Scoring Criteria

Our Metrics

Gender Fair rates companies on metrics derived from the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) to ensure companies meet benchmark investments in gender equality—internally and in the communities they serve.

Launched in 2010 by UN Women & the United Nations Global Compact, the WEPs offer specific, measurable goals for gender equity.

Gender Fair rates companies on a 100-point index assessing five key areas:

Leadership & Opportunities

Employee Policies

Advertising & Communication

Diversity & Inclusion

Social Impact

We analyze a company’s commitment to advancing women in leadership throughout its organization. Questions include:

  • Are there leadership programs for women?
  • Does the percentage of women on the Board meet or exceed the current benchmark of 20% (average in Fortune 500)?
  • Is the percentage of women of color on the board above the current benchmark of 8%?
  • Does the percentage of women in management meet or exceed the current benchmark of 41% (average according to the US Government Accounting Agency)?

*Women in Management: Management figures are self-reported, and definitions may vary.

We analyze a company’s ability to provide a supportive working environment for employees. Questions include:

  • Does the paid primary leave meet or exceed the current benchmark?
  • Does the paid secondary leave meet or exceed the current benchmark?
  • Does the company have programs or policies such as flexible work arrangements, back-up child/elder care, returnships, health & wellness?
  • Has the company published a gender pay gap study?
  • Does the company have any of the following in regards to sexual harassment: a third party reporting hotline, ombuds, a non-forced arbitration policy?

Score provided by Advertising Benchmark Index, who developed the first-ever measurement for unconscious gender bias in advertising, which have been adopted by the ANA, AFE and #SeeHer as their Gender Equality Measure®.

We analyze a company’s commitment to intersectional gender equality. Questions include:

  • Does the company report on the diversity of its employees?
  • Does the company report diversity in its supply chain?

We analyze a company's engagement with promoting gender equality outside of the workplace. Questions include:

  • Does the company have community-based programs that focus on women, girls, or gender equality specifically?
  • Does the company publish the financial contributions to these programs?

The Data We Use

The current iteration of public data was collected between September 2023 and January 2024 from publicly available sources including annual reports, corporate social impact reports, sustainability reports, and company websites. Our ratings also incorporate credible, independent, third-party data from a number of sources, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as well as ABX and Equilar. The data collection and evaluation timelines of these sources may differ from ours.

Due to the rigor of the validation process for Gender Fair Certified companies, evaluations of public companies are conducted once per year, and ratings are valid for one year from the date of validation, regardless of changes within Gender Fair or the rated organization.

If a foreign company has a U.S. division with its own executive committee and board, we will use the data for the U.S. division in our ratings. When rating foreign companies, we include their programs and policies in the U.S., and not in other markets.

We take every effort to ensure the accuracy of the data, and contact each company to give them the opportunity to confirm. Individuals and companies are invited to submit a request for correction for any information they believe is incorrect.

Although we work closely with companies to verify their data and improve their metrics, we are never pay-to-play and reserve Gender Fair Rating and Certification for those companies that meet the standard. Rated and Certified companies are subject to annual reevaluation and those that do not continue to meet the standard will have their status revoked.

If you represent a publicly held company, and have questions about your company’s rating, please contact us at research@genderfair.com.

The Companies We Rate

Gender Fair collects data and applies a proprietary methodology to rate publicly traded companies. Our database contains information on more than 500 such companies.

As of summer 2019, we launched assessment of privately held organizations, including non-profits. As private companies are not bound by the same disclosure mandates as public companies, we rely on self-reported data to evaluate these organizations.

As we are committed to transparency, we are only able to provide points to companies that disclose information whether on workfoce composition (e.g., EEO-1 reports), employee benefits and supplier diversity spend.

In both cases, data is individually validated by our research team prior to the release of a company’s rating.

UN Women’s Empowerment Principles

Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality.

Treat all women and men fairly at work - respect and support human rights and nondiscrimination.

Ensure employee health, well-being, and safety.

Promote education, training and for career advancement.

Implement gender equitable enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices.

Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy.

Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality.

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