Europe has already closed 76 per cent of its gender gap
OBS Business School, an institution belonging to Planeta Formación y Universidades, has published the report ‘Women in positions of leadership and visibility’, directed by Professor Marta Grañó. This analysis highlights that, although there has been progress in reducing the gender gap at a global level, these changes are slow and unequal.
According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index 2024, the global gap has closed to 68.6%, which represents a marginal advance of only 0.1 percentage points from the previous year. However, when this progress is broken down by dimension, significant disparities emerge: on the one hand, the gap in women's participation and economic opportunity is closed at only 60.1%, which is evidence of deep inequalities in women's labour market representation, earned income and presence in leadership positions. Women represent 10% of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies, a percentage that, although it has increased compared to previous years, is still remarkably low.
On the other hand, the gap in access to education is now virtually non-existent, closed at 94.5%, with significant progress in enrolment and educational attainment. However, challenges persist in the inclusion of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In strategic sectors such as technology and artificial intelligence, female participation remains marginal, reflecting the urgent need for targeted interventions to reverse this situation.
The OBS report identifies a number of effective strategies to further narrow the gender gap: corporate policies that include monitoring the proportion of women in leadership positions and encouragement measures; the implementation of educational programmes such as girls‘ programmes and scholarships specifically for women in STEM studies, which have already shown a significant impact on closing these gaps; and cultural changes promoted from an early age to challenge stereotypes and unconscious biases that limit girls’ aspirations. The report proposes inclusive leadership as a driver of change.
