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Wide Gender Divide in Employment in One-Fourth of Countries. Women in many countries also perceive a less favorable job climate

by Jenny Marlar and Kyley McGeeney

This article is the first in a series exploring gender inequality worldwide.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Women are significantly less likely than men to be employed at capacity for an employer in 38 of the 144 countries where Gallup collected employment data in 2011. The gender gap is at least 15 percentage points in 13 countries, but is as wide as 22 points or more in Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, and Bolivia.

Gallup's Employed at Capacity for an Employer Index includes the percentage of people in the workforce who are working full time for an employer and those who are working part time for an employer and say they do not want full-time work. This measure of employment is more strongly related to GDP, household income, and wellbeing than unemployment and other measures of employment, including self-employment.

All of Gallup's employment metrics are based on adults who are part of the workforce, rather than the total population. This means that the employment numbers consider only women and men who are either working or looking for work and are available to work. This is an important distinction because large numbers of women are homemakers or are not part of the workforce for other reasons. Examining the workforce alone allows equal comparisons between men and women who want to work.

Worldwide, an average of 43% of women in the workforce are employed at capacity for an employer, compared with 49% of men. This is in line with findings from the World Bank, which has reported that women tend to be underrepresented in the formal sector. Despite the advantage men have worldwide, women outperform men by double digits in four countries: Ireland, Mongolia, Finland, and Serbia.

Similar percentages of men and women are employed at capacity for an employer in Europe and the former Soviet Union, while gender disparities are larger in all other major regions of the world. These patterns may reflect higher education levels in certain regions and the tendency for those with more education to be more likely to be working at capacity for an employer. Sub-Saharan Africa for example, has the largest employment gap and the largest education difference between men and women.