Gender Mainstreaming and Gender Equality in Europe

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Lomazzi ◽  
Isabella Crespi
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Individual Values ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Common Strategy ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Work Family ◽  
The Individual

The book provides a systematic scientific overview of gender mainstreaming in Europe. It recalls the main steps of the origins and the development of the European gender mainstreaming (GM) strategy. The book also connects this framework with the current situation of gender equality and explores the strength and weak points of the strategy. To do so, it provides a critical evaluation of the instruments used to measure gender equality and explores how societal aspects, such as the opportunity structure defined by work-family balance policies and practices, affect the individual values of gender equality supporting the development of gender egalitarian cultures. Further, it develops an outline of the current and future challenges of the gender mainstreaming strategy, that run in parallel with the general European Union’s challenges, such as the integration process, economic crisis, migration and refugees crisis, and the rise of right-wing Euroscepticism. In addition, the old but always current problem of conceptualizing gender equality in different ways leading to jeopardized results. The book offers a critical review of the GM strategy in Europe and analyses whether and how gender equality in Europe is improving, with a specific interest in the cultural differences between the European countries where this common strategy is implemented.

Gender equality and work–family conflict from a cross-national perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 385-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gayle Kaufman ◽  
Hiromi Taniguchi
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Ideology ◽  
Logistic Models ◽  
Work Family Conflict ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Gender Egalitarianism ◽  
Country Level ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Work Family ◽  
The Individual

This study examines the relationship between gender ideology at the individual level, gender equality at the country level, and women and men’s experiences of work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW). We use data from the 2012 International Social Survey Programme as well as the 2011 to 2015 Human Development Reports. Our sample consists of 24,547 respondents from 37 countries. Based on multilevel mixed-effects logistic models, we find that women are more likely than men to experience WIF and FIW. At the individual level, traditional gender ideology positively predicts WIF and FIW. Women and men who reside in more gender-unequal countries have a higher likelihood of FIW while men in these contexts also are more likely to experience WIF. Societal gender inequality is more consequential for those who hold less traditional gender ideology. In conclusion, gender egalitarianism at the individual level and gender equality at the country level are both associated with less WIF and FIW. Policies that seek to address work–family balance should incorporate measures to promote gender equality.

European gender cultures

2019 ◽  
pp. 101-122
Author(s):  
Vera Lomazzi ◽  
Isabella Crespi
Keyword(s):  
Gender Role Attitudes ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Working Parents ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Gender Regimes ◽  
Work Family Balance ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Positive Effect

Wondering whethergender mainstreaming really supports the shift to a more gender-egalitarian Europe,this chapter explores the intertwined relation between individual gender role attitudes, gender regimes,and gender cultures in Europe. It investigates how structural aspects, which determine the opportunities available for men and women to achieve their goals, as well as cultural features, which establish socially constructed, predominant family models and legitimised gender roles, contribute to explaining individuals’ beliefs in gender equality. The chapter reports empirical evidence of the positive effect of work-family balance policies, which enshrines the gender mainstreaming principles, on the promotion of gender egalitarian beliefs. Thesepolicies and workplace practices allow working parents to combine their professional and personal responsibilities, directly affecting their opportunity structures. Because of such realistic opportunities, people tend to express more egalitarian views. At the same time, the implementation of work-family balance policies transmits a certain idea of a lifestyle model and family pattern, legitimising them through structural elements that contribute to changing current gender regimes.

scholarly journals Gender Equality in Europe and the Effect of Work-Family Balance Policies on Gender-Role Attitudes

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Lomazzi ◽  
Sabine Israel ◽  
Isabella Crespi
Keyword(s):  
Gender Role ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
National Income ◽  
Gender Role Attitudes ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Dual Earner ◽  
Family Model ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Work Family Balance ◽  
Work Family

This study starts from the assumption that the context of opportunities for work-family balance affects individual attitudes toward gender roles, a main indicator of support for gender equality. Compared with extant research, the present study adopts a more articulated definition of “opportunity structure” that includes national income level and social norms on gender attitudes, measures of gender-mainstreaming policies implemented at the company level (flextime), and different work-family balance policies in support of the dual-earner/dual-caregiver family model (e.g., parental-leave schemes and childcare provisions). The effects of these factors are estimated by performing a cross-sectional multilevel analysis for the year 2014. Gender-role attitudes and micro-level controls are taken from the Eurobarometer for all 28 European Union (EU) members, while macro-indicators stem from Eurostat, European Quality of Work Survey, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Our results show that both institutional and workplace arrangements supporting the dual-earner/dual-caregiver family model are associated with more egalitarian gender-role attitudes This is particularly true concerning availability of formal childcare for 0- to 3-year-olds among institutional factors, as well as work-schedule flexibility among workplace factors, probably as they enable a combination of care and paid work for both men and women.

Gender equality and gender mainstreaming: the issue of equal opportunities in the European context

2019 ◽  
pp. 9-30
Author(s):  
Vera Lomazzi ◽  
Isabella Crespi
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Current Approach ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Equal Opportunities ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Positive Action ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Eu

This chapter deals with the definition, understanding and exploration of the issue of gender equality approaches that the EU has developed to promote equal opportunities between men and women. The chapter examines the different strategies used across time to implement gender equality in the EU and how this conceptualisation led to the current approach of gender mainstreaming. In particular, three phases are identified and discussedinthe chapter: equal treatment, positive action and gender mainstreaming. The last one is discussed deeply because itformed a substantial and important backbone in the context of the individual rights of citizens of the Union by creating a basis of equal rights guaranteed to all, regardless of gender. The goal pursued by gender mainstreaming approach consists of a deep change in the organizational culture of society, institutions and workplace, where gender equality should be implemented in a transformed cultural framework.

Gender mainstreaming and social policies in Europe

2019 ◽  
pp. 47-74
Author(s):  
Vera Lomazzi ◽  
Isabella Crespi
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Family Issue ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Gender Budgeting ◽  
Over Time

The third chapter describes the changes in the main conceptualisations of gender equality and GM in relations with social and gender policies and their development over time in Europe. Is it clear that there are different potential instruments available in the gender equality perspective and the relevance of the gender mainstreaming strategy for social policies is to propose and pursue the introduction of a gender equality perspective to all policies at all levels of governance. In particular, the chapter analyseshow policies are addressing the gender mainstreaming perspective and if and how different welfare states and welfare regimes could influence the way in which gender measures and policies are implemented. The work-family issue is a field of application and verification in evaluating the degree of gender equality options within a welfare state system in a comparative way. The issue of evaluation of gender and social policies is also considered in the analysis of the gender budgeting and gender auditing strategies applied to measure the implementation and the effectiveness of gender mainstreaming.

scholarly journals Childbearing and Work-Family Balance among Contemporary Russian Women

2010 ◽  
pp. 83-101
Author(s):  
Anna Temkina
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Professional Women ◽  
Double Burden ◽  
Working Mother ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Reproductive Decision Making ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Gender System

There are contrasting views on how gender equality affects fertility in contemporary European societies. This article discusses the Russian situation by asking how tensions in the contemporary gender system relate to reproductive decision-making and identity. How do gendered practices and identities influence womens intentions to have children?In depth interview data gathered during the last decade is used to analyze how the two main gender contracts of the professional women and the working mother relate to family planning, child birth, pregnancies, and mothering. Results indicate that while Russian women experience increasing pressure of the double burden and few signs of increasing gender equality in domestic life, the stable identity of Russian mothering contributes to the birth of at least one child. Childbearing does not depend directly on gender roles and division of labor in households. The decision to have a child and care for small children continues to be womens responsibility even as fertility patterns have modernized and gender equality in couple relations is slightly increasing. However, the type of gender contract influences the process of negotiation concerning reproductive matters and the timing of childbirth.

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