On October 5th, 2016, at the University of Geneva, a symposium was held by the Geneva School of Economics and Management (GSEM), the Geneva School of Social Sciences (G3S) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The university, with 16,000 students from some 140 different nationalities, is a key academic partner of the OECD. The subject of the seminar was ‘Women’s Role in the Labour Market,’ and featured many high-profile participants, including Ms. Mari Kiviniemi, OECD Deputy Secretary-General and former Prime Minister of Finland; Mr. Ulrich Lehner, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the OECD; and Ms. Barbara Petrongolo, Professor of Economics at Queen Mary University, London.
The main aim of the symposium was to highlight the fact that gender equality is still a global challenge and, contrary to popular belief, a problem in Switzerland too. Last week the World Economic Forum named Switzerland the most competitive economy in the world for the eighth year in a row. However, among the country’s weaknesses, there is a low level of women’s participation in the labor force compared to other advanced economies, and most women work only part time. The recommendation in the OECD survey 2015, mentioned by Mr. Lehner, is “to promote more intensive participation such as by increasing the supply of childcare facilities and introducing individual as opposed to family taxation”.
Ms. Kiviniemi and Ms. Petrongolo stated that women have made fast and steady progress in the labour market throughout the 20th century: governments across the world have implemented a range of innovations to advance gender equality. Even so, significant gaps continue to exist in earnings and hours, even in Finland where women have achieved a lot but the pay gap remains very significant. The message was clear: there can be no robust economic growth without gender equality, a critical ingredient of any strategy for a durable, resilient and more inclusive growth. As stated by both speakers: how can a country not use the potential of more than half of its population? What a waste of talent and energy!
So what can be done?
First of all, political leaders have the responsibility to keep on addressing this critical social and economic challenge. More legislation is required to ensure equality and non-discrimination, along with a determined effort to influence society as a whole.
Furthermore, the importance of education was highlighted. Families and teachers must educate and influence people from early childhood, and through comprehensive school programs help students to understand the importance of gender equality. This allows us to overcome attitudes and traditions that are often stronger than any legislation. Girls are often encouraged to be passive, and not too daring or confident; instead, they have to develop their own self-confidence and choose what they like most, including what to study. Women should be given choices to expand their education and career options into areas where men are currently predominant and into new and growing work opportunities; an education, in other words, which can overcome gender segregation.
In many countries, Switzerland included, there is still a low percentage of women studying engineering, manufacturing and construction, although the number of females in these fields today has greatly improved since the early 1980s. There are fewer women entrepreneurs then men in OECD countries and women-owned enterprises have on average lower profits. In fact, women are overrepresented in sectors such as health, education and the service sector.
Insufficient or inefficient work-life balance policies, the lack of equal sharing of responsibilities, limited access to affordable childcare, and care of other dependents are some reasons why women compromise on their careers and choose specific sectors, occupations, or part-time working arrangements. A father’s access to parental leave can promote the deconstruction of gender segregation in the labour market. For a mother, sharing parental leave with the father can reduce her double burden of paid and unpaid work and make the work-life reconciliation easier.
Women represent almost half of the workforce. They get more college and graduate degrees than men. Yet, on average, women, for all that has been said, continue to earn considerably less than men. No wonder Europeans see the gender pay gap as the most urgent inequality to deal with.
I learnt an important lesson from this symposium: governments and businesses have a key role to play in reducing the gender gap, but they cannot act alone. Each and everyone is personally responsible as well. Both men and women must engage, commit and embrace this effort.
Photo credit :Robert Wilson via fotolia.com
