In which state are maternity protection policies around the world? How many days are entitled to dads when their child is born? The International Labour Organization (ILO) has gathered data to help answer these questions. And has recently announced two new digital tools: the Global Care Policy Portal and the Care Policy Investment Simulator. As ILO describes, its open-access portal is “a knowledge hub on legal and statistical indicators on national care leave policies and services.” While the Investment Simulator, free to use previous registration, “calculates the investment requirements in 4 care policy areas and...

    Artificial Intelligence has been around for quite a long time. Aware of not as we may be, it takes care of part of our everyday lives. We rely on machine learning for almost everything. Periodically, discussions arise and make the news worldwide about the timely questions regarding its development. Will AI ever become independent? Is it biased? Will there come a time when it won't need human input anymore? Over the years, we have seen the attention going to evolved specimens designed with anthropomorphic appearances to result less intimidating, the first attempts at conversations between machines, and the frenzy around...

  When asked how the pandemic affected their businesses, according to recent surveys*, half of female early-stage entrepreneurs agreed it created new business opportunities; one quarter reported it prompted the use of new digital technologies; and over half confirmed they expect to adopt more digital technologies in the coming months. Yet in 2023, men entrepreneurs are still twice as likely as them to raise more than 100k $ in funding. More often choose more innovative sectors, and start their businesses earlier in their lives (40% begin before 35, and 8% before 25.) Globally women are active entrepreneurs. And almost...

    Opera was my initial introduction to Italy. I vividly remember as a wide-eyed child in the 1980s’ China, worlds apart from Italy, on Sunday mornings, I woke up in birds chirping, gentle sunlight, and, opera songs, played by my parents from our cassette boombox. Fascinated and enchanted, I would close my eyes and imagine: the great concert halls, and the stories, lives, and cultures inside operas, week after week, month after month. Then I blinked, time flew, loved ones aged, world changed beyond recognition. Years later I traveled to New York to study, where I visited Lincoln Center for the first time, home of the...

  The STEM fields are living in an ongoing talent crisis. Worldwide there is an evident gap between open positions and profiles able to fill them. And no matter the need and the benefits of enlarging the pool from where to draw, half of the potential talents remain unexplored. It isn't wholly fostered and, overall, often overlooked. Girls and women continue to be told science and technology are not subject matters for them. Significant steps forward have been made and more students have accessed higher education programs, entered the labour market with higher qualifications, have been promoted and granted better-paid jobs. Yet,...

  "We cannot find the right female profile to become our [insert a top position here]," is an excuse - if it ever was such - soon to become outdated. Or that, when used, will unmask purposeful fabrications. In the past few years, women have been enrolling on business schools in numbers never seen before. And that means that more and more (and more) female professionals are ready to lead a company, a division or a team. If it was ever needed, now more and more (and more) have all the certifications to prove it. To be clear, that should not have not even been the case. But, to be honest, when choosing a profile for top positions,...

    Since November, in Texas, young women under 18 must have parental consent to access free contraception offered by Title X. This federal grant program was created in 1970 to provide family planning and preventive health services. With this decision, the State, which has already been known for its conservative positions in matters of reproductive - then, also health at large - rights, further implements its restrictive laws in matters of family planning. And it does so just months after last year's overturning of the US Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which made the termination of pregnancy a constitutional right for...

    Trends wordlwide prove that greater diversity in the workplace, from junior employees to c-suits, results in better financial results. This summer, the behavioural science consultancy MindGym put down some numbers to highlight the benefits. The paper argues that businesses with higher levels of diversity outperform and are more innovative. “Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 21% more likely to deliver above-average profits than those in the bottom quartile. Those in the top quartile for ethnic diversity are 33% more likely to deliver above-average profits than the lowest quartile.” Moreover, “Inclusive...

    In 2022 gender equality progresses at a snail's pace. Worsened even by complex crises that have become the norm. And, as numbers show, the decrease in growth and advancement is spread throughout the EU. These remarks accompany EIGE's Gender Equality Index. The current edition refers to data collected in 2020, and with everything that has happened since, the results are described as warning signs of an unaltered situation for women. This year's Index shows pieces of evidence of rising inequalities and unprecedented drops. "What is most pressing – intervenes EIGE Director Carlien Scheele - is that this year's score has taken a...

  The video games industry is in excellent shape. In 2020 Covid boosted the time and money spent playing and the penetration of gaming in everyday lives. More people than ever engaged in mini-adventures to play on their smartphones or started longer quests with others online. After such a jump, most expected a slight decline. Yet, in 2021, the market size improved by 1.4%, with a revenue of 180.3 billion dollar. And some expect it to expand further at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.9% from 2022 to 2030. That is good news for many businesses in the compartment, and in terms of employment opportunities. From the...