In part one of my three-part Innovative frameworks for women’s entrepreneurship mini-series, I described how the Tools of Cooperation theory can be used by organizations leading women’s empowerment initiatives at different stages of the implementation process. Now, in part two I’d like to shift from looking at women’s empowerment initiatives to closing the gender gap in the workplace and in entrepreneurship itself, with one particularly helpful theory: Schools of Experience.
The theory
A theory that we employ at the Institute (not one that was developed by Professor Christensen but one that we’ve adopted into our toolbox), is Professor Morgan McCall’s “Schools of Experience.” This is a theory that looks to see if potential employees have taken different “courses” in their “schools of experience” that will prepare them to succeed in a new job. This theory is based on the idea that abilities are shaped and developed by different experiences in life. People who might particularly benefit from employing this theory are workplace managers— ranging from managers in the hiring team to the human resources team—and program recruitment officers, because these people are in a position to greatly help close workplace gender gaps.
For example, a hiring manager can employ the Schools of Experience theory with a few simple steps. Instead of reviewing resumes and only prioritizing the right titles and positions, they should take an extra moment to consider two things :
- The kinds of problems candidates will need to solve in their prospective role; and
- The experiences candidates should’ve lived through to develop the skills necessary to solve these problems.
Considering these two factors in recruitment and hiring strategies is the first step to creating initiatives that can effectively address worsening gender imbalances in entrepreneurship, in the workplace, and even in particular roles and industries.
The application to women’s employment and entrepreneurship
Now, you might be asking, how and why is this particularly helpful to women? Let’s go back to gender discrimination in the workplace.
In the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Report, it states that women only account for 42% of the global workforce and 31.7% of senior leaders. This isn’t because the world is lacking talented women, but because women face many challenges and points of discrimination from the initial job interview to promotion time.
Nigeria, which is the focus of my current project, has made significant strides in closing the gender gap in economic participation and opportunities (72.6% closed, ranks 49th globally), and even achieves full parity for senior leadership roles. However, significant gender gaps persist in professional and technical worker roles, and in wage equality for similar work. Also troubling is women’s significantly large representation (96.6%) in the country’s informal sector and low representation in business ownership.
What this data tells me in relation to women’s entrepreneurship, is that there are plenty of qualified women leaders to tap into, yet, current challenges and barriers are hindering their representation in entrepreneurship.
Recognizing and understanding this is step one to empowering more women entrepreneurs, and employing a Schools of Experience approach can be step two. Recognizing that women may not look “qualified” on paper for certain roles doesn’t eliminate the possibility that they may have already developed the necessary skills to succeed by going through less traditional schools of experience. There will be more “qualified”-looking men than women based on job titles because that is the global trend, but that doesn’t mean that hiring, recruitment, and program officers should overlook and pass on all the women who don’t have leadership or managerial titles. Not having the titles is not the same thing as not having the experiences.
I’d like to be clear in stating that employing the Schools of Experience theory in this way isn’t the same thing as simply favoring women because they’ve faced discrimination. Employing this theory just means recognizing that skills and abilities, including those required to be successful entrepreneurs, are learned and developed through experiences, and women who’ve been restricted by cultural and social norms may not have had the same workplace opportunities to develop them as men have. If they have had these opportunities, they may look a little different than having the right title on a resume. For example, perhaps it takes caring for a newborn to appreciate market creation. (Read Efosa’s post-paternity leave piece to learn how that happens.) Or, because of women’s large representation in the informal sector, it’s also likely that although they may not have accolades and pedigrees on their CVs, they might still have the necessary entrepreneurial skills developed through participation in smaller “informal” side businesses.
It may take an extra step for hiring managers, human resources managers, and recruitment and program officers to do their due diligence and find the right candidate. It also may take a human being training an automated technology to look for the right experiences rather than the right resume. But just this one extra step, this one theory and mindset can help reduce gender discrimination, can help close the gender gap, and can help encourage more women entrepreneurs.
The World Bank estimates that closing the gender gap in employment and entrepreneurship could increase global GDP by more than 20%, and according to research produced by McKinsey & Company and the Mastercard Foundation, tackling systemic barriers to the participation of young women in just Africa’s workforce could generate an estimated $287 billion for the global economy by 2030. So, yes, this theory is particularly helpful for women’s employment and entrepreneurship, but if successfully employed, it’s also extremely beneficial to society at large.
