ALIVE Releases New Research and Toolkit on Reducing Gender Gaps in the Mobile Workforce Economy
- 17 hours ago
- 2 min read
ALIVE is pleased to announce the release of our latest gender research report, “Reducing Gender Gaps in the Mobile Workforce Economy.”
The report examines how gender dynamics affect women’s participation, retention, progression and value capture in mobile workforce models across Latin America. These models include field-based, decentralized and mobile work across sectors such as infrastructure services, distributed energy, agricultural value chains, logistics, field-based technical services and community-level service provision.
One of the main findings of the study shows that gender inequality in the mobile workforce economy is not only a participation problem. Women are often present across these workforce systems, but remain concentrated in lower-value, customer-facing, administrative or support roles. Technical, supervisory, asset-linked and higher-income roles are still harder for women to access. This creates a persistent gap between presence and power.
The research also shows that formalization alone is not enough. In mobile workforce models, workers often need enabling assets such as mobile devices, connectivity, transport, protective equipment, safe field infrastructure and access to sanitation facilities in order to benefit from formal employment or contractor arrangements. Without these assets, workers may be formally included but practically excluded from payroll systems, healthcare records, digital wallets, task allocation platforms and other benefits linked to their role.
The report provides practical recommendations for companies, investors and ecosystem partners. Companies are encouraged to move beyond aggregate female participation metrics and examine where women are positioned across roles, income levels, contract types, technical responsibilities, asset access and promotion pathways. The report also recommends diagnosing turnover by mechanism, making progression criteria explicit, reviewing recruitment language, mapping certified female talent, improving field-readiness standards and using supplier and contractor relationships to extend gender-smart practices across the value chain.
To help translate the research into action, the report is accompanied by the Gender-Smart Mobile Workforce Toolkit. The toolkit includes a self-diagnostic pathway for companies that want to identify where their main gender-related barriers sit, as well as a thematic catalogue organized around Employment Cycle, Value Chain, Data & Governance, and Leadership. Through these pathways, companies, funds and ecosystem partners can access practical tools, templates, checklists, matrices and protocols designed for direct implementation.
Please find below the links to download the full report and access the toolkit.
If you have any questions about the study or would like to explore collaborations for disseminating the results, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.