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Engendering Industries: Advancing gender equality to improve business performance.

Advancing women’s economic empowerment worldwide. 

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Woman in Hard hat

Increasing Women's Workforce Participation in Developing Economies

USAID’s Engendering Industries program works with companies to advance women’s labor force participation in their local economies. Creating economic opportunities for women increases global economic growth, peace, and stability for all. When women are empowered to participate in civic and economic life, their communities, families, and countries are more prosperous, healthy, and safe. The program has supported 47 companies across 30 countries to hire and promote nearly 13,000 women. 

OUR APPROACH

The Business Case for Increasing Women's Labor Force Participation

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Women represent half of the world’s employment potential but are underrepresented in the global workforce. When both men and women serve as leaders and employees of companies, businesses benefit and performance improves. Companies with more equitable representation of women and men in management are 47% more profitable than those that lack balance. Learn more.

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Electrical infrastructure outside of Maputo, Mozambique.

Strong Companies Build Strong Economies

Resilient, reliable, and commercially viable companies fuel economic growth, bolster economies, catalyze social development, create an enabling environment for private investment, and reduce the need for burdensome government subsidies. Companies that harness the talents of both men and women perform better across a range of business performance metrics.  

Women Represent Half of the World’s Employment Potential

Women are underrepresented in the global workforce at all levels and are often excluded from formal employment opportunities. This is not simply an issue of fairness; it’s a missed economic opportunity. Using our Best Practices Framework for advancing women in the workplace, Engendering Industries works with companies to better understand gaps between men and women and design interventions in outreach, recruitment, mentorship, leadership, and professional development that can help overcome these barriers.

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Workers at the Maputo Thermal Plant in Mozambiquel
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A woman works at a transmission station in Mozambique.

Leveraging Female Talent Unlocks Innovation and Productivity

When women serve as leaders and employees of companies—including those in traditionally lucrative industries—businesses benefit and performance improves. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that companies with more balanced representation outperform their peers and benefit from higher employee satisfaction rates. An Ernst & Young study found that the top 20 power utilities with a greater mix of men and women significantly outperformed the bottom 20, in terms of return on equity.

Women also bring different perspectives to the difficult issues facing today’s corporations. Diversity of thought can result in better decision-making and lead to more creative and innovative solutions. A UC Berkeley study found that companies with more women on their board of directors are more likely to be proactive in improving energy efficiency, lowering company costs, and investing in renewable power generation.

Our Impact

USAID’s Engendering Industries program supports companies to increase women’s economic empowerment in lucrative industries worldwide.

12,900

The number of women hired and promoted by partner companies since 2017.

1,000

The number of “first women” hired into positions historically only held by men at partner companies.

68%

Percentage of partner companies that promoted women at the same rate as men or higher in 2023.

75%

Percentage of companies that reported business performance improvements, which they attributed to more balanced representation of men and women.