A gender gap, a relative disparity between people of different genders, is reflected in a variety of sectors in many societies. There exist differences between men and women as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, scientific and economic attainments or attitudes.
The Gender Development Index (GDI) is an index designed to measure gender equality.
The Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) is an index designed to measure gender equality. GEM is the United Nations Development Programme's attempt to measure the extent of gender inequality across the globe's countries, based on estimates of women's relative economic income, participation in high-paying positions with economic power, and access to professional and parliamentary positions. It was introduced at the same time as the Gender-related Development Index (GDI) but measures topics like empowerment that are not covered by that index. Since it was first adopted, the GEM has been employed in several academic studies related to empowerment as a reliable metric for comparing gender empowerment across different countries. It has also faced some harsh criticisms, and many alterations and alternatives have been proposed.
Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which people are not treated equally on the basis of gender. This inequality can be caused by gender discrimination or sexism. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empirically grounded, while others appear to be social constructs. While current policies around the world cause inequality among individuals, it is women who are most affected. Gender inequality weakens women in many areas such as health, education, and business life. Studies show the different experiences of genders across many domains including education, life expectancy, personality, interests, family life, careers, and political affiliation. Gender inequality is experienced differently across different cultures.
All ethnic groups in Sri Lanka have clear distinctions regarding the roles of the sexes. Sri Lanka was the first nation in the world to elect a female head of government, Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Bandaranaike won the election in 1960 after S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, the preceding leader who was also her husband, was murdered by a spy.
Gender inequality in India refers to health, education, economic and political inequalities between men and women in India. Various international gender inequality indices rank India differently on each of these factors, as well as on a composite basis, and these indices are controversial.
UNESCO defined the Gender Parity Index (GPI) as a socioeconomic index usually designed to measure the relative access to education of males and females. It is used by international organizations particularly in measuring the progress of developing countries. For example, some UNESCO documents consider gender parity in literacy.
The following are some international rankings for Singapore.
Canada is recognized in international rankings for a variety of reasons, ranging from its high standard of living to its strong economy and political stability. Canada ranks high on its social, legal, healthcare and education systems with its universities ranked among the best in the world. The country consistently ranks high in other various indices measuring factors such as human rights, quality of life, safety, happiness, prosperity and sustainability. This has led to Canada being recognized as one of the best countries in the world to live. Despite these facts there are varied domestic concerns, Canada ranks among the lowest of the most developed countries for housing affordability, technology affordability, healthcare accessibility, and foreign direct investment.
The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is an index for the measurement of gender disparity that was introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report 20th anniversary edition by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). According to the UNDP, this index is a composite measure to quantify the loss of achievement within a country due to gender inequality. It uses three dimensions to measure opportunity cost: reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market participation. The new index was introduced as an experimental measure to remedy the shortcomings of the previous indicators, the Gender Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), both of which were introduced in the 1995 Human Development Report.
The Gender Equality Bureau was established in 2001 as a division of the Japanese Cabinet Office tasked with planning and coordinating the policies of the Japanese Government pertaining to gender equality. The Gender Equality Bureau conducts research on topics concerning issues of gender—compiling findings into an annual report called the "White Paper".
Female participation and advancement in majority Muslim countries, or nations in which more than 50% of the population identifies as an adherent of the Islamic faith, have traditionally been areas of controversy. Several Western nations, such as the United States and Western Europe, have criticised majority Muslim nations for the lack of involvement and opportunity for women in the private sector.
The gender pay gap or gender wage gap is the average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are employed. Women are generally found to be paid less than men. There are two distinct numbers regarding the pay gap: non-adjusted versus adjusted pay gap. The latter typically takes into account differences in hours worked, occupations chosen, education and job experience. In other words, the adjusted values represent how much women and men make for the same work, while the non-adjusted values represent how much the average man and woman make in total. In the United States, for example, the non-adjusted average woman's annual salary is 79–83% of the average man's salary, compared to 95–99% for the adjusted average salary.
Crime is present in various forms in Yemen.
Gender inequality in Mexico refers to disparate freedoms in health, education, and economic and political abilities between men and women in Mexico. It has been diminishing throughout history, but continues to persist in many forms including the disparity in women's political representation and participation, the gender pay gap, and high rates of domestic violence and femicide. As of 2022, the World Economic Forum ranks Mexico 31st in terms of gender equality out of 146 countries. Structural gender inequality is relatively homogeneous between the Mexican states as there are very few regional differences in the inequalities present.
Measures of gender equality or inequality are statistical tools employed to quantify the concept of gender equality.
Saadia Zahidi is a managing director at the World Economic Forum.
When it comes to gender equality in Latin America, Nicaragua ranks high amongst the other countries in the region. When it came to global rankings regarding gender equality, the World Economic Forum ranked Nicaragua at number twelve in 2015, while in 2016 it ranked tenth, and in 2017 the country ranked sixth.
The colonial roots of gender inequality refers to the political, educational, and economic inequalities between men and women in Africa. According to a Global Gender Gap Index report published in 2018, it would take 135 years to close the gender gap in Sub-Saharan Africa and nearly 153 years in North Africa. While much more is known about the effects of colonialism on all African people, less is known about the impacts of colonialism on specifically women. There are competing theories about the cause of gender inequality in Africa, but scholars suggest its genesis is in slavery and colonialism. For most women, colonialism resulted in an erosion of traditions and rights that formerly granted women equality and esteem. Women in pre-colonial Africa held positions of power and were influential in many aspects of their societies. This changed during the post-colonial period. With new forms of gender inequality introduced, many of the cultural underpinnings of African societies were eroded, and this harm has been challenging to mend. Theoretical frameworks that help to explain the colonial roots of gender inequality include coloniality of power and coloniality of gender. These decolonial concepts provide an account of how gender inequality became situated within the African context and help to explain why present-day inequalities, including women's political underrepresentation, remain significant challenges for Africa.
Gender parity is a statistical measure used to describe ratios between men and women, or boys and girls, in a given population. Gender parity may refer to the proportionate representation of men and women in a given group, also referred to as sex ratio, or it may mean the ratio between any quantifiable indicator among men against the same indicator among women.
