Sometimes this question gets framed as a social issue. A gender issue. A matter of fairness.
It is not. It is an economic issue.
And I am not the one saying so. McKinsey, the World Bank, the IMF, and the World Economic Forum are saying so. With data.
The Global Picture: How Much Money Is Left on the Table?
The McKinsey Global Institute's scenario is striking: if women participated in the workforce at the same level as men, up to 28 trillion dollars, or 26 percent, could be added to annual global GDP. That is roughly equivalent to the combined economies of the United States and China.
The World Bank is more conservative but still paints a substantial picture: closing the gender gap in employment and entrepreneurship could increase global GDP by more than 20 percent. The IMF frames it differently: the failure to deploy women's talents and abilities is categorized as a misallocation that directly suppresses productivity.
In other words, keeping women outside the economy is not an absence. It is a choice. And every choice has a cost.
Where Does Turkey Stand?
The 2025 data published jointly by TurkStat and UN Women Turkey puts Turkey's position in sharp relief.
Women's labor force participation rate stands at 36.8 percent. For men, it is 72 percent. A gap of 35 percentage points. The employment rate tells a similar story: 32.5 percent for women, 66.9 percent for men.
21.5 million women want to work but remain outside the labor force due to a range of structural barriers. Of those, 35 percent cite domestic responsibilities as their primary reason for not participating.
In senior and mid-level management positions, women account for 21.5 percent. Among the boards of the 50 largest companies listed on Borsa Istanbul, the share of women directors has grown from 12.2 percent in 2016 to 18.3 percent in 2025. That is progress. But it is still 18.3 percent.
On pay, the picture is even sharper: university-educated women earn 17.4 percent less than men with equivalent qualifications. Education is converging. Pay is not.
What About Industry Specifically?
The WEF's 2025 Global Gender Gap Report contains an interesting finding: over the past decade, women's presence in the workforce has grown across almost every sector. In infrastructure and construction, the increase reached 8.9 percentage points. In the public sector, 6.5 points.
But in manufacturing and industrial production, the picture is different. Women remain a minority. At the tables where production decisions, technology investments, and sustainability strategies are made, the female voice is frequently absent.
This is not only a representation problem. Research consistently shows that companies with higher proportions of women in leadership deliver stronger financial performance, more robust risk management, and more sustainable long-term growth.
Why Gender Equality Is a Strategic Issue, Not a Social One
Framing women's economic participation as a matter of social responsibility or corporate virtue places the conversation in the wrong register.
This is about productivity. Growth. Competitiveness.
Turkey's 2024-2028 Development Plan targets a women's labor force participation rate of 40.1 percent by 2028. That target is achievable. But without structural change, it remains a number. Accessible childcare, flexible working arrangements, access to finance, mentorship networks; these are the components that turn a target into a reality.
Platforms like GAIA play a critical role at precisely this point. Bringing together women industrialists, entrepreneurs, investors and experts under a shared vision is not simply an act of solidarity. It is ecosystem building. And ecosystems transform economies.
In Closing
The data is unambiguous. Women's full participation in the economy is not a preference. It is a condition for growth, sustainability, and competitive strength.
Women's leadership in industry is not only a question of representation. It is a question of transformation. And that transformation is inevitable, both in terms of social dynamics and economic necessity.
References
McKinsey Global Institute. (2015). The Power of Parity: How Advancing Women's Equality Can Add $12 Trillion to Global Growth. mckinsey.com.
World Economic Forum. (2025). Global Gender Gap Report 2025. weforum.org.
World Economic Forum. (2024). Global Gender Gap Report 2024: Economic and Leadership Gaps. weforum.org.
TurkStat and UN Women Turkey. (2025). Women in Turkey in Statistics 2025. tuik.gov.tr.
TurkStat. (2025). Labour Force Statistics 2024. tuik.gov.tr.
Ministry of Family and Social Services. Women Entrepreneurship Statistics 2024. kadingirisimci.gov.tr.
Bloomberg HT. (8 March 2026). Gender Gap Widens in Unemployment, Employment and Wages. bloomberght.com.
ICIEC. (2024). The Economic Power of Gender Balance. iciec.isdb.org.