There have been significant advancements on gender equality in the world of work. However, the gender gaps across the world of work persist: while women’s intentions to start a business are similar to that of men, women’s actual entrepreneurial activity is only ¾ of that of men; women make up only 1/3 of the workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); and, despite accounting for 48% of entry-level hires, women account for only 38% of first-level managers. Despite the persistent gender gaps and gender-based barriers, women are able to start and manage successful enterprises, enter the STEM field, and become leaders, contributing to their own success, as well as to economic growth the wellbeing of their families and communities.

On September 24th, 2021, the ILO’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Programme (ILO-WED) organised a webinar on Training Equitably: Gender-Sensitive Approaches to Supporting Women in Business to highlight how ILO trainings have been designed to be relevant, sustainable and scalable for women entrepreneurs, workers and managers. Some of these tools and approaches include:

• Gender and Entrepreneurship Together (GET Ahead): A gender-sensitive entrepreneurship training programme developed by the ILO’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Programme in 2004 that aims to build women’s business management capacity and soft skills.
• In Business: A programme dedicated to building the soft-skills of workers in the STEM field that has resonated with women workers and has been implemented at scale win Philippines and Thailand and was the initiative of the ILO’s Women in STEM project.
• MALKIA: A training developed for women in middle-management positions developed by ITC-ILO ACTEMP to tackle the under-representation of women in leadership positions.

To learn more, take a look at the webinar recording or the recap flyer.
Contact: wed@ilo.org