Unit 1: A conceptual framework for gender analysis and planning: women's time management

International Labour Organization
SEAPAT
South-East Asia and the Pacific Multidisciplinary Advisory Team
ILO/SEAPAT's OnLine Gender Learning & Information Module

Unit 1: A conceptual framework for gender analysis and planning

What is gender analysis?

Tool: Participatory Exercise in Gender Analysis: Women’s Time Management

The following tool is a participatory exercise that may be used when conducting gender analysis with the participation of client communities. It helps analyse women’s time constraints.

Purpose: To determine the tasks women perform, the sequence in which they do them, how long each activity takes, and whether the most time-consuming activities are considered to be a problem.

Time: 1 to 2 hours

Audience: Primarily community members (either all women or mixed groups); also useful for trainers, project staff and field workers.

Materials needed:

Cards that depict different tasks which women perform during their daily routines, such as: cooking, sweeping, carrying water, harvesting, washing clothes, caring for child, making dung patties.
Match-sticks.

How to conduct the exercise:

Lay the cards on the ground.
Ask each member of the group to sequence the cards by the order in which they normally perform the activities. Provide blank cards for drawing any extra chores the women may describe. Record the similarities and differences between the responses of the participants.
Next, provide the group with match-sticks. A full match-stick represents an hour; a half match-stick represents half an hour. Ask the group to determine how long each chore takes by placing match-sticks on the respective cards.
Discuss the findings with the group and let them summarise what was learned.
Discuss the most time-consuming chores and whether they are considered to be problematic. Ask the group which problems they would first like to consider and solve. Ask how they would change their daily routine if they had water closer to their home.

[Note: This exercise can be conducted with groups of men who are asked to assess women's time constraints. As an alternative, the pictures can be redrawn to represent a man's daily routine.]

[Adapted from Deepa Narayan and Lyra Srinivasan, Participatory Development Tool Kit: Training Materials for Agencies and Communities, World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1994]

Module Homepage

For further information, please contact the South-East Asia and the Pacific Multidisciplinary
Advisory Team (SEAPAT) at Tel: +63.2.815.2354 or Fax: +63.2.812.6143
E-mail: seapat@ilo.org

This page was revised by SF. It was approved by WRB. It was last updated on 2 November 1998.