The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report has just been published. It shows that Malta’s position has slipped 15 places to 99th out of the 142 nations examined – Malta’s worst performance in five years. The rankings are based on a range of measurements.

In the area of health, where Malta usually performs relatively well, this country ranked 107th, with even strife-torn Syria and Suriname and Swaziland having a better life expectancy. Malta did well on educational attainment and on its female literacy rate. However, it was one of the worst performers on female participation in the labour market with a ranking of 114.

Moreover, Malta is the second lowest performer in the region on estimated earned income, just ahead of Turkey. Despite having a female Head of State, Malta ranked only 76th on political empowerment and 99th for women in Parliament.

Malta’s performance in female gender equality terms – as measured by education, health, literacy, participation in the labour force, earnings and political empowerment – has always been generally poor. In previous years, Maltese women were making some progress in these fields. But this year’s results have dashed even that stuttering progress.

While the country can take some comfort from the rise in educational attainment (a vitally important aspect if Malta is to make any progress) the hangover from years of lack of action in these fields is plain to see. It will be very many years before Malta can come anywhere near Iceland and the other Nordic countries of Europe in the gender equality stakes.

What is to be done?

There is undoubtedly a residual culture gap that must be overcome. The facts are that only three per cent of directors on Malta’s publicly-listed companies are women. Eight per cent of top civil servants are women and 28 per cent occupy posts one level below. Before coumpulsory gender quotas were introduced in Norway 10 years ago, only about six per cent of women were on boards; today that figure stands at 34 per cent, a truly remarkable increase in such a short time.

When it comes to women serving in posts in the boardroom or in other positions of leadership (the chairman of Air Malta is an encouraging exception), this island embarks on this journey from a very low base.

But the introduction of mandatory quotas for boardrooms – as promised by both political parties – is not the answer. There is a high risk that the only way to meet mandatory quotas would be by positive discrimination in favour of women, regardless of their calibre or qualifications for the position.

While it is in the interests of boards that women worthy of advancement should come to the fore, the overriding consideration should surely remain merit, not the achievement of artificial quotas. The imposition of quotas would only serve to undermine this, which would do a disservice not only to the country but also to women themselves.

Education and women’s health will continue to improve. Maltese women have gradually been joining the workforce in greater numbers. But they tend to fill lower paid jobs and their continued ability to pursue a career depends essentially on the introduction of better family-friendly measures to encourage greater female participation.

The government has promised some imaginative plans to do so but these inevitably will take some time before they affect Malta’s abysmal placing in the world rankings. However, while measures aimed at increasing female participation may help, it is ultimately down to women themselves to take the bull by the horns and drive up the numbers.