Medium: To Close the Gender Gap, We Have to Close the Data Gap
Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

“…The hard reality is that in too many areas, data doesn’t exist. What’s more  —  even where it does exist, it’s often sexist. It misses women and girls entirely, or undercounts and undervalues their economic and social contributions to their families, communities, and countries. These knowledge gaps and biases have two effects. First, they hamper our ability to advance the cause of gender equality. … Second, these gaps and biases reinforce the harmful stereotypes and practices that are grounded in the attitude that women and girls simply don’t matter. With a better understanding of the way women live their lives, and the specific inequalities, indignities, and injustices that hold them back every day, we can see what needs fixing, whether solutions are working, and what progress is being made. That’s because gathering and analyzing data makes the invisible, visible. Closing the gender gap, requires closing the data gap…” (5/17).