placestats

The puzzle of women managers and homicide

Here is a strange pattern. Countries where more of the managers are women tend to have more homicide. It is not about wealth, and it is not chance. But it is also not what it first seems. This article shows how a link across the whole world can come mostly from one part of it.

The pattern

Each dot is a country. Across the page is the share of managers who are women. Up the page is the homicide rate, killings per 100,000 people. Across 131 countries the link is +0.42. Comparing only countries with similar income makes it slightly stronger, +0.46.

Women in management · % of managers →Homicide rate · per 100,000 population →5.89%71%049.4Afghanistan: 5.89% of managers, 4.03 per 100,000 populationAngola: 16.2% of managers, 4.1 per 100,000 populationAlbania: 33.4% of managers, 1.76 per 100,000 populationUnited Arab Emirates: 23.5% of managers, 0.693 per 100,000 populationArgentina: 34.1% of managers, 4.49 per 100,000 populationArmenia: 31.9% of managers, 2.21 per 100,000 populationAustralia: 39.4% of managers, 0.854 per 100,000 populationAustria: 36.3% of managers, 0.876 per 100,000 populationBurundi: 25.7% of managers, 5.65 per 100,000 populationBelgium: 33.1% of managers, 1.08 per 100,000 populationBangladesh: 7.23% of managers, 2.34 per 100,000 populationBulgaria: 39.1% of managers, 1.09 per 100,000 populationBahamas, The: 59.8% of managers, 32.2 per 100,000 populationBosnia and Herzegovina: 30.2% of managers, 1.22 per 100,000 populationBelarus: 42% of managers, 2.38 per 100,000 populationBelize: 41.7% of managers, 28.1 per 100,000 populationBolivia: 22.3% of managers, 4.42 per 100,000 populationBrazil: 38.7% of managers, 19.3 per 100,000 populationBarbados: 50.4% of managers, 7.44 per 100,000 populationBrunei Darussalam: 36.4% of managers, 0.486 per 100,000 populationBhutan: 15.5% of managers, 2.47 per 100,000 populationBotswana: 48.2% of managers, 11.4 per 100,000 populationSwitzerland: 33.3% of managers, 0.597 per 100,000 populationChile: 31.6% of managers, 6.35 per 100,000 populationColombia: 41.9% of managers, 24.9 per 100,000 populationCosta Rica: 46.2% of managers, 17.7 per 100,000 populationCyprus: 27.5% of managers, 0.957 per 100,000 populationCzechia: 26.9% of managers, 0.768 per 100,000 populationGermany: 27.7% of managers, 0.911 per 100,000 populationDenmark: 26.9% of managers, 0.841 per 100,000 populationDominican Republic: 47.8% of managers, 10.9 per 100,000 populationEcuador: 45.3% of managers, 45.7 per 100,000 populationEgypt, Arab Rep.: 22.3% of managers, 1.31 per 100,000 populationSpain: 37% of managers, 0.691 per 100,000 populationEstonia: 36% of managers, 1.54 per 100,000 populationEthiopia: 27% of managers, 8.51 per 100,000 populationFinland: 39.2% of managers, 0.982 per 100,000 populationFiji: 34.9% of managers, 2.06 per 100,000 populationFrance: 38.7% of managers, 1.35 per 100,000 populationMicronesia, Fed. Sts.: 18.2% of managers, 0.907 per 100,000 populationUnited Kingdom: 40.5% of managers, 1.12 per 100,000 populationGeorgia: 37.5% of managers, 2.03 per 100,000 populationGhana: 26.6% of managers, 1.83 per 100,000 populationGuinea-Bissau: 25.6% of managers, 1.12 per 100,000 populationGreece: 35% of managers, 0.84 per 100,000 populationGrenada: 43.3% of managers, 13.7 per 100,000 populationGuatemala: 39.8% of managers, 23.4 per 100,000 populationGuyana: 42.1% of managers, 19.1 per 100,000 populationHonduras: 46% of managers, 31.4 per 100,000 populationCroatia: 25.5% of managers, 0.667 per 100,000 populationHungary: 42.1% of managers, 0.723 per 100,000 populationIndonesia: 24.8% of managers, 0.304 per 100,000 populationIndia: 11.9% of managers, 2.82 per 100,000 populationIreland: 37.8% of managers, 0.654 per 100,000 populationIran, Islamic Rep.: 21.4% of managers, 2.38 per 100,000 populationIraq: 17.5% of managers, 9.46 per 100,000 populationIceland: 37.3% of managers, 1.29 per 100,000 populationIsrael: 32.8% of managers, 1.63 per 100,000 populationItaly: 25.3% of managers, 0.568 per 100,000 populationJamaica: 63.9% of managers, 49.4 per 100,000 populationJordan: 52.3% of managers, 0.988 per 100,000 populationJapan: 14.5% of managers, 0.229 per 100,000 populationKenya: 43.6% of managers, 4.87 per 100,000 populationCambodia: 23.6% of managers, 1.82 per 100,000 populationKiribati: 37.4% of managers, 7.12 per 100,000 populationLebanon: 28.9% of managers, 2.24 per 100,000 populationLiberia: 26.1% of managers, 3.09 per 100,000 populationSri Lanka: 29.2% of managers, 3.31 per 100,000 populationLithuania: 37.4% of managers, 2.63 per 100,000 populationLuxembourg: 26.9% of managers, 1.53 per 100,000 populationLatvia: 44% of managers, 2.5 per 100,000 populationMaldives: 22.6% of managers, 0.615 per 100,000 populationMexico: 39.3% of managers, 24.9 per 100,000 populationNorth Macedonia: 36.4% of managers, 1.53 per 100,000 populationMalta: 22.7% of managers, 0.563 per 100,000 populationMyanmar: 41% of managers, 2.58 per 100,000 populationMontenegro: 48.1% of managers, 0.789 per 100,000 populationMongolia: 40.5% of managers, 5.64 per 100,000 populationMozambique: 29.1% of managers, 3.59 per 100,000 populationMauritius: 35.6% of managers, 2.27 per 100,000 populationMalawi: 47.7% of managers, 1.78 per 100,000 populationNamibia: 48.2% of managers, 11.2 per 100,000 populationNiger: 21.6% of managers, 4.42 per 100,000 populationNigeria: 37.9% of managers, 15.7 per 100,000 populationNicaragua: 53.7% of managers, 11.3 per 100,000 populationNetherlands: 28.5% of managers, 0.691 per 100,000 populationNorway: 30.8% of managers, 0.725 per 100,000 populationNepal: 13.9% of managers, 2.13 per 100,000 populationPakistan: 9.57% of managers, 4.33 per 100,000 populationPanama: 50% of managers, 11.7 per 100,000 populationPeru: 32.9% of managers, 8.6 per 100,000 populationPhilippines: 43.2% of managers, 4.35 per 100,000 populationPalau: 45.5% of managers, 11.2 per 100,000 populationPapua New Guinea: 17.7% of managers, 9.34 per 100,000 populationPoland: 40.6% of managers, 0.802 per 100,000 populationPortugal: 39.4% of managers, 0.72 per 100,000 populationWest Bank and Gaza: 23.5% of managers, 0.622 per 100,000 populationRomania: 34.7% of managers, 1.12 per 100,000 populationRussian Federation: 41.7% of managers, 7.82 per 100,000 populationRwanda: 30.8% of managers, 3.61 per 100,000 populationSingapore: 39.9% of managers, 0.0691 per 100,000 populationSierra Leone: 22.6% of managers, 2.22 per 100,000 populationEl Salvador: 39% of managers, 7.9 per 100,000 populationSerbia: 31.9% of managers, 1.31 per 100,000 populationSao Tome and Principe: 71% of managers, 3.23 per 100,000 populationSuriname: 42.2% of managers, 6.52 per 100,000 populationSlovak Republic: 34.1% of managers, 1.12 per 100,000 populationSlovenia: 34.9% of managers, 0.566 per 100,000 populationSweden: 44.7% of managers, 1.15 per 100,000 populationEswatini: 25.2% of managers, 12.5 per 100,000 populationSeychelles: 50.2% of managers, 7.97 per 100,000 populationThailand: 34.5% of managers, 4.79 per 100,000 populationTajikistan: 24.5% of managers, 0.892 per 100,000 populationTimor-Leste: 22.4% of managers, 4.07 per 100,000 populationTonga: 36.9% of managers, 0.946 per 100,000 populationTrinidad and Tobago: 52.7% of managers, 40.4 per 100,000 populationTunisia: 20.8% of managers, 4.69 per 100,000 populationTurkiye: 21.5% of managers, 3.23 per 100,000 populationTuvalu: 36.1% of managers, 0 per 100,000 populationTanzania: 29.7% of managers, 3.75 per 100,000 populationUganda: 25.6% of managers, 8.97 per 100,000 populationUkraine: 44.1% of managers, 3.78 per 100,000 populationUruguay: 33.8% of managers, 11.2 per 100,000 populationUnited States: 44.1% of managers, 5.76 per 100,000 populationViet Nam: 26.1% of managers, 1.54 per 100,000 populationVanuatu: 37.9% of managers, 0.335 per 100,000 populationSamoa: 40.7% of managers, 6.26 per 100,000 populationKosovo: 26.7% of managers, 1.89 per 100,000 populationSouth Africa: 39.3% of managers, 43.7 per 100,000 populationZambia: 29.6% of managers, 5.2 per 100,000 populationZimbabwe: 34.4% of managers, 6.76 per 100,000 populationAFGBGDECUJAMJORMNEPAKSTPTTOZAF

best-fit line line after adjusting

Every figure here is r: how closely two measures rise and fall together, from −1 (one goes up as the other goes down) to +1 (they rise together). 0 means no link.

Look region by region

Now split the countries by region and look inside each one, still comparing countries of similar income. In Latin America & Caribbean the link is strong, +0.60. Elsewhere it is weak or runs the other way: from −0.38 to +0.26.

Europe & Central Asia (43 countries)+0.22
Latin America & Caribbean (24 countries)+0.60
Sub-Saharan Africa (24 countries)+0.01
East Asia & Pacific (21 countries)+0.26
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (12 countries)−0.38

In the middle Latin American or Caribbean country, 42% of managers are women, against 35% in the middle country worldwide. Its homicide rate is 17.7 per 100,000, against 2.4 worldwide. The countries there with the most homicide are Jamaica (64% of managers are women), Ecuador (45% of managers are women), Trinidad and Tobago (53% of managers are women), Bahamas, The (60% of managers are women) and Honduras (46% of managers are women). So the region sits in the top corner of the chart, and pulls the worldwide line up with it.

What is left once region is allowed for

Comparing countries only with others in their own region, the link drops from +0.46 to +0.26. Allowing for income inequality too leaves +0.24. So most of the worldwide link is a difference between regions, and only a small part is a pattern found inside them. Even that small part may be chance: within countries over the years there is no link at all (+0.01 across 74 countries).

All countries, before adjusting (131 places)+0.42
Comparing countries with similar income (131 places)+0.46
…and also region (comparing countries only within their own region) (131 places)+0.26
…and also adjusting for income inequality (the Gini index) (122 places)+0.24

The same trap catches a famous link

Income inequality and homicide are often said to go together, and across countries they do: +0.49 after allowing for income. But compare countries only within their own region, and it shrinks to +0.21. Much of that link is also about which region a country is in. See inequality vs homicide in full.

Why this matters

When a link spans the whole world, it is worth asking whether it holds inside each region. Regions share history, culture, laws and trade, so countries in the same region tend to be alike in many ways at once. A link that comes from one region may be about that region, not about the two things being measured. Every pair page on PlaceStats shows the link region by region for this reason.

What this cannot tell you

See the full figures for women in management vs homicide rate.

More articles

These articles describe places, not people, and show links, not causes. Every article on PlaceStats.