Ever wondered why the Scandinavian countries do so well in women’s soccer? It has to do with their women’s inclusion in the workplace.
A new study conducted by Michael Klein, professor of international economics at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, set out to determine whether the degree of gender equality in a country might be a strong predictor of the success of its women in international sports competitions.
His study, “Work and Play: International Evidence of Gender Equality in Employment and Sports,” will be published early next year in The Journal of Sports Economics.
Klein discovered another not previously reported or recognized influence on athletic performance—workforce equality—that strongly correlated with women’s success on the playing field. Workforce equality was determined by the number of women working in a country compared to the number of men who had jobs.
Seven of the 10 industrial countries with the highest level of workforce equality rates qualified for the World Cup in either 1999 or 2003, and four of those nations—Sweden, Norway, Canada and the United States—qualified for both competitions. By contrast, none of the seven industrial countries with the lowest workforce equality rates, including Ireland, Spain, Greece and Austria, qualified this year.
More on Klein’s study >>
Personally in USA’s case, I think Title IX has made more of a difference than workplace equality which is a myth.