I read about that study, too, and I was extremely puzzled as to why Germany (which is where I live right now) would be occupying such a comparatively high position on the list. High in general, and specifically also higher than both the UK and the USA. Which runs contrary to everything I observed while living in each of those 3 countries.
For a start, it has to be noted that 2 years ago Germany was still in 5th position, slipping down to 7th in 2007 and falling further behind to no. 11 in 2008. Not something to proud of.
Doing a little research, I found out a little more. For example that Germany's still fairly reasonable ranking is based largely on the number of women in political decision-making positions (the situation is much worse at the basic political level), one of the four factors the end result is based on.
Another factor is health. And apparently the way it's calculated, the gender gap is generally higher in Western developed countries than in developing countries; and the country with the highest score (at least in 2007) is Angola. Nigeria (average healthy life expectancy: female 42, male 41) is also fairly high on the list, and most people wouldn't describe it as a hotbed of equal opportunities. As one of 4 equal indicators it seems questionable, to say the least.
Economic participation: there Germany only occupied rank no. 29 in 2007, and even that seems more than a little dubious to me. Considering that one of the main groups, "professional and technicals workers", encompasses such diverse groups as university professors (where in Germany men are HUGELY overrepresented) and nursing professions, which not only in Germany is dominated by women. So any indicator based on that particular group is a non starter, as the two groups seem to more or less cancel each other out.
Also, even if Germany actually deserves to occupy a front rank, it is at considerable social cost. It's not for no reason that the German birth rate is one of the lowest in the world. Yes, there are always exceptions, but the vast majority of German women who achieve top positions do not have children, full stop. Even in countries right at the top of that gender gap list, women who want to achieve top positions do - of course - have to work full time. And it's the number of part timers that's mostly responsible for the (undisputed) wage difference that still exists between men and women working in the same jobs, at least in Germany (laws seem to less strict over here). Here, partly for historical reasons, for mothers to work full time is frowned upon in a major way, even today. Even the daycare staff are likely to ask curious questions along the line of: "why did you want children if you are not prepared to look after them?". Note that no other language has a special name for bad mothers, which certainly includes working mothers: "Rabenmutter". Meaning "raven mother", though nobody knows where that expression stems from.
So in Germany, even in the 21st century women, still largely have to choose between motherhood and a career. Or at least feel they have to. Which is why the last of the four indicators used for the
Gender Gap Report quoted above, i.e. education, an area where gender equality in Germany isn’t actually that brilliant even on paper, looks even worse if you take into account the particularly high proportion (called "leaking pipe" in the report I saw) of German women who have a first class education but never make full use of it because of family commitments.
Notwithstanding the fact that Angela Merkel (no kids, of course), aka the German Chancellor, is currently considered the most powerful woman in the world, on a day to day basis both in the USA and the UK the situation for women seems to me at least as good and most probably a whole lot better in the equal opportunities stakes than Germany. At least in both countries women are much less likely to be reviled for opting to have children AND a career. Count your blessings is all I can say.
Having spent several paragraphs whingeing about the situation of German women, even though I myself actually live within the British military community (another subject), I feel I should point out at least one good point. Here in Germany it's still possible for a majority of families to live on ONE salary, because housing is generally affordable. Unlike large parts of the USA, and also most of the liberal top of the Gender Report list. Women in Scandinavia not only can work, they often have no other choice, because the cost of living in that part of Europe is higher than elsewhere and also because in some Scandinavian countries women who don't work don't have any pension rights (unlike Germany, for example).
Europe: there's no such thing really if you look closely.
Time to respond to some previous posts.
Talking about the fact that traditional female jobs are less valued/paid than male dominated jobs, HerrKaiser (interesting name
) wrote
Men who chose teaching make a teachers wage. The most notable "career" that seems underpaid and is dominated by women is K-12 teaching. But, government schools are, like other government jobs, not in the "real world" and are beholden to tax payers ability/willingness to pay. But, once again, why do women flock to teaching? Easy. No competition. No evaluation. No stress. Etc.
The last sentence (to somebody who is the daughter, the daughter-in-law and the niece of teachers) is undeniably and unnecessarily rude and, yes, best ignored.
JudgeHolden wrote:
The exception is teaching, but I wont put it in the same caregory because it requires multiple degrees, and though the burnout rate is high, the benefits are pretty good, not the least of which is protection by a powerful union.
Teaching: I assume the situation in the USA is roughly the same as in Germany, and by no means a uniform one: the older the pupils, the higher the qualification required, and the higher the pay. Currently in Germany Kindergarten teachers (which here means looking after kids age 3 - 6) don't need to have a university degree, but they still need to go to college for a few years. I have never heard of a man doing this job. At the next level (up to age 10) a bachelor's degree is required, but nowadays few men opt for it. The top level (11 - 18) also requires a top level degree, and it's there that the "benefits are pretty good" (and the burnout rate particularly high) that you meet the men. Though it also needs to be said that one of the reasons that the number of male teachers at Kindergarten or primary school level is non-existent/continues to decline (leaving kids with fewer male role models) is not only the mediocre pay, it's also because these days men who like to work with children often fear to be branded automatically as potential child abusers and opt for other jobs instead. At least that's the situation in the UK, after a number of high profile cases which were probably not always handled brilliantly.
Nursing: in Germany nurses certainly don't "make a ton of money", as HerrKaiser put it. But that's because nurses in Germany are still largely assistants, without college degrees. Even simple IV lines have to be administered by doctors (male dominated, though not hugely), no prescribing of any kind, etc. etc. But at the same time, even though "old fashioned" nursing and teaching small kids continues to be a badly paid job, women still opt for it, sometimes even - like my mother-in-law - refusing promotion if it means taking them away from the core business of dealing with (small) people. Women often seem to be drawn particularly to jobs that involve looking after people, little, old, sick. Whether that's nature or nurture, I have no idea, but one of the reasons these jobs are paid so badly is because people (again mostly women) are still willing to do them (market forces), because for many of them helping people means real job satisfaction. It's not all about money. Which equally applies to soldiering, BTW. Whereas investment bankers for example are paid such an insane amount of money because nobody would want to do those jobs otherwise.
Finally: JudeHolden wrote
Also, I myself would ask, whose watching those kids on the job site, what are THEY being paid, and why do I suspect that even in liberal Scandinavia, they are more than likely to be immigrants with far lower pay and benefits than the women whose kids they are watching. Am I trying and guilt women with kids for working, or forgetting that these kids have fathers who need to step up too. No. All Im saying is this is a way more complicatted situation than businesses simply handing out a paycheck for $1000 to a man and a paycheck for $700 to a women for the same job, and there are treadeoffs woman are making they need to consider, because its impacting there personal bottom line.
About the personal bottom line: like I wrote earlier, this seems to vary a lot depending on where you live, because public perception as well as personal preferences play a part in it. About who's looking after the kids: German hotel maids are mostly foreign, supermarket cashiers often are, but the business of looking after kids in Germany still seems to be dominated by Germans. Make of that what you wish. BTW, here in Germany foreign means one of 3 groups: legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, and residents of any number of European countries who just happen to work here. Plus of course some jobs are done elsewhere. An example: a lot of German hotels have their laundry (including folding towels!) done in Eastern Europe, as nobody in Germany would do that job at the wage offered, even though unemployment benefits are shrinking all the time.
Finally a health warning: unless quoted otherwise, all my observations are strictly anecdotal.