 Gender discrimination goes back a long way and it tends to be self-reinforcing. For example, in countries such as India and China, there is a preference for sons as compared to daughters and this is largely a result of the patrilineal societies wherein inheritance happens through sons and also sons tend to be the providers for their parents in their old age. This results in things such as sex-selective abortions and also parents investing differently between sons and daughters such that they tend to invest lesser amounts in daughters in terms of time, money, attention as compared to their sons. The discrimination that girls face in their early childhood and adolescence tends to continue into adulthood and results in things such as poorer jobs and wages. Within the household, it results in reduced autonomy and independence in matters of decision-making which can then affect the health and education of their children. Further, their reduced power gaining power also puts them at an increased risk of domestic violence. The UNU Wider Gender and Development Project brings together a group of senior as well as more early career researchers who are using different methods to explore different topics on the economics of gender. The broad overarching theme of the project is female autonomy and voice and factors that promote or inhibit it. More specifically, some of the key themes that are being addressed are issues that are related to women's power gaining power in the face of migration, bright-priced practices and marital trajectories in Africa, institutions of female hurting customs such as female genital mutilation and polygamy and the role of female empowerment programs in raising females' aspirations as well as career intentions.