The impact of women's economic empowerment and leadership needs to be used to rebuild the global economy in the wake of the current financial crisis.

That is according to a report entitled Groundbreakers: Using the Strength of Women to Rebuild the World Economy released by Ernst & Young (E&Y) at the recent World Economic Forum, which reveals the big potential of women as an economic force has yet to be realised and that women make significant and proven contributions to business and economic growth.

The report's findings, which come in advance of Monday's International Women's Day, have been backed up on a local level too, with Gil Tucker, managing partner and diversity leader of E&Y Bermuda, highlighting the company's focus on developing women as professionals and leaders continuing to drive its progress forward.

"To help our women succeed as they move up the ranks, we provide education, mentoring and networking opportunities geared to women's professional needs every step of the way," he said.

"We also understand that workplace flexibility contributes to talent retention and offer this to all employees, including working mothers."

Mr. Tucker pointed to a number of awards the accountancy firm has won for its innovative approach to people, including finishing among the top 10 companies on Working Mother magazine's annual '100 Best Companies for Working Mothers' list for the third year in a row, featuring in Fortune magazine's '100 Best Companies to Work For' for the 11th consecutive year, ranking among Equal Opportunity's 'Top 50 Employers' list and being rated number one in BusinessWeek's 'Best Places to Launch a Career'.

Carolyn Myers, president and founding member of the Centre for Leadership (CFL) in Bermuda, said the report's focus on the expanded role of women in the workforce which is needed to drive economic growth was in line with CFL's findings on how valuable a women's perspective is.

"Women leaders correlate with higher financial performance, signify a broader and deeper talent pool, are encouraging to women in the pipeline, signify 'employers of choice', and are a feature of an inclusive workplace," she said.

The E&Y study concluded that women do not enjoy the full benefits of participation in the workforce, experiencing wage and occupational disparities, inadequate political representation and little or no visibility in corporate boardrooms, both in emerging and developed markets and even when women and better educated than men.

Evidence that women can be powerful drivers of economic development was borne out in analyses by the World Bank, United Nations and Goldman Sachs and other organisations, which showed a significant statistical correlation between gender equality and the level of development of countries, the report said.