Women in developed countries are now more educated than men, yet they still earn less, are poorly represented in politics and are less likely to join the top ranks in business or become an entrepreneur.
From Canada, Japan and Norway to Australia, young women on average earn almost 15% less than men, even though they are more educated, said the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The gender pay gap has remained stubbornly consistent in the past decade despite better policies for working parents, transparency in workplace pay gaps and quota systems to boost the number of women on boards and in senior roles, OECD said.
"To make a real difference we must change public policies in tandem with stereotypes, attitudes and behaviours," Angel Gurría, secretary-general of the OECD said.
Key factors that prevent women from earning the same as men include having to stall careers after childbirth because of inflexible work policies or underlying gender stereotypes, as well as workplace discrimination. Apart from work-related issues, unequal parental duties, poor political representation and engrained social stereotypes were also barriers to achieving gender equality, it said.
But most OECD countries surveyed in the report said preventing violence against women was their top priority.
Gurría said: "Gender equality is essential for ensuring men and women can contribute fully at home, at work and in public life, for the betterment of societies and economies at large."
If the gender pay gap were reduced by a quarter by 2025, it could add an extra percentage point to projected economic growth across OECD countries between 2013 and 2025, it said.
It said if there were an equal number of female and male entrepreneurs, global GDP could rise by 2%, equivalent to about $1.5-trillion.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 
