The World Economic Forum recently published The Global Gender Index 2010 report. This study, its fourth in as many years, has sought to establish a series of criteria that benchmarks the progress of gender equality issues around the globe. The index highlights the findings of gender-based disparities and establishes country-based rankings that uncover the progress (or otherwise!) that nations and regions have achieved in the course of a year.
The benchmarks track national gender gaps on four primary measurements. Economic, political, education and health-based criteria determine the rankings that allow effective comparison across regions and economic groups and enhance the continued need for awareness on a topic that for such a long time has remained key to the effective progress of societies around the world.
Of course, producing a coherent snapshot that reveals global patterns requires a profound amount of data that must not only be listed but interpreted in the particular context of each region and country. The global index underlines three basic concepts. In other words, when it examines gaps, outcomes and gender equality it seeks to reveal the progress each nation has achieved in gender equality independent of a country’s level of economic power or level of development. Therefore, the index penalises or rewards nations’ efforts that strive to narrow the gender gap between men and women rather than simple economic progress.
It was most interesting to discover Malta’s progress in the rankings of the Global Gender Index for 2010. Malta formed part of a 134-nation strong study. The results were contemporaneously promising and disheartening to read for several reasons but, clearly, the overall result reveals a continued high level of disparity between genders.
The implications of the results endorse the continued successes for women in the areas of educational attainment and health standards but also confirm the inadequate and severely slow progression and low level of economic empowerment of women in the workplace.
Let’s start with the good news.
Years of continued intensive investment by successive government administrations in the education sector are evident in Malta’s number-one spot regarding educational gender equality attainment among the 134 countries. Malta enjoys this spot with another 21 countries, with giants like France, Norway, the United States and the United Kingdom. Better still, female participation at tertiary level has risen by a third in only four years and has consistently outpaced male participation. In areas like the humanities, women outpace men. This also occurs in fields such as medicine and law.
On health, although Malta ranks 72nd, the differences with the higher ranked nations is extremely small. To give an example, between the first ranked Japan with a score of 9,796 and Malta, there is a mere .0055 points (Malta’s points are 9,741). Women in Malta enjoy excellent obstetric services and we have an extremely low infant and maternal mortality rate!
Things start to take a nosedive when gender equality is compared to economic participation and opportunity. Our score here remains at best very disappointing. Malta ranks 104th due primarily to a very low feminine participation in the labour market. In 2010, only 39 per cent of women as opposed to 78 per cent of men formed part of the labour force. This was slightly lower than the previous year at 40 per cent.
Starker still was the average remuneration a woman receives as compared to males. While it is true this average has consistently risen over four years it remains less than half what men earn in a year. To boot, women remain a shadow when compared to men in managerial and senior official positions and these remain stuck at 18 per cent. All this places Malta at a lowly 104th position and, overall, in gender equality issues at 88th place. According to the global index, Malta has the second worst track record among EU member states.
Economic inequality has existed in a wide range of societies and historical periods. Its nature, cause and importance are subject to an open and broad debate. I believe a country’s economic structure, historical and contemporary social expectations and gender-fixed roles play a crucial part in these disparities. Clearly, women in Malta still have a long way to go to achieve any sort of parity in fields that matter and to see a change in mentality and policymaking.
The global index conclusions regarding closing gender gaps succinctly declare: “Over time, therefore, a nation’s competitiveness depends significantly on whether and how it educates and utilises its female talent.
To maximise its competitiveness and development potential, each country should strive for gender equality – that is, to give women the same rights, responsibilities and opportunities as men. It has been shown through our own research as well as that of others that the current economic participation of women, even in countries where they are healthy and educated as men, are far from optimal.
Business leaders and policymakers must ensure that barriers to women’s entry to the workforce are removed and put in place practices and policies that provide equal opportunities for rising to positions of leadership within companies. Such practices will ensure all existing resources are used in the most efficient manner and that the right signals are sent regarding the flow of future talent.”
Any further comment would be superfluous!
info@carolinegalea.com