Global gender gap: Iceland tops while UK slips
Iceland’s woman-powered response to the global recession appears to have propelled it to the top of the global gender gap charts. The World Economic Forum released its annual Global Gender Gap index (GGGI) on Tuesday, a comprehensive country-by-country ranking of gender equality. Overall it finds that 67% of countries have improved gender equality, while 33%, including the UK and USA, have got worse.
Iceland has been particularly hard hit by the global financial crisis. Women there have been outspoken in blaming a high-risk masculine banking model for the country’s financial mess. And they have been determined to replace it with “a new improved capitalism” guided by feminine values, such as more diligent risk taking, collaboration and a long term perspective which takes into account wider social values alongside profits. Since the crisis hit, women have taken over the top jobs in Iceland’s newly nationalised banks and Johanna Sigurdardottir has become the country’s prime minister.
Of course, Iceland was already a highly egalitarian country, with one of the highest levels of female participation in the workplace and enviable childcare and maternity provision, shared between both parents. As one Icelandic businesswoman put it: “There is never a problem with me being a woman, whereas in the UK there is always an undercurrent. Most Icelandic men genuinely view women as equal”. Such entrenched and taken for granted equality between the sexes means that it has been possible in Iceland for the idea of a feminine response to recession not just to be taken seriously but to actually be put into practice.
More broadly, the Global Gender Gap index has established a clear correlation between gender equality and national competitiveness. In other words, countries with the highest levels of equality in business, politics, health and education are likely to have higher levels of GDP and prosperity. In business, the Index reports that “Innovation requires new, unique ideas—and the best ideas flourish in a diverse environment. Studies exploring this link have shown a positive correlation between gender diversity on top leadership teams and a company’s financial results”. UK competitiveness is being hampered due to this particular issue: “Countries like the U.S. and the U.K. are lagging behind when it comes to senior leadership,” said GGGI co-author Saadia Zahidi. “They haven’t made a big push in the last few years.”
