The Norms Factor: Recent Research on Gender, Social Norms, and Women's
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The norms factor Recent research on gender, social norms, and women’s economic empowerment Rachel Marcus Photo: Scott Wallace / World Bank THE NORMS FACTOR: RECENT RESEARCH ON GENDER, SOCIAL NORMS, AND WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT Rachel Marcus, Overseas Development Institute © 2018 International Development Research Centre This paper was commissioned by IDRC through the GrOW program to review and put in context recently-supported research on social norms and the interaction with women’s economic empowerment. Opinions stated in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of IDRC or the GrOW funders. AUTHOR’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks to Gillian Dowie, Arjan de Haan, Caroline Harper, and Maria Stavropoulou for comments on previous versions, and to Georgia Plank and Ciara Remerscheid for research assistance. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rachel Marcus is Senior Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute. She specialises in evidence reviews on gender, social norms, youth and adolescence, and in recent years has focused on formal and informal education and women’s and girls’ empowerment. She is a lead advisor on the Advancing Learning and Innovation in Gender Norms (ALIGN) project. ABOUT THE GROW PROGRAM The Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW) program is a multi-funder partnership between the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, the Hewlett Foundation, and the International Development Research Centre. www.idrc.ca/grow ABOUT IDRC CONTACT Part of Canada’s foreign affairs and development International Development Research Centre efforts, IDRC invests in knowledge, innovation, and PO Box 8500, Ottawa, ON solutions to improve lives and livelihoods in the Canada K1G 3H9 developing world. Tel: (+1) 613-236-6163; Email: [email protected] www.idrc.ca Cover photo: M. Yousuf Tushar Photo: UN Photo/Kibae Park CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION 4 Definitions: Social and gender norms 4 Framework for understanding gender norms and women’s economic empowerment 6 Methodological issues and limitations 7 INSIGHTS INTO THE ROLE OF SOCIAL AND GENDER NORMS IN FACILITATING OR CONSTRAINING WOMEN’S ECONOMIC ACTIVITY 8 A macro-level view 8 Norms about whether women should undertake paid work 9 Norms about suitable work for men and women 12 Norms about respectability, decorum, and mobility 16 Norms about sexual and gender-based violence 23 Norms around ownership and control of assets 25 WHAT FACILITATES CHANGE IN GENDER NORMS? 29 Supportive policy and institutional environment for women’s economic empowerment 29 Economic empowerment programs 30 CONCLUSIONS 35 Gaps 37 REFERENCES 39 5 1 THE NORMS FACTOR: RECENT RESEARCH ON GENDER, SOCIAL NORMS, AND WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT Photo: United Nations Photo United Photo: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Gender discriminatory social norms are a widely KEY FINDINGS: CONSTRAINING IMPACTS OF recognized barrier to women’s economic empowerment, SOCIAL AND GENDER NORMS ON WOMEN’S affecting both their access to “decent work” and their experience in workplaces. Between 2013 and 2018, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY the Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women Ambivalence about women working outside program (GrOW) funded 14 research projects on issues the home, with some generational shifts. related to women’s economic empowerment in more than 50 countries. The studies from South Asia revealed considerable ambivalence about women’s work outside the home, Although few GrOW studies focused on social and other than in high-skilled, high-status occupations or in gender norms, they have generated a body of evidence work that can be undertaken at or near home. Studies about the ways in which discriminatory gender norms of economic change (such as trade liberalization) found affect women’s access to economic opportunities and an increasing entry of women into paid labour in some their work experiences. These findings help explain contexts, indicating that growing opportunities can lead stagnation in women’s labour force participation in to shifts in behaviour, and possibly in gender norms. some contexts, the frequent concentration of women The studies from East Africa highlighted generational in relatively less lucrative sectors and occupations differences: young women with secondary education than men, and gendered barriers and challenges that are increasingly motivated to work outside the home, disproportionately affect women. even where this contravenes prevailing norms and the views of the older generation. Most studies were framed broadly within the discipline Norms concerning reputation and decorum. of economics. Five studies made use of extensive qualitative research along with quantitative analysis; These norms contributed both to limiting women’s work these generated direct insights concerning gender outside the home and to the concentration of women in norms, as did studies analyzing demographic and less lucrative activities. Examples included prohibitions health survey (DHS) data. The other studies making on women’s involvement in underground mining in use of large datasets helped illuminate the relationship East, Central, and West Africa, and in roles requiring between gender norms; the political, legal, policy and mixing with men or undertaking non-traditional work institutional environment; and women’s economic in South Asia. Job segregation was reinforced by gossip empowerment. questioning the moral standing and reputations of women engaged in male-dominated work, or in work involving travel or residence away from home. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 Norms assigning the bulk of domestic duties to WHAT FACTORS LEAD TO CHANGE IN GENDER women. NORMS? These norms and related inequalities in workloads and leisure time emerged as the other main constraint to Large-scale economic change. women’s economic activity. Qualitative studies from Economic change appears to contribute to changing East Africa found some relaxation of individual men’s gender norms in some contexts by increasing the attitudes and younger men taking on a greater share of availability of work perceived as suitable for women. domestic work, although norms around ideal divisions Although few macro-focused studies examine norm of labour had shifted little. Critical comments about the change directly, there is some evidence that greater quality of working women’s domestic care and about economic opportunities increase women’s labour the manliness of men undertaking domestic work market participation in Indonesia. A study from Brazil contributed to reinforcing norms about gender labour suggests that the effects of economic shocks on marriage divisions. and childbearing are limited, partly because the norms encouraging couple formation and reproduction remain Norms around adolescent marriage and childbearing. strong. Studies from East and West Africa highlighted the role of education as a route to higher quality work and the Economic empowerment programs. constraining effects of early marriage, childbearing, GrOW studies examined the impacts of three main types and child labour. The in-depth Uganda study showed of initiatives: broad-based empowerment programs how gender norms, both in wider society and among that aim to enhance women’s voice and self-efficacy; girls’ peer groups, contribute to early marriage and cash and in-kind incentives to prevent early marriage childbearing and thus limit educational achievement and increase women’s and girls’ levels of education and and women’s future economic opportunities. This is training; and child care provision to ease domestic care particularly so in rural areas. constraints. Although there are few studies for each strategy, there are some clear findings. For example, Widespread work-related sexual violence constrains women’s economic activity. families are generally willing to make use of day care for young children if they perceive it to be of good quality. Fear of sexual violence also deters women from entering the labour force and contributes to gendered The GrOW studies suggest that policies and programs job segregation. Three studies highlighted the incentivizing secondary school attendance and pervasiveness of such violence, although they did completion may be contributing to extending girls’ not examine the nature of norms that enable sexual education and delaying marriage in East Africa and violence to persist. Another three studies probed the Bangladesh, but the extent to which this constitutes a relationship between women’s paid work and intimate change in norms is unclear. A study from rural Pakistan partner violence. They found that, although there is a shows that incentives alone cannot overcome normative relationship in some regions (Latin America and East constraints on women’s mobility where it is strongly Africa), it varies by sector: women working in agriculture curtailed. The study of a broad-based empowerment are most likely to experience greater intimate partner program (Mahila Samakya) showed its potential to violence. Overall, these studies suggest that the contribute to norm change that underpins economic common view that women’s labour force participation empowerment over a sustained period (15 to 20 years), leads to resistance, expressed through intimate partner but also highlighted the persistence of norms related to violence, needs some qualification. sexuality and gender-based violence. 2 THE NORMS FACTOR: RECENT RESEARCH ON GENDER, SOCIAL NORMS, AND WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT Political, legal, and institutional environment. • what norms