K
Kathleen Martin
Guest
Women were among the hardest hit during the pandemic. Many were forced out of the workforce and overall they lost more jobs than men did.
Two years on, they remain just as vulnerable, left behind in a ‘gender-unequal’ employment recovery, according to the International Labour Organization.
Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2022 indicated it will now take 132 years to reach full parity compared to pre-pandemic estimates of only 100 years, assuming the current trajectory remains constant.
Empowering women with the education and skills they need to re-enter the labour market and unlock their full earning potential will be critical to accelerating an equitable recovery.
New insights show a developing opportunity to meet this challenge at scale. Coursera data in the Global Gender Gap Report 2022 points to promising trends in online learning that have the potential to improve gender parity in higher education and workforce development.
Online learning is narrowing gender education gaps and preparing women for in-demand jobs in the digital economy by removing barriers for women learners and improving gender inclusion in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, and connecting women to rising skills and job opportunities. Here's how.
Removing barriers for women learners
The participation of women learning online has increased significantly and is beginning to match men’s participation in many countries, according to global Coursera data in the Global Gender Gap Report 2022. According to Coursera, the number of women learning online increased from 38% in 2019 to 45% in 2021, even as the gender employment gap widened.
Encouragingly, the 2022 report also reveals that gender gaps are “substantially smaller” in online enrolment than in traditional education. This corroborates other recent research, which found that women see online learning as more accessible than in-person education, citing mobility, safety and family obligations as their top deciding factors.
Continue reading: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/online-learning-workforce-gender-gap/
Two years on, they remain just as vulnerable, left behind in a ‘gender-unequal’ employment recovery, according to the International Labour Organization.
Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2022 indicated it will now take 132 years to reach full parity compared to pre-pandemic estimates of only 100 years, assuming the current trajectory remains constant.
Empowering women with the education and skills they need to re-enter the labour market and unlock their full earning potential will be critical to accelerating an equitable recovery.
New insights show a developing opportunity to meet this challenge at scale. Coursera data in the Global Gender Gap Report 2022 points to promising trends in online learning that have the potential to improve gender parity in higher education and workforce development.
Online learning is narrowing gender education gaps and preparing women for in-demand jobs in the digital economy by removing barriers for women learners and improving gender inclusion in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, and connecting women to rising skills and job opportunities. Here's how.
Removing barriers for women learners
The participation of women learning online has increased significantly and is beginning to match men’s participation in many countries, according to global Coursera data in the Global Gender Gap Report 2022. According to Coursera, the number of women learning online increased from 38% in 2019 to 45% in 2021, even as the gender employment gap widened.
Encouragingly, the 2022 report also reveals that gender gaps are “substantially smaller” in online enrolment than in traditional education. This corroborates other recent research, which found that women see online learning as more accessible than in-person education, citing mobility, safety and family obligations as their top deciding factors.
Continue reading: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/online-learning-workforce-gender-gap/
