WORLD BANK GROUP GENDER THEMATIC POLICY NOTES SERIES: EVIDENCE AND PRACTICE NOTE CLOSING GENDER GAPS IN EARNINGS ABHILASHA SAHAY OVERVIEW Gender gaps in earnings persist across all regions. For every dollar men make, women make 77 cents. Closing this gap can lead to sizeable gains for economies— an estimated $160 trillion in global GDP per capita. A multitude of factors contribute to this gap. This note sheds light on four key drivers: 1. Gender gaps in skills 2. Gender-based occupational segregation 3. Under-representation of women in leadership 4. Gender biases in the workplace Effective evidence-backed policy options to close the earnings gap include providing information on work opportunities and returns to employment, training in socio-emotional skills, imparting sector-specific technical skills to address occupational segregation and adopting pay-transparency laws. The World Bank Group actively supports countries to boost women’s access to better, high-quality jobs through development policy lending, advisory and analytical work, and supporting reforms to address constraining contextual factors. This note examines an array of policy options that are effective or show promise in closing gender gaps in earnings and offers the following takeaways: • Design gender-smart programs that address multiple constraints, including norms, faced by women in accessing and thriving in high-quality jobs. • Engage role models to create opportunities for peer mentorship and impart leadership skills among women to reduce gender gaps in promotion. • Target specific contexts and groups to account for relevant cultural and social factors, while also designing interventions for vulnerable groups, such as women with disabilities, single mothers and sexual and gender minorities. • Engage parents, partners, and other family and community members to positively impact attitudes, beliefs and norms relating to women’s work, especially employment in male-dominated sectors, holds promise in boosting women’s labor market outcomes throughout the lifecycle. • Strengthen data and closing knowledge gaps, especially on women’s participation and access to jobs across sectors, including in the informal economy and part-time employment, as well as employment outcomes for women from vulnerable and minority groups. MARCH 2023 TABLE OF CONTENTS OVERVIEW INTRODUCTION 1 SCHOLARLY EVIDENCE AND OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE 3 Closing the Skill Gap 4 Reducing Gender-based Occupational Segregation 6 Closing the Gender Gap in Promotions 11 Addressing Gender Bias in the Workplace 14 RECOMMENDATIONS 15 REFERENCES 17 This note is part of a series that provides an analytical foundation for the update to the World Bank Group Gender Strategy (FY24–30). This series seeks to give a broad overview of the latest research and findings on gender equality outcomes and summarize key thematic issues, evidence on promising solutions, operational good practices, and key areas for future engagement on promoting gender equality and empowerment. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work are entirely those of the author(s). They do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank Group or its Board of Directors. This thematic policy note was written by Abhilasha Sahay of the World Bank’s Gender Group. The author thanks Helle Buchhave and Emcet Tas for insightful peer-review comments, Margaret Makepeace McClure for excellent research assistance, and Kathleen Beegle, Hana Brixi, Sanola Daley, Maria Beatriz Orlando, Elizaveta Perova, and Laura Rawlings for helpful inputs and comments. 2 INTRODUCTION Despite improvements in women’s human capital can also facilitate broader development outcomes.3 development, gender gaps in labor market outcomes—in For instance, a burgeoning body of work suggests that terms of both labor force participation and incomes and decreases in the wage gap can reduce the incidence earning—continue to persist worldwide and worsen in of violence against women, one of the most palpable some regions. According to the World Bank Gender Data manifestations of gender inequality (Aizer 2010, Perova et Portal, a 30-percent gender gap in workforce participation al 2021). spans the world. While several countries are adopting laws to mandate equal remuneration for work of equal While the size of the earnings gap varies across regions, its value, the wage gap between men and women stands at persistence in the last decade emerges as a global trend 23 percent (UN Women).1 This implies that for every dollar (see Figure 1). The highest average gap, as a percentage men make, women make 77 cents. of men’s monthly earnings, is noted in South Asia. Sub- Saharan Africa has witnessed the smallest decline in the The economic cost of this gap is non-trivial. The World earnings gap since 2011.4 Notably, most of this gap stems Bank study Unrealized Potential: The High Cost of Gender from the private sector. The wage gap in the public sector, Inequality in Earnings suggests that by closing the gender which accounts for 45 percent of all formal employment gaps in lifetime earnings, economies stand to gain $160 in low-income countries (World Bank 2018) is around 10 trillion, on average.2 Narrowing the gender gap in earnings percent (ILOSTAT, 2015–2019).5 1 Per data from the Women, Business, and Law, 94 of 190 countries had a law on equal pay for men and women, as of 2020. This has increased from 21 out of 190 countries in 1991. 2  This estimate was calculated in 2018, based on data on the earning potential of the labor force in 141 countries. 3 This thematic policy note acknowledges the difference between “wage” and “earnings” and uses these terms distinctly. Notably, the  gender gap in earnings could stem from differences in wages (per hour) as well as number of hours worked. This note pays greater attention to the difference in wages, but other thematic policy notes in the series, i.e., (i) Increasing Female Labor Force Participation and (ii) Tackling Unpaid Care in Accelerating Equality, shed more light on difference in working hours. 4 Limited data from 2021 makes it difficult to draw conclusions on the impact of Covid 19 on the earnings gap.  5  Author’s calculation based on difference in monthly earnings between men and women working in the public administration and defense and compulsory social security sector, as defined in the ILOSTAT database (2015–2019). 1 FIGURE 1. GENDER GAP IN MONTHLY EARNINGS (2017 PURCHASING POWER PARITY, IN USD MILLIONS)6 Source: ILOSTAT Multiple factors contribute to the gender gap in This thematic policy note narrows its focus on four key factors: earnings, including occupational sorting, women’s under- gender gaps in skills, gender-based occupational segregation, representation in leadership, skill and education gaps, under-representation of women in leadership, and gender and intermittent labor supply (i.e., fewer working hours biases in the workplace.7 These factors are not mutually and part-time employment due to care and household exclusive and are likely to interact with one another. The first responsibilities that disproportionately fall on women) part of this note draws on scholarly evidence to identify what (ILO 2019). Restrictive social norms that curtail women’s works (and what does not work) in closing the gender gap in participation and advancement in the workforce can earnings.8 It also highlights examples of World Bank Group reinforce barriers. At the same time, there is a certain operational projects that seek to boost women’s earnings portion of the earnings gap that may be unexplained or and quality of work.9 The second part of this note presents key unobserved (Chowdhury et al 2018, ILO 2019). Thus, an recommendations that reflect scholarly evidence and lessons interplay of several observable and unobservable factors from the World Bank Group’s operational response. can drive the earnings gaps between men and women over their lifetimes. 6 D  ata for years 2020 onwards was not available from many countries; as a result, average earnings are only presented through 2019– 2020. Consequently, this data does not allow conclusions to be drawn on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the earnings gap. 7 Additional drivers, such as difference in working hours and time out of the workforce due to care responsibilities, are discussed in  the thematic policy note Tackling Unpaid Care in Accelerating Equality [Forthcoming]. 8  This note focuses on evidence from wage-employment and self-employment activities in the non-agriculture sector with greater emphasis on the former. Related thematic policy notes in the series, i.e., WHAT WORKS IN SUPPORTING WOMEN-LED BUSINESSES? and gender Gaps in the agriculture sector, including ownership of land, focus on entrepreneurial and agriculture activities, respectively. 9 The cited examples are in no way an exhaustive list of projects that seek to close gender gaps in earnings. Projects were selected from  success story submission to the forthcoming World Bank Group retrospective report on gender equality and from searches of the gender DPO dashboard and the gender tag dashboard. These databases were searched using the following keywords: earnings, wage- gap, occupational segregation, socio-emotional learning, vocational training, and other related terms. Projects that were closed or ongoing with mid-term review were prioritized to showcase key results. 2 INTRODUCTION A multitude of factors drive gender gaps in earnings. This section examines interventions that address four key drivers of these gaps. First are interventions that can close gender gaps in skills and training to enable women to take on high-skill jobs. Second are programs aimed at enabling women to cross over into high-value sectors that are usually male-dominated.10 Third are interventions that can help women advance in the workforce, break through the glass ceiling, and take on leadership positions. Finally, the fourth group of interventions addresses conscious or unconscious biases that women may face in the labor market. Based on the body of scholarly evidence and operational experience, each type of intervention is rated in the following manner: • Effective indicates that there is more than one causal impact study demonstrating the effectiveness of the approach across contexts. • Emerging refers to an approach for which there is only one piece of causal evidence or a strong body of descriptive evidence. • Less promising indicates that there is some causal evidence that demonstrates the intervention has limited or negligible impact. 10  he first two categories are closely related. The first category T focuses on interventions that can increase women’s earnings by upgrading women’s skills to meet changing demands of the labor markets rather than by addressing occupational segregation. The second category reviews a broader set of programs, including skill training that can help women enter sectors and jobs that are male dominated. 3 CLOSING THE SKILL GAP While there has been notable improvement in girls’ entrepreneurial profits (Campos et al 2017). Recent evidence educational attainment, both in absolute and relative from the Dominican Republic demonstrates that training terms (the gender parity index for youth literacy, for in non-cognitive, soft skills enabled women to find higher example, increased from 0.94 in 2010 to 0.97 in 2020), these paying jobs faster. This effect was sustained even 3.5 gains have not translated to improvement in economic years after the program, with women reporting higher job opportunities for women.11 One possible factor driving this satisfaction, self-esteem, and improved expectations for gap is limited access to training in job-relevant skills that future success (Acevedo et al 2020).13 The initial level of soft could enhance women’s employability in an ever-evolving skills is also predictive of future promotions and success labor market. This includes both hard skills (i.e., technical among women employees (Uckat 2020), a finding that skills and vocational training) and soft skills (i.e., socio- reiterates the value of non-cognitive skills throughout the emotional skills). career cycle. Training in soft skills: A growing body of work demonstrates Furthermore, a compelling body of evidence demonstrates that training in socio-emotional skills, such as personal that community-based safe space programs, which impart initiative, negotiation, and communication, can increase socio-emotional and life skills training to women in the women’s long-term earnings (Gertler et al 2014)12 and early stages of life (i.e., childhood and adolescence), have a Gender parity index for youth literacy rate is ratio of women to men aged 15-24 who can read and write a short simple statement 11  about their everyday life (Gender Data Portal. Literacy Rate, Gender Parity Index (Youth Ages 15-24) 12 Gertler et al (2013) presents evidence from a long-term follow-up study (20 years) conducted in Jamaica that demonstrates exposure  to socio-emotional skills in early childhood can lead to a substantial long-term increase in earnings (42 percent). However, the results were starkly different for men in the treatment group. While the training also helped the men receive higher 13  paying job offers and revise their expectations of upward success, this led to men reporting increased likelihood of turning down high wage offers (possibly due to increase in reservation wages). Thereafter, in the medium-run, men reported lower self-esteem and deterioration in future jobs prospects. 4 BOX 1. EMPOWERING ADOLESCENT GIRLS IN UGANDA The Supporting Children’s Opportunities through Protection and Empowerment (SCOPE) project (P161704) sought to break the vicious cycle of low participation in skilled jobs and high fertility among adolescent girls in Uganda by kick-starting human capital accumulation along two dimensions. It simultaneously provided “hard” vocational skills to enable adolescent girls to start small-scale income-generating activities and “soft” life skills to enable girls to make more informed choices about sex, reproduction, and marriage. A key component of the program was the delivery mechanism through adolescent development clubs, structured on BRAC’s Empowerment and Livelihoods for Adolescents model. These clubs were designed as safe spaces for girls to learn and socialize, and as an opportunity to reach girls who were not enrolled in schools. An impact assessment of the SCOPE program found that by the end, the annual earnings of participants increased threefold (by $50 in 2008 prices.) This increase largely took the form of earnings from self-employment. Adolescent girls who participated in the program were 3.6 percentage points more likely to have some earnings from self-employment, a 79 percent increase above the baseline. Self-employment earnings for participants increased by more than six times. positive effect on their earnings as well as their control over For example, a vocational training program in Colombia, their earned income (see Box 1). For example, Bandiera et which also had a key focus on developing human capital of al (2020) investigate the effect of the Empowerment and disadvantaged youth, provided additional cash transfer to Livelihoods of Adolescents program in Uganda and find women with children and marketed the program among that girls who participated in the program were 62 percent firms providing internships. The program resulted in an more likely to engage in self-employment activities and increase in women’s earnings by 20 percent in short run and that their earnings tripled from the baseline level. Similarly, 18 percent in the long run due to increased employment, Adoho et al (2014) provide causal evidence demonstrating productivity, and access to better jobs (Attanasio et al 2011, that the Economic Empowerment Adolescent Girls and Attanasio et al 2017). Young Women (EPAG) project in Liberia led to a 47 percent increase in employment and an 80 percent increase in The impact of business skills training on entrepreneurial earnings. As jobs transform, the demand for nonroutine profits and sales is also muted, i.e., a 5-10 percent increase, cognitive and socio-behavioral skills is rising which is too small for most experiments to detect (McKenzie and Woodruf 2014; McKenzie 2021). A related Training in hard skills: Evidence from recent systematic body of work that examines the impact of active labor reviews suggest that the impact of technical and vocational market policies (ALMPs), including training, indicates that education and training programs on women’s earnings is these programs are effective at increasing women’s labor small, close to 5.5 percent, and statistically insignificant force participation but do not have a discernible effect on (McKenzie 2017, Chinen et al 2018). However, there is earnings (Todd 2012). One plausible explanation is that most evidence of heterogeneity in effect size based on the design ALMPs reduce search times, which reduces the likelihood of the training program. The results suggest that vocational of individuals waiting for higher-wage opportunities. training programs that include a gender focus, life skills training, or an internship have a larger effect on earnings than programs that do not include such components. 5 REDUCING GENDER-BASED OCCUPATION SEGREGATION Analysis conducted for the World Bank’s World Apart from the sectoral segregation of work, the scholarship Development Report 2012 shows that occupational points to a gendered division of labor by job formality segregation accounts for 10-50 percent of the gender wage and contract type. According to UN Women (2015–16), gap.14 Similarly, a large part of the gender profit gap among 95 percent of women working in South Asia, 89 percent entrepreneurs can also be explained by sectoral segregation in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 59 percent in Latin America (Goldstein et al 2019; Campos et al 2015; Chowdhury et and Caribbean are engaged in the informal sector. The al 2018). Women tend to sort into different sectors than incidence of informality may be higher among women men, and the sectors dominated by women tend to be for many reasons, including the need for flexible and/or low-value, with limited scope for growth and promotion. reduced work hours to accommodate mounting care and Such sorting may occur due to lack of appropriate skills household responsibilities over their lifecycle.15 Working and education needed for high-value jobs, information in the informal sector leaves women with low earnings asymmetries, limited access to role models and social as well as limited non-monetary benefits and labor law networks to break into male-dominated sectors, restrictive protections. This results in a widening of the gender gap in social norms, capital constraints, and time poverty, which lifetime earnings. may force women to accept lower-paying jobs with better non-monetary characteristics, such as paid leave, shorter Further, gender wage gaps in the informal sector are notably and flexible hours, and health and social insurance (Hicks higher than that in the formal sector. For instance, in Sub- et al 2015, Campos et al 2015, Alibhai et al 2015, Chowdhury Saharan Africa, the gender wage gap in the informal sector et al 2018, Cucagna et al 2020). is 28 percent, far higher than the 6 percent seen in the 14  his analysis (p. 206, WDR 2012) includes data from 33 low and middle-income countries and 14 high-income countries. T 15 Incidence of informality displays a U-shape pattern with respect to age, i.e., it is larger among younger and older workers, and this  pattern reveals itself for both men and women (See Ulyssea 2020 for a useful review of informality). 6 formal sector (UN Women 2016). Limited data and evidence sector and the business, processing, and outsourcing on the informal economy impedes greater understanding sector by 26 percent (Croke et al 2022), as detailed in of what works to enhance opportunities, pay, and working Box 2. This effect was higher among women, especially conditions for informal employees. among those who were implicitly biased against women with professional attributes. Similarly, quasi-experimental Skill development and training: Nearly one in five evidence from a vocational training program in Peru unemployed young women in Sub-Saharan Africa reported shows that occupational segregation fell by 30 percent they cannot pursue their preferred career paths because and women’s earnings increased by 93 percent (Ñopo the entry requirements exceed their education and training et al 2008). Descriptive work from Mexico also suggests (ILO 2018). Providing sector-specific vocational training that cognitive skills, acquired through additional years to women is shown to reduce occupational segregation of education or training, are strongly associated with the (Ñopo et al 2008, Campos et al 2015, Croke et al 2022). likelihood of women crossing over into male-dominated sectors (Cucagna et al 2020). Recent experimental evidence from Nigeria shows that job training increased the likelihood of participants switching to the information and communications technology (ICT) BOX 2. DEVELOPING DIGITAL SKILLS IN NIGERIA The Assessment of Core Competency for Employability in the Service Sector (ACCESS) program (P118398) aims to equip recent university graduates in Nigeria with skills and certifications to work in the ICT sector. It offers classroom-based training, access to a web-based employment network and an ICT job fair, and the opportunity to receive ICT certification. An impact evaluation of the program found that two years after the training, participants had a 1.7 percentage point higher likelihood of being employed in the ICT sector, marking a 26 percent increase in employment in the sector (Croke et al 2022). The impact of the program on sectoral switching was stronger among women who initially held biases against women’s professionalism, inducing their movement into a male- dominated sector. After the training, these women were three times more likely to find an ICT-enabled service job than unbiased women, though low level of women’s employment in the ICT sector meant that even unbiased women increased their employment in the sector (by 119 percent) following the training. BOX 3. TRAINING WOMEN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS IN GRENADA In Grenada, women are less likely to work in traditionally male-dominated sectors, such as the aviation industry. Barriers to women’s advancement in aviation include gender role stereotypes, reproductive and caregiving responsibilities, and lack of skills and training. To overcome these challenges, the Grenada Caribbean Regional Air Transport Connectivity project (P172951) seeks to strengthen civil aviation and airport management capacity through training, human resources policy improvement, and targeted strategies to address gender stereotypes. One project component focuses on addressing barriers to women’s employment in the aviation sector to inform the development of a Gender Action Plan aimed at increasing the share of women air traffic controllers and security staff. To this end, the project supports the full training requirements of new women recruits, including the costs of sending them to specialized and accredited international training programs. These interventions have led to the share of women air traffic controllers rising from zero to 20 percent in March 2022, relative to a target of 30 percent by June 2026. 7 Shifting to high-skill sectors can help close the earnings Information on labor market returns: Providing information gap. For example, in the Philippines, the daily wage for men on economic opportunities and sector-specific returns has in low-skill jobs is more than 50 percent higher than that for been shown to increase women’s participation in high- women; however, in high-skill occupations, the daily wage value, male-dominated jobs (Jensen 2012; Campos et al is around 20 percent higher for women than men (Belghith 2015). This is also demonstrated by new, experimental et al 2021). Drawing from such evidence and data, the evidence from the Republic of Congo, which shows that World Bank has an ongoing project in Grenada that seeks providing information on trade-specific earnings to women to increase women’s participation in the aviation industry increased their likelihood of applying to traditionally male- through specialized training (see Box 3). In Vietnam, World dominated jobs by 29 percent (Gassier, Rounet and Traore Bank technical assistance has informed the Labor Code 2022). This effect is larger among women who have prior to improve gender equality in the labor market, and a technical knowledge or experience, or have access to male development policy operation (DPO) is promoting access role models, demonstrating that pairing interventions to to childcare services for families living near industrial park overcome multiple constraints can facilitate cross over and areas (see Box 4). help close the gender gap in earnings. Providing financial incentives, such as loan repayment Additional suggestive evidence indicates that edutainment assistance for women studying science, technology, programs aimed at providing information on sector- engineering, and mathematics (STEM), can help boost specific opportunities and earning potential can get young uptake and completion of technical training for jobs women interested in entrepreneurship and business in male-dominated sectors (Yang and Grauer 2016). (Bjorvatn et al 2020). Providing labor market information Innovative pedagogical practices, such as museum visits, and career guidance at more fundamental stages of life, coding camps, contests, and professional development such as high school, can help young men and women make programs, are more effective than traditional classroom more informed career choices (Buchhave et al 2020). Job- techniques in cultivating young girls’ interest in STEM and fairs also hold promise in improving women’s perception of dispelling stereotypes on who can pursue STEM (Dabney their job prospects and increasing the monthly minimum et al 2012; Jirout and Newcombe 2015). Apart from closing wage they are willing to accept (Beam 2016).16 the earnings gap, training in STEM and other technical skills can open pathways to new, high-quality jobs for women, Further, providing information on returns to vocational especially as economies undergo structural transformation education can also cultivate women’s interest and and a green transition. participation in traditionally male-dominated trades (Hicks et al 2016). This is akin to the findings seen in the BOX 4. STRENGTHENING GENDER EQUITY IN VIETNAM’S LABOR CODE One of the objectives of the Vietnam Women’s Economic Empowerment Program (P163147) is to support the Government of Vietnam in strengthening policies that address emerging challenges to women’s economic empowerment. The World Bank supported the reform of the Labor Code to remove job restrictions for women, informed by a series of analysis on gender disparities in the labor market, demographic and economic trends, and goals. It also created a training program for parliamentarians and government officials to build capacity on assessing gender in laws going forward. Vietnam’s new Labor Code came into force in January 2021. Thirteen of the 19 recommendations that the World Bank made were adopted in full or in part, which has led to a decrease in the gender pension age gap, opened 70 occupations for women that were formerly restricted, and shifted care service provision and responsibilities from women exclusively to both men and women employees. 16  otably, Beam (2016) finds contrary results for men, i.e., increased attendance in job-fair decreases men’s perceived likelihood N of success on the job market, indicating that men and women tend to over- and under-estimate their prospects (at baseline), respectively. 8 broader literature around education, which reveal that (Ramirez-Espinoza 2022) and in instances where women providing information on returns to education and training have strong, self-defeating beliefs about their own abilities can increase enrollment in schools (Jensen 2010, Nguyen (Bobba and Friscancho 2020). 2008). At the same time, sharing information on relative academic performance is shown to reduce the gender gap Social networks and mentorship: Increased access and in the uptake of STEM courses (Owen 2022). This effect may exposure to mentors, is found to be a key determinant be muted for courses where women are in the minority for women crossing over into high-value (and male- dominated) sectors (Goldstein, et al 2019, Alibhai et al BOX 5. LEVERAGING NETWORKS TO EXPAND WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN SOUTH ASIA’S ENERGY SECTOR The South Asia Women in Power Sector Professional Network (WePOWER) is a vibrant voluntary coalition of 33 (and counting) South Asian electricity utilities and energy sector stakeholders working toward increasing women’s representation in the energy sector workforce and leadership. The World Bank South Asia Gender and Energy (SAGE) facility serves as the interim secretariat for WePOWER, which is supported by the South Asia Regional Trade Facilitation Program (SARTFP) and the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). WePOWER promotes normative change for girls to pursue careers in STEM and facilitates internships that provide hands- on energy sector experience through targeted training and mentorship. The network also advocates for policy changes to make workplaces friendlier for women. Similar initiatives are now underway in other regions, including Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa, which recently launched RENEW-MENA. From 2019– 2022, WePOWER partners: • Implemented 2,700+ activities for approximately 68,000 women beneficiaries/participants in South Asia, including students, interns, young professionals, engineers, and returning mothers. • Hired 560 women professionals and recruited 1,325 women interns in technical roles • Held over 140 STEM outreach workshops for approximately 25,000 female students • Held over 600 personal and professional development workshops attended by approximately 25,000 women participants. • Built around 350 women-friendly facilities/services, such as daycare centers and separate prayer rooms. 2017, Cucagna et al 2020). For example, evidence from a from the WePOWER initiative in South Asia, which seeks to mixed-methods study in Uganda suggests that women facilitate women’s participation in the power and energy entrepreneurs with male mentors were up to 22 percent sector, a space that has been dominated by men (see Box more likely to own businesses in male-dominated sectors, 5). Overall, most causal evidence comes from high-income such as metalworking, electricals, and carpentry (Campos countries and more work is needed from developing et al 2015). At the same time, there is compelling evidence country contexts. that exposure to women mentors and peers during education and training inculcates a sense of belonging Addressing social norms: Several pieces of descriptive among women trainees and increases their willingness to evidence indicate that restrictive social norms constrain pursue careers in male-dominated sectors (Carrell, Page, women’s entry into male-dominated sectors across all types and West 2010; Porter and Serra 2020; Ramirez-Espinoza of employment, including, agriculture, wage employment, 2022). Adding to this knowledge base are promising results and entrepreneurship (Das et al 2021, Campos et al 2015, 9 World Bank 2022). For example, qualitative findings from At the same time, a growing body of work from multiple Vietnam demonstrate that parental or family advice has a contexts shows that edutainment programs and behavioral strong influence on career choices, especially for women interventions, including those that target parents, partners, and girls, and that parents heavily weigh their daughters’ and other family members, can have a positive impact on child-bearing future when selecting a field of study or attitudes relating to fertility (La Ferrara, Chong, and Duryea envisioning a potential future job (Buchhave et al 2020). 2012), HIV-testing (Banerjee, La Ferrara, and Orozco 2019), Such perceptions on job suitability are strongly influenced women’s work outside the home (Bursztyn et al 2018), and by norms around gender roles. broader gender roles (Dhar, Jain and Jayachandran 2022). There is limited evidence on how to positively affect Building on this work, designing interventions that are norms and facilitate women’s cross over into high-value explicitly targeted at engaging household and community sectors. The study from Nigeria described above (Croke, members and changing norms relating to women’s work Goldstein, and Holla (2022)) is one of the few studies that and type of work could meaningfully address occupational provides causal evidence in this regard. With a focus on segregation and help close the gender gap in earnings. the job training, it finds that women who were implicitly biased against associating women with professional attributes were twice as likely to switch into the ICT sector than unbiased women, suggesting that training alongside adequate socialization into historically male-dominated sectors can overcome self-defeating social norms. 10 CLOSING THE GENDER GAP IN PROMOTIONS Globally, only 32 percent of leadership positions (i.e., programs to develop and communicate the business senior and middle management) in government, large case for greater gender inclusivity in leadership positions enterprises, and institutions are occupied by women. This among private sector firms, especially in sectors that are proportion is highest in Latin America (38 percent) and characterized by low representation of women (see Box 6). lowest in South Asia (17 percent).17 Under-representation of women in leadership and gender differences in promotion Quotas for women’s representation in senior rates is one of the primary drivers of the gender wage gap management: While there is a documented positive and the long-term earnings gap (Bertrand, Goldin, and Katz relationship between gender-balanced leadership and 2010; Manning and Swaffield 2008; Goldin, Kerr, Olivetti, women’s labor market outcomes (including reductions and Barth 2017).18 The gap in promotion rates can explain in the gender earnings gap) at the firm level (Cohen and approximately 70 percent of the gap in wage growth by age Huffman 2007, Cardoso and Winter-Ebmer 2010, Flabbi 45 (Bronson and Thoursie 2020). et al 2019, Gagliarducci and Paserman 2015), there is little evidence on a causal link between the two. Training and mentorship for career progression: Programs aimed at advancing women’s careers via targeted training In countries that have passed quotas for women’s and mentorship hold promise in boosting women’s earnings representation in board membership, such as Norway and through increased promotion rates (Uckat and Woodruff Italy, analyses find that increasing the proportion of women 2022) or improved performance (Macchiavello et. al 2020). on boards or in management alone was not sufficient to Evidence from a quasi-experimental study of the garment reduce the gender wage gap or raise the wages of non- industry in Bangladesh shows that a promotion program, managerial women (Flabbi et al 2019, Bertrand et al 2019, i.e., training aimed at advancing women’s careers, increased Maida and Weber 2022). Further, evidence from Norway promotion rates. Training in soft skills, such as confidence demonstrates that the quota led to younger and less and leadership, was particularly helpful for women in taking experienced boards, increases in leverage and acquisitions, on new managerial positions (Uckat and Woodruff 2020). A and deterioration of firms’ operating performance (Ahern related body of work also demonstrates that face-to-face and Dittmar 2012) as well as increases in relative labor social interactions in the workplace are a key factor for career costs and reductions in firm profits (Matsa and Miller 2013). progression and could explain one-third of the gender gap There is some evidence that the story may be different in promotions (Cullen and Perez-Truglia 2019). in the public sector. A comparative study in Poland finds that while there was no correlation in the private sector, Lifting more women into leadership can also have notable a higher proportion of women managers was associated positive spillover effects. For example, in the Bangladesh with a lower degree of firm-level gender wage inequality in program, women working under a woman beneficiary of the public sector (Magda and Cukrowska-Torzewska 2019). the promotion program also experienced improvements in bargaining power both in the workplace and within the In general, much of the evidence to date has come household. This suggests that such programs can address from high-income countries, and it is not yet clear how inequities for a much larger share of women than the few applicable these findings are to developing country who may ever attain a managerial position (Uckat 2022). contexts. Overall, evidence from this growing body of Evidence from high-income contexts, such as Italy and work indicates that women’s representation in leadership Germany, also shows that having women in leadership is critical to improving gender equality outcomes, but can narrow the gender gap in promotions (Kunze and imposing quotas (an intervention on the demand-side) Miller 2017) and improve firm productivity via optimizing may not be the most effective way of achieving the desired allocation of women workers across tasks (Flabbi et al results. Enabling women to take on leadership positions 2018). In this light, the World Bank Group has implemented via specialized training and mentorship and other gender- sensitive policies hold promise. 17 Source: International Labor Organization, ILOSTAT database, SL.EMP.SMGT.FE.ZS 18 Please see World Bank Group Gender Thematic Policy Note Series on Increasing Women’s Representation in Business Leadership for  additional data, evidence, and insights on women’s leadership 11 BOX 6. INCREASING WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP THROUGH GENDER-SMART APPROACHES The IFC’s Women’s Employment Program helps clients understand the business case for gender equality and inclusion within the workplace. It assesses recruitment and retention, pay equity, access to career advancement and training, family-friendly workplace policies and practices, gender-based violence, and workplace culture to provide clients with a report highlighting key gender gaps and recommendations for improvement. As an early adopter, one IFC client established their gender baseline and subsequently implemented changes to improve gender equity in the workplace in 2019. By 2021, the representation of women on their board increased from 11 percent to 20 percent; retention of women after maternity leave increased from 93 percent to 100 percent, and the number of promotions awarded to women increased from 41 percent to 58 percent. Alongside this program, IFC has supported various clients in obtaining the EDGE Gender Certification to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. To create the business case for gender diversity in private health care leadership, IFC launched the Women’s Leadership in Private Health Care Global Working Group in September 2020. The initiative brought together CEOs and Human Resource directors representing 17 health care companies in a community of practice dedicated to identifying and addressing the barriers to women’s leadership in the sector as identified in IFC’s report on Women’s Leadership in Private Health Care. Several working group members have begun implementing gender- smart measures in their organizations and the IFC team is implementing a communications plan to highlight working group members’ achievements and the outcomes of the initiative. The World Bank’s Equal Aqua is a collaborative platform for water institutions. The platform hosts the most extensive global database on gender in water jobs, with data from more than 160 water institutions. Client institutions working with Equal Aqua have committed to a wide range of interventions to advance gender diversity, including providing leadership training to women employees, establishing gender-balanced succession plans, hiring more women engineers, attracting women through internships and scholarships, and establishing on-site childcare facilities and lactation rooms. More than 40 World Bank Water Global Practice lending operations have used Equal Aqua tools and approaches to inform project design, including setting targets for women’s representation in leadership roles. Other Equal Aqua results include the following: • The median share of women managers in participating utilities increased from 16.7 percent in 2020 to 20 percent in 2022, despite the slowdown from the COVID-19 pandemic. • The percent of women directors on utility boards jumped from 16 percent to 24 percent over a two-year period. • The share of women managers increased by 5 percentage points and the share of women engineers increased from 8 percent to 12 percent in two years. 12 ADDRESSING GENDER BIAS IN THE WORKPLACE Gender biases in the workplace—from managers, increased employees’ adherence to women leaders by 12 subordinates, or clients—are well documented (MacNell percentage points, while it had no detectable effect for 2015, Macchiavello et al 2020, Abel 2022, Ayalew et al men leaders. This indicates that credible signaling can help 2021, Hengel 2022). These biases, whether taste-based or address statistical discrimination (Ayalew et al 2021), but statistical, can contribute toward gender differences in more evidence is needed from other contexts. starting salaries, performance evaluations, and promotion rates— all of which may directly contribute to the gender Promoting pay transparency: Research from high-income gap in earnings (Becker 1995; Bohren et al 2019, Mengel et countries shows that mandating pay transparency can al 2018). help close the gender pay gap, while also increasing the number of women being hired and promoted to senior Concealing gender information: Anonymizing applications positions (Baker et al 2019, Castilla 2015). Pay transparency and concealing the gender of candidates can help legislation in Denmark led to a decrease in the gender pay circumvent biases employers may hold and reduce gender gap by 2 percentage points (Bennedsen et al 2019). Reported differences in hiring and starting salary offers (Goldin and improvement in pay gaps was higher among firms with Rouse 2000, Rinne 2018, Åslund and Skans 2012). However, men managers who had more daughters than sons and in it is shown to work only in settings with high discrimination firms that had higher baseline disparity. Similarly, a public and is likely to simply postpone discrimination to later sector salary disclosure law in Canada reduced the gender stages of the hiring process (Rinne 2018). Further, recruiters pay gap by 20-40 percent (Baker et al 2019). This early may still use implicit signals and cues to infer gender evidence creates a promising case for wider adoption of pay identity, reintroducing the possibility of bias (Foley and transparency to reduce gender wage gaps across contexts. Williamson 2018). Most evidence from this body of work comes from developed countries, so the extent to which Protecting data on salary history: The requirement for this strategy could be effective in developing countries jobs seekers to disclose salary history can reinforce lower may depend on the level of formality of labor markets. salaries, especially among women facing historically lower wages. This requirement also puts women in a challenging Credible signaling: Differential acceptability of men position when negotiating for more compensation. and women leaders is well documented in developing Evidence, mostly from the United States, indicates that countries, both in the public sector and the private sector salary history bans can reduce gender pay gaps; however, (Macchiavello et al 2015, Hardy and Kagy 2018, BenYishay et the effect varies based on the type of sector (i.e., public, al 2020). If subordinates do not comply and cooperate with or private) and the stage of the jobseeker’s career. Most women leaders, the effectiveness of women’s leadership is impacts were confined to individuals who switched jobs substantially reduced, adversely impacting their promotion following the ban (Hansen and McNicolas 2020, Sinha 2019, rates and earnings. A burgeoning body of work shows that Bessen et al 2020). More research is needed on this topic to providing information on supervisors’ ability can help derive conclusive inferences. alleviate gender discrimination from subordinates. For example, new experimental evidence from Ethiopia shows that sharing information about managers’ competence 13 RECOMMENDATIONS The interventions examined in this literature and operational review are summarized in Table 1 based on their effectiveness. Taken together, they point to the following recommendations for policy makers, private sector entities, and other development partners working toward greater gender equity in the workforce. TABLE 1. SUMMARY POLICY MATRIX Degree of Effectiveness Intervention Type Effective Training in soft skills Sector-specific training to address occupational segregation Information on labor market returns Pay transparency laws Promising Building social networks Addressing social norms Training and mentorship for career progression Concealing gender information during hiring Credible signaling of competence Protecting data on salary history Less Promising Vocational or business skills training that does not include a gender focus Quotas for women’s representation in leadership 1. Design gender-smart programs that address gaps, can have a transformative impact on women’s multiple constraints: Considering women face a earnings (Lang and Seither 2022, Acevedo et al 2020, multitude of constraints in the labor market and Campos et al 2017, Cucagna et al 2020). these constraints often interact with one another, it is pertinent to design interventions that address more 2. Engage role models: Engaging role models in training than one barrier. For instance, the above evidence and mentorship programs can help break down biases review demonstrates that training programs can help and socialize the benefits of women working in male- with closing the skills gap, addressing occupational dominated sectors (Jensen 2010; Nguyen 2013; Carrell, segregation, and improving women’s representation Page, and West 2010; Porter and Serra 2020). Similarly, in leadership. However, it is often more difficult for creating opportunities for peer mentorship shows women to access and complete these programs, due promise in reducing gender gaps in promotion. to family responsibilities, movement restrictions, and 3. Target specific contexts and groups: Considering there gender norms (Cho and Honorati 2013, Hicks et al 2011). is no universal definition of which sectors are male- Thus, programs that integrate gender-smart design dominated and which are not and given that there is aspects, such as childcare service, and hold training substantial variation in gender gaps in earnings across in accessible and safe locations can boost women’s countries, it is pertinent to develop context-specific participation (World Bank 2020; Attanasio, Kugler, and policy solutions to address challenges imposed by Meghir 2009). At the same time, evidence from across occupational segregation. At the same time, providing contexts suggests that programs that include training targeted support to vulnerable groups who may face in both soft and hard skills, i.e., addressing multiple skill more and more binding constraints, such as women 14 with disabilities, single mothers, and sexual and gender community members to positively impact attitudes, minorities, is vital for inclusive development (Buchhave beliefs and norms relating to women’s and type of et al 2020). This may include facilitating access to work could meaningfully address gender-based vocational training centers, transport, childcare occupational segregation, among other impacts, and services, providing flexible working hours, and other help close the gender gap in earnings. forms of support needed by vulnerable groups. 5. Strengthen data and close knowledge gaps: Progress 4. Engage parents, partners, and other family members: on closing gender gaps in earnings and providing Both scholarly and anecdotal evidence indicates that women high-value, good-quality jobs will require women and girls do not make decisions alone. Other active participation and commitment from the private household members, such as parents, parents-in- sector, industry lobbies, and governments. Devising law, and intimate partners as well as community and effective, scalable solutions will also require good religious leaders, can play a vital role in enforcing gender quality data on women’s economic participation in norms and are important stakeholders in women’s different types of jobs, especially for informal and part- employment decisions. Therefore, it is pertinent to time employment, and for women from vulnerable design interventions that also target household and and minority groups (Datta and Kotikula 2017). 15 REFERENCES Abebe, Girum, A Stefano Caria, Marcel Fafchamps, Paolo Falco, Banerjee, A., La Ferrara, E., & Orozco-Olvera, V. H. (2019). The Simon Franklin, and Simon Quinn. 2021. “Anonymity or Distance? entertaining way to behavioral change: Fighting HIV with MTV (No. Job Search and Labour Market Exclusion in a Growing African w26096). National Bureau of Economic Research. City.” The Review of Economic Studies 88 (3): 1279–1310. Batista, C., & Seither, J. (2019). Aspirations, expectations, identities: Abel, M. (2022). Do workers discriminate against female bosses?. behavioral constraints of micro-entrepreneurs (No. wp1906). Journal of Human Resources, 1120-11318R3. Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA. Acevedo, Paloma, Guillermo Cruces, Paul Gertler, and Sebastian Martinez. 2020. “How Vocational Education Made Women Better Beam, E. A. (2016). Do job fairs matter? Experimental evidence off but Left Men Behind.” Labour Economics 65: 1018–24. on the impact of job-fair attendance. Journal of Development Economics, 120, 32-40. Adoho, F., Chakravarty, S., Korkoyah, D. T., Lundberg, M. K., & Tasneem, A. (2014). The impact of an adolescent girls employment Becker, W. E., & Toutkoushian, R. K. (1995). The measurement program: the EPAG project in Liberia. World Bank Policy Research and cost of removing unexplained gender differences in faculty Working Paper, (6832). salaries. Economics of Education Review, 14(3), 209-220. Ahern, K. R., & Dittmar, A. K. (2012). The changing of the boards: Belghith, Nadia; Belhaj Hassine; Lavin, Benjamin Aaron; The impact on firm valuation of mandated female board Lapalombara, Hannah Frohman. Overcoming Barriers to Women’s representation. The quarterly journal of economics, 127(1), 137-197. Economic Empowerment in the Philippines (English). Washington, D.C: World Bank Group. December 2021 Aizer, Anna (2010). “The Gender Wage Gap and Domestic Violence” American Economic Review. 2010 Sep; 100 (4): 1847-1859. Doi: doi: Bennedsen, M., Simintzi, E., Tsoutsoura, M., & Wolfenzon, D. (2019). 10.1257/aer.100.4.1847 Gender pay gaps shrink when companies are required to disclose them. Harvard Business Review, (January 23). Alibhai, Salman, Niklas Buehren, Sreelakshmi Papineni, and Rachael Susan Pierotti. 2017. “Crossovers: BenYishay, A., Jones, M., Kondylis, F., & Mobarak, A. M. (2020). Gender gaps in technology diffusion. Journal of development Aloud, M. E., Al-Rashood, S., Ganguli, I., & Zafar, B. (2020). economics, 143, 102380. Information and social norms: Experimental evidence on the labor market aspirations of Saudi women (No. w26693). National Bertrand, M., Black, S. E., Jensen, S., & Lleras-Muney, A. (2019). Bureau of Economic Research. Breaking the glass ceiling? The effect of board quotas on female labour market outcomes in Norway. The Review of Economic Amin, S., Ahmed, J., Saha, J., Hossain, M., & Haque, E. (2016). Studies, 86(1), 191-239. Delaying child marriage through community-based skills- development programs for girls: Results from a randomized Bertrand, M., Goldin, C., & Katz, L. F. (2010). Dynamics of the gender controlled study in rural Bangladesh. gap for young professionals in the financial and corporate sectors. American economic journal: applied economics, 2(3), 228-55. Åslund, O., & Skans, O. N. (2012). Do anonymous job application procedures level the playing field?. ILR Review, 65(1), 82-107. Bessen, J. E., Meng, C., & Denk, E. (2020). Perpetuating inequality: What salary history bans reveal about wages. Available at SSRN 3628729. Attanasio, O., Guarín, A., Medina, C., & Meghir, C. (2017). Vocational training for disadvantaged youth in Colombia: A long-term follow- Bjorvatn, Kjetil, Alexander W. Cappelen, Linda Helgesson up. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9(2), 131-43. Sekei, Erik Ø. Sørensen, and Bertil Tungodden. 2020. “Teaching through Television: Experimental Evidence on Entrepreneurship Attanasio, O., Kugler, A., & Meghir, C. (2011). Subsidizing vocational Education in Tanzania.” Management Science 66 (6): 2308–25. training for disadvantaged youth in Colombia: Evidence from a randomized trial. American Economic Journal: Applied Bobba, M., & Frisancho, V. (2020). Self-perceptions about academic Economics, 3(3), 188-220. achievement: Evidence from Mexico City. Journal of Econometrics. Ayalew, S., Manian, S., & Sheth, K. (2021). Discrimination from Bohren, J. A., Imas, A., & Rosenberg, M. (2019). The dynamics of below: Experimental evidence from Ethiopia. Journal of discrimination: Theory and evidence. American economic review, Development Economics, 151, 102653. 109(10), 3395-3436. Baker, M., Halberstam, Y., Kroft, K., Mas, A., & Messacar, D. (2019). Bronson, M. A., & Thoursie, P. S. (2019). The wage growth and Pay transparency and the gender gap (No. w25834). National within-firm mobility of men and women: New evidence Bureau of Economic Research. and theory. Unpublished. https:/ /economicdynamics. org/ meetpapers/2018/paper_923. pdf. Accessed March, 25, 2021. Bandiera, Oriana, Niklas Buehren, Robin Burgess, Markus Goldstein, Selim Gulesci, Imran Rasul, and Munshi Sulaiman. Brütt, K., & Yuan, H. (2022). Pitfalls of pay transparency: Evidence 2020. “Women’s Empowerment in Action: Evidence from a from the lab and the field (No. TI 2022-055/I). Tinbergen Institute Randomized Control Trial in Africa.” American Economic Journal: Discussion Paper. Applied Economics 12 (1): 210–59. 16 Buchhave, Helle; Wendy Cunningham, Giang Tam Nguyen, Nina Datta, Namita; Kotikula, Aphichoke. 2017. Not Just More, but Weimann-Sandig (2020): Perceptions of Gender Disparities in Better : Fostering Quality of Employment for Women. Jobs Vietnam’s Labor Market. Washington, DC: World Bank. Working Paper;No. 1. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/26274 Bursztyn, L., González, A. L., & Yanagizawa-Drott, D. (2018). License: CC BY 3.0 IGO. Misperceived social norms: Female labor force participation in Saudi Arabia (No. w24736). National Bureau of Economic Research. Das, S., Delavallade, C., Fashogbon, A., Ogunleye, W., & Papineni, S. (2021). Occupational Sex Segregation in Agriculture. Campos, F., Frese, M., Goldstein, M., Iacovone, L., Johnson, H. C., McKenzie, D., & Mensmann, M. (2017). Teaching personal initiative de Mel, Suresh, David J. McKenzie, and Christopher M. Woodru . beats traditional training in boosting small business in West 2009. “Measuring Microenterprise Profits: Must We Ask How the Africa. Science, 357(6357), 1287-1290. Sausage Is Made?“ Journal of Development Economics 88 (1): 19–31. Campos, F., Goldstein, M., McGorman, L., Boudet, A.M., & Pimhidzai, Dhar, D., Jain, T., & Jayachandran, S. (2022). Reshaping adolescents’ O. (2015). Breaking the metal ceiling: Female entrepreneurs who gender attitudes: Evidence from a school-based experiment in succeed in male-dominated sectors in Uganda. Policy India. American Economic Review, 112(3), 899-927. Cardoso, A. R., & Winter-Ebmer, R. (2010). Female-led firms and Donald, Aletheia; Goldstein, Markus; Rouanet, Léa. 2022. gender wage policies. ILR Review, 64(1), 143-163. Two Heads Are Better Than One : Agricultural Production and Investment in Côte d’Ivoire. Policy Research Working Carrell, S. E., Page, M. E., & West, J. E. (2010). Sex and science: How Papers;10047. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank. https:// professor gender perpetuates the gender gap. The Quarterly openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/37454 License: CC journal of economics, 125(3), 1101-1144 BY 3.0 IGO. Castilla, E. J. (2015). Accounting for the gap: A firm study Engineering, and Mathematics: STEMing the Tide and Broadening manipulating organizational accountability and transparency in Participation in STEM Careers.” pay decisions. Organization Science, 26(2), 311-333. Female Entrepreneurs Who Enter Male Sectors—Evidence from Chinen, Marjorie, Thomas De Hoop, Lorena Alcázar, María Balarin, Ethiopia.” World Bank Policy and Josh Sennett. 2017. “Vocational and Business Training to Improve Women’s Labour Market Outcomes in Low-and Middle- Field, E., Jayachandran, S., Pande, R., & Rigol, N. (2014). Friends at income Countries: A Systematic Review.” Campbell Systematic Work: Can Peer Support Stimulate Female Entrepreneurship?. Reviews 13 (1): 1–195. Unpublished manuscript, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL. Cho, Yoonyoung, and Maddalena Honorati. 2013. Fiske, Susan T., Nilanjana Dasgupta, and Jane G. Stout. 2014. “Girls “Entrepreneurship Programs in Developing Countries: A Meta and Women in Science, Technology, Regression Analysis.” Social Protection and Labor Discussion Paper 1302 (April), World Bank, Washington, DC. Flabbi, L., Macis, M., Moro, A., & Schivardi, F. (2019). Do female executives make a difference? The impact of female leadership Chowdhury, I., Perova, E., Mannava, A., & Johnson, H. C. (2018). on gender gaps and firm performance. The Economic Journal, Gender gap in earnings in Vietnam: why do Vietnamese women 129(622), 2390-2423. work in lower paid occupations?. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, (8433). Foley, M., & Williamson, S. (2018). Does anonymising job applications reduce gender bias? Understanding managers’ Cohen, P. N., & Huffman, M. L. (2007). Working for the woman? perspectives. Gender in Management: An International Journal. Female managers and the gender wage gap. American sociological review, 72(5), 681-704. Gagliarducci, S., & Paserman, M. D. (2015). The Effect of Female Leadership on Establishment and Employee Outcomes: Evidence Correll, S. J., Benard, S., & Paik, I. (2007). Getting a job: Is there a from Linked Employer-Employee Data motherhood penalty? American journal of sociology, 112(5), 1297-1338. Gassier, M., Rouanet, L., & Traore, L. (2022). Addressing Gender- Croke, K., Goldstein, M., & Holla, A. (2022). The Role of Skills and Based Segregation through Information. Gender Norms in Sector Switches: Experimental Evidence from a Job Training Program in Nigeria. Journal of African Economies. Gazeaud, J., Khan, N., Mvukiyehe, E., & Sterck, O. (2022). With or without him? Experimental evidence on gender-sensitive cash Cucagna, Emilia; Iacovone, Leonardo; Rubiano-Matulevich, grants and trainings in Tunisia. Eliana. 2020. Women Entrepreneurs in Mexico : Breaking Sectoral Segmentation and Increasing Profits. World Bank, Washington, Gertler, P., Heckman, J., Pinto, R., Zanolini, A., Vermeersch, C., DC. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/ Walker, S., & Grantham-McGregor, S.(2014). Labor market returns handle/10986/34697 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO. to an early childhood stimulation intervention in Jamaica. Science, 344(6187), 998-1001. Cullen, Z. B., & Perez-Truglia, R. (2019). The old boys’ club: Schmoozing and the gender gap (No. w26530). National Bureau of Goldin, C., & Rouse, C. (2000). Orchestrating impartiality: The Economic Research. impact of” blind” auditions on female musicians. American economic review, 90(4), 715-741. Dabney, K. P., Tai, R. H., Almarode, J. T., Miller-Friedmann, J. L., Sonnert, G., Sadler, P. M., & Hazari, Z. (2012). Out-of-school time Goldin, C., Kerr, S. P., Olivetti, C., & Barth, E. (2017). The expanding science activities and their association with career interest in STEM. gender earnings gap: Evidence from the LEHD-2000 Census. International Journal of Science Education, Part B, 2(1), 63-79. American Economic Review, 107(5), 110-14. 17 Goldstein, M., Gonzalez Martinez, P., & Papineni, S. (2019). Tackling MacNell, L., A. Driscoll, and A. N. Hunt (2015). Whats in a Name: the global profitarchy: Gender and the choice of business sector. Exposing Gender World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, (8865). Magda, I., & Cukrowska-Torzewska, E. (2019). Do women managers Grossman, P. J., Eckel, C., Komai, M., & Zhan, W. (2019). It pays to lower gender pay gaps? evidence from public and private firms. be a man: Rewards for leaders in a coordination game. Journal of Feminist Economics, 25(4), 185-210. Economic Behavior & Organization, 161, 197-215. Magda, I., & Cukrowska-Torzewska, E. (2019). Do women managers Hammond, A., Mulas, V., & Garcia, P. L. Nadres. 2018. Women lower gender pay gaps? Evidence from public and private firms. wavemakers: practical strategies for recruiting and retaining Feminist Economics, 25(4), 185-210. women in coding bootcamps. Washington, DC: World Bank. Maida, A., & Weber, A. (2022). Female leadership and gender gap Hammond, A., Rubiano Matulevich, E., Beegle, K., & within firms: Evidence from an Italian board reform. ILR Review, Kumaraswamy, S. K. (2020). The equality equation. 75(2), 488-515. Hansen, B., & McNichols, D. (2020). Information and the Manning, A., & Swaffield, J. (2008). The gender gap in early-career Persistence of the Gender Wage Gap: Early Evidence from wage growth. The Economic Journal, 118(530), 983-1024. California’s Salary History Ban (No. w27054). National Bureau of Economic Research. Matsa, D. A., & Miller, A. R. (2013). A female style in corporate leadership? Evidence from quotas. American Economic Journal: Hardy, M., & Kagy, G. (2018, May). Mind the (profit) gap: why are Applied Economics, 5(3), 136-69. female enterprise owners earning less than men?. In AEA Papers and Proceedings (Vol. 108, pp. 252-55). McKenzie, David and Christopher Woodruff. 2014. “What are we learning from business training evaluations around the Hengel, E. (2022). Publishing while female: Are women held to developing world?” World Bank Research Observer 29(1): 48-82. higher standards? Evidence from peer review. The Economic Journal, 132(648), 2951-2991. McKenzie, David. 2021. “Small Business Training to Improve Management Practices in Developing Countries: Re-Assessing the Hicks, Joan Hamory, Michael R. Kremer, Isaac Mbiti, and Edward Evidence for ‘Training Doesn’t Work.’” Oxford Review of Economic Miguel. 2016. “Evaluating the Impact of Vocational Education Policy 37 (2): 276–301. Vouchers on Out-of-School Youth in Kenya.” 3ie Impact Evaluation Report 37 (August), International Initiative for Impact Mengel, F., J. Sauermann, and U. Zlitz (2018). Gender Bias in Evaluation, New Delhi Teaching Evaluations. Impact Evaluation of Laos Road Maintenance Groups Program Nguyen, T. (2013). Information, role models and perceived returns (English). Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. to education experimental evidence from Madagascar. Jensen, R. (2010). The (perceived) returns to education and the Ñopo Aguilar, H. R., Robles, M., & Saavedra Chanduvi, J. (2008). demand for schooling. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Occupational training to reduce gender segregation: The impacts 125(2), 515-548. of ProJoven. Jensen, Robert. 2012. “Do Labor Market Opportunities Affect Young Owen, S. (2022). College field specialization and beliefs Women’s Work and Family Decisions? Experimental Evidence from about relative performance: An experimental intervention to India *.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 127 (2): 753–92. understand gender gaps in STEM. Available at SSRN 4161554. Jirout, J. J., & Newcombe, N. S. (2015). Building blocks for Perego, Viviana M.E; Romero, Javier; Freeman, Katie; Lopez, developing spatial skills: Evidence from a large, representative US Angela; Ortiz, Glenn; Salas, Hugo; Ramirez, Rudy; Locatelli, sample. Psychological science, 26(3), 302-310. Arianna; Orihuela, Danielle; and de Ferrari, Camila. 2022. Digitagro: Investing in digital technology to increase market Kleven, Henrik, Camille Landais, and Jakob Egholt Søgaard. 2019. access for women agri-preneurs in Guatemala. World Bank, “Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark.” Washington, DC. © World Bank. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 11 (4): 181-209. Perova, Elizaveta, Sarah Reynolds, Ian Schmutte. 2021. “Does the Kunze, A., & Miller, A. R. (2017). Women helping women? Evidence Gender Wage Gap Influence Intimate Partner Violence in Brazil? from private sector data on workplace hierarchies. Review of Evidence from Administrative Health Data.” Policy Research Economics and Statistics, 99(5), 769-775. Working Paper. No. 9656. La Ferrara, E., Chong, A., & Duryea, S. (2012). Soap operas and Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences 1(1): 21-29. fertility: Evidence from Brazil. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 4(4), 1-31. Porter, C., & Serra, D. (2020). Gender differences in the choice of major: The importance of female role models. American Lang, M., & Seither, J. (2022). The Economics of Women’s Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 12(3), 226-54. Entrepreneurship. Ramirez-Espinoza, F. (2022). Essays on the Economics of M. Sadler, and Zahra Hazari. 2012. “Out-of-School Time Science Education and Gender (Doctoral dissertation). Activities and Their Association Rinne, Ulf. 2018. “Anonymous job applications and hiring Macchiavello, R., Menzel, A., Rabbani, A., & Woodruff, C. (2020). discrimination.” IZA World of Labor 48 (2) Challenges of change: An experiment promoting women to managerial roles in the bangladeshi garment sector (No. w27606). National Bureau of Economic Research. 18 Sinha, S. (2019). Salary history ban: Gender pay gap and spillover effects. Available at SSRN 3458194. Todd, P. (2012). Effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving women’s employability and quality of work: A critical review. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, (6189). Uckat, H. (2020). Women’s Promotion and Intra-Household Bargaining: Evidence from Bangladesh. Working paper, Oxford University. Uckat, H., & Woodruff, C. (2020). Learning How to Choose or Learning How to Lead? Experiments on Selecting and Training Female Managers in Bangladesh’s Garment Industry. Working Paper. Ulyssea, G. (2020). Informality: Causes and consequences for development. Annual Review of Economics, 12, 525-546. UN Women, 2016, “Leave No One Behind: A Call to Action for Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment.” Report of the UN Secretary. Women in business and management: the business case for change / International Labour Office. - Geneva: ILO, 2019. World Bank. (2011). World development report 2012: Gender equality and development. The World Bank. World Bank. 2020. “Adapting Skills Training to Address Constraints to Women’s Participation.” Jobs Note 7 (April), World Bank, Washington, DC World Bank. 2022. Breaking Barriers: Female Entrepreneurs Who Cross Over to Male-Dominated Sectors. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/ handle/10986/36940 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO. Yang, Y. L., & Grauer, B. (2016, June). The effect of financial support on academic achievement and retention of female engineering students. In 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. 19