Best Measures in Reducing the Gender Gap Around the World

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done to achieve gender equality across the globe. According to World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2021, in just one year, the time it would take to close the gender gap increased by 36 years. This means that men and women may likely need another 135.6 years for attaining parity in many areas including economy participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and political empowerment according to its indicators.

However, some progress has been made. This compilation of archived articles shows how this change has started happening at different places around the world and gives some ideas on what we can do to fix it.

Recognise what’s important

Problem-solving often begins with identifying the issue. For example, UN Women’s data visualisations from (insert specific dates) show women working in various professions globally.

Invest in measures to help women re-enter work

This has resulted in a disproportionate impact on women due to quitting their jobs or taking up unpaid domestic or care-giving responsibilities as they are more likely than men who have stopped working during COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore governments will need to invest money into programs which address such issues as increasing parental leave allowances or opening more kindergartens so that more women can get back to work soon.

More role models who are female

Having diverse employees is an advantage. Everledger says there could be better representation with more role models/mentors who are females through data transparency online tools provided by them.

Aim for critical mass

Companies with greater numbers of senior female executives hire significantly higher numbers of female employees overall – LinkedIn data analysis shows that. Recognising unconscious bias and building strong internal pipelines for promotion will improve hiring rates for women in leadership positions.

Start thinking about quotas

Rwanda has seen an increase in the number of women participating in politics which is remarkable progress. It boasts that it has highest percentage of women in parliament worldwide in the world, according to Inter-Parliamentary Union statistics. This has been possible because many electoral systems used quotas that ensure there are more women as legislators and members of parliaments.

Developing “unbanked” for African Women

Most often, women do not have access to insurance, credit options and loans due to their inability to open an account with a formal bank. This is something that needs to be taken into consideration when designing any new technologies or products so as to enable a greater number of poor women have access financial services.

Review paternity leave policy

Great strides are being made on paternity leave in some countries while several high-income countries still do not offer adequate government-backed paternity leave, UNICEF says.

Learn more about what drives women

One theory behind the gender pay gap is that women tend to be less competitive than men within the workplace. New research however suggests that if they can share winnings, which often belong to teams anyway; it is likely that women would become even more competitive. More work therefore needs to be done here since this will help shape how we address gender wage gaps in future.

Appreciate how much female colleagues assist one another

Women’s extra efforts at supporting their peers go unacknowledged by McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace 2021 report. Many times, women step into roles like handling co-workers’ inclusion or well-being but they seldom receive commendation or reward for doing so.

Do not always stay safe

According to global research, the pandemic has led to businesses hiring male CEOs. The trend is that companies often prefer leaders who have succeeded in the past or have been a CEO before, which disadvantages women. To avoid undoing gains made prior to Covid-19, it should be noted.

More legal rights for women required

Worldwide, women have on average only three-quarters of the legal rights men do, says the World Bank. And less than half of countries in the world have equal pay for equal work laws. A legal framework that supports female economic inclusion will help address many concerns including closing the gender pay gap.

Keep an eye on violence against women

Violence against females is “still so deeply embedded in cultures around the world that it is almost invisible,” according to a UN human rights expert; and between one fifth and nearly one half of all women globally are physically or sexually abused by men they live with, as found out by the 2020 Global Gender Gap Report by World Economic Forum. He urges governments to establish prevention mechanisms and track this violence rather than leaving it up to human rights organisations or women’s groups.

Start-ups should prioritise diversity

Around 20% more innovation revenues (the proceeds from recently launched products and services) are seen in start-ups with diverse staffs compared with non-diverse ones by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). At the same time, another report shows that few startups are actively seeking diversity in their leadership teams.