An Introduction to Women and Mobility in Emerging Economies

Learn why gender matters in transport and mobility

Throughout history, transport policies and services have almost always been designed by and for men. There is now a growing awareness among researchers and policy-makers that ignoring women’s needs can impact their ability to use transport.

On this six-week course from the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative, you’ll learn why gender matters in transport and mobility. Focusing particularly on emerging economies, you’ll explore what happens when we bring gender and mobility issues together, and how gender-responsive planning could improve transport access for everyone.

You’ll start the course by examining women’s needs, patterns, and priorities in relation to transport across the world.

You’ll understand why women’s needs differ from those of men, and how current transport models may be failing women. You’ll also explore the connection between gender, poverty, and transport.

Beyond gender biases affecting individual services, women are also underrepresented in the transport sector as a whole.

Week 5 of the course will examine the barriers women face in accessing senior positions in the transport sector and strategies for encouraging women to work in this field.

In the final week of the course, you’ll look to the future of a more inclusive transport sector. You’ll learn what it means to gather gender-inclusive data and make gender-responsive decisions to reduce inequality across mobility systems.

This introductory course is designed for anyone interested in learning more about the importance of gender equity and inclusivity in transport and mobility systems. It will provide a strong foundation in these issues for anyone involved in transport, mobility, urban planning, policy development and/or implementation across government, non-profit and private spheres.

Learners are not required to have any prior knowledge in the fields of gender or mobility to enrol in this course.

This introductory course is designed for anyone interested in learning more about the importance of gender equity and inclusivity in transport and mobility systems. It will provide a strong foundation in these issues for anyone involved in transport, mobility, urban planning, policy development and/or implementation across government, non-profit and private spheres.

Learners are not required to have any prior knowledge in the fields of gender or mobility to enrol in this course.

• Understand women’s mobility patterns and transport needs, and why these are seldom considered in business-as-usual transport and urban planning and transport service provision.
• Demonstrate why this matters for individuals, families, and societies as a whole.
• Develop an argument for gender expertise and inclusion of women in project teams at planning and budgeting, visioning, strategic, data-collection, implementation, operations, and evaluation phases of transport and mobility interventions.
• Conduct high-level appraisal and revision of existing or planned interventions designed to mitigate gaps in meeting women’s needs.
• Create and defend high-level interventions designed to mitigate gaps in meeting women’s needs.
• Develop a casebook of good practices and solutions to meet women’s needs.