New collection looks at impact of climate change, policies, tech disruption on women's working conditions
Progress on gender equality across the world is stalling, with recent global trends creating an uneven impact between men and women's working conditions, according to a new body of research.
The collection of studies, published in a journal based in the University of New South Wales (UNSW), outlined the impact of climate change, artificial intelligence, violence, and politics on gender equality.
"Climate shocks, pandemics, wars, technological disruption, and political backlash rarely land evenly," said UNSW Canberra Honorary Associate Professor Anne Junor, a guest editor of the collection.
"They expose who bears risk, who absorbs unpaid labour – and whose work is treated as marginal until it collapses entirely."
According to several studies in the collection, climate change has an unequal impact on women's work, where women in developing regions experience increased workloads, reduced economic security, and heightened exposure to violence.
"It fundamentally reshapes who does work, under what conditions – and with what protections," Junor said. "Those impacts are deeply gendered."
AI adoption's impact
The adoption of artificial intelligence and its anticipated elimination of low-skilled work also has an impact on women, according to the collection.
"If large numbers of low-skill jobs disappear into automation, the consequences won't be evenly distributed," said Diana Kelly, a Senior Visiting Fellow at UNSW Canberra and the journal's editor-in-chief.
Data from the United Nations for 2025 revealed that 27.6% of women's employment is exposed to job loss through generative AI, much higher than the 21.1% of men's employment.
However, displacement and devaluing of women's work can be avoided if gender equity is built into how the technology is designed and governed, according to researchers.
"At the same time, technology can be a tool for hope – but only if power and bargaining are part of the conversation," Kelly said.
Impact of political policies
Meanwhile, the collection also tackles the impact of political policies on women's work, such as the recent rollback of US firms on diversity, equity, and inclusion DEI policies following US President Donald Trump's opposition on the practice.
According to researchers, the withdrawal of support for gender equality will have global consequences for safety and opportunity.
"This wasn't about producing an Australian-only conversation," Kelly said. "The issues we're dealing with don't stop at borders. The conditions shaping women's work are global – but so are the lessons."
On the other hand, Australia's recent introduction of universal paid family and domestic violence leave offers hope.
"Gendered violence directly affects women's capacity to work, to stay healthy and to support their families," said Yuvisthi Naidoo, from the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW Sydney and a guest editor of the collection, in a statement.
"Recognising that in workplace policy is not optional, it's foundational."
Naidoo said the collection addresses "emerging and enduring issues" that women face in their daily lives.
"We haven't really achieved the gender equality we had hoped for. So, we must ask honestly how much progress has been made on gender equality in paid and unpaid work and then recognise where we've failed to reach the milestones we expected."
