NewsTalk
NEWSTALK
2095: The Year of Gender Equality
in the Workplace
In nine years of measuring the global gender gap, the world has seen only a small improvement in equality for women in the workplace.
According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2014, the gender gap for economic participation and opportunity now stands at 60% worldwide, having closed by 4% from 56% in 2006. Based on this trajectory, with all else remaining equal, it will take 81 years for the world to close this gap completely.
In the Middle East and North Africa, Kuwait, at 113th, is the highest-placed country in the region, after making significant gains in overall income, including income for women.
The United Arab Emirates, at 115th, falls in the rankings but shows major improvement relative to its past performance on economic and political participation and remains the second highest-ranked country in the region.
Nine Years of Data
Nine years of data from the Global Gender Gap Report – first published in 2006 reveal the pattern of change around the world relative to countries’ own past performance and in relation to each other.
Much of the progress on gender equality over the last 10 years has come from more women entering politics and the workforce.
The direction of change within countries from 2006 to the present day has been largely positive, but not universally so. Of the 111 countries that have been continuously covered in the report over the last nine years, 105 have narrowed their gender gaps, but another six have seen prospects for women deteriorate.
These six countries are spread across regions: in Asia, it is Sri Lanka; in Africa, Mali; in Europe, Croatia and Macedonia; and in the Middle East, Jordan and Tunisia.
In the Americas, no country has widening gender gaps.
The most improved country relative to its starting point nine years ago for economic participation and opportunity is Saudi Arabia, wheras Jordan has declined in economic participation.
Europe has shown the smallest absolute change. When compared to their own starting points nearly a decade ago, however, the order of relative change is slightly different, with the Middle East outperforming Asia.
Business and Policy Implications
“Achieving gender equality is obviously necessary for economic reasons. Only those economies who have full access to all their talent will remain competitive and will prosper.” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.
Companies that recruit and retain women, and ensure that they attain leadership positions outperform those that do not.
The report covers the latest research on the benefits of gender equality from a variety of sectors, the current use of policy tools and business practices, and future implications for business leaders and policy-makers.
6 | TRAINING MAGAZINE MIDDLE EAST JAN 2015