The Republic has been ranked 16th in the world and 13th out of the 25 EU countries in terms of narrowing the gender gap, according to a new study by the World Economic Forum.

The study is the first attempt by the forum to assess the current size of the gender gap by measuring the extent to which women in 58 countries have achieved equality with men in five critical areas: economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment, and health and well-being.

Despite being placed just ahead of the US, the Republic is ranked behind new EU entrants Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and fares particularly poorly on economic participation and economic opportunity for women.

In terms of economic participation of women, or their presence in the workforce in quantitative terms, the Republic is ranked 37th, while it is ranked 51st in terms of economic opportunity, which measures the quality of women's economic involvement beyond their mere presence as workers.

Economic opportunity is a particularly serious problem in developed countries, where women may gain employment with relative ease, but where their employment is concentrated in poorly paid or unskilled job "ghettos", characterised by the absence of upward mobility and opportunity, according to the study.

"This is most commonly the result of negative or obstructive attitudes, and of legal and social systems which use maternity laws and benefits to penalise women economically for childbirth and child-care responsibilities, and discourage - or actively prevent - men from sharing family responsibilities," it said.

Nevertheless, the Republic performs well on educational attainment, where it is ranked ninth, and only slightly less on political empowerment and health and well-being, where it holds a rank of 12th in both cases.

Countries that do not capitalise on the full potential of one half of their societies are misallocating their human resources and undermining their competitive potential, the forum warned.

"Even in light of heightened international awareness of gender issues, it is a disturbing reality that no country has yet managed to eliminate the gender gap," it said.

Those that have succeeded best in narrowing the gender gap are the Nordic countries, which are characterised by strongly liberal societies, protection of minority rights and comprehensive welfare systems.