Addressing the Gender Gap in LatAm

Persistent Gender Gap in LatAm

According to the World Economic Forum, it would take approximately 53 years to achieve gender equality in Latin America and the Caribbean if we continue at the current pace.

The latest report published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) shows that the participation rate of women in the labor force in this region is only 51%, which is 23 percentage points lower than the participation rate of men, which is 74%. Additionally, the unemployment rate for women stands at 7.6%, compared to 5.6% for men.

To bridge the persistent gender gap in Latin America, multi-stakeholder partnerships are needed between private, public, and nonprofit stakeholders.

Generation’s Work in LatAm

Generation is present in four countries in Latin America: Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. Since 2015, more than seven thousand people have graduated from our programs; 43% identify themselves as female (24% of them with dependents). 

We have established a strong presence in training and placing talent in the tech sector across the region. Although men have historically dominated technology careers, women have been hit the hardest by job cuts in 2022 and 2023. Nevertheless, our LatAm tech training programs have demonstrated a positive trend, with women comprising 34% to 50% of the learners.

Six months after completing the program, 86% of our female graduates have secured employment. They have experienced a 3.9x increase in income, which is slightly higher than that of male graduates. 

“Our tech programs provide access to career paths for women that may otherwise be inaccessible due to gender bias in the application and hiring processes,” says Gabriela Paranhos, Generation’s regional COO for Latin America.

According to Gabriela Paranhos, being skilled to apply for remote positions in the tech industry also contributes to closing the gap: “Remote work makes it less difficult for women with caregiving responsibilities to stay in the workforce and advance their careers,” she adds.

Generation’s Tech Programs Tailored for Women

To support more women in taking this career path, while promoting gender diversity in the tech industry, Generation has offered women-only tech cohorts in Brazil in 2022 and Mexico in 2023.

The Generation Brazil exclusive cohort in 2022 was sponsored by McKinsey & Co. and trained 42 women as Java Developers, 29 of whom are employed. In Mexico, 39 women recently graduated in December 2023 also as Java Developers in a cohort sponsored by Citi Foundation, Hilton Foundation, Nacional Monte de Piedad, Lenovo Foundation, Fundación Coppel, Accenture, and Credit Suisse.

More cohorts tailored for women are coming in 2024 with the support of regional partners!

Going Further Together

At Generation LatAm, we recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to achieve gender equality. However, we firmly believe in working together with our partners to advance the economic mobility of women across the region. We hope to accomplish this by:

• Facilitating connections between female tech talents who have gone through our cohorts and companies in need of their skills;
• Leveraging the insights coming out of our Global Tech Report in order to share best practices that can help companies combat gender bias during the hiring process;
• Partnering with different like-minded organizations to create cohorts aimed at promoting women’s participation in tech.

To learn more about our work in LatAm and explore collaboration opportunities, please contact us at latam@generation.org.