girls today outperform boys in some areas of education and are less likely to drop out of school but the glass is still only half full women continue to earn less than men are less likely to make it to the top of the career ladder and are more likely to spend their final years in poverty making the most of the talent pool ensures that men and women have an equal chance to contribute both at home and in the workplace thereby enhancing their wellbeing and that of society greater educational equality does not guarantee equality in the workplace however if high childcare costs mean that it is not economically worthwhile for women to work fulltime if workplace culture penalises women for interrupting their careers to have children and if women continue to bear the burden of unpaid household chores childcare and looking after ageing parents it will be difficult for them to realise their full potential in paid work in developing countries if discriminatory social norms favour early marriage and limit women s access to credit girls significant gains in educational attainment may not lead to increased formal employment and entrepreneurship