Global AgendaClosing the Economic Gender Gap: Learning from the Gender Parity Task Forces June 2016 © WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, 2016 – All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, includingphotocopying and recording, or by any informationstorage and retrieval system.REF 130616 Case: 00020432 3Closing the Economic Gender Gap: Learning from the Gender Parity Task Forces Contents3 Introduction4 The Task Force Model: Public-Private Collaboration to Advance Economic Gender Parity7 Overview of Gender Parity Task Forces7 Turkey Gender Parity Task Force10 Japan Gender Parity Task Force13 Mexico Gender Parity Task Force16 Korea Gender Parity Task Force18 Lessons Learned and Next Steps20 AcknowledgementsIn the 10 years since the World Economic Forum began measuring the global economic gender gap it has narrowed by only 3%. This slow progress means that today the global economic participation and opportunity gap still stands at approximately 40%. The educational attainment gap, however, stands at only 5%. Higher levels of female participation in education are not leading to commensurate employment opportunities for women – many barriers to entry and progression still remain along the female talent pipeline. This disparity is particularly evident when looking at different levels of education and employment. For example even though more women than men are enrolling at university in the majority of countries covered by the Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report (97 out of 145) and the average gender gap in tertiary education is less than 10%, men still outnumber women in skilled jobs; the gender gap in senior management roles is over 70%. This suggests that, though countries are ideally poised to maximize opportunities for women’s participation in the labour market, many have failed to reap the returns from this investment in education due to inhibiting and unaddressed cultural, structural and workplace factors.The Forum’s Gender Parity Initiative, therefore, brings together businesses, governments, civil society and other stakeholders to create partnerships that aim to integrate more women into the economy. In particular, the initiative serves as a partner in global, regional, national and industry transformations through a sustained flow of activities to shape, advance and monitor gender parity. To meet the increasing demand from business and governments for benchmarking tools, best practices and policies that can effectively narrow the economic gender gap, the Forum produces the annual Global Gender Gap Report, which quantifies the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracks their progress over time. In addition, the Forum’s repository of company best practices supports those seeking to implement such initiatives in their own organizations. The Forum also works directly with the private sector to encourage inter- and-cross industry collaboration on gender parity, supporting companies and sectors to implement effective practices to narrow their gender gaps and monitor their impact.In 2012, the Forum built on existing practical and analytical tools as well as on a widespread appetite for country-level action by launching Gender Parity Task Forces in Mexico, Turkey and Japan. A further task force followed in 2014 in the Republic of Korea*. These task forces have sought to generate collaborations between public and private sector stakeholders with the capacity to bring more women into the economy. The overall objective has been to understand the barriers to female economic participation and progress, to collaboratively explore and implement solutions in each country, and to provide a neutral platform for dialogue and action.This report outlines the task force model, provides an assessment of the action and progress made in each country, and explores what lessons can be learned from these pilot projects. Looking across the experiences of each task force, it is clear that national and local policy efforts to address gender gaps must be complemented by private sector action to be more effective. Collaboration, shared goals and ongoing communication between the public and private sectors are crucial for maximizing the impact of action to advance economic gender parity. Looking to the future, and as the official mandate of the task forces comes to an end in Japan, Mexico and Turkey (and with a year remaining in Korea), members have committed to building on the infrastructure created and continuing their collaborative efforts. There is also a great deal of potential for this model to be rolled out elsewhere, in partnership with regional and other actors or to be taken up independently by governments and domestic organizations wishing to pursue country-level action. As such, this report provides a guide for others looking to lead collaborative activity, including a consolidation of the key lessons learned from these initial task forces.The Forum would like to express i