Top Countries For Gender Equality: 2010 Gender Gap Report (PHOTOS)

Employees who find themselves faced with gender bias in the workplace might contemplate a move to Scandinavia -- home to four of the countries which demonstrate the highest equality between men and women, according to a new report.

Prepared by the the World Economic Forum, the 2010 Global Gender Gap Report measures both the number of women in administrative positions in 134 countries, as well as improvements in the wage gap between men and women. Iceland continues to lead the world with the most gender-balanced workforce. The United States rose 12 spots to No. 19, marking its first appearance on the top 20 in the report's five-year history.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the greatest disparities were found in Pakistan, Chad and Yemen, which came in at the very bottom of the list.

See the full report here.

See photos of the top 15 countries below:

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Iceland - #1

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Countries With Most Gender Equality

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Countries With Most Gender Equality

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Comments

[spaniard10]

12:25 PM on 10/27/2010

Very good for EU! Most of the countries are european.

[Ms Cook]

10:13 AM on 10/18/2010

After my own experience working with/for a German company, I am surprised that Germany was included in this list: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/world/europe/18iht-women.html

[JavaManiac]

04:55 PM on 10/24/2010

They must have come along way recently. I used to work with a woman colleague in Germany that had been with her partner for 19 years because if she married him the tax impact was so terrible they would not be able to afford their house.

[xtiangodloki]

09:47 AM on 10/18/2010

If you want gender equality have the government to mandate better corporate policies after child birth, and better/cheaper access to day care centers for everyone.

I would say that child birth and child care are the biggest disruptions of careers for women. With the cost of raising children in the US (daycare centers typically start at over $1k per month and could easily go over $2k per child per month), it makes a lot more financial sense if women would just quit their jobs and stay at home to raise kids especially when the family has more than 1 child.

[ivan kovac]

08:50 AM on 10/18/2010

Women have it better in Lesotho than in USA, is it possible?

[JavaManiac]

04:56 PM on 10/24/2010

No one says they have it better - they are more equal in opportunity to men.

[Pandaforum]

07:36 AM on 10/17/2010

I expect to see a tsunami of imigrants to these countries.

[Schweik]

01:03 PM on 10/17/2010

All the Euro countries have had plenty of F5s..

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

08:52 PM on 10/16/2010

Well, I was feeling pretty bad that the U.S. wasn't on this list... but then I went to the list of obese nations and we are ALMOST number one! Yay! We're number two! We're number two! (If you want to find me, look in Iceland)...

[huffpostreader10000]

09:58 PM on 10/15/2010

This applies only to developed countries:

"Equal pay" is a general term. Simply comparing median or average salaries of men and women isn't a valid comparison. You have to compare similar job types. I find it hard to believe that at least in medium to large cities there is blatant gender discrimination during the hiring process. A job opening will usually pay based on experience or it will have a fixed pay. It may just be that many women end up in low paying jobs. But then again, some of the male-dominated high paying jobs are very high-risk such as mining or fishing in Alaska, etc (by the way more men die at work than women). Becoming a mother obviously has an impact on job choice and number of hours spent at work, but that is NOT gender discrimination. Also keep in mind that today ~60% of college graduates are women (just do a google search).

[blogisti]

03:42 PM on 10/15/2010

Is there a positive list somewhere where America can be somewhere in the top 20 or even 30?
What about The Happiest Banana Republic list?

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

08:52 PM on 10/16/2010

Did you check the "most obese nations" list? We're number two.

[David Rozgonyi]

02:30 AM on 10/17/2010

Here's a couple:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

World's Largest Arms Exporter:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry

Prolly this one too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States

[Giopaps]

08:06 PM on 10/19/2010

Of course. LOL

[Seamus6]

03:20 PM on 10/15/2010

Gee, the US doesn't make it onto any of the desirable lists anymore. Not even the human development list where it's slipped to 11th. Or maybe worse by now? (that's standard of living)

[Seamus6]

03:16 PM on 10/15/2010

Saddam's Iraq would have been the leading Arab nation but we all know what happened to ruin that!

[HossHumard]

03:13 PM on 10/15/2010

As a Canadian, I'm glad my country didn't make this list. I think it's important for people around the world to know that, yes, sometimes we Canadians are bad. Real bad. Well, OK, kinda bad. But still polite...but bad, bad, bad. Why just yesterday, I jaywalked and I don't care who knows it.

Congratulations Iceland on whatever this survey is telling us you're best at...well done! I'd send you a cheque so you could buy yourself a drink, but I understand you don't have much of a banking system anymore....sorry 'bout that.

[Sara Absher Barrett]

12:31 PM on 10/17/2010

Thank you much for that delightful giggle...

[Lily99]

01:46 PM on 10/17/2010

You jaywalked? Shame on you!!! What is Canada coming to.... :)

[Inanina]

01:35 PM on 10/15/2010

I am definitely disappointed by WEF on this one...I don't understand what the Philippines and South Africa are doing on that list...I haven't read the report but I hope that they have a section where they acknowledge those countries that have made good progress. We all know that Scandinavian countries are doing well, etc...I certainly don't think religion has anything to do with it.

[Amazulu]

09:27 AM on 10/17/2010

You are prejudiced and you and your response reeks of it.

You haven't even read the report and you are outraged because it doesn't agree with what your prejudiced mind thinks of these countries. I'd only imagine the contempt you hold whenever you meet people from these and other "nations" of which you hold similar sentiment.

There is a direct relation between being prejudiced and happiness and it is evident where you stand with regard to your self esteem and level of insecurity. I hope for your sake that it isn't too late or you aren't above the age where your hard wired prejudgment nature cannot change for the better. But then again, we all need an example to refer to when we need to define a prejudiced person.

[REDSTATEREFUGEE]

12:45 PM on 10/15/2010

Note that the majority of those countries tending to gender equality are (gasp!) located in that festering sinkhole of socialism, Europe...

[Vivian Alicia Evans]

11:44 AM on 10/15/2010

How can the Philippines be a in the list of gender neutral countries before Switzerland when this is one of the largest exporter of mail order brides? I question this study with it's other countries ranking when women raised in religions like Catholicism is the majority which denies a woman the right birth control or abortion be called gender neutral. When I was in school there was a girl from the Philippines who had to leave all her family ties behind because she chose her own Canadian boyfriend. She knew they intended for her to marry someone they chose for her when she returned home.

I find this study to be out of kilter with reality.

[REDSTATEREFUGEE]

12:42 PM on 10/15/2010

Not to disagree with you, VAE, but the largest export commodity of the PP is not just brides, but workers in general. There are simply insufficient, good paying jobs in the islands to support the relatively large population. Many male and female Filipinos work outside the country.

Actually, many PP families welcome their daughters marrying anglos from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe, for these men usually can provide sufficient income to help the extended family back in the old country. Of course, there is always the danger that foreign men will abuse their imported brides, but many are reasonable and are appreciative of a PP wife....

[Vivian Alicia Evans]

02:06 AM on 10/16/2010

You're right RED, I should have said "one of the exports from PP is mail order brides." I myself have seen women who have been married to men here in Canada only to become a subservient wife. These men are specifically looking out of the country for this type of union; a union of gender inequality.

I have no statistics but can tell you there are women who end up brutilized, controled and physically or mentally abused. To some mail order brides this union results in death caused by their husband. Yes, their parents may be happy to see their daughters married of to an anglo but I'm sure if they knew what kind of life was ahead for them, many parents who think twice. Some parents do know and wish they could have their daughters home.

I remember watching an Episode of Fifth Estate (A Canadian equivalent of Dateline) that covered this very subject.The following link contains a the same incident reported.

http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/SW21-62-2000E.pdf

Start on page 42 and it will describe what mail order brides experience in Canada.

[Cannonball Taffy O Jones]

11:27 AM on 10/15/2010

A woman born in South Africa has a greater chance of being raped than of learning how to read.

South Africa does not deserve to be on any list indicating states with high levels of gender equality.

[Seamus6]

03:21 PM on 10/15/2010

You're confusing Mississippi or Alabama with South Africa.

[Cannonball Taffy O Jones]

03:31 PM on 10/15/2010

Half a million rapes a year is no laughing matter.

[Proletarian101]

04:59 PM on 10/15/2010

Interesting. Aren't you from Canada? Maybe you didn't know this but, per capita, Canada has one of the highest number or rapes and sexual assults in the world.