SAN FRANCISCO, United States — Far from the boardrooms of fashion’s largest companies, there’s the daily grind of the factory floor in countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia, where women make up around 80 percent of the workforce. Garment manufacturing is rarely represented as a career in Western media, but for women in these countries, that’s exactly what it is. And much like white-collar workers, women in garment factories often come up against a ceiling, which blocks them from advancing to more senior positions. This combined with poor working conditions, low confidence, and a lack of education about reproductive health and water safety is a recipe for a demoralised workforce, resulting in high turnover of staff, an expensive problem for factories and brands alike.

In response, Gap, one of the largest fashion retailers in the world, set up PACE (Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement) in 2007, with the combined goals of advancing the careers of female garment workers, while simultaneously improving productivity and reducing staff turnover. “We felt that if management believed in these women and wanted to give them the tools to advance, we could create a more stable workforce,” Dotti Hatcher, global director of the scheme, told BoF. “We are hearing from vendors that that is exactly the case.”

More than 25,000 women have graduated from the programme, which was designed in partnership with non-governmental organisations ICRW (International Center for Research on Women) and the Swasti Health Resource Centre. The scheme is voluntary and implemented by manufacturers themselves. Participants receive a course of lectures and workshops. “It’s about 65 to 80 hours of learning and six to nine modules. We always start with communication... Then it’s problem solving, decision-making and time management,” added Hatcher. The programme includes holistic educational components, too, on issues such as reproductive health, literacy, water safety and personal security.

According to figures gathered by ICRW, the results of PACE have been impressive. In India, staff retention grew by 49 percent, while career advancement increased by 58 percent; in Cambodia, retention grew by 66 percent, while women were three times more likely to progress at work. Individual anecdotes were also tracked.

“I would have never thought I could become a supervisor, but my confidence increased and I have achieved that,” said one PACE graduate from India. “I want my own daughters to become engineers and I’ve already started planning for that.”

The programme also targets disadvantages arising from ingrained gender roles. “Women are often breadwinners, but are relegated to much lower position in their home life,” said Hatcher. PACE builds self-confidence and teaches problem solving and relationship management skills, measuring success in terms of social impact as well as business impact.

After completing the programme in China, the number of women who felt they could reprimand a man who treated them inappropriately on the street rose by 133 percent; in India, the number
of women who felt they could give constructive feedback to others increased by threefold; meanwhile in Bangladesh, the number of women who felt family members respected their opinion rose nearly sixfold.

The toughest aspect of implementing the programme, according to Hatcher, is fitting PACE into the demands of factory work. “We're often taking women off the lines so they can go to class and the challenge is how do you integrate that into that work setting.” However, evidence of higher retention rates and worker productivity win over manufacturers. “We've been able to show that giving women comprehensive training over time really does give [manufacturers] bottom line impact.”

A version of this article first appeared in a special print edition of The Business of Fashion, which highlights ‘7 Issues Facing Fashion Now,’ from sustainability and the human cost of manufacturing clothing to untapped business opportunities in technology, Africa and the plus-size market. Join the discussion on BoF Voices, a new platform where the global fashion community can come together to express and exchange ideas and opinions on the most important topics facing fashion today.