Abstract:

According to the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum applied in 2018 to 149 countries internationally, there is still much to progress in equal opportunities between women and men, in terms of regarding access to education, participation in the economy, labor, politics and incorporation into academia. The countries that have a better ranking in 2018 are Iceland, Norway, Sweden and those located in the last three places are Yemen, Pakistan and Iraq. However, in developing countries, the gender gap has been considerably narrowed with the expansion of education, specifically in terms of gender inequalities at the level of primary education in North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, however, during 2015 women continued to be underrepresented in higher education (Bertocchi and Bozzano, 2020). Increasing the education of women could be a way to reduce, for example, the gender gap in participation in the political system in Latin America (Azpuru, 2017).

In relation with the countries of the Pacific Alliance, made up of Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile (Vàquez, Arrendondo, Garza, 2016), there was a study that compared the similarities and differences of the countries belonging to this alliance. This research showed that the indicators are discouraging, because men's salaries are 17% higher than women´salaries, and in the case of other professions, such as: architecture, law and engineering, it is 58%, according to studies by the Inter-American Development Bank, (2014). On the other hand, González and Arredondo (2014), said that women have not been given the same opportunities as men, in the areas such a politics or economy. In addition, women who work in America in Latin America, they do not have a formal contract and the working conditions are poor and with extremely low salaries (ILO, 2019). In summary, considering the figures from the various studies of international reports, they show that in Latin America gender inequality remains unchanged despite the established policies to open more spaces for women, especially in the field of economics and politics, where there are significant differences from Latin America countries. The methodology will be mixed based on qualitative and quantitative secondary data sources from the analysis of studies, reports and international documents on the gender gap, mainly from the World Economic Forum, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The results of the countries with positive indicators have spent decades to show progress and significant changes on the gender gap. Finally, it is concluded that the policies established at countries level, are one of the first actions that favor gender inequality. These actions can be reflected in the Nordic countries, that since the 1800s until today , have increased policies in this matter, hence , it is the State that must guarantee equal opportunities.

Keywords:

Gender, public policies, education.