The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report investigates the economic, legal and social aspects of gender gaps across the world, considering four common factors of inequality between men and women:
- Economic participation and opportunity (salaries, participation levels and access to high-skilled employment)
- Educational attainment (access to basic and higher level education)
- Political empowerment (representation in decision-making structures)
- Health and survival (life expectancy and sex ratio)
Interestingly, the collaborators behind the report note “strong correlation” between a country’s gender gap scores and its economic performance and competitiveness, suggesting “countries that do not fully capitalize effectively on one-half of their human resources run the risk of undermining their competitive potential.”
The 2008 WEF Global Gender Gap report was released on November 12, 1008. Not surprisingly, the top five countries who’ve been “closing” the gap and are drawing close to gender equality are predominantly Nordic:
/sarcasm Darn those evil socialists!
The United States improved its score slightly from last year, but it still isn’t in the top 10. Or even the top 25. At 27 on the list of 130, the United States ranks lower than South Africa, Cuba, and Barbados.
A brief overview of significant regional changes in rankings, plus links to detailed profiles for each country, can be found at The Global Gender Gap Report 2008: Country Highlights and Profiles.
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