Global Gender Research Articles

Global gender representation among presidents of cardiothoracic surgery societies

ObjectiveFemales continue to be underrepresented in academia. An analysis of gender representation among presidents of cardiothoracic surgery societies worldwide was performed. MethodsA comprehensive search was performed to identify cardiothoracic surgical societies present worldwide and divided by regions. Respective Society's official webpage was searched to extract data on past and present presidents. Gender was determined and verified via publicly available online profiles. Proportions and respective 95 ​% confidence interval(CI) were calculated using Binomial exact calculation. ResultsA total of 34 cardiothoracic surgery societies were identified globally, of which only 16 provided information on past presidents in the public domain. A total of 563 past and current society presidents were identified. Women constituted only 16 [2.84 ​%; 95 ​% confidence interval: 1.63 ​%; 4.57 ​%] presidents. The first-ever women president was appointed in the year 2007 by the STSA during the 54th Annual meeting. ConclusionStark lag persists in gender representation of presidential roles among the cardiothoracic societies globally.

Association between gender inequality and climate adaptation across the global

Abstract Introduction Climate change has a disproportionate impact on women in comparison to men and women have a key role to play in climate adaptation. However, evidence is lacking on how gender inequalities may be associated with climate vulnerability and ability to respond at country level. Methods This ecological study investigated the association between climate adaptation, measured by the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Country Index (ND-GAIN), and gender inequality, measured by the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) developed by the World Economic Forum and the Gender Inequality Index (GII) developed by the United Nations. Simple linear regression was used to estimate the associations between the indices and their subdomains for 146 countries. Results There was an approximately linear association between the GGGI and climate adaptation. Each 1% increase in gender equality was associated with a 0.6% increase in the ND-GAIN score (slope 0.59, 95% confidence interval [0.33 to 0.84]). This was driven by a negative association between gender equality and vulnerability (-0.41 [-0.62 to -0.20]), and a positive association between gender equality and readiness (0.77 [0.44 to 1.10]). Gender equality in the education domain of the GGGI had the strongest association with climate adaptation. There was a strong negative linear association between the GII and climate adaptation, which explained most (87%) of the between-country variation in climate adaptation. Each 1% increase in gender inequality was associated with a 0.5% decrease in the ND-GAIN score (-0.53 [-0.57 to -0.50]). The association between gender inequality and readiness was stronger than the association with vulnerability (0.40 [0.37 to 0.44] for vulnerability versus -0.67 [-0.72 to -0.61] for readiness). Conclusions Gender inequality measured broadly across different domains of life is associated with climate adaptation at country level, both in terms of vulnerability to impact and readiness to respond. Key messages • Gender inequality, considered broadly across multiple domains of life, is associated with increased vulnerability to climate change and poor readiness to respond. • Addressing gender inequality needs to be a priority for governments and inter-governmental organisations if populations worldwide are to adapt to climate change.

International migration and the advent of a new demographic era

AbstractThe paper explores whether international migration is linked to currently decreasing levels of fertility in high birth rates countries, thereby to the advent of a stage of population degrowth at the world's level. Methodology is in two steps. First, a global dataset is assembled comprising 13 variables for each country. For the country itself: emigrant stock, total fertility rate, girls' enrolment rate, women's labour force participation, global gender gap, and income per capita; for a fictitious average region of destination of migrants originating from this specific country, the last six variables. In the second step, links between origin and destination countries in terms of fertility levels and determinants are analysed using bivariate correlations. A remarkable fact emerges, namely national levels of fertility and their determinants vary quasi perfectly parallel at both ends of international migration corridors. Fertility at origin is not correlated to any phenomenon as much as to fertility, girls' school enrolment and gender equity at destination. Three complementary hypotheses explaining this apparently puzzling fact are discussed: transmission of norms by migrants; cultural similarities at both ends of migrant corridors; and congruency between the global diffusion of norms and the global migration of people. The conclusion highlights the original contribution of the paper, both to the demographic discipline (migration should also be dealt with as a remote determinant of fertility) and political debates on migration (erecting barriers to migration works against the preservation of earth).

Gender Differences in Vocational Interests Across 57 Countries: A Test of the Interest–Gender-Equality Paradox

Postmaterialist theory suggests that gender differences in vocational interests should be larger in more egalitarian countries, reflecting a counter-intuitive pattern called the “Gender-Equality Paradox.” By contrast, social role theory implies that gender differences in vocational interests should be smaller in more egalitarian countries as gender roles converge. Using multilevel analyses on data from 57 countries ( N = 109,460), we investigate the relationship of country-level gender equality (measured by the Global Gender Gap Index) to gender differences in RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional) vocational interests. Results reveal patterns that differ by interest dimensions. In more egalitarian countries, gender differences in Realistic, Investigative, and Social interests are larger, revealing an “Interest–Gender-Equality Paradox.” Conversely, gender differences in Artistic, Enterprising, and Conventional interests are smaller in these countries. These relationships remain largely robust after controlling for country-level economic development (Gross Domestic Product). We discuss possible explanations and implications of our findings.

National gender equality and sex differences in Machiavellianism across countries

Machiavellianism is characterized by a focus on self-interest and a desire to achieve personal goals at any cost. Research consistently found that, on average, men score higher on Machiavellianism than women. However, the factors contributing to this sex difference remain unclear. The present research examined whether sex differences in Machiavellianism vary across countries and whether national levels of gender inequality are related to these differences. We analyzed Machiavellianism scores of 56,936 adults across 48 countries. We operationalized gender inequality at national level using two indices (the Gender Inequality Index and the Global Gender Gap Index) and assessed Machiavellianism at the individual level using the MACH-IV scale. Multilevel modeling indicated that men scored higher in Machiavellianism than women, with a larger sex difference in countries with higher levels of gender equality, irrespective of the gender inequality index used. This pattern emerged because women’s MACH-IV scores decreased as national gender equality increased, whereas men’s scores remained stable. We discuss the relevance of these findings for the literature on sex differences in personality and gender equality paradox.

DEVELOPMENT DYNAMICS OF THE FAMILY INSTITUTION IN KAZAKHSTAN

In the sphere of demographic development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, there are changes in trends in the formation of the family institution, the ethnic structure of the population and the dynamics of migration processes. The purpose of the article is to study the key dynamic indicators of the development of the family institution based on the results of the latest population census in 2021. The article examines the main trends in the birth rate, the proportion of large families, the number of marriages and divorces. Indicators of reproductive intentions (plans) by number of children were also analyzed. Official information from state statistics was used as sources. Thus, for the first time in Kazakhstan, the demographic features of the current state of the family institution based on the results of national censuses have been comprehensively studied in a comparative prism. In general, as a result of global social and gender changes, a certain transformation of the institution of family in Kazakhstan is taking place. Probably, in the medium term, this will contribute to the emergence of new areas of collective responsibility between society and the state.

Gender Gaps in World Christianity: Membership, Participation, and Leadership

This article presents findings from recent research that nuances gender gaps in World Christianity utilizing quantitative data on religious membership, participation, and leadership. The article outlines the assumptions and theories undergirding this project on global gender inequalities by utilizing data from the United Nations and World Economic Forum. It then presents original research that produced gendered data on church membership, participation, and leadership around the world, drawing from the World Christian Database, Pew Research Center, and World Values Survey. These data are put into conversation with national level gender gap data in Mongolia, Israel, Estonia, and Ghana to provide country-level examples of how data can be used to shed light on women’s challenges and opportunities both in society and the church. Without comprehensive quantitative data on women's experiences around the world, it is difficult to know what problems exist and how they can be addressed. Data from this project can be applied contextually to address the gendered dynamics of church life and interrogate unequal social norms that perpetuate women’s overlooked status in churches and societies worldwide.

The reception of feminist ideas about gender and gender equality in Simone de Beauvoir’s “The second sex” in Vietnam

In recent decades, as the world strives toward a democratic, just, equal, and progressive society for all, significant progress has been made in global gender equality. However, gender-based discrimination regarding fundamental human rights still persists in many places, particularly in poorer countries. These gaps or discriminations stem from gender prejudices that value men over women, and from a lack of profound and comprehensive understanding of women's roles and positions in society, often disregarding the principle of gender equality. Notably, gender equality is one of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, to which Vietnam has committed, aiming to achieve gender equality in key areas of social life. Currently, feminist theories and gender equality concepts are diverse and abundant, encompassing various perspectives. Nevertheless, in practice, women still do not enjoy true equality. In Vietnam, the feminist movement is not a protest against unjust laws or gender-discriminatory institutions, but rather against deeply rooted prejudices and norms that have disadvantaged women for centuries. In the feudal society, the image of women was incredibly diminutive, wholly dependent on men: “Preference for males over females.” These sayings caused women to forget their intrinsic value. Achieving the aforementioned goal requires the realization of freedom for women, progressing toward women's liberation and achieving gender equality. Based on these considerations, this article analyzes the reception of feminist ideas about gender and gender equality in Simone de Beauvoir's "The Second Sex" in Vietnam. By examining the historical and social context of Vietnam, the author aims to demonstrate how feminist ideas on gender equality in Beauvoir's work have influenced the perception of women's roles in contemporary Vietnamese society. The reception of these feminist ideas in Vietnam, whether positive or negative, contributes to a clearer understanding of the development of gender equality thought in the history of humanity in general and in Vietnam in particular.

Investigating the relationship between health and gender equality: What role do maternal, reproductive, and sexual health services play?

Examining the causal nexus between health services and gender equality is of paramount significance in policy formulation and academic inquiry. This paper concentrates on maternal, sexual, and reproductive health, offering a critical narrative review of empirical research exploring the causal relationship between enhanced women's health, stemming from either overall healthcare amelioration or specific interventions, and broader gender equality objectives. A conceptual framework is devised to elucidate the causal pathways between health and gender equality across various dimensions. The final review encompasses 30 empirical papers, revealing both direct and indirect effects of improved maternal, reproductive, and sexual health outcomes on labour participation and educational investment, with fertility decisions and autonomy serving as primary intermediary factors. Evidence predominantly indicates that interventions like contraception, family planning, and abortion policies yield enduring effects beyond health, influencing reproductive choices. Specific medical procedures, such as caesarean deliveries and sterilization, also impact fertility and labour market outcomes. Furthermore, public healthcare infrastructure contributes to combating gender-based violence by facilitating incident reporting and access to protection. Recognizing, documenting, and monitoring these co-benefits arising from improved women's health are pivotal for delineating future health sector priorities and advancing the global gender equality and sustainable development agenda.

A Tidy Framework and Infrastructure to Systematically Assemble Spatio-temporal Indexes from Multivariate Data

Indexes are useful for summarizing multivariate information into single metrics for monitoring, communicating, and decision-making. While most work has focused on defining new indexes for specific purposes, more attention needs to be directed toward making it possible to understand index behavior in different data conditions, and to determine how their structure affects their values and the variability therein. Here we discuss a modular data pipeline recommendation to assemble indexes. It is universally applicable to index computation and allows investigation of index behavior as part of the development procedure. One can compute indexes with different parameter choices, adjust steps in the index definition by adding, removing, and swapping them to experiment with various index designs, calculate uncertainty measures, and assess indexes’ robustness. The article presents three examples to illustrate the usage of the pipeline framework: comparison of two different indexes designed to monitor the spatio-temporal distribution of drought in Queensland, Australia; the effect of dimension reduction choices on the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) on countries’ ranking; and how to calculate bootstrap confidence intervals for the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The methods are supported by a new R package, called tidyindex. Supplemental materials for the article are available online.

Comment on “Global prevalence and gender inequalities in at least 60 min of self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity 1 or more days per week: An analysis with 707,616 adolescents”

Comment on “Global prevalence and gender inequalities in at least 60 min of self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity 1 or more days per week: An analysis with 707,616 adolescents”

A Snapshot of Gender Equality, Women’s Empowerment, and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Selected African Countries using the Women’s Empowerment Index (WEI) and the Global Gender Parity Index (GGPI)

A Snapshot of Gender Equality, Women’s Empowerment, and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Selected African Countries using the Women’s Empowerment Index (WEI) and the Global Gender Parity Index (GGPI)

The rise in female consciousness contributes to advancing household energy transition: Evidence from Chinese households

Gender is an indispensable dimension, gender equality and empowering all women are core elements in transitioning to sustainable energy. However, current research on how female consciousness impact energy fairness remains insufficient. To fill this gap, utilizing data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), encompassing 16,000 households and 43,147 respondents, we explore how female consciousness influences energy transition. The findings reveal that a rise in female consciousness contributes to advancing household energy transition, particularly in eastern and urban areas where this effect is more pronounced. Further moderating effect analyses indicate that improved levels of female education and heightened female income further enhance the effective utilization of female awareness in driving household energy transition. The study not only deepen our understanding of the relationship between female consciousness and energy transition but also provide a scientific basis for developing energy policies promoting gender equality in developing countries, thus fostering global gender equality and sustainable energy development.

Social gender inequality and the gender gap in the classroom: evidence from Southern and Eastern Africa

ABSTRACT The gender gap in education is not limited to the subject of mathematics or only to be found in high-income countries, and its repercussions can have generational consequences. Previous literature has sought to explain why the gender gap persists in most high- and middle-income countries vis-à-vis social gender inequality without drawing from similarly comprehensive data from the African context with its unique gender gap landscape. This paper examines the correlation between more gender-equal countries and the gender gap in student test scores for reading, mathematics, and HIV-AIDS awareness in southern and eastern Africa. We use ordinary least squares and quantile regression to analyse student information from the SACMEQ III dataset in comparison with measurements of social gender inequality such as the Gender Inequality Index and the Global Gender Gap Index. As such, this analysis draws on data from roughly 60,000 African students and includes test scores from reading comprehension and HIV-AIDS awareness, a unique subject that is critical for health, wealth and wellbeing on the continent. Our study finds that in each subject at every quantile, the gender gap displays a robust inverse relationship with more gender-equal countries specifically demonstrating higher educational performance among girls. With youthful populations and burgeoning economies, these countries in Africa have much to gain from addressing the gender gap in education. These findings encourage policymakers to consider how the social condition of gender-equality might influence the academic performance of students, especially for girls.

Modeling Gender Gap in Access to Empowerment and Agricultural Productive Resources: Evidence from Farming Households in Kaduna State

This research examined gender access to empowerment and agricultural productive resources with a gender dimension. Respondents were selected with random and stratified sampling techniques. Primary data were generated through the administration of well-structured questionnaire. Generated data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Women Empowerment Index (WEI), Global Gender Parity Index (GGPI) and Gini Inequality Index (GII). The result shows that 37% and 60.20% of women and men had access to empowerment programmes respectively in the study area. WEI result showed that women had low access to empowerment variable (WEI = 0.67), the GGPI revealed that women (GGPI = 0.63) had low parity as against the men (GGPI = 0.77) with higher parity index. Furthermore, the Gini Inequality Index that there is inequality in access to agricultural productive resources between men (GII = 0.286) and women (GII = 0.383). The research concluded women had low empowerment and low access to agricultural productive resources as against the men. The research recommended that government programmes should be mainstreamed to ensure that more women have access to them and the extension department should design their programmes to ensure that more women have access to extension services in the study area.

Impact of peer review type and editor gender on women authorships in mathematics

Abstract Aiming to explain and help reduce measured gender gaps in mathematics publications—a discipline where single anonymized peer review practices and men editors are still the norm—we study changes in authorships straddling a 2015 switch in peer review type and editor gender in the American Mathematical Monthly, one of the oldest mathematics journals in the United States. Our results show a significant increase in women authorships after the journal’s switch to a woman editor and double anonymized reviews, an increase deemed exceptional relative to growth trends in comparable journals operating under field standards (men editors along with single anonymized reviews). We leverage literature, data-based observations and our own findings to argue for the likely effects of editor gender and peer review type separately and together as it concerns both women and newcomer authorships. Our study, the first to our knowledge on editorial and peer review changes in mathematics, contributes to a small body of literature on the impact of equity practices in peer review in science and mathematics. It also serves to introduce work, methods, and open problems on measuring and reducing the global gender gap in science and mathematics.

Digital peacekeeping, cyborg soldiers and militarised masculinities: a posthuman critique

ABSTRACT This article contends that digital technologies are profoundly altering peacekeeping practices as well as peacekeeper consciousness and modes of being. It is proposed that combining postcolonial humanist and posthumanist ontological perspectives when undertaking ethnographic research enrichens investigations into global race and gender power relations in peacekeeping. Drawing on posthumanism and Bourdieusian practice theory, the article examines how 16 British infantry soldiers articulate reconnaissance and civilian protection experiences and construct their militarised masculinities prior to and after deployment to United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in 2020–2021. Findings show that deployment to a high-risk, stressful mission and functioning as ‘information processing devices’ in an increasingly centralised UN peacekeeping system disempowers and emasculates the men. The peacekeepers respond by engendering and racialising the British Army’s ‘gender-neutral’ cyborg soldier figuration and draw on virtual gaming syntax and framings to create relational distance between themselves, female colleagues and local populations.

Challenging gender stereotypes: Young women's views on female role models in secondary school science textbooks

International Women's Day highlights both women's achievements and ongoing efforts toward global gender equality. Gender disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) affect a country's innovation and ability to tackle global challenges. Therefore, recent national education policies have looked for ways to promote gender equality, particularly in the STEM subjects. One problem is that teaching materials often lack female representation and recognition of female achievements and contributions to STEM subjects, affecting how female students perceive science. The study examines how female students aged 15 to 18 are impacted by gender disparity in their physics teaching materials and what importance they place on female role models. It encompasses 20 group interviews with female students (n = 80) in Switzerland, which were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results show that, aside from Marie Curie, female scientists are largely unknown to female students, contributing to the perception of physics as a male domain. Female role models are crucial for fostering interest, motivation, and self-esteem in STEM subjects. However, internalized gender stereotypes and fears of negative reactions from male peers counter the demand for greater visibility of female scientists. Despite these challenges, most female students advocate for more female role models in STEM to inspire future generations of female students to pursue a STEM career and foster positive social change.

Cognitive household labor: gender disparities and consequences for maternal mental health and wellbeing.

Although the division of unpaid household labor has been studied as a driver of global gender inequity, the cognitive dimension of household labor-planning, anticipating, and delegating household tasks-has received less empirical investigation. Cognitive household labor represents a form of invisible and often unacknowledged domestic work that has been challenging to measure. Within 322 mothers of young children, we assessed the division of both cognitive ("planning") and physical ("execution") household labor within 30 common household tasks using a self-report measure. We found that while mothers did more of the overall domestic labor than their partners, the division of cognitive labor was particularly gendered, such that women's share of cognitive labor was more disproportionate than physical household labor. We found that cognitive labor was associated with women's depression, stress, burnout, overall mental health, and relationship functioning. This study is one of the first to investigate cognitive labor quantitatively, and the first to investigate cognitive and physical dimensions within the same household tasks. Understanding how cognitive labor affects mothers' mental wellbeing has important implications for both practice and policy.

Embodying global gender norms: A decolonial and diasporic reading of domestic workers' activism in Brazil

The article offers a decolonial and diasporic reading of global gender norms as sites of power where nested hierarchies – of gender, race, class, among others – are constantly being contested, refused, and negotiated by and within bodies that resist. It departs from a Latin American/Ladin Amefrican perspective, which assumes an alternative genealogy of human rights that begins with the embodied experience and struggles of people, instead of assuming the existence of an international normative framework. It looks particularly at the struggle of domestic workers for labor rights in Brazil as a case of embodied human rights activism. By evidencing their agency in the formulation of global and local norms, the article claims that domestic workers' struggles were central not only for negotiating, disrupting and (re)creating spaces of power and agenda-setting, but also for confronting the structures of coloniality that sustain the modern matrix of power.