The Gender Gap App: Measuring Voice and Influence
Beyond Numbers to Impact
In crisis-ridden times, we cannot afford to silence half of humanity. Yet traditional diversity metrics only count bodies in rooms—not who shapes conversations. This disconnect between presence and influence undermines our collective problem-solving capacity.
Making the Invisible Visible
The Gender Gap App (g-app), ideated with international organizations in Geneva, and architected by Thoughtworks, is our groundbreaking open-source tool that transforms how organizations understand participation dynamics. Unlike conventional analytics, g-app reveals the critical gaps between attendance and actual influence through explainable AI visualizations:
- Representation: Demographics by region, gender, age, and sector
- Participation: Speaking time distribution across diverse groups
- Influence: Authority patterns based on roles and positions
- Topics: Analysis of who speaks on which subjects
The Reality Gap
The data exposes a stark truth: events may register as 60% male/40% female, while speaking time has shown to skew 80% male/20% female. These hidden disparities limit perspective diversity precisely when complex global challenges demand our fullest collective intelligence.
Strategic Insights:
- Geographic Power Mapping: Prevents domination by single regions
- Authority Analysis: Reveals structural barriers (Example: WHO Executive Board had 9% female representation as Heads of Delegation despite women comprising 70% of the global health workforce)
- Generational Inclusion: Tracks meaningful youth participation beyond token “youth-only” discussions