Janell D. Townsend wrote:
> Therefore, if the right data is available, the concept of a glass ceiling
> for women belonging to a particular religion could be tested empirically.
Precisely. There is some data in the United Nations Common Database
that I think could be used. While these data is the best available, I
would not be ready to say that is satisfies the sampling conditions for
statistical inference. I have plotted some interesting correlations
that show gender equity, prevalent religion, and economic indicators for
100+ countries. For example, see Figure 7.3 in the following page:
http://www.pelican-consulting.com/solisust07.html
Country names are not mentioned, but the raw data show rather clearly
that the countries with the lowest gender equality scores are also the
poorest countries *and* these countries happen to be those in which the
dominant religion induces gender inequality. So I compared four
different indicators of gender equality, and when the countries are
ordered in descending order of gender equity score, the same bunch of
countries (and dominant religions, and widespread poverty) seem to be
associated with the highest and lowest gender equality scores for all
gender equality indices. See this in Figure 2 in the following web page:
http://www.pelican-consulting.com/solisust08.html
I now that correlations do not imply causality, but they suggest where
to dig deeper. An excellent summarization of the UN data as of 2005 is
available (free download):
http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/
The 2006 edition is forthcoming. Available evidence points to the
patriarchal religions as the main cause for gender inequities, and an
obstacle to human development even in the more economically advanced
countries. Of course, matriarchy would be as bad as patriarchy. My
working hypothesis is that *gender balance* in roles of authority is
best for sustainable human development. This applies to roles of
authority in all institutions, both religious and secular, including
businesses.
I would be grateful to get some critical reviews of my work, suggestions
for data sources, etc.
Sincerely,
Luis
--
Luis T. Gutierrez, Ph.D., P.E.
The Pelican Web
http://pelican-consulting.com
Solidarity & Sustainability Newsletter
http://pelican-consulting.com/solisust.html
Current Issue
http://www.pelican-consulting.com/solisustv02n06.html
Email: [log in to unmask]
____
WAIB-L is brought to you by the Academy of International Business.
For information: http://cibs.tamu.edu/waib
To post message: [log in to unmask]
For assistance: [log in to unmask]
|
