Gender Equality refers to the extent to which women and men face the same opportunities and constraints within families, the workplace, and society at large. Where gender discrimination has been reduced, people are better able to fulfil their potential in life and make the most of their skills and capabilities.
Gender equality is multifaceted, sustained by both social attitudes – for example, norms of fairness among employers, educators, and spouses – and social outcomes, such as the presence of women in managerial positions, educators, and legislators. ISD measure the level of gender equality using a wide range of complementary indicators, which span outcome measures such as access to jobs, educational placement, and a fair wage, as well as input measures which track the existence of discriminatory norms within society regarding a woman’s right to equal treatment in the workplace, in access to education, and in the family. Because gender discrimination is multifaceted, attitudinal data also can form a useful proxy for the persistence of broader forms of discrimination, such as domestic violence, for which we have little or no comparative information.
Data used for the 2020 Index:
| Indicator | Variables | Source | Countries |
| When jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women | men-more-right-to-job-than-women | World Values Surveys | 73 |
| On the whole, men make better politicians | men_make_better_politicians | World Values Surveys | 73 |
| A university education is more important for a boy than for a girl | university_more_important_for_boy | World Values Surveys | 73 |
| % Managers, “Men better Executives than Women” | men_better_ceo_managers | World Values Surveys | 73 |
| On the whole, men make better leaders | men_make_better_leaders | World Values Surveys | 73 |
| Women have the same capabilities than me for science and technology | women_same_capabilit_science_as_men | Latinobarometer | 18 |
| Women should have the same chance of being elected to political office as men | support_female_politicians | Afrobarometer | 34 |
| Africa, % Man has “Right to Beat Wife” | men_right_beat_wife | Afrobarometer | 34 |
| Discrimination in family-law sub-index of SIGI | discrimination_women_in_family_law | SIGI | 177 |
| Discrimination in civil liberties subindex- SIGI | discrimination_women_citizenship | SIGI | 139 |
| Discrimination in physical integrity sub-index SIGI | discrimination_women_physical_integrity | SIGI | 128 |
| Discrimination in women’s rights to access to economic resources sub-index SIGI | discrimination_women_access_resources | SIGI | 133 |
| Ratio of average female to male wages, across all available labor categories | F_M_wage_ratio | International Labour Organization | 75 |
| Problem if women have more income than husband? | problem_women_more_income_than_husband | World Values Surveys | 42 |
| Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate, right censored at 1 | F_M_labour_force_particip | World Development Indicators | 186 |
| Female-Male Primary Enrollment Ratio | F_M_prim_school_enrolm | World Development Indicators | 137 |
| Female-Male Secondary Enrollment Ratio | F_M_second_school_enrolm | World Development Indicators | 125 |
| Female-Male Tertiary Enrollment Ratio | F_M_tert_school_enrolm | World Development Indicators | 117 |
| Ratio of female to male mortality rates, left-censored at 0.66 | F_M_mort_ratio | World Development Indicators | 165 |
| Ratio of females among legislators, senior officials and managers | female_administrators_ratio | International Labour Organization | 30 |
| Ratio of females in professional jobs | female_professionals_ratio | International Labour Organization | 54 |
| Would you say your gross pay is unfairly low, fair, or unfairly high? Only women answers | fair_wage_womens_answers | European Social Survey (ESS) | 29 |
| Tradition is important to her. She tries to follow the customs. Only women respondents | follow_tradition_womens_answers | European Social Survey (ESS) | 29 |
| Number of states with a female head of state | female_head_of_state | UN Women | 156 |
| Percent of labour force that is female | female_labour_force_particp_rate | World Development Indicators | 156 |
| Ratio of females among legislators, senior officials and managers | female_administrators_ratio | International Labour Organization | 94 |
| In your country, for similar work, to what extent are wages for women equal to those of men? Managers survey | wage_equality | World Economic Forum (Excecutive Opinion Survey) | 138 |
| Percentage of female ministers | women_ministers | UN Women | 156 |
| Percentage of female parliamentarians | women_parliament | UN Women | 156 |