A variety of studies have found that improving gender parity (equality) can lead to significant economic benefits. In education, this can translate into lower infant mortality rates, increased labor participation rates and earnings; in politics, improved gender parity contributes to reducing inequality in society at large and heightened democratic outcomes. In the formal economy, female talent is one of the most underutilized business resources that has the potential to unlock new opportunities for growth. The World Economic Forum, which seeks to quantify and track the magnitude of gender disparities through its annual global gender gap report, finds the pace of progress to be slow. Globally, the gender gap remains very wide in terms of economic participation and political empowerment, but is substantially narrower for health and education.
“A high percentage of ‘Women on Boards’ is observed in high ranked economies with respect to competitiveness. The average of the female board members in the ten most competitive economies is almost 21% whereas in the ten least competitive economies it is only 7%. Thus, given the availability of women with degrees, economies must integrate the skills and competencies available to them more effectively.” – Adjunct Professor Christos Cabolis
