Indicators of Women’s Empowerment
in Developing Nations
By:
Asmah Mallick
(Daisy) Bui Chung
Kelsey Roets
(Nu) Kulvatee Kantachote
Rachel Polster
Roadmap
1
2
3
4
• Recap of project goal
• Methodology
• Recommend per evaluation
• Comment on USAID
• Conclusion
Project Recap
Gender-sensitive indicators
– Indentify use by international organizations
– Organize by functional dimension
– Evaluate and recommend indicators
• Watch list
Health
Education
Economic
Contribution
Governance
Final
INDICATORS
Indicators
Media
Dimension
Indicator Category
Economic
Contribution
Market Participation
Resource Equity
Characteristics of Population
Educational System
Other
Representation
Electoral System and Processes
Justice
Access and Utilization of Health Services
Disease and Prevention
Environmental Health
Fertility and Population Growth
Health Care Management
Health Expenditures
Maternal and Infant Health
Mental Health and Risk Behaviors
Nutrition
Reproductive Health
Violence against Women
Equal Treatment of Media Employees
Equal Coverage in News Reporting
Equal Expression of Freedom of Speech
Education
Governance
Health
Media
Total
Number of
Indentified Indicators
90
122
9
7
2
16
11
19
14
16
4
12
5
6
12
5
9
9
6
48
37
122
581
Evaluation Criteria
• Data
– Feasibility
– Availability
– Accuracy
– Reliability
• Effectiveness in measuring women’s
empowerment
• Standardized for comparisons
Economic Contribution
Recommended Indicators:
Economic Contribution, Market Participation
Indicators
Advantages
Limitations
Feasibility and
reliability; distinction
between genders
Limited use of ratios;
ignores informal workers
Women in positions of
operation control or highly
technical occupations
Feasibility and
reliability
Varying definitions;
population at poverty level
Time spent on unpaid work
Accuracy
Reliability
Labor participation in
informal economy
Labor participation gap
Percentage of married
workforce
Recommended Indicators:
Economic Contribution, Resource Equity
Indicators
Institutional access to credit
Ownership of land and assets
other than land
Credit loan terms and
amount
Advantages
Limitations
Feasibility and
accuracy
Lack of standardization
Bargaining power
outside household
Household decisions;
unofficial loans
Recommended Economic Contribution Indicators:
Comparison to USAID
Category
Recommended Indicators
Labor participation in informal
economy
Labor participation gap
Number of workers employed in
sectors per year
Percentage of married workforce
No marital status measurement used
Market
Number of women in technical
Participation
occupations
Resource
Equity
USAID Indicators
Number of women entrepreneurs
Percentage of business ownership
Time of unpaid work
Changes in workload by gender
Hours spent collecting fuel or water
Hours of household labor
Institutional access to credit
Ownership of land
Number of users of various
technologies
Ownership of assets other than land No ownership measurement used
Credit loan terms and amount
Credit loan terms and amount
Education
Recommended Indicators: Education
Indicator
Advantages
Limitations
Measures effectiveness of education
outcomes
Self-reporting;
cannot reflect higher knowledge
Future human capital; efficiency of
education system
Different graduation systems
Correlations between education
opportunities and gender roles
Graduation requirements differ
across countries
Trained female teachers
Safer and inviting classrooms; empowers
female teachers
Lacks standardization of teacher
qualifications
Gross enrollment ratio
and vocational and
technical enrollment
Data available and inclusive;
promotes underrepresented fields;
engagement in relevant labor markets
Upward bias
Adult literacy rate
(Age 15 to 24)
Completion rate
Female graduates,
by field of study
Recommended Indicators:
Education, Not Currently Used by Major Agenices
Indicator
Schools with
separate latrines
Advantages
Limitations
Reliable data because physical
construction is visible
Data availability
Distance to school
Feasible to measure at country level
Recommended Indicators: Education
USAID Promotes:
1. Removal of gender-stereotyping from material
2. Separate latrines
3. Trained female teachers
USAID Measures:
1. Enrollment rate
2. Quality of education
Governance
Recommended Indicators: Governance
Category
Indicator
Advantages
Limitations
Monitor allocations;
inclusion of issues on
national agenda
Standardization,
lack of consistent
data
Tracked in national
databases
Potential for
unqualified
representatives
Creates awareness of
domestic violence
Varying
definitions
Gender-sensitivity training
GenderResponsive
Budgeting
Expenditure to increase female voter
registration
Expenditure on programs in female
voter education
Expenditure on programs to reduce
discrimination
Women in decision-making positions in
government
Representation
Governmental committees chaired by
women
Legislation
Legislation against domestic violence
Health
Recommended Indicators: Health
Indicator
Presence of skilled
attendant at birth
DTP3 Immunizations
(Diphteria, Tetanus, Pertussis)
Contraception
prevalence
Advantages
Measures progress towards improved
maternal health
Limitations
Exclude births outside public health
sector
Data misrepresent women with
multiple births in a survey period
Data availability and comparability
Data indicate distributed doses but
not number of immunized children
High correlation between economic
development and contraception
prevalence
Surveys use varying definitions
High comparability
Lack of data in many countries
Access to sanitation
and clean water, by
sex
Demonstrates relationship to
government policy
Data not measured frequently or
regularly
HIV prevalence, by
sex among 15-24
year-olds
Changes reflect efficacy of prevention
and education efforts
Stigma associated with positive HIV
diagnosis
Media
Recommended Indicators:
Media, Equal Coverage in News Reporting
Indicator
Advantages
Limitations
Commitment to women’s
empowerment
Lack of awareness
Proportion of women to
men as experts in stories
Gender breakdown of news
sources
Societal norms
Proportion of stories
depicting gender
stereotypes
Organization’s awareness of
gender stereotyping
Biased results
Resources for gendersensitive reporting
Recommended Indicators:
Media, Equal Treatment of Media Employees
Indicator
Advantages
Human resource
policies on gender
Limitations
Lack of awareness and
enforcement
Organization’s commitment
to women’s empowerment
Transparent pay scale
Proportion of male and
female employees
Lack of enforcement
Gender breakdown of job
positions
Not indicative of treatment of
employees based on gender
Recommended Indicators:
Media, Freedom of Speech
Indicator
Advantages
Limitations
Existence and
enforcement of
constitutional protection
of freedom of speech
Legality of free speech
Frequency; constraints
Direct contact between
citizens and journalists
without government
interference
Public support of free
speech
Frequency
Organization’s ability to
exercise free speech
Overrepresentation of diversity
Plurality of public and
private news sources
Conclusion
• 581 indicators identified, 37 recommended
• Future Research
- Watch List Indictors