Best Countries For Women Workers (PHOTOS)

According to a new study published by the World Economic Forum this week, women in nearly every country have not yet reached employment parity with men at private companies.

The study -- based on surveys of 600 of the biggest private employers in 20 countries -- found that women represented less than half of the companies' overall workforce. (That is, in every country except one.)

And the situation for women in positions of corporate governance was drastically worse, with only 5 percent of companies reporting a female chief executive. Even in Finland, the country with the highest percentage of female CEOs, just 13 percent of companies were managed by women.

Check out the best countries for female private-sector employment:

1 of 10

#10 Mexico -- 36.25%

1 of 11

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

Mexico -- where over 36 percent of employees are women, according to survey respondents -- ranked tenth. None of the companies surveyed, however, had a female CEO.

CEO Pay Grew 127 Times Faster Than Worker Pay Over Last 30 Years: Study

Nine Countries Where Everyone Has A Job: 24/7 Wall St.

Las Cruces, New Mexico, Threatens To Shut Off Public Utilities Unless Residents Pay Traffic Fines

States Where Incomes Are Rising The Fastest: BEA

Foreclosed Homes Destroyed By Previous Owners (VIDEO)

Warren Buffett's 'Secret Millionaires Club' Awarding $5,000 To Kid Entrepreneurs

Mexico -- where over 36 percent of employees are women, according to survey respondents -- ranked tenth. None of the companies surveyed, however, had a female CEO.

comments(68)

Total comments: 68 | Post a Comment

1 of 11

Rate This Slide

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Feminist Shangri-la Not Good Enough

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Current Top 5 Slides

loading...

Choose your Top 5 Slides

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

Comments

[reader1]

08:53 PM on 03/27/2010

How could the US place #1, they do not offer decent benefits for those of us under say the $50,000.00 mark and the list goes on. Not impressed by the numbers. No affordable daycare, no health care, no upward mobility. Now this does not mean I want to live in another country. Where else could you have the diversity of thieves as you do in the US. Priceless!!!

[jasev01]

08:55 AM on 03/10/2010

Its amazing that women confronted by the truth in numbers in back and white it seems now that people think the article lies its can't be true its skewed, or its just wrong, bury it, burn it. the fact is women in this country do better than men. Have you drank a coke product ( most likely they have over 50% of the beverage market) well the ceo is a woman. Stil you don't have to be CEO to have a good job, how many women executives are there who is sec. of state and before her? and 3 secs. ago? And if you want to go there how many fortune 500 ceos are black? Go ahead count and compare the number to women.

[techcafe]

02:38 AM on 03/10/2010

i think the reason we don't see more women in politics and positions of 'power' (like corporate CEOs) is because the system is rigged. which is to say, the entire structure has been setup BY men, FOR men.

despite social progress, we are still burdened by patriarchal societies, dominated by male aggression and relentless violence.

a lot more women need to be put in charge, from corporations to governments, then we'll see some real change for the better.

[shaunmarie]

05:47 AM on 03/10/2010

You know - I wouldn't necessarily blame this one on men. I think its a rather complicated issue, but those women who do climb the corporate ladder do not help other women up - its almost as if women believe "there's only room for one of us, and I'm that one!" - whereas men tend to be pretty generous with mentoring each other.

I have noted with some companies I have worked with that women have a much better chance of being hired by a male director rather than a female director - it's heartbreaking, and such a sad end note to the womens movement.

[techcafe]

03:33 PM on 03/10/2010

yes, you make very good points, and i don't pretend to have the answers here... except to say, men have been running the show, well forever. i'd like to see more women take over positions that are traditionally held by men, because then i think we'd begin to see some positive social changes. that said, some of the worst, back-stabbing bosses & co-workers i've had were women (and i'm a man), but i think it's for the reason you already mentioned, that their sense of insecurity leads them to the notion that "there's only room for one of us, and I'm that one!"

but back to my original point... perhaps the aggressive rivalry and competition, which tend to be a male traits, makes some women adopt that kind of mindset, just so they can get ahead?

[plumbergirl]

11:51 AM on 03/11/2010

Maybe it's that women have a conscience.

[GunneraGirl]

01:30 AM on 03/10/2010

this little poll is way beyond stupid and superficial,

[Lefteris]

10:56 PM on 03/09/2010

"When you weigh employment, number of CEO, and quality of life, Europe is better for women."

Having lived in Europe for 31 years, I will rephrase your comment in order to be correct:

- Europe is better than the US if you are a pregnant woman or a mother. It is not better for single women, and it is not better for career women.

- The best environment in either continent for pregnant women and mothers is the one of small towns and communities.

[ndem]

06:13 PM on 03/09/2010

Norway is excellent for women and as a woman working in France, the schools, vacation health care are great child care ditto but forget the sexism in the office hate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gemzenith]

02:40 PM on 03/09/2010

Just a question...Employment in what sectors?Most employment of women is in low level sectors, jobs that men traditionally will not take.Also, the economy is a factor here.Its been quoted even at this site that there is a man- cession in progress.So please- this skewed article is hardly a true representation of women s status in the working world.

[kalital]

02:36 PM on 03/09/2010

It's a meaningless "survey." What it doesn't tell you is what women earn, relative to men, and it doesn't tell you about the numbers of women at the various corporate strata (clerical, middle management, etc.). As it is, this is like giving people the score of only one of the teams in a game.

[GravitonX]

02:05 PM on 03/09/2010

When you weigh employment, number of CEO, and quality of life, Europe is better for women.

[GunneraGirl]

01:27 AM on 03/10/2010

oh. okay. if you say so.

[Wrenigade]

01:44 PM on 03/09/2010

Maybe Obama can implement a policy to encourage more American women to move to any of those other ten countries so the 80% of those hardest hit by the recession in job losses (Men) can find work again. Please, I don't EVER want to hear/read another story or study about how bad women have it in America.

[tangelan]

01:53 PM on 03/09/2010

Are you kidding? Women still are paid less and get fewer promotions than their male coworkers. Our companies have horrible work/life balance when compared to European countries. The UK offers 6 months maternity leave and we get 2-3 months here (and some of that without pay). You didn't intuit anything from this study, did you?

[Wrenigade]

02:10 PM on 03/09/2010

You guys have mastered the art of victimhood: You can get EVERYTHING times 10 that they have in Europe, and you would all STILL find something inherently "unequal" about your place in the world. Please. Yaaaawwwwwnnnn...it's time for more serious issues on the public agenda.

[jasev01]

08:48 AM on 03/10/2010

Women get less money because they don't work as long. If a woman leaves for 1 year to raise her new born then she is 1 year less in seniority and on the pay scale. Further for that matter if an employer knows she is going to do that why would they ever put her in a critical position so when she leaves the whole company collapses.

[jasev01]

08:45 AM on 03/10/2010

Agreed

[levoyageur]

01:42 PM on 03/09/2010

i am quite surprise that mexico is on the list considering the country has the highest number of drug related crimes. it is certainly not the safest country for women to work.

[techcafe]

02:50 AM on 03/10/2010

drug crime & violence in Mexico won't cease until:

1. the US government ends its asinine War on Drugs.

2. prohibits gun shops along the US/Mexican border from selling automatic weapons to the Mexican cartels.

[jasev01]

01:33 PM on 03/09/2010

52% of the people employed in this country are women yet they get 50% of AA. How are women doing so bad here? Please tell me why they need extra protection yet black people have 30+% unemployment right now.

[shaunmarie]

05:50 AM on 03/10/2010

There are other factors at play - including educational attainment. And that college educated women will work for less money than men do.

What is AA?

[jasev01]

08:44 AM on 03/10/2010

Affirmative action. I can tell you that historically when you look at the black community women ere able to get jobs where as men here not. My grandfather could get any work. Women could always find work as domestics. Looking at today, my law school class had about 25 or so black women and 5 black men out of 400 students. I would thing the men would work for less than be unemployed. Its just annoying to see people go out shouting how bad women have it in this country when in reality they have more job the law is slanted in there favor, social norms are slanted in there favor ( ie a young guy was about sat on on the train yesterday but when this girl wanted on she and everyone looked at him and was guilted into giving her his seat), etc. I mean its like what do women want to be 100% of the workforce. In the latest job firings, the job loss by men has far out paced that by women. Yet here we are still saying women should get affirmative action, in fact 50% of it goes to white women, and women are so much worse off then men in this country.

[jasev01]

08:44 AM on 03/10/2010

As for the money things, that is also in part because some women leave the work force to have children and loose years of experience so when they come back their male counterparts are making more because they have been working work time, in many cases.

[kinogod]

12:47 PM on 03/09/2010

Any country imaginatively run by a progressive woman. But a country run by a regressive aggressive woman? That can be it's own special Hell.

[ErnestineBass]

01:26 PM on 03/09/2010

LOL...the name Margaret Thatcher immediately springs to mind.

[PartyPartyParty]

12:44 PM on 03/09/2010

And the moral of this story is:

More women than ever are slaving away for The Man.

[Wrenigade]

01:48 PM on 03/09/2010

That's funny! But you gotta admit we've done it long enough for women, so why not give them some time at the helm. I say implement the draft and send them all to the front lines, too!

[Catherine SweetPotato]

12:38 PM on 03/09/2010

The number of women in CEO positions in the US is small, but your statistics here are misleading.
Approximately 3% of Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs.
Responsible reporting???

Source:http://www.catalyst.org/publication/132/us-women-in-business

[tangelan]

01:41 PM on 03/09/2010

They're referring to the companies they surveyed. Not all companies.

[Catherine SweetPotato]

07:06 PM on 03/09/2010

"The study -- based on surveys of 600 of the biggest private employers in 20 countries"

Yes, the survey specifically says that the represented group was based on a survey but current stats would support that at least one of these "biggest private employers" would include global Fortune 500 companies.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2009/countries/US.html

There is no denying that woman are under represented in the echelon of CEOs in business...but it would certainly be nice for the women that are among the ranks of CEOs in the US to get their due recognition with solid data.