Conference Paper
The Digital and Digitally Enabled Economy as A Driver of Women Employment? The Case of Jordan
No.
ERF_31_LB188
Publisher
ERF
Date
March, 2025
Topic
J. Labor and Demographic Economics
As structural change pushes countries toward technological innovation and digital transformation, there is increasing discussion how this affects the future of work for women. This paper looks at factors that foster or inhibit Jordanian women’s paid work in the digital and digitally-enabled economy in Jordan, a country with very low female labor market inclusion and restrictive gender norms, yet comparatively high female education and political willingness for labor market reforms. This makes it an ideal case to probe into possible effects of the digital economy and digital tools on barriers to women’s labor market inclusion. Based on qualitative desk research and interview data, our findings show a mixed picture. Despite the relative successful development of Jordan into a “hub” for ITC-related services and a sizeable female workforce contributing to this sector, the impact of digitalization on women’s labor market participation outside the ‘ICT sector proper’ remains rather slim. Digital tools have, so far, not meaningfully reduced labor market barriers for women but rather helped them to cope with them: Reputational gains to work in the white-collar digital economy are strong but have not reduced gender norms on appropriate workplace or work tasks. Despite new regulations, the flexibility of remote work is not leveraged effectively to reduce barriers connected to women’s mobility or time constraints due to care work. Previous labor market segmentations and inefficiencies continue and are reproduced by a split between the digital and the digital-enabled economy. These findings do not bode well for other countries’ contexts with a less favorable baseline in term of education or regulatory changes.
Authors
Tina Zintl
Researcher, German Institute of Development and Sustainability...