🧩 The Challenge
Women make up just 11% of the transportation workforce in Mexico.1 Women in transport generally work in administrative and service roles, while men typically occupy leadership, managerial, technical, driving, and operational positions.
🛠️ The Intervention
The Mujeres Conductoras Program in the Mexican state of Jalisco2 addresses gender inequality in transport, an issue with implications far beyond employment. The program goes beyond job skills to address the challenges facing women workers and riders; in addition to driving training, it offers course modules on safety regulations, and protocols for preventing violence.
Another part of the program makes it easier for women to get a public transport license. The law used to require four years of professional driving experience as a prerequisite for a public transport license, called a C2. This was a significant hurdle for women with limited experience. Because of the program, a driver’s license of any type now permits someone to apply for a C2. This has opened doors for women while addressing public transport’s shortage of drivers.
The Mujeres Conductoras Program prioritized collaboration with transportation companies. Government agencies worked closely with both public and private companies to create a hiring pipeline.
🏗️ Implementation Challenges and Successes
The Mujeres program confronted deeply ingrained beliefs that driving is a male profession. The first female driving students faced an array of obstacles ranging from disapproval from their families, hostile male drivers, and the general view that women should not work as drivers. Many women, especially the 58% who were heads of households, struggled to balance the demands of working with their caregiving responsibilities. Some companies tried to accommodate women with more flexible schedules, but pressure to work during rush hours remains a challenge. Drivers also must cope with a lack of restrooms at terminals and along bus routes.
Despite these obstacles, the program had an immediate impact on the number of women entering the public transportation workforce. The female graduation rate rose from 60% for the first cohort of students to 75% in the second. Changes in the program’s design, such as online training modules and flexible scheduling, addressed participants' needs. The program also marked a shift to a more formal employment model which brought substantial benefits to both male and female drivers. All drivers got standardized wages, social security benefits, vacations, and fixed schedules. The new working conditions greatly benefited male drivers, who had previously endured gruelling 24-hour shifts and the task of maintaining their vehicles.
The program also sent a message by challenging conventional roles about women and men, and inspiring other women. Women began to see themselves as capable employees who might pursue a non-traditional career. And female drivers’ place behind the wheel helped create a sense of security for female riders. In the Mexican state of Jalisco, 8 in 10 women report feeling unsafe on public transportation.
đź’ˇ Lessons Learned
- Financial Support: Using a stipend to support program participants was instrumental. The stipend helped women overcome economic barriers to participation.
- Flexibility and Adaptability: The program adapted to participants’ needs. Online training and flexible scheduling meant women could better juggle work and family.
- Inter-institutional Collaboration: The program's collaboration with government agencies, educational institutions, and public and private transportation companies guaranteed steady funding, informed curriculum design, helped with legal compliance, and offered jobs to graduates.
- Addressing Gender Stereotypes: The program tackled stereotypes about driving with training and by highlighting women drivers’ accomplishments.
đź“Ś Conclusion
While the Mujeres Conductoras Program has benefited newly employed women drivers by offering them economic autonomy and boosting their self-esteem, and it has sent a strong message to their families and communities. The program has also reduced absenteeism, and increased safety. While challenges remain, the Mujeres Conductoras Program serves as a model for both promoting women’s employment and improving public transportation.
Note: Gabriela de la Torre RĂos (World Resources Institute) and Hannah Behr and Jens Giersdorf (GIZ) provided material for this case study.
1 ILO Laborstat. 15 years and above. 2023. Transportation and storage. https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/#
2 The program was implemented by the “TUMI E-Bus Mission: Accelerating mass adoption of electric buses worldwide” for the State of Jalisco, and the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Mexico, with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The data, which informed the design of the interventions, were collected in 2022.