Senior Women Web

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  • Under the Category of Another Thing to Worry About: Algal Virus Infects, Affects Humans

    The human body is host to trillions of microbes. These microbes significantly outnumber the body’s cells. Although most are beneficial to human health, some of these microbes can cause problems. Research in both humans and animal models has shown that microbial communities can affect many biological functions, including cognitive performance.

    An alga species infected with a chlorovirus (red) similar to the one the researchers identified in the throat cavity of humans. Credit: Kit Lee and Angie Fox, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

    Most studies of microbial communities and their genes, collectively known as the microbiome, have focused on bacterial and fungal communities. DNA is extracted from samples, and then specific regions that are universal to bacteria or fungi are analyzed to distinguish the microbes. The viral components of the microbiome (the virome) have received less attention, largely because viruses are so diverse that there are no universal viral target regions. Recent advances, however, have made whole-genome sequencing faster and less expensive. Thus scientists can now sequence entire viral genomes.

    A group led by Dr. Robert Yolken at Johns Hopkins University has been studying the links between viral infections and brain development. They were analyzing viruses taken from the throats of 33 healthy adults who were participating in a study that involved the assessment of cognitive functioning. Unexpectedly, the researchers discovered genetic sequences from Acanthocystis turfacea chlorella virus 1 (ATCV-1). ATCV-1 is a type of Chlorovirus, which infects green algae. These viruses are common in fresh water, such as lakes and ponds, but weren’t thought to infect humans or animals.

    To further investigate, the group teamed with Dr. James Van Etten, an expert on algal viruses at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Their work was supported in part by NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Center for Research Resources (NCRR). Results appeared online on October 27, 2014, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

    A sequence-specific assay detected ATCV-1 in throat samples from 40 of 92 (44%) people in the study. The team next examined the link between ATCV-1 and performance on a battery of cognitive tests. ATCV-1 was associated with decreases on tests of visual processing. There was no difference on tests of general knowledge.

    Studies in people can involve many complex factors, so the scientists infected a group of mice with ATCV-1. The exposed mice performed worse than control mice in several cognitive tests, such as navigating mazes. The researchers next studied gene expression in the hippocampus, a brain region essential for learning, memory, and behavior. Exposure to ATCV-1 was associated with significant changes in the regulation of over 1,000 genes.

    “People have conducted studies looking for more conventional viruses and bacteria in throat swabs, but the way those studies were done meant that they could have easily missed the ones that we work with,” Van Etten says.

    More study will be needed to learn how ATCV-1 may alter cognitive functioning. If confirmed, these findings hint that other yet-unknown viruses may have subtle effects on human health and behavior.

    —by Harrison Wein, Ph.D.

  • Ferida Wolff’s Backyard: Early Morning Clouds and Squirrel — Master of All He/She Surveys

    Ferida's Clouds

    Early Morning Clouds

     
    I am not a morning person. It takes me a while to gather my energy so much of breakfast preparation takes place automatically. It’s a good thing oatmeal doesn’t need special attention.
     
    Having said that, I am often startled out of my lethargy when I look out the kitchen window. Sometimes a new bird will surprise me or a flower that planted itself will suddenly appear. This time it was the sky that did it.
     
    The trees were just awakening themselves, their leaves barely hanging on in mid-season. They seemed to be framing something that drew my eyes upward. Just above and beyond them was an exuberance of white clouds. It woke me up right away. I sensed myself being drawn upward into the vastness of the sky. How much larger I felt! 
     
    Clouds often represent things depending on their form. The lighter ones tend to be associated with air and movement, higher thought, expansion and enlightenment. The darker ones are seen as more related grief or omens of change. But whatever the symbolism, there is always movement involved. Clouds are not indicative of the past; they exist in the present.
     
    I wasn’t seeking the clouds meaning in the morning but I responded to their presence. They moved along at a slow pace, inviting me to dream along with them. And so I did for the rest of the day, making up my own symbolic definition of infinity, allowing myself to bask in their, and my connection with all of nature.
     
     
    Chinese symbolism:

    http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/Chinese_Customs/clouds.htm

     
     squirrel on chair

     

     Squirrel — Master of All He/She Surveys
     
    For some reason, the squirrels like to sit on our patio chairs. Usually they sprawl flat out along the top or laze quite comfortably on the seat. They are aware of the people who live in the house but we don’t seem to bother them unless we open the door and chase them away.
     
    This time a squirrel was upright on the back of the chair, facing the yard. He (or was it she?) knew we were watching but it did not bother him. He was relaxed and seemed to be taking in “his” property, observing the colors of the leaves, the birds as they flew on and off the feeders, the other squirrels zipping along the ground around him. He had the look of being master of all he surveys. We didn’t have the heart to shoo him off.
     
    We have lots of squirrels in our backyard. They make nests in the trees, eat the seeds that drop from the feeders and sometimes find a way to get around the baffles and onto the feeders themselves. They chase each other during breeding season, run strangers away, or sometimes they scrabble just for fun. We complain that they share too many of our vegetables and use our patio for their own social gatherings. Occasionally, one will look in our kitchen window and stare at our table as we eat. We can almost hear the question, So, what’s for dinner?
     
    This was different, however. The squirrel wasn’t looking for handouts. He wasn’t in breeding mode or protecting his turf. There was a peacefulness about him, unusual for a creature who seems constantly active. The squirrel’s tail stretched long and rested down the chair’s back, not twitching like I was used to seeing.
     
    He/she stayed there for quite a while. I was transfixed with every turn of the creature’s head. There was something sacred about the scene. Did the squirrel feel connected with what he was seeing? Once, he turned and looked toward the glass door through which we were watching but did not register any fright or inclination to scoot away, then turned back and continued what now seemed like a vigil.
     
    I couldn’t tell if the squirrel was owning what he/she saw or being embraced by it. It didn’t matter. As I watched, I felt a connection — to the squirrel, to what was being observed, to the larger sense of nature. Suddenly everything seemed new.  It was a broadening experience propelled from a very simple cause. It made me aware that the world is always different, depending upon one’s view. 
     
    I turned away before the squirrel did. In the morning, the backyard was once again bustling with activity. I couldn’t tell which squirrel was the philosopher but I could appreciate the idea that everyone, whatever our size, has a personal perspective to offer.
     
    An overview of the Eastern Gray Squirrel:
     

  • Women Veterans Historical Project, Legislation Related to Women Veterans & Pat Tillman Scholars

     

    5th company, 3rd regiment

    5th Company, 3rd Regiment, WAAC Training Center, Fort Des Moines, Iowa, December 19, 1942. Commanding Officer, Lt. M. Barnard; Tactical Officer, Lt. J.K. Snook.  ©Collection: Rachel Summers McGee Papers, Jackson Library, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

    ABOUT THE PROJECT

    The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project (WVHP), established at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) in 1998, documents the contributions of women in the military and related service organizations since World War I. The WVHP includes a wide range of source material including photographs, letters, diaries, scrapbooks, oral histories, military patches and insignia, uniforms, and posters, as well as published works. Through active acquisition and educational outreach, the WVHP continues to expand its research collection to explore the cultural, social, and military changes in American society that have been fueled by the gender integration of the armed forces.

    The WVHP’s strengths are oral histories and materials from veterans of World War II, but it also includes the stories and materials of women who served in World War I, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, The Cold War, Desert Storm, the Gulf Wars, and the War on Terror. The WVHP currently holds more than 550 collections which include 350 oral histories. The collections chiefly document women military veterans, but they also chronicle the contributions of workers in related service organizations such as the Red Cross, special services, and civilians in service. Our current focus is collecting oral histories of UNCG student veterans as well as women in the Greensboro area.

    Mission Statement

    The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project (WVHP) collects and preserves unique and rare historical materials documenting the female experience in the United States military and American Red Cross. The WVHP promotes the educational and research use of these materials by members of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the broader scholarly community, and the public.

    History of the Project

    Although World War II was the first time that women served in the Armed Forces in large numbers, there were some women who served in World War I. Dr. Anna Maria Gove, college physician and professor of hygiene at the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG) from 1893-1937, served in France in 1917-1918. Her collection includes maps, newspapers and mementos of her service in the Red Cross, as well as photographs taken in France during the war. Her WWI uniforms are included in the University Archives Textile Collection. The idea for beginning the Women Veterans Historical Collection grew out of talks with Woman’s College (now UNCG) alumnae of the Class of 1950. The women veterans of World War II had a great impact on their classmates at the Woman’s College, as well as on their military organizations, their families and friends.

    A US Army Sgt. keeps her weapon at the ready as she provides security for her fellow soldiers during a raid in Iraq; Wikimedia Commons A US Army Sargent in Iraq

    In 1992, during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the US Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) several veterans sent uniforms and other memorabilia to the Alumni Association. Those items, which were used in an exhibit, were transferred to the University Archives in 1997, and form the nucleus of the Women Veterans Historical Collection. Since that time, items have been donated from other WAVES and United States Navy veterans; WAACs (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps), WACs (Women’s Army Corps) and United States Army veterans; SPARS (Coast Guard Women’s Reserve-from the motto Semper Paratus  — Always Ready); WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots), Women’s Air Force and Army Air Force veterans; Women Marines; Army Nurses, Navy Nurses, and Army Dietitians and Physical Therapists; members of the American Red Cross; and even civilians in service. Additional items have been purchased by University Archives.

    Editor’s Note:  Beth Ann Koelsch, Curator of the Women Veterans Historical Project, describes in her article about the Project some of the uses of the resources :

    Genealogy & Family Research

    “It is not unusual for people who are trying to find information about the military experiences of their relatives to seek their answers in the WVHP collection. If they can no longer ask their mothers and grandmothers for their stories, they try to piece the stories together by interpreting their relative’s mementos. I have worked with these family members to decipher acronyms in official military documents, identify uniform patches and insignia, and decode signage visible in the background of photographs. Researchers have also been able to glean insights about their relatives’ military experiences from collections of veterans who had served in similar situations.

    “One man wrote that reading the digitized letters of Annie Pozyck, an army nurse stationed at the same Philippines hospital as his father, gave him a better understanding of his father’s WWII experiences.

    “Another patron spotted her aunt in a digitized photograph of a WAC Officer’s Candidate School Company group from the collection of Ethel Palma.  She had been conducting research on her aunt but had been not been able to find out anything about her time in the military. I contacted Ms. Palma and put her in direct contact with the researcher.

    “Another patron spotted her aunt in a digitized photograph of a WAC Officer’s Candidate School Company group from the collection of Ethel Palma.  She had been conducting research on her aunt but had been not been able to find out anything about her time in the military. I contacted Ms. Palma and put her in direct contact with the researcher.

    “In one particularly poignant interaction, a woman whose mother was on her deathbed contacted me. The dying woman had served in the Navy Nurse Corps in WWII and had been the model for a recruiting poster illustrated by John Whitcomb. The daughter had found the image of the poster on the Project’s Web site. I immediately had a copy of the poster printed from our high-resolution scan of the original and sent it to the family so that the veteran could see it again before she passed away.

    “In addition to images of posters and photographs, families are also interested in obtaining copies of the recordings of oral
    histories so that they can hear the voice of a relative. Often these are the only recordings of these women’s voices that exist.”

  • Our Saddest NPR Moment: The Retirement of the Magliozzi Brothers of Car Talk Fame

    Update: With Tom’s death, we thought it appropriate to rerun our tribute to the Magliozzi brothers. How can we forget that laugh? After all, reruns may be ahead for all of us, in one way or another. Right? Right.

    Editor’s Note: In the late ’90s, we called Car Talk for Time Magazine’s Notebook section to ask Tom and Ray which ‘retired’ car would they like to see revived. Their producer, Dougie Berman, asked and they replied.  But Car Talk was a fixture of our lives, an eagerly-looked- forward-to bright spot on the Saturday morning routine. It still is — but in edited past versions.

    But here’s a look back at Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers,  and we recommend the NPR Car Talk site — for answers to your automotive questions, that is,  if a new administration doesn’t apply the budget-cutting ax to CPB. Keep listening to NPR’s most popular hour-length program and support the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

    Our Saddest NPR Moment: The Retirement of the Magliozzi Brothers of Car Talk Fame


  • Thinking About Enrolling In Obamacare? Keep These 5 Tips In Mind; Supreme Court to Take Case On Health Law Subsidies

    By Mary Agnes Carey *
    November 7, 2014

    The health law’s open enrollment season is just around the corner.  Are you ready?

    Here’s a quick checklist for people who don’t get their health insurance at work and plan to shop for coverage on the health law’s online exchanges, or marketplaces, starting Nov. 15. You can compare plans and prices at healthcare.gov or, if your state has its own exchange, shop there to find out which coverage is best for you. And you may be eligible for subsidies to help pay your premium.

    5 things 770

    Illustration by Andrew Villegas/Kaiser Health News

    Keep these five things in mind as the three-month open enrollment period begins.

    – Shop Around: Just because you’re enrolled in a policy now doesn’t means it’s the best deal for you next year. If you’re currently in the federal marketplace and don’t take any action, you’ll be re-enrolled in the same plan you’re in now. Federal officials, as well as many analysts, are urging consumers to go back to the exchanges to compare plans and prices. You might discover that you have more – or different – choices than you had a year ago.

    – Don’t Get Billed Twice: Insurers have expressed concerns that if a consumer changes plans, problems with the federal website might keep insurers from learning of the change and consumers could get billed for both plans. “It’s an issue we’re aware of and we’re working with exchange officials to make sure there’s a solution for consumers,” said Clare Krusing, a spokeswoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group. Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said insurers will get lists of individuals who have been automatically enrolled into their current plan as well as those who chose to re-enroll. He also said that the agency is “examining options” on how to provide insurers the names of people who picked another plan during open enrollment.

    Just in case, keep proof of payment to answer any billing questions and once you’ve cancelled the old policy watch your credit card statements or, if the payment was deducted directly from a bank account, watch those charges to make sure you aren’t paying for two policies. And don’t cancel your current insurance until you have confirmation from your new carrier that you’re covered.

    – Find Out If You Qualify For Financial Help: Enter your most up-to-date income information on healthcare.gov or with your state exchange to see if you are entitled to receive a tax credit toward the cost of your health insurance. Even if you are like the majority of those enrolling in marketplace plans who receive a subsidy, update your income to make sure you get the correct amount next year. This is important because if you get too much of a subsidy, you’ll have to repay it when you file your taxes the following year.

    – Know All Costs: It’s not just the monthly premium that will cost you. Understand a policy’s out-of-pocket costs, things like co-pays, co-insurance and deductibles, before you enroll. The health law allows out-of-pocket maximum caps of $6,600 for an individual policy and $13,200 for a family policy in 2015 but some of your health care expenses – including out-of-network care – might not be included in that cap.

    – Get Help If You Need It: Confused? There are several ways to get help. Work with a local insurance agent or broker. Find one of the law’s trained navigators or assistors. Or call the federal consumer assistance center at 800-318-2596 for extra help or to find out if you eligible for a subsidy. Folks there can also help you enroll in a health plan or if you qualify, Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income people.

    *Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a nonprofit national health policy news service.

    Supreme Court To Take Case On Health Law Subsidies
    Opponents are challenging a key provision of the law by arguing that the federal government is not authorized to pay premium subsidies for residents in states that did not set up their own health insurance marketplace.

  • The Frick’s Scottish National Gallery Exhibit & Intimations of a Vleughels-Watteau Competition Over a Woman

    Lady Agnew
    John Singer Sargent, Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, 1892, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, © Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland

    The Frick presents ten masterpieces of Italian, Spanish, French, Scottish, and English painting from the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, among them a Botticelli never before on public view in the United States and John Singer Sargent’s iconic Lady Agnew of Lochnaw.

    The museum is distinguished for its holdings of works by masters of Western art and for its comprehensive collection of Scottish art. A previous collaboration took place in 2000 when the Frick presented a selection of drawings from the Scottish National Gallery, along with Sir Henry Raeburn’s Skating Minister, a centerpiece of the museum’s collection. The exhibition features paintings spanning the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries that invite illuminating comparisons to the Frick’s permanent collection. Masterpieces from the Scottish National Gallery  include works by Constable, El Greco, Gainsborough, Raeburn, Ramsay, Reynolds, Velázquez, and Watteau, will travel in extended form to the de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.

    The earliest work in the show, making its first public appearance in the United States, is The Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child by the great Florentine painter Sandro Botticelli. In this devotional painting, executed in tempera, oil, and gold on canvas about 1485, the Virgin kneels in adoration before her sleeping son. The figures are sheltered by a thornless rose bush with large pink blossoms and a rocky outcropping forming a hortus conclusus (enclosed garden), a symbol of Mary’s purity. The kneeling figure bears the characteristic idealized features of Botticelli’s other representations of the Virgin: a high brow, straight nose, strong chin, and heavy coils of golden hair. Turned in profile, the young mother’s divine beauty is enhanced by the radiance of the light blue sky behind her and the delicacy of her transparent, embroidered veil, which is surmounted by a golden halo. Mother and son incline toward each other, as if pulled by an invisible force.

    The presentation of the infant asleep is unusual among 15th century representations of the Madonna and Child. Although its early history is not known, the contemplative nature of the painting suggests that its original setting was a private house or palace, rather than a church. The picture was in private collections in Great Britain for more than 150 years before it was purchased from the Wemyss Heirloom Trust in 1999 by the Scottish National Gallery.

  • “We’re Not In a Panic Now, But We’re Starting to Get Tired”: Ebola Efforts Tax Strapped Health Agencies

    Editor’s Note: The following comments are from a speech delivered by Dr. Margaret Chan,  Director-General of the World Health Organization on November 3, 2014public health preparedness

    “When heads of state in non-affected countries talk about Ebola, they rightly attribute the outbreak’s unprecedented severity to the ‘failure to put basic public health infrastructures in place.’

    “Without fundamental public health infrastructures in place, no country is stable. No society is secure. No resilience exists to withstand the shocks that our 21st century societies are delivering with ever-greater frequency and force, whether from a changing climate or a runaway killer virus.

    “The second argument is this. Ebola emerged nearly four decades ago. Why are clinicians still empty-handed, with no vaccines and no cure?

    “Because Ebola has historically been confined to poor African nations. The R&D incentive is virtually non-existent. A profit-driven industry does not invest in products for markets that cannot pay. WHO has been trying to make this issue visible for ages. Now people can see for themselves.”

    By Christine Vestal, Stateline

    Dwindling resources may make it difficult for public health departments across the country to carry out intensive airport screenings, patient monitoring, public education and other preparations for a potential Ebola outbreak in the US.

    Since 2008, diminishing federal funding for public health preparedness has meant the loss of 51,000 state and local public health jobs — more than one in five, according to a new survey by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. Congressional hearings to consider additional funding to prepare for an Ebola outbreak in the US are scheduled for next week. 

    “It’s critically important to have a sustainable infrastructure, tools and the necessary resources to effectively address all potential health threats to the public, not just Ebola,” said James Blumenstock, emergency preparedness officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. “Public health threats don’t come one at a time, especially this time of year.”

    Just as the first flu cases were cropping up last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidelines requiring public health officials to monitor travelers entering the US from West African countries Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea for 21 days.

  • Beyond an Audubon Era – The Singing and the Silence: Birds in Contemporary Art

    Tomaselli Migrant Fruit Thugs, 2006

    Fred Tomaselli, Migrant Fruit Thugs, 2006. Leaves, photo collage, gouache, acrylic, and resin on wood panel, 96 x 78 in. Glenstone © Fred Tomaselli. Image courtesy Glenstone

    The Singing and the Silence: Birds in Contemporary Art explores mankind’s relationship to birds and the natural world through the work of 12 major contemporary American artists. The artists featured in the exhibition are David Beck, Rachel Berwick, Lorna Bieber, Barbara Bosworth, Joann Brennan, Petah Coyne, Walton Ford, Laurel Roth Hope, Paula McCartney, James Prosek, Fred Tomaselli and Tom Uttech. The exhibition is on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC  through Feb. 22, 2015, and is organized by Joanna Marsh, The James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art.

    “The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the ideal venue for this exhibition, both as a museum committed to exhibiting living artists and as part of the Smithsonian Institution, where science, art and history intersect,” said Betsy Broun, the Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  

    The presentation of The Singing and the Silence coincides with two significant environmental anniversaries C the extinction of the passenger pigeon in 1914 and the establishment of the Wilderness Act in 1964. Inspired by the confluence of these events, the exhibition investigates how artists working today use avian imagery as a way to understand contemporary culture and the widespread desire to meaningfully connect with the natural world.

    “At its core, this exhibition considers what birds tell us about ourselves and our connection to our planet,” said Marsh. “Together the works create a collective portrait of our own species as informed by our relationship with birds “.

  • Revisiting Favorite Books: Kristin Lavransdatter

    by Julia Sneden

    We have been re-reading books that we loved many years ago, and it has occurred to us that you might enjoy seeing them reviewed.Sigrid Undset

    If you’ve never read them, the reviews may pique your interest. If you have read them already, you might consider dipping back into them as we have.

    We find that it an interesting process, looking back at books we read in our twenties and thirties. The books themselves haven’t changed, but thanks to the varied experiences that another twenty or thirty years have added to our lives, we read them from a different perspective. Herewith, the first review of an old, beloved book (actually, three books):

    Sigrid Undset (1882-1949), the author of this trilogy, Kristin Lavransdatter, was a remarkable woman. We suggest that you read the fascinating introduction to Volume 1, The Wreath, as the story of Undset’s life is far too complex to repeat here. Suffice it to say that she is one of the great women of the 20th century: wife, mother, authority on the Middle Ages, writer, freedom fighter, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928.

    Volume 1:  The Wreath

    The wreath referred to in the title is the floral wreath that young Norwegian girls in the Middle Ages were entitled to wear atop their unbound hair until marriage. All three volumes of Kristin Lavransdatter take place in the first half of the 14th century, roughly 1300-1350.

    The story begins when Kristin is seven years old, the eldest and beloved daughter of Lavrans Bjorgulfson, Lord of the Manor called Jorundgaard. Her mother, Ragnild, is described as rather moody and melancholy, traits that may be understandable considering that she lost two male children before Kristin was born, and of her three daughters, the middle one was badly injured in an accident, and died young.

    Although at first it may seem confusing to enter into the culture of the Middle Ages, Undset’s true ear and her knowledge of the period soon draw the reader in. Her ability to deliver characters of depth and complexity makes her story as compelling as anything set in modern times. And if ever you wondered what differentiates great literature from soap operas or romance novels, these books should make it clear.

    We follow Kristin from childhood to adolescence, during which she learns not only to read and perform housewifely duties, but also becomes familiar with the many medicinal uses of herbs and plants. Lavrans betroths her at a young age to Simon Andresson, an eminently good catch. Because of her youth, she is sent to live in a convent for a year before the wedding, and during this time, she falls in love with a dashing nobleman ten years her senior, Erland Nikulausson.

    Erland has been in disgrace, having been banished and excommunicated for his affair with a married woman who bore him two children while her husband was still living. He has since broken off with the woman and done penance, and has been allowed to return to his homeland. After her husband died, however, out of pity for his former mistress and his love for his children, he has allowed her to live on his estate at Husaby, creating more scandal. He has paid dearly for his actions, and has lost the respect of his aristocratic family and connections.

  • The Global Gender Gap Report 2014 — “2095: The year of gender equality at work, maybe”

    Saadia Zahidi

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    • Nine years of the Global Gender Gap Report suggests we’ll have to wait 81 years for gender parity in the workplace
    • Overall gains in gender equality worldwide since 2006 are offset by reversals in a small number of countries
    • Nordic nations dominate the Global Gender Gap Index in 2014; Nicaragua, Rwanda and the Philippines all make the top 10
    • Download the full report here

    Saadia Zahadi photo, Aspen Ideas

    Geneva, Switzerland, 28 October 2014 – In nine years of measuring the global gender gap, the world has seen only a small improvement in equality for women in the workplace. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2014, launched today, the gender gap for economic participation and opportunity now stands at 60% worldwide, having closed by 4% from 56% in 2006 when the Forum first started measuring it. Based on this trajectory, with all else remaining equal, it will take 81 years for the world to close this gap completely.

    The ninth edition of the report finds that, among the 142 countries measured, the gender gap is narrowest in terms of health and survival. This gap stands at 96% globally, with 35 countries having closed the gap entirely. This includes three countries that have closed the gap in the past 12 months. The educational attainment gap is the next narrowest, standing at 94% globally. Here, 25 countries have closed the gap entirely. While the gender gap for economic participation and opportunity lags stubbornly behind, the gap for political empowerment, the fourth pillar measured, remains wider still, standing at just 21%, although this area has seen the most improvement since 2006. 

    With no one country having closed its overall gender gap, Nordic nations remain the most gender-equal societies in the world. Last year’s leading four nations – Iceland (1), Finland (2), Norway (3) and Sweden (4) – are joined by Denmark, which climbs from eighth place to fifth. Elsewhere in the top 10 there is considerable movement, with Nicaragua climbing four places to sixth, Rwanda entering the index for the first time at seventh, Ireland falling to eighth, the Philippines declining four places to ninth and Belgium climbing one place to tenth.

    Further up the index, the United States climbs three places to 20 in 2014, after narrowing its wage gap and improving the number of women in parliamentary and ministerial level positions. Among the BRICS grouping, the highest-placed nation is South Africa (18), supported by strong scores on political participation. Brazil is next at 71, followed by Russia (75), China (87) and India (114).

    Countries from Europe and Central Asia occupy 12 of the top 20 positions in the index, one less than last year. Of the region’s major economies, Germany climbs two places to 12th, France leaps from 45th to 16th, while the UK falls eight places to 26th. France’s gain is mostly due to increases in the number of women in politics, including 49% women ministers – one of the highest ratios in the world, and narrowing wage gaps. The UK’s lower position can be mainly attributed to changes in income estimates.

    In Asia and the Pacific, the Philippines remains the region’s highest-ranked country, followed by New Zealand (13) and Australia (24). These nations are regional outliers, however, as only one other nation, Mongolia (42), places in the top 50. Singapore, the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos and Thailand come next in 59th, 60th and 61st place, respectively. Japan climbs one place to 104th; China falls 18 places to 87th, largely due to its very low sex ratio at birth; and India slumps to 114th, making it the lowest-ranked BRICS nation and one of the few countries where female labour force participation is shrinking.