Calling for soft-skills training to address labour market gender gaps in Kenya

November 21, 2023 – A team of local PEP researchers organised a meeting with policymakers and stakeholders in Nairobi, Kenya, to share preliminary findings on how soft-skills training can contribute to a more gender-equal labour market.

The team shared findings and policy lessons from the midline survey, conducted as part of their ongoing impact evaluation of a soft-skills training module within a multifaceted technical, vocational education, and training (TVET) program. The project aims to generate new evidence on how effective gender-sensitive soft-skills training is for addressing both gender gaps in labour market participation and gender-based employment segregation in Kenya.

Team member, Dr. Laura Barasa presented the results of the midline survey, conducted six months after a randomly selected group of TVET students had completed the soft-skills training. She explained how investing in gender sensitive soft-skills training can improve labour market outcomes for women graduates, encourage women to consider entrepreneurship, and improve young men’s perception of and attitudes about women’s work. Find out more about the baseline and midline findings and policy lessons in PEP Policy Brief No. 265.

Briefing stakeholders

More than twenty stakeholders participated in the event. Key policy stakeholders included representatives of the State Departments for TVET, for Gender and Affirmative Action, and for Economic Planning, and of the National Gender and Equality Commission. The research team was also pleased to welcome representatives from UN Women and the Federation of Kenya Employers, as well as seven people from TVET institutions where the research was conducted.

For the benefit of the attendees, PEP’s Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, Michael Murigi provided some opening remarks and outlined the background of the three-year research initiative that would be further explored during the meeting. PEP’s Executive Director, Prof. Jane Mariara then provided an overview of PEP as an organisation and its functions (pictured, right).

The Chief Principal of the Nairobi Technical Training Institute, Mrs. Glory Mutungi, introduced the training initiative from the implementers’ perspective. “Soft skills are important for young people to understand how to prepare for work life in terms of presenting themselves and communicating,” she said. She also discussed the elaborate process of implementing intervention.

Valuable project feedback

The attendees demonstrated great interest in the soft-skills curriculum and provided valuable feedback to the research team, particularly relating to their project design.

Caneble Oganga, Gender Statistics Advisor at UN Women underlined the team’s findings on men’s attitudes to women’s work, saying: “It is very important for males to play a role in gender empowerment.”

Dancan Omondi, Projects Manager at the Federation of Kenya Employers, highlighted the importance of a participatory approach to developing the curriculum. Speaking on the demand side, he said: “The curriculum developers should invite employers since they know what they want.”

Informing the way forward

The team’s PEP Policy Outreach Mentor, Stephen Wainaina, looked to the next steps of the project as he offered closing remarks. “We shall soon have more results. After getting the findings of the endline survey, we shall have policy recommendations,” he said.

Earlier in the event, team member Dr. Phyllis Machio had underscored the importance of using empirical evidence to inform policy. This message was taken to heart as a representative for the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Curriculum Development, Assessment and Certification Council (TVET CDACC) invited the research team to assist in the formulation and potentially the eventual implementation of a TVET curriculum to develop students’ soft skills.