Globalization — understood as the intensification of cross-border flows of goods, capital, information and people — has reshaped labour markets, social institutions and household economies worldwide. Its gendered consequences are complex: globalization has opened new paid-work opportunities for many women while simultaneously producing new forms of vulnerability and constraints on status and agency (Kabeer, 1999). This article synthesises conceptual and empirical work to assess how contemporary processes of globalization influence women’s employment patterns and socio-economic status. I argue that globalization produces both opportunities for enhanced economic participation and tangible shifts in intra-household bargaining and social status, but these effects are highly contingent on local institutions, labour market structure, and policy responses.
Conceptualizing Women’s Status and Empowerment under Globalization
Scholars studying gender and development emphasise that “empowerment” is multidimensional: resources (access to assets and opportunities), agency (the capacity to make and act on choices), and achievements (the outcomes that reflect realised choices) (Kabeer, 1999). From this vantage point, changes in women’s paid employment brought about by globalization should be assessed not only by labour-force statistics but by their effects on women’s agency and broader social achievements. Employment that expands women’s resources (income, skills, networks) can enhance agency, but gains may be partial or offset by new constraints (e.g., precarious work, longer hours, or reinforced gender norms) that limit the translation of income into status improvements (Kabeer, 1999).
Pathways: How Globalization Affects Women’s Employment
Export-oriented industrialization and female labour absorption
A key pathway linking globalization and women’s employment is the growth of export-oriented manufacturing and services (e.g., garments, electronics, call centres). These sectors have often recruited large numbers of relatively low-skilled young women, raising female labour-force participation in many low- and middle-income countries. Empirical work using firm- and community-level variation shows that proximity to exporting firms increases female employment probabilities and — in some contexts — contributes to shifts in household decision-making and attitudes toward gendered violence, suggesting multidimensional status effects beyond income alone (Molina & Tanaka, 2023). Nonetheless, the quality of jobs created is uneven: many export jobs are characterized by low wages, limited social protections, and high turnover.
Trade, technology and occupational upgrading
Trade liberalization and technology diffusion can generate skill-biased demand that favours sectors where women are either advantaged (e.g., services, care-related occupations) or disadvantaged (high-skill manufacturing and ICT professions). Where globalization is accompanied by investments in female education and training, women can experience occupational upgrading and wage gains. Conversely, in contexts where skill upgrading is limited or gendered educational gaps persist, globalization can exacerbate segmentation — drawing women into precarious, low-paid niches while higher-paid opportunities remain male-dominated (UN Women, 2022).
Global value chains, firms’ standards and working conditions
Integration into global value chains (GVCs) exposes domestic producers to international buyers’ standards and compliance pressures. In some cases, buyer-led upgrading can improve workplace conditions, introduce training and formal employment contracts that benefit women workers. However, compliance regimes may also intensify workplace surveillance, require extended overtime, or lead to subcontracting arrangements that obscure labour protections — outcomes that can constrain women’s bargaining power and job security (Molina & Tanaka, 2023). Thus, globalization’s effects on job quality are mediated by buyer behaviour, national regulation, and trade governance.
Gendered Outcomes: Employment, Agency and Social Status
Increased market access — conditional gains in agency
The empirical literature documents systematic increases in female employment in many exporting communities and service hubs. Where employment confers regular wages, social insurance and skills, women often gain leverage in household decision-making and life choices. Molina and Tanaka (2023), for instance, find that women near exporting garment factories in Myanmar report higher employment rates and greater participation in joint household decisions — indicating gains in both resources and agency. Yet such gains are not automatic: they depend on women’s ability to convert earnings into socially recognised autonomy and on whether employment is accompanied by time-saving infrastructure (childcare, transport) and legal protections.
Persistence of precariousness and constrained status improvement
While globalization can expand employment, it can also increase women’s exposure to precarious work and unpaid burdens. Women remain overrepresented in informal, part-time, or temporary positions in many contexts; these forms of employment often lack social protections, limiting long-term welfare gains. Moreover, the “double burden” — paid work plus disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care — can neutralise some status gains from market participation. UN Women’s gender snapshot (2022) documents the scale of persistent inequalities and emphasizes that without targeted policy interventions, labor-market participation alone will not close gender gaps in economic security or decision-making power (UN Women, 2022).
Backlash and intra-household dynamics
Economic shifts that increase women’s earnings can, in some settings, provoke negative social reactions or “backlash,” including heightened intimate-partner conflict or social sanctions that constrain women’s mobility and status. The relationship between employment and reductions in gender-based violence is not universally linear; institutional context, male labour market outcomes, and social norms shape whether women’s increased market presence translates into safer or more empowered lives (Kabeer, 1999; Molina & Tanaka, 2023).
Policy levers to Maximise Positive Outcomes
To ensure that globalization translates into durable status improvements for women, the evidence suggests several policy priorities. First, labour-market regulation and enforcement (minimum wages, contract standards, occupational safety) protect women from exploitation in export sectors and GVCs. Second, public investments in care infrastructure (childcare, eldercare) and transport reduce time-poverty and enable women to translate labour participation into sustainable agency. Third, education and skills programmes targeted at sectors with growth potential (including digital skills) facilitate occupational upgrading. Finally, gender-sensitive trade and industrial policies — for example, conditional incentives for firms that provide formal contracts and training — can align globalization with gender-equitable development goals (Molina & Tanaka, 2023; UN Women, 2022).
Conclusion
Globalization has undeniable potential to expand women’s employment and to alter the social conditions underlying women’s status and agency. Conceptually, the resources–agency–achievements framework (Kabeer, 1999) provides a nuanced lens for assessing whether employment gains constitute genuine empowerment. Empirically, recent studies indicate that export-led growth and global integration can improve women’s labour-market opportunities and, in certain contexts, contribute to enhanced household decision-making and reduced tolerance of gender-based violence (Molina & Tanaka, 2023). Yet these benefits are neither universal nor self-sustaining; without complementary policies — labour protections, care services, skills training and enforcement of gender rights — globalization risks entrenching segmented, precarious employment that limits lasting status improvements (UN Women, 2022). Future research should continue to evaluate heterogeneity of outcomes across sectors and locales and to test policy interventions that convert labor-market access into durable agency and wellbeing for women.
References
- Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, agency, achievements: Reflections on the measurement of women’s empowerment. Development and Change, 30(3), 435–464.
- Molina, T., & Tanaka, M. (2023). Globalization and female empowerment: Evidence from Myanmar. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 71(2), 519–565.
- UN Women. (2022). Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2022. UN Women.
