scholarly journals Exploring collective costs and individual benefits of neoliberal feminism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Bongiorno ◽  
Michelle Ryan ◽  
Olivia Gibson ◽  
Hannah Joyce
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Career Advancement ◽  
Personal Control ◽  
Total N ◽  
Individual Resilience ◽  
Women's Career Advancement ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Uk

A popular form of ‘neoliberal feminism’ promotes women’s resilience as individuals to advance gender equality in leadership and beyond (Rottenberg, 2014). Ostensibly inspiring, this focus can increase beliefs that women, rather than inequitable social structures, are to blame for ongoing inequality (Kim et al., 2018). In this research, we examine another potential downside: that messages promoting individual resilience reduce women’s collective-action intentions. Across three studies in the UK, undergraduate and graduate employed women (total N=940) read about gender inequality and then read messages either promoting individual resilience as a pathway to women’s career advancement, or not. In two of three studies, women who received resilience messages had lower collective-action intentions – a negative effect that was either indirect, via reduced perceptions of gender discrimination and reduced anger over inequality (Study 1) or direct (Study 3). Across studies, we did not find evidence of individual benefits, and in Study 2, women who read messages promoting individual resilience reported lower personal control and career ambition. Together, these studies contribute to evidence showing downsides of neoliberal feminism. We discuss alternative ways to promote gender equality, including through messages that mobilise supporters of gender equality to challenge structural impediments to women’s career advancement.

Gender Discrimination in the Workplace

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeline E. Heilman ◽  
Suzette Caleo
Keyword(s):  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Future Study ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Career Advancement ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Discriminatory Behavior ◽  
Women's Career Advancement

This chapter reviews the conditions and processes that give rise to gender discrimination in the workplace, impeding women’s career advancement. It explores how descriptive and prescriptive gender stereotypes—through distinct mechanisms—promote inequities in the selection, promotion, and evaluation of women. The paper examines how descriptive gender stereotypes, which describe what men and women are like, encourage gender discriminatory behavior by contributing to the expectation that women are ill equipped to succeed in traditionally male positions. It also considers how prescriptive gender stereotypes, which prescribe what men and women should be like, encourage gender discriminatory behavior by spurring disapproval and social penalties for women who behave in stereotype-inconsistent ways—whether explicitly or by merely being successful in roles considered to be male-typed. The chapter discusses existing research, considers the conditions that minimize or exacerbate gender discrimination, and identifies questions for future study.

Structures and relationships: women partners' careers in Germany and the UK

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrizia Kokot
Keyword(s):  
Career Advancement ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Women's Career Advancement ◽  
Interdisciplinary Nature ◽  
Women Partners ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Cross National

Purpose – This paper aims to highlight differences in women's experiences of advancement to partnership in accountancy firms in Germany and the UK and consider the ways in which such differences may be constituted by the institutional context in which they occurred. Design/methodology/approach – This research is based on 60 semi-structured interviews with women partners in Germany and the UK. Techniques adopted from grounded theory were applied. Research limitations/implications – This qualitative research is context-specific and given its cross-national, interdisciplinary nature is limited to the extent that findings cannot be generalised beyond the studied scope. Practical implications – The study points to cross-national differences in women's career advancement in accountancy firms. The findings support extant research suggesting that structured performance evaluation and hiring systems – while not without flaws – are likely more gender-neutral. In addition, the study highlights the potential of headhunters and recruitment agents as an important tool for women to navigate their way out of career culs-de-sac. Originality/value – This research provides unique insights into women partners' experiences of career advancement and, through its interdisciplinary nature, demonstrates the usefulness of employing institutional frameworks in qualitative in-depth studies of this kind.

scholarly journals Labor market in the UK in digital era: The gender dimension

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 512-519
Author(s):  
E. A. Mosakova ◽  
K. Kizilova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Age Discrimination ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Uk

The article considers gender discrimination in the field of labor relations in the United Kingdom (UK) in the pre-covid period. In the past decades, the Western European countries have made the most significant progress in achieving gender equality in various fields, including labor relations, and became the world leader in this area. However, despite all the efforts of the international community, no country has achieved a full gender equality, and Great Britain is no exception. The authors argue that the British anti-discrimination legislation (before leaving the European Union) was based on international acts and conventions. For a long time, there were acts and laws prohibiting discrimination in the labor market, which seriously hindered the implementation of an effective anti-discrimination policy in the sphere of labor relations. It was not until 2010 that the law on equality was passed to replace all previous laws and regulations and to provide an exhaustive list of criteria for prohibiting discrimination. As a result, Great Britain began to develop a rather strict national anti-discrimination legislation in the field of labor relations. Thus, in the past decades, the UK has been achieving gender equality in the economic sphere at a faster pace than the average European Union country. The study shows a steady decline in the gender wage gap in the UK over the past two decades, which may be considered one of the countrys most significant achievements in fighting gender discrimination in the labor market. However, there is still a number of serious challenges: a relatively low female labor force participation and employment rate, a gender wage gap and income gap, horizontal and vertical segregation, a gender gap in postgraduate education, and a significant gender gap in time spent on family responsibilities. Age discrimination presents a special problem in the sphere of labor relations in Great Britain. In the European Union, the first laws prohibiting age discrimination were adopted only in the 2000s, and in the UK - in 2006. This problem still remains extremely acute for the labor market, since age discrimination in the UK ranks third among the most common grounds for discrimination - after gender and disability.

46 The Hidden Truth About Gender Bias in Surgery. A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C Wong ◽  
W H Lim ◽  
S R Jain ◽  
C H Ng ◽  
C H Tai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Work Conditions ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Data Synthesis ◽  
Gender Barriers ◽  
Retention Factors ◽  
Full Text Review ◽  
Female Surgeons ◽  
Male Dominated

Abstract Introduction Gender discrimination remains pervasive in surgery, significantly impacting current and future surgeons and population health. This study analyses the gender barriers and critical retention factors for female surgeons and trainees in surgery. Method Five electronic databases were searched till May 2020. Titles and abstracts were sieved, followed by a full text review. Data synthesis and inductive thematic analysis were conducted using the Thomas and Harden methodology. Result 14 articles were included, involving 528 participants. Four themes were generated–unfavourable working environment, male-dominated culture, societal pressures and progress towards gender equality. Females in surgery often faced harassment, disrespect and perceptions of incompetence, resulting in hostile work conditions, which were aggravated by the inadequate support and mentorship. The persistence of male-dominated cultures was observed, with females facing prejudice and exclusion from professional and social circles. Differential treatment and higher expectations of female surgeons also arose from entrenched societal pressures. Despite these, increased acceptance of motherhood and greater recognition of contributions by female surgeons were reported, indicating some progress in gendered culture. Conclusions There is a need to increase female surgical leadership and allocate resources to address the deep-rooted causes of biased surgical culture and ingrained perceptions, to achieve greater gender equality in surgery.

scholarly journals Whites for racial justice: How contact with Black Americans predicts support for collective action among White Americans

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 893-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hema Preya Selvanathan ◽  
Pirathat Techakesari ◽  
Linda R. Tropp ◽  
Fiona Kate Barlow
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Intergroup Contact ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Group Efficacy ◽  
Total N ◽  
Group Members ◽  
White Guilt

Advantaged group members have an important role to play in creating social change, and intergroup contact has tremendous implications in shaping intergroup relations. However, little research has examined how intergroup contact predicts advantaged group members’ inclinations toward collective action to support the interests of disadvantaged groups. The present research investigates how contact with Black Americans shapes White Americans’ willingness to engage in collective action for racial justice and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Three studies of White Americans (total N = 821) consistently reveal that positive contact with Black Americans predicts greater support for collective action through a sequential process of fostering greater feelings of empathy for Black Americans and anger over injustice. These findings hold even when taking into account other relevant psychological factors (i.e., White guilt and identification, negative contact, group efficacy, and moral convictions). The present research contributes to our understanding of how advantaged group members come to engage in social change efforts.

Do Development and Democracy Positively Affect Gender Equality in Cabinets?

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 332-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN HÖGSTRÖM
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Political Regimes ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Positive Effect

AbstractIt has been argued that economic development and democracy create new opportunities and resources for women to access political power, which should increase gender equality in politics. However, empirical evidence from previous research that supports this argument is mixed. The contribution of this study is to expand the research on gender equality in politics through an in-depth examination of the effect of development and democracy on gender equality in cabinets. This has been completed through separate analyses that include most of the countries in the world across three levels of development (least-developed, developing, and developed) and across different types of political regimes (democracies, royal dictatorships, military dictatorships, and civilian dictatorships). The results demonstrate that economic development and democracy only affect gender equality in cabinets positively in a few environments. Accordingly, the context is important and there seem to be thresholds before development and democracy have any effect. Development has a positive effect in developed countries and in democracies, but it has a negative effect in dictatorships, and the negative effect is strongest in military dictatorships. The level of democracy has a positive effect mainly in dictatorships, and the strongest effect is in civilian dictatorships. The article demonstrates the importance of dividing samples into subsets to increase understanding of what affects women's representation in cabinets in different environments, and I ask scholars to subset samples and run separate analyses more often in comparative studies.

Positive Duties and Gender Equality

2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 91-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colm O'cinneide
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Fourth Generation ◽  
Positive Duty ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Substantive Equality ◽  
Promote Gender Equality ◽  
Positive Duties ◽  
And Gender ◽  
First Time

The imposition since 1998 of a variety of positive equality duties upon public authorities has attracted comparatively little academic attention. However, these duties are a central part of current government equality initiatives, increasingly constitute a major part of the work of the UK's equality commissions, and have been described as an essential part of a new ‘fourth generation’ of equality legislation. It now appears likely that a positive duty to promote gender equality will soon be imposed upon public authorities, which will complement similar race and disability duties. Will the introduction of this positive gender equality duty add to, detract or complement existing statutory provisions? Given the danger that ‘soft law’ initiatives may undermine existing anti-discrimination controls, will the duty provide a clear steer to public authorities, or will it lack teeth, substance and direction, and possibly even prove counter-productive? Such positive duties are designed to compensate for the limitations of existing anti-discrimination law, by requiring the taking of positive steps to promote equality and eliminate discrimination, rather than just compelling a reactive compliance with the letter of the (equality) law. The justifications in principle for the introduction of such duties are strong: for the first time, the introduction of a positive gender duty will impose a clear legislative obligation upon public authorities to adopt a substantive equality approach and to take proactive action to redress patterns of disadvantage linked to gender discrimination. Serious concerns do however exist as to the extent to which such duties can be enforced, and the danger that they will simply encourage greater bureaucratic activity at the expense of real change. The proposed gender duty, as with the other duties that have been introduced, is no panacea. Nevertheless, it does constitute a good start, can serve a useful function by empowering public authorities to take positive action, and if effectively used will be a very valuable point of pressure to push for better things.

Mentoring and women's career advancement in Greece

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Apospori ◽  
Irene Nikandrou ◽  
Leda Panayotopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Career Advancement ◽  
Women's Career Advancement
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