There is a gender gap in human mobility, with women travelling shorter distances, visiting fewer unique locations, and exhibiting lower physical activity levels compared to men. Previous studies in geography, transportation, social sciences, and - more recently - in quantitative studies in Human Mobility, have emphasized the need to study the behavioral heterogeneities in mobility and explore human mobility from a gendered perspective.

Human mobility is characterized by a remarkable regularity and predictability, largely driven by work-related commutes. Work often defines the need to be at a specific place (the workplace) at specific times (work hours) and for a fixed duration (the workday). This has led researchers to hypothesize that the notable gender differences in the labor market might underpin the observed differences in mobility patterns between men and women.

In this talk, we will examine the impact of work constraints and gender on human mobility using a large-scale dataset that captures the movements of 600.000 individuals who self-declared as female or male, spanning ten countries.  We will explore well-known mobility metrics and the differences in the structure of individuals' networks of visited locations. Finally, I will show that gender differences in mobility persist even when work constraints are accounted for, suggesting that other factors—such as family obligations and societal norms— may play a role in shaping the gender differences in mobility.