GLASGOW, Scotland–The pandemic set women back an entire generation when it comes to parity with men, according to a new study.
Attendees at a Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN) session here were urged to do more to speed the time needed to close it.
The study on the global gender gap was published by the World Economic Forum and shows women will need more than a century to close that gap across four sectors.
In fact, the gap has gotten a bit larger in recent years, according to Eleni Giakoumopoulos, program director with the Global Women’s Leadership Network.
The Global Gender Gap report measures parity in four sectors: economic participation, education, health and political empowerment.
As noted by Giakoumopoulos, the GWLN and credit unions more broadly are focused on the economic participation piece.
“This week’s report tells us 132 years will be needed to reach full parity,” said Giakoumopoulos. “That is a very, very large number. That means it won’t be in our generation. The good news is it’s actually down from 2021, when it was 136 years. It means we did really good work between 2021 and 2022. But as a reference point, before the pandemic the number was 99.6. The pandemic put females back an entire generation. So, we still have work to do. It is very, very important to think about this. It isn’t just to put females into leadership roles, it’s to empower women economically across a number of areas.”
The World Economic Forum listed Iceland as the leading nation for gender parity, at 90% across the four sectors. The U.K. in which the World Council is meeting was ranked 22nd. The U.S. was ranked 27th.
Athena Award to Van Ouwerkerk
Separately, the GWLN has presented the 2022 Athena Award to Patsy Van Ouwerkerk. The award was presented by WOCCU President and CEO Elissa McCarter LaBorde during the World Credit Union Conference.
The Athena Award is inspired by the goddess of Greek mythology who stands for strength, courage, and wisdom and is presented to an individual or organization making an outstanding contribution to women's leadership in the international credit union movement.
“As part of the inaugural advisory group that launched GWLN in 2009, Van Ouwerkerk has also served as GWLN’s fundraising committee chair and member, providing outreach and active support to fundraising activities focused on scholarships, grants and learning opportunities for credit union women,” WOCCU said. “She also served as co-leader of the Sacramento Sister Society.”
Van Ouwerkerk retired in 2014, spending her last 21 working years as president and CEO of three different credit unions. She now serves as a consultant to the credit union community.