JOBS NOTES Issue No. 10 JOBS INTERVENTIONS FOR YOUNG WOMEN IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY KEY MESSAGES ¬ The gender digital divide exacerbates gaps in labor ¬ Digital jobs interventions should adopt an force participation between young men and young “integrated approach,” addressing both supply-side women. constraints young women face in accessing digital employment, as well as demand-side constraints to ¬ Digital jobs provide a unique opportunity to close new job creation. the persistent labor market gender gap by increasing young women’s productivity, earnings, ¬ International organizations, governments, firms, and financial independence. As young women civil society actors, and youth should work together develop digital skills, they may enjoy greater choice to help young women access digital opportunities. in their personal and professional lives, and access ¬ Practitioners and policy makers can effectively better paid, better quality jobs. scale gender-inclusive digital jobs programs using a ¬ Programs should proactively adopt gender-inclusive combination of approaches, including leveraging strategies to help young women capitalize on digital global partnerships such as Solutions for Youth economy opportunities. Employment (S4YE). This Jobs Solutions Note identifies practical solutions for development practitioners to proactively integrate gender inclusion in digital jobs programs. Based on curated knowledge and evidence for a specific topic and relevant to jobs, the Jobs Solutions Notes are not intended to be exhaustive; they provide key lessons, solutions and approaches synthesized from the experiences of the World Bank Group and partners. This Note draws from S4YE’s 2018 annual report, Digital Jobs for Youth: Young Women in the Digital Economy, highlighting new and emerging strategies to designing gender-inclusive digital jobs interventions for youth. The Note employs a nuanced definition of “digital jobs” to enable practitioners and policy makers to develop a range of interventions tailored to specific contexts and target groups, to improve young women’s employment outcomes from digital jobs programs. MOTIVATION: WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? 2030.1 In 2017, 65 million youth aged 15 to 24 years were unemployed while approximately 22 percent of Youth unemployment is a global challenge. High young people were NEETs.2 youth unemployment rates, youth not in employment, education or training (NEET), and the high incidence Disparities persist in labor force participation of poverty among working youth have made youth between young women and young men. The employment a global priority. Approximately 500 projected global labor force participation rate in 2020 million youth aged 15 to 24 will be in the global labor is 49.3 percent for young men aged 15 to 24 and 37.1 force as of 2020, rising to a projected 511 million by percent for young women in the same age bracket.3 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 In 2017, the female youth NEET rate was estimated at Telecommunication Union (ITU), “women are still 10 34.4 percent compared to the estimated male youth percent less likely than men to own a mobile phone, NEET rate of less than 10 percent.4 and are 23 percent less likely than men to use the mobile Internet.”6 Gender disparity in the labor market is being replicated in the digital economy. Technological This gender digital divide also reinforces gaps in advances have given rise to a growing digital economy, digital entrepreneurship. In developing countries, creating new forms of work and job opportunities; women are three times less likely than men to work but many young women face barriers to participating. in the ICT sector and eight times less likely to work The gender digital divide refers to the gap in Internet in digital jobs.7 Female entrepreneurs and women-led access and use between men and young women. As of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often 2019, approximately 58 percent of men globally were have limited access to finance. As technology changes Internet users, compared to 48 percent of women. the way businesses operate, this gender gap in The Internet user gender gap—that is, the difference entrepreneurship is widening, as many women have between Internet user penetration rates for men and less access to digital skills training.8 women (relative to the Internet user penetration rate for males, expressed as a percentage)—has risen Several factors contribute to the gender digital from 11 percent in 2013 to 17 percent in 2019. This divide. Economic and socio-cultural barriers gap is largest in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), contribute to the gender gap in mobile ownership and increasing from 29.9 percent in 2013 to 42.8 percent Internet usage. In low and middle-income countries in 2019.5 Additionally, according to the International infrastructure gaps, high data costs, lack of content BOX 1. WHAT ARE DIGITAL JOBS AND DIGITAL SKILLS? All work that uses, or is made possible by, ICT may be considered “ digital work ”—a broad definition that encompasses most jobs in advanced economies. “Digital work” is not just about careers within the ICT industry. There is also growing demand for highly skilled workers outside the ICT industry. Digital jobs exist across all industries, but they vary in how much they rely on technology. Broadly, there are three types of digital job: ¬ ICT-intensive jobs directly created through the ICT sector and intensively using ICT, such as mobile app development. ¬ ICT-dependent jobs that cannot be performed without technology, such as online freelancing work and customer call centers. ¬ ICT-enhanced jobs that use digital technologies but could be performed without ICT, such as accounting and graphics design. For youth to successfully perform digital work, they must develop digital skills. Digital skills exist on a continuum, ranging in level from basic to advanced: ¬ Advanced Digital Skills : necessary to create, manage, test and analyze ICTs, related to application development, network management, machine learning, big data analysis, among others. ¬ Intermediate Digital Skills : job-ready skills needed to perform work-related functions, such as desktop publishing, digital graphic design, or social media management. ¬ Basic Digital Skills : generic ICT skills required that relate to the effective use of ICT, including performing web searches, sending emails, or the use of professional online platforms. Additional work-relevant skills that youth need to succeed in the digital economy include: cognitive skills, socio-emotional skills, and foundational literacies. Source: S4YE (2018). Digital Jobs for Youth: Young Women in the Digital Economy. Washington, DC: World Bank 2 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 that the better-trained youth can move into. So, youth employment programs should adapt strategies to address both labor supply- and demand-side constraints.13 While digital skills training is important, it is also critical to promote the growth of firms and create jobs that will utilize the new digital skills. In addition, new program models are needed that specifically address women’s needs. Programs intended to connect youth with digital jobs often fail to address women’s constraints in accessing and using ICT. Practitioners and policy makers must adopt strategies that overcome these constraints to increase women’s participation in the digital economy. This Jobs Solutions Note presents practical strategies for practitioners to design and implement inclusive digital jobs programs for young women. Practitioners must be intentional about helping young women access more and better digital jobs. Instead of reinforcing the idea that women must Photo credit: Arne Hoel / World Bank stay at home to do digital jobs, practitioners should emphasize that digital jobs can help young women to relevant to women’s lives, and the prevalence of challenge misconceptions about gender-appropriate online harassment and violence targeting women also work. Even as young women enter digital jobs in the reinforce this digital gender divide.9 ICT sector and across other industries, social norms, stereotypes and gender biases may limit their career Nevertheless, new opportunities are emerging advancement.14 As a result, they may find themselves for young women, because digital jobs can stuck in low-skill, low-paying roles at the bottom of the increase their productivity, earnings, and financial digital jobs ladder. In addition to providing digital skills independence.10 Jobs involving remote, online, flexible training to young women, practitioners must be willing work can help young women overcome mobility to work with employers to ensure that young women constraints and challenge restrictive gender norms can enter and retain digital jobs. This Jobs Solutions by increasing women’s access to income-generating Note proposes strategies for practitioners to work on activities. Digital jobs (defined in Box 1) can also help the supply and demand side to help young women reduce longstanding occupational segregation in succeed in high-quality digital jobs, and also move up to traditionally male-dominated industries, such as ICT. higher skilled and higher paying digital jobs over time. As young women develop digital skills, they may enjoy greater choice in their personal and professional lives and access better paid and better-quality jobs.11 WHAT ARE WE DOING? New youth employment programs should aim Practitioners and policy-makers must understand to integrate digital skills training with private demand drivers for digital jobs, in addition to enterprise promotion. Almost two-thirds of youth the supply of available skills for young women employment programs fail to have any jobs impact.12 to perform those jobs. To stimulate youth digital That’s because traditional programs often focus only employment, development programs must first on the labor supply side, focusing on skills training, identify the sectors where digital jobs are found and counseling, and other related services. While these the types of jobs being created. Providing digital skills activities are important, many programs under training to young women may not improve their jobs emphasize demand-side components, which work with outcomes if not enough jobs are being created in the firms to ensure that good quality jobs are being created, market that require those skills. 3 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 Table 1 Typology of drivers of digital jobs1 Sector Type of Digital Additional Classifi- Definition Examples Digital Work Skills Level Skills cation I. PUBLIC SECTOR I. A. Regular operations and E-public goods; ICT-intensive Advanced Varied functions in government cybersecurity; Intermediate Public sector ICT-enhanced departments and agencies e-governance; IT Basic agencies (e.g. record keeping, maintenance; artificial billing); New e-public intelligence; administrative goods using specialized (health, education) software II. PRIVATE SECTOR II. A. Services and Web development; network ICT-intensive Advanced Strong manufacturing related to administration; virtual cognitive and ICT sector computer, telephone, reality; cybersecurity; IoT; analytical broadband and audiovisual AI; blockchain skills networks II. B. Non-specialist jobs using Billing and finance ICT-intensive Advanced Varied digital tools such as word services; business Intermediate Non-ICT ICT-dependent processing. Includes consultants; desktop sectors routine operations and publishing; in-house ICT ICT-enhanced specialized software services II. C. Ventures using Internet, Application development; ICT-intensive Advanced E-business digital products or services online education; web Intermediate skills; strong Digital ICT-dependent or digital distribution hosting; membership sites cognitive and entrepre- channels, incl. cloud analytical neurship services skills III. ONLINE OUTSOURCING III.A. Outsourcing of entire Call centers (e.g. in India, ICT-dependent Intermediate Foundational business processes to Philippines, China, South Basic cognitive Business another country, incl. low- Africa, Kenya); Impact skills; socio- Process skill front office processes sourcing service providers emotional outsourcing (e.g. customer service) and (ISSPs); medical skills; strong (BPO) high-skill back office diagnostics (radiology) cognitive and processing (billing, analytical accounting, medical diagnostics) skills III. B. Jobs involving complex Upwork; freelancer.com; ICT-dependent Advanced Strong tasks (translation, coding, 99designs Intermediate cognitive and Virtual web/graphic design, Basic analytical Freelancing software development, skills; socio- technical writing), emotional distributed via an online skills platform 4 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 Sector Type of Digital Additional Classifi- Definition Examples Digital Work Skills Level Skills cation III. C. Business processes are MTurk, Figure Eight; ISSPs ICT-dependent Basic Foundational broken down into small (e.g. Samasource, cognitive Microwork tasks (e.g. data input, CloudFactory) skills image tagging, text transcription) and then distributed to workers via an online platform. IV. DIGITAL PLATFORMS FOR IMPROVING LIVELIHOODS IV. A. Online on-demand services Ride hailing (e.g Lyft, Uber, ICT-dependent Basic2 Varied that require ICT Gojek); Food delivery (e.g On-Demand Deliveroo, UberEats) Services Platforms Online on-demand for Babysitting; Home ICT-enhanced Basic2 Varied traditional services services (e.g. Taskrabbit); facilitated by ICT Home cleaning IV. B. Online information For farmers: M-Farm ICT-enhanced Basic2 Varied services for farmers and (Kenya), ict4dev.ci; Business small entrepreneurs, Lelapafund (Kenya) Services for providing price and Farmers and weather info; links to SMEs For SMEs: Alibaba, Etsy buyers; funding and technical services; online markets IV. C. Online services matching SoukTel, Kazi Connect, ICT-enhanced Basic2 Varied job seekers and employers; Jobberman (Nigeria) Job- Online career counseling Matching Platforms Note 1: This table is a condensed version of the complete typology in the full report. Note 2: For digital platforms, this refers to digital skills needed to access platforms, not to the work that is enhanced or located through the platforms. Demand drivers for digital jobs are emerging. In youth populations. For example, a policy maker the Digital Jobs for Youth: Young Women in the focusing on job creation for rural women with limited Digital Economy report, S4YE applied a typology digital skills may prioritize microwork opportunities. of drivers of digital jobs to examine sectors that On the other hand, if the goal is to create quality jobs use ICT to enable jobs or enhance livelihoods. The for unemployed, college-educated young women, typology identifies four drivers of demand for digital investing in digital entrepreneurship might be more jobs: (a) Public Sector, (b) Private Sector, (c) Online transformative.16 Rather than relegating the most Outsourcing, and (d) Digital Platforms for Improving vulnerable women (including low-income, rural, low Livelihoods.15 The four drivers are further divided into levels of education) to low-skill or low-paying digital subcategories, as shown in Table 1. work, practitioners and policy makers may use the typology to determine the type of support necessary By mapping the drivers of digital jobs, policy to upskill young women for more advanced, better makers can better target investments for different quality, and higher-paying digital jobs. 5 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 BOX 2. DIGITAL JOBS ACTIVITIES FUNDED BY THE JOBS UMBRELLA MULTI-DONOR TRUST FUND GENIE Broadband for Development Program (Georgia): The grant finances an impact evaluation to understand the implications of ICT adoption and e-commerce on firm growth and job creation. The project identifies and addresses societal norms and other barriers preventing women from adopting innovative technology. Strategies include conducting education campaigns to build community buy-in, providing subsidies and digital literacy training to female entrepreneurs, and organizing women-only events to facilitate networking with female entrepreneurs. Linking Vulnerable Youth with Digital Employment Opportunities (Pakistan): Linked to the Digital Jobs for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa project (Box 3), the grant supported training 3,000 youth in digital skills, and provided post-training support and guidance to help trainees access online income opportunities. One cohort of 900 trainees focused solely on women, and the program reserved 30 percent of seats in the remaining 2 cohorts for women. Training content focused on particular needs of women in the digital economy based on updated findings from project monitoring. For example, modules added focused on content development and graphic design, as well as digital rights and safety modules to help women feel safer when engaging online. Rapid Skills Training for Youth Employment (Colombia, Lebanon, Kenya): The grant aimed to identify success factors for rapid skills training programs (coding bootcamps) and to measure their benefits on youth employment and employability. Findings from a randomized control trial of coding bootcamps in Medellín, Colombia complemented qualitative studies of bootcamps in Beirut, Lebanon and Nairobi, Kenya. The studies found that women were under-represented in training, and they had fewer opportunities to find high-quality jobs in the ICT sector compared to male participants. The study emphasizes the need for more female-centered digital jobs interventions. Key success factors are captured in the toolkit methodology for rapid technology skills training programs. Source: Jobs Umbrella Multi-Donor Trust Fund Annual Report 2018–2019; Grant Reporting; Coding Bootcamps for Youth Employment: Evidence from Colombia, Lebanon, and Kenya. The World Bank’s youth digital employment World Bank projects in fragile, conflict and violence- portfolio is supporting governments to create affected (FCV) contexts (Box 8).18 opportunities in digital employment for young •  In 2016, 100 young women in Kosovo’s Gjakova women. The World Bank’s youth employment and Lipjan municipalities were struggling to find portfolio includes over 140 active and pipeline lending their first jobs. They enrolled in the World Bank’s operations around the world, with a net commitment Women in Online Work (WoW) pilot, a digital skills exceeding US$17 billion.17 An increasing number of training program to prepare unemployed and under- these initiatives are designing project components to employed young women for online freelancing jobs. include digital skills training, digital entrepreneurship, Within three months of completing the program, and digital employment for youth; and over 50 these women were earning twice the average percent of projects include strong gender themes. national hourly wage in Kosovo. Some graduates even started their own ventures and hired other The World Bank is implementing integrated young women to work with them (Box 6). youth employment programs to address both labor supply-side and demand-side constraints. •  In 2018, the World Bank approved a US$18 million Some examples from a variety of contexts include: grant to provide short-term employment support to youth in the West Bank and Gaza. Of that grant, •  The “Digital Jobs in Nigeria” pilot empowers youth US$3 million supports a component to fund skills in Kaduna State, Nigeria by training them to training and digital job support for 750 unemployed access employment opportunities in the digital youth, 375 of them young women, by connecting economy. Lessons learned from pilot activities are them with online freelancing opportunities (Box 7).19 now being scaled-up in Nigeria and across other 6 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 •  On the demand side, the World Bank’s these interventions took several forms, including pilot E-Commerce for Women-Led SMEs project is training programs to train vulnerable youth for online designed to support women-led SMEs in the Middle freelancing, intensive coding bootcamps to prepare East and North Africa (MENA) region to access young women for ICT-intensive jobs and digital global markets through e-commerce platforms. entrepreneurship, and helping firms adopt ICT and The program adopts gender-responsive strategies engage in e-commerce activities. to help women-led SMEs access financial resources, develop technical and operational capacity, and With support from the Jobs MDTF, the World increase sales (Box 10).20 Bank’s Jobs Group is leveraging global partnerships to inform design of digital jobs The Jobs Umbrella Multi-Donor Trust Fund interventions across World Bank Global Practices. (Jobs MDTF) also funded several activities to First, the Jobs Group has leveraged the S4YE network help young women access digital employment of global partners to connect World Bank operations opportunities. As described in Box 2, design of with cutting-edge innovations from external Table 2 Practices to Address 8 Major Challenges in Digital Jobs Programs for Young Women Phase Challenges Promising Practices Context and 1 Navigating Shifts in Demand ¬ Assess market demand for digital skills Constraints for Digital Skills 2 Understanding Gender ¬ Conduct context-specific gender analysis Differences in Roles, Needs, Opportunities, and Limitations Supply-side 3 Recruiting Young Women to ¬ Utilize mixed recruitment techniques Constraints Digital Jobs Programs ¬ Establish program centers in safe and accessible locations ¬ Promote early-age-exposure to ICTs ¬ Provide stipends, accommodations, and other incentives 4 Retaining Female ¬ Design a rigorous screening process Beneficiaries in Programs ¬ Incorporate a blended approach to training delivery ¬ Implement on-the-job learning work schemes ¬ Provide access to ICT infrastructure and devices 5 Building Self-Confidence in ¬ Support and engage women in interactive learning Young Female Beneficiaries experiences ¬ Improve women’s self-confidence ¬ Provide female role models 6 Combating Misperceptions, ¬ Influence parents, spouses, and others to support women’s Stereotypes, and Other career choices Biases Against Young Women ¬ Connect employers directly with young women ¬ Provide inclusivity training to employers Demand-side 7 Helping Female ¬ Leverage digital financial services to support women’s Constraints Entrepreneurs to Access and financial inclusion Control Financial Resources ¬ Connect entrepreneurs with traditional and alternative funding sources 8 Digital Entrepreneurs Require ¬ Train, mentor, and support women digital entrepreneurs to Skills and Support for succeed Success ¬ Shift national mindsets on women’s roles and capabilities Source: S4YE (2018). Digital Jobs for Youth: Young Women in the Digital Economy. 7 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 BOX 3. ADOPTING AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO DIGITAL JOBS IN PAKISTAN The World Bank’s Digital Jobs for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) project shows how governments can integrate labor supply, demand, and policy approaches when implementing digital jobs interventions for youth. Supply Side: Digital Jobs for KP supports flagship skills building activities. The Youth Employment Program (YEP) equips youth with in-demand skills for the global digital economy, and encourages youth to enter self-employment and entrepreneurship by connecting them to online freelancing work. The team adopted several strategies to attract and retain female beneficiaries, including creating gender- inclusive work spaces for young women to access computers and the internet. Demand Side: The KP IT Board (KPITB) developed a global marketing campaign to position itself as an outsourcing destination and promote investment in the IT and business processing outsourcing (BPO) sectors. This campaign includes a package of subsidies for operational costs, tax rebates, recruitment and training, customized business facilitation, and incentives to support businesses in the province. The KPITB also launched a US$1 million effort to prepare BPO-ready spaces for local and international service providers to use. Policy and System-Level Considerations: The KPITB also invests in the enabling environment and infrastructure to attract international and national BPO companies. The Government of KP removed taxes on BPO and IT businesses and reduced the broadband tax from 19.5 percent to 10 percent, which combine to reduce the cost of operating IT businesses in the province by 30 percent. stakeholders. Second, the Jobs Group has curated It can be challenging for youth employment global emerging practices based on knowledge and programs to diagnose constraints women face on experiences captured through its global partnerships, the supply side or that firms face on the demand as discussed in the next section. side. There are few digital employment interventions for young women that operate on the demand side by specifically helping firms to create jobs, and even WHAT WORKS? fewer digital jobs projects intervene on both the supply and demand side. A notable exception is the S4YE’s 2018 annual report, Digital Jobs for World Bank’s Digital Jobs for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Youth: Young Women in the Digital Economy, project in Pakistan (Box 3). highlights practical approaches for gender- inclusive programs to connect youth with digital Specific strategies and recommendations to overcome jobs. The report illustrates how World Bank and the eight challenges project teams face in designing S4YE’s external partners’ past and ongoing digital digital job skills training programs are discussed in the jobs interventions address supply and demand-side section below. barriers to young women’s digital employment.21 Activities include providing digital skills training; Challenge 1: Navigating Shifts in offering intermediation services; connecting young Demand for Digital Skills people with income-generating opportunities through online platforms; promoting digital entrepreneurship; Assess Market Demand for Digital Skills. The and helping firms, including women-led SMEs, to digital landscape is constantly changing, with skills connect to the digital economy, create more jobs, becoming obsolete and new skills constantly in and hire more youth. This section proposes practical demand. When designing digital jobs program for program design ideas to overcome 8 common youth that include technical skills-building, project challenges to improve gender-inclusive digital jobs teams should conduct market analysis to evaluate interventions for youth (Table 2).22 local and international demand for digital skills. 8 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 BOX 4. DESIGNING BUSINESS-DIRECTED TRAINING CURRICULA IN LATIN AMERICA Laboratoria is a coding bootcamp and job placement program in Peru, Chile, Mexico, and Brazil that combines applied coding education, socio-emotional training, and employer engagement to create opportunities for low-income young women. Laboratoria works closely with tech companies in Latin America and Silicon Valley to develop a business curriculum to ensure that its education program teaches relevant, in-demand skills. Laboratoria surveys company hiring managers to learn what skills they need for web developer openings. Based on these findings, program staff develop a project-based, open source training curriculum, then share it widely with developers and industry professionals for feedback and input into the training program. BOX 5. GENDER MAINSTREAMING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS IN INDIA Before implementation of the Saksham youth employment and entrepreneurship project, the team at Plan International—India collected data to understand job requirements in Delhi, Hyderabad, and Uttarakhand. Jobs indicators included the number of men and women in the workforce, type of skills required by employers, remuneration levels for men and women, and differences in work timing and shifts for young men and women. Staff researched local employer facilities, infrastructure, and benefits, including availability of maternity benefits, existence of separate restrooms for women, availability of transport subsidies, and compliance with labor and safety regulations. Program staff also monitored market trends to identify companies that hired only or mostly female staff. The gender mainstreaming strategy throughout project design and implementation included analyzing gender-based norms, needs, roles, and barriers for women and men; providing transportation, childcare or other support services to enable young women’s participation; ensuring gender parity in faculty, and providing gender-sensitivity training to all faculty and staff; and collecting gender-disaggregated data throughout the program cycle. Laboratoria adopted strategies to prepare vulnerable biases, trends in occupational segregation, and other young women for digital jobs according to local labor market failures that may relegate young women market demand (Box 4). to lower-level digital jobs. Plan International—India integrated gender mainstreaming throughout its Challenge 2: Understanding Gender project cycle to identify and meet the needs of female Differences in Roles, Needs, beneficiaries (Box 5). Opportunities, and Limitations Challenge 3: Recruiting Young Women Conduct context-specific gender analysis. Before to Digital Jobs Programs starting to design an operation, project teams should analyze and understand gender dynamics within Utilize mixed recruitment techniques. Young the specific labor market—gender roles, relations, women often have severe time constraints because constraints and opportunities—to align design of family and household responsibilities. To recruit decisions. Digital youth employment programs young women from disadvantaged communities should study local gaps in ICT access and use, and into jobs programs, program teams can create the challenges and opportunities for women. USAID’s promotional campaigns for spaces frequently visited Gender and ICT Survey Toolkit is a useful resource by young women. For example, Plan International’s for practitioners conducting a landscape assessment Saksham project in India applied a mix of youth and of women’s ICT access and usage.23 Using the digital community mobilization techniques to recruit girls jobs typology, teams should also analyze cultural and young women, including door-to-door outreach, 9 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 makers on the benefits of having girls develop technical skills. In the United States, Girls Who Code (see Box 9) implements various programs to engage girls aged 10 to 18 in learning computer science and programming concepts. AkiraChix started a high school outreach program in Kenya to encourage girls to join STEM fields. Program activities include bi-weekly training sessions at high schools on thematic areas such as programming, graphic design, user experience, and robotics during every school term. Provide stipends, accommodations, and other incentives. Reducing the cost of attending digital skills training can make programs more accessible Photo credit: Charlotte Kesl / World Bank for young women, who often have limited access and control over their own financial resources. Providing stipends and other incentives for announcements on cars, strategically located beneficiary participation can also reduce program information kiosks, and social media advertisements. attrition. However, implementers should be aware Promotional messages should be context-specific, of risks related to providing financial, meal, and reflect the local realities of young women’s lives, transportation accommodations: stipends and other highlight their specific needs, and describe benefits incentives can create tension if only some beneficiaries and opportunities from participation. receive them, and beneficiaries may accept stipends without commitment. In Kosovo, the WoW Pilot, for Establish program centers in safe and accessible example, provided transportation and meal stipends locations. Programs should consider geographic to beneficiaries, helping more trainees to participate proximity for youth beneficiaries. Many youth face in classroom exercises and bid for online freelancing mobility constraints, which inhibit traveling to training jobs. However, the stipends also disrupted training programs, job searching, and commuting to and from as some beneficiaries complained that students were work.24 In many contexts, social norms compound accepting the stipend but not attending courses. these restrictions by limiting young women’s access to Box 6 describes additional strategies used to recruit safe, affordable, and reliable transportation. In South beneficiaries to the WoW pilot. Africa, the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator adopted a “one-taxi-ride-away-from-the-job” rule— Challenge 4: Retaining Female beneficiaries were assigned to jobs that were within Beneficiaries in Programs reasonable distance of their home addresses. This not only reduced financial costs for beneficiaries, but also Digital youth programs reported facing helped women feel safer commuting. Recognizing significant challenges to retain young women in young women’s disproportionate mobility constraints training, work-based learning, and employment and safety concerns, digital jobs programs should programs. There are several strategies for programs also host activities in central locations where young to reduce high incidence for drop out by female women feel safe accessing. beneficiaries, as described below. Promote early-age exposure to ICT. A 2018 Design a rigorous screening process. Digital jobs Accenture report found that exposing young women programs should screen applicants to help ensure to digital skills at an early age increases likelihood that the program truly meet the needs, abilities, and they pursue tech-related education or employment ambitions of accepted beneficiaries. Candidates who opportunities. 25 This requires a comprehensive do not meet the criteria can be directed to local skills targeting approach that not only recruits girls and remediation programs and invited to reapply once young women into digital skills programs, but also their competencies improve. Laboratoria uses popular educates family members and household decision social media to recruit new cohorts. The application 10 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 BOX 6. RECRUITING YOUNG WOMEN FOR A DIGITAL JOBS PILOT IN KOSOVO The World Bank’s Women in Online Work (WoW) pilot trained women in digital and socio-emotional skills to help them find online freelancing and microwork. WoW recruited beneficiaries through both digital as well as traditional media channels, a critical strategy to the success of the pilot. WoW staff conducted information sessions at universities to inform potential beneficiaries about the program. Program staff also used social media marketing through targeted Facebook advertisements. The WoW team also partnered with Kosovo’s Ministry of Economic Development, which led a recruitment drive through traditional media, including TV, radio, and newspapers. Moreover, to include disadvantaged people, staff worked with local advocacy groups representing ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. BOX 7. ON-THE-JOB TRAINING FOR YOUNG WOMEN IN WEST BANK AND GAZA A new World Bank youth employment project in West Bank and Gaza, the Gaza Emergency Cash for Work and Self-Employment , is designed to provide youth with short-term income and increased access to Internet self-employment opportunities. The project will connect 375 young women with e-work opportunities, including complex “e-lancing” contracts—such as software development, graphic design, and media production—and simpler microwork tasks such as labeling photos or videos and transcribing scanned documents. The project team designed a support package including up to two months of skills training and six months of on-the-job support. This is critical to help young women to earn immediate income, develop confidence to pursue online contracts, and build their professional experience to find future jobs. process originally included an interview and an develop team-building and communication skills aptitude test. After many young women withdrew through group activities. from the program because it was too demanding, staff adjusted interviews to identify traits, such as Implement on-the-job learning schemes. Young creative problem solving and determination, that help women often withdraw from training programs young women meet program demands. because they do not perceive a clear connection for how their new skills will improve employment Incorporate a blended approach to deliver prospects. To incentivize young women’s participation, training. Online training programs can be convenient digital jobs programs should connect job experiences for young women facing time and mobility with skills training, including through internships, restrictions; but in-person training at centers with apprenticeships, or other on-the-job learning. The EOH reliable computer and Internet may help young Youth Job Creation Initiative in South Africa adopted women who have limited ICT access at home. An a “learnership” model with 30 percent classroom approach that blends online and classroom training teaching and 70 percent structured workplace can offer young women flexibility and reduce learning in jobs in manufacturing, IT, finance, and transportation and other costs. Digital Divide Data engineering industries. This model allowed youth to (DDD) recruits and trains youth to work as data embed themselves in organizational culture, increasing management operators to deliver BPO services to likelihood of employment after program. The World clients. Beneficiaries undergo business education Bank’s Gaza Emergency Cash for Work and and “soft” and technical skills training through both Self-Employment project also provides digital skills face-to-face (70 percent) and online learning (30 training combined with on-the-job support (Box 7). percent). This provides youth flexibility to complete assignments on their own schedules, while helping Provide Access to ICT Infrastructure and Devices. Many young women, particularly those in 11 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 BOX 8. THE ROLE MODEL EFFECT: INSPIRING YOUNG FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS IN NIGERIA The World Bank’s Click-On Kaduna pilot program in Kaduna State, Nigeria aims to empower disadvantaged youth in fragile and conflict zones by training them for employment in the digital economy. The project includes three main components: (a) a three-day “e-lancing” workshop followed by an online freelancing pilot; (b) targeted digital skills development for 180 youth, 50 percent of whom are women; and (c) digital entrepreneurship support to 180 youth entrepreneurs and youth-led startup teams. The Click on Kaduna team found that many young women were uncomfortable participating in training sessions with young men: as a result, they were less communicative, asked fewer questions, and interacted less with other trainees. They were also reluctant to engage with male trainers. As a result, the program team developed a women-only cohort using only female trainers. They also connected trainees with female mentor/role model entrepreneurs from the same communities. Beneficiaries engaged more actively during training and were more motivated to achieve their goals after seeing other women from similar backgrounds had succeeded. lower-income groups or rural areas, lack affordable Develop female beneficiaries’ communication access to ICT. Furthermore, young women generally and leadership skills. Many employers value have lower Internet access and utilization than young socio-emotional skills at least as much as technical men. This gender gap limits women’s remote work and expertise. Program teams should incorporate socio- training opportunities. Digital jobs programs should emotional skills modules into curricula, including create hubs and other spaces for young women to training on communication, leadership, and safely share ideas and access critical tools. In Ghana, workplace readiness. Maharishi Institute found that Friends of the British Council (FoBC) launched a Digital many youth were unable to find jobs because they Innovation Center (DIC) as a space for young people could not communicate their skills and experience to to share ideas, network, and access IT tools, software, potential employers. In response, the team modified and high-speed Internet. The DIC also served as a its curriculum to incorporate socio-emotional skills, workspace for beneficiaries to launch digital startups including training on workplace readiness. As a result, and access online freelance jobs. female beneficiaries reported feeling more resilient to challenges in the workplace. Challenge 5: Building Self-Confidence in Young Female Beneficiaries Provide female role models in jobs programs. Speaking and connecting with female role models Support and engage women in interactive in digital jobs and learning about their experiences learning. Teaching methods should encourage can build the confidence female beneficiaries need to young female beneficiaries to contribute. Interactive navigate in traditionally male-dominated ICT careers.27 extracurricular programs promote active learning, This “role-model effect” also helps young women inspire greater confidence, and boost interest in relate to peers, instructors, and mentors. The “Digital STEM.26 Program teams can dedicate class time for Jobs in Nigeria” pilot program created women-only beneficiaries to speak in front of peers, including spaces for beneficiaries, hiring female trainers who expressing difficulties with courses. Some programs also served as role models (Box 8). may need women-only cohorts to promote engagement. For example, The Youth Banner—a Challenge 6: Combating Rockefeller Foundation’s Digital Jobs Africa (DJA) Misperceptions, Stereotypes, and grantee—reported difficulty recruiting women for Other Biases against Women economic empowerment clubs because women are Influence parents, spouses, and others to support not comfortable in clubs with men, which keeps women’s career choices. Program teams should them from sharing their thoughts and ideas. Based engage with family and community members to on these experiences, The Youth Banner’s “She Will combat social norms that restrict young women’s Connect” initiative in Kenya created comfortable participation in training and job programs. For example, spaces dedicated for young women to learn. 12 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 BOX 9. CLOSING THE GENDER DIGITAL DIVIDE: ADVOCATING FOR GIRLS AND WOMEN IN STEM Early exposure to coding drives interest in computing among girls. In the U.S., with support from Accenture and other companies, Girls Who Code implements various programs to engage girls aged 10 to 18 in learning computer science and programming concepts. Girls Who Code also runs national and local campaigns to raise awareness about the gender gap in coding, counter misconceptions about gender roles in technology, and drive program enrollment and participation. National campaigns leverage social media, online and print publications, and television to educate various groups (parents, schools, girls, among others) about opportunities in the digital economy. Girls Who Code also published a book series to reach girls who might not have access to a Girls Who Code classroom. These books include explanations of computer science concepts using real life examples and relatable characters profiling women in technology. This series advocates for girls’ participation in computer science by telling stories using many girls’ voices. As of 2018, Girls Who Code reached 50,000 girls in all 50 U.S. states, inspiring girls to consider studying computer science and paving the path for future technology careers. Nearly 90 percent of Girls Who Code alumni say they are more likely to pursue a career in technology because of their participation. Girls Who Code is helping to close the 13 percent gap, roughly 11,000 individuals, in entry-level computer science jobs between men and women, to create gender parity in the in the U.S. by 2022. Saksham project staff organized parents’ visits to program staff reported that companies placed many prospective job places to increase family comfort that female beneficiaries in back-office roles while putting beneficiaries would be working in safe environments. young men in client engagement; most young women The project team also engaged parents throughout did not feel empowered to address this with their the program, creating a supportive and enabling employer. To counter this, digital jobs programs should environment for young participants. Girls Who Code work to raise employer awareness about the financial runs national campaigns to promote positive images and social benefits of hiring women and creating of girls and women in STEM careers (Box 9). diverse teams. Programs can also work with employers to train staff to recognize and mitigate hiring bias.29 Connect employers directly with young women. Ada Developers Academy, a U.S.-based software Hiring bias persists in societies where taboos keep developer training program, provides “Implicit women from working in STEM or ICT-related careers— Bias” workshops where trainers provide companies or work anywhere.28 To overcome this, digital jobs with concrete tools to become more aware of bias programs should host events to display female and mitigate its negative effects. In the Academy’s beneficiaries’ skills and aptitudes. They can also work directly with private sector companies to identify skilled young women to fill employer needs. Before graduating from “bootcamp,” Laboratoria students participate in Talent Fest, a 36-hour hackathon. In-person participation in Talent Fest gives company representatives the chance to see how young women work, providing crucial insight into finding the right fit for openings. Companies can also interview high-potential candidates. Provide inclusivity training to employers. Some employers may have negative perceptions about women in STEM, have assumptions about the types of tasks women can perform, or assume that female candidates are unqualified. For example, ACWICT Photo credit: Dana Smillie / World Bank 13 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 BOX 10. CONNECTING WOMEN-OWNED SMES TO E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS IN MENA In November 2018, the World Bank launched the $3.82 million regional project “E-commerce for Women- led SMEs,” targeting women-led SMEs producing e-commerce marketable goods. The project will facilitate access to domestic and export markets by training e-commerce consultants who, in turn, will train and help the women-led SME’s access e-commerce platforms. The project also aims to facilitate access to finance for participating SMEs. The project helps connect SMEs to financial institutions that lend to women, particularly the IFC’s Banking on Women network. It will also work to create an ecosystem conducive to e-commerce by diagnosing and helping governments eliminate regulatory, logistical, and e-payment constraints. The regional Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) initiative supports institutions providing women entrepreneurs with access to debt, equity, venture capital, insurance products, capacity building, networks and mentors, and opportunities to link with domestic and global markets. “Ally Skills” workshops, trainers teach ways to support Connect entrepreneurs with traditional and staff who are targets of systematic oppression based alternative funding. Young women typically have on gender or other personal characteristics. less access to and  or control over assets than young /  men, limiting their ability to access credit to start or Challenge 7: Helping Female grow a business. Digital job programs should support Entrepreneurs to Access and Control young female entrepreneurs by connecting them Financial Resources to non-traditional finance institutions and alternate forms of finance. The World Bank’s Caribbean Mobile Leverage digital financial services to support Innovation Project (CMIP) hosted three regional one-day women’s financial inclusion. Financial institutions pitch competitions, called PitchIT Caribbean, where are increasingly delivering services—such as payments, promising digital start-ups and mobile app developers credit, savings, remittances, and insurance—through compete for US$5,000 in seed funding. Over 80 digital channels. These technologies increasingly percent of the top 5 teams each year have been led support women’s financial inclusion.30 Digital jobs by women. Another World Bank project combines programs should also help women-owned businesses connecting women-owned SMEs to e-commerce access payment systems and bank accounts as they platforms with facilitating access to finance (Box 10). help female entrepreneurs exert autonomous control over their earnings. Challenge 8: Digital Entrepreneurs Require Skills and Support for Success Train, mentor, and support female digital entrepreneurs to succeed. Women’s participation is lowest in STEM fields that offer more commercial opportunities, such as engineering, biotech and computer science. Labor market barriers often compound for female digital entrepreneurs: once women overcome barriers to entering STEM fields, they also barriers women entrepreneurs face more broadly. ICT can help self-employed young women transition to business owners and help micro-firms grow and create jobs. To reap these benefits, digital jobs programs must help equip young female digital entrepreneurs with digital, social, and business skills. Program teams should also help women Photo credit: Visual News Associates / World Bank develop supportive professional networks, including 14 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 BOX 11. GLOBAL PLATFORMS TO SUPPORT YOUNG FEMALE DIGITAL ENTREPRENEURS Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) launched the #eSkills4Girls initiative to promote female participation in the digital economy and address the gender digital divide. In May 2017, BMZ, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and SAP brought together over 30 female tech leaders from around Africa at the #eskills4girls Africa Meetup. The event offered a unique opportunity for young female entrepreneurs, thought-leaders, and industry experts to network, discuss challenges and approaches, and develop capacities and strategies for running and scaling initiatives related to girls in ICT. Using the results of a participant survey of current needs, the Meetup included trainings to access EU funding opportunities, moderation techniques, media and communication, networking strategies, and design thinking. established professionals and women leading women, practitioners and policy makers should early‑stage digital start-ups. The World Bank’s 2019 commit to scaling digital jobs programs. Profiting from Parity report is a helpful resource for “Scaling up” refers to deepening and  or spreading /  practitioners designing programs to support female development benefits of an intervention, increasing digital entrepreneurs.31 A global effort under G20, participation of vulnerable populations previously the #eskills4girls initiative, aims to close the gender excluded, and trying to replicate, sustain, and adapt digital divide and promote female participation in the program results in different contexts. When making digital economy (Box 11). strategic decisions about scaling, stakeholders should consider how to scale, what actors to involve, and Shift National Mindsets on Women’s Roles and how to retain program quality. As stakeholders Capabilities. For ventures to succeed, female digital consider these questions, they may use a combination entrepreneurs must participate in an inclusive digital of the following approaches: ecosystem that recognizes them as equals. To help •  Create ripple effects through partnerships. build this network, digital jobs programs can organize Use existing networks and platforms to share annual start-up pitch competitions for female experiences, lessons, success, and failures. Global entrepreneurs to showcase their innovations and coalitions such as S4YE curate innovations, share compete for national and global funding. Digital jobs best practices, and facilitate learning from shared programs can also lead national campaigns to amplify experiences. The Principles for Digital Development the success of women-led businesses and combat (PDD) represent 9 guidelines to practitioners to adopt negative perceptions or stereotypes. The World best practices in technology-enabled programs. The Bank’s Caribbean Mobile Innovation Project (CMIP) Digital Principles Community established an online team organized the 2016 PitchIT Caribbean Breakfast forum to facilitate peer learning. for Women Tech Entrepreneurs to foster greater women’s involvement in tech entrepreneurship. This •  Embed program in a policy framework. event recruited young women into the CMIP training Stakeholders should leverage established program and raised awareness of CMIP benefits institutions and infrastructure, such as existing among advocacy organizations supporting women’s community education and training models. For employment, entrepreneurship, and empowerment. example, Year Up has grown from a local start-up to a national NGO offering work-readiness and skills training to disadvantaged youth in urban areas WHAT’S NEXT? across the U.S.32 Year Up’s successful scaling is due in large part to partnering with community colleges. Creating Impact at Scale •  Change mindsets. Implementing transformative, To close the gender digital divide and create gender-inclusive digital jobs programs requires youth employment opportunities for young stakeholders to combat social norms that limit 15 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 productivity, firm performance and employee retention. 34 It is important to partner with companies, as private-sector support for digital jobs interventions can increase revenue and reduce costs for firms across all industries. Develop a Robust Evidence Base There is a dearth of evidence on the effectiveness of youth employment interventions, particularly those connecting youth with digital job opportunities. Supporting these and other innovative projects can develop a global evidence base for digital jobs programs for marginalized young women, including those in rural communities characterized by poor education and limited broadband access. Tools such as the World Bank’s Jobs M&E Toolkit can help practitioners collect data on key jobs indicators throughout a project cycle to support systematic digital jobs program assessment.35 To fill these knowledge gaps, donors, governments, private sector partners, and other Photo credit: Shynar Jetpissova / World Bank stakeholders can also invest in experimentation. S4YE’s Impact Portfolio partners are developing new approaches to tackle youth unemployment across a women, and to support participatory, community- variety of contexts. As these programs innovate, they based advocacy and strategies to change can track gender- and age-disaggregated indicators discriminatory attitudes and practices. to measure jobs impacts, business performance, and •  Leverage public investment projects. Digital return on investment. Findings can point to new program jobs programs may maximize their potential for designs and implementation strategies for testing on a scaling by leveraging public investment projects, larger scale. Topics for further research include: such as rural or infrastructure development projects. For example, the Kosovo Women in Online Work •  Determining the right “dosage.” Case studies (WoW) digital jobs pilot is now being scaled within reveal promising practices for youth employment a digital infrastructure project to expand rural programs to overcome supply-side labor market broadband access.33 Governments integrating youth barriers to women’s recruitment and retention. digital jobs initiatives into internet connectivity, Yet, questions remain on specific best practices to digital infrastructure, or ICT policy development design programs, such as the minimum duration projects can increase broadband access while needed for skills training programs to maximize creating options for women’s productive Internet employment outcomes for young women, as well usage and employment. as determining the most effective combination of technical and socio-emotional skills development. •  Make the business case. Youth employment interventions achieving private sector uptake The Jobs MDTF is funding randomized control become more sustainable and more likely to trials in Colombia, Kenya, and Pakistan to test the scale. Investing in integrated, inclusive digital effectiveness of women’s coding bootcamps. These jobs programs for youth helps to create a highly- studies are evaluating the most effective and efficient skilled, diverse workforce that meets firms’ needs. “dosage” for digital skills training programs—that Increasing women’s employment is also linked with is, the duration, frequency, and intensity of curricula. positive business outcomes, including increased Further investment is also needed to prove how 16 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 best to modify traditional skills training programs For instance, LinkedIn, Lynk in Kenya, and other to target the most vulnerable, including displaced, online job platforms are now adapting to include disabled, and low-literacy youth. the informal labor market. ​ Partnering with these •  Leveraging new technologies and non-traditional platforms will open new avenues for data collection sources of data. There is little evidence of what and analysis, supporting evidence-based approaches works to promote more, better, and gender- to youth employment. inclusive digital job creation in firms. Most •  Designing integrated programs addressing private sector interventions have not focused supply-side and demand-side issues. Evidence on employment outcomes such as job creation. shows that supply-side interventions alone are not Fortunately, as technology transforms business enough to create more and better long-term jobs strategies, job openings, and worker hiring, more for youth; however, the potential for integrated data may become available to help researchers approaches remains to be tested. While several understand relationships between demand-side programs identified promising approaches to programs and digital youth employment outcomes overcome challenges female entrepreneurs and women-led SMEs face, less evidence exists on Technology is accelerating the pace at which work is successful interventions to address demand-side changing globally, affecting types of jobs and how constraints to digital jobs creation or to promote youth train and search for them. These rapid shifts growth of women-led digital economy firms. More require policy makers and researchers to not only evidence is needed to establish effectiveness of constantly track, experiment, and share lessons, but different program methods to integrate demand- also adopt more agile, just-in-time methods to source side and supply-side components of youth and use data. Stakeholders may also increasingly employment broadly. use big data analytics and artificial intelligence to understand labor market opportunities for youth. New technological solutions are emerging that can also help solve persistent market failures, such as asymmetrical information about labor markets. KEY REFERENCES A full bibliography of underlying evidence can be found at www.Jobsanddevelopment.org. Datta, N., Angela Elzir Assy, Johanne Buba, Sara Johansson de Silva, Samantha Watson, et al. (2018a). Integrated Youth Employment Programs: A Stock take of Evidence on What Works in Youth Employment Programs. Washington, DC: World Bank Group Datta, N., Angela Elzir Assy, Johanne Buba, Samantha Watson, et al. (2018b). Integration: A New Approach to Youth Employment Programs. Washington, DC: World Bank Group Walker, I., Fareeba Mahmoud, Siv Tokle, Sonia Madhvani, Vismay Parikh, and Timothy Clay (2018). Jobs Umbrella Multi-Donor Trust Fund: Annual Report 2018–2019. Washington, DC: World Bank Group S4YE (2018). Digital Jobs for Youth: Young Women in the Digital Economy. Washington, DC: World Bank Group & Solutions for Youth Employment World Bank (2016). World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends. Washington, DC: World Bank Group 17 Jobs Interventions for Young Women in the Digital Economy APRIL 2020 ENDNOTES 1 ILOSTAT, Labour force by sex and age—ILO modeled estimates, July 2018, https://www.ilo.org/ilostat/. 2 ILO 2017. Global Unemployment Trends for Youth 2017: Paths to a Better Working Future. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Organization. 3 ILOSTAT, Labour force by sex and age—ILO modeled estimates, July 2018, https://www.ilo.org/ilostat/. 4 ILO 2017 5 ITU 2019. Measuring Digital Development: Facts and Figures 2019. Geneva, Switzerland: International Telecommunications Union. 6 Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development (2019). The State of Broadband: Broadband as a Foundation for Sustainable Development. Geneva, Switzerland: ITU and UNESCO. 7 World Bank 2016. World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. 8 Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development (2018). Working Group Report: Digital Entrepreneurship. Geneva, Switzerland: International Telecommunication Union. 9 Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development (2019). 10 Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development (2017). Working Group on the Digital Gender Divide: Recommendations for Action: Bridging the Gender Gap in Internet and Broadband Access and Use. Geneva, Switzerland: ITU. 11 There are generally fewer ICT-dependent jobs than ICT-enhanced jobs, and the highest paying jobs typically require more highly-skilled. Fewer female workers are employed in ICT-intensive jobs than in ICT-dependent or ICT-enhanced jobs. Understanding gender gaps within each digital job category provides insight into the earnings potential for women and informs policies that would encourage and support women to get better digital jobs. For more detail, please see the full report. 12 Datta, Namita, Angela Elzir Assy, Johanne Buba, Sara Johansson de Silva, Samantha Watson, et al. (2018a). Integrated Youth Employment Programs: A Stock take of Evidence on What Works in Youth Employment Programs. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. 13 Datta, Namita, Angela Elzir Assy, Johanne Buba, Samantha Watson, et al. (2018b). Integration: A New Approach to Youth Employment Programs. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. 14 Hammond, Alicia, Eliana Rubiano Matulevich, and Sai Kumaraswamy (2020). Breaking Bias: Addressing Barriers to the Participation of Women and Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. 15 Due to its rapid development, online outsourcing activities are presented as a category, although it could be considered a sub-category of (II) Private Sector. 16 The digital jobs discussed in the typology are not mutually exclusive, and will typically need to be used in combination depending on characteristics of different sub-groups of youth. 17 S4YE (forthcoming). Youth Employment Portfolio Review. Washington, DC: WBG & S4YE. 18 Robinson, Danielle and Ida Mboob (2019). “Digital Jobs for Youth in Fragile, Conflict and Violence (FCV) Settings: Lessons from the Click-On Kaduna Pilot.” S4YE Knowledge Brief Series No. 7. Washington, DC: WBG & S4YE. 19 Robinson, Danielle and Friederike Rother (2019). “The Power of E-Work: Creating Opportunities for Young Women in the West Bank & Gaza.” S4YE Knowledge Brief Series No. 8. Washington, DC: WBG & S4YE. 20 Robinson, Danielle, Meriem Slimane, and Komal Mohindra (2019). “The Virtual Market Place: Connecting Women-Owned SMEs to E-Commerce Platforms in MENA.” S4YE Knowledge Brief Series No. 9. Washington, DC: WBG & S4YE. 21 Case studies for digital jobs programs implemented by the World Bank and several of S4YE’s global partners are available on S4YE’s website at https://www.s4ye.org/digital-jobs. 22 Promising practices follows the integrated approach to youth employment programs. Draws from the 19 case studies in S4YE’s digital jobs report and lessons from other World Bank digital jobs operations. 23 USAID (2017). Gender and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Toolkit. Washington, DC: USAID. 24 Romero, Jose, and Rob Urquhart (2018). “Is it enough for programs to train youth if they can’t get to the job? The challenge of transport costs in addressing youth employment.” S4YE Knowledge Brief Series No. 3. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. 18 25 Accenture (2018). Cracking the Gender Code. New York, NY: Accenture. 26 Gonsalves et al (2013). “‘We could think of things that could be science’: Girls’ re-figuring of science in an out-of-school-time club.” Journal of Research in Science Teaching 50, no. 9: 1068–1097. 27 Cheryan et al. (2013). “Enduring influence of stereotypical computer science role models on women’s academic aspirations.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 37, no. 1: 72–79. 28 World Bank (2018). Engendering ICT: Toolkit for Task Team-Leaders. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. 29 The Center for WorkLife Law notes different types of biases in professional settings and proposes practical ways to address these issues. They have also created several tools for organizations to combat bias. 30 Alliance for Financial Inclusion (2016). Digital Financial Services Basic Terminology. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Alliance for Financial Inclusion. 31 World Bank (2019). Profiting from Parity: Unlocking the Potential of Women’s Business in Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. 32 Bradach, J., and Abe Grindle (2014). Transformative Scale: The Future of Growing What Works. Boston, MA: The Bridgespan Group. 33 World Bank Project P164188—Kosovo Digital Economy. 34 Hammond, Alicia, Victor Mulas, and Pilar Loren Garcia Nadres (2018). Women Wavemakers: Practical Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Women in Coding Bootcamps. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. 35 Krishnan, Sudha Bala, Raphaela Beatrice Karlen, Teresa Anna Maria Peterburs, and Siv Elin Tokle (2017). “Monitoring and Evaluation of Jobs Operations.” Jobs M&E Toolkit No. 1. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. This Jobs Note was prepared by Namita Datta (Program Manager, S4YE, Jobs Group) and Danielle Robinson (Gender & Digital Jobs Specialist, S4YE, Jobs Group). We are grateful for comments from peer reviewers Alicia S. Hammond, Natalija Gelvanovska-Garcia and Josefina Posadas. The note is based on the 2018 Solutions for Youth Employment Annual Report “Solutions for Youth Employment. 2018. Digital Jobs for Youth: Young Women in the Digital Economy.” Washington, DC: World Bank Group. This Note was prepared as part of the Knowledge Program for Jobs: From Jobs Analytics to Support for Jobs Operations (P170399; Siv Tokle, Task Team Leader). It was edited by Aldo Morri. The production and publication of this report has been made possible through a grant from the World Bank’s Jobs Umbrella Multidonor Trust Fund (MDTF), which is supported by the Department for International Development/UK AID, the Governments of Norway, Germany, Austria, the Austrian Development Agency, Italy, and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. All Jobs Group’s publications are available for free and can be accessed through the World Bank or the Jobs and Development Partnership website. Please send all queries or feedback to Jobs Group. 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