Investing in women’s employment is key to unlocking growth in emerging and developing economies. It makes business sense to support better employment opportunities for women beyond minimum statutory compliance. This report has been developed as a guide for companies operating in emerging and developing economies and is intended to inform and encourage further progress on women’s employment. It provides guidance on the best ways of gauging the benefits of women’s employment, including longer-term benefits, which can prove difficult to quantify.
To date, much of the research on the business benefits of investing in women’s employment has come from high-income countries and information from emerging markets has been more limited, particularly with respect to practical experiences at the enterprise level. This publication begins to fill this gap by providing concrete examples of situations where companies operating in emerging markets have experienced benefits as a result of support for women’s employment. This includes the member companies of WINvest, the World Bank Group’s global partnership initiative with the private sector. In addition, six companies volunteered to share their experiences in greater depth and are the subject of extended case studies.
Key Findings:
- The individual initiatives that are discussed tend not to be standalone activities, but rather form part of a broader approach to improving gender diversity and working conditions for all.
- Even companies that have already achieved important results see this as a “work in progress”; that is, an area where commitments need to be reaffirmed on an ongoing basis and strategies and actions need to be constantly reviewed and monitored.
- Most companies find that the best results flow from activities that set clear objectives and are accompanied by frameworks for measuring results.
- Many companies find that the best solutions are aimed not just at supporting women, but at establishing terms and conditions of employment that support women and men.
- Measuring the effectiveness of interventions on women’s employment helps companies to understand the kinds of costs and benefits that are associated with the investment, as well as the links between inputs, processes and outcomes.