Is Technology Widening the Gender Gap? Automation and the Future of Female Employment
IMF Working Papers, May 6, 2019
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- Is Technology Widening the Gender Gap? Automation and the Future of Female Employment
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Mariya Brussevich, Era Dabla-Norris, Salma Khalid
- Published: May 6, 2019
- Series: IMF Working Papers
Summary and main finding
- Using individual level data on task composition at work for 30 advanced and emerging economies, the study finds that women, on average, perform more routine tasks than men—tasks that are more prone to automation.
- Female workers are at a significantly higher risk for displacement by automation than male workers.
- 11 percent of the female workforce is at high risk of being automated given the current state of technology, albeit with significant cross-country heterogeneity.
- The probability of automation is lower for younger cohorts of women, and for those in managerial positions.
Data and methodology
- Data source: individual level data on task composition at work for 30 advanced and emerging economies.
- Approach: Relate data on task composition at work to occupation level estimates of probability of automation, controlling for a rich set of individual characteristics (e.g., education, age, literacy and numeracy skills).
- Outcome measure: occupation level estimates of probability of automation linked to task composition and individual characteristics.
Detailed findings and heterogeneity
- Women perform more routine job tasks on average compared with men; routine tasks are more susceptible to automation.
- Estimated impact: 11 percent of the female workforce is classified as at high risk of automation under current technology.
- Significant cross-country heterogeneity in automation risk for female workers.
- Lower automation probability observed for:
- younger cohorts of women;
- women in managerial positions.
Subject areas and keywords
- Subject: Automation, Education, Gender, Gender inequality, Technology, Women
- Keywords: Automation, Eastern Europe, Europe, Female Labor Force, Gender Equality, Gender inequality, gender RTI gap, Global, job task characteristic, job task description, Jobs, labor force, Occupational Choice, probability of automation, routine job task, RTI index, service worker, Southern Europe, Technological Change, Women, workers in occupation X, WP
Content in this bundle
- Working Paper