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…