The World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) latest global gender gap index report reveals that despite global advancements, hurdles remain, especially in nations grappling with economic inconsistencies.
SA and Namibia, with their notable income inequality and high unemployment rates, epitomise these challenges.
The WEF’s 2024 report projects that achieving full gender parity will take another five generations, which is more than 100 years at the current pace.
Though there have been strides in various sectors, such as political representation and labour force participation, the report found that substantial gaps persist. The WEF said political empowerment remained the most significant area of gender disparity globally, an issue that the ongoing 60 national elections worldwide could potentially address.
In SA, economic inequality is a critical barrier to gender parity. According to reports, the country leads the world with the highest income inequality, measured by a Gini coefficient of 0.67. This economic divide is compounded by an unemployment rate that has surged to 32.9% in the first quarter of 2024 as reported by Stats SA in May.
While there is a global recovery in women’s labour force participation, reaching 65.7% in 2024, SA women still contend with obstacles. With only 31.7% of senior leadership positions globally occupied by women, SA reflects similar trends where economic participation and leadership roles for women are lacking.
The WEF’s index also revealed the growing representation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and artificial intelligence (AI) roles, yet gaps remain. The report found that women make up just 29% of entry-level STEM roles and a mere 12.2% of C-suite positions in AI.
“A positive development is that the concentration of women in AI engineering has more than doubled since 2016, indicating some progress in this area. However, the gender gap in STEM fields and AI talent remains a challenge.
“According to data by LinkedIn, women comprise 29% of entry-level STEM roles and only 12.2% of C-suite positions. Gender parity in online skilling, as captured by data from Coursera, is currently too low in AI and big data (30%), programming (31%) and networks and cybersecurity (31%) courses to close existing workforce gaps,” the report says.
“Furthermore, a large-scale worker survey by PwC reveals gender differences in the perception of demand, given current roles, with women estimating digital, analytical and green skills to be less important to their current career trajectories over the next five years. There is also a gender gap in perceived opportunities to acquire the skills of the future.”
Political empowerment
Regionally, Latin America and the Caribbean show promising signs with high rates of labour force participation and political empowerment for women.
Conversely, Sub-Saharan Africa ranks sixth in the global gender gap rankings. Despite some progress in political empowerment, economic participation and educational attainment still pose challenges.
Countries such as SA and Namibia have made positive strides in political empowerment, however, these gains are often overshadowed by the broader economic inequalities that women face daily.
“Sub-Saharan Africa ranks sixth with a score of 68.4%. The region has shown significant progress in political empowerment, with countries like Namibia and SA leading the way. However, economic participation and educational attainment still present challenges. Over half of the countries in the region have closed over 70% of their gender gap; however, the top and bottom ranks are divided by 22.9 percentage points,” the WEF said.
The WEF called for collaborative efforts between governments and businesses to prioritise gender parity as a cornerstone of sustainable growth. Through its Global Gender Parity Sprint to 2030 initiative, the WEF is rallying partners across sectors to join forces in accelerating progress towards a balanced and equitable future.
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