New Gender Equity Study Released

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released a new gender equity study that rates 135 countries on five metrics to measure the degree of gender equity in the country: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.  One basic conclusion from the study: there is a "strong correlation between a country’s gender gap and its national competitiveness. Because women account for one-half of a country’s potential talent base, a nation’s competitiveness in the long term depends significantly on whether and how it educates and utilizes its women."

Iceland is in the number one spot for the fourth year in a row.  Northern European countries tend to dominate the top ranks, along with other Western developed nations such as New Zealand (6), Canada (21) and the U.S. (22).  Non-western countries in the top 20 include South Africa, Cuba, Lesotho, Nicaragua and the Philippines.  Japan is probably the lowest ranked developed country at 101.  Many countries ranked in the bottom 10 in gender equity are Muslim countries, including Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan and Iran.

The Gender Gap Report may be found here.

(cgb)