Systematic reviews
Vocational and business training to improve women’s labour market outcomes in low- and middle-income countries
3ie Systematic review 40
Marjorie Chinen, Thomas de Hoop, María Balarin, Lorena Alcázar, Josh Sennett and Julian Mezarina
This systematic review by Chinen and colleagues examined the effects on employment, income, sales, and profits. They find that vocational and business training, on average, leads to minor improvements in women’s economic well-being. Differences in the programmes’ effectiveness suggest that having a gender focus leads to larger impacts on women. The authors conclude that skill-building programmes may be effective when carefully designed with local gender norms in mind.