The Cases of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay (IDB). December 2022
Authors: Garnero, Paula; Barafani, Magdalena; Benitez, Andrea Verónica; Torrealday, Jerónimo; Rodríguez Chatruc, Marisol.
Executive Summary
This study analyzes the participation and role of women in goods-exporting companies in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Using descriptive statistics, it seeks to identify gender gaps in labor force participation, the distribution of tasks, and functions related to international trade activities. Particular attention is given to the impact of female and male leadership on these gender gaps.
The study also explores the requirements, educational qualifications, and skills demanded of professionals working in international trade, as well as the educational opportunities available to them. To this end, it examines access to such educational programs for both genders, contrasting it with the employment opportunities and professional development prospects available to women in particular.
The main findings of the study are summarized below:
1. CHANGE THE PLAYER, CHANGE THE RULES.
Being an exporting company does not guarantee gender equality. On average, only 3 out of every 10 employees in exporting firms are women, while 7 are men (33% and 67%, respectively). Survey results by country show female participation rates of 39% in Uruguay, 37% in Chile, and only 28% in Argentina, in line with the regional average of women in company workforces, estimated at 33%.
2. MOVE FORWARD ONE SPACE, MOVE BACK TWO.
Being a woman and an exporter guarantees greater equality, but it does not solve the problem. Exporting firms led by women, whether as owners or directors, have a female workforce participation rate that is 14 percentage points higher than firms led by men. However, even when women are in leadership positions, the balance remains tilted toward male employment (56% male participation versus 44% female participation, compared to the regional average of 33%). Furthermore, on average, only 2 out of every 10 exporting companies are led by women: 27% in Argentina, 13% in Chile, and 12% in Uruguay.
3. THE BOARD REMAINS TILTED.
Exporting firms reproduce the gender gaps typical of the productive sectors to which they belong. Primary sectors such as livestock, grain production, and fisheries; heavy industries such as metals, plastics, and chemicals; and the metalworking industry (machinery and equipment) exhibit the most pronounced asymmetries in favor of male employment (male-dominated sectors). By contrast, export sectors linked to textiles, apparel, footwear, and leather goods—typically characterized by smaller and less capital-intensive firms—show predominantly female participation (female-dominated sectors). In the former sectors, women account for between 20% and 36% of the workforce on average, whereas in the latter they represent more than 60%.
4. RESTRICTED GAME MODE.
In international trade departments (hereinafter COMEX), women have a higher participation rate than in the company workforce as a whole, but the gender gap and division of tasks between women and men persist. In 72% of the exporting firms surveyed, women’s participation in COMEX departments is higher than their participation in the company overall. On average, 43% of employees working in COMEX departments are women, compared to 33% across the company as a whole. However, women’s participation remains concentrated in a limited set of “feminized” activities, such as administration, legal affairs, communications, and marketing.
5. ACCESS DENIED.
Certain COMEX functions remain male-dominated. Of a list of 14 main tasks, men have higher participation than women in 10 of them. Exporting firms tend to select men for activities such as market research, negotiation and sales, participation in trade fairs, and trade missions, among others. The study highlights the presence of biases in perceptions that the performance of certain tasks depends on gender.
6. OFFSIDE AFFECTS WOMEN MORE; THEY ARE FULLY AWARE OF IT.
Working outside conventional business hours affects women more than men because women continue to bear the majority of caregiving responsibilities at home. According to the survey, 6 out of 10 companies acknowledge that COMEX employees—regardless of gender—perform tasks outside standard working hours, and 7 out of 10 consider such flexibility indispensable for those working in this area (82% of women interviewed recognized this requirement compared to 64% of men). Among the main reasons cited are recurring logistical challenges and time-zone differences with international markets.
7. READY, SET, OUT.
Tasks related to COMEX require academic qualifications and specialized knowledge, but educational attainment among women and men is not evenly distributed across the countries analyzed. In Argentina, no significant differences were identified between women and men. In Chile, however, there is a 30-percentage-point gap in favor of men regarding university degrees (74% versus 44%). In Uruguay, disparities are found at the tertiary education level, where women stand out with a participation rate of 46% compared to 27% for men.
8. THE DICE HAVE NOT YET BEEN CAST.
Analysis of recent graduates, new enrollments, and student registrations in key COMEX-related degree programs shows not only an equal distribution between women and men, but also that women often outnumber men. Therefore, professional training is not a factor that explains the greater male participation in COMEX activities. Moreover, given that these are relatively new academic programs and that female participation continues to grow, there may be significant opportunities for greater gender equality in the future.
9. ADVANCING THREE SPACES.
Women are perceived as having stronger performance in three soft skills in particular. The skills that women rated as more important than men did are empathy (an 18-percentage-point difference), effective stress management (a 17-percentage-point difference), and critical thinking (a 16-percentage-point difference).
10. MORE THAN A GAME BOARD, AN OBSTACLE COURSE.
Women have made progress in the field of international trade over the last decade, but for the vast majority, the path has not been easy. Fifty-eight percent of respondents believe that women are currently well integrated into COMEX departments, and 64% believe that this progress has consolidated over the past decade. However, 75% of the women surveyed who work in COMEX acknowledged having faced some level of difficulty due to their gender, reflecting the fact that significant barriers still remain to be overcome in order to achieve true equality.