According to the report, the GEM reveals whether women take an active part in economic and political life. It tracks the share of seats in Parliament held by women, of female legislators, senior officials and managers, and of female professional and technical workers -- and the gender disparity in earned income, reflecting economic independence.
Some highlights from the report show that only 9 percent of deputies in Turkey's Parliament are female, while 33 percent of professionals and technicians in the population in general are female. With regard to earnings, the ratio of women's income to men's is 0.26. Additionally, women account for only 4 percent of ministers in the Cabinet.
Turkey ranks among Pakistan (99), Azerbaijan (100), Tonga (102), Iran (103), Morocco (104), Algeria (105) and Saudi Arabia (106) considering its GEM figures. Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia are ranked high in the GEM.
Additionally, the greater the gender disparity in basic human development, the lower the country's gender development index (GDI) relative to its human development index (HDI). Turkey is ranked 79th out of 182 countries with a 0.806 HDI, a slight decrease compared to last year's report where Turkey was ranked 78th. Turkey's GDI value is 0.788 and GEM value is 0.379.
Out of the 155 countries with both HDI and GDI values, 125 countries have a better ratio than Turkey. The report notes that the human development index gives a more complete picture than income because of its multidimensional approach of looking at living a long and healthy life, having access to education and a decent standard of living. Differing from the GDI, the GEM exposes inequality in opportunities in selected areas.
