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Rethinking gender equality: Why the rankings don't tell the whole story

When politicians highlight their country's high ranking on global gender equality indices, they're telling only part of the story, says a researcher.

Collage of people performing different jobs in healthcare, transport, retail, farming, and office work.

A research team has developed and tested a more inclusive measure of gender equality.

(Photos: Public Domain / CC BY 4.0, Collage: Camilla K. Elmar)

Helene Ramnæs Helene Ramnæs Helene Ramnæs Communications adviser

Presented by: Presented by: Presented by: The Centre for Advanced Study

Published 10 March 2026 - 00:01

Widely used measures of gender equality may be missing important dimensions of inequality.

As a result, they can unintentionally reinforce Western-centric views of what equality should look like.

The problem with rankings

Gender equality indices have become powerful tools. Policymakers use them to justify reforms, researchers use them to test theories, and countries compete to climb the rankings.

But according to Maria Olsson, associate professor at the University of Inland Norway, these measures were built around traditional labour markets and Western ideals, leaving significant gaps in what they capture.

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“These measures typically focus on a narrow set of domains, often overlook disadvantages faced by men, rely on assumptions rooted in Western contexts and traditional labour market structures, and lack both a psychological perspective and a data-driven approach,” Olsson notes.

Associate Professor Maria Olsson at the Inland University of Norway (INN).

Through her research project, Olsson has been developing and testing a more inclusive measure called the Gindex.

This index aims to capture inequalities experienced by both women and men across various dimensions.

“What surprised me most was how unstable and context-dependent the concept of gender equality actually is once you stop treating it as a fixed, universal benchmark,” explains Olsson.

Countries that look very similar in standard rankings can look very different when you add domains such as norms, horizontal segregation, or disadvantages faced by men.

Horizontal segregation refers to the ways women and men are steered into entirely different fields of study and occupations.

What's missing?

Traditional indices focus primarily on vertical inequalities: how many women hold political office or participate in the workforce. But they overlook horizontal segregation.

The indices also leave out psychological and cultural dimensions.

“In our work, we incorporate psychological and normative dimensions, such as gender norms, attitudes toward care work, and perceptions of fairness,” Olsson explains. “These dimensions shape behaviour, policy support, and resistance to change, yet they are almost entirely absent from existing indices.”

Consider a country with high female employment rates. It may appear successful on paper. But a closer look might reveal strong expectations that women still carry most of the responsibility for care work at home, a reality that many indices fail to capture.

The Gindex project also looks at disadvantages faced by men.

“Our research has identified several domains where men face systematic disadvantages, particularly in areas like education, health, and family life,” Olsson says. She points to higher dropout rates from school, greater risks of mental health problems and suicide, and low use of parental leave.

Recognising these disadvantages does not mean they are equal to women's disadvantages.

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Women continue to face substantial structural barriers, especially in political power, economic security, and exposure to gender-based violence.

“The key insight is that gender inequality is not a zero-sum phenomenon,” Olsson notes. “Ignoring men's disadvantages can weaken support for equality policies and hide how rigid gender systems harm people of all genders in different ways.”

Varies across cultures

One notable finding is how dramatically country rankings can shift depending on which domains are included and how they're weighted.

“This is particularly true for less economically developed countries,” Olsson observes.

This instability reveals a deeper issue: many existing indices are not neutral measures of inequality. Instead, they reflect a specific cultural and socioeconomic model of equality.

The research team found important differences in how gender inequality is understood across cultures.

In some countries, particularly those with strong welfare states, gender equality is closely linked to balancing work and family life. In others, it's framed more narrowly around labour market participation or formal rights.

The team let their research reveal what mattered

Creating the Gindex has involved a continuous process of review and improvement. The team combined systematic reviews, analysis of large international datasets, and extensive discussions with researchers, practitioners, and people with lived experience of inequality.

“Rather than beginning with a fixed list of domains, the team let their research reveal which domains mattered,” Olsson explains. This process was slow and demanding, but it helped the team avoid narrow or culturally biased definitions of equality.

Unlike traditional indices that apply fixed weights universally, the Gindex uses a psychometric approach.

It treats gender equality as a multidimensional concept that can take different forms in different contexts.

The research team has conducted extensive analyses and development work during the past years. Several academic papers are now at different stages of completion and submission. At the same time, the index itself is still being refined, as the team continues to test and validate its structure and components.

To support this work, the team is also preparing to launch a dedicated website in the near future. The site will share publications and updates, and will also serve as an interactive tool for ongoing global data collection.

Beyond the numbers

If policymakers started using the Gindex, their approach might shift significantly.

“They would see that progress in one area does not guarantee equality overall,” Olsson suggests. “The Gindex is intended to encourage more targeted, context-specific interventions, rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.”

Some preliminary findings are already revealing new patterns.

“Some countries that rank highly in standard indices appear far more ambivalent once we include horizontal segregation and norms,” Olsson notes. Conversely, some countries that rank lower show strengths in areas such as shared caregiving or social support for equality that are currently invisible.

The main lesson is clear: ranking alone is a blunt tool. Detailed profiles of inequality are far more informative.

The Gindex project also raises a broader question about how we measure social progress. The metrics we choose aren't neutral. They reflect assumptions about what matters, what counts as inequality, and what version of equality we're striving for.

By including horizontal segregation, cultural norms, and a relational understanding of gender systems, the Gindex aims not only to improve measurement but also to encourage us to think more carefully about what equality means in different societies.