In a 2015 Status of Women in the States study conducted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Colorado was tied for 9th place with Rhode Island as one of the best states for women.
That’s good news, right?
Well, let’s not celebrate just yet.
In data science, when someone asks what a number means, our common response is: “It depends on your baseline.”
Our 9th place spot needs to start with the baseline. In no country on earth are women equal to men. Not one. Not by any measure, if you ask the World Economic Forum, United Nations, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In North America, it will take 158 years to reach gender equality.
To be clear, gender equality does not mean that men and women are the same – rather it means that their “opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female.”