Republic of Armenia Leveling the stem playing Field for Women
I. Women and Work: Europe and Central Asia
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- II. Women in Armenia: Overview of Trends
I. Women and Work: Europe and Central AsiaParity between men and women was one of the major achievements of socialist regimes in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA). Today in low- and middle-income countries in the ECA region, rates of female education and labor force participation are comparable to those seen in high-income OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries (World Bank data, 2014). Although the region is characterized by a high degree of heterogeneity, many gender-related challenges are common to all countries. Women’s unemployment and poverty increased following the transition from communism, and women’s employment rates are considerably lower than those of men across the ECA region. Female labor force participation in Eastern Europe declined from 56 percent in 1980 to 50 percent in 2009—likely reflecting institutional changes associated with (1) regime change, whereby participation in market work ceased to be a mandate for most women, and (2) the retrenchment of some support structures such as childcare (World Bank 2012). And the gender wage gap persists, ranging from 7–53 percent (UNDP 2016). Figure : Labor force participation rate: % of female population age 15+ Source: World Bank data 2014. Figure : The Global Gender Gap1 
Source: WEF 2016. In ECA, female-managed firms pay higher interest rates than their male-managed counterparts (0.6 percent on average), with even higher price discrimination against female entrepreneurs in the region’s least financially developed countries (Muravyev, Schafer, and Talavera 2009). As a result, value added per worker is 34 percent lower in firms managed by women than in those managed by men in urban areas (Sabarwal, Terrell, and Bardasi 2009). The proportion of women in national parliaments remains below the global average of 22 percent in 10 countries in the region, and violence affects approximately 29 percent of women, with marked country variance (UNDP 2016). According to the World Bank (2013), four important challenges with disproportionate negative impact on women will face the ECA region over the next 20 years:
Although women fill close to half of all jobs in many economies of ECA, they tend to be disproportionately concentrated in non-STEM-related jobs (i.e., jobs in the service sector), with a very small share of female employment in STEM-related jobs. The Soviet legacy means that more women study STEM in ECA than in other regions. In Europe and many OECD countries, the proportion of women graduating from STEM fields in tertiary education is very low, particularly in engineering. A particularity in the ECA region is that countries with a “thick” cultural legacy from the Soviet period tend to show stronger gender parity in education than other countries with a similar income level. In many ECA countries, the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results for 2015 show that 15-year-old girls outperform their male counterparts in reading, mathematics, and science. However, this skills advantage does not translate into women entering STEM fields of tertiary education or careers; indeed in many of these countries the share of women graduating from STEM fields in post-secondary education deteriorated following the transition from communism. II. Women in Armenia: Overview of TrendsII.1 Armenia’s Global Gender Gap scoreArmenia slipped 20 places on the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap ranking over the last decade, to 102nd out of 144 countries. The country received 0.669 points on the 2016 index, and was located near the bottom of the list, between Hungary and Brunei (Figure ). Figure : World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap scores in ECA, 2016 
Across the index’s four indicators, Armenia ranked most poorly on Health and Survival (second to last after China due to highly skewed sex ratio at birth in both countries) and on Political Empowerment, where it ranked 125th (Figure ). In terms of Economic Participation Armenia ranked 69th, given issues of wage inequality and labor force participation. The labor force participation gap between men and women is around 17 percentage points and despite the narrowing differential with respect to earnings, women still earn an average 36 percent less than men (World Bank 2016a). Educational Attainment was the strongest indicator—the country ranked 27th, with high literacy rates and higher enrolment across primary, secondary, and tertiary education for girls and women, compared with their male counterparts. Armenia’s WEF Global Gender Gap score shows that Armenian women are highly educated, yet their participation in the labor market and representation in political decision making remain relatively low, while sex-selection and high female abortion rates are of great concern.
Figure : Armenia country score card 
Source: WEF 2016. Directory: curated curated -> Concept stage curated -> Concept stage curated -> Republic of Côte d'Ivoire Urbanization Review curated -> Report No: aus11011 Central America curated -> Report No. 94474-pk fiscal Disaster Risk Assessment Options for Consideration curated -> Environmental and Social Management Framework for the Costa Rica Telecommunications Sector Modernization Project curated -> Environment Impact Assessment For Jiangxi Shangrao Sanqingshan Airport Beijing Guohuantiandi Environmental Technology Development Center. Ltd. Oct. 2012 Content curated -> Growth through Innovation An Industrial Strategy for Shanghai By Shahid Yusuf Kaoru Nabeshima April 22nd, 2009 curated -> Report No: 70178. People's Republic of China Download 377.88 Kb. Share with your friends:
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