20 must-read gender stories of the week

Welcome to your weekly digest of stories about how the gender gap plays out around the world — in business, health, education and politics.

Poland set for female prime minister. The country follows Taiwan with a two-woman race to the top. (The Economist)

Exploring Sweden’s ‘feminist’ foreign policy. The foreign affairs minister has overseen a standoff with Saudi Arabia. (Al Jazeera)

Female Saudi chefs in high demand. The government supports women working in places where they are not obliged to deal with men. (Saudi Gazette)

Iranian women banned from volleyball match. Authorities reneged on promises they could attend sporting events. (Human Rights Watch)

Is the niqab oppressive? A Pakistani-Canadian writer sparks an intense debate. (Scroll.in)

Modi prompts #SelfieWithDaughter trend. The prime minister backed the initiative to combat India’s plummeting sex ratio. (Hindustan Times)

How cities are helping women feel safer. Unsafe public spaces limit women’s life choices. (World Economic Forum)

Protecting the defenders of women’s rights. “I am trying to defend grassroots women. I know I can be shot anytime.” (World Economic Forum)

US businesses get political. A corporate shift towards values of tolerance is a reflection of customers’ attitudes. (World Economic Forum)

Advertising that shatters gender stereotypes. The ads that won the Sheryl Sandberg-backed award for addressing gender inequality. (BuzzFeed)

Interest in STEM rises, leaving women behind. An uptick in hiring is coupled with a failure to close the gender gap. (US News)

Facebook’s diversity update shows how far tech has to go. Changing hiring practices will be a long process. (Quartz)

Looking for a woman-friendly tech job? These sites want to help. (Fortune)

What women really want from apprenticeships. How supporting women can transform a company. (LinkedIn)

Wall Street’s women are stuck in the middle. Banks say all the right things about promoting women, but the numbers tell a different story. (Bloomberg)

What Ruth Bader Ginsburg taught me about being a stay-at-home dad. A lawyer puts his former boss’s ideals into practice. (The Atlantic)

Lady Judge takes her governance campaign to Japan. “I want to help Japanese women get a place at the board table.”(Financial Times)

Board equality is a struggle for Japan’s womenomics. Many find it hard to see how companies can transform their workforce by 2020. (Financial Times)

A single mum in Papua New Guinea turned international designer. Florence Jaukae cried when she saw garments made from her cloth on a New York catwalk. (Public Radio International)

Determined Afghan women are dreaming big. After decades of war, they are entering fields once reserved for men. (Women in the World)

Statistic of the Week

One extra year of primary school can mean 10%-20% higher wages for a girl, according to Plan.

Quote of the Week

“There’s plenty of room in the world for mediocre men, but there is no room for mediocre women. You have to work exceptionally hard, and you have to know what you’re talking about. Otherwise, you’re just interrupting for the sake of interrupting.”
Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State

Author: Saadia Zahidi is a Senior Director, Head of Gender Parity and Human Capital and Constituents at the World Economic Forum.

Image: A woman looks at her mobile phone next to a stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, June 30, 2015. REUTERS/Toru Hanai