Gender &

developm
ent

Chapter V
2 G & D: The definition and
concept
– Theoretical approaches advocated chiefly by the World Bank,
smart economics is an approach to define gender equality as an
integral part of economic development and it aims to
spur development through investing more efficiently in women
and girls.
3 Some concepts that need
revision
– Gender refers to an individual's anatomical sex, or sexual
assignment and the cultural and social aspects of being male or
female.
– An individual's personal sense of maleness or femaleness is his or
her gender identity.
– Outward expression of gender identity, according to cultural and
social expectations, is a gender role.
4 …cont

– Either gender may live out a gender role (a man or a woman, for
instance, can be a homemaker) but not a sex role, which is
anatomically limited to one gender (only a woman can gestate and
give birth).
– In gender and development, the term gender is used to describe
characteristics determined by society, while the term sex is used to
describe characteristics that are biologically determined
5 Where the problem arises!

– However, as we have a stereotypical approach towards

gender role establishment, both genders are not
afforded equal opportunities for development.
– Around the world women, as a group, earn less than
men, receive fewer benefits, and work longer hours
every day. Their work and their opinions are deprecated.
6

– In general, women have more onerous family

responsibilities and are frequently threatened with
violence.
– They are also under-represented at the decision-making
level and face many obstacles when they aspire to
positions of authority
7 Models to resolve gender
exclusive development
The problem highlighted on the last slide (for which I have
provided international statistics in your notes as well), have
been visited by numerous scholars and models for their
resolution have been put forth. Popular among which are:
– Women in Development (WID) approach
– Women and Development (WAD) approach
– Gender and Development (GAD) approach
8 Women in Development
WID
– Dates back to the 1970s
– Then, the belief was that women had not only been left
out of development but had also become even more
disadvantaged as a result.
– Believes the central issue to be the absence and
exclusion of women from development programs and
approaches.
9 ..cont

– This approach made demands for women’s inclusion in

development, but it did not call for changes in the overall structure
or economic system in which women were to be included.
– The WID approach concentrated very narrowly on the inequalities
between men and women and ignored the social, cultural, legal
and economic factors that give rise to those inequalities in society.
– WID focused on women almost exclusively and assumed that
women were outside the mainstream of development.
10 Women and Development
WAD
– WAD arose in opposition to WID in the latter part of the 1970s
– It argued that women had always been part of the development
process, where the work women undertook both inside and
outside the household was vital to the survival and continuance of
society.
– WAD saw both women and a segment of men as well as being
disadvantaged by the global economic structures, including class
issues and the way wealth was distributed.
11 …cont

– This approach was criticized for assuming that the

position of women would improve if and when
international structures became more equitable,
– Thereby underplaying the role of patriarchy and
– For not adequately addressing the question of social
relations between men and women and their impact on
development together to support a more equal access to
resources and equal rights in law
12 Gender and Development
GAD
– Arose in the 1980s and represents a coming together of many
feminist ideas.
– Looks at the impact of development on both men and women
– Supports the equal participation of both women and men in
development and
– Emphasizes equality of benefit and control in everyday events
13 What does GAD preach!

– GAD is not concerned with women exclusively, but with

the way in which gender relations allot specific roles,
responsibilities and expectations between men and
women, often to the detriment of women.
– GAD focuses on the social or gender relations (division of
labor etc.) between men and women in society and
seeks to address issues of access and control over
resources and power.
 14
G&D
• Development means ways in which a place seeks to
develop economically and to improve quality of life
for its people.

• A country’s level of development is shown primarily

by economic indicators of average wealth and/or
income.

• Development encompasses a variety of social and

political criteria too.

• Gender equality is widely regarded as an important

indicator of development.
15

– The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is a composite index devised by the United
Nations. It measures gender inequalities related to three aspects of social and
economic development. These are:

1. reproductive health, measured by maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth

rates
2. empowerment, measured by proportion of parliamentary seats occupied by
females and proportion of adult females and males aged 25 years and older with
some secondary education
3. the labour force participation rate of female and male populations aged 15 years
and older
16 Traditional barriers to girls’
Schooling

Perceived risks Neglected needs

Poverty Cultural barriers (e.g. parents may (e.g. poor rural
(e.g. poor parents (e.g. the belief be fearful of schools may lack
need some of held by parents in allowing girls to adequate
their children to some societies travel long sanitation
work and earn that there is little distances to facilities for girls,
money instead of value in girls’ school on their leading to
studying) education) own in lawless absences and
rural areas ) drop-outs)
17 Educating girls is Smart
Economics
• If women are educated to the same high standard as mean, it
improves a country’s human resources.
• There will be more skilled workers which can attract foreign direct
investment from overseas (this happened in China).
• Microfinance schemes in India and Bangladesh have helped
educated women to run their own businesses successfully.
• In all these ways, educating women helps grow a country’s gross
domestic product (GDP).
18 …cont
Can you explain the
varied ways in which
Economic better education for
growth of a women can help a
nation country to develop
economically?

Fertility rates Social status of

fall, and the women rises;
health of Better women enter
children at work in
education politics, health
home often
improves
for women and education
 Gender and
Development

Let’s undertake some in depth analysis, I

believe this topic is important from paper
point of view

19
20

I Gender Equality Matters

II Measuring Gender Equality: The GID-Data Base

III Improving Gender Equality: What Can be Done?

IV Next Steps
21 I) Gender equality matters…

– Gender equality means women and men have equal conditions for
realising their full human rights and for contributing to, and benefiting
from economic, social, cultural and political development.
– Gender equality is an important goal in itself (MDG 3)…
– … and also contributes to the achievement of other objectives:
- stimulate growth and reduce poverty
- reduce inequities
- contribute to child development
22 … but what do we need to determine?

– Causalities between development and gender

inequalities not clear

– Measurement i.e qualitative and quantitative

assessment of the link between Gender Inequalities
and Development needs to be done
 23 Main messages of research in this
regard :

– Apart from having an intrinsic value, gender equality is an untapped source

that can boost economic growth

– Improving gender equality needs to start with changing mindsets

– Both messages are relevant for OECD and non-OECD countries

– OECD countries: aging population, decline in the dependency ratio, double dividend
from gender equality: increasing work force and improving demographics
– Non-OECD countries: better human development, higher female labor force
participation, more sustainable growth
24 Challenge in OECD countries:
Reverse declining fertility
2.7 2.7
2.6 2.6
2.5 2.5
2.4 2.4
2.3 replacement level of 2.1 2.3
2.2 2.2
2.1 2.1
2.0 USA 2.0
1.9 1.9
1.8 1.8
1.7 OECD-27 1.7
1.6 1.6
1.5 1.5
EU-19
1.4 1.4
1.3 Japan 1.3
1.2 1.2
Source: OECD (2015) 1.1 1.1
1.0 1.0
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2002
More women employed = More babies born
25
Cross-country correlation between women employment
rates and fertility rates

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8
80
81

82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91

92
93
94
95
96
97

98
99
19
19

19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19

19
19
19
19
19
19

19
19
Source: OECD (2015)
26 …while people’s mindsets are
equally, if not more, important.
27 Gender equality can be a powerful
source of economic development…

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
OECD-TOP EAP-OECD EAP non-OECD SA

GDP pc (in '000) Women in paid labor, non agricultrual sector (in %)

Source: Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base, OECD (2015).

Note: OECD-TOP refers to United States, Ireland, Norway, Iceland
28 …and can directly impact countries’ growth
rates
Growth effect of closing the gender gap in schooling.

4
Actual growth rate
Projected growth rate
3
(percent)

0
Sub-Saharan Africa South Asia Middle East/North Africa
Source: “Engendering Development”, in World Development Report 2000/01, “Attacking Poverty”,
Washington: World Bank.
29 Measuring equality (and
inequality)
– Measuring how women do in relation to men has changed considerably over
the past number of years with clearer and more focused statistics on the
wellbeing of people living in different countries and regions.
– measures such as Gross National Product, Gross Domestic Product and per
capita income are still used but have largely been replaced by broader, more
human-centered measurements:-
– The Human Development Index (HDI),
– Gender-related Human Development Index (GDI), and
– The Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM).
30 …cont

– The HDI measures health (life expectancy), knowledge (literacy) and wealth
(GDP). This allows for the better comparison of poverty, deprivation and
development internationally.
– Gender-related Development Index measures the differences between women
and men in relation to the different dimensions of human poverty. This allows
for the adjustment of the HDI for gender inequality.
– Gender Empowerment measures gender inequality in the key areas of
economic and political participation and decision-making. It therefore differs
from the GDI, which serves as an indicator of gender inequality in the basic
indicators
31 The GID Database

– Other than the three on last slide, this is one additional recent mechanism for
measuring the obstacles to women’s economic development.
– It claims to help identify policies that address the roots rather than the
symptoms of gender discrimination, includes some 162 economies/countries
and has some 50 indicators on gender discrimination.
– Not only does this approach focus on:
– access to resources (health, education etc.),
– economic development (GDP per capita) and
– the economic status of womenx
32

– It also looks at the:

– social institutions of a country including

– laws,

– customs and

– traditions) and

– how these in particular influence discriminatory practices biased against

women
33 Methodological Framework
Input Variables Output Variables

Social Institutions (A)

e.g. Family Code, Physical Integrity, Civil
Liberties, Ownership Rights

Economic Role of Women (D)

Access to Resources (B) e.g. share of women in wage
e.g. Health, Education employment in the non - agricultural sector

Political Empowerment (C)

e.g. seats in parliament held by women
 GID-Indicators : Social Institutions

Physical Integrity  Legislation punishing acts of violence against women

 Prevalence of female genital mutilation
 Missing Women
Family Code  Marriage before the age of 20
 Acceptance of polygamy within a society
 Parental authority granted to father and mother equally
 Inheritance practices in favour of male heirs
Ownership Rights  Women’s access to land ownership
 Women’s access to bank loans
 Women’s access to property other than land
Civil Liberties  Freedom of movement
 Obligation to wear a veil in public
Social Institutions: Income Perspective
35

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
LIC HIC (non OECD) LMC UMC HIC OECD

Family Code Physical Integrity Civil Liberties Ownership Rights

Scale: 0 (minimum) to 1 (maximum) = level of discrimination through social institutions
Source: GID Database
Social Institutions: Regional Perspective
36

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
SA MENA SSA EAP ECA LAC OECD

Family Code Physical Integrity Civil Liberties Ownership Rights

Scale: 0 (minimum) to 1 (maximum) = level of discrimination through social institutions

Source: GID Database
 III) Improving Gender Equality:
37
What Can be Done?

– OECD countries:

– Change mindsets

– Adapt policies to allow better work-family balance

– Specific instruments: taxes, allowances, leave provision etc.

– Non-OECD countries:
– Improve data collection and monitor progress

– Better understand local specificities

– Ensure effective design and implementation of laws

– Strengthen women’s voice

– Communicate benefits of reforms

38 IV) Next Steps

– Consolidate the data base

– Data quality and variable selection
– Composite indicators
– Conduct country case studies
– What social institutions impact gender equality?
– How can they be measured?
– Outreach and networking activities
– International organisations and local statistical offices
– Advocacy in donor and partner countries