Equality Policies Research Articles

Empowering Diversity: Policies for Gender Equality in Stem Education and Workforce Progression in North Macedonia

Abstract The enduring global issue of women's underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields carries significant implications for both societal advancement and economic growth. Despite the rise in women's enrollment in higher education, the persistent gender pay gap can be attributed in part to their limited presence in STEM domains, which tend to offer higher-paying career prospects. This study scrutinizes the impact of national policies on gender imbalances in STEM, focusing on the case of North Macedonia. It assesses existing measures and programs while proposing recommendations to foster gender parity in STEM both national and local scales. Employing a mixed research methodology, the study incorporates desktop research, statistical analysis of gender distribution in STEM fields, policy evaluations of national frameworks, and primary data collection through interviews and surveys.

Grandparents “on board”: How they translate into the households’ fertility decisions

We test whether the co-residence of older parents with their adult children of reproductive age increases the chance of them forming a multichild family. Using data from Wave X of the Luxembourg Wealth Study (LWS) and multinomial logistic regression, we model the number of children using the binary variable informing if there is an older household member (or not) as the main predictor and controlling for other socio-economic household attributes. Our data set covers 11 European countries. The results do not support the view that intergenerational households in which an elderly person lives include more children. Thus, we do not find evidence that the co-residence of two adult generations of pensioner parents and their working-age children translates into the households’ fertility decisions and stimulates growth in the number of multichild families. What can affect it is the gender equality policy facilitating solving the motherhood–work conflict for families and women.

What Will It Take to Achieve Equity in Policies Restricting Menthol and Other Flavored Nicotine and Commercial Tobacco Products?

What Will It Take to Achieve Equity in Policies Restricting Menthol and Other Flavored Nicotine and Commercial Tobacco Products?

Identifying factors influencing women academics in STEM careers: evidence from a Latin American country

PurposeThis phenomenological study, conducted within the discourse on the underrepresentation of women in academia, examined the factors influencing the advancement of women academics in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).Design/methodology/approachThe sample comprised twenty-one women academics from both public and private universities in Peru. Data were collected through in-depth interviews based on the women's experiences and subsequently processed using Moustakas’ (1994) stages for encoding, categorization, and analysis.FindingsThe study introduces a conceptual framework of nine factors – personal tastes and preferences, attitudes towards science as a vocation, care work, work–life balance, congruent gender roles, occupational segregation, lack of opportunities, low salaries, and lack of gender equality policies – that impact the career progression of women in STEM fields.Originality/valueThe results offer valuable insights for policymakers and academic authorities to address the barriers affecting women academics in STEM. The uniqueness of this paper lies in its investigation in Peru, a country with the highest female labor force participation in Latin America, where women constitute the majority of undergraduate program graduates.

Promoters’ equity pledging, policy uncertainty and firm-level cash holding: evidence from an emerging market

Purpose This paper aims to explore the relationship between economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and promoters’ share pledging activity for real estate and construction firms in India. The author further divides the sample into financially sound and financially constrained firms and re-examines the relationship between EPU and promoters’ share pledging activity for them. Additionally, the author investigates the moderating effect of EPU on firm-level cash holding for pledged firms. Design/methodology/approach The author conducts multiple regression to examine the effect of EPU on the share-pledging activity of a firm on sample data of Indian construction and real estate firms. The financial and pledging data was collected for all listed firms from March 2009 to March 2020 from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. The EPU data was re-estimated using the three-period moving average method. All data used in the study was collected from secondary sources. Findings The author finds that EPU influences pledging activity, and the association between them is opposite for financially constrained and financially sound firms. Also, the author reports that an increase in EPU increases firm-level cash holding for pledged firms, and the interaction between EPU and share pledging is significantly associated with firm-level cash holding. Practical implications The managerial implications of this study are manifold. Managers of financially constrained firms should pay attention to the promoters pledging activity so that in a rising EPU environment, issues of managerial entrenchment can be avoided. Moreover, any further promoters’ share pledging activity under rising EPU conditions may force managers to hoard higher cash and thus reducing investment and profitability. Originality/value This paper presents evidence of relationship between EPU, share pledging activity and firm-level cash holding in an emerging economy. The study also compares the response of financially constrained and financially sound firms for EPU on equity pledging activity and that of equity pledging on firm-level cash holdings.

Conversations in couple relationships: a trustful foundation when making future parenthood “real”

Sociologists often argue that communication in long-term couple relationships is the basis on which expectations, trust, and equality are created in contemporary society. However, what is the role of these everyday conversations in uncertain life situations such as expecting one’s first child? This article examines concerns reported by prospective Swedish parents in order to explain the role of communication to alleviate these. Concerns, related to the formation of new relationships with one’s partner, oneself, and one’s future child, are mitigated by referring to the couple’s “good” communication. In the present prenatal situation, the communication pattern (established in the past) seems to serve three functions in mitigating future concerns: (1) the communication generates a trust capital in the relationship, allowing the couple to venture into the uncertain future, (2) the communication makes social perceptions of family life “real” by constructing a common nomos that is internalized in the individual as an existential motto, and (3) the communication legitimizes family practices as democratic when referring to future plans as emerging from responsive and consensual dialogs. In the article it is emphasized that welfare policy needs to be based on an existential legitimacy, often developed in couple conversations, and particularly shaped in life situations characterized by change. However, the stability offered at the conversational micro level may simultaneously prevent macro level changes, a complexity that needs to be considered when developing a gender equality policy that is to resonate with people’s existential meaning making. With the aim of consensus, and the means of balancing conflicts, there is a risk that the conversation will consolidate the interests of the stronger party. In this way, the responsive conversations in long-term relationships may consolidate gender inequality and counteract the welfare policy goal of equalizing power relationships.

Construction of equity in Ecuadorian higher education policy documents

AbstractEquity is considered a key element to ensure universal access to high‐quality education and equal treatment in the higher education system. This study investigates the construction of equity in Ecuadorian higher education through two sets of policy documents—higher education and language policies, both relevant in considering the direction and structure of the higher education sector. The coherence or deficiencies in the construction of equity are important for this concept to be exercised and properly enacted. To this end, five national policy documents related to higher education were selected to be analyzed through a critical discourse analysis lens to determine whether the policy documents are framed with a limited or more expansive interpretation in relation to theoretical elements of equity. Critical discourse analysis was chosen as the main analysis tool since it permits the identification and critical examination of similarities and differences in two or more sets of documents. The study identifies autonomy, identity, and equality as prevalent elements of equity in the general laws regulating higher education and the national educational plan, whereas the language policy documents are more focused on competitiveness and aspects of globalization. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of coherence in policy documents to achieve more equitable practices.

Bridging the gap between diversity, equity and inclusion policy and practice: the case of disability

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies have increasingly gained importance in recent years as companies have begun to recognise the importance of creating a more inclusive workplace. Research has shown, however, that working practices do not always reflect policies. This article uses the case of disability to investigate the challenges and facilitators of implementing DEI policies and putting them into practice. Based on 29 interviews with people working in the private sphere, the findings suggest that organisations face three main challenges in seeking to put disability-related DEI policies into practice: (i) getting people on board, (ii) gathering information, and (iii) meeting increased demand for knowledge work. Having said that, integrating policy and practice is facilitated by (a) engaging in partnerships, (b) garnering line managers’ support, and (c) fostering open communication.

Gender differences in executive compensation in Spain

PurposeIn the context of sustainable development goal 5 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda: “Achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment”, where gender equality is not only a matter of justice but also essential to achieve sustainable development, this paper aims to examine the gender pay gap in executive director compensation and the influence of female board representation and participation in nomination and remuneration committee (NRC) on this gap in Spanish listed firms over the period 2012–2022.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is conducted using a data set created by the authors, which includes executive director compensation data for 164 unique firms. This data set comprises 128 distinct observations for a given firm and year for women, and 2,333 observations for men. The authors estimate ordinary least squares models, clustering standard errors by executive. The authors use Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to decompose gender differences in compensation into differences in the characteristics of men and women and differences in the return on the same characteristics.FindingsThe authors find evidence of pay penalty for female executive directors compared to male counterparts. After controlling for firm, board and executive characteristics, the authors find that women earn 27% less than comparable men. The penalty is lower in companies with a higher share of women on the compensation committee, suggesting that women’s participation plays a role in setting a more equal remuneration policy. The gender gap in executive compensation narrows over time due to a substantial reduction of the differences between men and women in both characteristics and the return on these characteristics.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few analysing the gender gap in executive director compensation and its evolution in Spain. It specifically explores how gender diversity on both the board and the NRC impacts this gap. The analysis is focused on the most recent period characterized by important efforts to promote gender diversity.

Social justice in tourism recovery: examining equity, diversity, and inclusion in Canadian tourism restart policies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the incorporation, prioritization and depth of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives in tourism industry restart policies of Canadian provinces and territories. This study investigates how the detailing of EDI in policies determine the priority in emancipating tourism workers from the inequities exacerbated during the pandemic. Such investigation enables a better understanding of the complexities, tendencies and rationale of involving EDI in the tourism industry’s recovery. Design/methodology/approach The research investigated the presence and prioritization of equity, diversity, and inclusion using systematic text analytics of 38 publicly available restart plans and statements from 52 government and non-government agencies. Using web-based software Voyant Tools to assist in text analytics, a hybrid deductive-inductive coding approach was conducted. Findings Key outcomes from the analysis revealed scarce to no full and dedicated content on EDI as a holistic initiative necessary for tourism industry relaunch. This lack of EDI content was a result of the greater impetus to prioritize economic generation and limited data due to practical and ideological issues. Results also suggested the tokenizing of EDI in some policies. Research limitations/implications Difficulties in data used for research include the lack and availability of restart policies specifically for tourism; most policies were generalized and referred to economic recovery as a whole. Studies of tourism-specific EDI issues were also limited. Originality The research is revelatory for investigating EDI prioritizations in restart policies even among well-developed and worker-diverse tourism industries such as in Canada, where inequities and injustices to women, Black, Indigenous, gender-diverse, and newcomer tourism workers among others have been withstanding.

Operationalising intersectionality in equality and domestic abuse policy in Scotland: Contradictions, contestations and erasure

This article synthesises the findings from two studies on the operationalisation of intersectionality in Scotland: one in equality policy and NGOs, and the other in domestic abuse policy-making. Drawing upon Ashlee Christoffersen's framework of applied concepts of intersectionality, this article analyses the competing and contradictory ways that intersectionality is institutionalised in Scottish policy and practice. It highlights the contestations and debates that arise when actors with varying understandings, agendas, and levels of political will attempt to apply intersectionality. We argue that dominant approaches to applying intersectionality in Scottish equality and domestic abuse policymaking are additive and superficial, a consequence of power inequalities shaping who has access to policymaking processes and institutions. Beyond the Scottish case, the article highlights key lessons concerning how to operationalise intersectionality in policy and practice in ways that are truer to its original conceptualisation in Black feminism.

Social Safety for Black Women in Perinatal Health Care: A Concept Analysis.

Non-Hispanic Black women and their infants experience the worst pregnancy-related outcomes in the United States. Social safety is a health-relevant resource found in environments communicating safety, connectedness, inclusion, and protection. Approaches promoting social safety may be particularly relevant to preventing adverse perinatal health outcomes among Black women. However, there remains a lack of conceptual clarity. The purpose of this concept analysis was to provide a theoretical clarification of the concept social safety for Black women within perinatal health care. PubMed, PsycINFO, and CINAHL were searched using Boolean search strategy. Retrieved articles were managed in Zotero. Duplicates were removed, and each article was assessed and categorized by both investigators. Articles reporting Black women's perinatal health care experiences were included. Thematic analysis guided by Rodgers' evolutionary method identified defining attributes, antecedents, and consequences of social safety in perinatal care for Black women. Social safety for Black women is defined as the process of feeling understood, respected, cared for, and in control in perinatal health care settings that make space, care for, and recognize strengths, thereby cultivating safety and empowerment. Social safety offers actionable insights for practice and research that have the potential to drive positive change in perinatal care delivery for Black women. Developing interventions and measurements that are valid, reliable, and reflect social safety are essential to promote positive experiences and equity in health care practices and policies.

Exploring policy coherence to understand limited progress of gender and social inclusion in the energy sector: The case of Nepal

Goal 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030 but securing universal access to energy supplies remains a challenge worldwide. There is increased recognition that gender and social inclusion (GESI) is critical for the transition towards low-carbon energy.Nepal's inclusive 2015 Constitution, and its 2021 federal-level Gender Equality Policy translate this commitment. Likewise, Nepal is committed to SDG 7. Yet energy policy includes only limited provisions for ensuring energy access by marginalized groups and women. This paper focuses on energy policy coherence to identify cohesion between policies and policy instruments at different levels of governance to identify bottlenecks to GESI. Using a policy coherence and feminist policy approach within an energy justice context, it traces the coherence of GESI policy through time and in relation to overall GESI policy objectives. Horizontal and internal coherence are assessed through the parallels/disjoints between energy-related periodic plans, policies, budgets, and GESI aims. The evolution of GESI in energy investments has been slow in part because of a narrow conceptualization of the policy problem and a lack of coherence and synchronization across documents, which undermines implementation of the GESI agenda.

The misperception of organizational racial progress toward diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Despite a checkered racial history, people in the United States generally believe the nation has made steady, incremental progress toward achieving racial equality. In this article, we investigate whether this U.S. racial progress narrative will extend to how the workforce views the effectiveness of organizational efforts surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion. Across three studies (N = 1,776), we test whether Black and White U.S. workers overestimate organizational racial progress in executive representation. We also examine whether these misperceptions, surrounding organizational progress, drive misunderstandings regarding the relative ineffectiveness of common organizational diversity policies. Overall, we find evidence that U.S. workers largely overestimate organizational racial progress, believe that organizational progress will naturally improve over time, and that these misperceptions of organizational racial progress may drive beliefs in the effectiveness of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Gender Differences in Physical Activity and Health-Related Authorships Between 1950 and 2019.

The objective of this study was to investigate gender differences in authorship in physical activity and health research. A bibliometric study including 23,399 articles from 105 countries was conducted to estimate the participation of female researchers in physical activity publications from 1950 to 2019. The frequency of female researchers was analyzed and classified by first and last authors and the overall percentage of female authors by region and country. The proportion of female first authors increased from <10% in the 50s and 80s to 55% in the last decade. On the other hand, the proportion of last authors increased from 8.7% to 41.1% in the same period. Most publications with female researchers were from the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands, Spain, England, Germany, Sweden, and China. Nine of these countries had over 50% of the articles published by female first authors. However, in all 10 countries, <50% of the articles were published by female last authors. The proportion of female researchers increased over time. However, regional differences exist and should be addressed in gender equity policies. There is a gap in the participation of female researchers as last authors. By actively addressing the gender gap in research, the global society can harness the full potential of all talented individuals, regardless of gender, leading to more inclusive and impactful scientific advancements.

California's COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Policy: Cases, Hospitalizations, And Deaths Averted In Affected Communities.

In March2021, California implemented a vaccine equity policy that prioritized COVID-19 vaccine allocation to communities identified as least advantaged by an area-based socioeconomic measure, the Healthy Places Index. We conducted quasi-experimental and counterfactual analyses to estimate the effect of this policy on COVID-19 vaccination, case, hospitalization, and death rates. Among prioritized communities, vaccination rates increased 28.4percent after policy implementation. Furthermore, an estimated 160,892 COVID-19 cases, 10,248 hospitalizations, and 679 deaths in the least-advantaged communities were averted by the policy. Despite these improvements, the share of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in prioritized communities remained elevated. These estimates were robust in sensitivity analyses that tested exchangeability between prioritized communities and those not prioritized by the policy; model specifications; and potential temporal confounders, including prior infections. Correcting for disparities by strategically allocating limited resources to the least-advantaged or most-affected communities can reduce the impacts of COVID-19 and other diseases but might not eliminate health disparities.

Comparing gender equality policies in the Swedish and Spanish film industries: Defining the problem beyond the male norm

Gender equality measures are now common in the policies of European film industries and can be an important tool for rendering visible gender inequalities. Recent research, however, indicates that top-down institutional gender mainstreaming might mean better conditions for some women in certain aspects, but structural inequalities tend to remain, including lack of an intersectional approach. In this article, these issues are addressed by analysing gender equality policies currently implemented in the Swedish and Spanish film industries. Following Carole Lee Bacchi’s argument that the way in which a problem is represented must be analysed backwards, by looking at the solutions suggested, we unpack what inequalities gender equality measures render visible and, in so doing, highlight the aspects that remain invisible. We also discuss how such problem representation plays out for women in the film industries of both countries and consider the counter-practices women deploy to cope with continuing gender inequality in the film industries of Spain and Sweden. Our main argument is that Swedish and Spanish gender equality policies, despite having increased the presence of women film workers, still fail to render visible the structural basis of inequalities cemented by androcentric film governance structures and a male norm around which the film industry has been built.

High and Dry: Rental Markets After Flooding Disasters

Recent disasters across the United States highlight the devastating effect of climate-change on individuals and households. The effects of these disasters on access to housing and housing stability are pressing issues of social equity and urban policy. How, if at all, do disasters affect rents? We find that severe floods are associated with significant increases in rents for households renting units priced at the bottom of the rent distribution, but not the middle or the top. Second, is there a relationship between federal rental assistance to affected households and any price changes in the market? We find that disaster rental assistance is not associated with changes in rents after flooding disasters. These findings raise important questions about how policy should support low-income renters after disasters, including those not directly displaced by the disaster who are facing increased rents after a disaster but unable to access federal post-disaster rental assistance.

Certainty of implementation of assessor’s office mandates: The case of Jolo Municipal Government

Philippine local governments (LGUs) rely on real property tax (RPT), however its implementation varies. This study evaluates Jolo, Sulu's real property tax system as perceived by municipal government personnel. Purposive sampling yielded 100 employee-respondent survey responses. Study findings: Jolo Municipal Government employee-respondents illustrate a gender gap. Employee-respondents have a positive perception of the Assessor's Office and its mandates, rating it agree in all three areas: Timeliness of Property Assessment, Accuracy of Property Valuation, and Customer Satisfaction. However, the study also shows that the length of service affects employee-respondents' perception of the Assessor's Office depending on their work experience, specifically those with under 10 years of service and those with 21-30 years, or vice versa; and the analysis of correlations among sub-categories under the extent of office mandate implementation shows significant correlation between office performance aspects. There are strong positive relationships between property assessment timeliness, valuation correctness, and client satisfaction. This study advises: Jolo Municipal Government may a gender study of its workforce and implement local government gender equality and diversity policy. Jolo Municipal Government may offer training, mentoring, or scholarships to employees with higher education or longer service to improve their skills and abilities. The Jolo Municipal Government may regularly survey and consult property owners and other stakeholders to improve assessment services and processes. Mixed methods study may examine how the Assessor's Office requirements affect the Jolo Municipal Government's economic, social, and environmental consequences from property owners and other stakeholders.

Gender Diversity Management: A Systematic Review of Literature and Direction for Future Research

The advantages of gender equality and inclusivity have been more widely recognized, and as a result, gender diversity management (GDM) has gained importance in today's workplace. The existing literature provides mixed evidence concerning the relationship between gender diversity management and organizational performance. Due to mixed findings, a systematic review of gender diversity management was conducted between the years 2010 to 2023, resulting in 53 articles used for the analysis. The paper highlights the various strategies organisations use to promote gender diversity such as female development policies including coaching, training and mentoring, equality policies to prohibit discrimination, work-life balance programs, recruitment and promotion policies, commitment from top management, declaring gender diversity management success, awards and certificates and corporate social responsibility. The paper also highlights the positive and negative impact of gender diversity on organisational performance. Overall, this paper provides insights into the importance of gender diversity management in today’s workplace and offers recommendations for organisations seeking to create a more inclusive and equitable environment.