Higher Levels Of Gender Equality Research Articles

Professional's Views on the 'Nordic Paradox' in a Low Intimate Partner Violence Prevalence Country.

The apparently contradictory co-existence of high levels of gender equality and intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) found in Nordic countries has been termed the Nordic Paradox. The aim of this study was to examine how the Nordic Paradox is discussed and explained by Spanish professionals working in the IPVAW field. Five focus groups (n = 19) and interviews with key informants (n = 10) were conducted. Four main categories of possible explanations for the Nordic Paradox were identified: Macro-micro disconnect (i.e., discordance between individual beliefs and behaviors and macro-social norms of gender equality), IPVAW as multicausal (i.e., IPVAW defined as a multicausal phenomenon that does not necessarily have to be associated with gender equality), cultural patterns of social relationships (i.e., the role of social relationships and the way people relate to each other in the Nordic countries), and backlash effect (i.e., men's reaction to greater equality for women). Although this study does not provide a final explanation for the Nordic paradox, its results provide us with a better understanding of the phenomenon and can help to advance research in this field.

Are women greener? Board gender diversity and corporate green technology innovation in China

This article investigates how board gender diversity impacts corporate green technology innovation, and whether regional gender contexts as well as corporate financial constraints moderate this relationship. Using a panel of 20,834 firm-year observations of China, the results indicate a statistically significant positive association between board gender diversity and corporate green technology innovation. Specifically, the study finds that boards with three or more female directors have a stronger positive effect on green technology innovation than boards with two or fewer female directors, in line with the critical mass theory. Besides, the result shows that the effect of female executive directors outweighs that of female independent directors. Further, the positive association between female directors and green technology innovation is found to be more pronounced in firms located in regions with higher levels of gender equality and higher proportions of women in politics, while financial constraints act to alleviate the extent of the positive relationship. Additionally, female directors play a potent role in reducing corporate carbon emissions, particularly for high-polluting firms and those located in regions with stricter environmental regulation. The key results remain unchanged after correcting for endogeneity concern. Overall, this study has substantial practical implications and provides valuable insights for managers and policymakers regarding the contribution of female leadership in enhancing corporate environmental performance.

Do STEM women feel ethically and emotionally better prepared for their careers than men?

Despite a growing imperative for graduates to possess STEM skills, both to boost their employability prospects and their perceived economic value, it is critical to also consider the professional or ‘soft skills’ that will enable these graduates to thrive in their careers. Ironically, gender differences in personality and occupational choice are larger, not smaller, in more gender-equal countries. This is known as the gender equality paradox and in STEM it highlights the importance of purposeful initiatives throughout the educational trajectory, even in countries with higher levels of gender equality. This study employed an online self-assessment of perceived employability (PE) using a validated instrument and analyzed the data from 2493 STEM students studying at multiple Australian universities. The findings, underpinned by Social Cognitive Careers Theory, indicate that female report greater confidence than their male peers in ethical literacy and in some emotional literacy skills; these are understood to be critical soft skills for STEM graduates. This distinction is more pronounced in the natural and physical sciences and within information technology fields. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

Exploring the role of country-level gender equality in the link between relationship status and perceived social support across 49 countries

Past studies have demonstrated that higher perceived social support among coupled individuals and greater gender equality foster a more supportive social context. Less is known about how the link between relationship status and perceived social support may vary across countries that differ in gender equality. Employing the data collected from the COVIDiSTRESS I (39 countries; N = 99,075) and COVIDiSTRESS II (23 countries; N = 8293) projects, we examined whether country-level gender equality moderates the link between relationship status and perceived social support. Multilevel regression analyses indicated that gender equality moderated the link between relationship status and perceived social support. Single people in countries with less gender equality reported less perceived social support than was reported by both coupled people and single people from countries with moderate and high levels of gender equality, however, the effect of the interaction between relationship status and gender equality on perceived social support was very low. The results suggest that gender equality fosters perceived social support, both for single people and for partnered people.

The Historical Gender Gap Index: A Longitudinal and Spatial Assessment of Sweden, 1870–1990

This paper investigates the evolution of gender equality in Sweden during a phase characterized by industrialization, urbanization, and demographic transition. To this end, we build a database with quantitative indicators to construct a spatial Historical Gender Gap Index. We find that after a period of stagnation, Sweden made significant progress in closing the gender gap from the 1940s onward to reach the high level of gender equality that it is now famous for. The empirical exploration of the relationship between gender equality and economic development reveals that regions displaying higher gender equality performed economically better than less gender-equal regions.

“We all have Regrets; it doesn’t Mean we are Failures”: Rejecting or Regretting Motherhood

A woman’s choice to remain childfree is often met with disapproving comments. This article focuses on pronatalism and the social discourse that promotes and maintains motherhood as the preferred choice for women in a country that has achieved high levels of gender equality. Critical discourse analysis is applied to 30 qualitative interviews with women, trans, and non-binary people in Iceland, who are either childfree by choice or who regret motherhood. The results indicate that despite neoliberalism advocating a woman’s right to freedom of choice, pronatalist ideologies continue to undermine reproductive self-determination, promoting motherhood as the right choice. Unsolicited comments act as powerful mechanisms that serve to shame those who can bear children into becoming mothers or facing regret yet simultaneously condemn women who regret motherhood. Women who choose to remain childfree privately challenge unwanted comments by overturning pronatalist discourses, whereas those who regret their choice to become mothers struggle to express their feelings for fear of being judged and branded as failures.

Gender features of the Kazakhstan labour market in the context of sustainable development

Kazakhstan is demonstrating its commitment to promoting gender equality and working closely with the globalcommunity. Over the past decade, the gender gap in the structure of labour force of Kazakhstan has slightly decreased. However, gender gaps persist. Women in Kazakhstan make up slightly more than half of the total population of the country, but their contribution to indicators of economic activity, growth and well-being of republic is significantly below their potential. In this article, gender dynamics of Kazakhstan labour market are explored at macro and micro levels using GIS. In this article, authors tried to answer the following questions: What is the gender situation in the labour market of Kazakhstan, as a country of Central Asia region with an Eastern mentality? Does the growing number of employed women lead to higher levels of gender equality in the Kazakhstan labour market? What are the characteristics of women’s employment compared to men’s? The results of research show that women’s increased access to jobs has not led to a significant reduction in the gap in earnings and incomes between men and women. This is due to the gender segregation of vocational education, which lays the foundation for sectoral differentiation of employment with different geographical distributions. Also, the so-called “glass ceiling” or low accessibility to leadership positions hinders women’s greater competitiveness. In addition, such an important element of labour market as unpaid domestic work, which is mainly occupied by women, is still not recognized.

How Gender Affects Negative and Positive Campaigning

ABSTRACT While studies investigating gendered ways of campaigning have primarily focused on negative campaign strategies, we explore the extent to which women and men engage in negative and positive campaigning and how they are combined. Our analyses, relying on the 2019 Finnish Parliamentary Candidates Survey, shows that even in the Finnish context, with comparatively high levels of gender equality in society and politics, distinct gender patterns in campaigning occur. Women candidates report having campaigned more positively than men candidates, while men candidates are more likely to report having campaigned negatively than women candidates. We also find that men are more inclined to incorporate a balanced mixture of positive and negative campaign messages, while women predominantly rely on positive campaigning. Based on our findings, we conclude that women and men still do not compete in politics on equal terms.

Intimate partner violence and negative health consequences: A cross-sectional study among women in a regional sample in Sweden.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global health problem of enormous proportions. However, little is known about the prevalence or health consequences of IPV among women in Stockholm, Sweden, a city characterised by high levels of gender equality that hosts a large population of people born outside Europe. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of exposure to physical, psychological and sexual IPV and its associated background factors and health outcomes. This was a cross-sectional study employing a survey containing questions about the previous year's exposure to IPV that was distributed to 35 midwifery clinics in Stockholm during the autumn of 2020. Any woman who visited any of these midwifery clinics during these two months was eligible to participate. A total of 2239 women answered the questionnaire, of whom 25.1% reported having been subjected to IPV at some point during their life and 8.7% during the previous year. The most common ongoing exposure was psychological violence, which was reported by 6.6% of the women. Women living with IPV reported poorer self-rated general health and more recurring health symptoms and depression than unexposed women. Exposure to IPV is common and is associated with depression, lower general well-being and somatic health problems.

The COVID-19 crisis and gender equality in Finland

This article assesses the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on gender equality in Finland, based on the findings of a research project funded by the government’s analysis, assessment and research activities. Finland provides an interesting case, as in some respects it could be argued to represent the best-case scenario. The article shows that the employment and social impacts of the crisis were gendered, and that the crisis made visible long-term gender equality problems in the Finnish society. The article suggests that the impacts on gender equality were nevertheless relatively small and short term. The lightness of the restriction measures, high levels of gender equality, and the Finnish welfare state contributed to this outcome, even if the protection provided by these factors was not complete. Despite the Finnish government’s commitment to advancing gender equality, the adopted recovery and support measures were not particularly gender sensitive.

Perspective in community forest management in Central Lombok Regency

The gender perspective in community forest management in Central Lombok Regency is focused on analyzing gender equality in domestic and productive activities, particularly access and control of forest resources. This research is conducted by using Framework Harvard Analysis through interviews with respondents, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with certain informants. The unit of this research’s analysis is women whose household has the right to manage community forest. This study shows that there is a gender equality bias which is indicated by the low participation of women in controlling forest resources (planning, regulation, evaluation) due to the stereotypical view of gender roles in decision making which is dominated by men. However, the high participation of women is more involved in terms of access to forest resources (implementation, crop productivity, utilization) to improve household food security. Forest farmer households with a high level of gender equality through the active involvement of women in controlling forest resources will improve social and economic adaptation strategies with a high level of diversity.

Does gendered representation in national legislatures promote substantive representation and human development? Evidence from the developing world

AbstractDespite the increase in the share of women in national legislatures in the developing world, scholars are still debating if gender‐diversified legislatures promote women‐friendly policies or negate women's empowerment attributed to intersectional demands, the absence of a critical mass, and continued gendered patriarchy. Previous studies also lack generalizability as they are based on single‐country studies or cross‐national research with samples restricted by region or constrained to affluent nation‐states. To resolve the conundrum pertaining to understanding the nature of substantive representation in the non‐Western world, a panel study of 64 developing countries from 2005–2019 is employed. The study finds evidence that increased legislative representation by women is positively associated with the implementation of policies that promote higher levels of gender equality, social inclusion, and human development. The results imply that women's legislative presence in the global south has significant contributions in terms of affecting policy outcomes that improve the human condition.Related ArticlesGreen, David R. 2003. “The Effects of Member Gender and Constituency Characteristics on Southern Congressional Voting Behavior, 1972‐2000.” Politics & Policy 31(1): 80–104. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.1998.tb00471.x.Sahfie, David M. 2008. “Women and Representation at Major Party Conventions, 1972‐1992.” Politics & Policy 26(1): 45–77. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2003.tb00888.x.Whistler, Donald E., and Mark C. Ellickson. 2010. “A Rational Choice Approach to Explaining Policy Preferences and Concern for Representing Women among State Legislators.” Politics & Policy 38(1): 25–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2009.00227.x.

How Do Traditional Gender Roles Influence Women’s Lives in Taiwan? An Investigation of Highly Educated Women’s Willingness to Create Families

In comparison to other countries in East Asia in which a significant gender gap can be identified, Taiwan is reported to have an exceptionally high level of gender equality. However, Taiwan’s fertility rate is notably low (1.05 in 2019), even among East Asian countries with declining fertility rates. Childbirth outside marriage is rare in Taiwan; hence, the marriage rate directly affects the number of newborn babies. This implies that Taiwan’s gender equality index does not properly reflect the actual situation in society and that the situation may not be so different from in other East Asian countries. Namely, invisible forms of gender inequality may exist in Taiwan, and traditional gender roles may affect women’s lives, including their willingness to start a family. To examine this proposition, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 43 women aged 30–40 years old, with a focus on those with a basic university education or higher who are most likely to experience gender equality. Results show that Taiwanese women—especially highly educated women—enjoy superficially equal positions and avoid traditional contexts in order to protect their rights and avoid the gender roles associated with traditional families. Welfare that the state should be responsible for, such as childcare and nursing care, is supplied by women in the name of tradition, but the willingness of females to start a family is declining. Promoting family participation for males and supporting more comprehensive equality are two of the keys to increasing the marriage/fertility rate and closing the gap between public and private equality.

Gender roles or gendered goals? Women's return to rural family business

PurposeThis paper aims to add to the theorization of the gender dynamic in rural areas by investigating the motives of women who join their family firm (or their spouse's family firm) and thereby defy the demographic trend of rural flight. The context of this study is the depopulation of rural areas with the closing of basic services and relocation of the younger population, and educated women in particular, to urban areas. Consequently, rural family businesses risk failing to find successors and suffering forced closure or relocation. The empirical site of the study is rural family firms in Sweden, a context characterized by a high level of gender equality in legislation and culture but gender-conservative business structures in rural regions.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical case in this paper builds on a qualitative study of nine (9) life course narratives of women entrepreneurs in a rural region of Southern Sweden who have returned to rural areas to join their family business. The authors follow the view established by gender scholars that women are active agents in navigating their lives, and their life story narratives offer insight into the considerations that inform their choice to stay or return to rural locations. In Sweden, the setting for the study, gender equality is widely supported by legislation, policy and institutional frameworks and popular understanding of gender relations. In contrast to the gender-progressive policies of Sweden at large, women's entrepreneurship in rural regions of Sweden tends to follow traditional gender hierarchies and face similar constraints as in rural areas of other countries. The juxtaposition of these competing sets of ideals makes Sweden an important and interesting place to study and draw insights from the experiences of women entrepreneurs.FindingsThe findings reveal that women who choose to join rural family firms view them primarily in a positive light and see this choice as aligned with their need for professional flexibility and assertiveness, rewarding relationships, and a calm, secure, well-balanced life. Theoretically, the study implies that women choosing to engage in rural family firms seek non-material benefits, such as work–life balance and social support, and may be driven in part by a sense of psychological ownership that extends to the rural community.Originality/valueThe findings provide novel insights on women as active agents in navigating their lives and the intrinsic (e.g. alignment of personal values) and extrinsic (e.g. community support) motives that inform their decisions. The study also raises questions regarding how women perceive themselves as “fitting in” to rural settings and to what extent the sense of security within these settings that the women describe may be contingent upon factors such as their families' embeddedness within the community as well as their conformity to the local social norms.

Gender equality in Latin America

The article concerns measuring gender equality in Latin American countries based on statistics from international (WEF, OECD, ILO, UNESCO) and regional (UNECLAC) organizations and national statistical services, as well as various gender inequality indices (GGI, SIGI). Gender equality is seen as one of the goals of sustainable development, and gender inequality – as a brake on its path. The study is conducted within institutional approach, since institutions are formal and informal restrictions accepted in society and determine the scale and factors of gender inequality. Particular attention is paid to axial institutions that play a primary role in creation, formation and implementation of human capital, namely the institutions of the family and the labor market, education and science, state and corporate governance. The study shows that, among emerging economies, Latin America has very high levels of gender equality as a result of a high degree of feminization of labor markets among other factors. However, the predominance of traditional division of labor in institution of the family levels out the bonuses from participation of women in paid work and exacerbates the problem of a double burden: women are caught in a vise, where, on the one hand, there is a paid work, and, on the other, an unpaid domestic work, which falls mainly on women. The most significant factor that positively affects the increase in gender equality is the share of women in government, while the level of socio-economic development of the country without a specialized policy aimed at stimulating gender equality does not lead to an increase in the latter.

Examining the Effect of Gender Leadership and Workforce Equality on Thematic Mutual Funds Financial Performance

This study examines the relationship between gender equality scores for leadership and workforce dimension and financial performance of 554 US thematic mutual funds and 2,140 US conventional mutual funds investing globally or in the United States stock markets from January 2015 to May 2021. To this end, we implement the new Fama and French six-factor model and the Student’s t-parametric tests for the independent samples. Our results indicate that, in general, gender equality for leadership and workforce does not affect the financial performance of mutual funds focused on one sector related to sustainable development goals that invest in the United States market. However, we find that infrastructure mutual funds with higher levels of gender leadership and workforce equality that invest in the global market perform better than their counterparts with lower levels of gender equality. On the contrary, healthcare, water, information technology and gold and precious metals mutual funds with higher levels of gender equality for leadership and workforce dimension that invest in the global market underperform their counterparts with lower levels of gender leadership and workforce equality. Similarly, we find a negative relationship between gender equality level for leadership and workforce dimension and the financial performance of mutual funds diversified across sectors such as conventional and ethical mutual funds investing globally or in the United States market.

Constitutional and legal framework for gender equality in Ukraine and world countries

This research aims at a comparative analysis of the constitutional and legal foundations of gender equality in Ukraine and other countries, as well as the study of the constitutional and legal provision influence on the indicator of Global Gender Gap Index. The research uses the method of analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, systematization, cluster analysis. Research results on the influence of constitutional and legal provision on the Global Gender Gap Index, there are three groups among the EU countries: countries with a higher level of gender equality (Global Gender Gap Index between 0.784-0.861: Ireland, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, and Sweden); countries with a more or less high level of gender equality (Global Gender Gap Index between 0.762-0.778: Latvia, Netherlands, and Portugal), and countries with an average level of gender equality (Global Gender Gap Index between 0.688 and 0.726: Greece, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic). The first group of countries has a more advanced constitutional and legal provision for gender equality. In the second group – the principles of constitutional and legal provision for gender equality are not fully implemented. In the third group – the constitutional and legal provision needs reviewing and improvement. Ukraine characterized by gender inequality, violence against women, low level of the legal protection of women, limitation of their access to participation in public, political and economic life.

Gender Equality and Maternal Burnout: A 40-Country Study

In Western countries, recent decades have witnessed a revolution toward gender equality. Inequalities have been greatly reduced in areas such as education or employment. Because inequalities lead to distress, this development has largely benefited women. One notable exception is the realm of parenting, which has remained rife with inequalities even in the most egalitarian countries. We hypothesized that experiencing inequality in parenting when one holds egalitarian values and raising a child in a country characterized by a high level of gender equality in other areas, increases mothers’ psychological distress in the specific area of parenting. Multilevel modeling analyses computed among 11,538 mothers from 40 countries confirmed this prediction: high egalitarian values at the individual level and high gender equality at the societal level are associated with higher burnout levels in mothers. The associations hold beyond differences in sociodemographic characteristics at the individual level and beyond economic disparities at the societal level. These findings show the importance of egalitarian values and gender equality and their paradoxical effect when inequalities are still present in specific areas as parenting. This study reveals the crucial need to act not only at the micro level but also at the macro level to promote gender equality in parenting and prevent parental burnout.

Bias and leadership aspirations

This article aims to extend existing work on bias and leadership aspirations by investigating whether there are significant differences in self-evaluations when jointly considering gender and parental status. With a data subset from a survey of 866 women and 1372 men members of the leading Danish union for managers and leaders, we examine the relationship of gender and parental status with leadership aspirations. Contra theory-based expectations, our exploratory study's findings show little difference between mothers and women without children, whereas fathers report significantly higher leadership aspirations than men without children. Supplementary analysis indicates that lower aspirations are accompanied by lower self-evaluations of competence. Our findings thus suggest that men and women are differentially affected by combined gender and parenthood biases and that gendered social expectations for parents affect self-evaluations even in a national context characterized by high levels of gender equality before the law.

Challenging the Gender Dichotomy: Examining Olympic Channel Content Through a Gendered Lens

This study content analyzed 1,013 thumbnails of news episodes at the Olympic Channel through the lens of gender. By examining the percentage of pictures rendered to male and female athletes, themes, sports type, sexualization, subordination, and action level, this study uncovered that although some sex differences existed, the Olympic Channel—overall—showcased a high level of gender equality in visualizing male and female athletes in news thumbnails, especially considering that the pictures analyzed were collected from daily-based media coverage. This study is one of the first to explore gender differences in a media platform established by the International Olympic Committee, with implications outlined.