The Root Causes of Gender Inequality

Gender inequality is pervasive in societies around the world. It undermines women’s and girls’ human rights, distorts economies, leads to social discontent and reduces overall social welfare. It also affects men, boys and girls of all backgrounds.

It is difficult to identify the root causes of gender gaps and inequality because many policies have unintended effects. Nonetheless, it is possible to distinguish between those gender gaps and inequality that are caused by preferences and comparative advantage and those that are the result of persistent, deep-rooted discrimination against one or more groups of people. Distinguishing between them is crucial as different approaches are needed to address them.

Many gender gaps and inequality persist due to persistent social norms, stereotypes and discriminatory laws. These include the idea that women are less competent than men, which underpins unequal pay and career advancement, and the expectation that men will be better at physically demanding jobs. They are also the result of entrenched gender roles and expectations in the home, in society and in the media. These can be hard to change and are often rooted in a country’s history and culture, but they can still be overcome with time and effort.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put years of progress on gender equality in jeopardy. But even after the pandemic, women and girls face persistent barriers to prosperity and well-being: gender discrimination in education, poverty and hunger, child marriage, a lack of safe spaces for sexual violence, unequal access to disaster response and recovery, and unequal representation in political and decision-making institutions.

A growing body of evidence shows that reducing gender inequality improves educational performance and economic growth, reduces income inequality and poverty, increases financial stability and job opportunities and lowers the risk of conflict and fragility. Gender equality is an important part of a sustainable, inclusive future for all.

Some of the differences in educational achievement that have been linked to gender inequality may be explained by the fact that girls and boys learn different skills at school, but it is not clear whether these differences are primarily a result of differing teaching methods or of the broader socialization into masculine and feminine roles. PISA studies show that the gender gap in academic achievement is negatively correlated with socioeconomic inequality at the student level, but it remains to be investigated how this connection works.

Policy interventions can be targeted at gender inequality, and they should be designed on a case-by-case basis in light of specific country-specific conditions. However, there is also a need to understand the pros and cons of general policies that are more or less explicitly gender-sensitive. This would enable more analytical work on how to accelerate the decline in gender inequality as a result of economic development and other changes. The gender gap in tertiary enrollments, labor force participation and senior and middle management positions should be the focus of such an approach. This is because it reflects a particular type of inequality that is more difficult to eliminate through other means.