Held on October 14th 2022, the Women’s Empowerment webinar led to vivid discussions about the experience of women and how gender mitigates or exacerbates inequality.
In case you missed it, the webinar can be watched here (log in, click the green “AIB Video Archive” button and select “Chapter Webinars” from the dropdown menu).
Women’s empowerment is of great interest to scholars, managers, civil society, Government policy makers and is central to realizing women’s rights and gender equality. Women’s economic empowerment includes a variety of aspects including women’s ability to participate equally in existing markets, access to and control over productive resources, access to decent work, control over their own time, lives and bodies and increased voice, agency and meaningful participation in economic decision making.
In the views of many, empowering women in the economy and closing gender gaps in the world of work are key to achieving all of the UN SDGs. Prior research has suggested that when more women work, economies grow and productivity is boosted. Moreover, increasing women’s and girls’ education contributed to women’s economic empowerment and more inclusive economic growth. Therefore, education, upskilling, re-skilling – especially as technological and digital transformations continue – are critical for women’s participation in the formal labour market. Moreover, companies benefit from increasing employment and leadership opportunities for women, which has been shown to increase organizational effectiveness and growth. Yet gender differences in labour laws are apparent, both in developing and developed countries.
The discussion examines the concept of women’s empowerment, especially in the context of the intersection of empowerment and other factors such as race ethnicity and social status.
The webinar was organized and moderated by Anthony Goerzen, Queen’s University. We thank the panelists for their contribution and the different lenses they brought to the discussion.
Tanya van Biesen, Korn Ferry
Humberto Carolo, White Ribbon
Shengwen Li, Queen’s University
Erin Tansey, International Development Research Centre
This webinar was sponsored by the Canada Chapter of Academy of International Business, (https://canada.aib.world/) the leading association of scholars in the field of international management and international business policy. Our organization is dedicated to nurturing a global community of scholars focused on advancing knowledge in international business research, policy, and practice.