Universities as political institutions : Higher education institutions in the middle of academic, economic and social pressures
Herausgeber/in:
Weimer, Leasa; Nokkala, Terhi
Quelle: Leiden; Boston: Brill Sense (Higher education research in the 21st century series, 12), 2020. 336 S
Inhalt: Universities can be viewed and studied as political institutions, especially considering that they sit at the crossroads of social, cultural, and economic pressures. The internal and external environment of higher education brings with it multiple and complex relationships as well as power struggles. Within these contested political spaces, there are phenomena to be studied.
While the field of higher education draws from a multitude of disciplines, some scholars argue that only recently has scholarship focused on the political perspectives of higher education. To better understand the politics and policies of higher education, Universities as Political Institutions illuminates a variety of ways that researchers view and study universities as a political institution, from considering the national and international political pressures shaping higher education to the analysis of responses and political action from within the ivory tower.
The 2017 annual CHER conference in Jyväskylä (Finland) brought together 213 scholars from 30 countries. This book includes a selection of papers and keynote presentations from this conference. The thematic approach of the book reflects the 2017 conference theme: "Universities as Political Institutions – Higher Education Institutions in the Middle of Academic, Economic, and Social Pressures". The theme focused on multiple and often complex relations and relationships, internal and external, to higher education institutions. In this context, "political" refers not only to definitions, uses, and users of power but more broadly to a variety of relationships among different actors and agencies responsible for making, executing, or resisting decisions concerning higher education institutions.
Schlagwörter:Hochschulentwicklung; Hochschulpolitik; Institution; internationaler Vergleich; Organisation; Universität
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Wissenschaftspolitik, Hochschulen
Dokumenttyp:Sammelwerk
Cameroon professional women in sciences : A trans-disciplinary review, series 1
Herausgeber/in:
Fogwe Chibaka, Evelyn; Atanga, Lilian Lem; Samba, Elmelda Ngufor; Leke, Rose Gana Fomban; Chumbow, Beban Sammy
Quelle: Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag (Topics in interdisciplinary African studies, 53), 2020. 326 S
Inhalt: In order to avoid continuous seasoned scientist/professional female gender polarization and marginalization in our society, Cameroon Professional Research Oriented Women Network (CaPROWN) took up the initiative – under the sponsorship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) – to propagate a trans-disciplinary research review approach to seek collaboration outside the bounds of female scientific professional experiences to make new discoveries, explore different perspectives, express and exchange ideas, and gain new insights into gender through peer-reviewed volumes like this. Thus, this book is not solely about gender-related research topics, but rather on works of mostly female researchers that have gone through reviewed lenses of experts of different science disciplines.
Quelle: AK Chancengleichheit der DPG; Berlin, 2020.
Inhalt: Bad Honnef, 9. Februar 2021 – Seit April 2020 leben ca. 80% aller Arbeitskräfte weltweit aufgrund der COVID-19-Pandemie mit obligatorischen oder empfohlenen Schließungen von Arbeitsplätzen. Arbeitskräfte sind gezuwungen von Zuhause aus zu arbeiten. Bei der Arbeit im Homeoffice führen die fehlende Trennung von Beruf und Familie sowie die zusätzliche Belastung durch Homeschooling zu Stress, insbesondere bei Frauen. Das zeigt eine weltweit angelegte Online-Umfrage des Arbeitskreises Chancengleichheit der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft (DPG), an der zwischen Mitte April und Ende Juni 2020 über 1500 überwiegend aus Europa stammende Beschäftigte teilnahmen.
70 Prozent der Befragten hatten eine akademische Position inne und 43 Prozent einen Hintergrund in Physik. Paare (ohne Kinder) im Alter zwischen 30 und 39 Jahren mit mehr als zehn Jahren Berufserfahrung stellten dabei die größte Gruppe dar.
Die hauptsächlichen Stressfaktoren bei der Arbeit im Homeoffice waren die fehlende Trennung von Beruf und Familie sowie das Gefühl der Isolation. Weibliche Teilnehmende bewerteten diese Stressfaktoren signifikant höher als männliche. Der am häufigsten genannte Begriff in Freitextfeldern war dementsprechend „mangelnde Work-Life-Balance“ gefolgt von „Homeschooling“ und „emotionalen und mentalen Problemen“. Führungskräfte litten dabei mehr unter Stress durch Homeoffice als Personen ohne Führungsaufgaben. Trotzdem waren sie mit der Leistung ihrer Mitarbeiter sehr zufrieden.
Europäische Akademikerinnen sorgten sich insbesondere um negative soziale Auswirkungen; die häufigste Sorge bei europäischen Männern war hingegen eine finanzielle Stagnation bzw. Rezession für die Zeit nach der Pandemie. Das betraf vor allem Nichtakademier. Am meisten vermisst wurde das fehlende Feedback von Managern bzw. Kollegen.
Bei der Analyse der Freitexteinträge zeichnen sich zwei Gruppen ab: Eine Gruppe war überzeugt, dass die Pandemie eine Chance ist, Fernarbeit und Fernunterricht zu reformieren. Die zweite Gruppe fürchtete dagegen, dass der verstärkte Einsatz von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien die herkömmlichen Arbeitsinstrumente und -methoden ersetzen könnte.
40 Prozent aller fürchteten den Verlust ihres Arbeitsplatzes. Viele (35 Prozent) sorgten sich allerdings auch um den Wegfall der Möglichkeit, nach der Covid-19-Krise weiter im Homeoffice arbeiten zu können. Das betraf fast die Hälfte der weiblichen Akademiker in Europa und 26 Prozent der männlichen.
Quelle: University Library Hagen; University Library Hagen, 2020.
Inhalt: The International Network on Leave Policies and Research has been producing an annual review of leave policies and related research since 2005. The review covers Maternity, Paternity and Parental leaves; leave to care for sick children and other employment-related measures to support working parents; and early childhood education and care policy. The review is based on country notes from each participating country, prepared by members of the network and edited by several of the network’s coordinators. Each country note follows a standard format: details of different types of leave; the relationship between leave policy and early childhood education and care policy; recent policy developments; information on take-up of leave. The review also includes definitions of the main types of leave policies; and cross-country comparisons. These comparative overviews cover: each main type of leave; the relationship between leave and ECEC entitlements; and policy changes and developments since the previous review. The 2020 review covers 45 countries - and childcare and leave policy responses to COVID-19.
Inhalt: This book explores the contradictory development of gender roles in Central and Eastern Europe including Russia. In light of the social changes that followed the collapse of communism and the rise of new conservatism in Eastern Europe, it studies new forms of gender relationships and reassesses the status quo of female empowerment. Moreover, leading scholars in gender studies discuss how right-wing populism and conservative movements have affected sociopolitical discourses and concepts related to gender roles, rights, and attitudes, and how Western feminism in the 1990s may have contributed to this conservative turn.
Mainly focusing on power constellations and gender, the book is divided into four parts: the first explores the history of and recent trends in feminist movements in Eastern Europe, while the second highlights the dynamics and conflicts that gained momentum after neoconservative parties gained political power in post-socialist countries. In turn, the third part discusses new empowerment strategies and changes in gender relationships. The final part illustrates the identities, roles, and concepts of masculinity created in the sociocultural and political context of Eastern Europe.
Schlagwörter:Eastern Europe; female empowerment; gender role; new conservatism; Russia; social change; western feminism
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Dokumenttyp:Sammelwerk
Generation Precarious : Exploring the relationship between working conditions for early-career researchers and the quality of teaching and research
Autor/in:
Forskerforbundet
Quelle: Oslo (Publication Series, 4), 2020.
Inhalt: Casualization is on the rise in higher education institutions (HEI) worldwide, particularly af-fecting working conditions and career prospects of young academics. They represent a vast pool of talent essential to meet future societal needs, yet this “generation precarious” increas-ingly questions whether it is worthwhile. In this paper we discuss the consequences of casual-ization for quality in teaching and research. We will present an overview of studies and sur-veys on employment terms, working conditions and career prospects for early-stage research-ers – the “generation precarious” – in Europe, with a particular eye to Norway. Based on this, we highlight concerns and potential consequences of precarious work and deterioratingworking conditions within the higher education system.
Schlagwörter:Befristung; early career researchers; Forschungsstand; Norwegen; prekäre Beschäftigung; wissenschaftlicher Nachwuchs
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Wissenschaft als Beruf
Diversity, democracy and solidarity in EU societies
Autor/in:
Research Executive Agency
Quelle: European Commission; , 2020.
Inhalt: Can ethnographic case studies and quantitative research help to understand the ways stigmatised or conflictual youngsters engage with social, environmental and political issues, and how they create opportunities for social change? How will the concept of “democratic efficacy” help to counter populism? How do populists use social media? How could we use history to encourage debate amongst teenagers about religious tolerance?
The Horizon 2020 research projects presented in this brochure address these and many other questions, all sharing a common goal: helping understand how to create a more cohesive, inclusive and democratic Europe.
Schlagwörter:cultural heritage; cultural pluralism; democracy; European company; multi-level governance; research project; social change; social inequality; social integration; social movement; sustainable development; youth policy
CEWS Kategorie:Diversity, Europa und Internationales
“#nextGenerationEU” Leaves Women Behind : Gender Impact Assessment of the European Commission Proposals for the EU Recovery Plan
Autor/in:
Klatzner, Elisabeth; Rinaldi, Azzura
Quelle: , 2020.
Inhalt: "This study aims to provide an overview of potential gender impacts of the European Commission’s May 2020 proposals for a European Recovery and Resilience Fund in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its social and economic consequences. To this end, a preliminary gender impact assessment of the “#nextGenerationEU” proposals has been carried out. It puts forward recommendations on how to prevent potential negative or equality-jeopardising impacts, thus identifying the changes required in the legislative documents and the implementation process to pave the way for positive gender equality impacts of the EU Recovery Plan."
Schlagwörter:COVID-19; European Union; gender impact; recovery; resilience
Inhalt: The title of this volume captures a central question in contemporary Gender Studies and Sociology. It has, in different ways, preoccupied the researchers who contribute to this special volume for many years. Inspired by feminist theory and practice, it addresses the gendering, the complex gendering, of knowledge, science, research, policy, equality, academia, universities and higher education, along with many interlinked reflections and memories on working together, collegiality and friendship.
Schlagwörter:excellence; Fellowship; gatekeeping; harassment; knowledge production
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Hochschulen, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Gleichstellungspolitik
Inhalt: Women's underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) impedes progress in solving Africa's complex development problems. As in other regions, women's participation in STEM drops progressively moving up the education and career ladder, with women currently constituting 30% of Africa's STEM researchers. This study elucidates gender-based differences in PhD performance using new survey data from 227 alumni of STEM PhD programs in 17 African countries. We find that, compared to their male counterparts, sampled women had about one less paper accepted for publication during their doctoral studies and took about half a year longer to finish their PhD training. Negative binomial regression models provide insights on the observed differences in women's and men's PhD performance. Results indicate that the correlates of publication productivity and time to PhD completion are very similar for women and men, but some gender-based differences are observed. For publication output, we find that good supervision had a stronger impact for men than women; and getting married during the PhD reduced women's publication productivity but increased that of men. Becoming a parent during the PhD training was a key reason that women took longer to complete the PhD, according to our results. Findings suggest that having a female supervisor, attending an institution with gender policies in place, and pursuing the PhD in a department where sexual harassment by faculty was perceived as uncommon were enabling factors for women's timely completion of their doctoral studies. Two priority interventions emerge from this study: (1) family-friendly policies and facilities that are supportive of women's roles as wives and mothers and (2) fostering broader linkages and networks for women in STEM, including ensuring mentoring and supervisory support that is tailored to their specific needs and circumstances.