Why do gender wage gaps and other disparities persist despite converging education levels and mounting evidence that the public opposes such forms of inequality? The problem lies less in outdated beliefs and biases than in entrenched structural constraints to women’s economic advancement.
PRETORIA—Gender inequality in the labor market remains both pervasive and paradoxical. Despite widespread opposition to gender disparities, women’s labor-force participation rate (globally) is still around 24 percentage points below that of men, and the share of women living in economies that ensure near-full legal equality is smaller than 5%. Though women do work more than in the past, they earn less than men and are also less likely to hold senior roles, sustaining a structural wage gap even as education levels have converged.