Parity For Women Remains Five Generations Away: WEF Report

The Global Gender Gap Report 2024, reveals that the world has closed 68.5% of the gender gap. However, at the current pace it will take another 134 years – equivalent to five generations – to achieve full gender parity. Globally, the gender gap has closed by 0.1 percentage points since last year.

“Despite some bright spots, the slow and incremental gains highlighted in this year's Global Gender Gap Report underscore the urgent need for a renewed global commitment to achieving gender parity, particularly in economic and political spheres,” said Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. “We cannot wait until 2158 for parity. The time for decisive action is now."

Leadership Gaps: Top-Level Political and Industry Positions Remain Largely Inaccessible for Women Globally

Women’s representation in the political sphere has increased at the federal and local level, though top-level positions remain largely inaccessible for women globally. With over 60 national elections in 2024 and the largest global population in history set to vote, this representation could improve. Women are also still rare in top-level positions in industry, as highlighted by LinkedIn data: the “drop to the top” in representation from entry level to C-suite is observed in every industry.

While half of economies included in the Global Gender Gap Index made incremental progress, significant disparities remain. The slight narrowing of the global gender gap in 2024 is driven by positive shifts in the economic participation and opportunity sub-index (+0.6 percentage points), while political empowerment and health and survival edged forward slightly and educational attainment saw a small decrease.
Economic Gaps: Gender Gap in STEM Fields and AI Talent Is Shrinking but Needs to Close Faster

While parity in women’s labour-force participation improved in 2024, regional differences remain significant. At the industry level, LinkedIn data indicates that women's workforce representation remains below men's in nearly every industry and economy, with women accounting for 42% of the global workforce and 31.7% of senior leaders. Additional factors, such as gender gaps in professional networks and care responsibilities are slowing economic progress for women. The World Bank estimates that closing the gender gap in employment and entrepreneurship could increase global GDP by more than 20%.

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 significant 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. 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.

“The slow progress that had been made in women being hired into leadership roles is now starting to erode from a peak seen in 2022. As the global economy has cooled, it is women that have been disproportionately hit, reinforcing the systemic issues that hold women back in the workplace,” said Sue Duke, Vice-President Global Public Policy and Economic Graph, LinkedIn. “We are reaching a pivotal moment as generative AI starts to impact the labour market with a recalibration of the skills employers value most. Employers must ensure they apply a gender lens to their approach in up-skilling to establish the future workplace in a fair and equitable way.”

"Our research indicates that although total enrolments have increased, gender disparities in AI and digital skills have widened,” said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO, Coursera. “Targeted interventions are essential to bridge this gap and ensure equitable access to learning emerging technologies. GenAI will play a crucial role in this effort, enabling personalized, multilingual learning experiences to meet the diverse needs of learners worldwide.”

Governments and businesses must shift resources and mindsets to embrace gender parity as essential for sustainable growth. Only through collaboration and targeted interventions can a 50/50 world be achieved. The World Economic Forum is mobilizing a coalition for action in its Global Gender Parity Sprint to 2030 and invites partners from public and private sector to join it in resetting the trendline to parity.