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The digital and digitally enabled economy as a driver of women employment? The Case of Jordan

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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 labour market inclusion and restrictive gender norms, yet comparatively high female education and political willingness for labour 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 labour market inclusion. Based on desk research and qualitative 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 labour market participation outside the ‘ICT sector proper’ remains rather slim. Digital tools have, so far, not meaningfully reduced labour 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 labour 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 country contexts with a less favourable baseline in term of education or regulatory changes.

Über die IDOS-Autorin

Zintl, Tina

Politikwissenschaftlerin

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