A rights-based approach to board quotas and how hard sanctions work for gender equality
Autor/in:
Humbert, Anne Laure; Kelan, Elisabeth K.; Clayton-Hathway, Kate
Quelle: European Journal of Women's Studies, 26 (2019) 4, S 447–468
Inhalt: This article examines whether progress in women’s access to decision-making positions is best achieved through increased levels of development or targeted actions. Drawing on European data for the period 2006–2018, the article examines the association between how gender equal a country is and legislated measures such as board quotas with women’s representation on boards. The analysis then explores how this can be nuanced by differentiating between hard sanctions, soft sanctions and codes of governance. It shows that board quotas cannot be relied upon as instruments of progress independently of a contextual environment that is more gender equal. Furthermore, board quotas with hard sanctions work best, followed by codes of governance, particularly when associated with higher gender equality. However, board quotas with soft sanctions are associated with results that are only marginally better than not having any measure in place. The article concludes that for further and faster progress to be made, introducing legislated board quotas shows great potential, though only in combination with striving for a gender equal society and using hard sanctions. The results call for organizations not to lose focus on ‘rights’ at the expense of the more palatable ‘business case’ for board quotas when striving for equality on corporate boards.
Quelle: Gender Work Organ (Gender, Work & Organization), 27 (2019) 2, S 129–148
Inhalt: Universities are increasingly expected to demonstrate the wider societal impacts of academic research. Yet women management scholars were disproportionately under‐represented in leading impact cases in the UK's REF (Research Excellence Framework) 2014. An analysis of 395 REF impact cases for business and management studies with an identifiable lead author revealed that only 25per cent were led by women, of which 54per cent were sole authored. Based on 12 in‐depth interviews with women impact case writers, we use Acker's inequality regimes framework to understand invisible and socially constructed gendering of the UK's policy that is designed to evaluate research impact. In a knowledge‐intensive workplace dominated by men, the shape and degree of gendered bases of inequality, systemic practices, processes and controls result in sub‐optimal talent management and gendered knowledge. We call for university leaders to be proactive in addressing barriers that fail to support or recognize women's leadership of research impact.
The Glass Door of Academia : Unveiling New Gendered Bias in Academic Recruitment
Autor/in:
Picardi, Ilenia
Quelle: Soc. Sci. (Social Sciences), 8 (2019) 5, 160 S
Inhalt: Gender statistics and studies on gendering mechanisms have been developing over recent years on two parallel tracks. This research reveals the need to rethink the standard indicators used in European comparative analyses to identify (1) gender-related mechanisms responsible for the production and reproduction processes of gender asymmetries, (2) their specificities in different local contexts, and (3) the profound transformations that have characterized the academies and the research system in Europe in recent years. The paper analyses the data on the composition of Italian academia provided by the Italian Ministry of Education, universities and research from a gender perspective. The introduction of the glass door index, specifically designed to measure gendering processes taking place in the recruitment stages in Italian academia, discloses new forms of gender segregation in Italian universities after the last academic reform (Law 240/2010), despite the emphasis placed on the neutral and meritocratic criteria of the new recruitment and career progression rules
Excellent and gender equal? : Academic motherhood and ‘gender blindness' in Norwegian academia
Autor/in:
Thun, Cecilie
Quelle: Gender Work Organ (Gender, Work & Organization), 27 (2019) 2, S 166–180
Inhalt: This article explores Norwegian female academics' experiences with academic motherhood in an organizational perspective. A main finding is that academia as an organization is greedy, uncertain, and has ‘blind spots' that reveal gender bias related to gender and parental status, especially mothers. By analysing the link between gendered organization of work and the legitimatizing of gender inequality, the article reveals ‘gender blindness' in the academic organization concerning gender and parental status. The article concludes that changes in academia — in line with academic capitalism — may indicate that the Norwegian model of work–life balance is under pressure. This article suggests that the organizational conditions for academic motherhood are important factors in order to understand the persistence of gender inequality.
Quelle: Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 44 (2019) 2, S 154–165
Inhalt: This article provides an overview of the theoretical assumptions, methods, and key results from the Evaluation Framework for Promoting Gender Equality in Research and Innovation (EFFORTI) project, which was funded by the European Commission. The purpose of EFFORTI was to analyse the impact of interventions to promote gender equality in research and innovation (R&I), and to establish criteria for more responsible and responsive research and innovation (RRI) systems in Europe. This article provides an overview of the project’s main results and the lessons learnt from the empirical analysis of R&I systems in several European countries and a comparison of 19 gender equality intervention measures.
Schlagwörter:EU-Projekt; Evaluation; Gender; impact; program evaluation; theory of change; Wirkungsanalyse
Inhalt: With the climate crisis as backdrop, university employees have demanded a reduction in air travel. Could cutting air travel also lead to greater gender equality?
Quelle: American Journal of Sociology, 125 (2019) 2, S 534–576
Inhalt: This study advances understanding of gender pay gaps by examining organizational variation. The gender pay gap literature supplies mechanisms but does not attend to organizational variation; the gender and science literature provides insights on the role of masculinist culture in disciplines but misses pay gap mechanisms. A data set of federal workers allows comparison of men and women in the same jobs and workplaces. Agencies associated with traditionally masculine (engineering, physical sciences) and gender-neutral (biological, interdisciplinary sciences) fields differ. Pay-gap mechanisms vary: human capital differences explain a larger share in gender-neutral agencies, while at male-typed agencies men are frequently paid more than women within the same job. Although beyond the federal workers’ standardized pay scale, some interdisciplinary agencies more often pay men off grade, leading to higher earnings for men. Our theory of organizational variation helps explain local agency variation and how pay practices matter in specific organizational contexts.
Gender, ethnicity and career progression in UK higher education : A case study analysis
Autor/in:
Bhopal, Kalwant
Quelle: Research Papers in Education, 34 (2019) 3, S 1–16
Inhalt: This article uses case study interviews to examine women’s experiences in higher education. It focuses on career progression, support available for promotion and particular initiatives for staff retention. The findings suggest that whilst some progress has been made to support White and Black and minority ethnic women in their career trajectories, greater change is needed in order that inclusion is embedded within institutional frameworks and strategic plans. Furthermore, clearer evidence is needed by universities to demonstrate how they are meeting their legal equality requirements as specified by the Equality Act (2010). The mere presence of diversity and equality policies does not necessarily demonstrate that gender and ethnic inequalities are being addressed. Such policies may simply result in a ‘tick box’ exercise. In order to address such inequalities, issues of diversity and equality must be embedded within the cultural organisation of institutions which are identified in key objectives resulting in real outcomes and practice. Additionally, there is a need to consider intersectional identities and the impact of ethnicity on women’s experiences in higher education.
Diversity in diversity policy : The case of the Scandinavian countries
Autor/in:
Kalpazidou Schmidt, Evanthia
Quelle: Human Resource Development International, (2019) , S 1–11
Inhalt: The Scandinavian countries, i.e. Denmark, Norway and Sweden are often described as European leaders within equal opportunity and diversity. However, in spite of the fact that the Scandinavian countries have implemented policies and initiated programmes to ensure gender diversity in all sectors and levels of society since the mid-1970s and beginning of the 1980s, progress is generally slow. Nonetheless, the three countries differ regarding public and political attention on the issue and hence on policies, intensity of implementation and management of gender equality policies. In this article, we focus on the representation of Scandinavian women in leadership positions in larger companies and academia, and discuss the scope and intensity of gender equality policies and their effects. Finally, we highlight key lessons learned from decades of gender equality work in the three countries.
Schlagwörter:Dänemark; Diversität; Frauen in Führungspositionen; Führungsposition; Geschlechterverhältnis; Gleichstellungspolitik; impact assessment; Norwegen; Professorin; Professur; Schweden; Skandinavien; Unternehmen
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Gleichstellungspolitik, Geschlechterverhältnis
Competing inequalities : Gender versus race in higher education institutions in the UK
Autor/in:
Bhopal, Kalwant; Henderson, Holly
Quelle: Educational Review, 42 (2019) 2, S 1–17
Inhalt: This article explores findings from two projects that explore the impacts and institutional experiences of the Athena SWAN (ASC) and Race Equality (REC) Charter Marks in UK universities. The article offers an important, timely and original insight into the ways that these two charter marks are shaping and influencing practice in universities. We argue that in higher education policymaking, there has been a privileging of gender over race in terms of addressing inequalities in higher education. Whilst acknowledging the persistence of inequalities in both groups, the data from our projects highlight a significant risk that gender and race inequalities become conflated in current equalities work. We argue that as a consequence of a logic of efficiency that drives Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to combine gender and race equalities work, and the privileging within this combination of gender, HEIs can publicly work towards equality and inclusion in general terms, without having to confront uncomfortable and deeply embedded practices that perpetuate White privilege in the academy.
Schlagwörter:Antidiskriminierung; Diskriminierung; Gender; Gleichstellungsmaßnahmen; Hochschule; race; Rassismus; UK
CEWS Kategorie:Diversity, Europa und Internationales, Hochschulen