Late in 2023, Harvard University professor Claudia Goldin became the third woman ever to receive the Nobel prize for economics. She was also the first woman to win it solo.

Her revolutionary research topic? Women in the workforce. As her Nobel prize citation says, she “provided the first comprehensive account of women’s earnings and labour market participation through the centuries. Her research reveals the causes of change, as well as the main sources of the remaining gender gap.”

She told Reuters that there were “still large differences between women and men in terms of what they do, how they’re remunerated and so on. And the question is, why is this the case?”

On International Parity at Work Day (January 11), her question and her work are more pertinent than ever.

As researcher Professor Alessandra Casarico notes: “Despite some progress, gender inequality remains a global concern. It varies across countries… but women’s participation in the labour market falls short of men’s everywhere in the world.”

According to World Bank figures, women globally face inferior income opportunities compared with men:

• Women are less likely to work for income or actively seek work.
• Global labor force participation rate for women is just over 50% compared to 80% for men.
• Women are less likely to work in formal employment and have fewer opportunities for business expansion or career progression.
• When women do work, they earn less.
• Emerging evidence suggests that these gender gaps have been heightened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And these gaps apply across all marginalised groups.

Because of that, International Parity at Work aims to promote equitable pay, regardless of a person’s race, country of origin, gender, or sexual orientation.

AltoPartners’ global partnership of executive search firms believes that parity exists at the intersection of diversity, equity and inclusion. In fact, we strive to actively walk the talk on DE&I as is reflected in the fact that over 42% of AltoPartners member firms are founded and headed by women, and 60% of our global board is comprised of women (from different countries and ethnicities), with that figure expected to increase in 2024. Gender parity programmes tend to benefit all under-represented populations because the focus on inclusion and equity has an impact on corporate values, including an emphasis on equal representation at executive leadership level and equality in pay, hiring protocols, mentoring and benefits.

On this International Parity at Work Day, our partners celebrate diverse workplaces, and work towards hiring practices that lead to a more just world.