LATAM's Diminished Strategy: Female Leadership
Latin America claims to want more productivity, more innovation, and a stronger global integration. However, the region continues to treat female leadership as a social aspiration rather than a central pillar of its competitiveness strategy. This conceptual error has an enormous economic cost, as the region historically and systematically underutilizes its human resources, especially the talent of millions of women who are already driving the most dynamic transformations in its labor markets.
TL;DR
- Latin America aims for higher productivity and innovation but treats female leadership as a social aspiration, not a competitiveness pillar.
- Female labor force participation increased from 43% in 1990 to over 52% in 2023.
- Nearly 49% of new entrepreneurs in the region are women, with 60% of micro and small businesses created in the last decade led by women.
- Women surpass men in average years of schooling in at least 14 Latin American countries, yet a gender wage gap of approximately 17% persists.
- Companies with greater female inclusion tend to outperform their peers in innovation, operational resilience, and financial results.
- If female labor participation matched male levels, Latin America's GDP could increase by 14% to 34%.
- Effective strategies require integrating gender perspectives into productivity, innovation, export, STEM education, and public procurement programs.