#3- Is it a Flat, Simple and Straightforward world? – Economic Gender Parity

Early in December, Philippines legislatures approved to increase the age of consent from 12 to 16, one of the lowest in the world, something the child rights activities have been lobbying for decades. Here, the Philippines is not alone - Angola, Austria, Japan, South Korea, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, and many more have 12-14 as the legal age of consent. Situations like this make us wonder whether it is a flat, simple, and straight forward world. One such topic that needs attention is gender parity.

In early 2020, the US labour department announced that women outnumbered men (50.4%: 49.6%) in the non-farming workforce for the first time. A quick look at the global data based on various studies showed that this might be a one-off as only 47% of working-age women participated in the labour market, compared to 74% of men globally, and that gap hasn't changed since 1995. Developed nations are no different, with women in the workforce at 41.8% in Singapore, 46.6% in Australia, and despite several changes in recent decades, India is still at 19.9%. In terms of education, stats point to women earning more bachelor's degrees than men since 1982, more master's degrees than men since 1987, and more doctorate degrees than men since 2006. Women made more than half of bachelor's degrees (57.3%), master's degrees (60.1%), and doctorate degrees (53.5%). These figures sound like we are on the right track to establishing a balance and WEF study shows gender parity in education will occur in 12 years in most of the world.

Despite this increase in education parity, WEF estimates it will take another 257 years to close the economic gender parity and 95 years to close the gender gap in political representation. Economic participation and opportunity are feared to be moving in the reverse direction and falling far behind. Several studies highlight three primary reasons for increasing economic opportunities gap:

• higher representation in roles that are being automated
• lower representation in professions where wage growth is the most pronounced
• lack of access to capital and sufficient support structure (social and economic)

Challenge#1 – Contributing Family Workers

 Across the globe, women are more likely than men to be unemployed or contributing family workers, which usually implies that they have no access to monetary income. One study highlight that more than 1.1 trillion hours of women are spent in unpaid care work a year, compared with less than 400 billion hours for men. This unequal share of unpaid care work is one of the critical reasons for gender inequality. To narrow this gap, creating better infrastructure and facilities like childcare, eldercare, transportation, and government policies around paid parental leave for both men and women, flexible work arrangements, childcare subsidy, and encouraging shared responsibilities in the household will be required. Developing and developed countries will benefit from these actions, as globally, 606 million women are outside the labour market because of their unpaid care responsibilities.

Challenge#2 – Narrow Skillset Employment & Working Women Upskilling

While women are gaining job skills to positions in the high-growth field, they are also over-represented in the roles that are likely to be affected by automation. Today, women dominate in Education, Health, Creative Arts and Society and Culture, and men dominate in Information Technology, Architecture and Building and Engineering related technologies. By 2030, an estimated 40-160 million working women are likely to be impacted by automation and may need to transition into higher skilled roles, necessitating higher education or upskilling. More than 60% of employed women in developing countries are in agriculture and construction filed with a narrow set of skills. With automation, they face disruption, and it will be vital for them to develop skills that will be in demand. It means more access, more skills, and more participation in technology. Taking advantage of technology and digital platforms will enable them to navigate this transition and find new and flexible working ways.

Challenge#3 – Participation in High Wage Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) Jobs

 A typical STEM worker earns two-thirds more than those employed in other fields, according to Pew Research. Women make up only 28% of the workforce in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Australia's labour force study shows jobs in STEM are growing twice as fast compared to other occupations. The research also indicates that approximately 2.7 million people are employed in STEM jobs – 2 million with a degree or higher, 230,000 with a diploma or higher and 477,000 with Tech Certifications. This number stands at 17.3 million STEM jobs in the US, growing by 79% since 1990 and expected to grow at the same rate in the coming decade. The STEM job growth story and double the average national wage for STEM jobs is consistent across the globe, with an estimated 10 million new jobs in Europe alone by 2050. Women remain underrepresented in engineering (14%), computer (25%) and physical science (39%) occupations but gaining in life sciences (47%) and math occupations (46%). While this number may vary from country to country, the highest-earning STEM occupations, such as computer science and engineering, have the lowest percentages of women workers.

When it comes to STEM education globally, women make up 35% of STEM students and only 22% of professionals in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 12-15% in the field of cloud computing and data engineering. In computer science, the gender gap is much larger. Women make up just 18 % of the bachelor's degrees, 30% of master's degrees, and 20 %of the doctorate degrees. Similarly, in engineering, women make up only 20% of the bachelor's degrees, 25% of master's degrees and 23% of doctorate degrees. Engineering has the smallest number of women in most STEM education fields. It is seeing very little growth in the number of women getting engineering degrees, making the gap grow wider.

 Studies have shown several negative stereotyping from very early stages leading to this gender gap in STEM. It includes arguments like  

1. men are biologically more tuned to special tasks and women excel at reading, verbal tasks
2. mathematicians and scientists are socially awkward men who wear glasses
3. women prefer working with people while men are more likely to prefer working with things etc.

The lack of women in leadership roles and structured programs to promote women in STEM education and jobs could be another attributing factor.

All the studies and data indicate that something about approaching this issue in the past isn't working. I have personally faced this challenge with both my daughters inclining towards non-engineering and non-technology stream despite both my wife and I are in the engineering and technology field. This gap needs to be addressed much earlier at the primary school level identifying potential candidates and grooming them throughout the primary, secondary, and tertiary education. My son, who went to the same primary school opted for mathematics, engineering, and technology. There is some biased view, and peer influence among girls and that can be addressed only by getting STEM female role model leaders in front of them at an early stage and nurturing the pursuit of a career in the STEM field. Universities should reserve 40% seats for Women and 40% for Men and keep 20% as Open Category to encourage more women to take STEM education.

Importance of Economic Parity

 A McKinsey Global Institute report estimates $12 to 28 trillion could be added to global GDP by advancing women's equality. Women make half the world population, and it is vital to ensure half the world's working-age population achieve their full economic potential and improve the global economy. One research estimates that if African women farmers had equal access to land, labour, information, technology, fertilizer, and water—and equal opportunity to use those resources effectively—agricultural production across the continent would increase by 20%. This increase in agricultural productivity will benefit the entire globe, given the growing global population and the worst food crisis in 50 years with 821 million estimated to be suffering from hunger. A world bank study in Kenya found that access to mobile money services enabled women to increase their savings and helped 185,000 women leave farming and develop a business or retail activities, thereby reducing poverty by 22%.

Gender equality is an effective way to reduce poverty and improve women safety. It will also advance the well-being of their families, their communities, and their societies. Let us enable this global change by enhancing the reskilling to be ready for re-employment in high growth sectors, close gaps in remuneration, improving social safety nets, provision childcare support, and advancing women into management and leadership positions.