Publication: Coding Bootcamps for Female Digital Employment: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial in Argentina and Colombia
Loading...
Published
2021
ISSN
Date
2021-04-05
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The increase in female labor force participation is among the most salient economic and social transformations in the world over the last fifty years, and Latin America is no exception. In this regard, the gender gap in educational attainment has not only narrowed, but it has reversed itself in most countries of the region. Despite this, two important gaps remain. First, wages of female workers are, on average, thirty percent lower than those of males. Second, a high degree of occupational and educational segregation remains, with men and women being concentrated in different fields of occupations and study. This study pilots a comprehensive female-targeted computer programming training (bootcamp) in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Bogotá, Colombia. Bootcamps have become a policy instrument to tackle the following two objectives. First, they provide training on coding skills at a time when the rapid spread of new digital technologies is increasing demand for such skills. Second, when training on coding skills is specifically targeted toward women, it reduces the gender gap in terms of access to effective training on coding skills.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Aramburu, Julian; Goicoechea, Ana. 2021. Coding Bootcamps for Female Digital Employment: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial in Argentina and Colombia. Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation in Focus;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35374 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Coding Bootcamps for Female Digital Employment(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-06)This paper evaluates the short-term causal effects of a high-quality, intensive, part-time computer coding bootcamp for women on skill acquisition and employment outcomes. Spots were offered in an oversubscribed coding course to a random subset of applicants in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Bogotá, Colombia. The applicants who were chosen received a scholarship that covered most of the tuition costs of the course. Follow-up data collected shortly after the bootcamp ended indicate that the program increased participants’ coding skills, as well as their probability of finding a job in technology. Compared with other jobs, technology jobs are more likely to offer flexible hours and work-from-home arrangements, and generate higher job satisfaction. These results are interpreted as an improvement in overall job quality. Moreover, the paper compares the employment situation of the sample before and during the first months of the COVID-19 outbreak. The evidence indicates that the program increased participants’ resilience to a downturn in the labor market.Publication Mongolia : Raising Female Participation in the Large Scale Mining Sector(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-01)As Mongolia has begun to develop its abundant mineral resources over the past decade, the share of mining in gross domestic product (GDP) has more than tripled to around 20 percent currently. The sector has also contributed up to a third of total government receipts in recent years and more than 80 percent of exports in 2010. Evidence suggests that women tend to miss out on the potential benefits associated with a booming mining sector. In addition, large scale mines typically tend to be the dominant employers in remote locations. The policy note starts by gauging potential growth and employment effects associated with the expansion of the mining sector on other sectors, using a computable general equilibrium model specially calibrated for the Mongolian economy. It then considers experience and lessons from other countries that are trying to integrate and ensure the participation of women in large-scale mining and the practical policy recommendations to do so. The key findings are that there is a high degree of occupational segmentation in the mining sector, with women mostly located in service support roles, although this is by no means unique to Mongolia. However in Mongolia's case, this segmentation also likely reflects Mongolian labor regulations that existed until 2008 and which limited women s participation in the sector. Evidence from around the world indicates that gender equal laws are a necessary and crucial first step towards guaranteeing gender equality and equity, but by themselves are not sufficient. Companies may also consider revising recruitment or hiring strategies with the objective of raising the share of female employment across all professional categories in the mining sector.Publication The Role of Training Programs for Youth Employment in Nepal(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-04)The youth unemployment rate is exceptionally high in developing countries. Because the quality of education is arguably one of the most important determinants of youth's labor force participation, governments worldwide have responded by creating job training and placement services programs. Despite the rapid expansion of skill-enhancement employment programs across the world and the long history of training program evaluations, debates about the causal impact of training-based labor market policies on employment outcomes still persist. Using a quasi-experimental approach, this report presents the short-run effects of skills training and employment placement services in Nepal. Launched in 2009, the intervention provided skills training and employment placement services for more than 40,000 Nepalese youth over a three-year period, including a specialized adolescent girls' initiative that reached 4,410 women ages 16 to 24. The report finds that after three years of the program, the Employment Fund intervention positively improved employment outcomes. Participation in the Employment Fund training program generated an increase in non-farm employment of 15 to 16 percentage points for an overall gain of about 50 percent. The program also generated an average monthly earnings gain of about 72 percent. The report finds significantly larger employment impacts for women than for men, but younger women ages 16 to 24 experienced the same improvements as older females. These employment estimates are comparable, although somewhat higher, than other recent experimental interventions in developing countries.Publication The Role of Training Programs for Youth Employment in Nepal(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-07-06)The youth unemployment rate is exceptionally high in the developing world. Because quality of education is arguably one of the most important determinants of youth’s labor force participation, governments worldwide have responded by creating job training and placement services programs. Despite the rapid expansion of skill-enhancement employment programs across the world and the long history of training program evaluations, debates about the causal impact of training based labor market policies on employment outcomes still persist. Using a quasi-experimental approach, this report presents the short-run effects of skills training and employment placement services in Nepal. Launched in 2009, the intervention provided skills training and employment placement services for over 40,000 Nepalese youth over a three-year period, including a specialized adolescent girls’ initiative that reached 4,410 women aged 16 to 24. The authors find, after three years of the program, the EF intervention positively improved employment outcomes. EF training program participation generated an increase in non-farm employment of 15 to 16 percentage points for an overall gain of about 50 percent. The program also generated an average monthly earnings gain by about 72 percent. The authors find significantly larger employment impacts for women than for men, but younger women aged 16 to 24 experienced the same improvements as older females. These employment estimates are comparable, though somewhat higher, than other recent experimental interventions in developing countries.Publication Engendering Rural Information Systems in Indonesia(Washington, DC, 2005-06)There is still a long road ahead before all Indonesian's can benefit from the full potential of ICT. That road seems even longer to rural women. Despite some improvements in access and the rapid deployment of lower cost wireless technologies, not much has changed in rural areas of Indonesia. Infrastructure in rural areas is limited and existing services are expensive and practically outside of rural women's reach. Women still face enormous barriers and access to communications and information relevant to their realities is very limited. This report provides a gender perspective on the status of ICT in rural areas of Indonesia and presents the main findings of our gender analysis. The discussion is illustrated by case studies (see Appendices on p.42) developed by the core team responsible for the preparation of this report and based on the field research.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Morocco Economic Update, Winter 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-03)Despite the drought causing a modest deceleration of overall GDP growth to 3.2 percent, the Moroccan economy has exhibited some encouraging trends in 2024. Non-agricultural growth has accelerated to an estimated 3.8 percent, driven by a revitalized industrial sector and a rebound in gross capital formation. Inflation has dropped below 1 percent, allowing Bank al-Maghrib to begin easing its monetary policy. While rural labor markets remain depressed, the economy has added close to 162,000 jobs in urban areas. Morocco’s external position remains strong overall, with a moderate current account deficit largely financed by growing foreign direct investment inflows, underpinned by solid investor confidence indicators. Despite significant spending pressures, the debt-to-GDP ratio is slowly declining.Publication Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Fall 2024: Better Education for Stronger Growth(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-17)Economic growth in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is likely to moderate from 3.5 percent in 2023 to 3.3 percent this year. This is significantly weaker than the 4.1 percent average growth in 2000-19. Growth this year is driven by expansionary fiscal policies and strong private consumption. External demand is less favorable because of weak economic expansion in major trading partners, like the European Union. Growth is likely to slow further in 2025, mostly because of the easing of expansion in the Russian Federation and Turkiye. This Europe and Central Asia Economic Update calls for a major overhaul of education systems across the region, particularly higher education, to unleash the talent needed to reinvigorate growth and boost convergence with high-income countries. Universities in the region suffer from poor management, outdated curricula, and inadequate funding and infrastructure. A mismatch between graduates' skills and the skills employers are seeking leads to wasted potential and contributes to the region's brain drain. Reversing the decline in the quality of education will require prioritizing improvements in teacher training, updated curricula, and investment in educational infrastructure. In higher education, reforms are needed to consolidate university systems, integrate them with research centers, and provide reskilling opportunities for adult workers.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.