Gender Equality in the Ivory Tower, and How Best to Achieve It

2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (02) ◽  
pp. 418-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Renwick Monroe ◽  
Jenny Choi ◽  
Emily Howell ◽  
Chloe Lampros-Monroe ◽  
Crystal Trejo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBoth statistical and qualitative interview data confirm the on-going existence of gender inequality within American academia, with women both underrepresented and underpaid compared to their male counterparts. Surprisingly, what is needed to remedy this situation is not a secret. Most of the policies outlined in this article as good workable solutions are programs that have been tested and described in more than one study. Indeed, evidence suggests that when the nine strategies we identify here are fully implemented, as they have been at a few colleges and universities, the number of women on the faculty increases dramatically. The fact that we do not adopt these policies more widely in academia suggests not a lack of knowledge so much as apathy, prejudice, gender stereotypes, and cultural cues that end by depriving society of some of its best talent and energy.

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-29
Author(s):  
Ewa Krzaklewska ◽  
Paulina Sekuła ◽  
Ewelina Ciaputa ◽  
Justyna Struzik

The article aims to describe and analyse the opinions of European physicists as to the reasons for the overrepresentation of men in the discipline, as well as to supply some reflections on the barriers encountered by female physicists in their careers. The article is based on qualitative data  – 83 in-depth interviews with female and male physicists  – collected in 2016 and 2017 under the framework of the project “Gender Equality Network in European Research Area” (GENERA). The main reasons voiced by interviewees for the gender imbalance in physics are to be found ‘outside’ the scientific institutions themselves, namely the early processes of the socialisation of girls and boys, together with existing gender stereotypes. Other reasons are related to recent developments in academia linked to work organization and structural conditions  – precariousness, competitiveness, and the demand for mobility, but also to a masculinised working culture resulting in gender bias, as well as microaggressions and discrimination. In relation to recent studies showing that awareness of gender (in) equalities remains of crucial importance for structural/institutional change, the article reflects on the potential implications of the perception by physicists of the determinants of gender inequality for the implementation of gender equality policy in research organisations.


Author(s):  
Оксана Чуйко

The article actualize the issue of gender equality as a precondition for successful female career pursuit. We study issues of gender equality in the light of gender inequality manifestation and its influence on female career opportunities. We have analyzed primary indicators of gender inequality with regard to employment, such as gender segregation, glass ceiling effect, gap in wages, dual employment of women (family and work), gender stereotypes, gender-based harass­ment and violence. We have outlined primary ways to reduce gender inequality with regard to employment, namely: challenging gender stereotypes (public awareness campaign aimed at iden­tifying and studying gender stereotypes of a certain community; analyzing one’s own gender stereotypes, examining their sources, etc.); developing wider concepts and beliefs with regard to gender-sensitive issues in the workplace; understanding signs and limits of gender-based harassment and violence, their prevention and avoidance; developing effective coping strategies for pressure; balancing work, family and private life by women; developing psychological characteristics and personality features essential for one’s occupation, which can contribute to professional development of a person, acknowledgment of their expertise irrespective of gender identity; developing harmonious personality (personal growth trainings), self-education and lifelong learning; practical trainings for successful career, coaching; public legal education (awareness of laws on gender-sensitive issues in the labor market); implementing and abiding by gender equality policies in various sectors, fostering organizational culture based on gender equality.


Author(s):  
Yuriy Onishchyk ◽  
Oksana Pozhydaieva ◽  
Tetyana Semigina

The issue of gender equality as an equal treatment of all, regardless of social or other circumstances, is important for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and the implementation of a number of international legal instruments to combat gender discrimination. The study aims to characterize the state of gender inequality in Ukraine and outline possible ways to overcome this phenomenon through the use of political, legal, socio-practical and educational measures. It is carried out using a systematic analysis of international and domestic indicators of gender inequality that constitute the methodological basis for establishing the level of gender inequality, as well as regulatory analysis of documents adopted by international and domestic organizations. The undertaken analysis demonstrates that Ukraine has an extensive legal framework designed to ensure equal rights and opportunities for men and women, address gender discrimination, and harmonize Ukrainian and international gender policies. At the same time, the gender equality indicators (Gender Inequality Index used by the UN; Gender Gap Index used by the World Economic Forum), the results of sociological research (World Values Survey; use of domestic work; leisure practices) evidence that the issues of gender inequality, gender asymmetry and gender stereotypes are unresolved and require the introduction of institutional mechanisms to ensure equality. Such mechanisms could include: legal expertise, gender quotas, gender budgeting, work with local communities and social service providers, ensuring gender sensitivity of services, including social ones, formation of gender-based competence, implementation of promotional work, introduction of gender approaches in educational institutions.


Author(s):  
Lise Lotte Hansen

Love and Gender in 3F – new perspectives on gender equality in the labour movement In the article I argue for the necessity of (also) conceptualizing gender as produced, reproduced and transformed through love. This love is neither romantic nor physical, but a metaphor for meanings and practices which contribute to the making of gender equality in the Danish trade union 3F. From Rösing’s re-reading of de Beauvoir I develop the concept of ‘exchange’ as a way to create room for a multiplicity of gender and other experiences. Acknowledging that gender inequality is embedded in the organization, democracy, leadership, and ideology of the labour movement I add the idea of participation policies building on Fraser’s theory of justice. This perspective reveals how important the exchange both as the actual ‘positive dialogue’ between individuals and as participation policies has been for the making of gender equality in the five 3F branches. And furthermore, that the absence of exchange and a narrow understanding of gender equality do not lead to parity in participation but to the reproduction of gender stereotypes.


2016 ◽  
pp. 88-109
Author(s):  
Wiktoria Domagała

The article undertakes the issue of gender equality policies in the context of its indicators. The main purpose of the paper is to identify the areas of gender inequality, its scale and determinants. Firstly, the article presents the legislation of gender equality policies – its main objectives. Next, the paper discusses indicators that were implemented by organisations such as the Organisation of the United Nations and the European Union. These selected indicators are presented, taking into account the situation in Poland. In conclusion, the paper highlights the main obstacles to the pursuit of equal opportunities for women and men in Poland.


This volume reframes the debate around Islam and women’s rights within a broader comparative literature. It examines the complex and contingent historical relationships between religion, secularism, democracy, law, and gender equality. Part I addresses the nexus of religion, law, gender, and democracy through different disciplinary perspectives (sociology, anthropology, political science, law). Part II localizes the implementation of this nexus between law, gender, and democracy, and provides contextualized responses to questions raised in Part I. The contributors explore the situation of Muslim women’s rights vis-à-vis human rights to shed light on gender politics in the modernization of the nation and to ponder over the role of Islam in gender inequality across different Muslim countries.


Author(s):  
Barbara J. Risman

This chapter introduces the innovators and provides a portrait of them. The chapter analyzes these innovators at the individual, interactional, and macro level of the gender structure. The chapter begins at the individual level of analysis because these young people emphasize how they challenge gender by rejecting requirements to restrict their personal activities, goals, and personalities to femininity or masculinity. They refuse to live within gender stereotypes. These Millennials do not seem driven by their feminist ideological beliefs, although they do have them. Their worldviews are more taken for granted than central to their stories. Nor are they consistently challenging gender expectations for others, although they often ignore the gender expectations they face themselves. They innovate primarily in their personal lives, although they do reject gendered expectations at the interactional level and hold feminist ideological beliefs about gender equality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1797
Author(s):  
Amber Theeuwen ◽  
Valérie Duplat ◽  
Christopher Wickert ◽  
Brian Tjemkes

In Uganda, the agricultural sector contributes substantially to gross domestic product. Although the involvement of Ugandan women in this sector is extensive, female farmers face significant obstacles, caused by gendering that impedes their ability to expand their family business and to generate incomes. Gender refers to social or cultural categories by which women–men relationships are conceived. In this study, we aim to investigate how gendering influences the development of business relationships in the Ugandan agricultural sector. To do so, we employed a qualitative–inductive methodology to collect unique data on the rice and cassava sectors. Our findings reveal at first that, in the agricultural sector in Uganda, inter-organization business relationships (i.e., between non-family actors) are mostly developed by and between men, whereas intra-organization business relationships with family members are mostly developed by women. We learn that gendering impedes women from developing inter-organization business relationships. Impediments for female farmers include their restricted mobility, the lack of trust by men, their limited freedom in communication, household duties, and responsibilities for farming activities up until sales. Our findings also reveal that these impediments to developing inter-organization business relationships prevent female farmers from being empowered and from attainting economic benefits for the family business. In this context, the results of our study show that grouping in small-scale cooperatives offers female farmers an opportunity to overcome gender inequality and to become economically emancipated. Thanks to these cooperatives, women can develop inter-organization relationships with men and other women and gain easier access to financial resources. Small-scale cooperatives can alter gendering in the long run, in favor of more gender equality and less marginalization of women. Our study responds to calls for more research on the informal economy in developing countries and brings further understanding to the effect of gendering in the Ugandan agricultural sector. We propose a theoretical framework with eight propositions bridging gendering, business relationship development, and empowerment and economic benefits. Our framework serves as a springboard for policy implications aimed at fostering gender equality in informal sectors in developing countries.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vienne Wing-yan Lau ◽  
Veronica Scott ◽  
Meg Aum Warren ◽  
Michelle Bligh

Despite the mounting research on gender inequality in the workplace, progress toward gender parity in organizational practice has stalled. We suggest that one reason for the lack of progress is that empirical research has predominately focused on the antecedents and manifestations of gender inequality in the workplace, paying inadequate attention to the solutions that could potentially improve gender equality and women’s experiences at work. Indeed, we report here that less than 5% of the relevant studies published in preeminent management, psychology, and diversity journals since the turn of the century identify practical interventions for solving gender inequality in organizations. To advance gender equality at work, we argue that a paradigm shift from problem to solution is critical and urgent. Using ecological systems theory (EST; Bronfenbrenner, 1977) as our guiding framework, we present an integrative review of gender equality interventions spanning across the management, psychology, and feminist literature over the past two decades at the ontogenic system, interpersonal microsystem, and organizational microsystem levels of analysis. We subsequently provide an overview of domains not currently addressed in extant research – meso-, macro-, and chronosystems – and identify future research directions to spur progress towards workplace gender equality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
Eglė Štareikė ◽  
Ugnė Alaburdaitė

By invoking scientific doctrine, legal regulations and official statistics, the paper aims at assessing the actual position of females and males in labour relations in Lithuania as well as identifying the problems of the legal regulation of gender equality. The survey conducted among MRU Public Security Academy students was dedicated to disclosing the perceptions of individuals first entering the labour market about (in)equality in labour relations and experiences in the course of professional practice. To attain these objectives, certain goals were set: analysis of multiple layers of the concept of equality, legal regulation of the principle of gender equality and its inclusion in labour relations and statutory service. Furthermore, the present paper considered various trends and patterns in the implementation of the gender equality principle in labour relations, based on the analysis of the data of the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson. Empirical research was carried out to assess the experience of students who had their professional practice in police headquarters in terms of gender inequality. Based on the performed survey that involved the students of MRU Public Security Academy, it should be concluded that the majority of students did not understand the different behaviours that could violate an individual’s rights in terms of the equality of men and women. When responding to certain questions, the majority of respondents indicated that gender inequality in Lithuania existed only to the extent it occurred naturally; however, when responding to other questions, the majority stated that there were numerous situations during their practice when they experienced discrimination (i.e. preferential treatment of one of the genders, abuse due to gender etc.). This can lead to the conclusion that violations of gender equality committed on certain grounds are perceived as a natural phenomenon resulting from natural differences between the sexes and because of this, certain flawed behaviour is justified. This results in fewer opportunities for individuals to report violations to responsible institutions and thus ensure the protection of their rights as well as to share their experiences with other individuals and, as a result, educate them.


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