The impact of vocational training on female labor productivity an evaluation in Vietnam’s construction sector

Abstract

Vietnam’s construction sector has experienced strong growth through rapid urbanization and infrastructure investment. However, female workers continue to face significant barriers, including high informal employment rates (60–65%), 15–20% lower labor productivity than males, and limited access to vocational training (only 19–25% hold certificates). This study investigates the impact of the share of females aged 15+ with vocational training certificates (STFW15+) on female construction labor productivity (FCLP). Using a short time-series dataset (2010–2024, n=15) from General Statistics Office (GSO) of Vietnam, International Labor Organization (ILO), and World Bank, the study applied ForestDiffusion synthetic data pipeline-time-series to generate 75 high-quality synthetic samples (total 90 observations). An artificial neural network (ANN) model integrated with SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) was employed to analyze feature importance and nonlinear interactions. Results show that STFW15+ is the strongest predictor of FCLP (mean |SHAP|=0.514). It exerts a strong positive effect and acts as a powerful moderator, amplifying benefits from income and economic growth while mitigating the negative impact of informal employment. The findings highlight the critical role of gender-responsive technical and vocational education and training (TVET). This study recommends targeted vocational training programs, gender integration in public investment, and public-private partnerships to advance gender equality and support sustainable development goals (SDGs) 5 and 8.