Closing the Global Gender Gap: Analysing Women‘s Workforce Participation

As a data analyst covering global gender issues, I took a deep dive into the latest statistics on women‘s economic participation. The verdict? We have a long way to go to achieve gender parity.

Let‘s start with the headline statistic – women make up 39.3% of the global workforce as of 2021 according to the International Labour Organization‘s modelled estimates. This number has barely shifted over the past three decades. Back in 1990, women represented 39.4% of workers worldwide.

When we talk about women‘s economic participation, the key metric is the female labor force participation rate. This measures the proportion of the working age female population that engages actively in the labor market, either by working or looking for work.

Globally, women‘s participation rate stands at 47.8% compared to 74.2% for men. That‘s a gap of 26.4 percentage points – marginally lower than the gap of 26.5 points in 1995, but indicating huge scope to integrate more women into the workforce.

Analyzing the 30-year trend of women‘s share of total employment reveals remarkably little progress:

• In the 1990s, women‘s participation hovered between 39.4% and 39.7%
• Peaked at 39.8% in 2000
• Fell during 2008/2009 global financial crisis to 39.5%
• Hit new lows of 39.2% in 2012/2013
• Recovered slightly in recent years to 39.3%

So despite rising attention and activism around women‘s rights over the decades, their occupation of paid jobs remains less than 40% total employment globally.

This aggregates vast differences across countries and regions. Let‘s analyze some instructive examples.

The range across countries is striking – from only 6% of women active in the workforce in war-torn Yemen to a stellar 87% in progressive Iceland.

In the Middle East and North African region, constraints on women joining the labor force remain most extreme. More than 85% of women are outside paid employment in over half a dozen Arab states. This contrasts sharply with Nordic countries where participation rates exceed 75%.

In Yemen and Iraq over 90% of women do not participate in the workforce. Compared to:

• Iceland – 87% participation rate
• Norway – 75%
• Sweden – 80%

Even within geographic regions and income bands, we observe wide divergence. Take the comparison between India and Bangladesh – two neighboring South Asian developing economies with similar GDP per capita.

Yet the share of women working or actively seeking jobs in total female population is:

• India: 25%
• Bangladesh: 36%

Now let‘s analyze the reasons behind such disparity.

Our analysis clearly indicates that social and cultural gender constructs continue to constrain women‘s options and access to paid work in many societies. Regressive stereotypes often limit women‘s roles to domestic duties and care responsibilities within the family.

Research by McKinsey shows a high correlation between gender equality in society overall and women‘s economic participation.

• In the lowest quartile of countries for gender inequality, average participation rates are 35% for women compared to 83% for men.
• In the highest quartile, participation rates are 60% for women and 76% for men respectively.

Lack of political voice and female leadership also feeds cycles of disadvantage for women. It leads to absence of supportive policies like paid leave, childcare and flexible work arrangements that enable workforce participation.

Those women who do participate in the labor market remain concentrated in lower status roles that align with traditional gender stereotypes and care-giving activities. This manifests in both horizontal and vertical segregation.

• Horizontal segregation focuses women in specific occupations and sectors
  • Over 75% of working women employed in low paying service sector jobs
  • 20% in manufacturing
  • 5% in agriculture
• Vertical segregation prevents career progression into senior levels
  • Less than 25% of managers and leaders globally are women
  • Around 30% of senior roles and board positions in Europe held by women

In terms of renumeration – the much discussed gender pay gap persists across the globe.

• Women in the US earn $0.82 for every $1 a man earns, working 42 extra days a year to earn the same salary
• The median gender pay gap across OECD countries is approximately 13%

The root factors behind these trends range from conscious and unconscious bias in hiring and promotions to skills gaps due to lack of opportunities. But the outcomes remain unchanged – women remain underpaid and under-utilised as productive economic participants.

The World Economic Forum‘s 2021 Global Gender Gap Report forecasts that it will now take 136 years to close the gender gap worldwide at the current pace of change.

Extrapolating trends in female labor force participation:

• At 39% global share today and 0.1% annual rate of change historically, it will take over 50 years for women to occupy 50% of jobs
• Regional gaps expected to persist for generations in the Middle East, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

However, research signals that women‘s participation rates have scope to converge with men‘s over time as income levels rise. But active policy changes and shifts in societal attitudes are vital to accelerate change.

Our analysis clearly demonstrates that the root causes of inequality in access and opportunity run deep into social constructs, organizational practices and individual mindsets about appropriate gender roles and attributes.

With productivity and innovation driving global economic progress, persisting with such outdated notions of women as child-rearers rather than profit generators makes little rational sense.

Yet assuming higher female participation as an automatic corollary of income growth would be naive based on current evidence. Proactive efforts to enable and encourage women to enter the workforce appear crucial. These include:

Policy Level

• Mandated paid parental leave and subsidized childcare
• Legislation to enable flexible and remote working
• Targets for women‘s representation in leadership and on company boards

Organizational Practices

• Unbiased hiring, pay and promotion policies
• Leadership accountability for improving women‘s outcomes
• Reskilling programs to help women return to work after career breaks

Mindset Shifts

• Challenging conscious and unconscious stereotypes that propagate the status quo
• Normalizing men leaning in more at home as women lean in at work
• Celebrating female breadwinners as role models to inspire younger women

The potential productivity and equality dividends of activating female talent across the globe warrant urgent action on these fronts.

In positive news, recent research by Goldman Sachs suggests we are approaching significant tipping points in female participation across various developed and emerging markets due to natural demographic factors and policy changes.

These demand and supply side developments expected to propel women‘s entry into the labor force include:

• Rising educational attainment reducing gaps for women
• Shifting fertility rates and family planning policies resulting in fewer children per women
• Retirement of older cohorts with more traditional attitudes around gender roles
• Expansion of sectors and job types amenable for women – services, knowledge work etc.

Real demographic shifts paired with determined action to capitalize on them by public sector leaders and private sector employers can significantly boost female participation rates globally.

Iceland sets an pioneering example, passing equal pay legislation over 50 years ago followed by unrelenting focus on daycare and extended parental leave allowance. The Nordic country now ranks first globally on the World Economic Forum‘s gender gap index.

In India, the organized retail boom is creating millions of new jobs for women in a society where patriarchal attitudes have kept female workforce participation rates suppressed for centuries.

Having analysed global trends in depth, I conclude that achieving gender parity in economic participation will require coordinated momentum across policy, business, communities and households – what McKinsey terms "a new societal deal".

With productivity emerging as the key determinant of both national and organizational success, rapidly activating and optimizing female talent is not just imperative but inevitable. As more governments and companies take the lead, laggards will face external and internal pressure to follow suit.

The data shows change is far too slow currently. But by tracking and enabling the positive shifts underway, today‘s young women have the chance to enter a more equitable job market than previous generations.

The opportunity lies in each one of us challenging biases, norms and policies holding women back since ages. With fact-based optimism, collective action and some quantum leaps, we could still see gender equal participation rates in our working lifetimes.

What are your thoughts on the numbers and trends revealed in this analysis? Share your perspectives in the comments.