Ongoing work

Education

Education at a Glance 2020 contains a wide range of indicators on gender differences in education, including data on attainment, entry, graduation, and employment and earnings, disaggregating them on the basis of gender (along with several other characteristics)
PISA 2018 includes data on leaning outcomes in Reading, Maths and sciences and on attitudes among adolescent boys and girls towards school and study (reports released in 2019-2020)
PIAAC includes data on adults skills by gender, as well as use of skills at work

A series of In-focus briefs on gender launched on the 8th of March 2020:
- Education Indicators in Focus: How have women’s participation and fields of study choice in higher education evolved over time?
- PISA in Focus: Do boys and girls have similar attitudes towards competition and failure?
- Adult Skills in Focus: Do gender gaps in reading and mathematics evolve between childhood and adulthood?
- OECD Education and Skills Today synthetic Blog: Why do gender gaps in education and work persist?

A series of In-focus briefs on gender due to be released on 8th March 2021:
- Education Indicators in Focus: Why do more young women than men go on to tertiary education? The issue examines the reasons behind the higher level of women among new entrants in tertiary education, and their programme orientation
- PISA in Focus: How do girls and boys engage with global and intercultural issues? This brief examines equity in access to global and intercultural learning opportunities, and differences in boys’ and girls’ dispositions and attitudes towards global and intercultural issues

Also forthcoming in 2021 are:
- The Future at Five: Gendered aspirations of five-year-olds Gender norms are evident in what many children say at age five about what they want to be or do when they grow up, according to new data from the OECD International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study
- SSES (social and emotional skills survey): a new assessment on social and emotional skills and students’ well-being, includes data by gender of 10 and 15 years-old
- Gender gaps in school and in the labour market: a forthcoming report will look at gender gaps in school and in the labour market based mainly on PISA, PIAAC and EAG data
- Gender differences in social and emotional skills: a forthcoming thematic report will examine gender differences in social and emotional skills among boys and girls, and the types of environments, in schools, with peers and at home, that can influence these skills
- Skills in Ibero-America: Insights from PIAAC – gender differences: jointly with the World Bank we are co-producing a short report analysing the difference in skills by gender in the Latin American countries participating in PIAAC
- Strength through Diversity: a forthcoming working paper will examine how gender intersects with other dimensions of “the Strength through Diversity project”. The review will consider gender-related challenges in education systems (e.g. gender stereotypes, underachievement of boys, etc.), and propose a taxonomy of gender-sensitive policies in education.

Employment and work-life balance

Replay of webinar Show me the money: How Pay Transparency Policies can help close the gender wage gap (March 2021)
A Policy Brief on Women at the core of the fight against the COVID-19 crisis appeared in Spring 2020
A policy brief on childcare costs to parents Is childcare affordable? was released in June 2020
A Policy brief on the integration of migrant women in the labour market and society at large was released in November 2020
The difference in retirement income that men and women receive - averages 26% across OECD countries. Towards Improved Retirement Savings Outcomes for Women analyses this gender pension gap in detail and proposes policy actions to ensure that the design of pension schemes help reduce the gender pension gap
A joint OECD and ILO paper on Women at Work in G20 countries: Progress and policy action prepared under Saudi Arabia’s G20 Presidency
The OECD, ILO and UN Women established the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) towards achieving SDG target 8.5 on equal pay between men and women for work of equal value. At the inaugural International Equal Pay Day - 18 September 2020, EPIC called for pay equity in the COVID-19 recovery
The OECD Family Database provides a wealth of gender-relevant data on families, children, employment and work-life balance, including on Maternal employment rates, and Public spending on family benefits such as parental leave and childcare supports
July 2020 saw the release of the policy brief “Can collective bargaining help close the gender wage gap for women in non-standard jobs?”
Over summer 2021, the OECD started a project with DG Reform and the Hungarian authorities on reducing gender gaps in employment in Hungary, which will run into early 2022
The OECD started an international study of gender wage mapping and other pay reporting systems for equal pay as supported by the Swedish authorities which is to be completed in 2021
Building on Over the Rainbow? The Road to LGBTI Inclusion the OECD is continuing work on LGBTI inclusion, by assisting countries in evaluating policies they have put in place and undertaking country-specific reviews. The first country review will be for Germany and is slated to appear in 2021
A study on household services (not including care activities) as supported by the German authorities is scheduled for release in June/July
The OECD is undertaking a Gender Review of Estonia to be released early 2022
The OECD is undertaking detailed Gender Pay Gap analysis of Germany and selected other countries, and scheduled for release in the first part of 2022
The OECD will report progress on the implementation of the OECD Gender Recommendations (i.e. the 2013 Recommendation on gender equality in Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship [OECD/LEGAL/0398] and the 2015 Recommendation on Gender Equality in Public Life [OECD/LEGAL/0418]) to the Meeting of the Council at Ministerial level (MCM) in May/June 2022.

Entrepreneurship

The OECD’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative (WE Initiative) forms an umbrella for the various thematic pillars of CFE’s work with a gender lens, including SME access to finance, Social Economy and Social Innovation, Women in Tech, Business Development Services, Inclusive Entrepreneurship and national/regional country reviews
The OECD in collaboration with the European Commission has been producing a series of reports called The Missing Entrepreneurs. The series examines how to address obstacles to business creation by people from groups that are under-represented in entrepreneurship, including women. The 2021 edition will be published in October
New content is regularly added to the OECD/EU Better Entrepreneurship Policy Tool, which supports policy makers in the design and implementation of tailored entrepreneurship schemes for women and other target groups (e.g. youth), and social entrepreneurship support
Dedicated webinar on Women enterprise policy and COVID-19 in July 2020
CFE has been tracking closely the various SME policy responses to COVID-19 by governments. A new update (end March 2021) will include a new section on impacts and policies to support women and minority-owned businesses
Similarly, CFE has been tracking the policy responses of cities to COVID-19, which includes looking at local actions to address a range of gender issues such as domestic violence and care responsibilities
Mapping the availability of gender-disaggregated in data in the area of access to finance by SMEs and entrepreneurs across most OECD members and a few non-members. We will identify a small set of pilot countries to carry out more comprehensive analysis on the issue
The Future of Business Survey is carried out jointly by Facebook, the OECD and the World Bank. From May 2020, monthly Global State of Small Business Reports showed how SMEs with an online presence were coping with the global pandemic and highlighted the gender-differentiated impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures
The OECD actively contributes to the establishment of an internationally agreed definition of a Women-owned business and to guidance on its use. Such a definition would support the promotion of gender inclusivity and international data comparability in domains such as access to finance and access to markets
The Champion Mayors Initiative Podcast “Gender Equality and the COVID-19 Recovery Opportunity” will be released on March 8th, and feature conversations with Champion Mayor Lisa Helps, City of Victoria (Canada) and Diana Rodríguez Franco, Secretary of Women in Bogota,(Colombia) who will discuss the needs of women in cities.

Public governance

Public Governance Committee (PGC) elevated its gender equality network into the Working Party on Gender Mainstreaming and Governance (GMG). The GMG brings together institutions responsible for domestic gender equality policies and supports the integration of a gender lens in their substantive work
OECD has launched the monitoring process for the 2015 Recommendation on Gender Equality in Public Life [OECD/LEGAL/0418]. The results will be presented to the OECD Council in Spring 2022
In 2021, the OECD will publish a Gender-sensitive Framework for Sound Public Governance building on the recently approved Policy Framework on Sound Public Governance
The GMG advances work on implications of the workplace transformation on gender equality and the use of behavioural insights; as well as Deepening intersectional approaches to gender mainstreaming. New working paper are underway
In 2020, the OECD released the report Gender Equality in Colombia: Access to Justice and Politics at the Local Level. It focuses on women’s political empowerment and access to justice through multi-dimensional empowerment continuum. The work was supported by the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency
In 2021, the OECD will publish papers on Gender Budgeting and Infrastructure and Integrating a Gender Perspective into Spending Reviews. The OECD will also collect data on the implementation of SDG indicator 5.c.1, which looks at countries’ systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment
In the context of the Working Party of the Leading Practitioners on Public Procurement, the work is underway to explore the nexus between gender equality, public procurement and responsible business conduct.

Taxation

The Forum on Tax Administration has established the FTA Gender Balance Network (GBN). The aim of the GBN is to help improve gender balance within tax administrations by identifying effective policies and practices to promote gender equality, including by leveraging the more balanced position that already exists in some administrations
The Gender Balance Network released a report “Advancing Gender Balance in the Workforce: A Collective Responsibility” in November 2020, as well as a newsletter on the activities of the GBN, including a short report on the challenges and opportunities for gender balance arising from the COVID-19 crisis
It has also published a video interview between Commissioner Naomi Ferguson and Grace Perez-Navarro on Gender Balance in Tax Administrations, in November 2020 as well as interviews with the Commissioners for Argentina and Sweden contained in the newsletter
June 2020 saw the release of a blogpost outlining the impact of tax on gender, particularly in the COVID-19 crisis: In Tax, Gender Blind is not Gender Neutral: why tax policy responses to COVID-19 must consider women
In January 2021, a video on Tax and Gender: Releasing Potential was presented to the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting meeting
Annual modelling of effective tax rates on labour income for different household types allows the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA) to provide insights into the incentives provided by the tax system for second earners, who are typically women, to participate in the labour market
CTPA is working with OECD country officials to model the tax burden on (male and female) part-time workers to better understand the impact of taxation on this group. Women are three times as likely to work part-time than men across the OECD. A paper is expected in late 2021
On March 26 2021, the Centre for Tax Policy will host a March on Gender event on tax policy, the impact of COVID-19 on women’s employment, gender and tax policy in developing countries and gender budgeting. More information is available here
A recent working paper on tax policy and inclusive growth calls governments and policymakers to consider the gender impact of tax and transfer policy reforms as a core element in promoting women’s economic participation and in inclusive growth.

OECD Regional Initiatives on Governance and Competitiveness

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the MENA-OECD Initiative on Governance and Competitiveness for Development supports women’s political and economic empowerment

Through its regional and country projects, the OECD supports the efforts of MENA countries to maximise women’s integration in public and political life, prevent and tackle violence against women, and boost whole-of-government institutional capacities to address key challenges to gender equality
The MENA-OECD Women’s Economic Empowerment Forum (WEEF) released a 2020 report on Changing laws and breaking barriers for women’s economic empowerment in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. Future work will focus on strengthening law enforcement, boosting women’s participation in the private sector, and improving data governance
The OECD-MENA Country Programmes support MENA countries, such as Morocco, in promoting and tracking progress towards greater gender equality and mainstream gender across policy areas
In 2020, the MENA-OECD Working Group on Corporate Governance assessed improvements in gender balance in MENA’s corporate leadership based on the report Corporate Governance in MENA: Building a Framework for Competitiveness and Growth. Political leadership and collective action are key factors in making durable progress
The OECD Southeast Asia Gender Initiative supports gender equality in education, employment and entrepreneurship in the region through research and capacity building. A report on strengthening women’s entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector, is scheduled for released in 2021
Gender equality in Latin America and the Caribbean: Towards a better sharing of paid and unpaid work focuses on women's disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work in the region. Reports on Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru will appear in 2021 and an overview is due in 2022
The OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Programme considered the impact of COVID-19 on women in Eastern Europe, the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia, and identified priority areas for an inclusive recovery for all. Gender Gaps in Eurasia: The daunting effects of COVID-19 will appear in English and Russian, March 8, 2021.

Corporate Governance

OECD reviews gender diversity on boards and in senior corporate management to monitor progress in how countries are addressing recommendations on this topic under the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance and the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises
Building on this work, the OECD has partnered with the G20 Private Sector Alliance for the Empowerment and Progression of Women’s Economic Representation (EMPOWER) to publish a new report for the G20’s consideration on Policies and Practices to Support Women in Leadership Roles in the Private Sector
A new edition of the OECD Corporate Governance Factbook will be issued in the 2nd quarter of 2021, providing up-to-date information on policy approaches to support progress in achieving gender balance on boards of directors and in the senior management of listed companies across all OECD and G20 countries
The Integrating a gender perspective into supply chain due diligence in the agricultural sector note, based on the OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains, provides illustrative examples of how companies can know and show that they are taking steps to address gender-related risks throughout the supply chain.

Development

The GENDERNET - OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Network on Gender Equality - is the international forum for gender experts from DAC development co-operation agencies and foreign ministries
The DAC Recommendation on Ending Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance
aims to strengthen international co-operation and collaboration in implementation of the recommendation
The OECD publish annual data and analysis on financing in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment from DAC donors and provide guidance on good practices and policies for gender equality and women’s empowerment, including gender mainstreaming
Addressing COVID-19 prevention and response in light of challenges women face as frontline healthcare providers, caregivers in households or potential victims of violence, abuse or harassment, a key problem seen in confinements due to pandemics/epidemics
Strengthening gender equality and women’s empowerment in fragile and conflict-affected situations is critical for achieving sustainable peace and the Sustainable Development Goals
The OECD Development Centre’s Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) measures discrimination against women in social institutions (formal and informal laws, social norms, and practices) in 180 countries across four broad themes: discrimination in the family, restricted physical integrity, restricted access to productive and financial resources and restricted civil liberties
2020/21 SIGI publications include the SIGI 2020 Regional Report for Latin America and Caribbean (July 2020) the SIGI 2021 Regional Report on Southeast Asia (March 2021) and the SIGI 2021 Regional Report for Africa (Q4 2021)
The joint 2020 OECD-W20 report (December 2020) updates the assessment of the 2019 OECD –W20 report and provides an overview of the progress made since last year and remaining challenges in all G20 countries across three pillars: labour inclusion, financial inclusion and inclusive decision-making
“Man enough? Measuring masculine norms to promote women’s empowerment” (March 2021) seeks to identify and describe ten norms of restrictive masculinities within the political, economic and private spheres and to compare them with their gender-equitable alternatives, while providing a roadmap to strengthen the measurement of changing norms of masculinities
The upcoming SIGI Country Studies on Tanzania (September 2021) and Côte d’Ivoire (Q4 2021) aim to provide a deep understanding of how discrimination against women plays out at a sub-national level, particularly in relation to compounding factors such as urban/rural differences, socio-economic status, ethnicity and education levels
Wikigender includes a strong focus on the SDGs, gender statistics and leading trends in gender and development. The online collaborative platform is available in English, French and Spanish
In 2020, PARIS21 partnered with UN Women to conduct gender statistics assessments in the Dominican Republic, Cambodia, Egypt, El Salvador, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho and the Maldives. Insights from the assessments will inform strategies to improve gender statistics at the national level
Throughout 2020, PARIS21 supported capacity development projects to strengthen participatory approaches to gender statistics. This included projects in the Philippines on community-based monitoring, as well as in Kenya and the Maldives on using citizen-generated data to close SDG data gaps
In July 2020, PARIS21 launched a free e-learning course in partnership with UN Women on ‘Communicating Gender Statistics’, designed for journalists and statisticians. A second course on women’s economic empowerment statistics will launch in Q1 of 2021
The latest PARIS21 PRESS Report provided insights on donor financial support for gender statistics, including trends in funding for COVID-19 response
As the secretariat of the Bern Network, PARIS21 introduced plans for a Clearinghouse Platform for Development Data during the 2020 virtual World Data forum. The platform, which is set to launch in 2021, will include a dedicated channel on gender statistics
The OECD is developing a Policy Toolkit on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and gender equality, which will help improve the contribution of FDI to gender equality in host countries. Developed within the FDI Qualities Initiative, the Policy Toolkit will be presented at the Roundtable on Investment and Sustainable Development in October 2021
The SWAC/OECD launched a compilation of viewpoints on the theme “Women and food security” (in French) gathered over the years on the sidelines of the Food Crisis Prevention Network meetings (RPCA) in Dakar, Lomé and Paris. It also offers two "Maps&Facts" issues on Gender disparities in trade networks and Women and conflict.

Financial Education

2020 saw the release of the OECD PISA 2018 Report Are Students Smart about Money?, which includes a discussion of gender differences in financial literacy and students’ financial behaviours, attitudes, and experiences
The OECD/INFE 2020 International Survey of Adult Financial Literacy discusses gender differences in financial knowledge, attitudes and behaviours
The OECD Recommendation on Financial Literacy adopted by the OECD Council during the 2020 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting encourages Adherents to take into account the needs of women in developing their financial literacy policies and programmes.

Health

Health at a Glance: OECD Indicators presents a wide range of indicators on gender differences in health, including in life expectancy, specific causes of death (including cardiovascular diseases and cancer), self-reported health status, smoking and obesity. 2020 saw the release of Health at a Glance: Europe, Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean, and Health at a Glance: Asia/Pacific.
Women are overrepresented in low-pay part-time care sector jobs that are mentally and physically demanding, and women in such jobs frequently experience stress and abuse. The 2020 OECD publication Who Cares? Attracting and Retaining Care Workers for the Elderly explores these issues and options to better support elderly care workers.

Digital Transformation and Science

The 2019 OECD report on The Role of Education and Skills in Bridging the Digital Gender Divide: Evidence from APEC Economies highlights the importance of education and skills policies in building an inclusive digital future
Deepening the evidence base on the role of women in the digital transformation is essential for developing better policies. The OECD's Digital Toolkit report presents the gender dimension across a number of key indicators
A number of indicators related to gender were included in an OECD report for the G20 “A Roadmap Toward a Common Framework for Measuring the Digital Economy”
The under-representation of women in certain areas of science, technology and innovation has long been a concern. The OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2021 finds that the current academic system discriminates against women and a number of social groups leading to a lack of diversity in the research workforce
The insecurity of research careers is a major obstacle to advancing gender equality and social diversity in the research workforce. The project on Reducing Precarity of Research Careers aims to identify policies and procedures that could promote better strategic planning and research careers in the public sector
Responses to the OECD Science Flash Survey 2020 suggest that the pandemic is having detrimental effects on job security and career opportunities in science, research funding and time available for doing research. Younger researchers and women are particularly vulnerable to these effects
STI will organise a co-ordinated virtual event with ITF on 29th March 2021 to examine the issue of gender bias in AI data, through the data value cycle, and best practices and policy recommendations to address it.

Environment

A forthcoming publication on the Gender-Environment nexus will summarise OECD’s initial research on the topic, and will provide tentative recommendations for countries aiming to integrate inclusiveness and environmental goals
A 2019-2020 survey on integrating gender into environmental policies showed that while the two policy areas are advancing, the integration of the gender and environment agendas is far from complete
5-6 March 2020, the Global Forum on Environment launched initial discussion on gender-environment nexus
A brochure on Gender and environmental statistics: Exploring available data and developing new evidence was published in March 2020.

Transport

The Discussion paper The Gender Dimension of the Transport Workforce analyses the relationship between female participation in the transport workforce and variables such as GDP per capita, education and labour laws. It also includes recommendations on how to develop policies that foster gender equality in the transport workforce
The third edition of the ITF Compendium Transport Innovation for Sustainable Development: A Gender Perspective (2021) assembles voices from the transport sector that highlight positive examples of how women as transport users can benefit from the innovations that are transforming the transport sector
ITF Consultation on Gender and Transport, 11 February 2021, is an annual forum for ITF stakeholders for sharing best practices with regard to gender and transport. This year the consultation focused on the 2021 Summit theme Transport Innovation for Sustainable Development: Reshaping Mobility in the Wake of Covid-19
Corporate Partnership Board workshops planned for March 2021: Women’s Networks and Mentoring and Workshop on Data Bias in AI and Machine Learning
For more information please consult our website: ITF Work on Gender in Transport.

Energy

Representatives from ministries, regulators, the nuclear industry, and technical support organisations of 13 NEA member countries participated in the Second NEA Working Meeting on Improving Gender Balance in Nuclear Energy on 11-12 February 2021 to identify the policy proposals needed to improve the gender balance in the nuclear sector
The NEA co-operates with national organisations to hold joint international mentoring workshops aimed at female junior- and high school students to encourage them to pursue STEM careers, including in the nuclear sector. The most recent was held virtually from 15-17 December 2020 with high school students from Fukushima, Japan
Two NEA webinars on gender balance in May 2020 underscored why gender diversity is important for the nuclear sector. The first on leadership featured Dr Rita Baranwal. At the second, young professionals discussed “How do we encourage more women to enter the nuclear science and technology field?”
The NEA develops targeted communications to increase engagement and enhance the contribution of women in the nuclear sector. A recent 2021 video campaign features NEA female scientists
The Global Forum on Nuclear Education, Science, Technology and Policy, an NEA initiative connecting academic institutions with NEA member countries and nuclear energy stakeholders, includes achieving gender balance in nuclear technology and academia as a strategic priority
The Nuclear Education, Skills and Technology Framework (NEST), a multi-national partnership to nurture the next generation of nuclear subject matter experts through international collaborative research projects, also includes measures to increase gender awareness, enhance monitoring and accountability, and improve the work environment through appropriate human resource policies
Gender diversity is an integral part of IEA’s modernisation strategy. To advance work in this area the IEA Executive Director has established a Gender Task force. Further information and outputs are uploaded regularly on IEA’s website
- IEA has been invited by the C3E International members to coordinate and support their work on knowledge and data collection for the energy sector. Currently, C3E International is preparing the third gender tracking report for the energy sector that will be released in June 2021
- IEA is currently developing a questionnaire for governments to respond on their main policies, methodologies for collecting data and other relevant activities that will provide input to the report. IEA will liaise with relevant OECD directorates to avoid duplication of work
- IEA’s Energy Date Centre is currently mapping existing energy sector data disaggregated on gender and is working closely with OECD colleagues. Similarly, an exercise is ongoing with C3E International and IEA member countries on existing energy/gender data sources
- IEA will present additional analytical outputs in 2021 related to gender balance in decision-making, wage gaps and entrepreneurship
- Building upon the strong support from members and the 2019 IEA Ministerial mandate on gender, the IEA Secretariat plans to present a progress report to Governing board on the achievements since the Ministerial meeting.

Well-Being

How’s Life? 2020 Measuring Well-being highlights key gender differences in well-being in OECD and partner countries. The report stresses the importance of viewing well-being through a gender lens, showing both areas in which women and in which men are doing better. For more, watch our webinar on How’s Life? Depends on your gender (March 2020)

Building on the innovative methodology detailed in the Measuring Distance to the SDG Targets report, a gender lens is being applied on the SDGs, going beyond national averages to measure How far are OECD countries from achieving SDG targets for women and girls? (July 2020)
The OECD Better Life Index integrates information on gender inequality across its twelve domains of well-being
The OECD Time Use Database shows the average amount of time women and men spend in daily activities, with a focus on unpaid work.

Violence against Women

The OECD hosted a High-Level Policy Dialogue on Violence Against Women in February 2020. The event brought together experts form government and public services, academia, the private sector international organisations and civil society to discuss violence against women and gender-based violence from a multi-disciplinary perspective
The OECD is launching in March 2021 the conversation series “Truth Hurts,” which will feature practitioners addressing gender-based violence in conversation with OECD officials
The OECD is a partner in the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies. This multi-stakeholder initiative aims to drive change and foster accountability in policies, systems and mechanisms, to mitigate gender-based violence risks against women and girls in settings of humanitarian crisis
The GMG established its technical advisory group on tackling gender-based violence (GBV). Work is underway to finalise the OECD Framework on Strengthening Governance and Survivor-centric Approaches to Tackling GBV. The OECD aims to launch a survey instrument in this area in 2021 and a comparative report is due for 2022.
Latest information on OECD work on Violence against Women via http://oe.cd/vaw.