The term "the workshop of the world" was originally used to refer to the United Kingdom in the 19th century, which had overwhelmed the world with its industrial power. Then, at the beginning of the 20th century, people began to call the United States "the workshop of the world," rather than the United Kingdom.
Women’s low labour market participation is a crucial weakness of the Italian economy, and one on which we are now concentrating our research effort. Today, 60 per cent of Italy’s university graduates are women. They earn their degrees faster and with a better academic performance than their male fellow-students; and they are less and less restricted to the traditional women’s disciplines in the humanities.