Gender Mainstreaming in Skills Development: Guidance Paper and Tools aims to harness the transformative potential of gender mainstreaming in skills development by taking a holistic approach involving guidance and good practices at the policy, sector and implementation levels. The guide explores potential opportunities for gender mainstreaming in skills development in India – one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and home to a large youth population.

Articles discuss how gender mainstreaming has been understood in different organisations; provide examples of good work, which supports the empowerment of women; and look beyond gender mainstreaming to what new possibilities exist for transformation.

As the economic growth and social development of a nation is reliant on its workforce, it is essential to increase the workforce’s employability through technical and vocational education. Through these programs, the nation’s workers will be able to acquire skills and flexibility in order to navigate across sectors of the economy and industry. However, due to gender disparities and socioeconomic statuses within society, women from a lower economic background are unable to gain access to these programs, hindering their career development and economic independence. Gender Issues in Technical and Vocational Education Programs is an essential critical resource that probes the issue of gender equity in specialized educational programs, such as vocational or technical education programs. It also presents global initiatives that are being undertaken to enhance the access to technical and vocational education programs to all citizens. Divided into two sections, this publication provides comprehensive coverage on understanding human resource skilling through vocational and training programs and promoting gender equity through skill development, making it an ideal resource for academicians, researchers, social scientists, educators, policymakers, government officials, and professionals.

This open access book analyzes the main drivers that are influencing the dramatic evolution of work in Asia and the Pacific and identifies the implications for education and training in the region. It also assesses how education and training philosophies, curricula, and pedagogy can be reshaped to produce workers with the skills required to meet the emerging demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The book’s 40 articles cover a wide range of topics and reflect the diverse perspectives of the eminent policy makers, practitioners, and researchers who authored them. To maximize its potential impact, this Springer-Asian Development Bank co-publication has been made available as open access.

Based on focus groups and interviews with nearly 4,000 women, men, girls, and boys from 20 countries, this book explores areas that are less often studied in gender and development: gender norms and agency. It reveals how little gender norms have changed, how similar they are across countries, and how they are being challenged and contested.

As a result of widespread mistreatment and overt discrimination, women in the developing world often lack autonomy. This book explores key sources of female empowerment and discusses the current challenges and opportunities for the future.

This paper considers various dimensions and sources of gender inequality and presents policies and best practices to address these. With women accounting for fifty percent of the global population, inclusive growth can only be achieved if it promotes gender equality. Despite recent progress, gender gaps remain across all stages of life, including before birth, and negatively impact health, education, and economic outcomes for women. The roadmap to gender equality has to rely on legal framework reforms, policies to promote equal access, and efforts to tackle entrenched social norms. These need to be set in the context of arising new trends such as digitalization, climate change, as well as shocks such as pandemics.

Persuasive evidence demonstrates that gender equality in education is central to economic development. Despite more than two decades of accumulated knowledge and evidence of what works in improving gender equality, progress on the ground remains slow and uneven across countries. What is missing? Given that education is a critical path to accelerate progress toward gender equality and the empowerment of women, what is holding us back? These questions were discussed at the global symposium Education: A Critical Path to Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, which was sponsored by the World Bank in October 2007. Girls' Education in the 21st Century is based on background papers developed for the symposium. The book's chapters reflect the current state of knowledge on education from a gender perspective and highlight the importance of, and challenges to, female education, as well as the interdependence of education and development objectives. The last chapter presents five strategic directions for advancing gender equality in education and their implications for World Bank operations. Girls' Education in the 21st Century will be of particular interest to researchers, educators, school administrators, and policy makers at the global, national, regional, and municipal levels.