UAE tops GCC in Gender Progress Index (The National)

The National staff March 10, 2017 Updated: March 12, 2017 08:26 AM ABU DHABI // The UAE topped the GCC in a Gender Progress Index released by business school Insead this week. The index takes a holistic view towards gender issues and includes education, health, labour, politics, power and society. It considers the relative performance of men versus women with no distinction between the two. The findings were discussed at a seminar marking International Women’s Day at the Insead Middle East Campus in Abu Dhabi, and were presented by Dr Kai Chan, distinguished fellow at the school’s Innovation and Policy Initiative. "The index will enable policy makers to understand the problems within society and focus on where efforts should be placed," Dr Chan said. "It is about assessing which countries are doing their best in achieving the full potential of both sexes. There are more obstacles to women, but society progresses when both genders maximise their outcomes." He said so far, other gender reports had focused exclusively on either the level of gender progress or the ratio between men and women. "For the GCC countries to perform higher on the index, they need to ensure a more balanced development," he added.…

Radio interview with Dubai Eye (FM 103.8) – “INSEAD Gender Progress Index”

Dr Kai L Chan, Distinguished Fellow of Innovation & Policy Initiative for the business school INSEAD, introduces their new Gender Progress Index that studies where men, as well as women, are being left behind. Copyright © 2017, Arabian Radio Network. All rights reserved.

UAE tops Gender Progress Index in GCC (Gulf News)

The index reveals gender ratios on multiple dimensions and was revealed in Abu Dhabi on International Women’s Day Abu Dhabi: The UAE tops the GCC in a Gender Progress Index developed by one of the world’s leading business schools that takes a holistic view of gender issues. At a seminar held to mark International Women’s Day, titled ‘Inspire, Impact and Empower’, INSEAD revealed its findings on its Middle East campus in Abu Dhabi. Developed by Dr Kai L. Chan, Distinguished Fellow, Innovation and Policy Initiative, INSEAD, the index was created to help societies reach the full potential of both sexes, without prejudice on the gender of outcomes. It covers five dimensions: education, health, labour, politics and power, and society. The index is different from the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report (WEF GGR) which in 2016 reported that the most challenging gender gaps remain in the economic sphere and in health, projecting that, at the current rate of change, the gap will not be closed for another 170 years. “The [WEF GGR] report is a little misleading … it only looks at the gap in one dimension. This index looks at not only the gaps (the ratios of men to…

INSEAD releases Gender Progress Index on International Women’s Day

Index captures gender issues on multiple dimensions Middle East 08 March 2017 INSEAD, one of the world’s leading business schools, has launched the Gender Progress Index that takes a holistic view towards gender issues. The findings of the Index were discussed at a half day seminar marking International Women’s Day titled ‘Inspire, Impact, Empower’, at the INSEAD Middle East Campus in Abu Dhabi. The Index was presented by Dr. Kai L. Chan, Distinguished Fellow, Innovation & Policy Initiative, INSEAD. The seminar featured several women leaders in the Middle East who have made a significant contribution to the region and society, including Khawla Al Serkal, Director General, Sharjah Ladies Club; Helen Al Uzaizi, Chief Executive Officer, BizWorld UAE, Leena Khalil Co-Founder  Mumzworld.com; Hanan Darwish, Cluster President, Gulf and Pakistan, Schneider Electric; Sara Mohamed, Managing Partner, Executive-Women; Dunia Othman, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, mrUsta . Miguel Sousa Lobo, Associate Professor of Decision Sciences, Director of the Middle East Campus, INSEAD delivered the welcome note. He said:”It is important to understand the complexity around gender roles in a globalized world in order to develop different strategies to minimize gender gaps that differ across cultures and across domains – economic, health, legal, and…

Les langues, ligne de clivage du « village global »

La mondialisation devrait sceller la prédominance de l’anglais et du mandarin. Pourtant, l’influence d’autres langues – dont le français – demeure. Si le nombre global de langues tend à diminuer, le multilinguisme monte en puissance. Et une nouvelle ligne de partage se dessine entre espaces polyglottes et territoires mono-linguistiques. « Si un extra-terrestre débarquait sur terre, quelle langue lui permettrait d’entrer pleinement en relation avec le genre humain ? ». Ce petit détour par l’absurde est au principe de l’étude en forme de classement1 qu’a menée pendant six mois l’économiste montréalais d’origine cantonaise Kai L. Chan sur l’influence des langues dans le monde. De prime abord, la réponse semble aller de soi. Le martien en villégiature terrestre n’aurait aucune chance de communiquer sans le secours de l’anglais. Dans tous les principaux domaines de référence qui ont servi à cette évaluation (géographie, économie, communication, savoir et média, diplomatie), la langue de Shakespeare conserve son indéfectible premier rang. « Le monde converge vers un équilibre où l’anglais tient le rôle de lingua franca », rappelle Kai L. Chan. « On le voit, par exemple, dans les transports en commun japonais où les annonces et la signalisation se font aussi en anglais. Et de nombreux pays suivent le mouvement…

Mejorando la relevancia mundial del castellano

Para Cristian Mancilla El doctor Kai Chan describe un método para medir la utilidad o eficacia —me atrevería a decir también relevancia— de una lengua de acuerdo con cinco criterios: geografía, economía, comunicación, conocimiento y diplomacia. El factor geográfico considera los países en los que se habla una lengua, el área terrestre y los turistas que llegan a ella. El factor económico considera el PIB, el ingreso per cápita, las exportaciones, el mercado de divisas y la composición SDR. El factor comunicativo considera los hablantes nativos, los hablantes de segunda lengua, el tamaño de las familias y los turistas que salen. El factor cognitivo-mediático considera el contenido de Internet, las películas estelares, las quinientas universidades mejor posicionadas y las revistas académicas. El factor diplomático, por último, considera el FMI, la ONU, el Banco Mundial y un conjunto de diez organizaciones supranacionales. Hay dos aspectos específicos del factor cognitivo-mediático sobre los cuales estoy influyendo con mi actividad de escritura: el contenido de Internet y las revistas académicas. Chan fue consultado en una charla acerca de por qué no había incluido los libros publicados y traducidos en el índice y respondió que estos datos no están fácilmente disponibles en Internet, así que deberemos…

MP laughed at for his bus-driving past? Elitist attitudes persist in politics, experts say

By Tania Kohut National Online Journalist, Breaking News  Global News A sharp chorus of laughter was heard in the House of Commons on Tuesday as Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi mentioned his past career as a bus driver, while offering condolences for a slain Winnipeg Transit employee. On Wednesday, Liberal MP Adam Vaughan asked that the laughter heard the day before be withdrawn, and the record corrected. He called it offensive to the House, the values of Canadians and to the country’s diversity. “Laughing at the previous employment status of a member of this House is offensive, especially when that service was a public service to the people of this country.” In response, Tory MP Candice Bergen agreed with Vaughan’s message of inclusion, and rebuffed the accusation that her party members would laugh at a person’s past profession. After all, it’s called the House of Commons due to its intent to represent common Canadians. “We absolutely respect and honour all of the jobs that we have done, and the experience that we bring to this House,” Bergen said. But with all the talk of diversity in politics — getting more women involved, people of all ethnic backgrounds — professional experience and education can be added to the list of invisible barriers. Politicians tend to…

New ratings for a knowledge economy

FEBRUARY 07, 2017 Author: MARK TOWNSEND Which countries lead the global knowledge economy? At least one academic suggests that current assessments of a country’s knowledge base are too narrow and reliant on averages. Historically, evaluations used a binary measure focusing on quantity of education and average scholastic performance. In research to be presented in April at INSEAD, Kai Chan, a distinguished fellow at INSEAD Abu Dhabi, argues that its brightest talents—not its average capabilities—determine the knowledge capacity of a country. He has developed the Intellectual Capital Index (ICI), which incorporates factors like creativity and the ability to attract talent. “It is a fresh perspective that recognizes that it is the right tail of the distribution, rather than the average, that expands the frontier,” he tells Global Finance. The ICI considers six aspects that influence knowledge acquisition/production: (1) quantity of education, (2) quality of education, (3) average educational skills, (4) elite educational skills, (5) creativity and complexity and (6) attractiveness and openness to talent. There are 24 indicators spanning the life cycle of talent, and according to Chan the index is a measure of a country’s stock of “smarts.” Using his formula to rank countries with the best intellectual ecosystem, Chan…

TRENDS magazine interview: Uncertainty reigns

UNCERTAINTY REIGNS Published: Jan 26, 2017 [caption id="attachment_2347" align="alignleft" width="300"] Dr Kai L Chan, Economist and Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD, and advisor to the UAE government on competitiveness and statistics[/caption] Kai L Chan, economist and distinguished fellow at INSEAD, and advisor to the UAE government on statistics and competitiveness, says the big story in 2017 and beyond will be how China will engage with the international community as it economic power continues to rise. Q: 2016 has been a tough year for many oil-rich Gulf countries, especially due to dwindling oil prices. What are your expectations for 2017? A: Oil prices are expected to make a moderate recovery, but most forecasts peg the long-term price to still be well below the peak price of the early half of the decade (above $100). In fact, recent moves by OPEC have already given the price a small boost. In 2017, the price is expected to recover toward $60. Although much higher than the low experienced in 2015 (below $30), this is still less than the (pre-drop) break-even price for most countries in the region. So this means countries in the region will need to adjust their spending behavior, though less so in…

Le français troisième

Un nouveau classement international place le français au troisième rang 9 janvier 2017 |Jean-Benoît Nadeau | Actualités en société | Selon un nouveau classement publié en décembre et intitulé Power Language Index (Indice des langues influentes), le français se classe troisième parmi les langues les plus influentes, après l’anglais et le chinois, mais devant l’espagnol, l’arabe et le russe. Son auteur, le professeur Kai L. Chan, qui est chercheur invité à l’INSEAD, et Torontois d’origine, a mesuré 124 langues selon 20 indicateurs. Ils les regroupent en cinq catégories : géographie, économie, communication, connaissance et information, et diplomatie. Chacune de ces grandes catégories compte pour 9 points sur 40 (ou 22,5 %) et la cinquième, la diplomatie, pour 4 points sur 40 (ou 10 %). Le français se range 2e pour la géographie, 6e pour l’économie, 5e pour la communication, 5e pour la connaissance et les médias et 1er pour la diplomatie, et donc globalement 3e. Ses conclusions sont d’autant plus intéressantes qu’elles sont similaires à d’autres classements, malgré des méthodes et des indicateurs très différents. Pour mémoire, je rappelle que le premier du genre, celui de George Weber il y a 20 ans, se basait sur seulement six critères. Quant à l’étude du MIT (Global Language Network), elle se…