Strategies For Gender Equity Research Articles

Strategies for gender equity in pharmacy academia and professional associations

Strategies for gender equity in pharmacy academia and professional associations

How to embed gender equity approach in a european project on forced migration

The current paper plunges into the reality of a European Research and Innovation project on forced migration, with the aim of explaining the challenge of embedding gender equity approach into the entire process. The level of gender sensitivity of the initiative is analysed, as well as the difficulties and benefits in the implementation of gender equity in a culturally diverse and complex research surrounding of a three year H2020 initiative focused on finding tailored attention and inclusion strategies for forced migrants. Findings show the need for additional training at international level, and the quest for genuinely transformative gender equity strategies.

WOMen profEssioNal developmenT oUtcome Metrics in Academic Emergency Medicine: Results from the WOMENTUM Modified Delphi Study.

IntroductionTo address persistent gender inequities in academic medicine, women professional development groups (PDG) have been developed to support the advancement of women in medicine. While these programs have shown promising outcomes, long-term evaluative metrics do not currently exist. The objective of this study was to establish metrics to assess women’s PDGs.MethodsThis was a modified Delphi study that included an expert panel of current and past emergency department (ED) chairs and Academy for Women in Academic Emergency Medicine (AWAEM) presidents. The panel completed three iterative surveys to develop and rank metrics to assess women PDGs. Metrics established by the expert panel were also distributed for member-checking to women EM faculty.ResultsThe expert panel ranked 11 metrics with high to moderate consensus ranking with three metrics receiving greater than 90% consensus: gender equity strategy and plan; recruitment; and compensation. Members ranked 12 metrics with high consensus with three metrics receiving greater than 90% consensus: gender equity strategy and plan; compensation; and gender equity in promotion rates among faculty. Participants emphasized that departments should be responsible for leading gender equity efforts with PDGs providing a supportive role.ConclusionIn this study, we identified metrics that can be used to assess academic EDs’ gender equity initiatives and the advisory efforts of a departmental women’s PDG. These metrics can be tailored to individual departmental/institutional needs, as well as to a PDG’s mission. Importantly, PDGs can use metrics to develop and assess programming, acknowledging that many metrics are the responsibility of the department rather than the PDG.

A gender equity and new masculinities approach to development: examining results from a Colombian case study

ABSTRACT In Latin America, cooperatives have proven to be powerful change agents, strengthening the longer-term sustainability of peasant agriculture to decrease vulnerability. In Colombia, the IMPACT project provided support to cooperatives, like Coocampo, in their development process. IMPACT’s work was guided by a gender equity and empowerment approach to international development. This paper examines learning that resulted from participation in IMPACT’s gender equity strategy, as realized through Coocampo activities. This qualitative case study examines how a critical transformative-learning focussed approach to gender in development, one incorporating women and men as change agents, created a shift towards a more equitable sharing of livelihood income; greater female participation in Coocampo activities and governance; and in some cases, a transformation of participants’ perceptions of their roles as women and men, of themselves, and of their possibilities in life. Scholars call for ways for men and women to work in solidarity towards gender justice. This study contributes by presenting findings where a comprehensive approach was taken to enable gender justice by working towards women’s empowerment and re-defining gender roles, and by working to improve economic security for families in an equitable way.

Gender equity approach to policing in Kenya: Lessons, challenges and prospects

Despite ample evidence of women's value, ensuring gender equity–equality is a major challenge for police departments worldwide. Using survey data gathered from a sample of 455 male and female police officers in the Kenya Police Service, this study examines the non-western plights of women in policing and describes a theory change to formulate gender-equity strategies for improved recruitment and retention of women in police service. Findings indicate that women officers can undertake most tasks better than or to the same degree as men, except for a small proportion of line duties, mirroring the literature on women in policing internationally. However, family commitments, an emphasis on physical strength for promotion, performance based on male standards, and male supervisors’ attitudes present severe challenges for women in the police service, reflecting the organizational climate and prevailing cultural norms. Implications for theory, policy and research are discussed.

Gender norms in the Indian migrant community in Australia: family, community, and work roles

ABSTRACT An examination of gender norms allows us to develop gender equity strategies. There is limited research on gender roles among the Indian migrant community in Australia. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to explore the gender norms among men and women in the Indian community in Australia across their family, employment, and community roles. Focus group sessions were conducted with 40 first and second-generation Indian men and women divided into younger (18–40 years) and older age groups (41+ years). Thematic analysis revealed differences in gender norms between men and women. Women described the need to perform multiple roles; provide men with financial control; and ensure family harmony. On the other hand, men attributed a family-oriented role for women; mainly contributed to the family’s financial wellbeing; and expressed distress at the Australian legal system that they believed favoured women. The findings from the present study suggest the need for the promotion of culturally relevant gender equity strategies for members of the Indian community.

Critical Mass of Women Legislators and Oversight for National ICT Policy of Malawi

This article analyses how the representation of women legislators may affect the oversight of national ICT policy. The article uses Critical Mass Theory (CMT) to explain the composition of the Media and Communications Committee (MCC) of parliament. The case of Malawi is analysed, which represented a low-income economy in Africa. The article uses electoral reports and legislative documents. The results show that women legislators in the MCC achieved a critical mass despite the decrease in the representation of women in parliament. The women legislators have the opportunity to support gender issues related to ICT legislations and national ICT policy oversight. However, the functions of MCC related to national ICT policy oversight were not aligned with the gender equity strategies. This may affect the priority of gender issues in the policy oversight. The article contributes towards literature on national ICT policy oversight in the context of developing countries.

The extent of transformation within the higher education sector and its effects on gender equity: A case study of Gauteng University of Technology

The need for more equitable workplace opportunities for employees is a well-documented area in management literature. More recently, research on the role of gender equity strategies is also prominent in the literature. An important lacuna in the equal employment opportunities (EEO) literature appears, however, to be the lack of focus on gender equity in higher education. Specifically, the in-attention to the influence of organizational policies, practices and processes on equity. This study applies a case study approach to study gender equity in South Africa, as a means of measuring the progress of gender equity in the South African higher education sector. The study examines pre- and post- level attainment of gender equity using gender representation as a measure of progress. Using gender profiling, findings suggests that current gender equity strategies may be at odds with the intentions of the transformational agenda in post-apartheid South Africa. As such, the paper highlights the need to fully utilize gender mainstreaming strategies as a means of guiding, planning and monitoring achievements of gender equity in South African Higher Education Institutions. Key words: Equity, gender, transformation.

Gender Equity in Australian and New Zealand Policing: A Five-Year Review

This paper examines the impact of equity measures in Australian and New Zealand policing, involving nine police departments, from 2003/4 to 2007/8. The findings were mixed. Overall, the number of sworn female officers in both countries continued to trend slowly upwards, with an average of 26.6 per cent in Australia and 17.1 per cent in New Zealand in 2007/8. However, recruit numbers appeared to have peaked around 33 per cent and were in decline in most departments where data were available. Women continued to move up the ranks in all departments, but there were still very few women in senior ranks. Although women were not separating at a higher rate than men, they were more likely than men to resign. While more positive than earlier appraisals of equity in Australia, the findings continue to reflect inadequate data collection that would address long-term inequity issues. The labour force participation rate of women in Australia has increased significantly over the last few decades. However, women are not necessarily focusing on traditional career paths but rather see employment opportunities as one of many options that include family and lifestyle balance. Nevertheless, it is argued here that police organisations should remain committed to gender equity. Affirmative action and other gender equity strategies are considered necessary to encourage greater participation by women, for the benefits to women of a policing career and for the wider good of the community and police organisations themselves. Better diagnostic data and visible commitment are required to support this objective.

Women, Poverty, and the Microenterprise: Context and Discourse

The article discusses the claims of success of microenterprise development programmes (MDPs) in poverty reduction and gender equality. It also deals with the broader theoretical and methodological issues related to the ways in which context and discourse interact in the assessment of anti‐poverty and gender equity strategies. MDPs are considered among the most viable strategies for helping women overcome poverty and promoting gender equity. However, there has been significant debate over these claims. The relationship between business ownership, poverty reduction and gender empowerment is still to be proved. The article presents the voices of women engaged in a microenterprise (ME) from a context‐informed and discourse analysis perspective, and considers the women's insights about ME as an anti‐poverty and gender empowerment strategy. The findings show a complex picture. On one hand, the new occupational status promises a tangible alternative to multiple personal, social and gender constraints. Additionally, women in the study perceived the ME as a space for self‐definition and as an outlet for expressing their oppressed identities. On the other hand, the findings seriously challenge the capacity of the MDP strategy to promote gender equity and combat poverty among low‐income women. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

News from the Coalface

There is much theoretical and strategic discussion of the State as a player in gender reform, but there is still a need to understand how gender reform processes work within public sector agencies. Evidence on this question is drawn from a field study of NSW (Australia) government agencies. Knowledge of gender equity measures is widespread among public sector workers but it is very uneven in depth. Participation in programmes is also very uneven, though more common among women. Programmes that appear ‘family-friendly’ are more widely accepted than ‘enhancement’ programmes directed to women, which are often thought unfair to men. Men are more likely to be cool towards gender equity measures though significant numbers now support gender equality, and overt ‘backlash’ attitudes are uncommon. Opinions about feminism as a movement are strongly divided. Feminist programmes are becoming routinized, a key process in large-scale change. Consequences of these patterns for gender equity strategy can be identified. Proposals are offered for making routinized programmes more effective, and for ‘re-gendering’ gender equity strategy.

A multidimensional critique of the Sport Canada Policy on Women in Sport and its implementation in one national sport organisation

A multidimensional framework that purports the need to address individual, structural and cultural barriers to gender equity in sport was used as a basis for the deductive analysis of the existing Sport Canada Policy on Women in Sport and related strategies and initiatives of one National Sport Organisation (NSO) between 1986 and 2004. Structural initiatives appeared to be the main emphasis of the Women in Sport Policy, while the NSO's initiatives in response to that policy predominantly focussed on individual barriers. The analysis further revealed five key events that represented a shift in the NSO's overall gender equity strategy over the 18-year period, from an individual to a more structural perspective. One NSO initiative in particular the women's national team represented a multidimensional approach, addressing individual, structural and cultural barriers to gender equity and producing positive results for the NSO.

Female breadwinner families

We develop a typology for understanding couple households where the female is the major earner - what we term female breadwinner households - and test it using data from the first two waves of the HILDA Survey. We distinguish temporary from persistent female breadwinner households and hypothesize, and confirm, that these two groups diverge on demographic, socio-economic status (SES), labour market and family commitment characteristics. Among the persistent group we further distinguish those couples where the dominance of a female earner is related to economic factors and those where it appears associated with a purposeful gender equity strategy. We again hypothesize and confirm that these household types significantly diverge, finding that men in the economic group exhibit low SES, poor labour market position, and low levels of commitment to family, while both the women and men in the equity type often achieve positive outcomes regarding gender equity and economic and family success.

Advancing Gender Reform in Large-scale Organisations: A New Approach for Practitioners and Researchers

Gender is now understood as an inbuilt feature of organisations, and gender equity strategies need to consider organisational processes as a key issue. Researchers lack, however, an effective common framework for understanding them. An approach is suggested, used in a recent study of gender patterns in a group of Australian public sector organisations. This study was based on a multi-dimensional theory of gender relations. The concept of an organisational gender regime is defined, and a four-dimensional model for analysing gender regimes is outlined. Details of the research are given, including a method for documenting and describing the gender regimes of particular worksites, and a strategy of careful and collaborative analysis. Practical suggestions are made for organisations undertaking their own gender research, emphasising a conceptual and collaborative approach to organisational gender research.

Female Breadwinner Families: Their Existence, Persistence and Sources

We develop a typology for understanding couple households where the female is the major earner – what we term female breadwinner households – and test it using data from the first two waves of the HILDA Survey. We distinguish temporary from persistent female breadwinner households and hypothesise, and confirm, that these two groups diverge on demographic, socio-economic status (SES), labour market and family commitment characteristics. Among the persistent group we further distinguish those couples where the dominance of a female earner is related to economic factors and those where it appears associated with a purposeful gender equity strategy. We again hypothesise and confirm that these household types significantly diverge, finding that men in the economic group exhibit low SES, poor labour market position, and low levels of commitment to family, while both the women and men in the equity type often achieve positive outcomes regarding gender equity and economic and family success.

Teacher Unions and Gender Equity Policy for Education

The relationships and networks of teacher unions and the women’s movement helped create the political pressure for the development of policy for gender equity in education. This research, using documents and interviews, shows how, from shared values, the policy discourse and strategies for gender equity opened policy windows for federal and state policies, how the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and National Education Association (NEA) created their own strategies (e.g., resolutions, training, and curricular materials), and how the unions and women’s movement activists built social capital from their combined strengths. It also shows that the networks, relationships, and shared values helped maintain some gender policy implementation when governmental attention, programs, and budgets were inadequate. The research illustrates teacher unions as agents for social change. It also expands policy studies by focusing on gender as a substantive policy issue in education. Finally, it demonstrates the possibilities for combining frameworks from policy windows with social capital theory.

Engendering Time

This article explores the impact of discourses of workplace flexibility on gender equity. Time Use surveys have shown convincingly how the unequal burden of women's work in the home undermines gender equity strategies in the workplace. They have also become more sophisticated in their ability to contextualize their time measures to capture the gendered processes involved in domestic activity. However, gender equity strategies which draw on these studies are limited in the extent to which the strategies can highlight the multiplicity of timekeeping systems which order social life and the role of working mothers in coordinating these systems. Domestic life generates social time, responding to biological and communal rhythms as well as the logic of the clock. Gender equity strategies which rely on Time Use surveys based on the assumption that only one temporal logic orders social life are easily coopted by the new discourses of workplace flexibility which are foundered on the same assumption. This article argues that there are possible alternative flexibility discourses which do not depend on further de-contextualizing and de-regulating the temporal order. These are more likely to support greater gender equity if they point to the unsocial nature of a temporal order which conflates all temporality into one single logic.

Who's Got the Power? Rethinking gender equity strategies in early childhood

This article uses a case‐study of boys’ and girls’ block play in 10 Australian early childhood centres to critically appraise current approaches to gender equity in the early childhood curriculum. The case‐study describes how patriarchal gender relations were created and maintained between boys and girls in their block play, how teachers responded to these relationships and how children responded to teacher challenges to their gender relations. The article discusses the ‘failure’ of several strategies used by the teachers to produce changes in children's gender relations and how feminist post‐structuralist reconceptualisations of gender equity work have the potential to produce more effective strategies for teachers wishing to challenge patriarchal gender relations between young children

ACHIEVING TITLE IX GENDER EQUITY IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS IN AN ERA OF FISCAL AUSTERITY

This article reviews the statutory background of Title IX and provides an analysis of three recent legal cases that address gender equity issues. Most specifically, the article examines three recent lawsuits, all initiated and decided after 1988 legislation reinvigorated Title IX. These cases involving Colorado State University, Brown University, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania illustrate the approach the courts are taking on gender equity and the practical difficulties of achieving gender equity in an era of fiscal austerity. The article examines the impact of other recent litigation arising out of Title IX and analyzes the gender equity strategy of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The article concludes proposing a comprehensive game plan for Title IX compliance in today's fiscal climate by analyzing compliance factors, methods of achieving gender equity, and the economics and ethos of budget cutting.