UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

defined the Gender Parity Index (GPI) as a

socioeconomic Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

index usually designed to measure the relative access to

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

of males and females. It is used by international organizations particularly in measuring the progress of

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...

. For example, some

documents consider gender parity in

literacy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

describes attempts to eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education and emphasize on the plight of girls in unequal access in third world countries. GPI is often used in order to identify nations and regions that are in need of

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

and

equality Equality generally refers to the fact of being equal, of having the same value. In specific contexts, equality may refer to: Society * Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people ** Political egalitarianism, in which ...

. The

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

's ''Global Gender Gap Report 2022'' allows users to look at and compare country GPI data, calculate their own country's gender parity and explore global patterns. World GPI has consistently increased toward parity since 1980.

Definition and calculation

The Institute for Statistics of

also uses a more general definition of GPI: for any development indicator one can define the GPI ''relative'' to this indicator by dividing its value for females by its value for males. In its simplest form, GPI is calculated as the quotient of the number of females by the number of males enrolled in a given stage of education (

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

, secondary, etc.). A GPI value that is less than one is an indication that gender parity favor males while a GPI value greater than one designates that gender parity is in favor of females. The closer a GPI is to one, the closer a country is to achieving equality of access between males and females. A nation is said to have achieved gender parity when its GPI value falls within the range of 0.97 and 1.03.

Application

Economics

The utilization of Gender Parity Index (GPI) by economists enables comprehensive monitoring and assessment of a nation's economic progress from a gender equality perspective. It is believed by many economists that gender inequality results in economic consequences such as increased unemployment, decreased output, and vast income inequality. As such, the monitoring of GPI by international organizations, such as

and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, serves the purpose of discerning the economic development deficiencies in nations and regions that are caused by gender inequality. There is a present link between low-income countries a low GPI, particularly in

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

and

tertiary education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

. For example, many low-income, sub-Saharan countries have large gaps between male and female access to education. Household income level is also a determining factor in secondary and tertiary GPI. In

underdeveloped countries The least developed countries (LDCs) are developing countries listed by the United Nations that exhibit the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development. The concept of LDCs originated in the late 1960s and the first group of LDCs was listed b ...

such as

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, and

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, gender parity existed among the top 20% of earners; yet low GPI levels were present among the bottom 20% of earners. As such, policymakers and other stakeholders utilize GPI in order to target regions in which economic development is a primary cause of gender disparity.

Education

In the

space, GPI is used to measure gender equality in education access. Governments and international organizations such as

and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

monitor the gender gap in education access, using GPI to identify sectors where intervention is needed to address gender disparities. A low GPI at the

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

level is an indication of economic, cultural, or other structural barriers that prevent women from receiving education, and a low GPI at the

level is an indication of structural barriers preventing women from breaking into specialized, advanced career fields. GPI is also used to measure literacy equality, particularly by

. Gender disparities, specifically in

, have a drastic effect on literacy rates. For example, a low primary GPI is an indication that women in a particular nation or region are restricted from acquiring basic literacy skills.

World gender parity index (1970–2020)

By country

References

{{Deprivation Indicators Gender equality Index numbers Socio-economic statistics Women and education