The existence of a global gender gap is undeniable. In almost every country across the world, more males are employed and earn more than their female counterparts. It’s a global problem, and one that a variety of economies are looking to fight in a number of ways.
A recent study by Charles Kenny, an economist at the Center for Global Development, shed a light on exactly what that gender gap looks like on a global scale. His insights can be invaluable for building a recruitment strategy that not just helps to close the gap, but also attracts more quality candidates in countries where their talents may not be fully appreciated.
The Global Gender Gap Today
Anyone familiar with economies and employment on a global scale will not be surprised to hear that today, the gender gap between male and female is still significant. The International Labour Organization keeps a database of how many members of each gender are either employed or looking for work, allowing interested parties to easily understand just which countries see the biggest issues in this area.
A number of northern African countries, for instance, have a gap at or above 50 percent, with an average of 70 to 80 percent of workers being male compared to only 15 – 30 percent females. A similar trend can be seen in the Middle East as well as India, where 79 percent of males are employed or looking for work compared to only 27 percent of females.
In most developed countries, the difference is significantly lower. However, a gender gap still exists, typically hovering between 10 and 12 points in most European and North American countries.
The same trend is also reflected in the pay that employed professionals of each gender typically receive. Here, Russia sees the highest difference between male and female employees. However, even the United States (17.8 percent) and Germany (20.8 percent), traditionally progressive economies in this matter, still see a significant difference in pay.
What Trends are Emerging?
Now to the good news: slowly but surely, the trends are moving into the same direction. According to Kenny,
The proportion of pupils in high school that are girls has climbed from 42% in 1970 to 48% in 2014. At the college level, there are now more women enrolled than men. There were three million women college graduates in China in 1990; by 2010, there were 13 million. The proportion of college graduates in the country who are women has climbed from 35% to 46% over that time.
Undeniably, the global workforce gender gap can only be addressed if the conditions for each group are equal. The increasing availability of education is a positive sign that in the future, the gap might close.
That said, increased education has yet to provide tangible improvement for actual female employment, which has only grown one percent in the last 25 years. Women may be more educated than they used to be, but that has not actually transferred into better career opportunities across the world. Thanks to cultural stereotypes around ‘traditional’ female roles, most are expected to return to these roles once they receive their degree.
How Can Your Recruitment Strategy Address the Problem?
Closing the gender gap should be an inherent goal of your recruitment strategy. What you might not realize, though, is that focusing on this aspect can actually be a significant opportunity. In fact, a focus on underserved populations (such as females in countries with high employment gaps) can help you more easily find qualified candidates.
Think about it this way: more educated females without a natural opportunity to apply their skills will be naturally underestimated in the domestic labor market. But they can still serve your company well, and the competition to attract these professionals will be significantly less.
All it takes is overcoming local stereotypes. By focusing your international recruitment strategy particularly on countries with high gender gaps, you can more efficiently and successfully attract quality talent while addressing a global problem at the same time.
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