Introducing the Perception Index of Gender Equity in Management. Mapping gender prejudice levels in North-West Region, Romania

Abstract Gender inequities have long been measured and analysed, but their underlying causes have been overlooked. The paper introduces the Perception Index of gender equity in management (PIGEM) as a tool to measure levels of gender prejudice towards female professional empowerment. PIGEM analyses gender biases within 5 dimensions: educational, economic, political, family/private space, and safety/quality of life, depicting both the prejudice levels for each dimension and a total PIGEM score. Being calibrated for Romania’s social and cultural context, the results are correlated with objective secondary data referring to the local level of territorial, social, and economic development through Geographically Weighted Regressions. Results indicate an overall low level of gender prejudice within the North-west region, but high levels of bias within the private space, political, and quality of life dimensions. Furthermore, while the local level of development explains local levels of gender prejudice, socio-economic risks account for larger areas characterized by low and medium levels of bias. PIGEM is presented as a tool for analysing how the attachment to traditional gender-role attitudes is influenced by dynamics taking place within a social space. The methodology presented can be adjusted and applied to other study areas, taking into account the local cultural context.