Gender wage gap, women in management: India ranks poor among 100 nations

By Rajiv Shah

Digital bank N26, based in Berlin, known to be offering services to customers to manage their bank account online and from their smartphone in real-time in Europe and USA, has ranked India 76th among 100 countries it has analysed in order to measure female opportunity and achievement around the world in the light of gender equality in business, government and society.

In a study, “The Female Opportunity Index 2020/21”, published online, N26 takes into account several categories to rank the selected 100 countries – including women in government, women in management, women in entrepreneurship, women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), salary level and gender wage gap, equal pay day, female access to education, women's legislation, and maternal leave.

Among comparable countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, also known as BRICS, India is ranked the worst. Brazil ranks 38th, followed by Russia 55th, South Africa 62nd and China 74th (one bit better than India). The best ranking five countries are Norway, Finland, Iceland, UK and Germany, while the five countries which have been ranked poorest are Iran, Nigeria, Jordan, Egypt, and Pakistan (ranked 100th of the hundred countries assessed).
In three important categories, India’s performance is one of the worst. Thus, in ‘Equal pay day’, India ranks 95th, with just five countries ranking worse -- Jordan, Iran, Pakistan, Algeria and Laos. In ‘Women in management’, India ranks 94th, with countries ranking better being Iran, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, and Pakistan. And in ‘Salary level and gender wage gap’, India ranks 97th with just three countries ranking worse than India, Jordan, Algeria and Pakistan.

The study also finds that in the category ‘Women in government’ India ranks No 88th among 100 countries; its score of 80 on a scale of 100 is, ironically, worse than Pakistan’s, which is 83.3. As for other categories, in ‘Women in enterprise’, India ranks 92nd among 100 countries; in ‘Women in STEM’ it ranks 70st; in ‘Access to education’ it ranks 85rd; in ‘Women in legislation’, it ranks 70th, and in ‘Maternity leave’, it ranks 80th.
Overall ranking the highest, Norway scores highly on political representation, corporate leadership and women’s legislation. Interestingly, Rwanda, considered one of the most backward African countries, has been found to have most women in government positions, followed by Spain and Finland. Sweden has the most women in top management positions, while USA has the most female entrepreneurs, and Japan has the highest female access to education score.
USA’s highest women in entrepreneurship score (100) is followed by New Zealand (99.7) and Australia (99.5). Singapore has the highest women in STEM score (100), followed by Russia (98.2) and South Korea (97.8). Iceland has the highest women’s legislation score (100), followed by Finland (96.9) and Spain (96.2). Estonia offers the most maternity leave days (1,162), followed by Slovakia (1,148) and Finland (1,127). India offers just 84 days of maternity leave – equal to Pakistan.
Releasing the report last week Adrienne Gormley, COO of N26 said, “For many women, financial independence is the only means through which they can determine how they want to live, and yet it often comes at the expense of being the primary care-giver and having the lion’s share of domestic duties at home. Coupled with the gender salary wage gap that continues to be a huge impediment to female earnings, there are still many more obstacles for women who want to achieve the level of financial success that men take for granted.”
Giving the reason why the bank conducted the study, she said, “We at N26 believe that women should have the same opportunities and freedom to be as financially independent as men, and this starts with having equal opportunity to be self-sufficient.” She added, the results of the study show that women are making “incredible strides around the world” despite the “uphill battles” they face.

Gormley claimed, “There has been a lot of discussion about the fact that female-led countries performed better than male-led ones during the height of the first Covid-19 wave. This has been attributed to a number of attributes such as better communication and more lateral thinking, however the ultimate outcome is that countries with female leaders managed better during the peak of the crisis.”
She underlined, “Data has shown that in countries where there is more gender parity, poverty drops and economies grow, while new research has shown that companies who foster female leadership perform better and increase profits. This is something we strongly believe in at N26. No one can predict what the next year or even the next decade has in store for us, but one thing is clear, working towards advancing female leadership creates greater benefits for everyone.”

Comments

India's chemical industry: The missing piece of Atmanirbhar Bharat

By N.S. Venkataraman* Rarely a day passes without the Prime Minister or a cabinet minister speaking about the importance of Atmanirbhar Bharat . The Start-up India scheme is a pillar in promoting this vision, and considerable enthusiasm has been reported in promoting start-up projects across the country. While these developments are positive, Atmanirbhar Bharat does not seem to have made significant progress within the Indian chemical industry . This is a matter of high concern that needs urgent and dispassionate analysis.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Remembering a remarkable rebel: Personal recollections of Comrade Himmat Shah

By Rajiv Shah I first came in contact with Himmat Shah in the second half of the 1970s during one of my routine visits to Ahmedabad , my maternal hometown. I do not recall the exact year, but at that time I was working in Delhi with the CPI -owned People’s Publishing House (PPH) as its assistant editor, editing books and writing occasional articles for small periodicals. Himmatbhai — as I would call him — worked at the People’s Book House (PBH), the CPI’s bookshop on Relief Road in Ahmedabad.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

As 2024 draws nearer, threatening signs appear of more destructive wars

By Bharat Dogra The four years from 2020 to 2023 have been very difficult and high risk years for humanity. In the first two years there was a pandemic and such severe disruption of social and economic life that countless people have not yet recovered from its many-sided adverse impacts. In the next two years there were outbreaks of two very high-risk wars which have worldwide implications including escalation into much wider conflicts. In addition there were highly threatening signs of increasing possibility of other very destructive wars. As the year 2023 appears to be headed for ending on a very grim note, there are apprehensions about what the next year 2024 may bring, and there are several kinds of fears. However to come back to the year 2020 first, the pandemic harmed and threatened a very large number of people. No less harmful was the fear epidemic, the epidemic of increasing mental stress and the cruel disruption of the life and livelihoods particularly among the weaker s...

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Farewell to Robin Smith, England’s Lionhearted Warrior Against Pace

By Harsh Thakor* Robin Smith, who has died at the age of 62, was among the most adept and convincing players of fast bowling during an era when English cricket was in decline and pace bowling was at its most lethal. Unwavering against the tormenting West Indies pace attack or the relentless Australians, Smith epitomised courage and stroke-making prowess. His trademark shot, an immensely powerful square cut, made him a scourge of opponents. Wearing a blue England helmet without a visor or grille, he relished pulling, hooking and cutting the quicks.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Jallianwala: Dark room documents reveal multi-religious, multi-caste martyrdom

By Shamsul Islam* Today India has turned into a grazing field for all kinds of religious bigots. The RSS/BJP rulers are openly declaring their commitment to turn India into a Hindu state, where Muslims and Christians have no place, and Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism can survive only as sects of Hinduism. However, it this was the scenario 100 years back when the British rulers perpetrated one of the worst massacres in the modern history -- the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. People of India shackled by the most powerful imperialist power of the world, Britain, presented a heroic united resistance. It is not hearsay but proved by contemporary official, mostly British documents. These amazing documents were part of British archives which became National Archives of India after Independence. As a pleasant surprise these documents were made public to mark the 75th commemoration of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre as part of an exhibition titled, 'Archives and Jallianwala Bagh: A Saga of ...

Search This Blog