Gender equality: - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Gender equality:an answer to crisis?

Claudia Padovani

Lorenza

Perini

SPGI,

University

of PadovaSlide2

Table of content

Gender

equality

: concept construction

Gender and

crisis: challenges or opportunities?

Case study 1: Gender

and science

Case study 2: Gender

and media

Concluding remarks

Glossary

Further

resources

ContactsSlide3

Gender equality:concept constructionSlide4

Gender equality:concept construction

Gender equality is the measurable equal representation of women and men.

Gender equality does not imply that women and men are the same, but that they have equal value and should be accorded equal treatment. 

The United Nations regards gender equality as a human right. It points out that empowering women is also an indispensable tool for advancing development and reducing poverty

.

The importance of gender equality is highlighted by its inclusion as one of the 8 

Millennium Development Goals 

that serve as a framework for halving poverty and improving

lives as agreed upon by the international community.Slide5

Persisting cultural and social barriers?

Diversity in practice (with a smile...)Slide6

Gender and the crisis:challenges or opportunities?

‘Despite

the growing debate over the causes of the crisis, less attention is paid to its material impacts, and very little to gender considerations

’

(

Vertova

2012: 123) Slide7

Gender and

the crisisSlide8

Since 2008 the European industrial output has diminished of 10.8%, the construction sector has shrank of 20%, private investments have gone down of 14.5% between 2007 ad 2011Impact on the labour

market: unemployment

rate of

12.2% (

ranging from 4.3% in Austria to 26.1% in Spain)

T

he

efforts made by MS to restore public finance have led to austerity measures and cuts in crucial sectors like health, care and

welfareSlide9

Impact on women and men

there has been a

levelling down of gender gaps

in employment, unemployment, wages and poverty over the

crisis; but…

the

labour market behaviour

of women over the crisis has been

similar

to that of

men; buffer are now young people

threat that

fiscal consolidation may ultimately reduce

welfare

provisions

and related

employment with associated gender equality impacts

The

European Economic Recovery Plan made no mention of ‘

gender

’, ‘women’ or ‘equality’

…Slide10

Recommendations #1Gender mainstreaming

and

reconsidering the formulation of gender equality

indicators

Integrating gender mainstreaming in anti-crisis packages

M

onitor

the risk that fiscal consolidation may significantly erode welfare provisions

Boosting

female

entrepreneurship

Increase

surveillance and heighten public awareness of cases of violations of maternity and

women’s rights

. Slide11

Addressing sectorial segregation and stimulate women’s vocation in sectors like ICTs, transportation, science > case study 1Enhancing

women’s participation in decision making

in policy design of anti-crisis measures AND on company

boards > case study 2

Recommendations

#2Slide12

Case study 1:gender and scienceSlide13

Case study:

gender and science

The underrepresentation of women in science and technology

Under 30% of the

physcists

, engineers and computer scientists in the world's knowledge based economies are women. Only about 12% of science-decision-making positions in universities and the private sector in the world's knowledge-based economies are held by women

Why Europe needs more women in Science and Technology?

Women remain a minority in scientific research, accounting for 33% of researchers in the EU in 2009 (2006: 30%). Although the proportion of female researchers varies considerably between countries, there is a clear pattern of female under- representation everywhere.Slide14

Case study:gender and science

Legislation and documents

From

the treaty of Rome to the EU strategy 2010-2015 a lot of projects and researches have been made in order to highlight the underrepresentation of women in almost every field of science and technology

…

Numbers

…Now we know a lot of things on this issue and most of all we have numbers, we have data and we can compare situations, countries and almost everything….Slide15

Case study:gender and scienceThe importance

of

statistics

and

numbers

With statistics disaggregated by gender we can build indicators and indexes, i.e. instrument of knowledge. Thanks to numbers we have discovered gender pay gap, a lot of gender discrimination in labor market, the phenomenon of gender violence, especially domestic violence.

So numbers count! But

… problems

still persist!Slide16

Case study:gender and scienceDespite growing recognition, problems still persist, discrimination and underrepresentation of women in science and research is a salient problem, not only in EU but all over the world.Slide17

Case study:gender and science

There is a general problem of wasting talent in global recession: Europe cannot afford this anymore.

Europe in crisis needs to get the best out of its research and innovation system

Promoting

gender equality in research

increases

the international competitiveness and the research workforce in general.Slide18

Case study:gender and scienceThree steps of the European Union strategy

Fixing the women: strategies to increase the number of women choosing science as a field of study and in decision making. Stressing on non neutrality of

science can

play a big role in finding new strategies, new ideas, new interesting solutions.

Fixing the institutions: make institutions aware of the importance of considering gender a resource. Changing the structure of the institutions in order to become women’s friendly (best practices)

Fixing the knowledge: making people aware that gender is a positive and

useful

social construction

and

doesn’t mean “for women” but is “for all” because it enables every body to see things differently, from another point of view. Slide19

Case study:gender and scienceBut

knowing

things

is

not

enough

!

Is just 50% of the piece, the rest is communicating what you have known!

Even when YOU KNOW, communicate can be the hardest part of the work

And even the EU sometimes fails in indicating a clear strategy…. Slide20

Case study:gender and scienceA wrong way of saying things: lets watch this EU video promoting women in science:

The

European Commission's video

Science

It's a Girl Thing

!

was an unfortunate, although well meaning, marketing blunder which takes away from the commission's excellent website to attract women to

science.

Taken

down almost as soon as it was put up, the response to this video shows that topic of women in science is still attracting a high level of interest (good) although in this case for all the wrong reasons. Selling science with sex only feeds into the continuing media focused

hyper-

sexualization

of our society - and especially of our young women - something we really don't need any more.Slide21

Case study:gender and scienceA good way of conveying the message

:

L’Oreal

in collaboration with

Unesco:

video promoting women’s careers in ScienceSlide22

Case study:gender and scienceThe Grand Challenges of the EU 2020 Strategy (i.e. energy, climate change, aging, health) have a strong gender dimension, which, if ignored, can result in missed opportunities for innovation in research and in development of markets.

Not including gender perspectives in addressing the core EU2020 themes means that chances for increasing the broad acceptance of new technologies within Europe will be lost.

Without strengthening the inclusion of women and integrating the gender dimension within the Innovation Union, its aims to deliver higher levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion, and to strengthen Europe’s knowledge base, are simply not achievable.  Slide23

Case study:gender and scienceThere is a strong research evidence that shows how the integration of gender analysis in research processes can lead to Innovation.

Ignoring how sex and gender bias limit creativity and diminish excellence in research will create barriers to the full realization of the benefits that society expects from its investment in science and engineering.

Thirty years of research have revealed that sex and gender bias can be socially harmful and

expensive …Slide24

Case study:gender and scienceCrisis as an opportunity: The example of

Gendered Innovation Project

Innovation

, education and research are key components of the Europe 2020 strategy which aims to boost the EU economy over the next decade. In a changing world, the EU aims to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive. Among the milestones set out in the meta European Research Area ERA, shows the following:

“We Will Know That ERA is a shared responsibility [between science, policy and society] When We see in 2030 [...] half of all scientists and research policy makers, across all Disciplines and Science at all levels of the system, are women (Preparing Europe for a new Renaissance” [ERAB 2009], pg.18).Slide25

Case study:gender and scienceAmong the innovations in the field of gender, the project mention for example the case of the pregnant mannequin, computer-simulated for testing of motor vehicle accidents, which provides the information needed to create a model for the effects of impact at high speed on the fetus and design adequate safety belts. An example of application of a technology that introduces the

gender dimension in a scientific prototype

. Slide26

Case study 2:gender and mediaSlide27

Case study:gender

and Media

In relation to all forms of inequality and sex-based discrimination in employment in the media sector, media enterprises should, as any other employer, participate actively in positive action programs on gender equality at work as well as adopt various strategies and implement best practice…within the scope of such a positive action plan, women should be actively promoted into senior positions in media companies….

European

Commission Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (2010), Opinion on “Breaking gender stereotypes in the media”, Brussels.Slide28

gender and Media in europe

EIGE

(EIGE/2012/OPER/07)

Study

on Area J of the Beijing Platform for Action: Women and the Media in European Union

and

Final

Report

:

Advancing gender equality in decision-making in media organizations

28

countries

, 99 media

organizations

, focus on:

women

in leadership positions

mediapolicies

and

mechanisms

in

place

at

national

level

examples

of

good

practicesSlide29

Women in media industriesSlide30

Gender equality policies(99 media organizations in 28

European

countries

)

Policy/Provision

Public/Mixed

Private

Total

Equality opportunities/diversity policy

9

10

19

Gender Equality policy/code of conduct

10

4

14

Code Of conduct (mentions gender)

6

5

11

External code of conduct (general)

3

2

5

Implementation and monitoring

mechanisms

Committee responsible for (monitoring) equality policy

9

6

15

Equality/Diversity Officer

9

4

13

Equality/Diversity Department

6

3

9Slide31

Gender equality measures(99 media organizations in 28

European

countries

)

Practical measures

Public/Mixed

Private

Total

Policy on sexual harassment

12

11

23

Dignity at work policy

10

9

19

Policy on maternity leave

10

7

17

Policy on paternity leave

9

6

15

Harassment Advisors

3

2

5

Policy on parental leave

1

0

1

Equality awareness training for staff

6

3

9

Leadership/management training for women

4

2

6

Trainee positions for women

3

0

3Slide32

To sum uphorizontal and vertical segregation, glass ceiling effects, constrains to carrier improvement

male culture and domination and lack of family friendly environment

structural inequalities still persist and cultural norms continue to exert considerable influence on recruitment and promotion practices

rarely the normative standards formalized by the international community and the EU are translated into national and organizational provisions

there are variations within the region, so that the situation for some women in some countries is more positive (Eastern European and Nordic countries) and still problematic in other countries (Malta, Italy, Ireland)

the use of different languages remains a problem, particularly to networking and sharing of good practices

in spite of existing connections, there is still not enough dialogue amongst the different stakeholders: media professional organizations, media outlets and federations, academics and institutionsSlide33

Concluding remarks:

what

happens

if

we

do

nothing

?Slide34

Danger of flawed research or diminished relevance of results as well as less diversity in media and communicationMissing

innovation and market opportunities

Unfulfilled

use of human capital (women

scientists and women communicators) in

a competitive global R&I economy

Increased

societal distrust of, and reduced support for

,

science

and its

institutions as well as media systems Slide35

The crisis may well

be an

opportunity

but

clear

gendered

visions

must emerge and

policies

and

programmes

must be

designed

and

implemented

based

on

existing

evidence

and

informed

by the voices and

perspectives

of the

many

stakeholders

involved

in gender-

aware

social

transformationsSlide36

GlossaryGender: Gender refers to the social construction of women and men, of femininity and masculinity, which varies in time and place, and between cultures. The notion of gender appeared in the seventies and was put forward by feminist theorists who challenged the secondary position of women in society. It departs from the notion of sex to signal that biology or anatomy is not a destiny. It is important to distinguish clearly between gender and sex. These terms are often used interchangeably while they are conceptually distinctive.Slide37

GlossaryEqual opportunity indicates the absence of barriers to economic, political and social participation on the grounds of sex. Such barriers are often indirect, difficult to discern and caused by structural phenomena and social representations that have proved particularly resistant to change.

G

ender

mainstreaming

is the systematic integration of the respective situations, priorities and needs of women and men in all mainstream policies with a view to promoting equality between women and men.Slide38

Further Resources

Gender

and

the economic crisis

: challenges or

opportunities?

European Parliament Library briefing Feb 2013

European

Commission Synthesis Report Dec

2012

EWL and Oxfam An Invisible Crisis? March 2010

Case study: Gender and Science

http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/document_library/pdf_06/structural-changes-final-

report_en.pdf

www.gendertime.org

http://www.the-twist-project.eu/media/dyn/

TWIST.GuidelinesReport.pdf

[

Erab

2009]

Preparing

europe

for a new

renaissance

. A Strategic

View

of the

European

Research

Area. First Report of the

European

Research

Area Board – 2009.

[Fox Keller, 1985] E. Fox Keller.

Reflections

on gender and science. Yale

University

Press,   New

Haven

and

London

, 1985.

[

She

Figures

2012]

She

Figures.Statistics

and

indicators

on Gender

Equality

in Science, EU2012.

[

Schiebinger

, 1999] L .

Scienbinger

Has

feminism

changed

science? Harvard

University

Press.   Cambridge, 1999.

[

Schiebinger

, 2008] Londa

Schiebinger

(Ed). 

Gendered

Innovations

in Science and

Engineering

. Stanford

University

Press, 2008.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/document_library/pdf_06/2012.4808_Gendered%20Innovations_web2.pdf

Case study

Gender and

media

Final

EIGE Report on Advancing gender equality in the

media

European

Council

Council conclusions - "Advancing Women’s Roles as Decision-makers in the

Media”

EIGE

summary

fact

sheet

and

indicatorsSlide39

Claudia Padovani – claudia.padovani@unipd.it

Lorenza

Perini

–

lorenza.perini@unipd.it

CIRSG

Women

and Media in Europe

Next

Generation Global

Studies

Department

of Law,

Politics

and International

Studies

University

of Padova