Strategies for Overcoming the Gender Gap by Working Women (Case Study of Russian Organizations)

In the context of the global economic crisis associated with the pandemic, the gender gap index has increased, indicating increasing gender inequalities and, consequently, gender assimilation in society. Despite the fact that in Russia the total number of educated, qualified, healthy, working women is significantly higher than that of men, women face unequal wage distribution and feel the income gap, rarely reach managerial positions, are not represented at high managerial levels, and are excluded from political life. The aim of the study was to identify and examine the specifics of gendered career-building strategies by Russian women as a way of narrowing the gender gap. The following methodological approaches were used to consider gender inequalities in the organizational context: Gender in organization, Gendered organization, Doing & Undoing Gender Strategies. Key results: confirming the existence of gender strategies as a way to bridge the gender gap within an organization; identifying and describing how Russian women apply gender strategies in their career development. The “Doing Gender” strategy was used more frequently than the “Undoing Gender” strategy. However, the scope of Undoing Gender was much wider and more variable. Those women who used a combination of gender strategies (“Doing & Undoing Gender”) rated themselves as “strong players”, emphasized high subjective satisfaction with their lives (having a family and children), and noted a successful career path, unlike those who used only one of the strategies. A combination of gender strategies can help to promote women’s careers in the best possible way and bridge the gender gap in the organization.

Five-Year Changes in Community-Level Sport Participation, and the Role of Gender Strategies

Background: The rate of participation in community-based sport by boys and men has been double that of girls and women. Contributing to this is the fact that some sports have been traditionally male-only or at least very male-dominated.Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate changes in participation in sport by sex and age across 10 major sports in Australia over a 4-year period. In conjunction with the analysis of participation trends, the gender strategies that were developed and implemented during this time are reviewed.Methods: This study encompassed all sport participants registered with one of 10 State Sporting Associations in Victoria, Australia in 2015 and in 2019. Participation rates by region, age and sex were calculated. State sport and health policies relating to female participation in sport were reviewed.Results: There were 749,037 registrations in 2015 and 868,266 in 2019. A comparison between 2015 and 2019 shows increases in participation for women and girls across all age groups (4–84 years), and highest increases for those aged 4 (6.6%) and 5–9 (4.7%). For boys there was a considerable decrease in participation for those aged 5–9 years (−3.8%).Discussion: This study provides evidence that whilst participation in sport is still dominated by males, the gap might be gradually closing and this is in line with recent strategies and investments into sport and wider cultural developments in society. The implications of these findings are discussed.

As the Two-Child Policy Beckons: Work–Family Conflicts, Gender Strategies and Self-Worth among Women from the First One-Child Generation in Contemporary China

How do women from the one-child generation make fertility choices and negotiate work–family relationships under the two-child policy? I address this question by using 82 in-depth interviews with siblingless women from the first one-child cohort. This study unifies Gerson and Peiss’s and Kandiyoti’s conceptual frameworks on boundaries and gender strategies but adds a new dimension of self-worth. The data reveal three different fertility strategies: rejection, acceptance and procrastination, each representing different negotiations with patriarchal boundaries and assessment of self-worth. In particular, the findings highlight how the patriarchal tactics – within the state, the workplace and individual families – are coordinated and transformed into widely available discourse on fertility duties, meritocracy and productivity, thus maintaining rigid patriarchal boundaries across private and public spheres. Rather than being subservient to multifaceted patriarchal power, women strategise to evaluate and validate their competing work–family identities through the language of moral, financial and/or status worthiness.

Gender strategy in Muslim society: the case of the North Caucasian republics

This article discusses the basics of gender strategy in Islam. The author considers the features and problems of interpretation of gender strategy in Islam, its dependence from Islamic law schools and local environment and mentality. The gender strategy in Islam strictly defines a woman’s place in society and family, emphasizing her full dependence on a man (a guardian or husband, etc.). Female sexuality is strictly controlled and the system of gender bans play an important role. There are some gender strategies in the republics of the North Caucasus, which incorporate certain provisions of the General Muslim strategy, but at the same time transform it depending on local customs, social and political conditions. Drawing on the sociological research, the author tried to identify and analyse the gender strategies of the republics. The article presents a comparative analysis of gender strategies in the Chechen Republic, the Republic of Dagestan and the Republic of Ingushetia, reveals their specificity, existing gender models and values. The study showed that the Muslim gender strategy is a combination of elements of the General Islamic strategy and its local modifications, depending on the state policy and the system of ethnic values and traditions of gender relations

Gendered Strategies among Northern Migrants in Ghana: The Role of Social Networks

The migration trends from Northern to Southern Ghana is not a new phenomenon and it is rooted in historical antecedents. Migration scholars in Ghana have attributed these migration trends from an economic lens, arguing that migration has become a household strategy to diversify incomes. However, little research has focused on social networks serving as migration channels for migrants in the informal sector. In view of this, this paper explores the gendered strategies and social networks that the northern migrants use to gain access to the labour market. This study used a qualitative approach. Primary data was collected using the in-depth interview tool. A sampled population of 58 (37 women and 21 men) migrants from Northern Ghana to the Greater Accra Region (Madina), constituted the respondents. Findings indicate that integration and assimilation of migrants into their new community is a function of ethnicity. Strong and weak social ties facilitate migration differently. Whereas the former facilitates migration, the latter offers an enduring support for new migrants in searching for jobs and accommodation on arrival. The study concludes that knowledge of how social networks organize gender strategies within the migration continuum is important for policy intervention to close the poverty gap between North and South.

Pro-Gender Foreign Policy by Stealth: Navigating Global and Domestic Politics in Australian Foreign Policy Making

As a middle-power nation, Australia promotes its global effectiveness, in part, through the adoption of international norms. Among those that it has more recently embraced has been pro-gender norms. The inclusion—for the first time—of gender equality considerations into overarching strategic doctrines, and the development of stand-alone gender strategies demonstrates this. While this is not without its shortcomings and contradictions, it is evidence that Australia is allowing feminist design to underpin areas of its foreign policy. However, unlike other states, this is not publicly emphasized. In fact, it is as if these policies were developed by stealth. This article examines the depth of Australia's commitment to pro-gender norms in foreign policy. It argues that there is a genuine embrace of pro-gender norms, but the masculinist cultures of Australia's politics limit the capacity for it to be publicly debated and celebrated.