Persistence Of Gender Inequality Research Articles

ИЗМЕНЕНИЯ ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОГО СОЗНАНИЯ И ПОВЕДЕНИЯ РОССИЙСКИХ ЖЕНЩИН: ВЫЗОВЫ ЦИФРОВИЗАЦИИ

The relevance of studying changes in the political consciousness and behavior of women is associated with the trend of gender asymmetry in the structure of the population, persisting gender inequalities in the political sphere, and growing socio-cultural risks associated with the digitalization processes. The purpose of the article is to characterize the stages in the evolution of political consciousness and behavior of women in modern-day Russia and possible changes in the conditions of digitalization. The author identifies the evolution: stages: the crisis mobilization of political consciousness and women’s behavior (1987–1991); differentiation of political consciousness and behavior of women and readiness for decisive action (1992–1999); women’s electoral activity (2000–2007) and the stage of women’s political absenteeism and the search for a new identity (2008 – present). The digitalization of politics is associated with a significant change in the traditional practices of socio-political interaction, there is a rejection of its hierarchical structure, which is facilitated by the absolutization of the network connections built on impersonal algorithms of big data. That may contribute to increase the participation of women. Most notably, the development of electronic platforms for collecting the signatures and declarations as well as of social networks allow women to articulate their civic positions, build up their social capital, and realize group and socially significant interests

Torn between the Old and New World of Work: Insights into the Modernised Semi-Profession of the Fashion IndustryDate submitted: December 31, 2019Date accepted after double-blind review: February 1, 2021

This paper explores how persistent gender inequalities of the old world of work are amplified by the new world of work. Focusing on the fashion industry of Berlin, the article offers insight into a female-dominated field of labour as a particular field of labour of the cultural and creative industries (CCI). The CCI is regarded as a role model for new work. However, they entail deep gender inequalities in terms of segregation, low status and low pay. The paper addresses the question of how these gendered inequalities in the fashion industry are intertwined with its professional mechanisms and training structures. Based on a qualitative study, I argue that the fashion industry is a modernised semi-profession, which has been undergoing a market-driven professionalisation. However, this new pathway into the fashion industry fails to fully professionalise that industry. On contrary, it erects new occupational barriers into the field of labour that help establish high qualified and low qualified fashion work that also aids in polarising the still mostly female workforce in terms of status and rewards. Overall, it should become clear that the fashion industry is torn between the old and new world of work which helps to maintain or even reinforce traditional gender inequalities.

REBELLION OF THE BORN UNFREES

South Africa's public discourse has been largely influenced by the recent student protests in higher education. Government officials, student leaders, higher education officials and the general populance have all participated in this national debate. This youth activism is led by various student political formations using the popular slogan of 'FeesMustFall' to mobilise their peers and broader society. Student leaders argue that the main strategic objective is to achieve free decolonised higher education. This article explores the socio-economic and political context driving these student marches across the country. It argues that the protest action is primarily caused by the following two phenomena: first, the broader societal discontent with persistent class, race and gender inequalities in South Africa. Second, the negative socio-economic impacts of a neo-colonial corporatised higher education model. The student demands are discussed in relation to these two broad structural trends associated with the transition to liberal democracy in South Africa. My core contention is that the student movement proposals are crucial for restructuring the neo-colonial corporate university.

The Agency Myth: Persistence in Individual Explanations for Gender Inequality

AbstractWe leverage a unique longitudinal dataset—98 interviews with 30 college students—to investigate young people’s explanations for gender inequality over time and the implications of those explanations. Through five waves and four years of interviews, we show that young people struggled to internalize structural explanations, instead favoring explanations that conceptualized gender as an individual attribute. Individual perspectives were so intransigent because of respondents’ adherence to what we call the agency myth, the latent cultural idea that individuals, particularly women, have the power to overcome gender inequality through strategic behaviors. The agency myth offered young people a sense of self-efficacy, but prevented their imagining broader solutions for social change. Those who were able to think structurally did so only after rejecting the agency myth. This article shows how the durability of individualist perspectives contributes to persistent gender inequality by privileging individualized solutions over more effective structural ones. We discuss how individual subscription to the agency myth is structured by young people’s intersecting identities, and how the agency myth can be applied to other axes of inequality.

'Intelligent' lockdown, intelligent effects? Results from a survey on gender (in)equality in paid work, the division of childcare and household work, and quality of life among parents in the Netherlands during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The COVID-19 pandemic is more than a public health crisis. Lockdown measures have substantial societal effects, including a significant impact on parents with (young) children. Given the existence of persistent gender inequality prior to the pandemic, particularly among parents, it is crucial to study the societal impact of COVID-19 from a gender perspective. The objective of this paper is to use representative survey data gathered among Dutch parents in April 2020 to explore differences between mothers and fathers in three areas: paid work, the division of childcare and household tasks, and three dimensions of quality of life (leisure, work-life balance, relationship dynamics). Additionally, we explore whether changes take place in these dimensions by comparing the situation prior to the lockdown with the situation during the lockdown. We use descriptive methods (crosstabulations) supported by multivariate modelling (linear regression modelling for continuous outcomes; linear probability modelling (LPM) for binary outcomes (0/1 outcomes); and multinomial logits for multinomial outcomes) in a cross-sectional survey design. Results show that the way in which parents were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic reflects a complex gendered reality. Mothers work in essential occupations more often than fathers, report more adjustments of the times at which they work, and experience both more and less work pressure in comparison to before the lockdown. Moreover, mothers continue to do more childcare and household work than fathers, but some fathers report taking on greater shares of childcare and housework during the lockdown in comparison to before. Mothers also report a larger decline in leisure time than fathers. We find no gender differences in the propensity to work from home, in perceived work-life balance, or in relationship dynamics. In conclusion, we find that gender inequality in paid work, the division of childcare and household work, and the quality of life are evident during the first lockdown period. Specifically, we find evidence of an increase in gender inequality in relation to paid work and quality of life when comparing the situation prior to and during the lockdown, as well as a decrease in gender inequality in the division of childcare and household work. We conclude that the unique situation created by restrictive lockdown measures magnifies some gender inequalities while lessening others. The insights we provide offer key comparative evidence based on a representative, probability-based sample for understanding the broader impact of lockdown measures as we move forward in the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the limitations in this study is the cross-sectional design. Further study, in the form of a longitudinal design, will be crucial in investigating the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender inequality.

Gender inequality in Canadian interuniversity sport: participation opportunities and leadership positions from 2010-11 to 2016-17

ABSTRACT Combining results from four separate studies of gender equality in Canadian interuniversity sport, which were conducted biennially across four academic years (2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, and 2016–17), this paper analyses gender inequality in both athletic participation opportunities and leadership positions (coaching and administrative) across the 56 universities that comprise U SPORTS, the pan-Canadian governing body for Canadian interuniversity sport. Our findings indicate that Canadian interuniversity sport is characterised by persistent and ongoing gender inequality in both the opportunity to participate as an athlete and employment in leadership positions. We analyse these results in light of the historical struggle for women’s opportunity in Canadian interuniversity sport and the development, but apparent lack of implementation, of U SPORTS’ gender equity policies. We also critique the failure of U SPORTS and its member universities to act on the persistent gender inequality identified in our data, despite policy impetus to do so, and provide policy recommendations to address these inequalities.

Understanding, ownership, or resistance: Explaining persistent gender inequality in public services

AbstractGender inequality persists in the public services in many Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development countries, despite decades of policy and strategic initiatives designed to promote greater equality. Resistance to gender equality, characterized by opposition to change or support for the status quo, has emerged as one potential explanation for the disconnection between policies and outcomes. This article explores whether concepts of resistance assist to explain slow progress towards gender equality in our study of four Australian public sector jurisdictions, where we asked middle managers about their understanding of, and action towards, gender equality. We found that managers were committed to gender equality and held a general understanding of their jurisdiction's gender equality policies, but lacked a deeper understanding of how organizations and human resource practice are gendered, which impeded translating commitment into action. This resulted in various levels of resistance and an unwillingness or inability to operationalize policies and strategies. This indicates that public services have progressed from identifying the problem to not knowing how to operationalize solutions. Our research contributes to the resistance literature, showing the existence of the various forms of gender equality resistance, which can impede action. A further contribution is that our research did not find differences between the approaches of male and female managers in gender‐balanced organizations, with both equally aware of the policies but demonstrating similar levels and types of resistance.

Gender inequity in media coverage and athletes’ welfare in Nigerian sports: impact of the Nigeria sports policy and African union agenda 2063

Sport is an equalizer is not always a reality as demonstrated by persistent gender inequality in Nigeria. Therefore, investigating gender inequalities in sports remains highly relevant. This study examined gender inequity in media coverage and welfare of national teams in line with Nigeria sports policy and Africa Union Agenda 2063. Twenty female soccer, track, and field athletes with five coaches participated in in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis was employed, and results were presented in verbatim quotes. Participants reported significant pay gaps of close to 80% between male and female national team athletes and significant disparities were reported in welfare. Similar disparities were found on media coverage. Female athletes are perceived as inferior, while many quit or take other nationalities to compete at the highest level. Results show minimal progress in achieving gender equity in Nigerian sports despite the sports policy and African Union Agenda 2063. Therefore, sports governing bodies must demonstrate strong alignments between policy and practice.

Gender Justice, Education and Equality: Creating Capabilities for Girls’ and Women’s Development

Education is a basic human right; “everyone has the right education” as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognised in 1948 (UNESCO, 2007). However, many girls and women cannot access education due to persistent gender bias and inequalities in societies (UNESCO, 2014). As Cin (2017) highlights in her book, around the world, approximately “65 million girls are not schooled and two-thirds of the world’s 774 million illiterate are female” (p.3). Even though it is well-known that access to a quality of education helps to eliminate gender bias and patriarchal values that exist in societies, most of the current educational systems across the world reflect and reproduce gender inequalities and prejudices.

Persistent norms and the #MeToo effect in Swedish forestry education

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the persistence of gender inequality in Swedish forestry education. The many strategic documents stand in contrast to the experienced inequalities depicted in the forest sector’s #MeToo movement. Both #slutavverkat and the open letter, written by female students, describe harassment and sexist behaviour. Theories about the culture of silence and bystander behaviour – are used to analyse the continuation of the norms that make harassment possible. Through an analysis of focus groups and interviews, we identify mechanisms that allow for the continuation of gender inequality. It is shown that strong traditions and hierarchical relations between students have contributed to the continuation of the culture of masculine domination. This culture has been allowed to flourish in hidden arenas such as the student union and social media, often in the form of sexist jokes that have been tolerated. Leadership at different levels has formulated measures to promote gender equality, but at the same time has failed to hear and react sufficiently to discrimination. This has in turn contributed to women’s silence. #slutavverkat and the open letter have led to increased awareness, but remaining challenges include the barriers that prevent bystanders from acting in a more prosocial way.

On the unexplained causes of the gender gap in the labour market

PurposeThis paper investigates the causes of the gender gap in the labour market that cannot be explained by classical human capital theory.Design/methodology/approachTo this end, the authors integrate the Gender Gap in the Labour Market Index (GGLMI), a composite index developed in previous research, with further information on some social aspects that could affect the female work commitment, directly or indirectly. In particular, the authors want to verify if family care and home duties, still strongly unbalanced against women, and the welfare system play a significant role in the gender gap.FindingsResults highlight a very complex scenario, characterized by the persistence of gender inequalities everywhere, even if at different degrees, with very strong imbalances in the time spent at work in response to the family commitments.Research limitations/implicationsThe actual determinants of gender disparities in the labour market are very difficult to identify because of the lack of adequate data and the difficulties in measuring some factors determining female behaviour. The additional information used in this research can only partially accomplish this task.Originality/valueHowever, for the first time, this paper uses information on different aspects and causes of the gender gap, including proxies of mainly unobservable aspects, in order to achieve at least partial measurement of this phenomenon.

Gendered Laws and Women in the Workforce

This paper offers for the first time a global picture of gender discrimination by the law as it affects women's economic opportunity and charts the evolution of legal inequalities over five decades. Using the World Bank's newly constructed Women, Business and the Law database, we document large and persistent gender inequalities, especially with regard to pay and treatment of parenthood. We find positive correlations between more equal laws pertaining to women in the workforce and more equal labor market outcomes, such as higher female labor force participation and a smaller wage gap between men and women. (JEL D63, J16, J31, J71, J78, K31, K38)

Gender parity in higher education enrolments: trends and paradoxes

Higher education systems globally have seen major increases in women’s participation and the overall trend in OECD countries has been a transition from the traditional male majority in enrolments to a substantial female majority. Prompted by a recent reversal of this trend, this paper explores gender differences in participation in higher education in 27 OECD countries between 1971 and 2015. While increased participation by women was thought to be part of the solution to persistent gender inequalities we argue that this is not an inevitable outcome. Our argument is based on an analysis of changes in the gender composition of the student population, using available secondary data. We explore how changing gender differentials are linked to the concurrent massification of HE, changing distribution of enrolments by field of study, changes in sex segregation by field, features of national education systems and wider social structural differences related to gender. Our analysis examines the complex interaction between discipline-specific levels of sex segregation and overall levels of gender parity. We argue that that sex segregation needs to be considered alongside women’s long-standing higher participation rates to understand why the latter has not triggered a transformation in the gendered division of labour.

When the Global Downturn Hits the Youth Bulge: Challenges and Opportunities for (Female) Youth Employment and Social Advancement

Developing countries are presently experiencing or are shortly expected to see a “youth bulge” (a large number of young people in the national population) — some 71 in total and 11 in Asia alone — will face relatively greater employment and human capital investment challenges as a result of the global economic crisis and its medium term ramifications. Additionally, gender inequalities could also be exacerbated by the global crisis, increasing the risks particularly for female youth. To help address these issues and as a contribution to the policy discussions toward a more inclusive social and economic recovery from the crisis, this paper examines the extent to which countries with imminent or anticipated youth bulges, combined with historically persistent gender inequality, are likely to be impacted by the crisis. As a second contribution this paper develops a framework for understanding the risks faced by girls throughout the lifecycle, with an additional focus on intergenerational transmission of poverty.

Millennials and Gender in an Era of Growing Inequality

In this paper, we identify and discuss several important themes surrounding gender among millennials in the context of growing inequality covering various topics from college classrooms to cross-national settings. Findings of our paper suggest that we need to understand social contexts and challenges faced by millennials. For example, millennials, both men and women alike, are affected by a rise in socioeconomic inequality and show pessimistic attitudes about the future. In addition, millennials hold more progressive gender beliefs than previous generations, but the cultural belief about individual responsibility still remains and works as one of the reasons for persistent gender inequality. Most importantly, in spite of the diversity in topics, research methods, and study context, all research included in this paper indicates the importance of viewing the issue of gender inequality in a broad social context through a structural lens and an intersectional perspective. We conclude with suggestions for the future.

Why Is Part-time Unpaid Parental Leave (Still) Gendered? Narratives and Strategies of Couples in Spain

This article examines men’s and women’s reasoning regarding part-time unpaid parental leave use intentions once paid leave ends by using 52 original interviews conducted with highly educated men and women aged 24 years to 35 years in stable partnerships in Spain. We identify three part-time unpaid parental leave use strategies concealing six different narratives. Our results offer interesting gender discrepancies that reveal intended unpaid leave use arrangements. Our comparison of men’s and women’s narratives suggests that men seem to overestimate the egalitarianism within their relationships by being highly predisposed to take unpaid leave. Our analysis indicates that economic uncertainty and labor-market barriers (including persistent gender inequality) perpetuate a gendered use of this gender-neutral policy even among couples who show strong gender-egalitarian attitudes.

Gender parity: Legal foundations and theological issues in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

This study examines the legal foundations and the theological issue of gender equality in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and proposes the adoption of an ethical approach towards the amelioration of this pertinent issue of human concern. Arguably, the achievement of gender equality in the DRC remains a myth, an objective to be realised, and a world of opportunity to be utilised. The argument pursued here is that the persistence of gender inequality has far-reaching consequences for all spheres of society. Therefore, it is crucial for women and men to be more proactive and work together towards the attainment of gender equality. This begins with the acquisition of adequate training for women in various fields. Thus, armed with the requisite knowledge and courage, women will be able to fully participate and effectively contribute to the advancement of society and the church in the same way as their male counterparts.

The Persistence of Gender Inequality: Evidence from Labor Market Reactions to Bank Deregulation

Do gender pay gaps transform into more covert forms of gender inequity in the labor market? Exploiting divergent industrial responses to U.S. bank deregulation, we document how industrial differences in credit access propel this transformation. This is because in less equitable industries (where we show new entry is limited and incumbents increase R&D investments), credit increases rents, which disproportionately benefit male workers. In response, equitable industries (where we show credit increases competition) shift labor demand towards women. These divergent industrial responses in net reduce the gap, but also exacerbate sorting across industries, accentuate workplace gender bias, and make female wages vulnerable to credit contractions. Gender inequities, thus, transform rather than disappear.

Gendered Laws and Women in the Workforce

This paper provides the first global look at how gender discrimination by the law affects women’s economic opportunity and charts the evolution of legal inequalities over five decades. Using the World Bank’s newly constructed Women, Business and the Law database, it documents large and persistent gender inequalities, especially with regard to pay and treatment of parenthood. The paper finds positive correlations between more equal laws pertaining to women in the workforce and more equal labor market outcomes, such as higher female labor force participation and a smaller wage gap between men and women.

Part-time employment and the gender gap in low pay for UK employees: what changed over the period 1996–2016?

ABSTRACT This article assesses the contribution of part-time employment to the gender gap in low pay for UK employees 1996–2016. Over this period, there has been a sustained decline in the importance of part-time employment as a contributing factor to the gender gap in low pay. This is largely due to the fact that the link between part-time employment and low pay has become weaker over time (shifts in the gender composition of the part-time workforce are found to be less important). However, part-time work continues to play a crucial role in shaping persistent gender inequality in low pay for UK employees.