Gender, Technology, and the Future of Work
Staff Discussion Notes, October 8, 2018
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Mariya Brussevich, Era Dabla-Norris, Christine Kamunge, Pooja Karnane, Salma Khalid, Kalpana Kochhar
- Published: October 8, 2018
- Series: Staff Discussion Notes
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484379769.006
Executive summary and central findings
- New technologies—digitalization, artificial intelligence, and machine learning—are changing the way work gets done at an unprecedented rate.
- Women, on average, perform more routine tasks than men across all sectors and occupations—tasks that are most prone to automation.
- Given the current state of technology, the study estimates that 26 million female jobs in 30 countries (28 OECD member countries, Cyprus, and Singapore) are at a high risk of being displaced by technology (i.e., facing higher than 70 percent likelihood of being automated) within the next two decades.
- Female workers face a higher risk of automation compared to male workers: 11 percent of the female workforce, relative to 9 percent of the male workforce.
- There is significant heterogeneity in automation risk across sectors and countries.
- Extrapolating the results yields around 180 million female jobs at high risk of being displaced globally.
Distributional patterns and vulnerable groups
- Workers disproportionately exposed to automation:
- Less well-educated female workers.
- Older female workers (aged 40 and above).
- Female workers in low-skill clerical, service, and sales positions.
- Exposure is driven by task composition: higher prevalence of routine tasks among female workers across sectors and occupations increases automation vulnerability.
Policy implications and recommendations
- Endow women with required skills to adapt to technological change:
- Invest in training and lifelong learning focused on non-routine cognitive and socioemotional skills.
- Close gender gaps in leadership positions to improve representation in decision-making around technology adoption.
- Bridge the digital gender divide to ensure access to technology and digital skills:
- Leverage ongoing digital transformation, which could confer greater flexibility in work arrangements, benefiting women.
- Ease transitions for older and low-skilled female workers:
- Support measures that facilitate re-skilling, job search, and mobility for those at high risk of displacement.
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- Staff Discussion Note