To Close the Gender Gap, We Have to Close the Data Gap
Melinda recently announced that we are investing $80 million to collect better data on women and girls.
We still don’t have enough information about the challenges many women and girls face in their daily lives. Here she shares some great examples of how better data is already helping transform lives...
To Close the Gender Gap, We Have to Close the Data Gap
What does a typical evening look like in your house? If it’s anything like ours, someone will be reading a book that Amazon recommended, or scanning their personalized newsfeed on Flipboard; and the kids will be listening to tunes on Spotify, or watching YouTube videos.
These sites help make our lives easier?—?and they do it by tapping into the power of data. Netflix can see what movies we like, DHL can see where millions of packages are, and Nike can see exactly what needs restocking on its shelves and when.
The hard reality is that in too many areas, data doesn’t exist. What’s more?—?even where it does exist, it’s often sexist.
But in the field of global health and development vast blind spots still remain. This is especially true when it comes to even the most basic information on women and girls?—?where and when they are born, how many hours they work, if and what they get paid, whether they’ve experienced violence, how they die.
The hard reality is that in too many areas, data doesn’t exist. What’s more?—?even where it does exist, it’s often sexist. It misses women and girls entirely, or undercounts and undervalues their economic and social contributions to their families, communities, and countries.
These knowledge gaps and biases have two effects.
First, they hamper our ability to advance the cause of gender equality. If a girl’s birth isn’t recorded, she doesn’t have a formal identity?—?which damages her chances of going to school, and usually means she can’t vote or get a bank account later in life. And what about all the hidden work women and girls do, such as cooking, cleaning, and caring? It may be unpaid, but it’s still work. It may be unrecognized, but it underpins every society and strengthens every economy.
Second, these gaps and biases reinforce the harmful stereotypes and practices that are grounded in the attitude that women and girls simply don’t matter.
With a better understanding of the way women live their lives, and the specific inequalities, indignities, and injustices that hold them back every day, we can see what needs fixing, whether solutions are working, and what progress is being made. That’s because gathering and analyzing data makes the invisible, visible. Closing the gender gap, requires closing the data gap.
Our Foundation is investing $80 million over the next three years to help do just that. This money will improve the way data is collected?—?and the way it is used?—?to provide a fuller, richer picture of the challenges women and girls face, and what can be done to overcome them.
There are already some great examples out there of how data is profoundly helping women and girls?—?from targeting HIV prevention and treatment to adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa, to making it easier for more women to get family planning advice and contraceptives if they want them.
But imagine what more we could achieve for women and girls if we could tailor programs and policies that meet their specific needs?—?similar to how Amazon and Netflix give us personalized book and film recommendations.
I know that data can seem complicated and boring. But it will help save, protect, and transform the lives of millions of women and girls all around the world. It’s that simple?—?and, in fact, that’s pretty exciting too.
Melinda Gates
Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, businesswoman, and mother. Dedicated to helping all people lead healthy, productive lives.
Seeking to reinvent myself from scratch due to Covid-19
8 年Data analysis is one of my true obsessions. All companies, including small businesses need to focus more on individualized data! As a behavior specialist consultant, none of my clients have the same data. I get a child s psychological evaluation and have to figure it out from there. I come up with an individualized treatment plan and self made data sheet to track progress/regression with treatment objectives. The treatment team is trained on proper completion of data sheet. Once I get data, I insert it into self made database and complete analysis and pretty graphs to demonstrate progress or regression and trends. That analysis is used to continue treatment as is or identify factors impacting progress and needed changes. Businesses need to be more like this.
Disability Lawyer English ESL Teacher American Camp LeJeune claimant 9/11 Claimant (VCF) SSDI pension
8 年I just wrote a submission to regulations.gov and I said that state courts need to provide more accessible efiling capability. people with disabilities are not getting their rights fulfilled in the courts and part of the reason is that the websites and systems associated with the law are unnecessarily difficult to use and promote discrimination rather than inclusion. people with disabilities are the lowest status and most discriminated against civil rights class. They have the least opportunities, but we continue to focus on race and gender as the primary areas of civil rights work. most state Supreme Court's do not have a disability rights and fairness commission to move forward with reform, but they do have such commissions for race and gender. similarly, even the American Bar Association does not track disability in law school admissions, but it does track race and gender and has done so for many decades. There's no good reason to exclude disabled people from statistical tracking unless the goal is to cover up past discrimination. The ADA was past 26 years ago. These are not new rights that everyone doesn't know about. These are rights that are being neglected and abused. www.andrewstraw.com
CBT. EMDR, FLASH, TOMATIS High Intensity freelance, artist, designer, entrepreneur
8 年I agree, good idea and hopefully there can be more help where it is really needed, more focused and effective.