The Report does not penalize those countries having fewer resources (lower levels of education for example), but assesses countries on how fairly they distribute existing resources between women and men.Economic participation and opportunityWage equality, management equality, access to high-skilled employment – as a ratio of female to male;Educational attainmentLiteracy rate, primary, secondary, and advanced enrollment -as a ratio of female to male;Political empowermentParliamentary and ministerial positions, heads of state in years - as a ratio of female to male;Health care and survivalLife expectancy and sex ratio at birth.
Covering 128 countries and 92% of the world’s population, the report shows equality gains for women in two-thirds of the nations studied. Compared with previous study years, gaps in education, political empowerment, and economic opportunity have narrowed, whereas gaps in health care have widened. One implication of the study is a strong correlation between competitiveness and gender equality; countries that do not utilize their full human potential lose competitiveness. In virtually all countries surveyed, gender equality is weakest on indices of political empowerment.
So where does the good ole U.S. of A. stand on gender equality? Here are the top ten countries in overall ranking:
(Click on image to enlarge)Oops! The good ole U.S. of A., leader of the free world and shining beacon of hope and opportunity, is not even among the top ten. How about the next group of countries, ranked 11 through 20?
(Click on image to enlarge)Nope. Not there. So where are you hiding, good ole U.S. of A (under a pile of WMDs)?
(Click on image to enlarge)There you are! Good ole U.S. of A is ranked number 27 ... well behind the Philippines (ranked #6), Sri Lanka (#12), Lesotho (#16), Mozambique (#18), Cuba (#25), and Barbados (#26). What a nice role model, good ole U.S. of A., leader of the free world and shining beacon of hope and opportunity!
For a PDF copy of the full report, click here.
