An Introduction to Women and Mobility in Emerging Economies

1,445 enrolled on this course

6 weeks
3 hours per week
Digital certificate when eligible
Introductory level

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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.

What topics will you cover?

Week 1: Introduction to Women and Mobility in Emerging Economies

Understand why we focus on women’s needs
Discover what happens when we meet women’s mobility needs

Week 2: Women’s mobility patterns and transport needs

Find out about the typical and traditional mobility patterns of women
Discover the link between trip purposes, women’s traditional roles, and mobility needs
Learn how transport policies and solutions have been designed around men’s needs

Week 3: Why women’s transport and mobility needs matter

Find out how to advocate for women’s transport needs being met
Recognise how poor access and mobility can entrench poverty and limited life opportunities for women
Discover how good access and mobility can transform women’s opportunities and those of their families and communities

Week 4: A focus on safety in public transport and public spaces

Discover the breadth and extent of women’s experiences of harassment
Recognise how the lack of safety limits women’s lives
Understand why and how street design and pedestrian planning are not gender-neutral
Identify and evaluate safety-related interventions at a high level

Week 5: The importance of women working in transport

Recognise why we need more women in transport positions
Understand the barriers are to women entering the transport sector
Consider how to use new technologies to encourage women to enter the sector
Get to apply your knowledge to develop women-inclusive opportunities

Week 6: Putting it all together: planning, action, evaluation

Learn how to make the case for collecting gender-specific data for planning
Find out how to collect gender-data in an inclusive way
Uncover the concerns women have with sharing personal travel information
Create an outline for a gender-responsive transport project or plan

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

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.

Who is the course for?

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.

Who will you learn with?

Gail Jennings

Dr Gail Jennings is a research consultant who works across the Global South. Her work focuses on the access and mobility needs of people and groups who are marginalized, excluded, or made vulnerable.

Emma Arogundade

An experienced lecturer, facilitator, researcher and writer, Emma has worked across the NGO, business and higher education sectors on issues relating to gender, human rights and community development.

Ejiro Ikoko

MSc and PhD Transport Planning ,University of Leeds. Commonwealth Scholar .
Assistant lecturer in the department of transport, Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria. West Africa.

Malena Hoffmann Collico

Carolina Chantrill

Director of Sustainable Mobility at Asociación Sustentar (Argentina). Environmental Engineer (UCA, 2009), Master of Urban Planning (University of Illinois, 2015) and Fulbright Scholar (2013-2015).

Lara Vivono

Coordinator of Sustainable Mobility at Asociación Sustentar. University Teacher of Urbanism, Environment and Landscape. Architect (UP, 2016)

Who developed the course?

Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI)

The Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI) is implemented by GIZ and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (English: German Agency for International Cooperation GmbH), often simply shortened to GIZ, is the main German development agency. It provides tailor-made services for sustainable development through international development cooperation and international education work.

Women Mobilize Women

Today, Women Mobilize Women is a network of female change makers from all over the world, seeking to actively transform the mobility sector to become more diverse. In addition, Women Mobilize Women aims to raise awareness to the topic of gender and transport amongst planners and decision-makers in the transport sector.

Gail Jennings

I am an independent researcher (public health, urban sustainability and sustainable mobility), based in Cape Town South Africa but working globally, who emphasises equity, social justice and user needs in my method and approach.

My research background includes behaviour-change communication, public health and sustainable mobility, and I have published and presented nationally and internationally about appropriate transport systems, transport behaviour, social justice, and citizen activism.


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Ways to learn

Choose the best way to learn for you!

Buy this course

$109/one-off payment

Fulfill your current learning need

Access to this course
Learn at your own pace
Discuss your learning in comments
Printed and digital certificate when you’re eligible

Continue & Upgrade

Subscribe & save

$349.99 for one year

Automatically renews

Develop skills to further your career

Access to this course
Access to 1,000+ courses
Learn at your own pace
Discuss your learning in comments
Digital certificate when you're eligible

Cancel for free anytime

Start learning today

Free

Try this course - with limits

Limited to 6 weeks

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

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