Gender Dimensions Research Articles

Exploring cultural intelligence and academic self-efficacy among teacher trainees in a context of intra-cultural diversity.

The purpose of this study was to determine Ethiopian teacher trainees' level of cultural intelligence and its association with demographic variables (gender and urban-rural dimension) within the context of intranational diversity. It was also aimed at determining the relationship between CQ and the academic self-efficacy of the participants. A quantitative approach was employed. In the study, 167 teacher trainees were randomly selected from Arba Minch College of Education. Data were collected through CQ and academic self-efficacy scales. The findings revealed that the majority of the trainees have above-average levels of total CQ (Mean=66.05) and the four dimensions. It was also found that demographic variables included do not affect CQ levels. A positive, significant, and weak correlation is found between CQ and academic self-efficacy (r=0.23). It is suggested that college instructors and management provide teacher trainees with cross-cultural experience, cultural intelligence training, and education to enhance CQ levels further.

GENDER AND SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT: A REFLECTIVE ANALYSIS OF POLICY AND LEGISLATION

This article examines the extent to which gender dimensions have been entrenched within solid waste management in the South African local government context. The main rationale for the study is that solid waste management policies, legislation and regulations have been crafted in a way that emphasises technical trash disposal, with little or no consideration devoted to the social and economic aspects in households. The findings of a comprehensive examination into how gender influences solid waste management and the relevance of this in tackling service delivery are discussed in this paper. The paper and its supporting research are informed by an ecofeminist approach that claims that gender equality is required for effective management of the environment. Using a qualitative literature review as the basis for research method, findings reveal that numerous policies and regulations exist. The concept of gender remains at the periphery of solid waste management and has not been fully incorporated into policy design. The study recommends a revision of such frameworks to ensure that gender specifics are detailed and guide local governments in mainstreaming gender in solid waste management.

The Gender Dimension of International Relations: South African Women in Leadership Positions in United Nations Structures

In the current conditions of confrontation with the West, Russia seeks to diversify its external relations, hence a growing attention it pays to such partners as African countries. Establishing effective cooperation requires deep knowledge of political elites, which is largely facilitated by the research of Russian Africanists, conducted primarily at the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences as well as in other research centers - the Centre for African Studies of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Moscow State University, MGIMO University, HSE University, IMEMO of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Oriental Faculty of St. Petersburg State University, etc. Among their areas of interest are such subjects as the study of female political elites, as well as the elites in multilateral institutions, primarily in the UN structures.Since the early 2000s, one of the main features of the formation of political leadership in the Republic of South Africa (South Africa) has been the expansion of women’s representation in government bodies at all levels. Some of these women held leadership positions in various UN structures. This article uses functional and biographical research methods to analyze the activities of South African women who have been active in human rights issues, in the fight against hunger and HIV/AIDS at the national and international levels, at the UN and the African Union. This article’s research was centered at such prominent South African political figures as Mrs. N. Pillay, Mrs. P. Mlambo-Ngcuka, and Mrs. S. Sisulu. The author notes both their achievements in solving the above-mentioned contemporary problems and the difficulties they encountered in their activities.Special attention is paid to the attitude of South African women towards the issue of gender equality, which they consider a necessary condition for democratic development. At various multilateral venues, Mrs. N. Pillay, Mrs. P. Mlambo-Ngcuka, and Mrs. S. Sisulu advocated for the empowerment of women in all areas of political, economic, and public life, both while holding leadership positions in the UN and after completing their terms of office. The long-standing work of South African women at the UN in the fight for human rights, against hunger and HIV/AIDS and for gender equality demonstrates the possibility of women’s participation in solving contemporary problems at levels of utmost significance.

Welfare effects and gender dimensions of adoption of climate smart agriculture practices: Evidence from Kenyan small-scale farmers1

Welfare effects and gender dimensions of adoption of climate smart agriculture practices: Evidence from Kenyan small-scale farmers1

Gendered Scientization of Environmental Degradation: Countering Gender Stereotype of Village Women in Lakardowo, Indonesia

This research aims to explore the gender dimensions of the use of science by the women's movement to respond to environmental injustice in Indonesia. Previous studies have explored the vulnerability of village women to environmental degradation due to their multiple roles as domestic workers, farmers, and nurturers. It indicated the weak position of women affected by environmental conflict. However, the concept of gendered scientization highlights how the turn to science in dealing with environmental threats might result in gendered opportunities and challenges in collective mobilization by citizens. To deeply analyze and categorize the result, the method used in this study is thematic analysis. The data collection techniques used were in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), and documentation of secondary data related to the study. The results show that women in the Lakardowo Village are driven by feminine urges and generational concerns to protect the environment to mobilize an ecological movement to protect their land. Others found it important to arm themselves with science when the broader social discourse portrayed contamination concerns as stereotyping women as overreacting due to their scientific illiteracy.

Urbanization as a Gendered Process: Theory, Evidence, and Implications

Abstract This research note addresses the overlooked and undertheorized gendered dimensions of rural-urban migration in the developing world. Drawing on Ester Boserup's (1970/2007) framework, a macro-social theory is offered that links historic agricultural divisions of labor to gendered patterns of urbanization. Specifically, it is argued that nations with a history of male farming systems (MFS) are more likely to produce economic and cultural conditions that facilitate women's rural-urban migration when compared to nations with a history of female farming systems (FFS). From this, the notion of “open” and “closed” urban systems is conceptualized to help identify and categorize the gendered urbanization histories of developing nations, which are linked to women's rights. Empirical support for the concepts and their association with women's rights is presented using mapped data from 138 developing nations from 1985 to 2015. A nation-level t-test of the interactive proxy measure between nation-level male-to-female urban population ratios and the degree of women's exclusion reveals a significant difference between nations with open and closed urban systems (p < 0.01). The conclusion discusses the limitations of the theory and evidence, the implications of the findings, and future research directions.

Gender-neutral vs gender-specific education subsidy: effects on schooling and earning inequality

PurposeDeveloping countries are characterized by gender wage inequality that can be largely attributed to gender-based disparities in education. Education subsidy can be an effective tool for reducing the inequality in human capital formation. However, the parents’ decision in response to the subsidy is a crucial determinant of gendered inequality in schooling and earnings. The paper aims to examine the effects of gender-neutral and gender-specific education subsidy policies on the gendered differences in schooling and earnings.Design/methodology/approachA three-sector full employment general equilibrium model is developed, where the amount of schooling of children is determined by the intertemporal utility maximizing behaviour of the parents over two periods.FindingsThe results indicate that higher gender-neutral education subsidy may raise the amount of schooling of boys more than girls and aggravate the schooling inequality in a society with traditional gender norms; the effect on earning inequality depends on the relative gendered returns to education and the marginal effects of the subsidy on relative schooling levels. However, gender-specific subsidy policies raise female schooling, thereby narrowing gender-based schooling and are likely to favourably affect the earning inequality.Originality/valueThe paper tries to analyse the linkage between education and labour market within a gender dimension. On the one hand, it tries to explain parental schooling decision due to gender-neutral and gender-specific education subsidies, and on the other, it examines the effects of these two subsidy policies on gendered schooling inequality and gender earnings inequality in a dynamic model.

Voices of Resistance: Gender, Citizenship, and Rights in Miyah Poetry

The term Miyah has a specific meaning in Assam. Unlike in other parts of India, where it is used to address a gentleman in an honourable way, in Assam it is a pejorative term that refers to the community of Assamese Muslims of Bengali origin. This community is now reclaiming this identity through various forms of creative expression including poetry. The perpetual “other” in Assamese nationalist assertions, the Miyah until recently was accorded very little agency in the popular imagination. Miyah poetry emerged as a powerful mode of resisting injustice and suffering during the preparation of the National Register of Citizens in Assam (NRC), a complex and tedious bureaucratic exercise that could render a huge section of the population “undocumented migrants.” This is a genre of poetry that is resisting two kinds of power relationships – the hegemony of the Assamese language and the class hierarchy associated with the term Miyah in everyday usage. I argue that there is an explicit gender dimension of the word Miyah which has remained largely unexplored. The question of citizenship has different implications for men and women within the Miyah community, and it merits our attention to explore this difference through a feminist reading of Miyah poetry.

Differences in economic consequences of union dissolution across gender and ethnic groups in Belgium and Israel

ABSTRACT Given increased ethnic diversity in Europe and Israel in recent decades, coupled with high union dissolution rates, the study compares two case studies exemplifying diverse ethnic and immigrant societies – Belgium and Israel. We examine differences between ethnic, migrant, and gender groups in each country, and the intersections between them, regarding the economic outcome of union dissolution, as well as the effect of reemployment on these consequences. The study adds to the broad discussion on union dissolution and inequality in the dimensions of ethnicity, migration and gender and their intersections across countries. Growth models were applied to data from two longitudinal sources: the Data Warehouse on Labor Market and Social Security for Belgium and administrative data from tax authorities with the National Insurance Institute database for Israel. Results show that change in income upon separation is gendered and varies between ethnic/migrant groups in both countries. Cross-country differences were found in the effect of reemployment mainly among women, as it increases the income of minority-group women in Belgium but not Israel. The study emphasizes the importance of the intersectionality perspective in comparative studies, revealing the interplay between ethnicity, gender, and country in how ex-partners cope with the financial consequences of union dissolution.

Finding him: a symbolic interactionist perspective of romantic and queer love

ABSTRACT While being firmly rooted in and committed to the Western context, within which this piece is located, the discussions are not generalized since the aim of this paper is to offer a critical and theoretical appraisal of romantic and queer love. The theoretical lens applied here is symbolic interactionism. The examples of gay love that are examined include the following: gay open relationships; queer monogamy; and gay love in gay friendships. The added dimensions of sexuality and gender are noticeable when making links between gender and sexual relations.

Performative filiality and Chinese voluntary associations in transnational commemoration of the Second World War

ABSTRACT This article examines the transnational commemoration of the Second World War through the Chinese Expeditionary Force (CEF) Fever campaign. The campaign focuses on repatriating the remains of Chinese soldiers who died in the China-Burma-India Theatre. These fallen soldiers have been glorified as national forefathers of the Chinese community in commemorative events. The campaign involves cooperation between Chinese Voluntary Associations (CVAs) in Myanmar and memory activists in China, while revealing conflicts over ownership of the remains and patriarchal leadership in remembrance. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, this study explores the gendered perspective of Chinese transnationalism and the involvement of CVAs in transnational remembrance. The concept of performative filiality is introduced to analyse the gender dynamics in the memorial network, emphasising the practices that demonstrate filial piety towards the war dead. This research highlights the complexities of transnational commemoration, power dynamics within CVAs, and the gendered dimensions of Chinese transnationalism in war remembrance.

Confluences and contestations: gender politics, grassroots Buddhism and Chinese voluntary associations, 1920s–1970s

ABSTRACT This article considers multiple contributing factors resulting to the confluences and contestations between Chinese voluntary associations (CVAs) and religious organizations as two core Chinese social organizations in the 1920s to 1970s Singapore. Employing a historical perspective taking Chinese lay Buddhist associations as a case study, this article demonstrates that sub-ethnic identity formation and networks, such as a shared dialect-group consciousness, common spoken language (dialect) and social engagement in providing welfare needs, are key evidences of confluences between the two interconnected categories. At the same time, gender, language and educational divide, coupled with dynamics and processual development of modernization, are characteristics that distinguished both categories and eventually led them to divergent roads functioning as independent communities. To uncover the gender dimension which is less explored in the topic of migrant institutions, this article employs “Grassroots Buddhism” as a theoretical device.

Three Decades of Adolescent Health: Unveiling Global Trends Across 41 Countries in Psychological and Somatic Complaints (1994-2022).

This study examined (non-)monotonic time trends in psychological and somatic complaints among adolescents, along with gender differences. Repeated cross-sectional Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) data from 1994 to 2022 covering 15-year-old adolescents from 41 countries (N = 470,797) were analysed. Three polynomial logistic regression models (linear, quadratic, cubic) were tested for best fit, including separate analyses by gender and health complaints dimension. Time trend patterns varied by gender and health complaints dimension. Increases were found in 82.3% of cases (linear 25%, quadratic U-shaped 28.7%, cubic 28.7%), while 14% showed no clear trend, and 3.7% decreased. Boys typically showed linear increases or no clear trend over time, whereas girls generally showed cubic or U-shaped trends. Psychological complaints often displayed U-shaped or cubic patterns, whereas somatic complaints mostly showed linear increases. Psychological and somatic complaints demonstrated diverse time trend patterns across countries, with non-monotonic patterns (U-shaped and cubic) frequently observed alongside linear increases. These findings highlight the complexity of changes within countries over three decades, suggesting that linear modelling may not effectively capture this heterogeneity.

Do women get into less debt? Gendered local political performance in the EU

Gender differences in local financial management are, according to empirical grounds, a reality that predetermines differences in the fiscal performance of municipalities led by women and men. The position of women leaders in public administration and their influence on sources of income, the nature of expenses, and the level of indebtedness have been a popular research issue in recent years, but it includes an almost unexplored gender dimension that needs deeper analysis. For this reason, the main aim of the paper is to examine the relationship between women’s representation in local politics (mayor and councilors) and local indebtedness, emphasizing the assumption about observed better fiscal discipline in municipalities led by female local authorities. The econometric estimations based on the panel data approach are conducted on the sample of twenty-seven European Union countries in the period 2011–2021 using the share of female mayors and female local councilors as explanatory variables. Further, we test the effects of the moment of the EU accession and the degree of fiscal decentralization to offer deeper insights into the problem. Results support the assumption of an inverse relationship between female mayors and local indebtedness, while female local councilors do not cause any statistically significant impact on local indebtedness. Other results show that the number of women in local politics and the degree of fiscal decentralization are important to consider when examining this relationship.

Mannequins, muses and maids: Redressing the objectified woman in Phantom Thread and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Dresses in the films Phantom Thread (2017) and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022) are powerful objects. Designed by the fictional Reynolds Woodcock and a fictionalized Christian Dior, the gowns are treasured by most consumers for their beauty and social cachet. But for the working-class heroines who emerge from the shadows to demystify the ‘fashionable’ bodies that produce and consume haute couture, the dresses are ‘ghostly matter’ that not only manifest creative genius and superb workmanship but function as wearable ‘actants’ that transform their lives. Informed by Sartrean existentialism and affect studies, this article examines the gendered dimensions of mid-twentieth-century haute couture production and consumption as they are represented in the two films. Woodcock’s troublesome muse exposes the techniques through which his collectively produced designs are ‘personalized’, while the Dior-desiring charwoman of Mrs. Harris demonstrates her own ‘complex personhood’ as well as that of the instrumentalized ‘hands’ who labour in his name.

Urban-Rural Differentiation in Serbia Beyond the Women’s Role in the Local Labor Force

Abstract Differentiation between rural and urban areas in Serbia is a disputable issue, usually based on the most commonly used indicators which do not reflect the functional and social local features. This research starts from the hypothesis that labor market gender inequality is strongly correlated with urban-rural dichotomy and patriarchal patterns on women's position. It follows the hidden idea of rural life in Serbia beyond the social and economic local features, introducing a gender dimension as a significant element. The cluster analysis is performed, which involves ten variables that represent the differences in women's social and economic engagement. Results enabled the identification of five municipality clusters, whose interpretation illustrated women's current position and significance in shaping (under)developed municipalities and urban/rural societies.

THE NEW ATLANTEANS: FORCED MIGRATION, STATELESSNESS AND JUSTICE

With the well-documented predicted continuation of rising sea-levels as a result of man-made climate change over the next century, two interrelated issues have emerged in international law and global policy discussions: what to do about both those who are displaced due to climate change, those whose homelands are entirely physically eradicated due to climate change, and those whose homelands remain geographically/ physically intact but who nonetheless experience forced migrations, and what transnational duties exist in both cases. This article will explore the interrelated but separate nature of these two issues, and the salient features of appropriate transnational responses, particularly the gendered dimensions of forced migration in both cases. It builds upon the existing literature of statelessness, forced migration, displacement and gendered aspects of the transnational obligations in all of these, whilst forging new ground by advancing a new thesis for how the twentieth-century paradigms of forced migration and statelessness must be modified in the wake of this new reality, of climate-crisis-induced forced migration and statelessness.

Exploring the Question of Bias in AI through a Gender Performative Approach

The objective of this paper is to examine how artificial intelligence systems (AI) can reproduce phenomena of social discrimination and to develop an ethical strategy for preventing such occurrences. A substantial body of scholarship has demonstrated how AI has the potential to erode the rights of women and LGBT+ individuals, as it is capable of amplifying forms of discrimination that are already pervasive in society. This paper examines the principal approaches that have been put forth to contrast the emergence of biases in AI systems, namely causal, counterfactual reasoning, and constructivist methodology. This analysis demonstrates the necessity of considering the sociopolitical context in which AI systems are developed when evaluating their ethical implications. To investigate this conjunction, we apply the theory of gender performativity as theorized by Judith Butler and Karen Barad. This illustrates how AI functions within the social fabric, manifesting patriarchal configurations of gender through an analysis of the notorious case of the COMPAS system for predictive justice. In conclusion, we demonstrate how reframing of gender performativity theory, when applied to AI ethics, permits us to consider the social context within which these technologies will operate. This approach enables an expansion of the interpretation of the concept of fairness, thereby reflecting the complex dynamics of gender production. In the context of AI ethics, the concept of "fairness" pertains to the capacity of an algorithm to generate results dealing with sensitive categories, such as gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and disability, in a manner that does not engender forms of discrimination and prejudice. The gender dimension needs to be reconsidered not as an individual feature but as a performative process. Moreover, it enables the identification of pivotal issues that must be addressed during the development, testing, and evaluation phases of AI systems.

Aesthetics as a Racial Regime of Modernity: Rizvana Bradley, Anteaesthetics: Black Aesthesis and the Critique of Form

Taking aesthetics as a racial regime of modernity, the focus of Bradley’s Anteaesthetics is experiments in Black art which are not ‘worlding but an illimitable descent made to come before the world’. With a powerful introduction reflecting upon Nina Simone at the Montreal Jazz festival, and chapters which take us through 19th-century paintings, cinema, texts, video installations, and digital art, Anteaesthetics forces us to encounter the horror, beauty, and racially gendered dimensions of a negative inhabitation substantiated through the absolutely dispossessive field of worlding aesthetic refrains. Working against the grain of debate, aesthetics is not generatively enrolled for the modern subject possessed of ontological security to productively world itself in new ways. Rather, Anteaesthetics enables us to critically interrogate how investing in aesthetics requires working with the negative, taking an uncompromising stance towards aesthetics as a constitutive force of the ongoing violent legacies of modernity.

Promoting Decent Work and Equal Pay in the Informal Agricultural Sector: A Gender Perspective

Agriculture, the oldest human activity, is the livelihood for millions, especially in developing countries where it drives economic growth and poverty reduction. However, the informal agricultural sector lacks poor working conditions, low wages, lack of legal protection, and significant gender-based discrimination. Women often face unequal access to resources, training, and fair wages, perpetuating a cycle of poverty. This review paper examines decent work and equal pay in the informal agricultural sector, focusing on gender disparities, and offers recommendations to promote gender equality, empowerment, and sustainable development through targeted interventions and policy improvements. The study used the PRISMA model for a systematic literature review. The study highlighted the five dimensions of decent work identified by the ILO, providing a comprehensive framework for understanding and addressing challenges in achieving decent work. The review also identified several factors influencing decent work and equal pay, including government policies, market dynamics, social norms, power dynamics, and social security programs. The review further discussed the gender dimension of decent work and equal pay, highlighting the gender wage gap and the challenges faced by women in accessing decent work and fair compensation in the sector. Innovative approaches to promoting decent work and equal pay were also discussed, including social protection programs, collective bargaining, microfinance initiatives, vocational training, and digital tools.