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FROM JOBS TO CAREERS
Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Vietnam). Several findings emerged from this analysis: • Although HSOs account for 13 percent of employment in lower-middle-income countries, they make up 25 percent of women’s employment in upper-middle-income countries and 40 percent in high-income ones. Similarly, several professional service industries that have been traditionally important for females are prominent only in high-income countries. We find that returns from employment in the occupations available in lower-middle-income countries are perhaps insufficient to draw women into the workforce, especially given the extra education needed and the number of hours worked relative to the wages received. • Education levels in three sample countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Pakistan) are insufficient to meet the needs of career occupations, particularly for women. But in the other countries (Egypt, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Vietnam), education levels for women are not only sufficient but also equal to or higher than those for men. Thus, the problem is likely to stem from low demand in select industries and misalignment between education and workforce development. • In most of our case countries, certain laws either (a) limit women’s ability to undertake certain occupations, to earn, or to move between occupations equally to men; or (b) are lacking in protections against discrimination in the workplace. Moreover, gender norms further limit women’s involvement in the labor force or diminish the workplace environment, deterring them from staying in the workforce. This is particularly evident in Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan, and Turkey, which have lower FLFP rates, higher levels of sexism, and—except in Turkey— lower gender equality based on the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law indicators. They also have low female-to-male ratios in industries that traditionally employ more women. If countries primarily engage in industries that mostly provide “jobs” (such as in apparel manufacturing), the opportunities for career advancement are quite limited. Furthermore, when these jobs provide low wages, there are minimal returns to national income that would increase demand for the professional service industries that women often transition into in higher-income countries. The following chapter explores this further.
Notes 1.
The Gini coefficient is the most commonly used measure of the inequality of the distribution of income (or consumption) in an economy. A Gini value of 0.0 indicates perfect equality, and a value of 1.0 indicates perfect inequality.
