Gender Gap Report 2026: Women are highly educated but severely underrepresented

Since 2006, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report has measured how far countries have come in closing the gaps between men and women across four areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

This year marks its 20th edition, covering 145 economies. Among the economies tracked since the very first edition, the overall score has risen from 64.2% to 69.4%, its highest yet. But at this rate, global gender parity is still estimated to be 120 years away.

So, what does this index actually tell us, and what does it leave out? And what does it mean for Malaysia?

BFM talks to Sivananthi Thanenthiran, the executive director of the Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (Arrow).

In this conversation, they focus on:

Presenter and producer: Dashran Yohan for BFM