Pak, UAE’s Revenge for WC loss to India- beat it with more Female Bosses

International Labour Organization has published its report of the percentage of women in senior management in every country, and guess which country didn’t even make it to the list – your truly, India.

And it would be poetic, now, to mention how all countries writhing in the aftermath of facing India on the cricket field, had their vengeance: making up for the lack of runs with a hike in ranks. You probably saw South Africa coming- what with a legislated reservation for women implemented at their parliamentary level- ranking 64 with a total of 31.3 percent women in their higher echelons.

The travesty you would not have expected, is how Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates trumped us, even though Pakistan just about managed, coming in last at Rank 108 with 3 percent, UAE is ten spots ahead, at 98, broaching  the double digit mark at 10 percent. It is noteworthy, that the UAE is amongst the countries that have exhibited the fastest rate of progress over the past two years, when it comes to overcoming gender disparity.

In this study conducted by the International Labor Organization (ILO), 106 countries across the seven continents were evaluated in terms of the women they have fielded in positions of power. While it was derived that a third of the businesses all over the world are owned by women, the gender gap in higher echelons is still glaring.

The countries that have fared splendidly in this study, though, have figures that even surpass the 50 percent mark.  In three countries, the odds are in the favor of a woman being boss- Jamaica (with a margin higher than India’s whole percentage) at 59.3 percent representation, Columbia with 53.1 and Saint Lucia, 52.3 percent.

After these three come in Philippines- where just under 48 percent of all managers are female, Panama, just over 47 percent, and Belarus, at 46 percent.

The United States, ranking 15^th, upholds a 43 percent female frontage. In the 20 to 30 percent bracket, countries like Canada and the United Kingdom featured, ranking 43rd and  49th ranked,  with 36 percent and 34 percent respectively.

Sharing the bottom ten bracket with Pakistan and UAE are countries in or around the Middle East and North Africa.

Not considering Middle East and North Africa- with particularly low figures- the number of female managers is showing promise: in nearly 80 percent of countries, the proportion of female managers has grown since 2000, and in 23 countries the increase was by 7 percent of more.

But, as Deborah France-Massin, the ILO's director, says in the report, "there is a long way to go before we achieve true gender equality in the workplace, especially when it comes to top management positions."

When it comes working for bigwigs owned and managed by another, women are still unlikely to have power vested in them. An unpleasant situation- “The larger the company, the less likely the head will be a woman," has remained steadfastly true. In a country as advanced and evolved ideologically as USA, too- less than 20 percent of the board members are women.

Featured Picture Courtesy: Theage.com