Data Visualization

Blog of the Data Visualization & Communication Course at OSB-AUB

“This is my favorite part about analytics: Taking boring flat data and bringing it to life through visualization” John Tukey

Gender Parity: A hidden opportunity for sustainable economic growth

Gender Parity: A hidden opportunity for sustainable economic growth

by | Nov 23, 2022 | Dashboard, Generic

“Hiring and promoting talented women is the right thing to do for society, and its economic imperatives.”                                                                                                                                                     Carlos Ghosn

Despite the economic and technological development, gender equality remains a topic of debate and the patriarchy still poses obstacles against women development and leadership. What if we can prove that promoting and sustaining an equality between genders results in high return on investment and creates an opportunity of economic expansion especially in developed as well as emergent nations?

The united nations created the Women Business and Law Index that assesses the performance of each country in tightening the gender gap through businesses, laws, and female integration.

Canada ranks first globally with an overall score of 97.8% indicating the successful effort the country is making towards gender parity and the high degree of female contribution to the business world. On the other hand, 4 Arab countries rank last, with United Arab Emirates interestingly being one of them with an overall score of 33.8%.

To understand the implications of the difference of gender gap on the country’s development, we will compare Canada to the UAE on different levels.

Canada, with the higher WBL index, has a higher economic growth compared to UAE. However, UAE, which ranks last, has much more developed infrastructure and better investment performance than Canada. Thus, there must be some other factors affecting the GDP Growth.

Between 2003 and 2016, UAE’s GDP had a noticeable increase of 170% parallel to an increase in female employment percentage of 14%.

Similarly, between 2010 and 2019, Canada’s GDP also had increased remarkably, parallel to a 10% increase in the proportion of female leaders in the parliament.

On the level of the population, Canada has a higher and healthier population growth compared to UAE, as well as Human Capital Index.

Thus, gender parity is more than giving rights to women; it is a critical factor to a healthy and sustainable economic growth. It is crucial to focus the efforts towards equality in order reach a holistic success especially for the underdeveloped countries.

To achieve gender parity, nations should:

  • Relax the restrictions on women’s time and schedule
  • Eliminate the legal and organizational barriers (Glass Ceiling) to women’s economic and political leadership
  • Promote the entrepreneurship and self-employment among young females

Vital Statistics in Lebanon

Vital Statistics in Lebanon

by | May 5, 2020 | Dashboard, Visualization

The following dashboard gives a complete image of the vital statistics in Lebanon starting year 1999 till the year 2018. It can be seen that the number of births has increased over the past few years by approximately 74 percent (top visual). However, during the same period, the number of deaths has increased slightly. The drastic increase in the number of births and yet slight increase in death rate call for further analysis of factors contributing to this improvement such as economic indicators, health care system and other relevant factors. What is worth noting, however, is that the number of divorces have doubled during the same time period. In comparison, the number of marriages has slightly increased between the years 1999 – 2018.

The following dashboard further shows a break down of these four variables (births, deaths, marriages, and divorces) by city and year. Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, has maintained the lowest number of births throughout the years (1999 – 2018). Interestingly, however, North Lebanon has had the highest number of vitals across all four variables throughout the same time period. Bekaa, on the other hand, had a relatively high marriage and divorce rate.

On a separate note, Lebanon has maintained an equal number of births and deaths across both genders throughout the same period (1999 – 2018).




Note that the dashboard is highly interactive. To maximize your experience, please view in full-screen and use filters by year and city as well as highlight by city.