With a lack of women in senior roles having been highlighted as a major aspect of gender disparity in the workplace, women account for less than 50 percent of senior positions in every nation.
This is the finding of technology career platform Honeypot, which released a study revealing the gender gap in managerial roles.
Using figures from the World Economic Forum, the study shows the percentage of women in senior or managerial positions, revealing which of the 41 countries offer the best and worst progression and promotional opportunities for women.
The release is part of a larger study, the 2018 Women in Tech Index, which analyses 22 factors including wage, pay gap and inequality data to determine the best nations for women in the technology field.
Honeypot co-founder Emma Tracey says with over 10,000 UK firms providing details of their gender pay gap, one of the most striking outcomes has been the lack of women in senior roles, with just one in three firms reporting a majority of women among their top earners.
“This result is similarly reflected in our study, with women on average accounting for 31 percent of senior or managerial positions, and no nation having a 50/50 equal split between male and female managers.
“It’s incredibly important to include this aspect of gender disparity when discussing the pay gap, because as long as men account for the majority of top earners, women will never be able to close the gap.
“This could be due in part to maternity-related disadvantages for women, who are often overlooked for promotions or return to underskilled jobs post childbirth.
“Moving forwards, governments could look to the example of countries such as Sweden whose progressive maternity and paternity laws, as well as subsidized child care, has increased their gender balance in the workplace,” she says.
Gender parity in the workplace is not just an ethical or moral issue, but also an economic one, Emma says.
“McKinsey found that $12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 by advancing women’s equality.
“The results reveal the countries which have the most to offer women looking to progress in the tech industry, with Portugal, The United States and Latvia highlighted as the top three nations that have taken positive steps towards gender parity in the technology field in terms of fairer wages.
“However, with the proportion of female tech workers remaining under 30 percent across the board, we hope that this study will enrich the conversation concerning equality in this industry and inspire more women to seek out opportunities in tech.”
The World Economic Forum reported in 2017 that economic gender equality will not be reached for another 170 years, but that equality for women in the labour force would add $28 trillion to the global economy by 2025, she says.
“Consider too that the technology industry is likely to form the core economic platform in the future, and it’s clear how desperately we need to address the issue of gender inequality in the IT field.
“We hope that this index helps to open the eyes of those at the top of the industry and galvanize them into making positive changes, not only for the sake of parity, but for the entire global economy.”
- Latvia has the highest percentage of women in managerial positions at 44.4 percent, followed by the United States (43.5 percent) and Hungary (40.5 percent).
- South Korea has the smallest percentage of women in managerial positions at 10.7 percent, followed by Japan (11.5 percent) and Turkey (13 percent).
- With between 25-30 percent of female managers, The Netherlands, Germany and Austria all appear within the bottom 15 for women in managerial positions, despite offering some of the highest average wages for women.
