Policy Brief Issue 20 FEMALE ENROLLMENT IN MALE-DOMINATED VOCATIONAL TRAINING COURSES: PREFERENCES AND PROSPECTS Niklas Buehren and Taylor Van Salisbury Authors: KEY MESSAGES • Networks matter: The strongest predictor of a young woman’s decision to enroll in male- dominated technical and vocational courses is her existing relationships with people who work in GENDER the associated trade. INNOVATION LAB • Personal preferences and prospects rule: When choosing coursework, personal preferences The Gender Innovation and future work prospects are rated as more important than the preferences of family and friends. Lab (GIL) conducts impact • Gender beliefs are not the main roadblock: Gender beliefs and anticipated gender discrimination evaluations of development in the workplace does not appear to affect young women’s preferences in coursework. interventions in Sub-Saharan Occupational gender segregation is a worldwide phenomenon that is frequently cited as one of the Africa, seeking to generate contributing factors to the gender gap in earnings. Research by the World Bank’s Africa Gender evidence on how to close Innovation Lab (GIL) in Uganda and Ethiopia, studied the factors associated with women entrepreneurs’ the gender gap in earnings, decision to start a business in a male-dominated trade. One of the main findings of these studies productivity, assets and was that women who choose to operate in a male-dominated trade—or “crossover”—typically do so with the help of husbands or other male family members who have existing connections in these agency. The GIL team is trades. Moreover, when they do crossover their average profits are about three times higher than currently working on over that of non-crossover firms and they earn as much as men who operate in those sectors. 50 impact evaluations in 21 countries with the aim of In partnership with UNIDO and Selam David Röschli Technical and Vocational College, the Gender Innovation Lab set out to study what motivates students to choose different streams of building an evidence base coursework at a technical and vocational education (TVET) institution and how their personal with lessons for the region. interest, expectations for future employment and other factors influence this choice. . The impact objective of GIL is increasing take-up THE PROGRAM of effective policies by To address the lack of well-trained machine technicians in Ethiopia, a Public Private Development governments, development Partnership (PPDP) between the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), organizations and the private Volvo and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) opened a Heavy Duty Equipment and commercial Vehicles Academy (HDECoVA) at the Selam David Röschli sector in order to address Technical and Vocational College (SDR-TVC). Launched in 2012, the project aims to prepare the underlying causes of young people for future livelihoods and facilitate access to employment opportunities. gender inequality in Africa, particularly in terms of HDECoVA is the first state of the art vocational training for heavy machinery in Ethiopia. During the courses, students access modern machinery to train to do repairs and service work and receive education in women’s economic and English and information technology. Overall, about a third of the college’s 600 students are female. social empowerment. The lab aims to do this by HERE’S WHAT WE DID producing and delivering a new body of evidence and In 2016, the World Bank’s Africa Gender Innovation Lab conducted a study to examine the personal developing a compelling characteristics that drive young women to choose male or female dominated TVET courses. The research team evaluated how a female student’s choice is influenced by her own gender beliefs, the gender beliefs of her family narrative, geared towards and friends, her relationships with people employed in trades she can choose to study, and several other factors. policymakers, on what works and what does not work in GIL researchers collected and analyzed survey responses from 172 female students at SDR-TVC who promoting gender equality. were enrolled in their first, second or third year of coursework. Data collection consisted of a one- hour interview with each of the students during the first two weeks of the 2016 school year. For more information visit us at: http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/africa-gender-innovation-lab WHAT ARE THE MALE DOMINATED DEPARTMENTS? Furniture Making 95% 5% Manufacturing 90% 10% Male dominated departments Electric & Electricity 77% 23% are those where >66% of its Heavy Duty Equipment & Commercial Vehicles 75% 25% students are male Infomation Technology 57% 43% % Male Students Food Preparation 25% 75% Administrative Office & Secretarial Technology 100% % Female Students HERE’S WHAT WE FOUND The strongest predictor of a young woman’s decision to enroll in male-dominated technical and vocation courses is her existing relationships with people who work in the associated trade. When a student knows someone who works in a vocational trade, she may have a better idea of the earning potential of workers in that trade and the type of tasks they do, which potentially influences her decision. We find that young women who know someone in an associated male-dominated trade, are 14 percentage points more likely to prefer a male-dominated department at SDR-TVC. Only one third of respondents indicated their top registration preference was one of the male-dominated departments at SDR-TVC. However, 83 percent of respondents listed at least one male dominated department in their top three preferences, which suggests these students are actively considering male-dominated courses but are not currently prioritizing them above non-male dominated courses. When choosing coursework, personal preferences and future work prospects are rated as more important than the preferences of family and friends. Our analysis showed that students appear to be very practical and forward-looking in their decision-making, with 77 percent identifying the utility of degrees they are pursuing or personal interests as the most important factors in their preference to attend SDR-TVC and choose a department. Only 9 percent of the surveyed students identified family and friends as the most important factor in their decision. Traditional gender beliefs do not appear to affect young women’s preferences when choosing between female or male-dominated courses. The majority of students agreed with three of four gendered statements about men and women in the workplace, such as that men are more well-adapted than women to doing physically demanding work. However, these beliefs do not appear to dissuade women from entering traditionally male-dominated sectors of study. Moreover, despite agreeing with some traditional beliefs about differences in the roles or abilities of women and men, only a small minority of women (3-15%, depending on the sector) anticipate discrimination in remuneration between women and men. CONCLUSION In this study, we strived to better understand the factors that influence a female students’ choice of a TVET college course. We find that the strongest predictor of a young woman’s decision to enroll in male-dominated courses is her existing relationships with people who work in the same vocational trade. We also find that the perceived future prospects in the profession and personal interest are among the most important motivating factors for this course choice. More work FOR MORE needs to be done to pilot and evaluate the impact of interventions that create early points of INFORMATION, contact and exposure for young women to professions that are traditionally dominated by men. PLEASE CONTACT Markus Goldstein mgoldstein@worldbank.org Rachel Coleman We thank our colleagues at Selam David Röschli Technical and Vocational College (SDR-TVC) in Addis Ababa for their rcoleman1@worldbank.org active support in conducting the study. All views in this paper are those of the authors and not any particular institution. For HDECoVa-related information please contact Mattias Larsen at M.larsen@unido.org 1818 H. St NW This work has also been funded in part by The Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality (UFGE), a World Bank Group multidonor trust fund expanding evidence, knowledge and data needed to identify and address key gaps between Washington, DC 20433 USA men and women to deliver better development solutions that boost prosperity and increase opportunity for all. The UFGE has received generous contributions from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States. The first draft of this policy brief was released in May 2017.