Decision-making Positions Research Articles

Protesting gender discrimination from within: women’s political representation on behalf of Islamic parties

In recent decades, Islamic political movements, and their subsequent political parties, have been increasingly recruiting and nominating women to high-level decision-making positions despite the fact that the ideology they espouse often acts to dissuade women from assuming positions of political leadership. My ethnographic research on religious women’s activism in Iran and Turkey helps explain this unexpected trend by shedding light onto the role of Islamic party women in challenging the gender discriminatory attitudes and behaviours of their male party leaders. In particular, I highlight the role that a number of high-ranking Islamic party women with close ties to the ruling elites played in pressuring their male party leaders to address women’s political underrepresentation in formal politics. Women’s close ties to the ruling elites consisted of formal ties with key Islamic leaders that evolved thanks to women’s long-term devotion to the Islamic movement or learning at Islamic seminaries. I demonstrate that such close ties to the leaders, as well as the presence of a public discourse in favour of women’s increased access to politics, enabled influential Islamic women to leverage a form of ‘internal criticism’ as an important strategy to enhance women’s political rights and status from within the Islamic movements.

Women and leadership: Gender barriers to senior management positions

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to show the representation of women in corporate leadership positions. It also aims to identify the key factors that determine the lower presence of women in senior management, as well as policies to achieve gender balance in decision-making positions. Design/methodology/approach: In order to show the representation of women in senior positions, the information contained in the European Commission database Women and men in decision-making has been analyzed. This database contains information on the presence of women in key positions in the largest publicly-listed European companies. The analysis has been completed with the Economically Active Population Survey of the Spanish National Statistics Institute and Catalyst census, including Fortune 500 companies. A literature review was also conducted to find factors explaining the current situation of women in decision-making positions and to propose strategies that promote more women in senior management. The literature review was carried out by means of searches in Google Scholar and in the databases ABI/INFORM Global , Emerald and International Bibliography of the Social Sciences , which permitted the analysis of several journals. Findings: This study highlights the gender imbalance in decision-making positions. Most barriers to senior management are related to gender stereotypes. Therefore, we propose combining short-term measures to provide the required support for women in order to access management positions with other long-term measures to boost analysis and the learning process throughout society. Originality/value: The research assesses the magnitude of the gender imbalance still present in leadership positions today. It also highlights the need for short- and long-term measures.

Reconciling the god and gender gaps: the influence of women in church politics

ABSTRACTSocial scientists have long recognized women as being both more religious and more liberal than men. Indeed, men have been disaffiliating from churches and the Democratic Party at higher rates than women for several decades. Moreover, we show evidence to suggest that churchgoing women, while less liberal than women in the general population, are nevertheless more liberal than churchgoing men. Given these trends, one might expect churches to have become more liberal in response to these changing demographics. However, using nationally representative data of American congregations and their adherents, we show that churches with a higher percentage of female congregants are actually more conservative. We suggest that the institutional structure of churches limits the ideological influence and contributions of women within the church community. Specifically, women are often excluded formally or informally from decision-making leadership positions in the church. When women are allowed greater access to leadership positions, however, we find that congregations do tend to be less politically conservative. These findings suggest that churches and other civic organizations, which are major direct and indirect political actors, may be insulated from changes in the partisan or ideological makeup of their membership through their allocation of important leadership roles.

The limited development of English women’s recreational cricket: a critique of the liberal “absorption” approach to gender equality

ABSTRACTIn 1998, the Women’s Cricket Association merged with the England and Wales Cricket Board, a move influenced by financial difficulties but also informed by a liberal, equal opportunities approach to gender equality. This article examines the early impact of this merger on the development of women’s recreational cricket in England. It draws upon data collected from six semi-structured interviews with key personnel involved in women’s cricket at two County Cricket Boards. Findings suggest that since the merger the development of the women’s game has been limited because it has been left to “compete” for resources with the existing well-established and male-dominated clubs. Access to facilities, club infrastructure, workforce and decision-making positions remain protected by male participants and clubs. Adopting a critical feminist position, we argue that this liberal “absorption” approach to gender equality has done little to challenge the structural arrangements of recreational cricket that continue to protect and prioritise male interests.

Women in the Labor Market and Decision Making in Kosovo

Gender equality is defined as a prerequisite for European integration and as such the Action Plan for European Partnership is listed on Political Criteria. The Government of Kosovo in April 2008 approved the Kosovo Program for Gender Equality GENERAL six goals and eight specific objectives. With this objective case for women in the labor market and decision- making requires a greater commitment of all stakeholders. This study provides an overview of the rough that evaluates the legal framework and cross-sectoral policies and positioning of women in conformity with their school preparation in decision-making positions. Economic independence remains as one of the main key to the realization of the equal right to decision-making positions. Although Kosovo with gender representation in decision-making level of the seventeenth in the world counted in the labor market situation remains a challenge that requires a great commitment to the local factor and even international. Therefore, the research enables the opening of discussions, improving the working environment and the implementation of the Action Plan for Empowering Women in Economy as a key factor of the welfare of family and society.

Women Political Leadership in India: Status and Challenges

The advancement of a nation depends on gender equality. Women's successful involvement in politics may lead to gender equality. Women's status in society is uplifted when they participate actively in politics. It is also essential to a country's growth since it is only possible for real development to occur when men and women participate equally in positions of leadership. The truth is that women still lag significantly behind men in terms of global political participation, even though they make up 50% of the global population. In India women’s participation as voters and campaigners has increased gradually but women are still under-represented in legislative bodies both at the national and state level and in political parties. Greater participation of women in decision-making positions in political parties and in government is a precondition for getting full support from women and for proper utilisation of women power. So we need to address the problem of low participation of women in leadership position in politics. In this regard, it is important to examine the actual status of women in political leadership position in India and challenges that women face in the political sphere.

Arab women employment in the UAE: exploring opportunities, motivations and challenges

This research paper identifies and explores the challenges and barriers that Arab women in the UAE face in their careers. Primary data was collected via an interview process involving 12 Arab women who reside and work in senior decision-making positions in the UAE. Taking into account an overview of the global and UAE-specific challenges faced by women in the workplace and considering the significant efforts of the UAE Government to promote women in leadership, as reported in literature, the analysis revealed that women often navigated their career through a sub-text of deep rooted social and cultural values that manifested themselves as stereotypes both in and out of the workplace and that these stereotypes impacted their career trajectory. Main barriers highlighted include; unfavourable policies, work/family conflicts and lack of support and options for entrepreneurial activity. The recommendations at the end of the paper focus on the need for continued government and institutional support in an effort to break down and change societal perceptions of Arab women who want to pursue a career.

Empirical Analysis of the Reality of Gender Inclusiveness of Participatory Forest Management Approach: The Case of Chilimo-Gaji Forest, West Shewa Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Governments from the commencement of nation-states have usurped forest management and use rights from local forest dependent societies as they perceive these societies as being opportunistic non-conservationists, thus dismissing their capability to manage their forests on a sustainable basis. As a result of this, the Conventional forest management system and practice have failed to improve the forest condition as well as to sustainably address the livelihood of the local community. In recognition of continued deforestation, degradation and loss of biodiversity associated with the mainstream “fences and fines’’ forest management system a new regime has practiced in a few national forest priority areas since 1990s, emphasizing the need to incorporate the aspiration of local people in forest conservation strategies in Ethiopia. This study was conducted in Chilimo-Gaji forest which is one of the oldest PFM intervention sites in Ethiopia. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the reality of gender inclusiveness of the newly introduced forest management system. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection particularly, semi-structured questionnaire survey, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were employed. Analysis of the data reveals that participatory forest management process in the study area was women’s exclusionary in reality even from the lowest nominal typology of participation to the highest in hierarchy of participation, interactive and empowerment in entire participatory forest management process. The study also identified the exclusionary factors which are constraining gender participation such as exclusionary membership rules, gender division of labour, poor educational back grounds, and poor enactment of already established rules and so on. So, the study suggests serious empowerment and awareness creation interventions should be taken and membership rules and women’s inclusion in key decision-making positions should receive due attention.

Arab women employment in the UAE: exploring opportunities, motivations and challenges

This research paper identifies and explores the challenges and barriers that Arab women in the UAE face in their careers. Primary data was collected via an interview process involving 12 Arab women who reside and work in senior decision-making positions in the UAE. Taking into account an overview of the global and UAE-specific challenges faced by women in the workplace and considering the significant efforts of the UAE Government to promote women in leadership, as reported in literature, the analysis revealed that women often navigated their career through a sub-text of deep rooted social and cultural values that manifested themselves as stereotypes both in and out of the workplace and that these stereotypes impacted their career trajectory. Main barriers highlighted include; unfavourable policies, work/family conflicts and lack of support and options for entrepreneurial activity. The recommendations at the end of the paper focus on the need for continued government and institutional support in an effort to break down and change societal perceptions of Arab women who want to pursue a career.

Employment, Capital and Seasonality in Selected Mediterranean Countries

Abstract The paper examines the influence of tourism industry on GDP, employment and capital investments in selected Mediterranean countries (Croatia, France, Greece, Italy and Spain). It points out important contribution which tourism has on economic activity and capital investment of selected economies and labour market. The analysis highlights the importance of tourism strength in generating employment. It synthesizes data on tourism employment and employment according to educational level. The results show that the quality of human capital is increasing but at the same time indicating gender discrimination in tourism labour market. Despite women being the majority of higher education degree holders in tourism, men hold upper-management and decision-making positions more often than women do. Lastly the paper indicates strong contribution of tourism sector in GDP and total employment in selected countries showing strong problem of seasonality.

The leadership behaviour of the accounting students: A dilemma for higher education

The place and the importance of the accountant in the organisation is not related to a decision-making position and for this reason the accounting students do not identify themselves as leaders in their future career. Motivated by this assumption, the current study aimed to investigate the relationship between faculty curriculum and accounting students career choice and to find out that it is whether a faculty curriculum influence the leadership behaviour of the accounting students. We applied the leadership theory to the accounting students and expected that the faculty curriculum-leadership behaviour of the accounting students’ linkage might differ due to the labour market development and business environment. Our systematic approach conducted to a concept map of the factors which influence the accounting students’ leadership behaviour. This map gives us a general view of the principal factors which can contribute to the improvement of the leadership behaviour of the undergraduate accounting students. The results extend the leadership theory argument that the leadership behaviour resulting from the interaction between the accounting students and the professors affect the accounting students’ career choice. Given the support for our hypotheses, we suggest that the development of the faculty curriculum with disciplines which develop the leadership behaviour of the accounting students are needed to understand and improve the leadership implications of the accounting students’ behaviour. Our findings offer a new approach for the undergraduate accounting students, because they have the possibility to discover and develop their leadership competences in a strong relationship with increasing their professional quality when they asses the path of their career.

Nonmainstream left parties and women’s representation in Western Europe

Ideology is one of the most relevant variables in explaining the level of women’s representation attained by political parties. While left-wing parties are typically the best performers, extant research has tended to overlook the diversity of the left block and predominantly focused on mainstream left-wing political parties, namely the Social Democrats. Yet, the Left also includes both Green parties and radical left parties. This article analyzes the differences that exist within this largely heterogeneous group of parties across Western Europe. In particular, it explores how the diverse ideological background of radical left and Green parties leads to varied ways of engaging with feminism, diverse forms of organizing women within their ranks as well as dissimilar positions toward gender quotas. These shape different levels of women’s numerical representation in public office and in party decision-making positions. Generally, we find that ideology is a greater determinant of representation than geographical region. Our findings also show a significant convergence among distinct party subgroups in terms of their share of elected women in both party and public office.

Identifying sustainability communicators in urban regeneration: Integrating individual and relational attributes

The paper advances a conceptualization of sustainability in urban regeneration as communicative practice taking place within networks of social actors. To demonstrate the potential of this perspective, we propose an interdisciplinary methodology integrating social network analysis from sociology and multi-criteria decision analysis (fuzzy logic) from operations research to calculate a sustainability communicator score for each actor involved in a regeneration network. The score is based on three dimensions: a sustainability vision (relying on the three pillar model of sustainability), a formal network influence dimension (based on organizational practice and decision-making position) and an informal network influence dimension (drawing on degree, betweenness, eigenvector and closeness centrality measures from social network analysis). The framework allows the identification and ranking of sustainability communicators, based on the preferences of specific users, while also allowing for variable degrees of vagueness. We illustrate the methodology by means of a case study of a social network of actors (N = 28) involved in the sustainable regeneration of a brownfield site in Porto Marghera, Venice, Italy. The methodology is expandable beyond the actor level to allow for the ranking of more complex network configurations for promoting sustainability.

Relational Capacity: Broadening the Notion of Decision-Making Capacity in Paediatric Healthcare.

Problems arise when applying the current procedural conceptualization of decision-making capacity to paediatric healthcare: Its emphasis on content-neutrality and rational cognition as well as its implicit assumption that capacity is an ability that resides within a person jeopardizes children's position in decision-making. The purpose of the paper is to challenge this dominant account of capacity and provide an alternative for how capacity should be understood in paediatric care. First, the influence of developmental psychologist Jean Piaget upon the notion of capacity is discussed, followed by an examination of Vygostky's contextualist view on children's development, which emphasizes social interactions and learning for decision-making capacity. In drawing parallels between autonomy and capacity, substantive approaches to relational autonomy are presented that underline the importance of the content of a decision. The authors then provide a relational reconceptualization of capacity that leads the focus away from the individual to include important social others such as parents and physicians. Within this new approach, the outcome of adults' decision-making processes is accepted as a guiding factor for a good decision for the child. If the child makes a choice that is not approved by adults, the new conceptualization emphasizes mutual exchange and engagement by both parties.

INSTITUTIONAL PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN THE BALKANS - CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES

Thanks to the democratic processes, which result from aspiration for integration of Balkan countries into Euro-Atlantic structures, also imposed new rules regarding decision-making and institutional partici- pation in women, in which processes and woman is envisaged as an integral part as well. When it’s talking about the gender equality mainly meant to advance the position of women in society, especially in public life and in decision-making positions. Gender equality means partici- pation of women and men in all areas of life, equal footing, equal oppor- tunities to enjoy all their rights and to put into service their individual potentials in the development of society as well as equal benefit from the results of this development. Gender equality in political participation is a fundamental aspect of modern democratic governance. According to international stan- dards, men and women should have equal rights and opportunities for full participation in all aspects and levels of political processes. Howe- ver, in practice it is much more challenging for women to enjoy and exercise these rights. The rate of women's participation in politics and their access to decision-making can be considered as the main indicator of gender equality in a society. Percentage of seats occupied by women in parlia- ment, clearly helps to judge a country's democracy. Gender equality in decision-making should be viewed in a context that women are able to obtain or influence public decisions the same way as men. Although women make up nearly half the population of a state, it is unimaginable to their low participation in political and public life. Normally, in a country where almost 50% of the population consists of feminine, participation in decision-making positions of gender should be in the same quota.

Far from Fifty-Fifty: Legal Measures and the Relative Lack of Women in Powerful Decision-Making Positions in Germany’s Broadcasting Sector

A gender-equal organization of institutions requires adequately qualified women to be equally present on every hierarchical/functional level. In light of this, the authors evaluate how women participate in leading managerial and supervisory positions of administrative relevance, i.e., beyond editorial departments, in public and private broadcasting corporations and organizations in Germany. The study comprises an examination and comparison of existing legal requirements/regulations for gender equality on the supervisory councils of Germany’s broadcasting corporations/organizations and contributes to the analysis on the contemporary politics of gender in Germany’s broadcasting sector. It is the first study of its kind.

Cross-Cultural Communication in Oncology: Challenges and Training Interests.

To survey oncology nurses and oncologists about difficulties in taking care of culturally and linguistically diverse patients and about interests in cross-cultural training. . Descriptive, cross-sectional. . Web-based survey. . 108 oncology nurses and 44 oncologists. . 31-item questionnaire derived from preexisting surveys in the United States and Switzerland. . Self-rated difficulties in taking care of culturally and linguistically diverse patients and self-rated interests in cross-cultural training. . All respondents reported communication difficulties in encounters with culturally and linguistically diverse patients. Respondents considered the absence of written materials in other languages, absence of a shared common language with patients, and sensitive subjects (e.g., end of life, sexuality) to be particularly problematic. Respondents also expressed a high level of interest in all aspects of cross-cultural training (task-oriented skills, background knowledge, reflexivity, and attitudes). Nurses perceived several difficulties related to care of migrants as more problematic than physicians did and were more interested in all aspects of cross-cultural training. . The need for cross-cultural training is high among oncology clinicians, particularly among nurses. . The results reported in the current study may help nurses in decision-making positions and educators in introducing elements of cross-cultural education into oncology curricula for nurses. Cross-cultural training should be offered to oncology nurses.

Position and role of a woman in national social and economic development of Serbia

Since the beginning of the 20th century it is a demographic fact that women represent over half of the population, while in public sphere they are marginalized. Even Hannah Arendt concluded that 'in modern society women are the biggest minority' there is. In the domain of rights (in subjective and objective sense of the notion) women of the 20th century have reached an equal status with men in principle, but in the 21st century between formal and actual right there is considerable discrepancy. Her right to work is obstructed, in political, economic or cultural level as well as in any given professional activity, regardles formally and legally ensured equality and basically accepted reality of the need for an enhanced participation of less represented gender on decision-making positions. Printed media in Serbia makes clear they are marginalized, since they appear as expert collocutors almost nine times fewer than men (89.2 : 10.8 percent in favor of men experts). The effect of 'glass ceiling' implies invisible yet efficacious obstacle in advancement to the highest organizational positions of women. Statistical data clearly shows that there are still no women in places of actual decision-making, and that they are less paid for the same work in comparison to men, her unequal position is evident from the insight to the company ownership structure, as well as remarkably lower representation on leading positions. Moreover, women have fewer possibilities of advancement in career, and get dismissed more often than men in the process of transition. A woman is sometimes in an inequitable position when it comes to earning income for the exact same work carried out by a man, and she is actually not granted access to all positions and functions in the organization of a society. Therefore it is often a case of using 'woman-alibi' in practice, that is directing certain women to high and influential public positions in order to prove there is no discrimination towards women by the society. Nevertheless, without equal, better and more active participation of women, there shall be no faster or advantageous social and economic development.

Forging the Future: Maintaining Midwifery Momentum in the Next Decade

Forging the Future: Maintaining Midwifery Momentum in the Next Decade

Barriers to women’s access to decision-making positions in sport organizations: the case of establishing a girls’ volleyball academy in Israel

The aim of this paper is to highlight the nature of the barriers facing women in terms of their participation in decision-making in Israeli sport, and to identify and evaluate some of the strategies and tactics adopted to overcome these barriers. This is done by making reference to a particular case study, the case of the process of establishing a major policy initiative in Israeli sport – the founding of the national Volleyball Academy for Young Talented Girls. The case is analyzed in order to identify how and why the goal of establishing the Academy was successful, and to consider what may be learned in terms of the implications for the tactics and strategies used that might be adopted by other women in similar circumstances.