Half of Latin America’s professional jobs to be held by women within ten years, predicts report

Women will hold 49% of all professional jobs in Latin America by 2025, overtaking Europe and North America, according to a new report.

The report, published by consulting firm Mercer, says that women globally make up 40% of the average company’s workforce. This decreases to 33% of managers, 26% of senior managers, and 20% of executives.

The authors predict that, over the next decade, women’s representation in professional roles (all jobs above support staff level) will increase from 36% to 49% in Latin America, 35% to 40% in Australia and New Zealand, and 25% to 28% in Asia, which remains the region with the worst female participation rate.

Meanwhile the US and Canada will see a small increase from 39% to 40%, while Europe will remain flat at 37%.

Mercer’s Pat Milligan commented that: “In 10 years, organizations won’t even be close to gender equality in most regions of the world. If CEOs want to drive their growth tomorrow through diversity, they need to take action today.”

This week, IZA World of Labor has published a new article by Mario Lackner, suggesting that different attitudes in competitiveness may partly explain the gender gap in labor market outcomes, including women’s under-representation in top jobs. He writes that: “One potential policy measure that would help is to undertake reforms of the educational system to encourage competitive attitudes or even consider gender-segregated education in specific subjects.”

The 2016 edition of Mercer’s When Women Thrive report can be accessed here.

Related articles:
Gender differences in competitiveness by Mario Lackner
Gender diversity in teams by Ghazala Azmat
Gender quotas on boards of directors by Nina Smith
Find more IZA World of Labor articles about gender