Gender-Focused Empowerment Business Training
Female microentrepreneurs face severe gender-specific constraints—such as restrictive social norms, household obligations, and lower self-confidence—that restrict their ability to utilize traditional business training skills to grow profitable enterprises. Consequently, gender-neutral business skills programs or joint credit-training interventions often fail to increase profits for female business owners.
Picture this
Gender-focused empowerment training works like upgrading a car's steering and navigation system at the same time as its engine. By combining basic business concepts with agency, self-confidence, and gender equality training, female business owners gain both the technical tools and the strategic autonomy necessary to navigate socio-cultural barriers.
What the evidence says
Four out of five studies demonstrated improved female business outcomes; access to training increased female business sales in Peru 7 to 10 months post-program and raised weekly profits in Kenya by 15.4% (US$2.63) above the control group 3 years after training.
- Who
- Female human microentrepreneurs across 5 evaluation settings, including Peru and Kenya [7].
- How
- Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) measuring sales and profit trajectories up to 3 years post-intervention [7].
What to do
Incorporate agency-building, self-confidence coaching, and social-norm navigation strategies directly into business skills curricula targeted at female microentrepreneurs.
From the source
"In Kenya, women with access to the training experienced an increase in weekly profits of 15.4 percent, or US$2.63, above the comparison group's profits three years after the intervention."
Teaching business skills to support microentrepreneurs.pdf