Policy Insights in Gender
J-PAL’s Gender sector focuses on reducing gender inequality, promoting women and girls’ empowerment, and understanding how social norms related to gender affect the outcomes of development programs. Our policy insights summarize the general lessons emerging from randomized evaluations on the impact of gender quotas on women’s political representation and service delivery and the impact of school participation interventions on girls’ school enrollment and attendance.
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Lori Beaman (Northwestern University) and Seema Jayachandran (Princeton University), Gender Co-Chairs
Photo: DR Travel Photo and Video | Shutterstock.com
View: Policy insights by sector
Advancing women’s representation and opportunities in STEM fields through exposure to role models
Last updated: December 2023
In high-income countries, exposure to women role models often positively impacts women students’ participation and educational performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, by improving students’ perceptions and aspirations of having STEM careers.
Access to childcare to improve women’s economic empowerment
Last updated: February 2023
Access to childcare can increase women’s employment outcomes by enabling their labor force participation, shift to more desirable work, or increase the productivity in their businesses. However, in cases where there are additional barriers to working outside the home, childcare may not be sufficient...
The impacts of economic interventions on intimate partner violence
Last updated: July 2022
An estimated one in every three women worldwide has suffered physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner in her lifetime. Achieving gender equality and eliminating violence against women are major global development goals. One popular strategy to reduce IPV is to increase women’s access to...
Designing financial services and social protection programs to enhance women’s economic empowerment
Last updated: February 2021
Providing women in low- and middle-income countries with financial resources or financial services did not consistently lead to economic empowerment if women were unable to maintain control over the use of funds within their households. Financial inclusion and social protection programs should...
Biomass cookstoves to reduce indoor air pollution and fuel use
Last updated: October 2020
Despite their positive results in the lab, biomass cookstoves designed to reduce smoke exposure and/or increase fuel efficiency did not substantially improve health in several randomized evaluations in the real world. Many people did not want to buy or maintain them, did not use them enough, and...
Reducing adolescent pregnancy by increasing educational and economic opportunities in low- and middle-income countries
Last updated: January 2019
Interventions that changed perceptions about girls’ abilities and opportunities or increased the educational and economic opportunities available to them encouraged girls and young women to delay pregnancy.
Improving women’s representation in politics through gender quotas
Last updated: April 2018
Gender quotas for women in local government bodies can improve women’s representation in politics, increase provision of public services, and improve perceptions of women as leaders.
Student Learning
Improving student learning: Impacts by gender
Last updated: February 2022
Most programs to improve student learning have similar impacts on girls and boys. However, policymakers should consider potential different effects by gender while designing programs since, in some cases, program design choices led to different impacts on girls and boys.
Student Participation Despite dramatic increases in primary school enrollment worldwide, pockets of low enrollment remain, and millions of children who are enrolled are not attending regularly. Strategies that decrease the monetary or non-monetary costs of school, or increase the perceived benefits of school participation, have been found to be particularly effective.
Increasing student enrollment and attendance: impacts by gender
Last updated: February 2019
Reducing the costs and increasing the perceived benefits of education increase student participation for both boys and girls, and successful programs tend to help the gender with the lowest initial attendance most.
