Social Justice Outcomes Research Articles

A Capabilities-based Gender Equality Policy for Higher Education: Conceptual and Methodological Considerations

The complex transformative intent of policy goals is often marginalized in favour of tangible, measurable outcomes. Such a pattern is evident in the tracking of global social justice goals, such as gender equality, where sole reliance on numerical parity data to track progress has led to the simplification of the concept for the sake of measurement. This intensifies the need to focus both on conceptual and methodological considerations in policy development and evaluation to enhance human development and promote the transformation of inequalities towards social justice. Through reporting on a mixed-methods process to inform and develop a capabilities-based gender equality policy at a South African university, the paper asks what gender equality should look like conceptually, and identifies empirically valued functionings and capabilities which could act as transformative policy evaluation indicators. The paper reports on diverse student data from 57 qualitative interviews and 843 survey respondents, which indicate differences between what social groups value and where interventions are needed. The paper suggests that the capabilities approach could be an important evidence-based policy driver in higher education, with the possibility to combine both a rich conceptual approach and methodological considerations in operationalization so that social justice goals and outcomes result.

Partnerships for disability-inclusive road development in Papua New Guinea: Unusual suspects and equivocal gains

This article examines how an action research partnership developed and then influenced social justice outcomes during a 3-year research project to promote disability-inclusive road development in Papua New Guinea. The purpose of this article is to reflect on possible reasons why this partnership obtained certain positive results and not others. By reflecting on how the partnership developed, transformed over time, engendered achievements and failures, and affected the individuals and organizations involved in it, I aim to contribute to the understanding of how collaborative research partnerships can better promote the rights of those who are often marginalized from public space and decision-making. In this case study, neo-colonialism and underlying tensions between engineering and social development “world views”, both within and between partners, affected both positive outcomes and lost opportunities in terms of improving the lives of people with disabilities.

Does How Students Serve Matter? What Characteristics of Service Programs Predict Students’ Social Justice Attitudes?

Volunteering is often touted as a method to educate college students about social justice by providing students with an opportunity to apply classroom knowledge in a real-world setting. However, many critics have noted that service does not necessarily lead to social justice outcomes and that some forms of service may reinforce students’ negative misconceptions. This analysis estimated the relationship between different service program characteristics and changes in students’ attitudes towards social justice. It found that volunteer programs that were more time-intensive, included reflection, and had a social justice orientation exhibited a stronger relationship with students’ social justice attitudes than other types of volunteer programs. These findings suggest that college students who participate in these types of programs may develop stronger social justice attitudes than students who volunteer through other types of service programs.

Counting Queers on Campus: Collecting Data on Queerly Identifying Students

Demographic data on students are now routinely collected in universities. However, these data do not include information on sexual orientation and gender identity. In Australia there has been public resistance to tracking the enrollment and retention of gay, lesbian, and transgender people in tertiary education. This article interrogates this absence and refusal. We suggest that not counting queerly identifying university students is an undesirable effect of “power knowledge” as well as a discriminatory practice unjustifiably supported by an assemblage of ideas, activities, systems, discourses, and affectivities. We make a case for collecting such data and argue that doing so is an equity innovation that aligns with diversity work and enhances social justice outcomes in higher education.

Sustainability of plant-based diets: back to the future

Plant-based diets in comparison to diets rich in animal products are more sustainable because they use many fewer natural resources and are less taxing on the environment. Given the global population explosion and increase in wealth, there is an increased demand for foods of animal origin. Environmental data are rapidly accumulating on the unsustainability of current worldwide food consumption practices that are high in meat and dairy products. Natural nonrenewable resources are becoming scarce, and environmental degradation is rapidly increasing. At the current trends of food consumption and environmental changes, food security and food sustainability are on a collision course. Changing course (to avoid the collision) will require extreme downward shifts in meat and dairy consumption by large segments of the world's population. Other approaches such as food waste reduction and precision agriculture and/or other technological advances have to be simultaneously pursued; however, they are insufficient to make the global food system sustainable. For millennia, meatless diets have been advocated on the basis of values, and large segments of the world population have thrived on plant-based diets. "Going back" to plant-based diets worldwide seems to be a reasonable alternative for a sustainable future. Policies in favor of the global adoption of plant-based diets will simultaneously optimize the food supply, health, environmental, and social justice outcomes for the world's population. Implementing such nutrition policy is perhaps one of the most rational and moral paths for a sustainable future of the human race and other living creatures of the biosphere that we share.

Participatory Budgeting in the United States: A Preliminary Analysis of Chicago's 49th Ward Experiment

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of the first participatory budgeting experiment in the United States, in Chicago's 49th Ward. There are two avenues of inquiry: First, does participatory budgeting result in different budgetary priorities than standard practices? Second, do projects meet normative social justice outcomes? It is clear that allowing citizens to determine municipal budget projects results in very different outcomes than standard procedures. Importantly, citizens in the 49th Ward consistently choose projects that the research literature classifies as low priority. The results are mixed, however, when it comes to social justice outcomes. While there is no clear pattern in which projects are located only in affluent sections of the ward, there is evidence of geographic clustering. Select areas are awarded projects like community gardens, dog parks, and playgrounds, while others are limited to street resurfacing, sidewalk repairs, bike racks, and bike lanes. Based on our findings, we offer suggestions for future programmatic changes.

Historicizing Mathematics and Mathematizing Social Studies for Social Justice: A Call for Integration

Researchers and theorists in education have offered persuasive arguments and evidence documenting the need for, and benefits of, education for social justice. Despite these efforts the intersection of social justice with interdisciplinary curricular designs remains underexplored. This article argues that social justice education is enriched through interdisciplinary curricula, in that it holds the potential for students to develop deeper conceptions of social justice and experience deeper learning outcomes related to content knowledge across subject matter areas. Central to this argument is the notion that situating disciplinary relationships explicitly within social justice perspectives encourages an emphasis on broader and richer sociopolitical consciousness among learners. We draw on historical and contemporary narratives to position social justice in mathematics and social studies education. As researchers in these two fields, we envision greater possibilities for the advancement of knowledge, and we envision learning from inequalities and resisting oppression by nurturing deeper, more explicit connections between mathematics and social studies. We conclude this article with three overviews of learning segments as potential representations of interdisciplinary mathematics-social studies for social justice work in secondary school contexts.

Health priorities and perceived health determinants among Western Australians attending the 2011 LGBTI Perth Pride Fairday Festival

Although data exist demonstrating poorer health indicators on a range of health outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) people, there is little information as to how this group perceives the relative importance of different health issues or what the underlying reasons behind poorer health may be. A self-completed survey was administered to people attending the October 2011 LGBTI Perth Pride Fairday Festival. Three hundred and fifty-one people completed the survey, resulting in a total of 335 useable surveys. One hundred and seventy-eight participants identified as female, 145 as male, four as transgender and eight as other genders. Depression, anxiety, excessive worry or panic attacks and problems in family relationships were reported as the most important individual health issues, whereas depression, suicide and HIV/AIDS were seen as the most important health issues affecting the LGBTI community. Discrimination was rated the most important social factor impacting on the health and well being of this community. When members of the LGBTI community were asked to rank health issues of importance both individually and as a community, the results indicate that mental health issues are of prime concern. Discrimination and the stress of living as part of this minority group were seen as contributing to this. Health promotion and public health need to be responsive to these issues if real gains are to be made in reducing the health inequities affecting this group. So what? This research highlights the link between social justice, social inclusion and health outcomes. The health of LGBTI people is rarely considered by mainstream agencies, despite poorer health outcomes. Sensitive and targeted public health interventions that resonate with the community and that acknowledge the impact of being part of this marginalised group are required.

A Community-Based Participatory Research Study of HIV and HPV Vulnerabilities and Prevention in Two Pacific Islander Communities: Ethical Challenges and Solutions

We describe ethical issues that emerged during a one-year CBPR study of HIV and human papillomavirus (HPV) vulnerabilities and prevention in two Pacific Islander (PI) communities, and the collaborative solutions to these challenges reached by academic and community partners. In our project case study analysis, we found that ethical tensions were linked mainly to issues of mutual trust and credibility in PI communities; cultural taboos associated with the nexus of religiosity and traditional PI culture; fears of privacy breaches in small, interconnected PI communities; and competing priorities of scientific rigor versus direct community services. Mutual capacity building and linking CBPR practice to PI social protocols are required for effective solutions and progress toward social justice outcomes.

Genetic Discrimination: International Perspectives

Genetic discrimination (GD) is a complex, multifaceted ethical, psychosocial, and legal phenomenon. It is defined as the differential treatment of asymptomatic individuals or their relatives on the basis of their real or assumed genetic characteristics. This article presents an overview of GD within the contemporary international context. It describes the concept of GD and its contextual features, reviews research evidence regarding people's experiences of GD and the impact of GD within a range of domains, and provides an overview of legal and policy responses to GD that have emerged globally. We argue that GD is a significant and internationally established phenomenon that requires multilevel responses to ensure social justice and equitable outcomes for all citizens. Future research should monitor GD and its impacts within the community as well as institutions and should evaluate the effectiveness of legislative, policy, community education, and systemic responses.

Enacting Social Justice: Perceptions of Educational Leaders

This qualitative study examines how educators who are either currently enrolled or who have completed an educational leadership preparation program in the past five years at one Rocky Mountain university understand social justice—as a concept and operationally—and the role of multicultural education in promoting social justice in P-12 school settings. Less than half (44%) of the educational leaders in this study were familiar with the concept of social justice, with those leaders who were familiar with the concept identifying full and equal participation (17%) and equal distribution of resources (11%) as the focus of school programs. Less than one third (28%) of participants expressed views reflecting cultural proficiency or competence, indicating a need for explicit coverage of social justice issues and cultural responsiveness in the educational leadership program examined. The results of this study indicate the need for leadership preparation programs to explicitly address social justice and oppression issues to increase the awareness of leaders and thus their capability to facilitate change that supports greater social justice and equitable educational outcomes for all students. Keywords: educational leadership, social justice, leadership preparation

Transforming Human Resource Management Systems to Cope with Diversity

The purpose of this study is to examine how workgroup diversity can be managed through specific strategic human resource management systems. Our review shows that ‘affirmative action’ and traditional ‘diversity management’ approaches have failed to simultaneously achieve business and social justice outcomes of diversity. As previous literature has shown, the benefits of diversity cannot be achieved with isolated interventions. To the contrary, a complete organizational culture change is required, in order to promote appreciation of individual differences. The paper contributes to this discussion by exploring the implications of this change for human resource management, and explaining how the systems of practices should be changed when they are directed to diverse groups. The model designed to test this notion includes: (1) demographic and human capital diversity as independent variables, (2) group performance (measured as innovation outcomes) as the dependent variable and, (3) the orientation of the strategic human resource management system as a potential moderator of this relationship. The main conclusion of the empirical analysis developed is that different patterns of human resource management practices can be used, depending on the type of diversity that the organization faces, and the specific effects that it wishes to manage. Concretely, three alternative management systems are identified in this paper, with different moderating effects. This result has interesting implications for human resource management professionals, explained in the last section. The limitations of this study are also discussed, as well as some issues that future research in this field should address.

The psychological goods on clinical social work: a content analysis of the clinical social work and social justice literature

The purpose of this content analysis was to evaluate the extant literature on clinical social work and social justice. In July 2009, an online search of the university databases EBSCO Host (1988–2009) was conducted to identify articles on clinical social work and social justice. Thirty-six peer reviewed journal articles were identified and extracted. The majority were non-empirical articles (75%) published in the United States (94%) over a 21-year period from 1988 to 2009. Overall, clinical social work practice was described as psychological and/or sociopolitical interventions that had a direct and/or indirect effect on psychological and sociopolitical level social justice outcomes. Theories and practices consistent with social justice were advanced. These findings suggest that clinical social work's promotion of psychological well-being remains an underdeveloped area in the scholarly and research literature. In this era of professional educational reform, additional research and professional training on social justice based clinical social work practice is warranted.

The top 100 questions of importance to the future of global agriculture

Despite a significant growth in food production over the past half-century, one of the most important challenges facing society today is how to feed an expected population of some nine billion by the middle of the 20th century. To meet the expected demand for food without significant increases in prices, it has been estimated that we need to produce 70–100 per cent more food, in light of the growing impacts of climate change, concerns over energy security, regional dietary shifts and the Millennium Development target of halving world poverty and hunger by 2015. The goal for the agricultural sector is no longer simply to maximize productivity, but to optimize across a far more complex landscape of production, rural development, environmental, social justice and food consumption outcomes. However, there remain significant challenges to developing national and international policies that support the wide emergence of more sustainable forms of land use and efficient agricultural production. The lack of information flow between scientists, practitioners and policy makers is known to exacerbate the difficulties, despite increased emphasis upon evidence-based policy. In this paper, we seek to improve dialogue and understanding between agricultural research and policy by identifying the 100 most important questions for global agriculture. These have been compiled using a horizon-scanning approach with leading experts and representatives of major agricultural organizations worldwide. The aim is to use sound scientific evidence to inform decision making and guide policy makers in the future direction of agricultural research priorities and policy support. If addressed, we anticipate that these questions will have a significant impact on global agricultural practices worldwide, while improving the synergy between agricultural policy, practice and research. This research forms part of the UK Government's Foresight Global Food and Farming Futures project.

Signature Pedagogies for Social Foundations: Negotiating Social Foundations Teaching Practices in the Field of Education

The conflicts arising between the pedagogical preferences of the fields of instructional design and technology (IDT) and social foundations of education are substantial. This conflict is primarily one of pedagogical values separating the Social Foundations with its emphasis on critical and creative thinking and the presumption of value and theory neutrality inherent in IDT. This is a serious issue because, increasingly, educators use IDT models to translate Social Foundations courses with social justice and equity outcomes into online formats. Much is lost. This article offers a discussion of the theoretical grounding of IDT (task-analysis) versus social foundations in regards to implications for the instructional social organization of online social foundations classrooms. This article uses the notion of signature pedagogy to describe sociocultural literacies as a basic tenet in social foundations of education. By doing so, it is demonstrated how these important theoretical positions are currently playing out in online instruction and space, to extend their relevance by introducing newer concepts such as Digital Cartesianism and copresence, and to provide a concrete example of what these concerns look like in the current push towards digital formats. In the current context of the use of electronic, social, communication, and mobile technologies in education, we find a new site to continue challenging the assumed neutrality of the technological model for education.

Drugs, Discrimination, and Disability

Whether addiction to prohibited drugs should be classified as a disability for the purposes of disability discrimination is a controversial question in Australia. The leading Australian case of Marsden v Human Rights Equal Opportunity Commission & Coffs Harbour & District Ex-Servicemen & Women's Memorial Club Ltd (HREOC, No H98/51, 30 August 1999); [2000] FCA 1619 concerned a disability discrimination complaint brought by Mr Marsden as a result of his treatment by the club. The case was brought as a public interest test case by the New South Wales Legal Aid Commission. Mr Marsden was on a methadone program at the time. The reasoning of the decision at the Federal Court opened the way for a finding that dependence on illegal drugs constituted a disability under disability discrimination legislation. The media reaction to the court's decision led to State and federal governments proposing legislation limiting legal protection from discrimination for people addicted to illegal drugs on the basis of their drug use. While the proposed federal legislation lapsed after objections from a coalition of medical, legal and other advocacy groups, the New South Wales legislation still provides that, in employment matters, it is not unlawful to discriminate against a person on the ground of disability if the disability relates to the person's addiction to a prohibited drug and the person is actually addicted to a prohibited drug at the time of the discrimination. The article details the sequence of events in the Marsden case, reflects on the role of public interest litigation in achieving social justice outcomes and suggests that Australia's recent ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 17 July 2008 should encourage legislators to review legislation which may have a discriminatory effect on people suffering from addictions.

Socially responsible diversity management

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to develop a conceptual framework to describe ‘socially responsible diversity management’. This framework seeks to demonstrate that the desired social justice outcomes of affirmative action programs and the business benefits of diversity management programs can be achieved but only by undertaking initiatives at a number of levels. Traditional approaches to afirmative action have been unsuccessful in achieving their goal of equitable labour market outcomes and it is unclear that diversity management programs have contributed to business outcomes. The article argues that neither affirmative action nor diversity management has been able to fully achieve its objectives because of a number of limitations. The article argues that organisations can achieve better business outcomes, as well as equity outcomes associated with a diverse workforce, by adopting a relational, multilevel framework of managing diversity. Such a framework provides for the creation of what is termed ‘socially responsible diversity management’.

Socially responsible diversity management

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to develop a conceptual framework to describe ‘socially responsible diversity management’. This framework seeks to demonstrate that the desired social justice outcomes of affirmative action programs and the business benefits of diversity management programs can be achieved but only by undertaking initiatives at a number of levels. Traditional approaches to afirmative action have been unsuccessful in achieving their goal of equitable labour market outcomes and it is unclear that diversity management programs have contributed to business outcomes. The article argues that neither affirmative action nor diversity management has been able to fully achieve its objectives because of a number of limitations. The article argues that organisations can achieve better business outcomes, as well as equity outcomes associated with a diverse workforce, by adopting a relational, multilevel framework of managing diversity. Such a framework provides for the creation of what is termed ‘socially responsible diversity management’.

“To be a business and to keep our humanity”

AbstractIn recent years, the political nature of nonprofit funding has been well established, with research focusing on increased demands for accountability (Eikenberry and Kluver, 2004), difficulties in selecting accountability measures (Reed, Jones, and Irvine, 2005), and the shift from organizational mission that can occur while trying to adhere to funding requirements (Adcroft and Willis, 2005; Parsons and Broadbridge, 2004). This article examines the dynamics between a funder and the nonprofit organizations it funds within an evolving accountability process. Specifically, we use qualitative methods to examine the negotiations between the funder and the nonprofits. Both sides in the funding relationship face tensions as they attempt to work within the constraints of this specific funding regime while trying to maintain their focus on social justice outcomes.

Social rights, social justice and pension outcomes in four multi-pillar systems

Egalitarian liberal justice requires redistributive income transfers to protect the basic liberties of all citizens, yet it has been asserted that privatisation is fundamentally inegalitarian, and therefore likely to impair the autonomy of the least advantaged. This article assesses the redistributive potential of public and private pension arrangements by simulating the probable outcomes for individuals across a range of circumstances under the multi-pillar retirement systems of Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The findings show that the public pensions model may compare unfavourably with systems that rely substantially on privately administered provision when both are appraised in terms of distributive justice. In just systems, what counts is the role and scope of the public authority in framing and securing compliance with egalitarian aims and objectives, not the locus of retirement scheme administration.