Skill development can contribute to improve employability and labor productivity for the current and future workforce.Nonetheless, when we talk about skilling programs, women do not have the same opportunities as men. Social norms, mobility and financial constraints, unequal burden of household responsibilities impact girls and women's decision to enroll, stay and complete skill training, and therefore, to find a job. For this reason, when governments, private and non-profit organizations design skilling programs, the following constraints must be considered:
· Social and religious norms might limit how women interact with men outside their own family and their autonomy to leave the home unchaperoned (Field, et al., 2010). Gender norms also play a role in women’s decision to avoid skill programs in fields or activities that are stereotypically male, where they could earn higher salaries (Campos, et al., 2015). In this line, training programs should also engage husbands, families, and communities as a whole to offset gender norms or attitudes towards women from participating in training or avoiding certain fields.
· Safety concerns can limit women's mobility, preventing them from participating in training programs or joining the workforce overall. Women spend three times longer on unpaid care work than men, devoting 1 to 5 hours more a day to unpaid domestic work, childcare, and other family care work, making it harder for them to allocate time to participate in training. Moreover, costs associated with transportation can also affect women’s decision attend in-person training. Implementing blended programs or e-learning training can improve female participation if women have access to technology devices at home.
· Restrictions on mobility, burden of household chores and social norms can limit the interaction of women with people outside the household. This is particularly important for entrepreneurs who rely on their networks to develop their businesses. Designing programs where women can be surrounded by their friends can help to improve engagement with the learning program, increase attendance and foster post-training discussion (Field, et al., 2016).
Finally, it is important to highlight that these constraints do not operate in isolation. Women might face different challenges at the same time, and for this reason, adapting skill training programs may require tradeoffs between developing objectives.