The Inter-American Development Bank Presents ... Pushing for Progress. Women, Work, And Gender Roles in Latin America (Spotlight‪)‬

The world, and particularly Latin America, has experienced important changes regarding the role of women and men during the last three to four decades. Women's visibility at home, at school, in the labor markets, and in society in general, has evolved significantly. Concurrently, men's role has evolved as well. This article will discuss these trends, highlighting the pending issues towards a better participation of females in the labor markets and outlining some possible courses of action. Female school achievement has increased more than that of males. For those born by 1940, males achieved on average an extra year of schooling over females (six vs. five years respectively), while for those born by 1980, females attended an extra quarter of a school year more than males (9.5 vs. 9.2 years). The gender gap in schooling for the cohort born in 1968 reversed from being male-dominated to being female-dominated. The only countries for which the academic gender gap has not reversed are Bolivia and Guatemala, two countries with large indigenous populations, which may suggest important linkages between gender and ethnic disparities among these countries.