Professor Joan DeJaeghere was an invited speaker at Engaging Women in Markets, an online seminar series sponsored by Australian Aid with more than 150 participants from across Southeast Asia. The event, which took place in mid-August, provides an opportunity for attendees and speakers to discuss approaches and models for fostering gender equality, particularly through changing market systems of development. DeJaeghere spoke about the longitudinal research she and her colleagues are conducting for the Gender Responsive Equitable Agriculture and Tourism (GREAT) project in two regions in Vietnam.

Preliminary findings from the research highlight the importance of understanding women’s aspirations—not only for themselves but also their families and communities—as a critical but overlooked component of most development and gender equality work. The research study has also found that minoritized women have a critical role to play in engaging market actors for more equitable and sustainable development—but many development projects often emphasize provision of resources without engaging women and the local knowledge they already have of market systems. The research is also funded by Australia Aid and will conclude next year.  

DeJaeghere is coordinator of OLPD’s graduate programs in Comparative and International Development Education.