Women’s Equality Day: Reflecting on the Global Gender Gap

In July 2022, the World Economic Forum (WEF) published the Global Gender Gap Report 2022. While WEF says “it will take another 132 years to close the global gender gap”, encouragingly, the report found that several countries are a little bit closer to achieving gender parity than in past years. 

Germany, where I am based, has made it into the top 10 countries with the smallest gender gap. Here, children take for granted that women can become powerful political leaders. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, for instance, is a woman politician from Germany. Many youngsters have only ever known a woman chancellor until the end of 2021. “We think it is fair to give men the chance to be the head of our country,” said a neighbor’s child when I asked what she thought of Olaf Scholz becoming Angela Merkel’s successor. 

Gender-equitable Language

In this country, raising awareness of the gender gap has been a major focus for years. One of the most spoken-about efforts is to convert the traditionally masculine German language to a more gender-neutral one. In German, when you refer to a profession, you use a masculine noun. For example, “the pilot” is “der Pilot,” using the masculine definite article “der,” even though there are pilots of other genders, including women. The gender-neutral way of expressing the profession is “der*die Pilot*in,” using double definite articles, plus the asterisks that stand for non-binary, topped with the feminine suffix “in.” The effort has been greeted with a fair amount of resistance on the one side, as some fear the linguistic heritage being corrupted. Others welcome the change wholeheartedly, arguing that awareness and embracement of gender equality should start with using inclusive language in our daily lives.

Dutch, another Germanic language, has long rationalized the gender difference in definite articles altogether. Both masculine and feminine nouns take the definite article “de.” Does this mean the Dutch have a higher gender equality awareness and a narrower gender gap? Not so, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2022. The Netherlands is ranked 28th out of the 146 surveyed countries, 19 places behind Germany. The major factors contributing to the Netherlands lagging behind Germany seem to be the lack of women represented in leadership positions, and the significant income gap between men and women.

Access to Education

Compared to some Asian or Latin American countries, countries in the west like Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K., and the U.S. are faring well on gender equality. At this time of year, parents all over America are dropping off their precious children at the doorsteps of their chosen college dormitories. Some young women will be starting their freshmen year as pre-med students. Parents are feeling a mixture of pride, happiness, and perhaps a little sadness while waving goodbye to the soon-to-be adults they cradled in their arms not so long ago. 

Now imagine a situation in which your daughter is denied pursuing a medical study, even though her grades and entrance exam scores exceeded that of many young men who made it to the same medical school. In 2018, the Japanese government uncovered a scandalous custom of Japanese universities, rigging exam results to exclude women students from entering the medical profession[1]. The deans of the universities explained that women finish their studies, go through internships and residency, then get married, have families, and never come back to practice medicine. It therefore makes “perfect sense” to only accept men, who will remain in the medical profession. This outrageous practice was finally stopped, and just three months ago, in May 2022, some women received financial compensation for damages suffered[2]. Japanese parents sending their daughters to medical schools this year must have had a moving moment! As for gender parity, Japan is an economic powerhouse, yet ranks 116th in the study, behind countries like Tajikistan and Burkina Faso.

While entrance to universities may be fairer for American women than in Japan, access to tertiary education in the U.S. requires a significant amount of money. Even for bright young women, university degrees are not always within reach without financial support. Moreover, women are underrepresented in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subject areas, areas of study where jobs are abundant in this digital age. Recognizing this gap, Janet Cinfio, Acxiom’s Chief Information Officer, makes supporting organizations that help girls and young women further their education in STEM her mission.

STEM Programs for Girls

Girlstart, one of the organizations Acxiom supports, aims to increase girls’ interest in STEM by providing free after-school activities and summer schools in underprivileged communities. Janet believes bringing the subject matter closer to girls is key, since the majority aren’t aware of what studying math, for instance, can mean to them. At a past data mining workshop with Acxiom’s analysts, for example, girls at Girlstart created statistics on the types of clothes they wanted to buy, with results sorted by color, type of clothing, and retail outlet. A single, fun workshop like this has the power to pique girls’ interest in STEM, and this is a start. Interest can spark motivation at junior high, high school and through college, helping girls reach their full economic potential as independent adults. From numerous thank-you cards, Janet knows many ex-Girlstart participants today are senior research chemists, aerospace engineers, and virologists at biotech companies. The appreciation of this initiative is felt strongest when Girlstart graduates become the association’s volunteers themselves and nurture an interest in STEM among girls of low-income, Title 1 schools.

Acxiom also supports the Girls of Promise initiative of the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas. Alexandria Cade is one person impacted by the program. Since her key experience at age 10, fixing a computer her dad couldn’t fix, Alexandria fell in love with computers. At college, she observed that men outnumbered women in her computer science courses. As a bright, young college student, Alexandria’s professors suggested she apply for an internship at Acxiom through Girls of Promise. She was accepted to the program, and at the end of her internship, Acxiom offered her a job. Alexandria now feels a sense of belonging working as a technical support analyst in Acxiom’s IT department and is passionate about promoting computer science careers to girls. She says: “Every woman will develop a sense of belonging in an IT department! Besides, nowadays, you need computer science skills in all fields, from the gaming industry to the financial industry, so the skill is very versatile. Being in computer science and IT also means constant learning. There will not be a single dull day as an IT professional. But most importantly, girls and young women should know that studying computer science means a life-long job guarantee!” I couldn’t agree more, Alexandria! 

Across the world today, we are seeing more initiatives with the goal of achieving gender equality than ever. With that said, there’s no denying that many challenges remain, and continued progress is imperative. As the United Nations states: “Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, also half of its potential. Gender equality, besides being a fundamental human right, is essential to achieve peaceful societies, with full human potential and sustainable development. Moreover, it has been shown that empowering women spurs productivity and economic growth.” Regardless of where we sit in the world – wherever our country of residence ranks in the Global Gender Gap Report 2022 – it’s up to us as individuals, organizations, and institutions, to do our part.

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46568975

[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61506568