Out of 134 countries, Iceland claimed the top spot on the Global Gender Report 2009, while Yemen came out at the bottom. In an online survey asking Bryn Mawr students where they expected countries to rank regarding gender inequity, about a third of the nearly 100 Mawrtyrs who responded said that they expected the United States to rank among the top few. However the United States ranked in at 31. 

The Global Gender Report is produced annually. It tries to capture the magnitude of gender inequity in different countries by ranking them. The ranking of the countries is based on economic participation and  opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.

The other countries which topped the list were Finland, Norway and Sweden. According to the report, “South Africa and Lesotho made great strides in closing their gender gaps to enter the top ten, at the sixth and tenth position respectively.” The Philippines was the only Asian country in the top ten, though it did lose ground compared to last year where it was ranked at number 6.

The countries with the worst gender equity were Chad, Pakistan, and Benin. According to the report, out of the 115 countries that have been covered since 2006, two third of the countries have posted gains. This means that overall, the world has made progress towards creating more gender equity.

Malate-Ann Atajiri ’12, an international student from Nigeria, was surprised that the U.S. ranked so low on the scale.

“Other countries often look up to U.S., but apparently it is not setting a good example,” she said.

She guessed that England ranked much higher than the U.S. because of its queen. Even though the two nations share a history, Atajiri thought that having a female monarch made the England less prone to gender inequity.

Emma Rachel Levy ’12 wasn’t surprised that the U.S. ranked so low compared to a lot of European countries.

“We have the stereotype in America that women are not suited for leadership roles, that strong women are lesbians, that they have to choose between career and family and that they can’t have both," she said.

"Sexism is not over unless we have a woman president who is as competent as every male president we have had.”

Many Mawrtyrs expected Middle Eastern countries to be at the bottom, merely because they thought it was in the nature of the religion practiced in the area. Yet according to the report, the bottom rung is not exclusively Middle Eastern.  

Nga Nguyen ’12, who is on the executive board of the Women’s Center at Bryn Mawr, said that stereotypes of gender roles also contribute to the gender inequity. She narrated her experience as a young woman growing up in Vietnam.

“There is a stereotype of what professions are suitable for women," she said.

When she would express her desire to become a journalist, the reaction often was, “But you are a girl, it is too hard for you." 

According to Sweda Chandran ’10, “History of gender inequity can be traced back to its roots, it has been there for a long time.”

She said that what we can do to eliminate gender inequity depends on the people of that region and what they want to do. On the other hand, Atajiri said that educating people to change their mindset would help in eliminating gender biases.

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