The Effects of Globalization on Gender Inequality, and the Fallout of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Gender inequality generally implies dissimilar treatment or disparate perceptions of individuals based on their gender, and it is often used to indicate discrimination against women. It encompasses various aspects, including limitations on access to education and healthcare services, and restrictions on asset ownership, political contribution, and labour force participation. 

Hence, the prevalence of gender inequality has important consequences for women’s well-being, and for their economic opportunities and social status. It also tends to decelerate economic development, and to result in under-exploited production resources. Globalization is commonly perceived as an important factor that affects gender inequality along economic, social, and political dimensions, and that narrows the differences in achievements between women and men in terms of health, empowerment, and economic activities. 

This favourable connection between globalization and the advances toward gender parity has been distorted, however, by the COVID-19 pandemic, which inflicted global economic disruptions and generated a wide range of international uncertainties. 

As such, this pandemic is expected to have impacted gender inequality directly, and indirectly through its fallout on globalization. This study empirically examines the effects of globalization on gender inequality, and it subsequently uses the empirical outcomes to analyze the corresponding implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.