Women at workplace, still a far fetched dream

Women have come a long way since the industrial revolution.  From taking their husband’s and brother’s place in the workforce during the world war to becoming CEOs of big corporations, women have proved their worth at workplaces. But their inclusion in the workforce at desirable numbers  as compared to men is still a far fetched dream. According to the latest World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020, gender parity is still 99.5 years away. 

The analysis presented in the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 is based on a methodology integrating the latest statistics from international organizations and a survey of executives. 

The report highlights the gender differences in salaries, managerial positions, and education. The report states that “none of us will see gender parity in our lifetimes, nor likely will many of our children.” 

The World Economic Forum (WEF) since 2006 has been publishing the Global Gender Gap Index measuring the extent of gender-based gaps among four key dimensions – Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment and tracking progress towards closing these gaps over time. This year’s edition of the report benchmarks 153 countries and provides country rankings that allow for effective comparisons across and within regional peers.

But why does gender parity matter?

Gender parity has a fundamental bearing on whether or not economies and societies thrive. Developing and deploying one-half of the world’s available talent has a huge bearing on the growth, competitiveness, and future-readiness of economies and businesses worldwide.

Key findings from the report were:

1. Across the four subindexes, the largest gender disparity is—once again—the Political Empowerment gap. Despite being the most improved dimension this year only 24.7% of the global Political Empowerment gap has been closed in 2020.

1.  The second-largest gap is on Economic Participation and Opportunity; 57.8% of this gap has been closed so far, which represents a slight step back since last year. 

1. Educational Attainment gaps are relatively small on average but there are still countries where investment in women’s talent is insufficient. While in 35 countries

gender parity in education has been achieved, a few developing countries have yet to close over 20% of the gaps. Ten percent of girls aged 15–24 in the world are illiterate, with a high concentration in developing countries. Even in countries where educational attainment is relatively high, women’s skills are not always in line with those

required to succeed in the professions of the future.

1. At the current pace, gender gaps can potentially be closed in 54 years in Western Europe, 59 years in Latin America and the Caribbean, 71 and a half years in South Asia, 95 years in SubSaharan Africa, 107 years in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 140 years in the Middle East and North Africa, 151 years in North America, and 163 years in East Asia and the Pacific. While the increased speed in some regions has reduced the estimated time to close gender gaps, progress remains slow and uneven across countries and regions. Policy-makers and other stakeholders need to further adopt policies and practices to accelerate this process going forward.

1. The report highlighted the wage gap annually between men and women. But it also stated that this wage gap has been constantly improving with most of the top rank countries having already formulating equal pay policy. While the developing countries still have miles to cover but their improvement rate gives relief that this goal will be achieved shortly.

1. Managerial positions are still dominated by males. Most of the top executive positions in major corporations are held by men. Although the new companies are changing this trend with assigning and trusting women to run their businesses, well-established firms are still lagging behind. 

The report addressed a lot of other issues related to domestic violence and the skill gap. It also highlighted the fact that countries still not consider housewives as empowered women. 

Although the facts and stats provided by the report show the stark reality of the gender gap in modern times, WEF believes there is hope that these trends will change earlier than expected. Women have started to realize their potential and taking on the challenges. This is the best time to be born as a woman as half the battle has already been won. Countries like Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Finland are leading the way in bringing a change in this ecosystem. There’s an old proverb, “No matter what you’re going through, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” Women have brought a new meaning to this proverb by coming out of the box and fighting for themselves. The world has realized that by not letting grow, we hinder our own progress. Hence it is time that women empower themselves and be the light for many others. As Kobi Yamada says, “Believe that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Believe that you might be that light for someone.”