Gender Issues and Employment in Asia

A major means of engaging women more in development processes is increasingly productive employment. This paper adds perspective on gender issues and employment in Asian developing countries. First, employment experiences of Asian women, both across countries and over time, are characterized with aggregate data. There are some strong associations between development and many employment variables, though strikingly not for female / male wages. Second, some micro evidence on selected dimensions of Asian employment and gender issues is summarized: increasing relative female to male returns to schooling in labor markets at higher schooling levels, information problems and possible statistical discrimination against females in rural labor markets, and the limited impact of equal opportunity employment efforts. Finally, some employment and gender issues are summarized relating to women’s welfare and employment, the nature of discrimination in labor markets, efficiency reasons for policy interventions, the possible key role of information, and the role of education.