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Women’s empowerment is a multidimensional concept that encompasses different aspects such as access to education, freedom to make vital decisions, labor market access, wages, and political participation, among others. In this research, the authors construct a multidimensional index of women’s empowerment that takes into account individual resources and achievements and analyze its evolution across countries using data from the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations for 17 gender indicators across 96 countries over the period 1995–2015. By means of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the authors identify three dimensions of women’s empowerment: reproductive health, economic participation, and basic education. In addition, the authors use cluster techniques to classify countries into four groups with similar behavior patterns in the different domains of women’s empowerment: a group of countries with high levels in the domains of reproductive health and basic education but with low levels in economic participation; a group of countries with high levels in the domains of reproductive health and economic participation that should pay attention to education; a group of countries with medium levels across the three dimensions of women’s empowerment, especially in reproductive health and economic participation; and a group of countries with low levels in all the dimensions of women’s empowerment, especially in reproductive health and basic education. The comparison of these different patterns serves to highlight the aspects in which improvements have been made or, on the contrary, to highlight the obstacles that are hindering the improvement of gender equality. Finally, the results suggest that advancements in women’s empowerment improve the countries’ level of development.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment are considered core development objectives (SDG 5) and instrumental in achieving other SDGs such as economic growth and food security and improved health and education. Cocoa is seen as a ‘man’s crop’ and there is entrenched gender bias in its value chain. However, women play a crucial role in the tending and post-harvesting of cocoa which are key to the price paid. This chapter investigates, via a 20-year in-depth case study, the partnership between Fair Trade Social Enterprise Divine Chocolate Ltd and Kuapa Kokoo (KK) cocoa farmer’s cooperative in Ghana. The case takes an in-depth look at women’s role in the cocoa value chain and how their strategic interests, practical needs and power can be addressed.

The Divine–Kuapa Kooko partnership, which implemented a clear resourced gender equality strategy, has made a positive contribution to reducing inequality, empowering women cocoa farmers and improving their rights. Setting quotas for women’s representation at all levels of KK’s structure has improved the strategic interests of women cocoa farmers and transformed the political structures of the cooperative. Also setting gender equality as part of the KK’s constitution enhances the empowerment and power of women cocoa farmers. Providing equal access to training and resources also enhances the practical capabilities of women.

The chapter proposes a framework of how to achieve improvements in gender quality and women’s empowerment. This case will assist other organisations who have targeted Sustainable Development Goal 5 of gender equality and women’s empowerment as part of their strategy.

This chapter explores the colocation of ethnographic and discourse approaches in gender-focused research in comparative and international education. Drawing from the authors’ scholarship in the fields of girls’ education, women’s empowerment, and international education policy and development, this chapter highlights opportunities to interrogate culture in qualitative data through ethnographic and discourse approaches. The chapter concludes with reflection and future directions for these authors and for the field.

This chapter situates the South Pacific region’s engagement in progressing gender equality and women’s empowerment within broader gender and development (GAD) debates. It explores the international ‘gender agenda’ and how its associated frameworks, platforms, policies and metrics have diffused throughout the South Pacific. Limited progress in achieving gender equality and empowerment goals has been made, globally and regionally, with considerable challenges yet to be overcome. Complementing the book’s focus on the integration of gender into agricultural research and development projects, the chapter reviews rural women’s access to income and land in the South Pacific, and their contributions to agricultural production and marketing.

Women empowerment is an aid against discrimination and exploitation. Empowerment to women helps minimize the gender gap, achieve equality and promote self-worth to make independent choices and to influence social change. It is seen that women empowerment and economic development are two sides of the same coin. According to sustainable development goals by World Development Indicator, by 2030 their aim is to empower all women and girls by achieving gender equality. Being the first teacher of a child and to ably run a household from front females are the pillars of a strong and thriving society. Educating and empowering women will usher us in a society where each member is contributing to the betterment of society; which gradually will uplift the economic condition. As stated by Mahatma Gandhi “If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate an entire family.” Therefore, this study aims to investigate the status of women in the field of health, education, labor force participation and socioeconomic empowerment in selected South Asian countries, namely, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Secondary data has been used which are collected from the website and data center of United Nations Development Programme and World Bank. The research focuses on the comparative study on the South Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka regarding gender equality and women empowerment in the sectors like education, health, political and economic involvement and opportunity.

There has been a widespread proliferation of digital technologies in the last few decades with worldwide usage increasing to 4.66 billion active internet users in 2021. This amounts to 59.5% or half of the overall population and is significant. On the one hand, the changing digital state of affairs means that there are greater opportunities for businesses, economies and societies to flourish since 92.6% (4.32 billion) access the internet through mobile devices (Statista, 2021). On the other hand, this digital revolution has not percolated equally, with women having less access to resources and capabilities to utilise digital tools. This phenomenon is known as the ‘digital gender divide’ (OECD, 2018). Correspondingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has not had favourable outcomes for women, with many losing jobs, downscaling their careers or leaving the workforce. Generally, it has disadvantaged women both economically and socially to the extent of slowing their progress towards gender equality and empowerment. With the new normal, following the COVID-19 pandemic and the acceleration of the digitalisation process, possessing digital skills and know-how will be an essential must-have. Digital working offers possibilities for women to become business owners, work flexibly and remotely, be connected to the rest of the world, and have easy access to information and education. For this to happen, the digital gender divide must be resolved by quick, concerted and inclusive pragmatic global policy-level actions to empower women to play a significant part in the digital landscape that would lead to economic prosperity and resilience, equal societies and a much better world.

The introduction highlights the historical gender gap in financial empowerment and how Fintech, particularly in the wake of COVID-19, has facilitated financial inclusion for women in India, offering digital solutions to overcome social restrictions. The objective of this chapter is to assess the impact of Fintech on sustainable women empowerment in India. The methodology involves surveying 230 women in Delhi NCR and analyzing factors such as financial literacy, decision-making, financial freedom, security, employability, career growth, and gender equality. The results indicate that Fintech has improved financial awareness and security for women, empowered them in financial decision-making, and fostered professional growth. The implications suggest that the Fintech industry plays a promising role in achieving gender equality by providing women with access to financial instruments, leading to increased economic contribution, personal confidence, and freedom. Fintech has the potential to reduce gender inequality and financial vulnerability at a macro level, empowering women to actively participate in the economy and contributing to sustained gender equality and economic growth.

The issues of women empowerment and gender equality have gained the increased attention of scholars and policymakers in Western societies. Gender diversity and the professional participation of women are increasingly acknowledged as transversal drivers for economic development. However, in less developed countries, research and evidence are still accumulating. Thus, this study aims to explore actors and factors empowering female talent to work and achieve managerial positions and run their businesses in two countries with patriarchal social and cultural norms, Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan. Based on the qualitative interview data collected from 15 female managers and entrepreneurs working in the healthcare sector, we explore the conditions under which women can start their businesses and get promoted to managerial positions in the organizations. Our findings indicate that individual agencies and structural factors in female talent capacity building and empowering women to achieve higher hierarchical positions in organizations form together important dynamics that foster more inclusive practices and internalized schemes. Furthermore, the findings also demonstrate the importance of female talent empowerment in achieving gender diversity in managerial positions in healthcare organizations. Hence, by stating that increased female talent participation in the upper-echelons of the organization and entrepreneurship contributes to the decent employment of women in countries with male-dominated social and cultural norms and promotes the more inclusive and sustainable economic growth of these countries, our research contributes to United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) #5.5, #8.5 and #10.2.

The gender gap in the employment in industries differs based on the industries. Even if construction industry (CI) is a labor-intensive industry, women employment rate is significantly low in the CI. CI is one of the significant labor-intensive industries having environmental footprint. As reduction in its environmental footprint can contribute to environmental sustainability, investments in CI and in reduction in its environmental footprint can have multiplier effect on the countries’ development as well as on the sustainable development (SD). Increase in the women employment in the CI can support achievement of sustainable development goals as it can support reduction in the gender gap in this industry. Furthermore, it can support sustainability performance of the CI as women have potential to prioritize sustainability criterion in their decision-making processes. Especially, women at the top management levels can foster their companies’ sustainability performance. Based on an in-depth literature review, this chapter investigates roles of empowerment of women and increasing women employment in supporting environmental sustainability and SD. This chapter identifies causes of the low employment rate of women in the CI. Furthermore, this chapter examines ways for empowering women and increasing their employment rate in the CI to support environmental sustainability and SD. Additionally, recommendations on future policies and strategies at the CI level to support reduction in the gender gap to enhance CI’s role in the environmental sustainability are provided. This chapter can be useful to policy-makers, researchers and professionals.