women are given the same opportunities, we will achieve gender equality. Furthermore, this essay will outline the many issues women encounter due to gender discrimination.

Prevalence Of Gender Inequality

Gender inequality is prevalent in many sectors and areas of society. Some examples include:

Education: Women and girls may face barriers to accessing education, such as lack of resources, cultural or societal barriers, and discrimination.

Employment: Women and girls may face discrimination in the workplace, including lower pay for the same work as men, lack of promotion opportunities, and limited representation in leadership positions.

Health care: Women and girls may face discrimination and inadequate access to quality health care, particularly in areas related to reproductive and sexual health.

Political representation: Women are often underrepresented in political leadership positions and decision-making processes.

Domestic violence: Women and girls may face higher rates of domestic violence and abuse, and may lack adequate protection and support from the justice system.

Media and advertising: Women and girls are often portrayed in stereotypical and objectifying ways in the media and advertising, which can reinforce harmful gender norms and stereotypes.

Gender inequality is a widespread issue that affects many areas of society, and it is important to work towards promoting gender equality in all sectors.

How India Can Achieve Gender Equality

Achieving gender equality in India will require a multi-faceted approach that involves addressing social norms and stereotypes, strengthening laws and policies, increasing women's representation in leadership positions, promoting women's economic empowerment, and improving access to health care.

Address social norms and stereotypes: It is important to challenge and change harmful gender norms and stereotypes that contribute to gender inequality. This can be done through education campaigns and programs that promote gender equality and challenge traditional gender roles.

Strengthen laws and policies: India can work to strengthen laws and policies that protect and advance the rights of women and girls, such as laws against domestic violence and discrimination, and policies that promote equal pay for equal work and access to education and employment.

Increase women's representation in leadership positions: India can work to increase the representation of women in leadership positions, including in politics, business, and other sectors, to ensure that women have a stronger voice in decision-making processes.

Promote women's economic empowerment: Providing women with access to education, employment, and financial resources can help to empower them and enable them to fully participate in society.

Improve access to health care: Ensuring that women and girls have access to quality health care, including reproductive and sexual health care, is essential for promoting gender equality.

My Experience

I remember one time when I was working as an intern at a small consulting firm. At the end of my internship, I was offered a full-time position. However, when I received the offer letter, I noticed that my male colleagues who were also being offered full-time positions had been offered a higher salary than me, even though we had all performed the same job duties during our internships.

I was frustrated and felt that I was being treated unfairly because of my gender. I decided to bring this issue to the attention of my supervisor, and after some negotiation, I was able to secure a salary that was equal to that of my male colleagues.

This experience taught me the importance of advocating for myself and not accepting inequality, and it also made me more aware of the ways in which gender bias can manifest in the workplace. I believe that it is important for individuals to speak up and take action when they see instances of gender inequality, and for organizations to make a conscious effort to promote gender equality and fairness in all aspects of their operations.

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

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Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary. 

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

GIS officer work on various GIS software to conduct a study and gather spatial and non-spatial information. GIS experts update the GIS data and maintain it. The databases include aerial or satellite imagery, latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates, and manually digitized images of maps. In a career as GIS expert, one is responsible for creating online and mobile maps.

Data Analyst

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Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Product manager.

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Operations Manager

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Stock Analyst

Individuals who opt for a career as a stock analyst examine the company's investments makes decisions and keep track of financial securities. The nature of such investments will differ from one business to the next. Individuals in the stock analyst career use data mining to forecast a company's profits and revenues, advise clients on whether to buy or sell, participate in seminars, and discussing financial matters with executives and evaluate annual reports.

A Researcher is a professional who is responsible for collecting data and information by reviewing the literature and conducting experiments and surveys. He or she uses various methodological processes to provide accurate data and information that is utilised by academicians and other industry professionals. Here, we will discuss what is a researcher, the researcher's salary, types of researchers.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Safety Manager

A Safety Manager is a professional responsible for employee’s safety at work. He or she plans, implements and oversees the company’s employee safety. A Safety Manager ensures compliance and adherence to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines.

Conservation Architect

A Conservation Architect is a professional responsible for conserving and restoring buildings or monuments having a historic value. He or she applies techniques to document and stabilise the object’s state without any further damage. A Conservation Architect restores the monuments and heritage buildings to bring them back to their original state.

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer designs buildings, bridges, and other related structures. He or she analyzes the structures and makes sure the structures are strong enough to be used by the people. A career as a Structural Engineer requires working in the construction process. It comes under the civil engineering discipline. A Structure Engineer creates structural models with the help of computer-aided design software. 

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Field Surveyor

Are you searching for a Field Surveyor Job Description? A Field Surveyor is a professional responsible for conducting field surveys for various places or geographical conditions. He or she collects the required data and information as per the instructions given by senior officials. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Pathologist

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Veterinary Doctor

Speech therapist, gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

Audiologist

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Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Twenty years of gender equality research: A scoping review based on a new semantic indicator

Contributed equally to this work with: Paola Belingheri, Filippo Chiarello, Andrea Fronzetti Colladon, Paola Rovelli

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Energia, dei Sistemi, del Territorio e delle Costruzioni, Università degli Studi di Pisa, Largo L. Lazzarino, Pisa, Italy

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliations Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy, Department of Management, Kozminski University, Warsaw, Poland

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Faculty of Economics and Management, Centre for Family Business Management, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bozen-Bolzano, Italy

• Paola Belingheri, 
• Filippo Chiarello, 
• Andrea Fronzetti Colladon, 
• Paola Rovelli

• Published: September 21, 2021
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256474
• Reader Comments

9 Nov 2021: The PLOS ONE Staff (2021) Correction: Twenty years of gender equality research: A scoping review based on a new semantic indicator. PLOS ONE 16(11): e0259930. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259930 View correction

Gender equality is a major problem that places women at a disadvantage thereby stymieing economic growth and societal advancement. In the last two decades, extensive research has been conducted on gender related issues, studying both their antecedents and consequences. However, existing literature reviews fail to provide a comprehensive and clear picture of what has been studied so far, which could guide scholars in their future research. Our paper offers a scoping review of a large portion of the research that has been published over the last 22 years, on gender equality and related issues, with a specific focus on business and economics studies. Combining innovative methods drawn from both network analysis and text mining, we provide a synthesis of 15,465 scientific articles. We identify 27 main research topics, we measure their relevance from a semantic point of view and the relationships among them, highlighting the importance of each topic in the overall gender discourse. We find that prominent research topics mostly relate to women in the workforce–e.g., concerning compensation, role, education, decision-making and career progression. However, some of them are losing momentum, and some other research trends–for example related to female entrepreneurship, leadership and participation in the board of directors–are on the rise. Besides introducing a novel methodology to review broad literature streams, our paper offers a map of the main gender-research trends and presents the most popular and the emerging themes, as well as their intersections, outlining important avenues for future research.

Citation: Belingheri P, Chiarello F, Fronzetti Colladon A, Rovelli P (2021) Twenty years of gender equality research: A scoping review based on a new semantic indicator. PLoS ONE 16(9): e0256474. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256474

Editor: Elisa Ughetto, Politecnico di Torino, ITALY

Received: June 25, 2021; Accepted: August 6, 2021; Published: September 21, 2021

Copyright: © 2021 Belingheri et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its supporting information files. The only exception is the text of the abstracts (over 15,000) that we have downloaded from Scopus. These abstracts can be retrieved from Scopus, but we do not have permission to redistribute them.

Funding: P.B and F.C.: Grant of the Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Construction of the University of Pisa (DESTEC) for the project “Measuring Gender Bias with Semantic Analysis: The Development of an Assessment Tool and its Application in the European Space Industry. P.B., F.C., A.F.C., P.R.: Grant of the Italian Association of Management Engineering (AiIG), “Misure di sostegno ai soci giovani AiIG” 2020, for the project “Gender Equality Through Data Intelligence (GEDI)”. F.C.: EU project ASSETs+ Project (Alliance for Strategic Skills addressing Emerging Technologies in Defence) EAC/A03/2018 - Erasmus+ programme, Sector Skills Alliances, Lot 3: Sector Skills Alliance for implementing a new strategic approach (Blueprint) to sectoral cooperation on skills G.A. NUMBER: 612678-EPP-1-2019-1-IT-EPPKA2-SSA-B.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

The persistent gender inequalities that currently exist across the developed and developing world are receiving increasing attention from economists, policymakers, and the general public [e.g., 1 – 3 ]. Economic studies have indicated that women’s education and entry into the workforce contributes to social and economic well-being [e.g., 4 , 5 ], while their exclusion from the labor market and from managerial positions has an impact on overall labor productivity and income per capita [ 6 , 7 ]. The United Nations selected gender equality, with an emphasis on female education, as part of the Millennium Development Goals [ 8 ], and gender equality at-large as one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030 [ 9 ]. These latter objectives involve not only developing nations, but rather all countries, to achieve economic, social and environmental well-being.

As is the case with many SDGs, gender equality is still far from being achieved and persists across education, access to opportunities, or presence in decision-making positions [ 7 , 10 , 11 ]. As we enter the last decade for the SDGs’ implementation, and while we are battling a global health pandemic, effective and efficient action becomes paramount to reach this ambitious goal.

Scholars have dedicated a massive effort towards understanding gender equality, its determinants, its consequences for women and society, and the appropriate actions and policies to advance women’s equality. Many topics have been covered, ranging from women’s education and human capital [ 12 , 13 ] and their role in society [e.g., 14 , 15 ], to their appointment in firms’ top ranked positions [e.g., 16 , 17 ] and performance implications [e.g., 18 , 19 ]. Despite some attempts, extant literature reviews provide a narrow view on these issues, restricted to specific topics–e.g., female students’ presence in STEM fields [ 20 ], educational gender inequality [ 5 ], the gender pay gap [ 21 ], the glass ceiling effect [ 22 ], leadership [ 23 ], entrepreneurship [ 24 ], women’s presence on the board of directors [ 25 , 26 ], diversity management [ 27 ], gender stereotypes in advertisement [ 28 ], or specific professions [ 29 ]. A comprehensive view on gender-related research, taking stock of key findings and under-studied topics is thus lacking.

Extant literature has also highlighted that gender issues, and their economic and social ramifications, are complex topics that involve a large number of possible antecedents and outcomes [ 7 ]. Indeed, gender equality actions are most effective when implemented in unison with other SDGs (e.g., with SDG 8, see [ 30 ]) in a synergetic perspective [ 10 ]. Many bodies of literature (e.g., business, economics, development studies, sociology and psychology) approach the problem of achieving gender equality from different perspectives–often addressing specific and narrow aspects. This sometimes leads to a lack of clarity about how different issues, circumstances, and solutions may be related in precipitating or mitigating gender inequality or its effects. As the number of papers grows at an increasing pace, this issue is exacerbated and there is a need to step back and survey the body of gender equality literature as a whole. There is also a need to examine synergies between different topics and approaches, as well as gaps in our understanding of how different problems and solutions work together. Considering the important topic of women’s economic and social empowerment, this paper aims to fill this gap by answering the following research question: what are the most relevant findings in the literature on gender equality and how do they relate to each other ?

To do so, we conduct a scoping review [ 31 ], providing a synthesis of 15,465 articles dealing with gender equity related issues published in the last twenty-two years, covering both the periods of the MDGs and the SDGs (i.e., 2000 to mid 2021) in all the journals indexed in the Academic Journal Guide’s 2018 ranking of business and economics journals. Given the huge amount of research conducted on the topic, we adopt an innovative methodology, which relies on social network analysis and text mining. These techniques are increasingly adopted when surveying large bodies of text. Recently, they were applied to perform analysis of online gender communication differences [ 32 ] and gender behaviors in online technology communities [ 33 ], to identify and classify sexual harassment instances in academia [ 34 ], and to evaluate the gender inclusivity of disaster management policies [ 35 ].

Applied to the title, abstracts and keywords of the articles in our sample, this methodology allows us to identify a set of 27 recurrent topics within which we automatically classify the papers. Introducing additional novelty, by means of the Semantic Brand Score (SBS) indicator [ 36 ] and the SBS BI app [ 37 ], we assess the importance of each topic in the overall gender equality discourse and its relationships with the other topics, as well as trends over time, with a more accurate description than that offered by traditional literature reviews relying solely on the number of papers presented in each topic.

This methodology, applied to gender equality research spanning the past twenty-two years, enables two key contributions. First, we extract the main message that each document is conveying and how this is connected to other themes in literature, providing a rich picture of the topics that are at the center of the discourse, as well as of the emerging topics. Second, by examining the semantic relationship between topics and how tightly their discourses are linked, we can identify the key relationships and connections between different topics. This semi-automatic methodology is also highly reproducible with minimum effort.

This literature review is organized as follows. In the next section, we present how we selected relevant papers and how we analyzed them through text mining and social network analysis. We then illustrate the importance of 27 selected research topics, measured by means of the SBS indicator. In the results section, we present an overview of the literature based on the SBS results–followed by an in-depth narrative analysis of the top 10 topics (i.e., those with the highest SBS) and their connections. Subsequently, we highlight a series of under-studied connections between the topics where there is potential for future research. Through this analysis, we build a map of the main gender-research trends in the last twenty-two years–presenting the most popular themes. We conclude by highlighting key areas on which research should focused in the future.

Our aim is to map a broad topic, gender equality research, that has been approached through a host of different angles and through different disciplines. Scoping reviews are the most appropriate as they provide the freedom to map different themes and identify literature gaps, thereby guiding the recommendation of new research agendas [ 38 ].

Several practical approaches have been proposed to identify and assess the underlying topics of a specific field using big data [ 39 – 41 ], but many of them fail without proper paper retrieval and text preprocessing. This is specifically true for a research field such as the gender-related one, which comprises the work of scholars from different backgrounds. In this section, we illustrate a novel approach for the analysis of scientific (gender-related) papers that relies on methods and tools of social network analysis and text mining. Our procedure has four main steps: (1) data collection, (2) text preprocessing, (3) keywords extraction and classification, and (4) evaluation of semantic importance and image.

Data collection

In this study, we analyze 22 years of literature on gender-related research. Following established practice for scoping reviews [ 42 ], our data collection consisted of two main steps, which we summarize here below.

Firstly, we retrieved from the Scopus database all the articles written in English that contained the term “gender” in their title, abstract or keywords and were published in a journal listed in the Academic Journal Guide 2018 ranking of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) ( https://charteredabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/AJG2018-Methodology.pdf ), considering the time period from Jan 2000 to May 2021. We used this information considering that abstracts, titles and keywords represent the most informative part of a paper, while using the full-text would increase the signal-to-noise ratio for information extraction. Indeed, these textual elements already demonstrated to be reliable sources of information for the task of domain lexicon extraction [ 43 , 44 ]. We chose Scopus as source of literature because of its popularity, its update rate, and because it offers an API to ease the querying process. Indeed, while it does not allow to retrieve the full text of scientific articles, the Scopus API offers access to titles, abstracts, citation information and metadata for all its indexed scholarly journals. Moreover, we decided to focus on the journals listed in the AJG 2018 ranking because we were interested in reviewing business and economics related gender studies only. The AJG is indeed widely used by universities and business schools as a reference point for journal and research rigor and quality. This first step, executed in June 2021, returned more than 55,000 papers.

In the second step–because a look at the papers showed very sparse results, many of which were not in line with the topic of this literature review (e.g., papers dealing with health care or medical issues, where the word gender indicates the gender of the patients)–we applied further inclusion criteria to make the sample more focused on the topic of this literature review (i.e., women’s gender equality issues). Specifically, we only retained those papers mentioning, in their title and/or abstract, both gender-related keywords (e.g., daughter, female, mother) and keywords referring to bias and equality issues (e.g., equality, bias, diversity, inclusion). After text pre-processing (see next section), keywords were first identified from a frequency-weighted list of words found in the titles, abstracts and keywords in the initial list of papers, extracted through text mining (following the same approach as [ 43 ]). They were selected by two of the co-authors independently, following respectively a bottom up and a top-down approach. The bottom-up approach consisted of examining the words found in the frequency-weighted list and classifying those related to gender and equality. The top-down approach consisted in searching in the word list for notable gender and equality-related words. Table 1 reports the sets of keywords we considered, together with some examples of words that were used to search for their presence in the dataset (a full list is provided in the S1 Text ). At end of this second step, we obtained a final sample of 15,465 relevant papers.

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256474.t001

Text processing and keyword extraction

Text preprocessing aims at structuring text into a form that can be analyzed by statistical models. In the present section, we describe the preprocessing steps we applied to paper titles and abstracts, which, as explained below, partially follow a standard text preprocessing pipeline [ 45 ]. These activities have been performed using the R package udpipe [ 46 ].

The first step is n-gram extraction (i.e., a sequence of words from a given text sample) to identify which n-grams are important in the analysis, since domain-specific lexicons are often composed by bi-grams and tri-grams [ 47 ]. Multi-word extraction is usually implemented with statistics and linguistic rules, thus using the statistical properties of n-grams or machine learning approaches [ 48 ]. However, for the present paper, we used Scopus metadata in order to have a more effective and efficient n-grams collection approach [ 49 ]. We used the keywords of each paper in order to tag n-grams with their associated keywords automatically. Using this greedy approach, it was possible to collect all the keywords listed by the authors of the papers. From this list, we extracted only keywords composed by two, three and four words, we removed all the acronyms and rare keywords (i.e., appearing in less than 1% of papers), and we clustered keywords showing a high orthographic similarity–measured using a Levenshtein distance [ 50 ] lower than 2, considering these groups of keywords as representing same concepts, but expressed with different spelling. After tagging the n-grams in the abstracts, we followed a common data preparation pipeline that consists of the following steps: (i) tokenization, that splits the text into tokens (i.e., single words and previously tagged multi-words); (ii) removal of stop-words (i.e. those words that add little meaning to the text, usually being very common and short functional words–such as “and”, “or”, or “of”); (iii) parts-of-speech tagging, that is providing information concerning the morphological role of a word and its morphosyntactic context (e.g., if the token is a determiner, the next token is a noun or an adjective with very high confidence, [ 51 ]); and (iv) lemmatization, which consists in substituting each word with its dictionary form (or lemma). The output of the latter step allows grouping together the inflected forms of a word. For example, the verbs “am”, “are”, and “is” have the shared lemma “be”, or the nouns “cat” and “cats” both share the lemma “cat”. We preferred lemmatization over stemming [ 52 ] in order to obtain more interpretable results.

In addition, we identified a further set of keywords (with respect to those listed in the “keywords” field) by applying a series of automatic words unification and removal steps, as suggested in past research [ 53 , 54 ]. We removed: sparse terms (i.e., occurring in less than 0.1% of all documents), common terms (i.e., occurring in more than 10% of all documents) and retained only nouns and adjectives. It is relevant to notice that no document was lost due to these steps. We then used the TF-IDF function [ 55 ] to produce a new list of keywords. We additionally tested other approaches for the identification and clustering of keywords–such as TextRank [ 56 ] or Latent Dirichlet Allocation [ 57 ]–without obtaining more informative results.

Classification of research topics

To guide the literature analysis, two experts met regularly to examine the sample of collected papers and to identify the main topics and trends in gender research. Initially, they conducted brainstorming sessions on the topics they expected to find, due to their knowledge of the literature. This led to an initial list of topics. Subsequently, the experts worked independently, also supported by the keywords in paper titles and abstracts extracted with the procedure described above.

Considering all this information, each expert identified and clustered relevant keywords into topics. At the end of the process, the two assignments were compared and exhibited a 92% agreement. Another meeting was held to discuss discordant cases and reach a consensus. This resulted in a list of 27 topics, briefly introduced in Table 2 and subsequently detailed in the following sections.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256474.t002

Evaluation of semantic importance

Working on the lemmatized corpus of the 15,465 papers included in our sample, we proceeded with the evaluation of semantic importance trends for each topic and with the analysis of their connections and prevalent textual associations. To this aim, we used the Semantic Brand Score indicator [ 36 ], calculated through the SBS BI webapp [ 37 ] that also produced a brand image report for each topic. For this study we relied on the computing resources of the ENEA/CRESCO infrastructure [ 58 ].

The Semantic Brand Score (SBS) is a measure of semantic importance that combines methods of social network analysis and text mining. It is usually applied for the analysis of (big) textual data to evaluate the importance of one or more brands, names, words, or sets of keywords [ 36 ]. Indeed, the concept of “brand” is intended in a flexible way and goes beyond products or commercial brands. In this study, we evaluate the SBS time-trends of the keywords defining the research topics discussed in the previous section. Semantic importance comprises the three dimensions of topic prevalence, diversity and connectivity. Prevalence measures how frequently a research topic is used in the discourse. The more a topic is mentioned by scientific articles, the more the research community will be aware of it, with possible increase of future studies; this construct is partly related to that of brand awareness [ 59 ]. This effect is even stronger, considering that we are analyzing the title, abstract and keywords of the papers, i.e. the parts that have the highest visibility. A very important characteristic of the SBS is that it considers the relationships among words in a text. Topic importance is not just a matter of how frequently a topic is mentioned, but also of the associations a topic has in the text. Specifically, texts are transformed into networks of co-occurring words, and relationships are studied through social network analysis [ 60 ]. This step is necessary to calculate the other two dimensions of our semantic importance indicator. Accordingly, a social network of words is generated for each time period considered in the analysis–i.e., a graph made of n nodes (words) and E edges weighted by co-occurrence frequency, with W being the set of edge weights. The keywords representing each topic were clustered into single nodes.

The construct of diversity relates to that of brand image [ 59 ], in the sense that it considers the richness and distinctiveness of textual (topic) associations. Considering the above-mentioned networks, we calculated diversity using the distinctiveness centrality metric–as in the formula presented by Fronzetti Colladon and Naldi [ 61 ].

Lastly, connectivity was measured as the weighted betweenness centrality [ 62 , 63 ] of each research topic node. We used the formula presented by Wasserman and Faust [ 60 ]. The dimension of connectivity represents the “brokerage power” of each research topic–i.e., how much it can serve as a bridge to connect other terms (and ultimately topics) in the discourse [ 36 ].

The SBS is the final composite indicator obtained by summing the standardized scores of prevalence, diversity and connectivity. Standardization was carried out considering all the words in the corpus, for each specific timeframe.

This methodology, applied to a large and heterogeneous body of text, enables to automatically identify two important sets of information that add value to the literature review. Firstly, the relevance of each topic in literature is measured through a composite indicator of semantic importance, rather than simply looking at word frequencies. This provides a much richer picture of the topics that are at the center of the discourse, as well as of the topics that are emerging in the literature. Secondly, it enables to examine the extent of the semantic relationship between topics, looking at how tightly their discourses are linked. In a field such as gender equality, where many topics are closely linked to each other and present overlaps in issues and solutions, this methodology offers a novel perspective with respect to traditional literature reviews. In addition, it ensures reproducibility over time and the possibility to semi-automatically update the analysis, as new papers become available.

Overview of main topics

In terms of descriptive textual statistics, our corpus is made of 15,465 text documents, consisting of a total of 2,685,893 lemmatized tokens (words) and 32,279 types. As a result, the type-token ratio is 1.2%. The number of hapaxes is 12,141, with a hapax-token ratio of 37.61%.

Fig 1 shows the list of 27 topics by decreasing SBS. The most researched topic is compensation , exceeding all others in prevalence, diversity, and connectivity. This means it is not only mentioned more often than other topics, but it is also connected to a greater number of other topics and is central to the discourse on gender equality. The next four topics are, in order of SBS, role , education , decision-making , and career progression . These topics, except for education , all concern women in the workforce. Between these first five topics and the following ones there is a clear drop in SBS scores. In particular, the topics that follow have a lower connectivity than the first five. They are hiring , performance , behavior , organization , and human capital . Again, except for behavior and human capital , the other three topics are purely related to women in the workforce. After another drop-off, the following topics deal prevalently with women in society. This trend highlights that research on gender in business journals has so far mainly paid attention to the conditions that women experience in business contexts, while also devoting some attention to women in society.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256474.g001

Fig 2 shows the SBS time series of the top 10 topics. While there has been a general increase in the number of Scopus-indexed publications in the last decade, we notice that some SBS trends remain steady, or even decrease. In particular, we observe that the main topic of the last twenty-two years, compensation , is losing momentum. Since 2016, it has been surpassed by decision-making , education and role , which may indicate that literature is increasingly attempting to identify root causes of compensation inequalities. Moreover, in the last two years, the topics of hiring , performance , and organization are experiencing the largest importance increase.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256474.g002

Fig 3 shows the SBS time trends of the remaining 17 topics (i.e., those not in the top 10). As we can see from the graph, there are some that maintain a steady trend–such as reputation , management , networks and governance , which also seem to have little importance. More relevant topics with average stationary trends (except for the last two years) are culture , family , and parenting . The feminine topic is among the most important here, and one of those that exhibit the larger variations over time (similarly to leadership ). On the other hand, the are some topics that, even if not among the most important, show increasing SBS trends; therefore, they could be considered as emerging topics and could become popular in the near future. These are entrepreneurship , leadership , board of directors , and sustainability . These emerging topics are also interesting to anticipate future trends in gender equality research that are conducive to overall equality in society.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256474.g003

In addition to the SBS score of the different topics, the network of terms they are associated to enables to gauge the extent to which their images (textual associations) overlap or differ ( Fig 4 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256474.g004

There is a central cluster of topics with high similarity, which are all connected with women in the workforce. The cluster includes topics such as organization , decision-making , performance , hiring , human capital , education and compensation . In addition, the topic of well-being is found within this cluster, suggesting that women’s equality in the workforce is associated to well-being considerations. The emerging topics of entrepreneurship and leadership are also closely connected with each other, possibly implying that leadership is a much-researched quality in female entrepreneurship. Topics that are relatively more distant include personality , politics , feminine , empowerment , management , board of directors , reputation , governance , parenting , masculine and network .

The following sections describe the top 10 topics and their main associations in literature (see Table 3 ), while providing a brief overview of the emerging topics.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256474.t003

Compensation.

The topic of compensation is related to the topics of role , hiring , education and career progression , however, also sees a very high association with the words gap and inequality . Indeed, a well-known debate in degrowth economics centers around whether and how to adequately compensate women for their childbearing, childrearing, caregiver and household work [e.g., 30 ].

Even in paid work, women continue being offered lower compensations than their male counterparts who have the same job or cover the same role [ 64 – 67 ]. This severe inequality has been widely studied by scholars over the last twenty-two years. Dealing with this topic, some specific roles have been addressed. Specifically, research highlighted differences in compensation between female and male CEOs [e.g., 68 ], top executives [e.g., 69 ], and boards’ directors [e.g., 70 ]. Scholars investigated the determinants of these gaps, such as the gender composition of the board [e.g., 71 – 73 ] or women’s individual characteristics [e.g., 71 , 74 ].

Among these individual characteristics, education plays a relevant role [ 75 ]. Education is indeed presented as the solution for women, not only to achieve top executive roles, but also to reduce wage inequality [e.g., 76 , 77 ]. Past research has highlighted education influences on gender wage gaps, specifically referring to gender differences in skills [e.g., 78 ], college majors [e.g., 79 ], and college selectivity [e.g., 80 ].

Finally, the wage gap issue is strictly interrelated with hiring –e.g., looking at whether being a mother affects hiring and compensation [e.g., 65 , 81 ] or relating compensation to unemployment [e.g., 82 ]–and career progression –for instance looking at meritocracy [ 83 , 84 ] or the characteristics of the boss for whom women work [e.g., 85 ].

The roles covered by women have been deeply investigated. Scholars have focused on the role of women in their families and the society as a whole [e.g., 14 , 15 ], and, more widely, in business contexts [e.g., 18 , 81 ]. Indeed, despite still lagging behind their male counterparts [e.g., 86 , 87 ], in the last decade there has been an increase in top ranked positions achieved by women [e.g., 88 , 89 ]. Following this phenomenon, scholars have posed greater attention towards the presence of women in the board of directors [e.g., 16 , 18 , 90 , 91 ], given the increasing pressure to appoint female directors that firms, especially listed ones, have experienced. Other scholars have focused on the presence of women covering the role of CEO [e.g., 17 , 92 ] or being part of the top management team [e.g., 93 ]. Irrespectively of the level of analysis, all these studies tried to uncover the antecedents of women’s presence among top managers [e.g., 92 , 94 ] and the consequences of having a them involved in the firm’s decision-making –e.g., on performance [e.g., 19 , 95 , 96 ], risk [e.g., 97 , 98 ], and corporate social responsibility [e.g., 99 , 100 ].

Besides studying the difficulties and discriminations faced by women in getting a job [ 81 , 101 ], and, more specifically in the hiring , appointment, or career progression to these apical roles [e.g., 70 , 83 ], the majority of research of women’s roles dealt with compensation issues. Specifically, scholars highlight the pay-gap that still exists between women and men, both in general [e.g., 64 , 65 ], as well as referring to boards’ directors [e.g., 70 , 102 ], CEOs and executives [e.g., 69 , 103 , 104 ].

Finally, other scholars focused on the behavior of women when dealing with business. In this sense, particular attention has been paid to leadership and entrepreneurial behaviors. The former quite overlaps with dealing with the roles mentioned above, but also includes aspects such as leaders being stereotyped as masculine [e.g., 105 ], the need for greater exposure to female leaders to reduce biases [e.g., 106 ], or female leaders acting as queen bees [e.g., 107 ]. Regarding entrepreneurship , scholars mainly investigated women’s entrepreneurial entry [e.g., 108 , 109 ], differences between female and male entrepreneurs in the evaluations and funding received from investors [e.g., 110 , 111 ], and their performance gap [e.g., 112 , 113 ].

Education has long been recognized as key to social advancement and economic stability [ 114 ], for job progression and also a barrier to gender equality, especially in STEM-related fields. Research on education and gender equality is mostly linked with the topics of compensation , human capital , career progression , hiring , parenting and decision-making .

Education contributes to a higher human capital [ 115 ] and constitutes an investment on the part of women towards their future. In this context, literature points to the gender gap in educational attainment, and the consequences for women from a social, economic, personal and professional standpoint. Women are found to have less access to formal education and information, especially in emerging countries, which in turn may cause them to lose social and economic opportunities [e.g., 12 , 116 – 119 ]. Education in local and rural communities is also paramount to communicate the benefits of female empowerment , contributing to overall societal well-being [e.g., 120 ].

Once women access education, the image they have of the world and their place in society (i.e., habitus) affects their education performance [ 13 ] and is passed on to their children. These situations reinforce gender stereotypes, which become self-fulfilling prophecies that may negatively affect female students’ performance by lowering their confidence and heightening their anxiety [ 121 , 122 ]. Besides formal education, also the information that women are exposed to on a daily basis contributes to their human capital . Digital inequalities, for instance, stems from men spending more time online and acquiring higher digital skills than women [ 123 ].

Education is also a factor that should boost employability of candidates and thus hiring , career progression and compensation , however the relationship between these factors is not straightforward [ 115 ]. First, educational choices ( decision-making ) are influenced by variables such as self-efficacy and the presence of barriers, irrespectively of the career opportunities they offer, especially in STEM [ 124 ]. This brings additional difficulties to women’s enrollment and persistence in scientific and technical fields of study due to stereotypes and biases [ 125 , 126 ]. Moreover, access to education does not automatically translate into job opportunities for women and minority groups [ 127 , 128 ] or into female access to managerial positions [ 129 ].

Finally, parenting is reported as an antecedent of education [e.g., 130 ], with much of the literature focusing on the role of parents’ education on the opportunities afforded to children to enroll in education [ 131 – 134 ] and the role of parenting in their offspring’s perception of study fields and attitudes towards learning [ 135 – 138 ]. Parental education is also a predictor of the other related topics, namely human capital and compensation [ 139 ].

Decision-making.

This literature mainly points to the fact that women are thought to make decisions differently than men. Women have indeed different priorities, such as they care more about people’s well-being, working with people or helping others, rather than maximizing their personal (or their firm’s) gain [ 140 ]. In other words, women typically present more communal than agentic behaviors, which are instead more frequent among men [ 141 ]. These different attitude, behavior and preferences in turn affect the decisions they make [e.g., 142 ] and the decision-making of the firm in which they work [e.g., 143 ].

At the individual level, gender affects, for instance, career aspirations [e.g., 144 ] and choices [e.g., 142 , 145 ], or the decision of creating a venture [e.g., 108 , 109 , 146 ]. Moreover, in everyday life, women and men make different decisions regarding partners [e.g., 147 ], childcare [e.g., 148 ], education [e.g., 149 ], attention to the environment [e.g., 150 ] and politics [e.g., 151 ].

At the firm level, scholars highlighted, for example, how the presence of women in the board affects corporate decisions [e.g., 152 , 153 ], that female CEOs are more conservative in accounting decisions [e.g., 154 ], or that female CFOs tend to make more conservative decisions regarding the firm’s financial reporting [e.g., 155 ]. Nevertheless, firm level research also investigated decisions that, influenced by gender bias, affect women, such as those pertaining hiring [e.g., 156 , 157 ], compensation [e.g., 73 , 158 ], or the empowerment of women once appointed [ 159 ].

Career progression.

Once women have entered the workforce, the key aspect to achieve gender equality becomes career progression , including efforts toward overcoming the glass ceiling. Indeed, according to the SBS analysis, career progression is highly related to words such as work, social issues and equality. The topic with which it has the highest semantic overlap is role , followed by decision-making , hiring , education , compensation , leadership , human capital , and family .

Career progression implies an advancement in the hierarchical ladder of the firm, assigning managerial roles to women. Coherently, much of the literature has focused on identifying rationales for a greater female participation in the top management team and board of directors [e.g., 95 ] as well as the best criteria to ensure that the decision-makers promote the most valuable employees irrespectively of their individual characteristics, such as gender [e.g., 84 ]. The link between career progression , role and compensation is often provided in practice by performance appraisal exercises, frequently rooted in a culture of meritocracy that guides bonuses, salary increases and promotions. However, performance appraisals can actually mask gender-biased decisions where women are held to higher standards than their male colleagues [e.g., 83 , 84 , 95 , 160 , 161 ]. Women often have less opportunities to gain leadership experience and are less visible than their male colleagues, which constitute barriers to career advancement [e.g., 162 ]. Therefore, transparency and accountability, together with procedures that discourage discretionary choices, are paramount to achieve a fair career progression [e.g., 84 ], together with the relaxation of strict job boundaries in favor of cross-functional and self-directed tasks [e.g., 163 ].

In addition, a series of stereotypes about the type of leadership characteristics that are required for top management positions, which fit better with typical male and agentic attributes, are another key barrier to career advancement for women [e.g., 92 , 160 ].

Hiring is the entrance gateway for women into the workforce. Therefore, it is related to other workforce topics such as compensation , role , career progression , decision-making , human capital , performance , organization and education .

A first stream of literature focuses on the process leading up to candidates’ job applications, demonstrating that bias exists before positions are even opened, and it is perpetuated both by men and women through networking and gatekeeping practices [e.g., 164 , 165 ].

The hiring process itself is also subject to biases [ 166 ], for example gender-congruity bias that leads to men being preferred candidates in male-dominated sectors [e.g., 167 ], women being hired in positions with higher risk of failure [e.g., 168 ] and limited transparency and accountability afforded by written processes and procedures [e.g., 164 ] that all contribute to ascriptive inequality. In addition, providing incentives for evaluators to hire women may actually work to this end; however, this is not the case when supporting female candidates endangers higher-ranking male ones [ 169 ].

Another interesting perspective, instead, looks at top management teams’ composition and the effects on hiring practices, indicating that firms with more women in top management are less likely to lay off staff [e.g., 152 ].

Performance.

Several scholars posed their attention towards women’s performance, its consequences [e.g., 170 , 171 ] and the implications of having women in decision-making positions [e.g., 18 , 19 ].

At the individual level, research focused on differences in educational and academic performance between women and men, especially referring to the gender gap in STEM fields [e.g., 171 ]. The presence of stereotype threats–that is the expectation that the members of a social group (e.g., women) “must deal with the possibility of being judged or treated stereotypically, or of doing something that would confirm the stereotype” [ 172 ]–affects women’s interested in STEM [e.g., 173 ], as well as their cognitive ability tests, penalizing them [e.g., 174 ]. A stronger gender identification enhances this gap [e.g., 175 ], whereas mentoring and role models can be used as solutions to this problem [e.g., 121 ]. Despite the negative effect of stereotype threats on girls’ performance [ 176 ], female and male students perform equally in mathematics and related subjects [e.g., 177 ]. Moreover, while individuals’ performance at school and university generally affects their achievements and the field in which they end up working, evidence reveals that performance in math or other scientific subjects does not explain why fewer women enter STEM working fields; rather this gap depends on other aspects, such as culture, past working experiences, or self-efficacy [e.g., 170 ]. Finally, scholars have highlighted the penalization that women face for their positive performance, for instance when they succeed in traditionally male areas [e.g., 178 ]. This penalization is explained by the violation of gender-stereotypic prescriptions [e.g., 179 , 180 ], that is having women well performing in agentic areas, which are typical associated to men. Performance penalization can thus be overcome by clearly conveying communal characteristics and behaviors [ 178 ].

Evidence has been provided on how the involvement of women in boards of directors and decision-making positions affects firms’ performance. Nevertheless, results are mixed, with some studies showing positive effects on financial [ 19 , 181 , 182 ] and corporate social performance [ 99 , 182 , 183 ]. Other studies maintain a negative association [e.g., 18 ], and other again mixed [e.g., 184 ] or non-significant association [e.g., 185 ]. Also with respect to the presence of a female CEO, mixed results emerged so far, with some researches demonstrating a positive effect on firm’s performance [e.g., 96 , 186 ], while other obtaining only a limited evidence of this relationship [e.g., 103 ] or a negative one [e.g., 187 ].

Finally, some studies have investigated whether and how women’s performance affects their hiring [e.g., 101 ] and career progression [e.g., 83 , 160 ]. For instance, academic performance leads to different returns in hiring for women and men. Specifically, high-achieving men are called back significantly more often than high-achieving women, which are penalized when they have a major in mathematics; this result depends on employers’ gendered standards for applicants [e.g., 101 ]. Once appointed, performance ratings are more strongly related to promotions for women than men, and promoted women typically show higher past performance ratings than those of promoted men. This suggesting that women are subject to stricter standards for promotion [e.g., 160 ].

Behavioral aspects related to gender follow two main streams of literature. The first examines female personality and behavior in the workplace, and their alignment with cultural expectations or stereotypes [e.g., 188 ] as well as their impacts on equality. There is a common bias that depicts women as less agentic than males. Certain characteristics, such as those more congruent with male behaviors–e.g., self-promotion [e.g., 189 ], negotiation skills [e.g., 190 ] and general agentic behavior [e.g., 191 ]–, are less accepted in women. However, characteristics such as individualism in women have been found to promote greater gender equality in society [ 192 ]. In addition, behaviors such as display of emotions [e.g., 193 ], which are stereotypically female, work against women’s acceptance in the workplace, requiring women to carefully moderate their behavior to avoid exclusion. A counter-intuitive result is that women and minorities, which are more marginalized in the workplace, tend to be better problem-solvers in innovation competitions due to their different knowledge bases [ 194 ].

The other side of the coin is examined in a parallel literature stream on behavior towards women in the workplace. As a result of biases, prejudices and stereotypes, women may experience adverse behavior from their colleagues, such as incivility and harassment, which undermine their well-being [e.g., 195 , 196 ]. Biases that go beyond gender, such as for overweight people, are also more strongly applied to women [ 197 ].

Organization.

The role of women and gender bias in organizations has been studied from different perspectives, which mirror those presented in detail in the following sections. Specifically, most research highlighted the stereotypical view of leaders [e.g., 105 ] and the roles played by women within firms, for instance referring to presence in the board of directors [e.g., 18 , 90 , 91 ], appointment as CEOs [e.g., 16 ], or top executives [e.g., 93 ].

Scholars have investigated antecedents and consequences of the presence of women in these apical roles. On the one side they looked at hiring and career progression [e.g., 83 , 92 , 160 , 168 , 198 ], finding women typically disadvantaged with respect to their male counterparts. On the other side, they studied women’s leadership styles and influence on the firm’s decision-making [e.g., 152 , 154 , 155 , 199 ], with implications for performance [e.g., 18 , 19 , 96 ].

Human capital.

Human capital is a transverse topic that touches upon many different aspects of female gender equality. As such, it has the most associations with other topics, starting with education as mentioned above, with career-related topics such as role , decision-making , hiring , career progression , performance , compensation , leadership and organization . Another topic with which there is a close connection is behavior . In general, human capital is approached both from the education standpoint but also from the perspective of social capital.

The behavioral aspect in human capital comprises research related to gender differences for example in cultural and religious beliefs that influence women’s attitudes and perceptions towards STEM subjects [ 142 , 200 – 202 ], towards employment [ 203 ] or towards environmental issues [ 150 , 204 ]. These cultural differences also emerge in the context of globalization which may accelerate gender equality in the workforce [ 205 , 206 ]. Gender differences also appear in behaviors such as motivation [ 207 ], and in negotiation [ 190 ], and have repercussions on women’s decision-making related to their careers. The so-called gender equality paradox sees women in countries with lower gender equality more likely to pursue studies and careers in STEM fields, whereas the gap in STEM enrollment widens as countries achieve greater equality in society [ 171 ].

Career progression is modeled by literature as a choice-process where personal preferences, culture and decision-making affect the chosen path and the outcomes. Some literature highlights how women tend to self-select into different professions than men, often due to stereotypes rather than actual ability to perform in these professions [ 142 , 144 ]. These stereotypes also affect the perceptions of female performance or the amount of human capital required to equal male performance [ 110 , 193 , 208 ], particularly for mothers [ 81 ]. It is therefore often assumed that women are better suited to less visible and less leadership -oriented roles [ 209 ]. Women also express differing preferences towards work-family balance, which affect whether and how they pursue human capital gains [ 210 ], and ultimately their career progression and salary .

On the other hand, men are often unaware of gendered processes and behaviors that they carry forward in their interactions and decision-making [ 211 , 212 ]. Therefore, initiatives aimed at increasing managers’ human capital –by raising awareness of gender disparities in their organizations and engaging them in diversity promotion–are essential steps to counter gender bias and segregation [ 213 ].

Emerging topics: Leadership and entrepreneurship

Among the emerging topics, the most pervasive one is women reaching leadership positions in the workforce and in society. This is still a rare occurrence for two main types of factors, on the one hand, bias and discrimination make it harder for women to access leadership positions [e.g., 214 – 216 ], on the other hand, the competitive nature and high pressure associated with leadership positions, coupled with the lack of women currently represented, reduce women’s desire to achieve them [e.g., 209 , 217 ]. Women are more effective leaders when they have access to education, resources and a diverse environment with representation [e.g., 218 , 219 ].

One sector where there is potential for women to carve out a leadership role is entrepreneurship . Although at the start of the millennium the discourse on entrepreneurship was found to be “discriminatory, gender-biased, ethnocentrically determined and ideologically controlled” [ 220 ], an increasing body of literature is studying how to stimulate female entrepreneurship as an alternative pathway to wealth, leadership and empowerment [e.g., 221 ]. Many barriers exist for women to access entrepreneurship, including the institutional and legal environment, social and cultural factors, access to knowledge and resources, and individual behavior [e.g., 222 , 223 ]. Education has been found to raise women’s entrepreneurial intentions [e.g., 224 ], although this effect is smaller than for men [e.g., 109 ]. In addition, increasing self-efficacy and risk-taking behavior constitute important success factors [e.g., 225 ].

Finally, the topic of sustainability is worth mentioning, as it is the primary objective of the SDGs and is closely associated with societal well-being. As society grapples with the effects of climate change and increasing depletion of natural resources, a narrative has emerged on women and their greater link to the environment [ 226 ]. Studies in developed countries have found some support for women leaders’ attention to sustainability issues in firms [e.g., 227 – 229 ], and smaller resource consumption by women [ 230 ]. At the same time, women will likely be more affected by the consequences of climate change [e.g., 230 ] but often lack the decision-making power to influence local decision-making on resource management and environmental policies [e.g., 231 ].

Research gaps and conclusions

Research on gender equality has advanced rapidly in the past decades, with a steady increase in publications, both in mainstream topics related to women in education and the workforce, and in emerging topics. Through a novel approach combining methods of text mining and social network analysis, we examined a comprehensive body of literature comprising 15,465 papers published between 2000 and mid 2021 on topics related to gender equality. We identified a set of 27 topics addressed by the literature and examined their connections.

At the highest level of abstraction, it is worth noting that papers abound on the identification of issues related to gender inequalities and imbalances in the workforce and in society. Literature has thoroughly examined the (unconscious) biases, barriers, stereotypes, and discriminatory behaviors that women are facing as a result of their gender. Instead, there are much fewer papers that discuss or demonstrate effective solutions to overcome gender bias [e.g., 121 , 143 , 145 , 163 , 194 , 213 , 232 ]. This is partly due to the relative ease in studying the status quo, as opposed to studying changes in the status quo. However, we observed a shift in the more recent years towards solution seeking in this domain, which we strongly encourage future researchers to focus on. In the future, we may focus on collecting and mapping pro-active contributions to gender studies, using additional Natural Language Processing techniques, able to measure the sentiment of scientific papers [ 43 ].

All of the mainstream topics identified in our literature review are closely related, and there is a wealth of insights looking at the intersection between issues such as education and career progression or human capital and role . However, emerging topics are worthy of being furtherly explored. It would be interesting to see more work on the topic of female entrepreneurship , exploring aspects such as education , personality , governance , management and leadership . For instance, how can education support female entrepreneurship? How can self-efficacy and risk-taking behaviors be taught or enhanced? What are the differences in managerial and governance styles of female entrepreneurs? Which personality traits are associated with successful entrepreneurs? Which traits are preferred by venture capitalists and funding bodies?

The emerging topic of sustainability also deserves further attention, as our society struggles with climate change and its consequences. It would be interesting to see more research on the intersection between sustainability and entrepreneurship , looking at how female entrepreneurs are tackling sustainability issues, examining both their business models and their company governance . In addition, scholars are suggested to dig deeper into the relationship between family values and behaviors.

Moreover, it would be relevant to understand how women’s networks (social capital), or the composition and structure of social networks involving both women and men, enable them to increase their remuneration and reach top corporate positions, participate in key decision-making bodies, and have a voice in communities. Furthermore, the achievement of gender equality might significantly change firm networks and ecosystems, with important implications for their performance and survival.

Similarly, research at the nexus of (corporate) governance , career progression , compensation and female empowerment could yield useful insights–for example discussing how enterprises, institutions and countries are managed and the impact for women and other minorities. Are there specific governance structures that favor diversity and inclusion?

Lastly, we foresee an emerging stream of research pertaining how the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic challenged women, especially in the workforce, by making gender biases more evident.

For our analysis, we considered a set of 15,465 articles downloaded from the Scopus database (which is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature). As we were interested in reviewing business and economics related gender studies, we only considered those papers published in journals listed in the Academic Journal Guide (AJG) 2018 ranking of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS). All the journals listed in this ranking are also indexed by Scopus. Therefore, looking at a single database (i.e., Scopus) should not be considered a limitation of our study. However, future research could consider different databases and inclusion criteria.

With our literature review, we offer researchers a comprehensive map of major gender-related research trends over the past twenty-two years. This can serve as a lens to look to the future, contributing to the achievement of SDG5. Researchers may use our study as a starting point to identify key themes addressed in the literature. In addition, our methodological approach–based on the use of the Semantic Brand Score and its webapp–could support scholars interested in reviewing other areas of research.

Supporting information

S1 text. keywords used for paper selection..

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256474.s001

Acknowledgments

The computing resources and the related technical support used for this work have been provided by CRESCO/ENEAGRID High Performance Computing infrastructure and its staff. CRESCO/ENEAGRID High Performance Computing infrastructure is funded by ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development and by Italian and European research programmes (see http://www.cresco.enea.it/english for information).

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Closing gender pay gaps is more important than ever 

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On average, women globally are paid about 20 per cent less than men, the International Labour (ILO) Organization said on Sunday, International Equal Pay Day .

While individual characteristics such as education, working time, occupational segregation, skills, or experience explain part of the gender pay gap, ILO says that a large part is due to discrimination based on one’s gender or sex.

Further building on the UN's commitment against all forms of discrimination, including that against women and girls, Equal Pay Day represents longstanding efforts towards achieving the same wage for work of equal value.

Women hardest hit

Meanwhile, women have been among the worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including in terms of income security, representation in sectors hardest hit, and gendered division of family responsibilities.

This, in turn, has led negatively impacted their employment and threatened to reverse decades of progress made towards gender equality.

As countries emerge from the pandemic, taking action to address gender equality setbacks is not only relevant and timely but also critical for an inclusive, sustainable, and resilient recovery.

Closing the gap

Governments, employers, and workers organizations recognize that closing gender pay gaps is more important than ever. 

Over the past few years, increasingly more governments are proposing transparency measures and information sharing to address gender wage gaps.

According to recent research, depending on how they are put into place, pay transparency measures can effectively identify compensation differences and reduce broader gender inequalities in the labour market.

“These are still early days for pay transparency,” said Manuela Tomei, Director of the ILO Conditions of Work and Equality Department, noting that countries are pursuing different approaches to advance it.

She pointed out that “there is no ‘one-size fits all’ solution”.

“While more time is needed to assess the effectiveness of the different measures and practices, it is encouraging that Governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations seek to devise innovative solutions, such as pay transparency, to tackle a stubborn problem”.

Surprising facts

Women are concentrated in lower-paid, lower-skill work.

For every dollar men earn, women earn 77 cents.

Women are under-represented in decision-making roles.

Women carry out at least 2.5 times more unpaid work than men.

At the current rate, it will take 257 years to close the global gender pay gap.

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The Gender Pay Gap: Income Inequality Over Life Course – A Multilevel Analysis

Lisa toczek.

1 Department of Medical Sociology, Institute of the History, Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany

2 Department of Social Medicine, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands

Richard Peter

Maria Bohdalova , Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia

Associated Data

The datasets presented in this article are not readily available because the study data contain social security information. Due to legal regulations in Germany, it is not permitted to share data with social security information. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to [email protected] .

The gender pay gap has been observed for decades, and still exists. Due to a life course perspective, gender differences in income are analyzed over a period of 24 years. Therefore, this study aims to investigate income trajectories and the differences regarding men and women. Moreover, the study examines how human capital determinants, occupational positions and factors that accumulate disadvantages over time contribute to the explanation of the GPG in Germany. Therefore, this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the GPG over the life course. The data are based on the German cohort study lidA (living at work), which links survey data individually with employment register data. Based on social security data, the income of men and women over time are analyzed using a multilevel analysis. The results show that the GPG exists in Germany over the life course: men have a higher daily average income per year than women. In addition, the income developments of men rise more sharply than those of women over time. Moreover, even after controlling for factors potentially explaining the GPG like education, work experience, occupational status or unemployment episodes the GPG persists. Concluding, further research is required that covers additional factors like individual behavior or information about the labor market structure for a better understanding of the GPG.

1 Introduction

In the European Union (EU) in 2019, women’s average gross hourly earnings were 14.1% below the earnings of men ( Eurostat, 2021a ). The gender pay gap (GPG) has existed for decades and still remains to date. According to Eurostat GPG statistics, the key priorities of gender policies are to reduce the wage differences between men and women at both the EU and national levels ( Eurostat, 2021a ). Nevertheless, the careers of men and women differ considerably in the labor market, with women being paid less than men ( Arulampalam et al., 2005 ; Radl, 2013 ; Boll et al., 2017 ). A report from the European Parliament in 2015 about gender equality assessed Germany’s performance in that field as mediocre. The federal government in Germany has already improved laws that focus on gender equality ( Botsch, 2015 ). Regarding Germany, in 2019 the earning difference between men and women were found to be 19.2% ( Eurostat, 2021a ). The reasons behind gender income inequality are complex and have multidimensional explanations.

1.1 Determinants of the GPG

The early 1990s represented a turning point for the participation of women in the labor market ( Botsch, 2015 ). In previous years, women’s participation rate in the workforce has strongly increased, from 51.9% in the year 1980 (West Germany) to 74.9% in 2019 ( OECD, 2021 ). This upward trend represents the increase of women working at older ages ( Sackmann, 2018 ). However, the gender income inequality remains. Different explaining factors of the GPG were found in previous research: patterns of employment, access to education and interruptions in the careers of men and women.

Although there are nearly equal numbers of men and women in the labor market, when considering women’s careers, various gender-specific barriers are occurring. The working patterns were found to have a relevant impact on the GPG in previous research. Atypical employment is increasing and this result in an expansion of the low-wage sector, which mainly affects women in Germany ( Botsch, 2015 ). Additionally, labor market integration of women has mainly been in jobs that provide few working hours and low wages ( Botsch, 2015 ). Moreover, part-time employment represents a common employment type in Germany, which is more frequent among women – as various studies have demonstrated – and explains the GPG significantly ( Boll et al., 2017 ; Ponthieux and Meurs, 2015 ; Boll and Leppin, 2015 ). In addition, the part-time employment occurs more often in occupations characterized by a high proportion of women and low wages ( Matteazzi et al., 2018 ; Boll and Leppin, 2015 ; Hasselhorn, 2020 ; Manzoni et al., 2014 ). Another employment type with few working hours and low pay is a special form of part-time work: marginal work. Marginal work is defined as earnings up to 450 Euros per month or up to 5.400 Euros annually. Also, it is also more common among women than among men ( Botsch, 2015 ; Broughton et al., 2016 ). The marginal part-time work has increased in nearly all EU countries, especially in Germany where it can be found to be above the EU average ( Broughton et al., 2016 ). Besides the working time, occupational status influences the wage differences of men and women. Female-dominated occupational sectors are characterized by lower wages compared to male-dominated ones ( Brynin and Perales, 2016 ). Additionally, in women-dominant industries, remunerations are less attractive and it often entails low-status work in sectors like retail, caregiving or education ( Boll and Leppin, 2015 ; Hasselhorn, 2020 ; Matteazzi et al., 2018 ; Brynin and Perales, 2016 ). Hence, working patterns such as the amount of working time or the occupational status are crucial determinants that contribute to explaining the GPG in Germany ( Blau and Kahn, 2017 ; Boll et al., 2017 ).

The access to education and vocational training are important factors, that influence the GPG. Both influence a first access to the labor market and are considered to be ‘door openers’ for the working life ( Manzoni et al., 2014 ). In Germany, education represents a largely stable variable over time, i.e. only few individuals increase their first educational attainment. Education influences the careers of men and women and can be seen as important an determinant of future earnings ( Boll et al., 2017 ; Bovens and Wille, 2017 ). Although women’s educational attainment caught up with those of men’s in recent years, for men, a higher qualification was still rewarded more than for women ( Botsch, 2015 ; Boll et al., 2017 ). Moreover, in previous research the impact of education on the GPG was not found to be consistent with different influences for men than for women ( Aisenbrey and Bruckner, 2008 ; Ponthieux and Meurs, 2015 ). Manzoni et al. (2014) found out, that the effect of education on career developments were dependent of their particular educational levels. In addition, regardless of the women’s educational catching-up in the last years, looking at older cohorts – born between 1950 and 1964 – women had a lower average level of education than men ( Boll et al., 2017 ).

An increasing GPG over time can also be the result of interruptions in careers, which are found more often for women than for men ( Eurostat, 2021a ; Boll and Leppin, 2015 ). Previous research of Boll and Leppin (2015) has identified explanations for the GPG in Germany by analyzing data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) in 2011. They demonstrated that the amount of time spent in actual work was lower for women than for men. Therefore, women gain less work experience than their male counterparts ( Boll and Leppin, 2015 ). Career interruptions not only impact the accumulation of work experience but also the scope of future work. Especially in the period of family formation higher rates of part-time employment among women can be observed ( Boll et al., 2017 ; Ponthieux and Meurs, 2015 ). Moreover, work-life interruptions such as raising children or caring for family members have a major impact on the employment development and are more likely to appear for women than for men ( Ponthieux and Meurs, 2015 ). Although the employment rate of mothers has increased in recent years in Germany, it is still considerably lower than that of fathers ( Federal Statistical Office, 2021 ). Hence, taking care of children is still attributed to mothers, to the detriment of their careers ( Botsch, 2015 ). A recent study, however, found sizable wage differences between men and women who were not parents, refuting the assumption that the GPG applies only to parents ( Joshi et al., 2020 ). Other interruptions in the working lives of men and women are caused by unemployment. Azmat et al. (2006) found that in Germany, transition rates from employment to unemployment were higher for women than for men. Career interruptions have lasting negative effects on women’s wages. Therefore, it can be useful to examine unemployment when analyzing gender inequality in the labor market ( Eurostat, 2021b ).

1.2 Theoretical Background

1.2.1 human capital model.

In previous research, economic theories had been applied to explain the income differences of men and women. Two essential factors could be found: qualification and discrimination. The human capital model claims that qualifications with greater investments can be directly related to higher wages of men and women. The earnings are assumed to be based on skills and abilities that are required through education and vocational training, and work experience ( Grybaitė, 2006 ; Lips, 2013 ; Blau and Kahn, 2007 ). Educational attainment of women has caught up in recent years ( Botsch, 2015 ). However, women’s investments in qualifications were still not equally rewarded as those of men. Therefore, the expected narrowing of the GPG was not confirmed in earlier research ( Boll et al., 2017 ; Lips, 2013 ). Another determinant of the human capital model is work experience. Labor market experience contributes to a large extent to the gender inequality in earnings ( Sierminska et al., 2010 ). Hence, work experience influences the wages of men and women. On the one hand, interruptions due to family life lower especially women’s labor market experience compared to men. On the other hand, part-time employment is more frequent among women with fewer working hours and therefore less work experience. The lesser accumulation of work experience leads to lower human capital and lower earnings for women compared with men ( Blau and Kahn, 2007 ; Mincer and Polachek, 1974 ). Nonetheless, the association of work experience and income is more complex. Regarding the wages of men and women the influence of occupation itself also needs to be considered ( Lips, 2013 ). In the paper of Polachek (1981) different occupations over the careers of men and women were explained by different labor force participation over lifetime. Referring to the human capital model, it is argued that women more likely expect discontinuous employment. Therefore, women choose occupations with fewer penalties for interruptions ( Polachek, 1981 ). However, it should be questioned if working in specific occupations can be defined as a simple choice ( Lips, 2013 ). Besides, part-time employment is found to be more frequent among women, which ultimately leads to few working hours and hence low earnings ( Botsch, 2015 ; Ponthieux and Meurs, 2015 ; Boll et al., 2017 ). Though different working hours cannot be defined as a simple choice either ( Lips, 2013 ).

Earlier criticism about the human capital model discussed that the wage differences of men and women cannot only be explained by the qualification and the labor market experience ( Grybaitė, 2006 ; Lips, 2013 ). Another theoretical approach explaining the GPG refers to labor market discriminations, which effect occupations and wages ( Boll et al., 2017 ; Grybaitė, 2006 ). On the one hand, occupational sex segregation can be associated with income differences of men and women. The different occupational allocation in the labor market of men and women are defined as allocative discrimination ( Petersen and Morgan, 1995 ). In addition, occupations in female-dominated sectors are mostly characterized by low-wages compared to more male-dominated occupations ( Brynin and Perales, 2016 ). On the other hand, even with equal occupational positions and skill requirements women mostly earn less than men, this refers to the valuative discrimination ( Petersen and Morgan, 1995 ). Even within female-dominated jobs a certain discrimination exists, with men being paid more than women for the same occupation. Additionally, employment sectors with a large number of female workers are more likely to be associated with less prestige and lower earnings ( Lips, 2013 ). Achatz et al. (2005) analyzed the GPG with an employer-employee database in Germany. The authors examined the discrimination in the allocation of jobs, differences in productivity-, and firm-related characteristics. They found out that in occupational groups within companies, the wages decreased with a higher share of women in a group. Additionally, a higher proportion of women in a groups resulted in a higher wage loss for women than for men ( Achatz et al., 2005 ).

Although relevant criticism of the human capital model exists, its determinants are still found to be important in explaining the wage differences of men and women ( Boll et al., 2017 ). Nonetheless, income differences of men and women can still be found even with the same investments in human capital. The reason for this could be the occupational discrimination of women ( Brynin and Perales, 2016 ; Achatz et al., 2005 ; Lips, 2013 ). Therefore, the occupational positions can be associated as a relevant factor of the GPG.

1.2.2 Life Course Approach

Besides economic theories, there are other theoretical approaches of explaining the GPG. One of them focusses on the accumulation of disadvantages over the life course: the ‘cumulative advantage/disadvantage theory’ by Dannefer (2003) . It also involves social inequalities which can expand over time. The employment histories of men and women evolve over their working lives and during different career stages, advantages and disadvantages can accumulate. First, this life course perspective considers and underlines the dynamic approach of how factors shape each individual life course. Secondly, it can contribute to explain the different income trajectories of men and women over their working lives ( Doren and Lin, 2019 ; Dannefer, 2003 ; Härkönen et al., 2016 ; Manzoni et al., 2014 ; Barone and Schizzerotto, 2011 ).

The importance of the life course perspective was underlined by some earlier studies. They demonstrated that certain conditions in adolescence or early work-life affected future careers of men and women. Visser et al. (2016) found evidence for an accumulation of disadvantages in the labor market over working life, in particular for the lower educated. The cohort study SHARE had assessed economic and social changes over the life course in numerous European countries in several publications ( Börsch-Supan et al., 2013 ). Overall, education and vocational training, occupational positions and income illustrate parts of the social structure which in turn can demonstrate gender inequality in the labor market ( Boll and Leppin, 2015 ; Hasselhorn, 2020 ; Du Prel et al., 2019 ). Moreover, family events and labor market processes repeatedly affect one another over the life course. The work-family trajectories have consequences on employment outcomes such as earnings ( Aisenbrey and Fasang, 2017 ; Jalovaara and Fasang, 2019 ). Furthermore, the income differences of men and women are not steady but tend to be lower at the beginning of employment and increase with age ( Goldin, 2014 ; Eurostat, 2021a ). Therefore, careers should not be analyzed in a single snapshot, but with a more appropriate life course approach that takes into account factors that influences the wages of men and women over time.

1.3 Aim and Hypotheses

The aim of the present study is to examine income trajectories and to investigate the income differences of men and women over their life course. We are interested in how human capital determinants, occupational positions and the accumulation of disadvantages over time contribute to the explanation of the GPG from a life course perspective.

Focusing on older German employees, our study includes 24 years of their careers and considers possible cumulative disadvantages of women in the labor market compared to those of men. In contrast to Polachek (1981) , who analyzed the GPG as a unit over lifetime, we used a life course approach in regard to the theory of cumulative disadvantages of Dannefer (2003) . Accordingly, we analyze explaining factors of the GPG not only in a single snapshot but over the working careers of men and women. Life course data based on register data and characteristics of employment biographies with information on a daily basis are two additional important and valuable advantages of our study. Existing studies rarely have this information in the form of life course data and when they do, the data is either self-reported and retrospective including possible recall bias, or based on register data which was only collected on a yearly basis. We expect to find differences in the income of men and women over a period of time with overall higher, and more increasing earnings of men than of women.

Hypothesis 1 (H1): The differences of income trajectories throughout working life is expected to demonstrate more income over time among men than among women.

Education and vocational training, and work experience are human capital determinants. They have influence on the earnings of men and women. Although previous research estimated additional important factors contributing to the GPG, human capital capabilities continue to be relevant in explaining the wage differences of men and women ( Blau and Kahn, 2007 ; Boll et al., 2017 ). In our life course approach, we control for human capital determinants due to the information about education and vocational training, and work experience via the amount of working time (full-/part-time) for each year. We expect to find a strong influence of both determinants on the wages of men and women in Germany.

Hypothesis 2 (H2): The income differences between men and women can be explained by determinants of the human capital model.

Previous research found out that factors such as occupational status had an impact on the income differences of men and women ( Blau and Kahn, 2007 ; Boll et al., 2017 ). For a better understanding and explanation of the GPG, gender differences regarding occupational positions must be included to human capital determinants ( Boll et al., 2017 ). We assume that men and women can be found in different occupations, measured via occupational status, and these explain a substantial part of the wage differences between men and women.

Hypothesis 3 (H3): The occupational status of men and women can contribute to the explanation of the GPG.

The life-course approach acknowledges time as an important influence on the wages of men and women. Income differences of men and women can change over time and career stages, while the GPG was found to be lower at the beginning of the employment career and widened with age ( Goldin, 2014 ). Hence, the earning differences between men and women tend to be higher for older employees ( Eurostat, 2021a ; Federal Statistical Office, 2016 ). To account for the influence of age, we additionally included the age of each person in our analysis. Another factor that changes over time and contribute to explain the GPG is part-time work. In general, part-time work result in a disadvantage in pay compared to full-time employment ( Ponthieux and Meurs, 2015 ). However, explanations of the GPG due to different amount of part-time work need to include a special form of part-time work: marginal work. Marginal employment conditions are characterized by low wages and high job insecurities. Also discontinuous employment due to unemployment are characterized by job insecurities and affect the low-paid sector – therefore mainly women ( Botsch, 2015 ). Besides the human capital determinants and occupational positions as important factors explaining the GPG, the region of employment influences the wages of men and women and can also change over the career stages. Evidence from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany in 2014 noticed a divergence of the GPG trend in the formerly separated parts of Germany. The GPG among employees was wider in the Western part (24%) compared to the Eastern part of Germany, where it was found to be 9% ( Federal Statistical Office, 2016 ). Therefore, to examine income differences, the amount of less advantaged employment such as marginal work or periods of unemployment throughout the careers of men and women needs to be considered, as well as the region of employment and the age of a person.

Hypothesis 4 (H4): Factors of the living environment such as regional factors, and social disadvantage work conditions such as marginal work or unemployment, contribute to the income difference between men and women.

Our study about the GPG in Germany adds to earlier research in different ways. First, the accumulation of inequalities over the life course of men and women is known, but only few studies exist that focus on income through life course approach. We can analyze factors that influence the GPG over the careers of men and women due to the availability of social security data with daily information of each person. Besides the wages of men and women, the data additionally contains time-varying information about occupational status, working time and unemployment breaks. Therefore, we use longitudinal data of the German baby-boomers which allow us to measure changes of factors explaining the GPG over time. Second, a relevant contribution of our study is that we can consider different factors contributing to the explanation of the GPG through a life course perspective. The few studies focusing on the GPG over life course included either only determinants of the human capital model ( Joshi et al., 2020 ) or factors of occupational careers ( Moore, 2018 ). Some research included both aspects but had other disadvantages, such as Monti et al. (2020) , who could not analyze temporal evolution of the GPG with the data available. Moreover, previous research on the GPG in Germany could not trace vertical occupational segregation due to missing information of part-time workers, included only data of West Germany and used merely accumulated earnings over time ( Boll et al., 2017 ). Nonetheless, previous research demonstrated the need of analyzing the GPG via life course approach with which the accumulation of advantages and disadvantages for both, men and women, can be considered. Third, due to the usage of a multilevel framework we can examine income trajectories simultaneously at an individual and at a time-related level. Moreover, the influences of time-invariant and time-varying factors can be analyzed regarding differences in earnings of men and women. Hence, the multilevel approach examines income changes between and also within individuals. Furthermore, it acknowledges the importance of the life course perspective with including time as a factor in the model. A recent study also used growth curve modelling to explain gender inequality in the US. However, gender inequality measured through gender earnings was analyzed only across education and race without considering other variables explaining the GPG ( Doren and Lin, 2019 ). To our knowledge, there exists no research on the GPG that covers several essential determinants, hence we aim to fill those research gaps with our study.

2 Materials and Methods

The data were obtained from the cohort study lidA (living at work). The lidA sample includes two cohorts of employees (born in 1959 and in 1965) and was drawn randomly from social security data. LidA combines two major sources of information – register data of social insurance and questionnaire data derived from a survey. The survey was conducted in two waves, 2011 (t 0 ) and 2014 (t 1 ) ( Hasselhorn et al., 2014 ). The ethics commission of the University of Wuppertal approved the study.

In Germany, the social insurance system assists people in case of an emergency such as unemployment, illness, retirement, or nursing care. Employees have to make a contribution to the system depending on their income – except of civil servants or self-employed ( Federal Agency for Civic Education, 2021 ). In our analyses, we included men and women in Germany who participated in the baseline (2011) and in the follow-up (2014), were employed during both waves and subjected to social security contributions. We only included persons who agreed via written consent to the linkage of the survey data to their social security data. Thus, our sample for analysis included 3,338 individuals ( Figure 1 ).

Decision tree – inclusion and exclusion criteria in the sample for analysis.

2.2 Measurements

The social security data of the Institute for Employment Research of the German Federal Employment Agency is based on employers’ reports. The so-called “Integrated Employment Biographies” (IEB) or register data comprises information about individual employment; that is, type of employment, occupational status, episodes of unemployment and income with information about age, gender and education and vocational training. The IEB data are retrieved from employers’ yearly reports submitted to the social security authority ( Hasselhorn et al., 2014 ). The information of the register data was available on a daily basis and contained yearly information from 1993 to 2017 for each person. However, the IEB data contain missing details, especially regarding information that is not directly relevant for social security data and therefore, not of the highest priority for employers’ reports. This is particularly true for data on gender and education and vocational training. As our sample participants consented to the linkage of IEB with questionnaire data, we were able to impute the missing information on these variables with the help of the survey data. All time-varying information in the IEB is coded to the day. Our data have a multilevel structure with time of measurements (Level 1) being nested within individuals (Level 2) and defined as follows.

2.2.1 Level 1 Variables

In our analysis the variable time was based on information about the year of measurement. The starting point represents 1993 and was coded with zero. The outcome variable income was calculated from the IEB data as nominal wages in Euros (€). As time-varying variable, it can be defined as the average daily income per year of each person whose work contributes to social security and/or marginal employment. Information about the work experience due to working time was available for jobs that require social security contribution. To draw this information from the IEB data, the time-varying variable working time was computed with three different types: full- and part-time, part-time, and full-time. The data on occupational status were based on the International Standard of Classification of Occupations 2008 (ISCO-08). This time-varying variable contained information on the occupational status of each job that a person has held over the years. For the multilevel analysis, ISCO-08 was transformed from the German classification KldB 2010 (classification of occupations 2010) of the register data. ISCO-08 is structured according to the skill level and specialization of jobs, which are grouped into four hierarchical levels. Occupational status in our study was defined by the 10 major groups (level one of the classifications ISCO-08), without the group of armed forces who did not appear in our data. Therefore, the nine groups were analyzed: elementary occupations; plant and machine operators and assemblers; craft and related trades workers; skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers; services and sales workers; clerical support workers; technicians and associate professionals; professionals; and managers ( International Labour Office, 2012 ). Moreover, information about the number of episodes of marginal work could also be drawn from the register data. Marginal work was defined due to having at least one marginal employment per year. The time periods (episodes) of every marginal employment were counted and added up yearly. Furthermore, the duration of unemployment as time-varying variable was calculated due to information of the register data about the days of unemployment per year. In the register data unemployment is defined as being unemployed or unable to work for up to 42 days, excluding those with sickness absence benefits or disability pensions. The IEB data also provided information on the region of employment, which represents the area in which a company is located (East Germany and West Germany). This time-varying variable was available for each person over the years. A description of the Level 1 characteristics of our sample is provided in Table 2 using the last available information (2017) from the IEB data.

Characteristics of Level 1 variables a for men (n = 1,552) and women (n = 1,786).

M mean; SD standard deviation.

* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.

2.2.2 Level 2 Variables

Information about the time-invariant variable education and vocational training was assessed from the survey data in 2011 (baseline). Education and vocational achievements of the sample were grouped in: low, intermediate and high education and vocational training (see Supplementary Table S1 ). The time-invariant variable gender had missing values in the register data. Therefore, we imputed the missing data using information of the survey data. The variable was coded 0 = female and 1 = male. Also based on the survey data, we included the time-invariant variable year of birth with measurements of 1959 and 1965 in the analysis. The characteristics of the Level 2 variables are displayed in Table 1 .

Characteristics of the Level 2 variables a for men (n = 1,552) and women (n = 1,786).

2.3 Statistical Analysis

The characteristics of our sample are displayed in Table 1 and Table 2 . Statistical analyses were performed using either Cramer’s V or by unpaired two sample t -test for numeric variables. Regarding the multilevel analysis, we used a so-called growth curve analysis. It demonstrates a multilevel approach for longitudinal data that model growth or decline over time. For this purpose, all daily information in the IEB were transformed into data on a yearly basis. Level 1 (year of measurements) represents the intraindividual change with time-varying variables. Interindividual changes are determined with time-invariant variables on Level 2 (individuals). Therefore, time of measurements predictors was nested within individuals. We applied a random intercept and slope model, which assumed variations in intercept and slope of individuals over time ( Singer and Willett, 2003 ; Rabe-Hesketh and Skrondal, 2012 ; Hosoya et al., 2014 ). Besides the Level 1 and Level 2 predictors, the cross-level interaction of gender*time interaction was constituted to analyze differences in income slopes of men and women over time ( Rabe-Hesketh and Skrondal, 2012 ).

Level 1 of the two-level growth model is presented below ( Eq. (1) ). y i j measures the income trajectory y for individual i at time j . True initial income for each person is represented with β 0 i . The slope of the individual change trajectory demonstrates β i j . T I M E i j stands for the measure of assessment at time j for individual i (Level 1 predictor). The residual or random error, specific to time and the individual is demonstrated by ε i j .

Eq. 2 and 3 represent the submodels of the Level 2. Eq. 2 defines the intercept γ 00 for individual i with the intercept of z i (illustrating a Level 2 predictor) and residual in the intercept v 0 i . The slope at Level 2 is represented in Eq. 3 with γ 10 and the slope error v 1 i . The effect γ 11 provides information on the extent to which the effect of the Level 1 predictor ( T I M E i j ) varies depending on the Level 2 predictor ( z i ).

To test our hypotheses, we calculated the influence of different variables with adjusting various predictors stepwise into the multilevel analysis. First, we estimated an unconditional means model which describes the outcome variation only and not its change over time (model 1). The next preliminary step was calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of this model 1. It identifies and partitions the two components: within- and between-person variance. The ICC estimates the proportion of total variation of the outcome y that lies between persons ( Singer and Willett, 2003 ). In the next model (model 2), we calculated an unconditional growth curve model which included time as predictor on Level 1. In model 3, the GCA was controlled for gender and time as well as the interaction of both variables. Model 4 was additionally adjusted for human capital determinant: education and vocational training, and working time. The GCA of model 5 was controlled for occupational status. The last model included year of birth, number of episodes of marginal work, duration of unemployment and region of employment (model 6 – fully adjusted model).

In Table 5 , the indices of the Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) were used to compare models and explore the best model fit ( Singer and Willett, 2003 ; Rabe-Hesketh and Skrondal, 2012 ). The statistical analyses were performed with IBM SPSS 25.

Goodness-of-fit statistics of the GCA.

AIC Akaike’s Information Criterion.

3.1 Descriptive

Characteristics of Level 2 variables stratified by gender are displayed in Table 1 . 1,552 men and 1,786 women were included in the analyses. It is observed that women significantly differ from men in education and vocational training. Women were less likely than men to have both low and high levels of education and vocational training.

The characteristics of Level 1 variable are represented in Table 2 . Men and women differ significantly in their occupational positions. Also, men had a higher average daily income than women. Part-time jobs are more likely among women as compared to men, who are more likely to be represented in full-time jobs. Moreover, the numbers of episodes of marginal work differ significantly between men and women.

Figure 2 displays the income trajectories over the observation period (1993–2017) among men and women. In 24 years, average daily income per year increased for both. However, men have a higher average income over their life course than women. Over time, a steeper growth of the average daily income per year can be observed for men, compared to the income development of women.

Income trajectories of men and women.

3.2 Growth Curve Analysis

Results of the multilevel analyses with average daily income per year as dependent variable concerning H1 are presented in Table 3 . The ICC of the unconditional means model (model 1) demonstrates that 74% of the total variability in income can be attributed to differences between persons and 26% to the differences within persons. Adding time as a predictor in the multilevel analysis (model 2), the variance components on Level 1 become smaller. Concluding that time accounts for 68% (from 607.34 to 197.12) of the within-person variance in average income. On Level 2, time explains 40% of the variance between persons (interindividual). However, there can be still found significant unexplained results in both levels which suggests that predictors on both levels should be further included. The GCA in model 3 was adjusted for gender (with women as reference group) and the interaction gender*time. The results show a significant effect of gender on the average income over time. The starting place (intercept) lies at 41.74€ with an incremental growth per year of 1.76€. However, regarding women as reference group, men have a higher average income. The significant interaction term also indicates different income development of men and women over time – with men having higher average income trajectory than women. As expected, no relevant change can be found in the within-person variance due to the adding of the Level 2 variable: gender. The variance on Level 2, however, become less concluding that gender accounts for 26% of the variance between persons. Overall, we can verify H1 with these results.

Growth curve models 1 to 3: Estimates of average daily income per year.

L1 = Level 1; L2 = Level 2.

Results of the GCA with average daily income per year as the dependent variable controlled by determinants of the human capital model are presented in Table 4 (model 4). In addition to the multilevel analysis of model 3, model 4 is also adjusted for: education and vocational training, and working time. The results show that the average income is found to be significantly higher for full-time workers and higher educated. There is a social gradient for income regarding education and vocational training – with decreasing levels of education, the income also reduces. People who are working full-time have a higher average income than those who work part-time or full- and part-time. The effect of gender is found to be significant with less average income of women compared to men. Moreover, the income development of men and women over time is still significantly different, with more income growth over time for men than for women. The results of the variance components demonstrate that human capital determinants are explaining 16% of the variance within person and 25% of the variance between persons. However, on both levels there can be still found significant variance and additional variables need to be considered. Our hypothesis 2 can be partially confirmed.

Growth curve models 4 to 6: Estimates of average daily income per year.

Model 5 ( Table 4 ) embeds occupational status to the analysis to find out the contribution of the occupational positions on the earning differences of men and women. Significant differences in the daily average income for each occupational group can be identified. The reference group is represented with the highest occupational group ‘manager’. In nearly all other occupations, manager had the highest average income, except of ‘technicians and associate professionals’. Moreover, the effects of occupational status on income are significant for all ISCO groups except for professionals. However, compared to education and vocational training, occupational status trends are less clear, and a social gradient cannot be identified. The estimated of the fixed effect of gender persists and stays the same, concluding that the occupational position of a person could not influence the effect of gender on income. The increase of income over time can be still found to be significant higher for men than for women. Moreover, including the Level 1 variable, occupational position cannot explain a substantial part of the within-person variance. We can identify occupational positions as significant predictor of the income, but a relevant contribution to explain the GPG cannot be observed. Therefore, we cannot approve hypothesis 3.

The results of investigating the influence of factors of the living environment are presented in Table 4 (model 6). Those, who are born earlier (1959) are found to have a higher average daily income, compared to those born in 1965. Having at least one marginal employment per year influences the average daily income negatively, as does having more unemployed days. Furthermore, average income is influenced by the region of employment, being lower in East Germany than in West Germany. The estimate of gender become a little less, but the average income and the development of income over time still substantially differs between men and women. The factors of living environment account for 10% of the variance between persons. We can only partially accept hypothesis 4.

3.3 Goodness of Fit

Table 5 displays the goodness of fit statistics for the different models of the GCA. The AIC is computed to find the best model fit. Considering the different indices of AIC, model 6 has the best fit.

4 Discussion

This study aimed to examine the income differences of men and women over their life course. We investigated how different factors can explain the GPG over time. Even after extensive control for human capital determinants, occupational factors and various factors of the living environment, the effect of gender on the average daily income persisted. Moreover, the average income development was found to be higher for men compared to women.

The accumulation of inequalities over time can be seen in the difference between men’s and women’s wages. Over the period of 24 years, our results showed that the income development of men increased more compared to women – the GPG widened with time. Due to the availability of life course data, we could consider cumulative disadvantages regarding the earnings of men and women. Moreover, the results of the variance componence also showed the importance of including time to explain the GPG ( Table 3 , model 2). Therefore, we can verify our first hypothesis. The steeper incline of income for men compared to women over time substantiates the presence of GPG in Germany. Goldin (2014) also found a small GPG when people enter the labor market and a widening gap with age. Our findings are also in line with information from the Federal Statistical Office (2016) and Eurostat (2021a) who used representative data and not use cohort specific data of the German working population.

The second hypothesis assumed that human capital determinants (education and work experience) can explain the GPG. The effects of education and vocational training on daily average income significantly differed in our results ( Table 4 , model 4). Findings of Bovens and Wille (2017) also demonstrated that the level of a person’s education determines the income level. Our results also support the previous finding, that education is most often a requirement for the achievement of a certain desired financial situation ( Du Prel et al., 2019 ). Our results also showed that the average income significantly differed considering working time. Full-time workers had higher average income, while men were more likely to work full-time compared to women. Earlier research also showed that part-time work was more frequent among women than among men ( Boll and Leppin, 2015 ; Matteazzi et al., 2018 ; Eurostat, 2021a ). After adjusting for human capital determinants, the unexplained variance was still substantial and the effect of gender remained significant. Hence, H2 can only partially be accepted.

In our third hypothesis, we assumed that the gender differences in occupational position can explain the GPG. We demonstrated that the average income differed according to the occupational status of a person. This is in line with previous findings of Blau and Kahn (2001) who assumed occupation to be an important factor of the financial status of a person. After controlling for occupational status, the effect of gender could still be found to be significant. We cannot accept H3 and therefore cannot confirm results of earlier studies ( Blau and Kahn, 2007 ; Boll et al., 2017 ). In contrast to the results of education and vocational training, we did not observe a clear social gradient of occupational status and income in our analyses. One explanation could be the classification of the occupational status. The ISCO classification is structured hierarchically on four levels. The construction is based on skill level and specialization. In our study, we used the major group structure (level one) with 10 different occupational groups. Using ISCO at level one (major groups) cannot be interpreted as a strict hierarchical order of occupations; instead, it can be considered more of a summary information on occupational status regarding skill level. Moreover, we were only able to generate the major groups of the register data and therefore cannot provide more detailed information about the occupational status. However, ISCO is applied in our study for the purpose of international comparability ( International Labour Office, 2012 ).

The accumulation of disadvantages over time could also be found in our results after controlling for factors such as unemployment or marginal employment. Having (at least one) marginal employment per year influenced the income negatively. We found that discontinuities in employment and interruptions such as unemployment also had a significant negative effect. Average income decreased when the number of days per year of unemployment increased. Furthermore, controlling for the region of employment, people in East Germany had lower daily average income compared to those in West Germany. Regarding the difference between men and women, previous findings also suggested a wider GPG in West Germany than in East Germany ( Federal Statistical Office, 2016 ). However, the GPG in West and East Germany should be compared with caution due to different societal models in the past. Moreover, different labour market characteristics and different infrastructure of childcare facilities lead to a lower GPG in East Germany than in West Germany ( Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, 2020 ). The year of birth was included to eliminate cohort effects, and it was found to influence average income. Men and women born earlier (1959) had higher income than those born in 1965. The fact that they are older and have worked longer in the labor market could be an explanation. The significant effects of gender on the average income and the income trajectories remained after adjusting for these factors. Therefore, hypothesis 4 can only be partially confirmed.

4.1 Strengths and Limitations

Our study has limitations concerning the generalizability of our results due to the database. Our sample includes employees of two age groups (1959 and 1965) in Germany, who are subjected to social security. Thus, the generalizability or extension of the findings to self-employed people, civil servants and other age groups may be limited. The GPG differs considerably between the EU members. The GPG in Germany is one of the widest in the EU, with 19.2% in 2019. Netherlands and Sweden are two EU countries with similar employment rates, but still have lower GPGs with 14.6 and 11.8% ( Eurostat, 2021a ). Efforts to promote gender equality in politics in Germany are limited compared to other EU members. Women are still underrepresented, not only in the political but also in the economic area. Moreover family policy needs to further support full-time employment of women and working mothers ( Andersson et al., 2014 ; Botsch, 2015 ). Therefore, the transfer of our results to other countries should be made with caution. There are some other limitations regarding the IEB data. Information about occupational careers exist from the beginning (1975), but only for persons born in West Germany. Information about people born in East Germany was not available for the period before 1993. Hence, to counteract the systematic bias, we defined 1993 as a cut-off point, when people were either 28 or 34 years old. Additionally, we adjusted our analyses for the region of employment (East/West Germany). Furthermore, information about the marginal work and duration of unemployment were only available from 1999 onwards. Due to the composition of the IEB data, we could not include people who were unwell for long periods of time. Only persons who were unable to work for less than 42 days were included in the data. Regarding the income development of women in our study, Figure 2 shows a decrease between 1997 and 1999. Being in their thirties (32–40 years) and having to raise children at that time can be one possible explanation. Regarding family formation, in 1993 the average age of a mother at birth was 28.4 years ( Federal Statistical Office, 2020 ). At the beginning of our analysis (1993) the average age of both cohorts in the study (28 years; 34 years) is similar to the average age of a mother during that time – especially for the younger cohort. However, our data do not cover information about persons on parental leave or homemakers. Due to the lack of information in the IEB data, implications of family life contributing to a difference in pay for women cannot be included in our analysis. Furthermore, Joshi et al. (2020) could not find a GPG only for parents but also for men and women without children. Therefore, the issue of wage differences between men and women is relevant either way.

Besides these restrictions, our study exhibits several strengths. The study population is highly representative for German employees subject to social insurance contributions, born in 1959 and 1965 and is, therefore, characterized by a high external validity ( Schröder et al., 2013 ). Moreover, the IEB data itself and the nature of the data that the IEB provides, are one important strength of this study. The register data is not subject to possible recall bias. This is a relevant advantage compared to most previous studies that used self-reported data. In addition, the availability of information on a daily basis regarding many variables can be seen as another strength of the study. As a result, income trajectories could be calculated more precisely, compared to many previous studies. Furthermore, in Germany, income is used to calculate the amount of social benefit accruing to each person and therefore represents highly valid information. A further major advantage of our study is represented in our long observation period of 24 years. Only a few studies have applied the life course approach to examine the complexity of the GPG. Our life course data contain various information about employment characteristics which are relevant for the GPG and of high data quality.

Our results showed, even after controlling for relevant factors, that the GPG still persisted. There exist some explanations of the GPG regarding different behaviors of men and women in wage negotiations, which further influence different income developments ( Boll and Leppin, 2015 ). Also, structural disadvantages in the labor market can be a factor explaining the GPG. Individual behavior and labor market structures are not represented in our register data. We can only extract information that is relevant for social security contribution. Nonetheless, previous research of Blau and Kahn (2017) found a larger and more slowly decreasing GPG in the US at the top compared to other levels of the wage distribution. This ‘glass ceiling effect’ describes the reduced career opportunities of women compared to men due to frequent denial of access to leadership positions. Consequently, gender inequality can be found to be greater at the top of the wage distribution. Among European countries, previous studies have found this “glass ceiling effect” in Germany as well ( Arulampalam et al., 2005 ; Boll and Leppin, 2015 ; Huffman et al., 2017 ). However, recent results of Boll et al. (2017) could not confirm the glass ceiling effect in West Germany, thus further research is needed.

5 Conclusion

The gender pay inequalities in the German labor market from a life course perspective exist. Our results demonstrated that human capital determinants continue to be important in explaining the GPG over time. Furthermore, factors of working disadvantages such as marginal work or unemployment are important when trying to explain the income differences of men and women. For further research the availability of more work data over the life course with matching individual data would help to understand the GPG even better.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the support of two staff members of the University Ulm. We would like to thank Gaurav Berry for his support of the data preparation and Diego Montano for his feedback on the statistical analysis.

Data Availability Statement

Ethics statement.

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the ethics commission of the University of Wuppertal. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

LT substantially contributed to the statistical analysis and interpretation of the data, and wrote the manuscript. HB discussed the results and provided critical comments on the manuscript. RP contributed to the obtaining of the funding, interpreting the data, and critically revised the manuscript for important aspects. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG), grant number 393153877.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2021.815376/full#supplementary-material .

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The Language of Gender Identity

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To the Editor:

Re “ The Problem With Saying ‘Sex Assigned at Birth, ’” by Alex Byrne and Carole K. Hooven (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, April 3):

Mr. Byrne and Ms. Hooven argue that use of “assigned sex” terminology “creates doubt about a biological fact when there shouldn’t be any.” But sex characteristics are not “a biological fact”; they are rather a series of facts — anatomical, hormonal and genetic — that are not always in alignment.

The term “sex assignment” derives from the medical literature of the 1940s and 1950s, in which physicians grappled with what was then called “hermaphroditism” and is now called “intersex” or “D.S.D.,” for disorders or differences of sex development.

To conclude that the words “assigned at birth” are needless is to deny the complexity of biological sex and to erase both the history of intersex conditions and the embodied reality of the people who are born and live with them.

Barbara M. Chubak New York The writer is an associate professor of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Transgender people like me do not exist as a topic of rational debate, something to be tossed around in discourse; we are people, and our lives exist far beyond your philosophizing. Articles like this are not only unnecessary, but they are also harmful, patronizing and dehumanizing.

The phrase “sex assigned at birth” is causing no one any harm, and it is not meant to replace “sex.” We are not advocating the end of “male” and “female.”

“Sex assigned at birth” is simply meant to convey the following notion: This individual was born as one sex, but their current body and/or lived experiences may contradict that. It allows trans people the very medical clarity this article claims to strive for. If I, a trans man far into his medical transition, were to walk into a doctor’s office and claim to simply be “female,” utter confusion could follow.

But we should not have to defend ourselves under the guise of rational discourse. We have bigger issues. In Texas, my parents would be possibly liable for child abuse for allowing me to transition as a teenager — so stop treating us as if we do not know what we are talking about.

When people tell you the language that makes them the most comfortable, you use it and move on. You may believe sex to be black and white, as it may be the most convenient reality for you to live in, but for many of us, our bodies are the gray areas.

Max Greenhill New York

I fully agree with this essay: Biological sex is accurately recorded at birth; it is not arbitrarily “assigned.”

The reason activists are pushing the sex-assigned-at-birth terminology is not simply that they want more empathy and inclusiveness for trans persons, but that they want the public to believe that one’s birth sex was, as the authors say, an educated guess at best. If the public accepts that idea, they will be more agreeable to the idea that one’s misassigned sex needs to be corrected later when the individual is old enough to determine their “true, authentic self.”

Most adults don’t care what gender someone declares, but biological sex is a scientific fact. The range of “genders” now being proclaimed is making the whole concept of gender meaningless. Every behavior, feeling, mood, attribute, sexual orientation or social statement does not constitute a gender.

Mark Godburn Norfolk, Conn.

The problem is not that we are confusing the male/female binary; the problem is that the human gender story is bigger than a simple binary, and our language does not reflect that, but it should.

Intersex people exist and have always existed. People whose gender expression doesn’t match their biological presentation exist and have always existed. The authors are correct that language is powerful, but in this case they have the power dynamic exactly backward.

When we adhere to strict binary language, we are asking gender-abundant people to amputate whole parts of themselves. We need to allow people to flourish in the language that fits them.

As my 9-year-old recently explained to my 6-year-old, “You don’t really know what gender a baby is when it’s born, because you know their parts, but you don’t know their heart.”

Meghan Lin St. Paul, Minn.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for publishing this guest essay by Alex Byrne and Carole K. Hooven. In a society inundated with well-meaning absurdities such as “sex assigned at birth” and “pregnant people,” this message desperately needs to be broadcast, received and acted upon.

Mark Featherstone Alameda, Calif.

Re “ Sununu Says Trump ‘Contributed’ to Insurrection, but Still Has His Support ” (news article, nytimes.com, April 14):

Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire now says he will support Donald Trump for president, even as he concedes that Mr. Trump “absolutely contributed” to an attempted insurrection on Jan. 6. Like many of his fellow Republicans, Mr. Sununu has chosen power over principle.

Ethics don’t flash on and off like neon lights. Integrity cannot be situational. And character isn’t a chameleon that shifts to secure political advantage. History will record all the elected officials who embraced Mr. Trump’s mendacity while looking away from the democratic principles they swore an oath to uphold.

Welcome to the club, Governor Sununu.

Maryellen Donnellan Falls Church, Va.

Re “ The U.S. Urgently Needs a Bigger Grid. Scientists Have a Faster Solution ” (Business, April 10):

The nation’s current power lines that were built in the 1950s and 1960s have a 50-year life expectancy, meaning that they have surpassed their intended life span. As the U.S. evaluates how to meet new electric demand, the materials in the grid must not just be replaced, but also efficiently planned and upgraded.

To lower energy costs and improve reliable access to electricity, we should use new technologies that allow more power to be transported across the same size transmission towers that are currently in use. Further, the same amount of power could be transported across smaller, low-impact towers, which could reduce siting and permitting obstacles — thus saving time and money.

Significant transmission capacity is required to meet rising demands on the electrical system, withstand frequent extreme weather events and balance a changing resource mix. Deploying improved technologies in constructing a nationwide transmission grid is key to meeting these needs — because America needs a modern grid now more than ever.

Christina Hayes Washington The writer is the executive director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid.

With “ O.J. and the Monster Jealousy ” (column, April 14) and “ Trump’s Insatiable Bloodlust ” (column, April 7), Maureen Dowd evokes two of Shakespeare’s greatest characters — Othello and Macbeth — to demonstrate that the playwright’s insights remain as perceptive and significant today as they were more than 400 years ago.

As his friend and fellow dramatist Ben Jonson wrote of Shakespeare, “He was not of an age but for all time!”

Brad Bradford Upper Arlington, Ohio

Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Human Sexuality — Gender Equality in Sports: The Importance of Closing the Gap

Gender Equality in Sports: The Importance of Closing The Gap

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Published: Mar 8, 2024

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Introduction, the benefits of gender equality in sports, challenges facing women in sports, closing the gap.

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Gender pay gap in U.S. hasn’t changed much in two decades

The gender gap in pay has remained relatively stable in the United States over the past 20 years or so. In 2022, women earned an average of 82% of what men earned, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers. These results are similar to where the pay gap stood in 2002, when women earned 80% as much as men.

As has long been the case, the wage gap is smaller for workers ages 25 to 34 than for all workers 16 and older. In 2022, women ages 25 to 34 earned an average of 92 cents for every dollar earned by a man in the same age group – an 8-cent gap. By comparison, the gender pay gap among workers of all ages that year was 18 cents.

While the gender pay gap has not changed much in the last two decades, it has narrowed considerably when looking at the longer term, both among all workers ages 16 and older and among those ages 25 to 34. The estimated 18-cent gender pay gap among all workers in 2022 was down from 35 cents in 1982. And the 8-cent gap among workers ages 25 to 34 in 2022 was down from a 26-cent gap four decades earlier.

The gender pay gap measures the difference in median hourly earnings between men and women who work full or part time in the United States. Pew Research Center’s estimate of the pay gap is based on an analysis of Current Population Survey (CPS) monthly outgoing rotation group files ( IPUMS ) from January 1982 to December 2022, combined to create annual files. To understand how we calculate the gender pay gap, read our 2013 post, “How Pew Research Center measured the gender pay gap.”

The COVID-19 outbreak affected data collection efforts by the U.S. government in its surveys, especially in 2020 and 2021, limiting in-person data collection and affecting response rates. It is possible that some measures of economic outcomes and how they vary across demographic groups are affected by these changes in data collection.

In addition to findings about the gender wage gap, this analysis includes information from a Pew Research Center survey about the perceived reasons for the pay gap, as well as the pressures and career goals of U.S. men and women. The survey was conducted among 5,098 adults and includes a subset of questions asked only for 2,048 adults who are employed part time or full time, from Oct. 10-16, 2022. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Here are the questions used in this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology .

The  U.S. Census Bureau has also analyzed the gender pay gap, though its analysis looks only at full-time workers (as opposed to full- and part-time workers). In 2021, full-time, year-round working women earned 84% of what their male counterparts earned, on average, according to the Census Bureau’s most recent analysis.

Much of the gender pay gap has been explained by measurable factors such as educational attainment, occupational segregation and work experience. The narrowing of the gap over the long term is attributable in large part to gains women have made in each of these dimensions.

Related: The Enduring Grip of the Gender Pay Gap

Even though women have increased their presence in higher-paying jobs traditionally dominated by men, such as professional and managerial positions, women as a whole continue to be overrepresented in lower-paying occupations relative to their share of the workforce. This may contribute to gender differences in pay.

Other factors that are difficult to measure, including gender discrimination, may also contribute to the ongoing wage discrepancy.

Perceived reasons for the gender wage gap

When asked about the factors that may play a role in the gender wage gap, half of U.S. adults point to women being treated differently by employers as a major reason, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in October 2022. Smaller shares point to women making different choices about how to balance work and family (42%) and working in jobs that pay less (34%).

There are some notable differences between men and women in views of what’s behind the gender wage gap. Women are much more likely than men (61% vs. 37%) to say a major reason for the gap is that employers treat women differently. And while 45% of women say a major factor is that women make different choices about how to balance work and family, men are slightly less likely to hold that view (40% say this).

Parents with children younger than 18 in the household are more likely than those who don’t have young kids at home (48% vs. 40%) to say a major reason for the pay gap is the choices that women make about how to balance family and work. On this question, differences by parental status are evident among both men and women.

Views about reasons for the gender wage gap also differ by party. About two-thirds of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (68%) say a major factor behind wage differences is that employers treat women differently, but far fewer Republicans and Republican leaners (30%) say the same. Conversely, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say women’s choices about how to balance family and work (50% vs. 36%) and their tendency to work in jobs that pay less (39% vs. 30%) are major reasons why women earn less than men.

Democratic and Republican women are more likely than their male counterparts in the same party to say a major reason for the gender wage gap is that employers treat women differently. About three-quarters of Democratic women (76%) say this, compared with 59% of Democratic men. And while 43% of Republican women say unequal treatment by employers is a major reason for the gender wage gap, just 18% of GOP men share that view.

Pressures facing working women and men

Family caregiving responsibilities bring different pressures for working women and men, and research has shown that being a mother can reduce women’s earnings , while fatherhood can increase men’s earnings .

Employed women and men are about equally likely to say they feel a great deal of pressure to support their family financially and to be successful in their jobs and careers, according to the Center’s October survey. But women, and particularly working mothers, are more likely than men to say they feel a great deal of pressure to focus on responsibilities at home.

About half of employed women (48%) report feeling a great deal of pressure to focus on their responsibilities at home, compared with 35% of employed men. Among working mothers with children younger than 18 in the household, two-thirds (67%) say the same, compared with 45% of working dads.

When it comes to supporting their family financially, similar shares of working moms and dads (57% vs. 62%) report they feel a great deal of pressure, but this is driven mainly by the large share of unmarried working mothers who say they feel a great deal of pressure in this regard (77%). Among those who are married, working dads are far more likely than working moms (60% vs. 43%) to say they feel a great deal of pressure to support their family financially. (There were not enough unmarried working fathers in the sample to analyze separately.)

About four-in-ten working parents say they feel a great deal of pressure to be successful at their job or career. These findings don’t differ by gender.

Gender differences in job roles, aspirations

Overall, a quarter of employed U.S. adults say they are currently the boss or one of the top managers where they work, according to the Center’s survey. Another 33% say they are not currently the boss but would like to be in the future, while 41% are not and do not aspire to be the boss or one of the top managers.

Men are more likely than women to be a boss or a top manager where they work (28% vs. 21%). This is especially the case among employed fathers, 35% of whom say they are the boss or one of the top managers where they work. (The varying attitudes between fathers and men without children at least partly reflect differences in marital status and educational attainment between the two groups.)

In addition to being less likely than men to say they are currently the boss or a top manager at work, women are also more likely to say they wouldn’t want to be in this type of position in the future. More than four-in-ten employed women (46%) say this, compared with 37% of men. Similar shares of men (35%) and women (31%) say they are not currently the boss but would like to be one day. These patterns are similar among parents.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published on March 22, 2019. Anna Brown and former Pew Research Center writer/editor Amanda Barroso contributed to an earlier version of this analysis. Here are the questions used in this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology .

What is the gender wage gap in your metropolitan area? Find out with our pay gap calculator

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Poll: Biden support drops dramatically among young men

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President Biden maintains a healthy lead over former President Trump among young Americans, but his margin has shrunk from four years ago, primarily because of a big drop in support from young men.

At this point in the 2020 campaign, Biden led Trump among young men by 26 points; now he leads by 6, according to the Harvard Youth Poll , a twice-a-year survey that provides one of the most definitive looks at the shifting views of U.S. residents younger than 30.

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By contrast, the poll finds almost no change in Biden’s lead among young women — currently 33 points.

That difference reflects a widening gender gap among young Americans, one of the most striking findings of the poll. The survey was conducted a few weeks ago and released Thursday by the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

It comes at what may be an inflection point in the current campaign — Biden has erased the small lead that Trump has held for much of the last six months. Polling averages now show the race as essentially a dead heat.

Why this poll matters

The Harvard Youth Poll offers unique insights into young Americans, who have played a key role in politics at least since President Obama’s election in 2008.

Its findings take on added significance this year because other surveys have offered widely disparate readings on how younger Americans view the presidential race and major issues.

Those polls have raised a lot of questions about where the youth vote is headed this year; the Harvard survey offers a big step toward solid answers.

Most of the data about the political views of young Americans come from surveys of the overall U.S. population. Those findings come wrapped in considerable doubt: Most polls of the general population interview only a small number of young people, and polling sub-samples often include odd quirks.

The Harvard poll, by contrast, focuses only on 18-to-29-year-olds — 2,010 of them in the current survey. And because polling director John Della Volpe has conducted the surveys for nearly a generation, this is the 47th survey the Institute of Politics has released, the poll has rich data on trends. All that gives its findings particular weight.

In 2020, Biden won by 24 points among voters 18-29, according to a detailed post-election study by the Pew Research Center. To win reelection, he almost certainly needs to come close to that again this year.

Some surveys have shown Biden hitting that mark, but others indicate a much closer race among young Americans. A few even have had Trump ahead , which would represent a huge shift from the pattern of the last 20 years.

Biden’s lead and the importance of turnout

The Harvard poll shows Biden leading Trump 56%-37% among young people likely to vote. That’s down a bit from the 60%-30% lead the poll found among likely young voters at this point four years ago. It’s also down from Biden’s 2020 winning margin.

But the decline is fairly small and a far cry from the collapse of youth support that some other polls have indicated.

That doesn’t mean young people are content with the status quo — far from it: The poll finds only 9% of young Americans saying that the country is headed in the right direction.

That’s a record low, said Anil Cacodcar, the student leader of the spring survey.

Young people are “deeply concerned about the direction of the country” and about “their economic well being,” Della Volpe said Thursday. Despite that, the choice between Biden and Trump “isn’t necessarily close.”

The bad news for Democrats is that when the Harvard poll looked at all young adults, regardless of their likelihood of voting, the picture changes strikingly: Biden leads, but only 45%-37%.

In other words, a really large turnout — one that would bring out people who currently don’t expect to vote — could hurt Biden’s chances.

That’s a big change: A generation of Democratic activists have grown up with the idea that big turnout is always their friend.

In the Trump era, that’s not true.

Factors that could shift the vote

Biden’s lead among likely voters shrinks when third-party and independent candidates are added to the mix.

In a five-way test with Biden, Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West and Jill Stein, the incumbent leads among young voters with 43%. Trump takes 30%, and 8% go for Kennedy, who is running as an independent; 4% for Stein, the Green Party candidate and 2% for West, the philosopher and political activist who also is an independent. The remaining voters are undecided.

Will Kennedy, Stein and West qualify for the ballot in the states that matter? No one knows; ballot access deadlines don’t hit for months. And support for third-party candidates typically drops as election day nears. But Democrats clearly worry that those candidates could take votes away from Biden. They’ve launched a major effort to persuade voters that a ballot for anyone other than the president is effectively a vote for Trump.

Trump’s legal problems could also have an effect on the vote. The poll found that Biden’s lead among young people would increase by around 9 points if Trump were convicted in any of the four criminal cases he faces. The first of the trials is now underway in New York , where the last of 12 jurors were selected Thursday.

An unaccustomed gender gap

Until recently, young men and young women mostly agreed on politics.

Now, however, a significant gender gap has emerged, the Harvard poll shows.

Young men and women both moved away from the Democrats in the first few years of Biden’s tenure. But in 2023, women’s identification as Democrats shot back up and now sits slightly higher than 2020.

The poll can’t say why that happened, but the turnaround came after the Supreme Court’s decision in June 2022 to overturn Roe vs. Wade , the decision that for nearly half a century had guaranteed abortion rights in the U.S.

Young men, by contrast, have continued to move away from the Democrats.

Four years ago, young men who identified as Democrats outnumbered young Republicans by 22 points. Now, the two parties are nearly at parity among young men — just a three-point Democratic edge.

The greater conservatism of young men, especially those 18-24, appears to reflect their economic concerns, said Kritika Nagappa, another of the Harvard students involved in the poll.

Young men still take liberal positions on some major issues, such as healthcare, she noted.

But the poll found a shift on another major issue: climate change. In 2020, 60% of young men said that the “government should do more to curb climate change, even at the expense of economic growth.” Among today’s cohort of young men, 47% take that view.

Among women, there has been no significant shift.

Young people tuning in

Last year, the Harvard poll found that many young people had tuned out politics. That’s changed.

There’s been a “huge uptick” in the level of engagement that young people show now that the presidential race has gelled, said Jordan Schwartz, a third of the student leaders of the poll.

On questions such as whether it matters who is the president or whether politics is relevant to their lives, young people show a level of interest that is roughly similar to what the poll found four years ago.

“Young people are going to vote when they see their votes making a tangible difference,” said Cacodcar.

In a close election, as this one seems likely to be, that difference could be about as tangible as it gets.

What else you should be reading

The must read: Republicans find themselves trapped on abortion , and there’s no easy way out, writes veteran political analyst Elaine Kamarck

Poll of the week : Biden calls the Inflation Reduction Act one of his biggest legislative accomplishments, but most Americans say they don’t know much about it.

LA Times special: A Supreme Court case could upend California’s policies toward homeless people .

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David Lauter writes the Saturday Los Angeles Times Politics newsletter from Washington, D.C. He began writing news in Washington in 1981 and has covered Congress, the Supreme Court, the White House under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and six U.S. presidential campaigns. He served as Washington bureau chief from 2011-20. Lauter lived in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2011, where he was The Times’ deputy Foreign editor, deputy Metro editor and then assistant managing editor responsible for California coverage.

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