Gender parity

Gender parity is a statistical measure used to describe ratios between men and women, or boys and girls, in a given population. Gender parity may refer to the proportionate representation of men and women in a given group, also referred to as sex ratio, or it may mean the ratio between any quantifiable indicator among men against the same indicator among women.

The terms gender parity and gender equality are sometimes used interchangeably but gender parity differs from gender equality in that it is a descriptive measure only and does not involve value judgements or argue for policy changes in the way gender equality does. However, gender parity may be one of the important metrics used to assess the state of gender equality within a group or organization.

Within the field of sociology, gender parity is generally understood to refer to a binary distinction between people based in identity and sex differences. Though the word "gender" is part of the term, the meaning as it is used is closer to assigned sex than to gender identity.