Bridging gender inequality: A tool for promoting inclusive growth

It is well recognized that gender inequality at home, in the workplace, anywhere else in a given country leads to economic losses, reduced productivity, and harms individuals by limiting opportunities and perpetuating stereotypes, ultimately hindering progress towards a more reasonable and all-encompassing humanity.

Keeping this in mind, The Ethiopian Herald stayed with Birtukan Jelan, a gender specialist graduated from Addis Ababa University in gender studies, to have a professional opinion and potential steps to resolve the severe repercussions of the lucidly observed social menace.

She said, “Gender equality is crucial for economic progress as it unlocks the full potential of individuals, leading to increased productivity, innovation, and overall economic growth, while also reducing inequality and fostering a more sustainable and equitable society.”

As to her, it is quite important to have a more detailed explanation of the connection between gender equality and economic progress to well view how gender equality drives economic growth and sustainable progress.

The intrinsic value of gender equality is widely recognized among academics and policy circles. However, apart from its intrinsic value, it may also be considered important due to its significant implications for economic and development outcomes.

She further stated that when women have equal opportunities in education, employment, and leadership, they can contribute more fully to the economy, leading to higher overall productivity and economic growth. Investing in girls’ and women’s education and skills development leads to a more skilled and productive workforce, which is essential for economic advancement.

Yes, she added when women are empowered to participate in all sectors of the economy, their unique perspectives and ideas can drive innovation and lead to more efficient and effective practices. Gender equality helps to reduce income inequality and poverty, creating a more stable and prosperous society. Thus, it is essential for achieving sustainable development goals, as it promotes social justice, environmental protection, and economic stability.

“When women have access to resources and opportunities, they are more likely to start and grow businesses, which can create jobs and stimulate economic growth. Efforts to bridge the gender gap involve promoting equal opportunities and addressing systemic inequalities through policies, programs, and initiatives that empower women and girls in various sectors, including education, employment, and technology,” she opined.

Besides, she stated encouraging girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and encouraging women’s participation in political decision-making matters the most. This includes promoting women’s leadership and representation in government and other decision-making bodies. Implementing quotas and other measures are of paramount importance in ensuring women’s representation in all aspects, too.

She said, “If truth be told, raising awareness about gender-based violence and changing harmful social norms can also prevent violence and promote gender equality. Challenging harmful stereotypes and social norms that perpetuate gender inequality would be a viable means for addressing issues such as early marriage, female genital mutilation, and other harmful practices. Unequivocally, promoting gender equality through education and awareness campaigns has to be well capitalized on as it is a tool to change attitudes and behaviors.”

According to Birtukan, gender inequality in the workplace leads to economic losses, reduced productivity, and harms individuals by limiting opportunities and perpetuating stereotypes, ultimately hindering progress towards a more equitable and inclusive society. It can lead to lower GDP growth and reduced productivity.

“When women are underrepresented in leadership positions and have fewer opportunities, the talent pool is diminished, impacting economic growth. Women often face a gender pay gap, earning less than men for the same work, which can lead to reduced savings and financial insecurity. This limits women’s ability to participate in the workforce and advance their careers.”

Since experiencing discrimination and bias can lead to stress, anxiety, and depression, it would be a major cause for limiting women’s potential and hindering progress towards a more equitable society. Hence, it has to be well bridged, she added.

Furthermore, gender inequality in the workplace undermines efforts to promote and create inclusive work environments so long as it can lead to poorer health outcomes for women and gender-diverse individuals due to limited access to healthcare and resources.

Thus, to bridge gender inequality, she opined it is quite better to focus on education, economic empowerment, leadership, and challenging societal norms through policies, awareness campaigns, and inclusive practices.

Besides, it is important to conduct public awareness campaigns to challenge gender stereotypes and promote gender equality. Advocating for and implementing gender-sensitive policies in all sectors would be instrumental in bringing about change, she added.

Similarly, taking strong action to prevent and address all forms of gender-based violence, creating inclusive workplaces with flexible working and supportive policies, as well as balancing opportunities for promotion with fair preferment practices, need to be prettily embarked on.

“As gender equality is found to yield favorable economic performance through several channels, such as productivity growth, human capital accumulation, higher female labor force participation, and improved labor market efficiency, there is no better time than now to highlight the large, positive impact that gender equality has on all societies.”

As to her, over many centuries, women have developed strategies for dealing with unequal situations, and this has made us especially valuable to organizations that want to change the world. Women’s talent is a driving force behind economic progress and an essential part of the solution to all sorts of socio-economic and cultural hurdles.

“Women already lead some of the world’s most influential financial bodies and play a growing role in the political arena. Now women must lead the shift to a more inclusive and sustainable growth prototypical. Yes, they have a unique opportunity to advance inclusion, to inspire similar commitments from others, and to shape the future for the better.”

Gender equality is an important and one of the widely discussed issues all over the world, let alone in our country and other developing ones. It can also be perceived as a situation where there is no discrimination on the basis of gender and both men and women have equal treatment in all spheres of life. Gender equality it is considered important due to its intrinsic value by arguing that any discrimination on the basis of gender is against the basic principles of equity, social justice and fairness. Hence, promoting gender equality is important and should be viewed as an end in itself, Birtukan opined.

“With better education, better income and greater control over resources, women are more likely to spend a larger proportion of their income on education and health of their children. Female education may also bring down the fertility rate and result in better quality children who are well nourished, healthier and well educated. Thus, gender equality may prove beneficial for the next generation’s educational attainments and health outcomes,” Birtukan underlined.

Undoubtedly, she stated the functional implications of gender equality for macroeconomic performance of a country can indeed be manifested in terms of its socio-economic growth as economic outcomes can be significantly affected by existing gender relations in the society through various direct and indirect channels.

According to Birtukan, the widely observed disparities like those of gender wage, employment, education and regarding general gender relations among the entire society have to be well bridged as they are highly linked with societal norms, values, culture, customs and traditions. In so doing, she said making a difference in all aspects would be easy.

In sum, gender equality is advocated on the basis of fairness, justice and social equity. Apart from its significance as an important end, it can also work as a mean to achieve different development goals. Here, the effect of gender equality on economic growth of developing countries like ours has to be well reviewed as promoting gender equality can be beneficial for the economic, social, cultural and even political trajectories. Truly speaking, promoting gender equality in different dimensions of human lives such as education, health, employment and political participation can lead to better economic performance of the countries and can be considered as a win-win situation.

BY MENGESHA AMARE

THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 3 APRIL 2025