Gender parity

Gender parity is a statistical measure used to describe ratios between men and women, or boys and girls, in a given population. Gender parity may refer to the proportionate representation of men and women in a given group, also referred to as sex ratio, or it may mean the ratio between any quantifiable indicator among men against the same indicator among women.[1]

The terms gender parity and gender equality are sometimes used interchangeably but gender parity differs from gender equality in that it is a descriptive measure only and does not involve value judgments or argue for policy changes in the way gender equality. Gender parity is a goal of substantive gender equality, but not of formal gender equality.[2] Gender parity may be one of the important metrics used to assess the state of substantive gender equality within a group or organization.

Within the field of sociology, gender parity is generally understood to refer to a binary distinction between people based in identity and sex differences.[3] Though the word "gender" is part of the term, the meaning as it is used is closer to assigned sex than to gender identity.[4]

  1. ^ "What Is 'Gender Parity'?". New America. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  2. ^ De Vos, Marc (2020). "The European Court of Justice and the march towards substantive equality in European Union anti-discrimination law". International Journal of Discrimination and the Law. 20: 62–87. doi:10.1177/1358229120927947.
  3. ^ Little, William (6 November 2014). "Chapter 12: Gender, Sex, and Sexuality". Introduction to Sociology. Compass OpenEd.
  4. ^ Entwicklungspolitik, Deutsches Institut für. "From gender parity to gender equality: changing women's lived realities". www.die-gdi.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-10-27.