The recent Global Gender Gap Report 2014 documents some outstanding gender differences in 142 countries around the world. It is a voluminous report highlighting various indicators, such as health, wealth, and participation in the economic life of the nation.

One obvious feature highlighted in this report is the widespread, one could say, universal finding of gender differences in practically all aspects of life.

In spite of all the efforts made by advanced nations to bridge this gap, and in spite of the considerable gains that Malta has achieved over the last decades, there are still areas where gender differences remain quite marked.

To start with, it is reassuring to see that in education, women have caught up with men, with, in particular, marked improvement in participation at tertiary education, where there are now 32 per cent more females than males (a ratio of females to males of 1.32). When education is so fundamental to the future standard of living, this is indeed reassuring.

Likewise, we seem to be blessed with a good health system, resulting in a very acceptable ‘healthy life expectancy’ of over 70 years, with no gender imbalance.

In view of the fact that education is so fundamental to the economic potential of the individual, it is therefore still worrying that women have not yet caught up with men in the economic and social sphere. There are several areas where women are finding it hard to catch up.

The average wage of women is less than half that of men. The labour participation rate is low, and the majority of those in the labour force have only a part-time job. The proportion of women in higher professional grades is also low. But the lowest degree of participation of women can be found in that bastion of power, the political establishment, where women are hardly visible.

In particular, their participation in political life is abysmally low: only 17 per cent of parliamentarians of ministers are women. Which makes one wonder how males have managed to hold on to power, and how, for generations, they have relegated less prestigious, and certainly less lucrative jobs to women.

Women applying to join an orchestra were found to be more likely to be chosen if they auditioned hidden behind a screen

One reason which has been suggested to explain this situation is the obvious fact that in most situations, it is men who decide who to employ. It might be argued that it is still largely a boys’ club. Even if one excludes frank discrimination, there is plenty of evidence to show that interviewers for most jobs often exhibit latent discrimination, one of which the interviewers themselves may not be aware of.

In a recent article in Scientific American, this topic was aired and several examples of latent discrimination were given. For instance, applicants for jobs were more likely to be asked to attend an interview when the name on the application was a male.

It is suggested that applications should have any gender identifiers removed before being sent to a selection committee to avoid conscious or unconscious bias. In several surveys (e.g. Finland 2012, Germany 2011), this trick has been found to result in a more equitable selection process.

Amusingly enough, women applying to join an orchestra were found to be more likely to be chosen if they auditioned hidden behind a screen!

It would appear that such bias can be demonstrated in practically all walks of life, including employment to academic positions, particularly at higher levels of employment, and even when papers are sent for review to creditable academic journals for publication.

In relation to the well-established preferential treatment, the journal says good intentions are not enough to end racial and gender bias whether they be of the entrenched, or the merely unconscious kind.

One would have hoped that if education is the panacea that will overcome such bias, then Malta is on the road to overcoming this handicap. However, in places like Australia, where gender equality in education has been established for several years, recent data shows that gender differences in wealth are actually increasing, and in particular, single women have just over half the average assets of the male counterparts.

The gender difference affects the pay packet as well as the accumulated wealth and assets.

So if education, long assumed to be the fundamental building stone on which to assure economic progress, is not likely to overcome gender differences, what is?