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4.2.2 Training provision for women

Written by: International Labour Organization

Article Overview: The identification of women's training needs has often been flawed because "women are rarely treated as knowing what they need" (ibid: 30). The available evidence tends to show that poor women in most developing countries are usually most interested in skills training that meets their own immediate 'practical gender needs' as opposed to longer term, "strategic gender needs" that directly tackle the basic underlying causes of female subordination (see Moser, 1989).

4.2.2 Training provision for women

The identification of women's training needs has often been flawed because "women are rarely treated as knowing what they need" (ibid: 30). The available evidence tends to show that poor women in most developing countries are usually most interested in skills training that meets their own immediate 'practical gender needs' as opposed to longer term, "strategic gender needs" that directly tackle the basic underlying causes of female subordination (see Moser, 1989). As a result, most formal training has been closely related to gender-stereotyped tasks and occupations. Once again, this highlights the fact that training provision for women is itself part of "deep-seated, culturally sanctioned forms of gender inequality".

The demand for training among poor women is not only low but is likely to be falling where poverty and economic pressures on households are increasing. Extensive research has shown that women have usually borne the brunt of household adjustment in the wake of economic crisis and/or macroeconomic policy reform. In these situations, training has rarely been a central part of the coping strategies of poor women.

The control over and allocation of household resources to training is determined by a similar set of factors as for formal education. However, it is the nature of the relationship between the woman and her spouse that is crucial for determining training demand and outcomes. Given the subordinate position of women coupled with very limited household resources, it is unlikely that training for adult female members will be accorded high priority. Furthermore, informal systems of skill transmission in most of the manual trades are generally from father to son. Traditionally, "apprenticeship is an important part of the socialisation process through which masculine identities are constructed" (Kabeer, 1997: 7). Thus, supporting indigenous training systems could actually undermine gender and development objectives.

With such limited room for manoeuvre, there is a widespread feeling that the potential long-term social and economic benefits of improving opportunities for girls in the formal education system are much greater in most countries. In simple terms, " daughters are the future, not mothers". (Godfrey, 1997: 18)

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING
PAPERS
43
Learning to change: Skills
development among the
economically vulnerable and
socially excluded in
developing countries
Paul Bennell
Employment and Training Department
International Labour Office Geneva
First published 1999

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Article Tags: apprenticeship, brunt, coping strategies, development objectives, economic crisis, economic pressures, extensive research, female members, formal education, gender and development, gender inequality, high priority, household resources, macroeconomic policy, manoeuvre, manual trades, masculine identities, moser, poor women, subordinate position



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