tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/gender-equality-4505/articlesGender equality – The Conversation2024-03-28T15:09:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2266322024-03-28T15:09:02Z2024-03-28T15:09:02ZThe Gambia may allow female genital mutilation again – another sign of a global trend eroding women’s rights<p>The Gambia’s ban on <a href="https://africlaw.com/2016/01/19/banning-female-circumcision-in-the-gambia-through-legislative-change-the-next-steps/">female genital mutilation (FGM)</a> since 2015 is <a href="https://africlaw.com/2024/03/22/threats-to-endfgm-law-in-the-gambia/#more/-3155">under threat</a>. Proposed changes before parliament could permit <a href="https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ijgo.12792">medicalised</a> female genital cutting and allow it for consenting adults. </p>
<p>This potential reversal has thrust the country into the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/mar/18/move-to-overturn-fgm-ban-in-the-gambia-postponed">global spotlight</a> as the latest example of the backlash against gender equality.</p>
<p>The Gambia’s criminalisation of FGM was not the first in west Africa but it came as a surprise. The president at the time, Yahya Jammeh, declared the <a href="https://gambia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/national_policy_for_the_elimination_of_fgm.pdf">rampant cultural tradition</a> a non-religious practice that caused harm. There was some dissent within the country but human rights groups <a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-9fb847c01f8e448c97f5d09b8a844cba">welcomed</a> the ban. </p>
<p>Jammeh, who was president from 1994 to 2016, also oversaw the passage of other progressive gender-related laws. The <a href="https://www.lawhubgambia.com/domestic-violence-act-2013">Domestic Violence Act 2013</a> provided a framework for combating domestic violence in all its forms (physical, sexual, emotional, economic) and protection in particular for women and children. The <a href="https://www.lawhubgambia.com/sexual-offences-act-2013">Sexual Offences Act 2013</a> expanded the definition of rape, broadened the circumstances in which individuals could be charged, and reduced the burden of proof in prosecutions.</p>
<p>Jammeh also <a href="https://security-legislation.gm/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Childrens-Amendment-Act-2016.pdf">outlawed</a> child marriages in 2016. This was significant in country where <a href="https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR369/FR369.pdf">one in five young people aged 15-19 (19%)</a> are married. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/development-policy/news/eu-cuts-aid-to-gambia-over-human-rights-concerns/">one of the world’s most aid-dependent countries</a>, these reforms were all central to international donor interests. And they helped to improve the country’s democratic reputation. But at the same time, they made it easy for the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/48609039">autocratic</a> leader to get away with other excesses. He also mobilised religion to manipulate beliefs and sentiments, particularly affecting girls and women. For example, Jammeh <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/05/gambia-female-government-workers-headscarves-islamic-republic">mandated</a> that female government workers wear veils or headscarves when he declared his <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353945890_2020_Religious_Tolerance_in_the_Gambia">Muslim majority</a> country an Islamic state in 2016. </p>
<p>President Adama Barrow, Jammeh’s successor, has emphasised religious tolerance and has refrained from employing religious symbolism. Unlike the state-sponsored homophobia under the Jammeh regime, Barrow has downplayed homosexuality as a <a href="https://www.pulp.up.ac.za/edocman/edited_collections/queer_lawfare_in_africa/Chapter%2011.pdf">“non-issue”</a>.</p>
<p>I am a legal scholar and human rights practitioner with published research on <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Q0j-E18AAAAJ&citation_for_view=Q0j-E18AAAAJ:u5HHmVD_uO8C">female genital mutilation</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Q0j-E18AAAAJ&citation_for_view=Q0j-E18AAAAJ:zYLM7Y9cAGgC">gender equality and women’s rights</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=Q0j-E18AAAAJ&citation_for_view=Q0j-E18AAAAJ:_kc_bZDykSQC">governance</a> in The Gambia. It’s my view that Jammeh’s ostensible compliance with gender equality norms was selective and intended for the international gallery rather than a genuine commitment to women’s rights and democracy.</p>
<p>His tactical stance highlighted a broader trend. Autocratic African leaders often accommodate global gender norms to maintain domestic power dynamics. The result, for example, is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00104140221074277">increased women’s political participation through quotas</a> along with a conservative approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights.</p>
<p>The Gambia experience also shows that western donors and multilateral institutions need to go beyond just pushing for reforms. Once they have got the reforms they advocated for, they should have a strategy for sustaining them. Forces that were opposed to the reform often regroup to campaign for its removal. </p>
<p>At its core, female genital mutilation <a href="https://www.pulp.up.ac.za/edocman/pulp_commentaries/protocol_to_ACHPR/Article_5.pdf">constitutes</a> a <a href="https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijgo.12792">violation</a> of the human rights of girls and women. These include the right to non-discrimination, to protection from physical and mental violence, and to health and life. </p>
<p>From a feminist perspective, the prevalence of FGM in numerous African nations revolves around upholding gender-specific norms and exerting control over women’s sexuality.</p>
<h2>Female genital mutilation in The Gambia</h2>
<p>Female genital cutting is a <a href="https://gambia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/national_policy_for_the_elimination_of_fgm.pdf">deeply ingrained practice</a>. It is driven by cultural beliefs and often performed by traditional healers. According to the most recent <a href="https://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-FR369-DHS-Final-Reports.cfm">national survey</a>, a large majority of Gambian women aged 15-49 years (73%) have undergone female genital cutting. More alarming is an <a href="https://www.unicef.org/gambia/media/776/file/The%20Gambia%20Multiple%20Indicator%20Cluster%20Survey%202018.pdf">8% increase in the prevalence</a> of FGM among girls under the age of 14 – from 42.4% in 2010 to 50.6% in 2018. </p>
<p>Numerous health risks associated with all types of the practice have been documented by the <a href="https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation">World Health Organization</a> and <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/content/2/4/bmjgh-2017-000467#ref-5">systematic reviews</a>. These include severe pain, bleeding, infections and complications during childbirth and elevated rates of anxiety and other mental health disorders. This has led to <a href="https://eyala.blog/my-musings/repealing-the-endfgm-law-will-be-a-betrayal-of-women-and-girls-in-the-gambia-jama-jack">calls</a> for the practice to be banned in order to protect girls’ health and well-being.</p>
<p>The Gambia’s current struggle with the FGM ban reflects a complex interplay between cultural norms, religious beliefs, and the fight for gender equality. The potential repeal of the ban poses a threat to human rights of women and girls in The Gambia.</p>
<h2>Reversal of hard-won gains</h2>
<p>Though The Gambia is constitutionally secular, religion influences nearly every facet of society. Islamic fundamentalists in the country are known for attacks on religious minorities, including <a href="https://malagen.org/media-monitoring/hate-speech-alert-imam-fatty-attacks-ahmadis/">hate speech</a> against the Ahmadiyya Muslim community and the <a href="https://www.voicegambia.com/2023/05/11/rising-religious-tension-in-the-country/">Christian community</a>. </p>
<p>The main fundamentalist religious actors draw inspiration from and still support the exiled former dictator Jammeh. They are at the forefront of the <a href="https://africlaw.com/2024/03/22/threats-to-endfgm-law-in-the-gambia/#more-3155.">recent pushback</a> against the anti-FGM law. They argue that the ban violates their religious and cultural freedoms as guaranteed in the <a href="https://www.lawhubgambia.com/1997-constitution">1997 constitution</a>. </p>
<p>On 4 March 2024 a <a href="https://standard.gm/nam-to-seek-power-of-attorney-from-jammeh-to-sue-govt/">strong supporter of Jammeh</a> proposed a private member’s <a href="https://satangnabaneh.com/contesting-the-prohibition-of-female-genital-mutilation-in-the-gambia/">bill</a> in the National Assembly that seeks to overturn the ban.</p>
<p>The push to reassert traditional gender roles isn’t isolated to The Gambia. There is a global trend of rolling back progress on gender equality. This trend is characterised by attempts to limit <a href="https://www.pulp.up.ac.za/emerging-voices-series/choice-and-conscience-lessons-from-south-africa-for-a-global-debate">women’s bodily choices</a>, an <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/Gender-equality-and-gender-backlash.pdf">increase in violence</a> against them, as well as <a href="https://www.pulp.up.ac.za/edited-collections/queer-lawfare-in-africa-legal-strategies-in-contexts-of-lgbtiq-criminalisation-and-politicisation">attacks</a> on LGBTQI+ communities. It reflects a broader political climate of backlash against women’s rights and gender equality as a weapon in the reversal of democratic achievements.</p>
<p>Attempts have been seen to reverse legal protections against women and girls in <a href="https://au.int/en/articles/kenyas-court-ruling-against-fgm-demonstrates-commitment-member-states-shun-practices">Kenya</a>. In Sudan, state-sanctioned violence and societal pressure is aimed at <a href="https://africanarguments.org/2019/07/against-laws-regime-sudan-women-protesters-want/">restricting</a> women’s public participation. Similarly, Tanzania previously enacted a policy barring teenage mothers from <a href="https://www.moe.go.tz/sw/nyaraka/waraka-wa-elimu-na-2-wa-mwaka-2021-kuhusu-kuingia-tena-shule-kwa-wanafunzi-wa-shule-za">attending</a> public schools, though this policy has been reversed. </p>
<p>This global context highlights how anti-rights movements, undemocratic norms and gendered politics are working together to erode women’s rights and exacerbate inequalities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Satang Nabaneh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The potential repeal of the ban on female genital mutilation poses a threat to the well-being of girls in The Gambia.Satang Nabaneh, Director of Programs, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2263082024-03-21T02:52:04Z2024-03-21T02:52:04ZWomen have been excluded from men’s spaces for centuries. And that’s why the MONA Ladies Lounge matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583316/original/file-20240321-26-fq9x7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=147%2C170%2C5028%2C3709&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gender, class, race, culture and religion are all categories used to exclude people in ways that privileged people will never experience. This exclusion can be as blatant as a gang of masked people <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-21/police-investigate-racist-sign-on-main-north-road-bridge/102250570">performing the Nazi salute</a>, or as subtle as an upper-middle-class golf club quietly binning membership applications from Jews or Muslims.</p>
<p>The question of how we redress these exclusions is once again in the news because of a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-20/mona-ladies-lounge-legal-fight-men-excluded/103605236">legal case</a> taken up against Hobart’s contemporary art gallery, MONA. The anti-discrimination case has been launched on the basis that it contains a women-only Ladies Lounge art installation created by Kirsha Kaechle, an artist who is also married to the museum’s founder, David Walsh.</p>
<p>Jason Lau brought the complaint because he had been denied access to the space, which features works by Pablo Picasso and Sidney Nolan, on account of his gender. Kaechle said she is “delighted” the anti-discrimination complaint has ended up in Tasmania’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal.</p>
<p>“The men are experiencing Ladies Lounge, their experience of rejection is the artwork,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/mar/20/artist-behind-monas-ladies-only-lounge-absolutely-delighted-man-is-suing-for-gender-discrimination">she said</a>.</p>
<p>“OK, they experience the artwork differently than women, but men are certainly experiencing the artwork as it’s intended.”</p>
<p>Whatever decision the tribunal hands down, these recent events remind us that women still struggle to claim a small slice of the pie men have claimed for centuries.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/C4uQRjorJz0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>A history of keeping women out</h2>
<p>As a kid in primary school, growing up in Newcastle – a working-class beachside town – I was occasionally asked by my Nanna to head down to the local pub in my PJs and give my Granddad a nudge to come home for dinner.</p>
<p>Until 1965, women were <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/speeches/100-years-international-womens-day-2011%22">excluded from public bars</a>. A few bars would let them drink in the “ladies lounge”, which would confine them to a small area and often charge them more for drinks than men. </p>
<p>Even so, working-class women had little time to lounge. Most worked menial jobs while also doing all the domestic labour.</p>
<p>Because I was a kid, I was warmly received at the <a href="https://www.visitnewcastle.com.au/see-do/eat-drink/the-bennett-hotel">Bennett Hotel</a> and would sit up at the bar with a raspberry lemonade. The men – most of whom had knocked off at 4pm from working on the docks or <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/founding-of-bhp">at BHP</a> – were seriously drunk by 6pm.</p>
<p>Today, there are still prestigious clubs across Australia that exclude women, the <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/club-land-19941118-k65ge">Melbourne Club</a> being a notorious example. Even if they don’t explicitly ban women from being members, they are male-dominated by their very nature. Membership relies on being “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/jun/17/ascot-royal-enclosure">the right sort of chap</a>”: someone who went to the right school and university and rose up the ranks.</p>
<p>Men have controlled parliaments, the corporate sector and now claim dominion <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-so-many-big-tech-whistleblowers-women-here-is-what-the-research-shows-184033">over big tech</a>. It’s no skin off their collective noses if women have a room to gather and drink tea or a glass of wine.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ai-industry-is-on-the-verge-of-becoming-another-boys-club-were-all-going-to-lose-out-if-it-does-219802">The AI industry is on the verge of becoming another boys' club. We’re all going to lose out if it does</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why women’s spaces matter in art</h2>
<p>There’s a good reason women might want to hang out in a space where they feel comfortable. At the sharp end, there are women who are survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. On average <a href="https://www.ourwatch.org.au/quick-facts/">one woman is killed every nine days</a> by an intimate partner. </p>
<p>Beyond that, the Ladies Lounge is an apt subversion of a throughline that has dominated the art world for centures: art is made for the male gaze. Even though art galleries are public spaces, they have been overwhelmingly stocked with <a href="https://www.artshub.com.au/news/news/win-for-women-as-new-report-shows-increased-gender-equality-in-the-visual-arts-259122-2365133/">work by male artists</a>, many of whom have built careers painting female nudes designed for the male gaze. </p>
<p>Art historian Kenneth Clarke (1903-83) <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27823159">described</a> a female nude this way:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>By art, Boucher has allowed us to enjoy her with as little shame as she is enjoying herself. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Really, Kenneth?</p>
<p>In 1989, American activist art group Guerrilla Girls <a href="https://www.guerrillagirls.com/naked-through-the-ages">found fewer than 5%</a> of the artists in the modern art section of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art were women, yet 85% of the nudes were of women. By 2012, these numbers had barely shifted: fewer than 4% of the artists were women, while 76% of the nudes were of women.</p>
<p>Women walk through the world with an enormous cultural weight simply because they are women. The sexy young woman. The maternal saintly body. The invisible older woman. This is why women’s spaces matter, and why women should be able to choose whether, when and how they can be seen.</p>
<p>One of my favourite Australian contemporary artists is <a href="https://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artist/julie-rrap">Julie Rrap</a> who, with extraordinary talent and wit, uses her body to make art that returns the male gaze. Since the 1980s, she has been producing photographs, videos and sculptures that play with the female form in a way that subverts the tradition of the classical nude in Western art.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CCVXJMtAtap/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Rrap’s work is a classic example of a woman artist reclaiming space in a traditional male setting: the art museum. </p>
<h2>Ways to go</h2>
<p>My last word goes to Emma Jones, a young woman who is completing her honours thesis at Sydney University on these very questions. Asked whether women’s spaces were still relevant, she said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The world is still dominated by men trying to speak on behalf of women. Social media has given a powerful platform to a fresh wave of men attempting to ‘educate’ other men about what women ‘really’ want. The need for women to meaningfully connect with other women, feel heard and develop their voice is just as relevant today as it’s always been.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I’m with you on that, babe. When you become the leader of a women-dominated federal government, I look forward to seeing you support a bill to set up a men’s space in Parliament House. I’ll be catching up with you in the members’ bar.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-werent-there-any-great-women-artists-in-gratitude-to-linda-nochlin-153099">Why weren't there any great women artists? In gratitude to Linda Nochlin</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226308/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catharine Lumby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Lounge creator and artist Kirsha Kaechle said the lounge was being ‘experienced’ by men exactly as intended – by excluding them.Catharine Lumby, Professor of Media, Department of Media, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2260182024-03-20T19:02:57Z2024-03-20T19:02:57ZCompanies vying for government contracts could soon have to meet gender targets. Will we finally see real progress?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583045/original/file-20240320-16-fm9yug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4624%2C2666&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/businesswoman-standing-leading-business-presentation-female-681211267">Jacob Lund/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian government wants to make sure its contracts – worth almost <a href="https://www.finance.gov.au/government/procurement">A$75 billion annually</a> – don’t just deliver taxpayers value for money, but also promote gender equity.</p>
<p>Under <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/07/labor-gender-equality-targets-government-contracts-katy-gallagher-national-press-club-speech">proposed procurement policy changes</a> announced earlier this month, large companies that wish to bid for government contracts will first have to meet some gender equality conditions.</p>
<p>How exactly will these measures work across Australia’s huge private sector, and what kind of an impact could they have?</p>
<h2>Not a new idea</h2>
<p>Federal tender processes – the way we try to award government contracts to the best possible providers – currently follow a set of <a href="https://www.finance.gov.au/government/procurement/commonwealth-procurement-rules">Commonwealth procurement rules</a>. </p>
<p>They must provide value for money, encourage competition and ensure that public funds are used in an “efficient, effective, economical and ethical” way.</p>
<p>Using tenders as a lever to achieve gender equality isn’t a new idea. It’s been recommended around the world, including by the <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/5d8f6f76-en.pdf?expires=1710753868&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=FBD77B99061A635D9246913C75E5D286">OECD</a>, the <a href="https://www.adb.org/publications/gender-responsive-procurement-asia-pacific">Asian Development Bank</a>, and the <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/governance/gender-and-equality-public-procurement#:%7E:text=Only%201%25%20of%20the%20%2411,and%20costliness%20of%20procurement%20processes.">World Bank Group</a>. </p>
<p>The idea is for the government to use its “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/07/labor-gender-equality-targets-government-contracts-katy-gallagher-national-press-club-speech">purchasing power</a>” to incentivise – and in effect pressure – companies to take bolder steps toward achieving gender equality. </p>
<p>It’s a way to make sure the government’s direct efforts to <a href="https://genderequality.gov.au/">promote gender equality</a> aren’t being contradicted or undone elsewhere in the ways taxpayers’ money gets spent.</p>
<h2>Existing requirements for Australian companies</h2>
<p>In Australia, companies with at least 100 staff are already required to report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) on <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/pay-and-gender/6-gender-equality-indicators">six gender equality indicators</a>. These indicators cover: </p>
<ul>
<li>workforce composition</li>
<li>board composition</li>
<li>the gender pay gap </li>
<li>the availability of flexible working arrangements</li>
<li>employee consultation processes</li>
<li>policies on sexual harassment.</li>
</ul>
<p>Bidding for some government contracts also requires companies to prove their compliance with the WGEA’s reporting processes. This involves <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/reporting-guide/ge/eligibility-compliance#:%7E:text=For%20organisations%20that%20have%20reported,Insights'%20tab%20within%20the%20Portal">downloading a certificate</a> from the agency’s website. </p>
<p>Under the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/07/labor-gender-equality-targets-government-contracts-katy-gallagher-national-press-club-speech">proposed changes</a>, large companies with more than 500 employees will have to go beyond just reporting their numbers. If they want to remain in the running for government contracts, they will need to set and achieve measurable targets for their organisation across at least three indicators. </p>
<p>As Senator Katy Gallagher, the minister for finance, women and public service, explained while <a href="https://ministers.pmc.gov.au/gallagher/2024/national-press-club-address-working-women-national-strategy-gender-equality">announcing the measures</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We in the government believe that shining a light on what’s actually happening in workplaces will put pressure on employers to rethink how they hire, promote and remunerate their staff.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Concerns about implementation</h2>
<p>There are concerns around the practicality, market effects and reach of such a large-scale procurement policy. But there’s reason for us to be optimistic that Australia’s proposed design goes some way to mitigate these concerns. </p>
<p><strong>1. Companies might not know how to conduct this analysis</strong></p>
<p>Some might say there’s a risk these new requirements will be overly burdensome for companies not already conducting this kind of analysis. Such companies may lack the resources and technical knowledge to undertake extra steps.</p>
<p>It’s a fair concern. <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/5d8f6f76-en.pdf?expires=1710848416&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=4A37780D3D8773D8E00A60BEDF27F7F7">OECD research</a> shows that a lack of clarity around “what to do” is the main challenge with gender equality procurement practices globally.</p>
<p>But a key strength of Australia’s proposal is that it leverages existing data collection processes that companies have already invested in, not adding burdensome extra demands.</p>
<p>There’s evidence for the effectiveness of this approach at a state level. In a 2022 pilot, the Western Australian government introduced a new requirement that bidders for its contracts prove their compliance with WGEA’s existing reporting procedures. An <a href="https://www.wa.gov.au/government/document-collections/gender-equality-procurement#evaluation">evaluation</a> of the program found the new criteria made a big difference in sharpening businesses’ awareness and understanding of gender equality.</p>
<p>To further mitigate this risk, the Australian government can invest in providing informational guidance to businesses on what will be required of them. Victoria’s Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector has already done this for <a href="https://www.genderequalitycommission.vic.gov.au/applying-gender-impact-assessment-procurement-policy">state government tenders</a>.</p>
<p><strong>2. Less competition for tenders?</strong> </p>
<p>If an extra layer of requirements squeezes out potential contenders in the business community, there’s a risk it could lessen competition for government contracts. </p>
<p>Economists have good reason to worry that weaker competition could push up the price of the products and services on offer, a loss for taxpayer value. </p>
<p>But Victoria’s <a href="https://www.buyingfor.vic.gov.au/introduction-social-procurement-framework">social procurement framework</a> helps us navigate this concern, prompting us to consider the ways “value for money” can mean more than just getting the cheapest price. </p>
<p>A broader definition of “value” would include progress toward social goals that provide significant benefit to the community – such as women’s equality. </p>
<p>Gender equity practices themselves are an often overlooked source of extra value, through the broader ideas, innovation and skill sets that diversity brings. These measures mean that a new pool of businesses can join the competitive mix.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="woman wearing hardhat works on an engine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583053/original/file-20240320-27-i05mki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583053/original/file-20240320-27-i05mki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583053/original/file-20240320-27-i05mki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583053/original/file-20240320-27-i05mki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583053/original/file-20240320-27-i05mki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583053/original/file-20240320-27-i05mki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583053/original/file-20240320-27-i05mki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gender equity policies have a tangible value, enriching the workforce with new ideas and skillsets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-wears-yellow-hard-hat-holding-vehicle-part-1108101/">Chevanon Photography/Pexels</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>3. Limited reach</strong> </p>
<p>For companies that don’t have to vie for government contracts, there’s a good chance these new measures won’t carry much weight. However, the government has other ways to put pressure on them. </p>
<p>Already, the WGEA has the power to publicly “<a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/what-we-do/compliance-reporting/non-compliant-list">name and shame</a>” companies that don’t comply with legal requirements to submit their gender equality data. </p>
<p>Following the public spotlighting of companies with the biggest gender pay gaps, the “non-compliance” list calls out companies that aren’t even submitting their data at all.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/qantas-pays-women-37-less-telstra-and-bhp-20-fifty-years-after-equal-pay-laws-we-still-have-a-long-way-to-go-223870">QANTAS pays women 37% less, Telstra and BHP 20%. Fifty years after equal pay laws, we still have a long way to go</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There are some widely known names on the <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Employers-named-as-non-compliant-under-the-Workplace-Gender-Equality-Act-for-2022-2023-Gender-Equality-Reporting-March-2024.pdf">latest list</a>: General Motors, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Club, Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, and several Melbourne-based McDonald’s stores.</p>
<p>It’s unclear just how much <a href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/publications/research/Gender-smart%20Procurement%20-%2020.12.2017.pdf">being named on this list</a> – or being deemed ineligible for government contracts – matters to these companies, or to their customers and clients.</p>
<p>It’s these companies – slipping through the cracks and outside of the scope of government contracts – that we will still need to focus on.</p>
<p>Procurement is just one lever in a multi-pronged strategy to achieve gender equality. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11187-018-9997-4">Evaluations</a> suggest some procurement strategies are unlikely to boost women’s bidding success unless the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01446193.2019.1687923">other deeper barriers</a> that limit women’s involvement are also broken down. However, Australia’s existing investment in data collection means they could still be a powerful tool.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226018/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leonora Risse has undertaken research for WGEA and made a submission to the review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act. She serves as an Expert Panel Member on gender pay equity for the Fair Work Commission. She receives research funding from the Trawalla Foundation and the Women's Leadership Institute Australia. She is a member of the Economic Society of Australia and the Women in Economics Network.</span></em></p>Businesses with more than 500 employees will need to meet targets against at least three gender equality indicators.Leonora Risse, Associate Professor in Economics, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2250812024-03-07T07:47:18Z2024-03-07T07:47:18Z‘Inequality serves no-one’: Australia finally has a strategy to achieve gender equality - but is it any good?<p>As International Women’s Day comes around once more, the latest <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/pay-and-gender/gender-pay-gap-data">gender pay gap figures</a> for Australia have made for disappointing reading, including naming those companies where the gap is widest.</p>
<p>Looking at full-time equivalent total remuneration, the gender pay gap in Australia is at 21.7%. Yikes.</p>
<p>As she launched the government’s latest <a href="https://genderequality.gov.au/">gender equality strategy</a> at the Press Club on Thursday, Finance Minister and Minister for Women Katy Gallagher <a href="https://www.themandarin.com.au/241294-working-for-women-australia-first-national-strategy-to-achieve-gender-equality/">called</a> this “an eye-watering disparity”.</p>
<p>So what are the key points in the strategy and what actual difference is it likely to make?</p>
<p>As a guiding principle, one of Gallagher’s strongest quotes from the launch was that “inequality serves no-one”.</p>
<p>The strategy sets out that gender inequality and stereotypes also constrain men, limiting their choices, supports and opportunities. One way to redress this would be to normalise equal parenting and caring roles in Australian society. </p>
<p>Where the strategy is weakest is on how to preserve women’s hard-fought gains during crises and shocks such as the <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/explainer/2022/02/explainer-how-gender-inequality-and-climate-change-are-interconnected">climate transition</a>. </p>
<h2>So what is the big picture for Australian gender equality?</h2>
<p>In this context, Gallagher said she is determined to get Australia back up the <a href="https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2023/09/13/1386126/climbing-the-ranks-australias-gender-equity-breakthrough#:%7E:text=This%20significant%20moment%20dovetails%20with,political%20action%20to%20empower%20women.">international rankings</a> on gender equality.</p>
<p>I know what you’re thinking: Australia didn’t have a gender equality strategy before now? The surprising answer is no.</p>
<p>There is a 2022–32 <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/ending-violence">strategy</a> on violence against women and girls, for example, but until now, there has been never been a plan for the broader goal of gender equality, and no plan to address <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Human_Rights/HumanRightsFramework">human rights</a> since 2013. </p>
<p>And even now, the ten-year strategy won’t start until 2025. Can you imagine defence or infrastructure going years or decades without a strategy? AUKUS has a $368 billion plan between now and the mid-2050s. But key areas of social policy such mental health, gender equality or climate adaptation lapse for years, or are built and unbuilt by electoral change. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, the government is at least to be given some credit for finally giving us one on gender equality.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/krWLRJXu35o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>So what’s in it?</h2>
<p><a href="https://genderequality.gov.au/">Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality</a> has a vision of “an Australia where people are safe, treated with respect, have choices and have access to resources and equal outcomes no matter their gender”. It includes a great section on harmful gender attitudes and stereotypes, complete with narratives. </p>
<p>There are also five priority areas for action: gender-based violence; unpaid and paid care; economic equality and security; health; and leadership, representation and decision-making. </p>
<p>Some of the key points are: </p>
<ul>
<li>New federal procurement rules will be developed by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) so Australian businesses with 500 employees or more will be required to meet new gender equality targets if they want to win government contracts (noting federal public procurement is worth $70 billion). </li>
</ul>
<p>These <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/07/labor-gender-equality-targets-government-contracts-katy-gallagher-national-press-club-speech">targets</a> will focus on the gender makeup of companies’ boards and the workforce; equal pay; flexible working arrangements; workplace consultation on gender equality; and efforts to prevent and address sexual harassment. </p>
<p>This has been proven overseas to be an excellent lever for gender quality outcomes. My <a href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/publications/research/Gender-smart%20Procurement%20-%2020.12.2017.pdf">research for UK think tank Chatham House</a> showed public procurement accounts for around one-fifth of global gross domestic product. It is estimated women-owned businesses and women entrepreneurs supplied just 1% of this market. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>The federal government will <a href="https://ministers.pmc.gov.au/gallagher/2024/paying-super-government-paid-parental-leave-enhance-economic-security-and-gender-equality">pay superannuation on paid parental leave</a> (PPL) from July 1 2025.</p></li>
<li><p>The government will work towards the goal that paid and unpaid care work must be better valued. Women currently account for 75% of disability carers, 87% of residential aged carers, and more than 90% of early childhood educators. </p></li>
<li><p>The strategy will also tackle structural medical biases that lead to poorer health outcomes for women and girls, especially in relation to endometriosis and pelvic pain, and menopause.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/government-to-pay-super-on-paid-parental-leave-benefitting-180-000-families-a-year-225178">Government to pay super on paid parental leave, benefitting 180,000 families a year</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580368/original/file-20240307-22-calbu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580368/original/file-20240307-22-calbu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580368/original/file-20240307-22-calbu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580368/original/file-20240307-22-calbu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580368/original/file-20240307-22-calbu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580368/original/file-20240307-22-calbu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580368/original/file-20240307-22-calbu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While the government’s strategy has much to recommend it, it needed to do more on the impact of climate change on women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>But climate impacts could undo it all…</h2>
<p>Where the strategy falls down badly is in the consideration of climate impacts and related disasters on Australia’s progress towards gender equality. </p>
<p>Literally the last page of the report notes that given the unequal impact of crises such as climate change and natural disasters on women, diverse leadership and representation are important. But the strategy doesn’t see climate adaptation as the game-changer that it is, with most current climate adaptation measures in energy, transport, disaster management, finance, climate services and technology fuelling gender inequality outcomes.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, as the minister said in her speech, the strategy points us to a better future for the next generation of girls and women: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>To a little girl who is born today. That by the time you go to school, you won’t have preconceived ideas about “girl” jobs and “boy” jobs. That by the time you choose the subjects you study you don’t self-select out of maths or science and technology if that’s what you’re interested in. That as you grow up, you and your male peers learn about respectful relationships and enthusiastic consent rather than how women should protect themselves and their friends from the threat of violence.</p>
<p>That if you experience the pain of endometriosis or polycystic ovarian syndrome your diagnosis doesn’t take a decade, or that you’re told the pain is in your head and then sent away from the ED with only Nurofen as pain relief.</p>
<p>That you won’t be catcalled when you go for a run or look over your shoulder when you walk alone.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Harris Rimmer receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Federal Government and Queensland Government. Susan is the President of UNAA Qld and on the board of youth-led NGO Foundations for Tomorrow.</span></em></p>While there is much to applaud in the government’s strategy, it neglects to deal with the unequal gender impacts of climate change.Susan Harris Rimmer, Professor and Director of the Policy Innovation Hub, Griffith Business School, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2250732024-03-05T19:11:23Z2024-03-05T19:11:23ZWhat do schools need to do to have a good culture and healthy approach to gender?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579760/original/file-20240305-30-fyf43w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=58%2C84%2C5304%2C3648&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/assorted-color-neckties-Xy6FpnFyVjo">Rhin Photography/ Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cranbrook in Sydney’s east is one of the most elite boys schools in Australia. On Monday night, the ABC’s Four Corners program <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-04/cranbrook-school-coed-boys-school-culture-four-corners/103516686">aired claims</a> some female teachers had been bullied by male staff and sexually harassed by students. </p>
<p>Amid the school’s decision to go <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/inevitable-step-forward-cranbrook-s-high-school-to-become-fully-co-ed-20220727-p5b53q.html">fully co-ed</a> by 2028, there are concerns about whether Cranbrook will be a safe space for girls. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24453697/statement-from-cranbrook-school-to-four-corners.pdf">statement to the ABC</a>, Cranbrook said its “current staff, including female staff, overwhelmingly support the School, its values and its culture”. It also said it has appointed teacher Daisy Turnbull to prepare for coeducation and “support the furtherance of gender equality” at the school.</p>
<p>What do schools need to do in order to be genuinely gender inclusive?</p>
<h2>Sexist school cultures</h2>
<p>In the last few years, a number of boys private schools have faced allegations of unacceptable gendered cultures. This includes <a href="https://www.teachusconsent.com/testimonies">sexual assault perpetrated by students</a>, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/knox-grammar-students-were-caught-sending-offensive-messages-activists-say-its-not-an-isolated-issue/59nog69it">offensive behaviour online</a> and <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/elite-melbourne-school-apologises-over-students-misogynistic-chant-filmed-on-train-090745188.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJVOEl0I_K8QJXtmsLC6ZrzJ59N2BcgwJSZII8cLL1OoHYCzepueJZh6GOzPJ5xFoHoz4AtmAS4hksYYrqAs7xN899h-gJfT55FdHujgy7IGBPZ6GjdbK5vxsTzjG8roAJ8jdqC-PNRzQ1RdrwudNhJ721ks6M1gMkE6KCfZTwrW">in public</a> and woefully inadequate <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-20/trinity-grammar-students-raped-other-students-royal-commission/7949060">responses to sexual assault and violence</a> between students.</p>
<p>Previous <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09540253.2010.549114">Australian research </a> has also found elite boys schools can be hostile places for women and girls, trans and gender diverse students, as well as boys who don’t conform to traditional norms of masculinity. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-we-have-single-sex-schools-whats-the-history-behind-one-of-the-biggest-debates-in-education-222603">Why do we have single sex schools? What's the history behind one of the biggest debates in education?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>It’s not enough to simply go co-ed</h2>
<p>Simply enrolling girls will not automatically make a boys school more inclusive, less sexist or safer. </p>
<p>Schools aiming to truly welcome a wider range of students will need to significantly reshape the structures and culture of the school itself, both within and beyond the classroom. </p>
<p>The World Health Organization has <a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/health-promoting-schools#tab=tab_1">developed a framework</a> to ensure schools are healthy and safe. It addresses three overlapping areas: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>teaching and learning </p></li>
<li><p>the broader school environment</p></li>
<li><p>partnerships with parents and the community.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This approach can be applied to gender equity and inclusivity. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A boy in a school uniform raises his hard. A female teacher points to a map on a board." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579765/original/file-20240305-28-b9gwh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579765/original/file-20240305-28-b9gwh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579765/original/file-20240305-28-b9gwh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579765/original/file-20240305-28-b9gwh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579765/original/file-20240305-28-b9gwh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579765/original/file-20240305-28-b9gwh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579765/original/file-20240305-28-b9gwh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research has found elite boys school can be hostile places for women and girls.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/teacher-discussing-her-lesson-about-geography-8926556/">Thirdman/Pexels</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Teaching and learning</h2>
<p>The first component of a healthy school involves what students learn and the approaches and strategies used to teach it. </p>
<p>Schools that are gender equitable provide diverse curricula and equally diverse extra-curricular opportunities accessible to all students, regardless of gender. </p>
<p>There are all kinds of boys and all kinds of girls. So even single sex schools should be catering to students with a wide range of skills, interests, preferences and experiences. Likewise, there are students who are trans and non-binary, who may be excluded from school activities divided along narrow gender lines.</p>
<p>Some co-ed schools still segregate boys and girls for certain subjects. This approach upholds the idea that boys and girls learn differently and that some topics (such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-needs-to-be-talked-about-earlier-some-children-get-periods-at-8-years-before-menstruation-is-taught-at-school-222887">menstruation</a>) are too awkward to discuss in mixed-gendered groups.</p>
<p>Some schools choose to segregate classrooms to improve girls’ opportunities in areas they have been traditionally underrepresented in. While this can spring from feminist recognition of gender inequalities, it reaffirms the very divides it is attempting to challenge.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-another-elite-boys-school-goes-co-ed-are-single-sex-schools-becoming-an-endangered-species-187857">As another elite boys' school goes co-ed, are single-sex schools becoming an endangered species?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Gender equity across the curriculum</h2>
<p>The current <a href="https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au">Australian Curriculum</a> provides opportunities to engage young people in discussions about gender stereotypes and power in age-appropriate ways, in both primary and high school. </p>
<p>In English, students should <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.839260623382501">meet diverse characters</a> that challenge traditional gender roles and inequality. </p>
<p>Science, technology, engineering and maths subjects can <a href="https://naerjournal.com/article/view/v12n1-1">foster enthusiasm for STEM-related</a> content and careers, through hands-on classroom activities that encourage critical thinking and build confidence. </p>
<p>In health and physical education, comprehensive <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14681811.2022.2140133">sexualities and relationships education</a> should be a priority and include discussions of gender, power, violence, consent and healthy relationships.</p>
<p>Teachers’ values and attitudes about gender will also be reflected in their <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378129448_An_approach_to_developing_shared_understandings_of_consent_with_young_people">everyday teaching routines and practices</a>. This includes whether or not they address students through gendered language, divide students into gendered groups for activities or discipline boys and girls differently. </p>
<p>So teachers also need support and quality professional development to keep pace with evolving understandings of gender and <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d8c2136980d9708b9ba5cd3/t/5e7bf4729801234d8a1f39ec/1585181817564/FactSheet_SupportingYTP.pdf">gender diversity</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of young women play basketball on an indoor court." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579763/original/file-20240305-24-q62h9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579763/original/file-20240305-24-q62h9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579763/original/file-20240305-24-q62h9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579763/original/file-20240305-24-q62h9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579763/original/file-20240305-24-q62h9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579763/original/file-20240305-24-q62h9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579763/original/file-20240305-24-q62h9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There should be a variety of extra-curricular opportunities available to all genders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/female-playing-basketball-lbTEVIn6Kqw">Jeffrey F Lin/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The broader school environment</h2>
<p>The second component of a healthy school is the school culture. School leaders should use respectful and inclusive language and there should be strong policies to deal with child-protection concerns, gender-based discrimination and violence at school.</p>
<p>Research indicates that, unlike other forms of bullying, <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/978-1-137-52302-0#aboutBook">gender-based violence is often overlooked</a> or ignored by staff. Sexist language and behaviours can be dismissed as “just a normal part of growing up” and so become a routine part of young people’s schooling experiences.</p>
<p>School staff should also feel valued, respected and safe in their workplace regardless of their sex, gender or sexuality. Unfortunately, evidence indicates this is not always the case. A 2018 survey found <a href="https://www.nswtf.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/LGBTIQA-teachers-experiences-of-workplace-discrimination-and-disadvantage.pdf">43% of NSW LGBTIQA teachers</a> reported experiences of discrimination in the workplace. Australian research published in 2020 found women teachers were experiencing unacceptably high rates of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09540253.2021.1962516">sexual harassment in elite boys schools</a>.</p>
<p>School leaders have a duty to ensure their schools have robust policies and processes for responding to disclosures of harassment and discrimination from staff. They also need to pursue <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1741143215617946">evidence-informed</a> cultural change to ensure a safe work environment. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/there-are-reports-some-students-are-making-sexual-moaning-noises-at-school-heres-how-parents-and-teachers-can-respond-220136">There are reports some students are making sexual moaning noises at school. Here's how parents and teachers can respond</a>
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<h2>Involve students</h2>
<p>Students can be active partners in developing an inclusive school community and can even help <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378129448_An_approach_to_developing_shared_understandings_of_consent_with_young_people">co-design curricula</a> relating to gender, overcoming biases and developing healthy relationships. </p>
<p>Student diversity should also be reflected through gender-balanced representation in student leadership roles. Student initiatives around gender equality and LGBTQIA+ visibility, such as <a href="https://www.gsaconnect.org.au/">gender and sexuality alliances</a>, should also be supported.</p>
<p>School uniforms should provide options so all young people feel safe and comfortable in what they wear at school.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-cant-i-wear-a-dress-what-schools-can-learn-from-preschools-about-supporting-trans-children-223859">'Why can't I wear a dress?' What schools can learn from preschools about supporting trans children</a>
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<h2>Partnerships and services</h2>
<p>The third and final part of a healthy school looks beyond the school gates. Schools should see parents as partners and celebrate diversity in the community. </p>
<p>Parents should be invited to ask questions about curriculum and school culture and to raise concerns or lend expertise. School policies should be publicly available and regularly reviewed with student and parent input.</p>
<p>Schools can also work with organisations that promote gender equity, diversity and promote healthy relationships such as <a href="https://education.ourwatch.org.au/taking-action-in-your-school/">Our Watch</a>, <a href="https://www.fpnsw.org.au/education-training/courses-school-teachers">Family Planning</a> and <a href="https://twenty10.org.au/prism-orgsschools/">Twenty10</a>. </p>
<p>These organisations can support schools’ counselling and pastoral care services and provide resources and training for teachers. </p>
<h2>All schools can adopt this model</h2>
<p>While boys schools have been the focus of recent media attention all schools should be called upon to evaluate and reflect on their gendered culture. </p>
<p>Co-ed and girls schools are not immune to gender-based violence, sexism, homophobia and transphobia. </p>
<p>A whole-of-school review of curricula, school culture and partnerships can help schools ensure they are creating inclusive and respectful environments. This work is urgent if we aspire to a society where all students and teachers are safe in our schools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kellie Burns has previously received funding from the University of Sydney Equity Prize</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Kean receives funding from the Australian Research Council for the Special Research Initiative 'Australian Boys: Beyond the Boy Problem'.</span></em></p>Enrolling girls will not automatically make a boys school more inclusive. Schools need to look at things such as what is taught, extra-curricular activities and support for students.Kellie Burns, Senior Lecturer in Health Education, University of SydneyJessica Kean, Lecturer in Gender and Cultural Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2236082024-02-26T13:09:07Z2024-02-26T13:09:07ZTaiwan election 2024: how presidential candidates left women voters unimpressed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577406/original/file-20240222-15836-azi6l0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C5%2C3889%2C2591&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/supporters-founder-tech-giant-foxconn-terry-2302096449">jamesonwu1972/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Lai Ching-te (also known as William Lai) of the Democratic Progressive Party was elected as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/13/taiwan-ruling-partys-lai-ching-te-wins-presidential-election">new president of Taiwan</a> in January, beating Hou Yu-ih and Ko Wen-je of the Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party respectively. </p>
<p>Lai picked Hsiao Bi-khim to be his running mate. Hsiao, who had been Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the US since 2020, is the second woman to become vice president in Taiwan. </p>
<p>Seeing women on the tickets for major political seats is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0192512120935517?casa_token=pFwzsqGqu7cAAAAA%3AH8HNx-pNysvT4B9yojPw3wxVw3R6y2f2en6AYhLom9eI-6onmaEpMzIjBehJC3_v-4-BS57rgAJR4Q">not unusual</a> for Taiwanese voters. Taiwan’s national legislature has almost attained gender parity, significantly higher than the <a href="https://data.ipu.org/women-averages">global average</a>, and in 2016 it elected a woman as president (Tsai Ing-wen).</p>
<p>Nevertheless, no presidential candidate in the recent election offered concrete plans for how to achieve gender equality in society and, perhaps as a result, did not attract a great deal of support from women. Instead, candidates who chose women as their vice-presidential running mates appeared to do so as a political gesture aimed at attracting support from women, rather than displaying any real intent to advance gender equality in Taiwan.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two Taiwanese politicians (a man and a woman) cheering on a stage in front of a crowd." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lai Ching-te (William Lai) and his running mate Hsiao Bi-Khim during a campaign rally.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/lai-chingte-william-vice-president-dpp-2396136779">jamesonwu1972/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Misogyny throughout the campaigns</h2>
<p>As Taiwan geared up for the election, all three candidates spoke about the importance of gender diversity. But none of them truly campaigned for gender justice, at least not with any real conviction. </p>
<p>Ko advocated for the legalisation of surrogacy and gender-neutral bathrooms. Hou campaigned for incorporating gender diversity and equality in school curriculum’s and workplaces. Lai offered no nuances as his platform did not differ much from his opponents. </p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://www.38.org.tw/en/en-index">Modern Women’s Foundation</a> and other leading women’s organisations <a href="https://asianews.network/taiwans-female-v-p-picks-reflect-commitment-to-gender-equality-but-challenges-remain/">demanded</a> that attention be paid to gender-based violence, the gender pay gap, state-subsidised care and, among other things, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/politics-and-gender/article/do-government-positions-held-by-women-matter-a-crossnational-examination-of-female-ministers-impacts-on-womens-political-participation/1C587287F90462338F69B9A774096732">women’s ministerial representation</a>. Their efforts were to no avail as none of the candidates offered a concrete solution to any of these problems. </p>
<p>The election also scored high for misogynistic remarks from candidates. Since being elected as the mayor of Taipei ten years ago, Ko has regularly made sexist comments – for example, after a rally in July 2023 where a woman held a sign listing his remarks, his supporters <a href="https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2023/07/26/2003803741">harassed her online</a>. Ko refused to take responsibility for his own statements, saying: “What has that got to do with me?” </p>
<p>Hou also has a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-12/taiwan-presidential-election-what-to-know-about-the-candidates?leadSource=uverify%20wall">history</a> of objectifying women. At a press conference in 2018 where Hou launched a ride-sharing policy, he complimented the woman host’s appearance and age, <a href="https://www.gvm.com.tw/article/107994">saying</a> she had an “unsafe face”. He proceeded by saying that ride sharing would allow men like him to make friends with young women. </p>
<h2>Appealing to women voters</h2>
<p>Needless to say, the main electoral battles in January did not focus on women’s issues. They mainly concentrated on relations with China and on the cost of living. Women make up half of Taiwan’s population, yet their issues were largely ignored.</p>
<p>This lack of appeal was reflected in voting. Based on our own analysis of <a href="http://teds.nccu.edu.tw/teds_plan/">Taiwan’s Election and Democratization Study</a> (which collects data of voting behaviour and changes in democratic values), all three candidates struggled to secure support from women. </p>
<p>Lai, the eventual successor, stood out as the only candidate to receive a positive response from women. But even then, only 40% of <a href="https://www.tpof.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/20231229-TPOF-December-2023-Public-Opinion-Poll-%E2%80%93-English-Excerpt.pdf">women without clear political preferences</a> (characterised here as “median voters”) said they voted for him. </p>
<p>More than half of women voters <a href="http://teds.nccu.edu.tw/teds_plan/">expressed unfavourable views</a> towards Ko and Hou. Ko particularly lagged in women’s support, despite enjoying considerable backing from men.<br>
Further analysis revealed an interplay between gender, education, age and candidate preference. Among college-educated men, 63% favoured Ko, compared with only 49% of college-educated women. And among those aged between 30 and 39 years, men favoured Ko to a significantly greater degree than women.</p>
<p>This gender gap suggests that highly educated women, and those in their 30s, were more critical of Ko than men. The differences in support based on gender, age and education were less pronounced for Hou and Lai. </p>
<p>Hou’s supporters are predominantly older, with no significant differences in gender across various ages or educational levels. On the other hand, Lai attracts slightly more college-educated women than men. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A close-up shot of a Taiwanese man wearing glasses and dressed in a white jacket at a rally." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ko Wen-je, the presidential candidate from the Taiwan People’s Party.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/president-candidate-ko-wenje-attended-rally-2410913131">Alex Chan Tsz Yuk/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Selective running mates</h2>
<p>Polling taken <a href="http://my-formosa.com/DOC_201239.htm">before running mates were announced</a> suggested a neck-and-neck competition, with no candidate demonstrating a substantial lead. This tight race underscored the importance of median voters.</p>
<p>Research suggests that, while vice president picks do not usually sway the electorate broadly, they can appeal to particular voter segments. Therefore, Lai and Ko both <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/taiwan-s-female-v-p-picks-reflect-commitment-to-gender-equality-but-challenges-remain">made strategic choices</a> of women to be their vice presidential picks. </p>
<p>But did this strategy pay off? The popularity of both Lai and Ko with women voters saw no improvement. In fact, Ko’s support among women <a href="https://www.tpof.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/TPOF-12%E6%9C%88%E6%B0%91%E8%AA%BF%E5%A0%B1%E5%91%8A.pdf">continued to decline</a> even after introducing his running mate. His challenge in securing women’s support shows that putting a woman on the ticket was not enough to counteract his misogyny and boost women’s support.</p>
<p>Many challenges on gender inequality and injustice await Lai. He campaigned by prioritising other issues such as care for the elderly and the minimum wage. But even these issues cannot be addressed without accounting for gender. </p>
<p>Domestic needs like this can only be resolved by systematically evaluating and incorporating the interests and needs of women.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223608/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Taiwan’s presidential candidates failed to address women’s interests and resonate with women voters.Shan-Jan Sarah Liu, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Gender and Politics, The University of EdinburghLi-Yin Liu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2225322024-02-19T18:27:03Z2024-02-19T18:27:03ZGen Z boys’ attitudes to feminism are more nuanced than negative<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575604/original/file-20240214-18-jfr8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C16%2C5599%2C3715&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/three-teenagers-sat-together-128632589">Phovoir/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Young men are more likely than older men to think that feminism has done more harm than good, according to a <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/masculinity-and-womens-equality-study-finds-emerging-gender-divide-young-peoples-attitudes#:%7E:text=Among%20those%20aged%2016%20to,in%2011%20(9%25)%20women">new survey</a>, suggesting a backward step in attitudes to gender equality. Young women aged 16-29 are also slightly more likely than women aged 30-59 to say that feminism has done more harm than good. </p>
<p>The survey, conducted by King’s College London and Ipsos, also found a growing divergence in attitudes towards feminism, masculinity and gender equality between young men and young women. </p>
<p>On the surface, the findings chime with our experiences of conducting research directly with young people on these topics and delivering relationships and sex education in schools. But in both our work and the survey data, the reality is more nuanced than these headline findings suggest. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1752985389306982709"}"></div></p>
<p>Most of the survey sample — including the younger age groups — do not sit at the more divided extremes of the response options. While 16% of men aged 16-29 thought feminism had done more harm than good, more than double this proportion, 36%, thought it had done more good than harm. </p>
<h2>Who’s a feminist?</h2>
<p>In our recent experience of <a href="https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/teaching-sex-education-digital-age-dealing-influence-pornography">working in schools</a> delivering and evaluating an educational session designed to address harmful sexual behaviour in schools, we asked the young people how many would identify themselves as a feminist. In response, there were often just two or three hands raised, often accompanied by an odd snide comment from one of the boys. </p>
<p>Both boys and girls seem disinclined to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14681811.2020.1802242">endorse feminism</a>, with this <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47006912">perhaps counter-intuitive</a> tendency among young women having been seen for some time. </p>
<p>But when we probe a little deeper and ask if they believe in equality between genders or what they understand by feminism, a different picture emerges.</p>
<p>The young people we work with often have a firm understanding of the inequality that exists between men and women. They typically endorse the idea that people should not be restricted or disadvantaged by their gender, but that possible disadvantage as a result of gender is nuanced and flows in both directions: both boys and girls are affected by gender stereotypes and pressures.</p>
<p>The girls in the room are quick to point out the double standards which, they feel, means they are judged more harshly and experience more social shaming connected to their bodies and sexual behaviour than boys. They talk about the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sex-Ed-for-Grown-Ups-How-to-Talk-to-Children-and-Young-People-about-Sex/Hunt/p/book/9780367641337">effect of gender inequality</a> on their ability to make free choices and to feel safe in their day-to-day lives. Unwanted attention, sexual harassment and feeling unsafe are still a rite of passage for teenage girls.</p>
<p>The boys, meanwhile, with the demands of masculinity thrust upon them, rarely consider themselves <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-022-01335-9">powerful or privileged</a>. They are often insecure in their bodies, embarrassed and out of their depth – especially in their intimate and sexual relationships where they are expected to take control.</p>
<p>We have found that young people have a straightforward desire <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-022-01335-9">for authentic and healthy relationships</a> be that with their same- or opposite-sex peers. They find it difficult to translate these aspirations into reality, however, as they navigate existing social and cultural expectations and pressures surrounding gender and relationships. </p>
<p>Boys and young men, in particular, are pulled between ideas of traditional masculinity and demands to be emotionally self-aware and sensitive. </p>
<h2>The role of adults</h2>
<p>When thinking about young people’s attitudes to feminism, we need to acknowledge that it is older generations who write the social scripts for boys and girls. It is older generations who frame sex, still, as something boys do to girls – as one of us found when interviewing teachers about how they educate <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-022-01335-9">boys about consent</a>. </p>
<p>And it is older adults – such as the 37-year-old social media influencer Andrew Tate – who preach that feminism has gone too far. Media coverage of the King’s College and Ipsos Mori survey <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/feb/01/gen-z-boys-and-men-more-likely-than-baby-boomers-to-believe-feminism-harmful-says-poll">has emphasised</a> the finding that <a href="https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/reports/andrew-tate-feminism-gen-z">one in five</a> young men we surveyed approved of him. But this means that only a minority of boys and young men who said they had heard of Tate had a positive view of him. </p>
<p>More than half of the young men said they found Tate’s views offensive. This finding reflects what we are encountering in our research work: a dwindling <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/45735-how-many-britons-agree-andrew-tates-views-women">interest in Tate</a> among young people.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14681811.2020.1802242">our experience</a>, most young people are open-minded, inclusive and tolerant. They are critical thinkers when allowed to think for themselves rather than being fed easy answers by the adults around them or, as seemed to be the case in this survey, asked to select between options framed as competing interests between men and women. </p>
<p>Our research underscores the need for a youth-centric approach to tackling issues relating to gender and relationships with young people that does not tell them what to think, but more how to think in ways that respond to their concerns. The adults in young people’s lives – parents, teachers and others – should think about, and talk to them about, why influencers like Tate gain traction. </p>
<p>Young people need support, based on open and constructive dialogue, to navigate gender and relationships in an ethical, mutual and positive, rather than risk-averse and divisive, way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222532/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Setty receives funding from ESRC and Leverhulme/British Academy Trust.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonny Hunt receives funding from ESRC and is a partner of the Sex Education Forum.</span></em></p>We have found that young people have a straightforward desire for authentic and healthy relationships.Emily Setty, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of SurreyJonny Hunt, Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Science, University of BedfordshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2221592024-02-08T03:11:12Z2024-02-08T03:11:12ZWhat’s the secret to attracting more women into politics? Give them more resources<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573630/original/file-20240205-15-mja2se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With Victorian council elections to be held in October, the state government’s target of reaching 50-50 gender representation at the local level is under threat.</p>
<p>While the state achieved a record <a href="https://www.localgovernment.vic.gov.au/our-programs/gender-equity">43.8%</a> of women elected to councils in 2020, outperforming most federal and state parliaments, and succeeded in achieving gender parity in <a href="https://pathwaystopolitics.org.au/knowledge-hub/scorecard-women-political-representation/#local">47 out of 76</a> councils, the overall 50-50 gender representation target by 2025 will still be difficult to reach.</p>
<p>Globally, <a href="https://hir.harvard.edu/equal-representation-the-debate-over-gender-quotas-part-1/">gender quotas</a> have been a tried and tested way of lifting women’s political representation. But <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10361146.2018.1449802">research</a> also shows quotas can divide public opinion, and they work better in some <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26384931?seq=15">contexts</a> than others. With this in mind, we wanted to test alternative measures to support women in politics, which also attract public support.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/canadian-journal-of-political-science-revue-canadienne-de-science-politique/article/understanding-public-support-for-policies-aimed-at-gender-parity-in-politics-a-crossnational-experimental-study/C2BFCDE1454D3F39D6A2172B44403AC7">latest research</a> shows Australians are generally supportive of giving women politicians a range of resources such as better compensation, childcare and housekeeping funds, and more flexibility with online meetings, to help keep them in office. </p>
<p>Australia struggles with women’s representation in its parliaments across our three tier system. Despite a record number of women entering the federal parliament in 2022, Australia is currently ranked <a href="https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking?month=3&year=2023">34th</a> in the world for women’s representation in the lower house. </p>
<p>While local governments tend to fare slightly better, they also struggle to achieve equal gender representation. In response, the Victorian government set a target in 2016 for <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/our-equal-state-victorias-gender-equality-strategy-and-action-plan-2023-2027/introduction-our-equal-state">50% women councillors and Mayors by 2025</a>. </p>
<p>Achieving this goal is important because it makes society more equal, reflecting the fact that women account for just over 50% of the population. </p>
<p>There are other benefits too. Local government can be an excellent <a href="https://scholarworks.umb.edu/cwppp_pubs/34/">training ground</a> for women politicians, which may in turn bolster women’s representation in other tiers of government. And so, women need more support to ensure they can run for local government and be supported once in office.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-liberal-party-is-failing-women-miserably-compared-to-other-democracies-and-needs-quotas-110172">The Liberal Party is failing women miserably compared to other democracies, and needs quotas</a>
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<h2>Challenges for women politicians</h2>
<p>Women face unique challenges as politicians. Our research shows a major issue facing women politicians is their competing work and family roles. </p>
<p>Trying to meet the demands of work, family and politics creates role strain for women politicians. In a <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.254818847363461">previous study</a> with logistical support from the Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA), we found these demands meant younger women were much less likely to run for local government than older women and men of all ages. </p>
<p>Our research shows this creates stress, strain and high levels of burn-out for women politicians. It can also lead to higher attrition rates, making it harder to close the gender gap. Many men politicians, of course, also had families and paid employment, but most also had a secret weapon – partners at home to manage the domestic demands. </p>
<p>This means women politicians are entering their jobs with heavier loads and the weight of these demands are a source of constant strain. </p>
<p>To counter this, we tested public support in three countries for non-quota measures like additional resources to keep women in public office, to move closer to gender parity. </p>
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<h2>Gender responsive governments</h2>
<p>Governments have long toyed with the question: how do you centre gender in decision-making to create governments that support women and men equally? And, importantly, will the public support this decision-making? </p>
<p>To understand these questions, we conducted an experiment drawing reponses from more than 25,000 people in Australia, Canada and the United States. We presented people with a hypothetical scenario: A politician has young children at home, travels a lot for work and is doing a great job. They are thinking about re-running in the next election but find managing work and family life to be difficult. What kind of resources, if any, should they be provided? We then provided a range of options to measured their level of support for: a pay raise, a childcare allowance, or money to outsource housework. </p>
<p>Testing support at both local and federal levels of office, we found public support across countries for giving women more resources than men to help women stay in politics. We found respondents were especially supportive of extending these resources to women elected to local government, where compensation is less and supports are most needed. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-missing-women-of-australian-politics-research-shows-the-toll-of-harassment-abuse-and-stalking-168567">The missing women of Australian politics — research shows the toll of harassment, abuse and stalking</a>
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<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>So, what are the lessons we can draw here? Well, it is clear that women need additional resources to remain in office. Our <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.254818847363461">earlier research</a> on women in local government in Victoria showed a missing cohort of young women who are building families at the exact moment that they could be building political careers. </p>
<p>We know from decades of national statistics that women are underrepresented in all areas of government – local, state and federal. Women politicians report significant strain in trying to do it all and do it well. </p>
<p>They need additional resources such as childcare and flexible meeting times to stay in office. Our latest work finds that citizens are supportive of these concrete solutions to support women in politics and lift women’s participation rate.</p>
<p>We know that women bring unique strengths to politics and we know, from decades of research, that we all benefit from more equal parliaments to create a more equal society. </p>
<p>With the Victorian local government elections around the corner, now is the time for fresh thinking and policies to deliver women the resources they need to participate in politics to benefit us all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222159/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leah Ruppanner receives funding from the Australian Research Council for a grant with the Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Carson receives funding from an ARC Linkage grant with the Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA). This latest research was supported through Professor Carson's fellowship with the Women's Leadership Institute Australia (WILA).</span></em></p>New research shows giving women more resources to balance their competing work and domestic lives would help even gender disparity at all levels of political representation.Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, The University of MelbourneAndrea Carson, Professor of Political Communication, Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2227302024-02-04T16:23:16Z2024-02-04T16:23:16ZHage Geingob: Namibian president who played a modernising role<p>Hage Gottfried Geingob <a href="https://www.namibian-studies.com/index.php/JNS/article/view/113/113">served as the third president of Namibia</a> from 2015 until his death on February 4 2024. He was Namibia’s first prime minister from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 2012 to 2015.</p>
<p>Geingob was born on <a href="https://www.parliament.na/dt_team/geingob-hage/">3 August 1941</a>. He joined the ranks of the national liberation movement South West African People’s Organisation (<a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/south-west-africa-peoples-organisation-swapo">Swapo</a> during its formation in 1960.</p>
<p>As the official statement <a href="https://twitter.com/NamPresidency/status/1753963884828823682">declared</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Namibian nation has lost a distinguished servant of the people, a
liberation struggle icon, the chief architect of our constitution and the pillar of the Namibian house.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As Swapo’s candidate he was <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hage-Geingob">elected</a> as Namibia’s president for 2015 to 2020 in November 2014. In 2017 he replaced Hifikepunye Pohamba as party president. As head of state with <a href="https://theconversation.com/namibia-badly-needs-refurbishment-after-32-years-under-the-ruling-party-179205">far reaching executive powers</a>, he remained in control over party and government since then. </p>
<p>Geingob’s political career differed from that of his predecessors Sam Nujoma and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hifikepunye-Pohamba">Hifikepunye Pohamba</a>. <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/200904240652.html">Nujoma</a>, the founding president of Swapo, served as president for three terms (1990-2005). Pohamba (2005-2015) was his designated successor. </p>
<p>Geingob personified a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44508019">“changing of the guard”</a>. His advanced formal education left an imprint on the way of governance during his terms in office. A younger generation moved gradually into higher party and state ranks. He successfully modified the heroic struggle narrative and turned it into a more inclusive, patriotic history. </p>
<h2>Geingob’s career</h2>
<p>Geingob had his cultural roots in the Damara community. This made him different from the mainstream Swapo leadership, which is mainly from the Oshiwambo-speaking population. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/namibia-badly-needs-refurbishment-after-32-years-under-the-ruling-party-179205">Namibia badly needs refurbishment after 32 years under the ruling party</a>
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<p>Geingob’s different background counted in his favour among many Namibians when campaigning for presidency. People welcomed a leader with origins in an ethnically defined minority group as a sign of multi-cultural plurality.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.parliament.na/dt_team/geingob-hage/">Studying</a> at the US American Temple University in Philadelphia, the Fordham University (BA) and The New School (MA), both in New York, Geingob was representing Swapo since the mid-1960s at the United Nations. In 1975 he became the head of the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/160803">United Nations Institute for Namibia</a> in Lusaka. </p>
<p>He returned to Namibia in mid-1989, leading the Swapo election campaign in the transition to independence under <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40175168">supervision of the United Nations</a>. He played a <a href="https://www.kas.de/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=a5fa370c-004f-c92d-0ba3-7b3ca48aab38&groupId=252038">decisive role as chairman of the elected Constituent Assembly</a>. </p>
<p>He was appointed Prime Minister in 1990. </p>
<p>In 2002 he fell into disgrace for not supporting <a href="https://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/books/legacies-of-power">Sam Nujoma’s presidency-for-life ambitions</a>. Instead of accepting his demotion to Minister of Regional and Local Government and Housing, he became executive secretary of the <a href="https://gcacma.org/AboutGCA.htm">Washington-based Global Coalition for Africa</a>. </p>
<p>In 2004 he obtained a PhD at the University of Leeds for a <a href="https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/21090/">thesis</a> on state formation in Namibia.</p>
<p>He returned the same year to Namibia. Thanks to Pohamba’s reconciliatory approach, he made a remarkable comeback. Minister of Trade and industry from 2008 to 2012, he again became Prime Minister (2012-2015). </p>
<p>His clever politically strategic mind paved the way to be elected as president of the party and state. </p>
<h1>Geingob’s presidency</h1>
<p>In the Presidential and National Assembly elections of <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2014-12-02-namibias-swapo-win-elections-geingob-voted-as-president/">November 2014</a> Geingob and Swapo scored the best results in the country’s history. While Nujoma was termed the president for stability and Pohamba the president for continuity, Geingob campaigned as <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/EJC-5ae9d1ff3">president for prosperity</a>. </p>
<p>But this made him the president of unfulfilled promises. </p>
<p>Geingob’s rhetoric disclosed a stronger contrast between what was said and what was done than that of his predecessors. He used more <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056244.2018.1500360">populist</a> rhetoric as his style of governance and leadership, coining the metaphor of the “Namibian House. </p>
<p>As he <a href="https://www.namibiaembassyusa.org/sites/default/files/statements/Inaugural%20Speech%20by%20HE%20Hage%20%20Geingob%201.pdf">declared in his inaugural address</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>All of us must play our part in the success of this beautiful house we call Namibia. We need to renew it from time to time by undergoing renovations and extensions. … Let us stand together in building this new Namibian house in which no Namibian will feel left out.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But over the years many felt left out. The November 2019 parliamentary and presidential election <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00358533.2020.1717090">results</a> were the worst for Swapo since independence. A 2020 Afrobarometer survey confirmed <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/articles/trust-political-institutions-decline-namibia-afrobarometer-survey-shows/">a decline of trust</a>.</p>
<p>In all fairness, Geingob entered office at a difficult time. The country faced fiscal constraints and a period of serious droughts, followed by the traumatic impact of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00358533.2020.1790776">Covid</a>. Consequently, the socio-economic track record under him was at best mixed. On balance, his governance was characterised by a considerable gap between <a href="https://www.namibian.com.na/namibia-2024-promises-or-delivery/">promises and delivery </a>. </p>
<p>Under Geingob a decline of ethics became visible, manifested spectacularly in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FJ1TB0nwHs">corruption scandal</a> in the <a href="https://www.namibian.com.na/timely-and-engaging-fishrot/">fishing industry</a>. It became the synonym of state capture. Fighting <a href="https://africa.cgtn.com/namibias-president-geingob-pledges-stronger-fight-against-corruption/">corruption</a> became Geingob’s mantra. But it had little credibility in the eyes of the wider public. </p>
<h1>The moderniser</h1>
<p>Geingob was first married (1967-1992) to a strong-minded African-American woman. Fondly called "Auntie Patty”, Priscilla Geingos was <a href="https://www.namibiansun.com/news/auntie-patty-laid-to-rest-in-windhoek">laid to rest in Windhoek in 2014</a>. </p>
<p>Before entering office, Geingob (divorced for a second time from Loini Kandume in 2008) married the businesswoman Monica Kalondo in 2015. Strong, loyal, and independent-minded, Monica Geingos became an <a href="https://www.unaids.org/en/aboutunaids/unaidsambassadors/MonicaGeingos">active and internationally recognised First Lady</a>.</p>
<p>Among Geingob’s most laudable achievements <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2022/06/experts-committee-elimination-discrimination-against-women-congratulate-namibia">is a gender-aware policy</a>. It elevated Namibia into the league of countries with the highest proportion of women in leading political offices.</p>
<p>He <a href="https://namibia.unfpa.org/en/topics/gender-based-violence-3">took a stand against</a> gender-based violence and the country progressed in closing the gender inequality gap.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/namibia-pulls-down-german-colonial-statue-after-protests-who-was-curt-von-francois-195334">Namibia pulls down German colonial statue after protests – who was Curt von François?</a>
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<p>He was also reluctant to give in to <a href="https://www.washingtonblade.com/2023/06/14/landmark-namibia-supreme-court-ruling-sparks-anti-gay-backlash/">homophobia</a> prevalent among parliamentarians. In May 2023 the Supreme Court ruled in favour of <a href="https://www.namibian.com.na/on-same-sex-relationships/">equal treatment</a> of two foreign same sex spouses married to Namibian citizens. While the vast majority of members of the National Assembly pushed through a law amendment seeking <a href="https://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/2023/07/20/namibias-proposed-amendment-of-the-marriage-act-an-attack-on-the-rule-of-law-and-the-judiciary/">to invalidate the verdict</a>, Geingob did not sign the bill into law. </p>
<h1>Geingob’s legacy</h1>
<p>One of the last official statements by Geingob, on 13 January 2024, testified to his strong views. Upset over Germany’s taking side with Israel at the International Court of Justice, he <a href="https://twitter.com/NamPresidency/status/1746259880871149956">fumed</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The German Government is yet to fully atone for the genocide it committed on Namibian soil. Germany cannot morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, whilst supporting the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Geingob was ambitious to enter Namibian history as the president who did more to promote the welfare and advancement of citizens. But he struggled to turn that vision into reality in office. Namibia remains among the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/namibia/overview#:%7E:text=Namibia%20ranks%20as%20one%20of,services%20are%20large%20and%20widening">most unequal countries</a> in the world. </p>
<p>As he reiterated in his <a href="https://twitter.com/NamPresidency/status/1741615241614508304">New Year Address 2024</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In order to seize the opportunities that are in line with our ambitions and expectations, we should redouble our efforts to make Namibia a better country. I call on each one of you to work harder for our collective welfare. I call on all of you to hold hands and to ensure that no one feels left out of the Namibian House.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>His legacy as a moderniser will live on despite all the contradictions and unfulfilled promises. </p>
<p>Hamba kahle (Rest in peace).</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222730/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Henning Melber is a member of Swapo since 1974. </span></em></p>Hage Geingob’s legacy as a moderniser will live on despite contradictions and unfulfilled promises.Henning Melber, Extraordinary Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2166322023-11-16T19:03:50Z2023-11-16T19:03:50ZIn 5 years, this Australian astrophysics lab reached 50% women. Here’s how they did it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559803/original/file-20231116-21-9rnkm0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C37%2C6230%2C4110&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cristy Roberts / ASTRO 3D</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many organisations, from <a href="https://bicyclenetwork.com.au/newsroom/2019/12/19/who-are-our-members/">community sporting groups</a> to the <a href="https://www.ipu.org/news/statements/2019-03/womens-political-leadership-striving-50-cent-balance-in-2030">United Nations</a>, have set themselves a target of gender parity: ensuring half of staff or members are women. Gender parity is desirable because training and retaining equal halves of a population’s available talent influences an organisation’s growth, problem-solving capacity and future-readiness. </p>
<p>However, actually achieving gender parity is not always an easy feat. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-019-0954-1">In the astronomy sector</a>, somewhere between 25% and 35% of people identify as women. </p>
<p>At our research centre in Australia (the <a href="https://astro3d.org.au/">ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions</a>, or ASTRO 3D), we set out in 2017 to reach gender parity.</p>
<p>As some of my colleagues write in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02079-6">a new paper in Nature Astronomy</a>, the centre adopted a strategy based on evidence from the social sciences, and by 2022 we had increased women’s membership from 38% to 50%. This result shows it can be done – and offers some tips other organisations can use.</p>
<h2>How we did it</h2>
<p>The change was brought about by a broad range of diversity initiatives across recruitment, retention, leadership and workplace culture. The increase in women was at all levels from students to chief investigators, and – in case you were worried – did not come at the expense of men, as the centre’s membership grew over this period.</p>
<p>The centre took a “top-down” approach to gender parity, with five key elements:</p>
<ol>
<li>setting a diversity target with regular monitoring of progress</li>
<li>selecting a diverse set of team leaders</li>
<li>in-person diversity training for all organisation members</li>
<li>ensuring 50% women on selection committees for hiring postdoctoral researchers</li>
<li>ensuring 50% women on shortlists for postdoctoral positions.</li>
</ol>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/science-needs-true-diversity-to-succeed-and-australian-astronomy-shows-how-we-can-get-it-128122">Science needs true diversity to succeed -- and Australian astronomy shows how we can get it</a>
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<p>We found that when a “tipping point” of 40% women was reached, we saw more women students choosing to join ASTRO 3D – particularly within research teams led or co-led by women. </p>
<p>One of the most powerful messages to take away from the paper is the importance of monitoring and evaluation. That’s how we know the strategies applied by ASTRO 3D, built from evidence in the social sciences, were effective. Evaluating programs is crucial, and can be done using platforms like the <a href="https://evaluation.womeninstem.org.au/">Women in STEM evaluation portal</a>.</p>
<h2>Everybody wins</h2>
<p>The results underscore the continued need for women role models and leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. </p>
<p>We know gender parity <a href="https://theconversation.com/diverse-teams-can-improve-engineering-outcomes-but-recent-affirmative-action-decision-may-hinder-efforts-to-create-diverse-teams-209357">improves research quality</a> because it reduces the risk of bias and groupthink, which can affect the validity and reliability of scientific findings. Furthermore, diversity can lead to more innovative and creative solutions to scientific problems, as people from different backgrounds bring unique insights to the table. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-must-include-more-women-in-physics-it-would-help-the-whole-of-humanity-165096">We must include more women in physics — it would help the whole of humanity</a>
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<p>ASTRO 3D has shown that a multifaceted approach can be used to create a diverse workplace, which is better for everyone.</p>
<p>While astronomy may seem far removed from day-to-day concerns, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-has-the-nobel-prize-in-physics-ever-done-for-me-208859">everyone benefits from fundamental science</a>. </p>
<p>Astronomy is a gateway science and a training ground for our brightest minds. From schoolchildren to the general public, people are fascinated by questions of what’s out there in space, and how the elements fused inside stars end up in the air we inhale with every breath. </p>
<h2>When astronomy comes down to Earth</h2>
<p>While solving the mysteries of the universe, astronomy students and researchers develop skills in data analysis and problem-solving. Astronomy graduates and researchers are now highly sought <a href="https://wheretowithphysics.org.au/">in private industry</a>.</p>
<p>Their problem-solving skills are easily transferred from astronomy to sectors from biomedical and climate science, to mining and satellite technology, to energy and finance. Curating and analysing data from stars and galaxies is remarkably similar to predicting bushfires, decoding genomic data and making financial decisions.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/looking-at-the-stars-or-falling-by-the-wayside-how-astronomy-is-failing-female-scientists-159139">Looking at the stars, or falling by the wayside? How astronomy is failing female scientists</a>
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<p>Research and development teams in both academia and industry benefit from gender parity. It fosters an environment where everyone can thrive and contribute their best work. </p>
<p>The many astronomy graduates and postdocs who go on to work in industry take both problem-solving skills and lived experience of a positive research culture built on gender-parity goals. ASTRO 3D has shown how it can be done.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Ryan-Weber receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>With an evidence-based strategy and careful evaluation, gender parity in science is achievable.Emma Ryan-Weber, Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3D (ASTRO 3D), Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2140502023-10-08T17:14:29Z2023-10-08T17:14:29ZWhy do so few women take on scientific careers?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549417/original/file-20230608-25-g76o5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C0%2C4127%2C2373&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women are still in the minority in the laboratories.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/fr/photos/9dxalrR0xFI">National Cancer Institute/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There were around 8 billion human beings in 2022, 50% of them women. Although there are as many women as men, the former continue to be underrepresented in science.</p>
<p>The list of Nobel Prize laureates is a case in point: out of 965 winners, <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_des_femmes_dans_l%27attribution_du_prix_Nobel">only 64 (7%) are women</a>. Could the differences between men and women justify such a disparity?</p>
<h2>Natural differences?</h2>
<p>The first difference between the sexes can be observed at the level of chromosomes. Human beings are endowed with 23 pairs of chromosomes, the last pair differing according to sex: two X chromosomes for women, and one X and one Y chromosome for men. This difference accounts for the difference in genitalia, which are distinguishable from birth in over 99% of cases.</p>
<p>Gender, a social norm that defines how we should behave according to our sex, comes on top of these biological differences. Throughout history, gender expectations over how we ought to speak, sit, walk and dance have varied not only across time, but space: in 17th-century France, wealthy men wore shoes with heels, reflecting their high social status. Nowadays in Europe, with the notable exception of the Scots, few men wear skirts. In Asia, however, skirts are widely worn by men. Such variations show that when it comes to expressing gender identity, a person’s sex counts less than their social and cultural context.</p>
<p>Gender is also defined by stereotypes on skills, which as we shall see largely explain why women are so little present in science.</p>
<p>We know that, from the earliest age, boys’ and girls’ environments differ according to these stereotypes. And yet, by the time they enter first grade in France, <a href="https://www.education.gouv.fr/filles-et-garcons-sur-le-chemin-de-l-egalite-de-l-ecole-l-enseignement-superieur-edition-2021-322668">girls outperform boys</a> in French and are on a part with them in maths. Once in academia, however, only 22% of mathematicians are <a href="https://femmes-et-maths.fr/enseignement-superieur-et-recherche/statistiques/effectifs-a-luniversite/">women</a>.</p>
<p>What has happened in the meantime? Phenomena that affect not only the women on the receiving end, but also teachers, recruiters and parents – namely, stereotypes and gender bias.</p>
<h2>The power of stereotypes</h2>
<p>Stereotypes are character traits that are arbitrarily attributed to specific groups of people. Although they have no scientific basis, they nevertheless influence the way people behave.</p>
<p>Girls, for example, quickly take to the idea that they are not cut out for maths. Such gendered stereotypes are hardly new. During the Renaissance, a dark period for equality between men and women, women were excluded from the cultural, economic and political spheres. Then, during the Enlightenment in France, feminine names that existed for intellectual and artistic professions (author, painter, poet, doctor, etc.) <a href="https://editions-iconoclaste.fr/livres/les-grandes-oubliees/">were suppressed</a> by the Académie Française, legitimising the absence of women in these professions.</p>
<p>Research in the 21st century has continued to starkly expose such preconditioning. In 2009, researchers at the University of Aix-Marseille sought to test the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002210310900105X">mathematical skills of 12-year-old children</a> of both sexes, divided into two groups. In the first group, the children were told they were taking a geometry test. In the other, they were told they were taking a drawing test. The boys ended up outperforming the girls in the “geometry test” group, while girls not only beat them in the “drawing test”, but outscored the boys from the first group. Although the test was the same, the girls performed less well when told they were taking a geometry test. So, it is the mention of geometry that is an obstacle, not differences in ability, since in the “drawing test” instruction, they are better than the boys.</p>
<p>This is the stereotype effect: we observe a <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1997-04591-001">drop in performance</a> in situations where individuals fear confirming a negative stereotype attributed to the group to which they belong. This is known as stereotype threat. While the stereotype itself has no biological basis (at the cerebral level, <a href="https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/prof-daphna-joel/gender-mosaic/9781913068011/">the brains of two men have just as many differences as those of a man and a woman</a>), it induces behaviour in those who are its target that conforms to it: women will be less self-confident, and feel less legitimate in disciplines from which stereotypes exclude them, such as maths, and science in general.</p>
<p>Stereotypes will also induce biases in those who teach, judge, evaluate and recruit. <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1211286109">One study</a> has shown that, for the same CV sent for a position of a laboratory manager in a university, a male candidate (boy’s first name) will be judged more competent than a female candidate (girl’s first name), and will be offered a higher salary. This is what we call gender bias: we treat people differently, not because of their skills or qualities, but because of their gender.</p>
<h2>The exclusion of women from scientific careers and its mechanisms</h2>
<p>Gender inequality, which is evident at the outset of scientific studies, is amplified throughout a career. Although their numbers are on the <a href="https://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/content_migration/document/Note_DGRH_N_4_Avril_2021_La_situation_des_femmes_universitaires_dans_l_enseignement_superieur_en_2020_1405949.pdf">increase, women are still in the minority among teaching and research staff</a> in all disciplines (40% in 2021 in France), but more pronounced in the sciences (at the same date, 34% of female lecturers and 19% of female professors in science and technology). This erosion is described and analysed in the documentary <a href="https://www.pictureascientist.com/"><em>Picture a Scientist</em></a>.</p>
<p>Because women are endowed with the same abilities as men, could it be that they have less of an appetite for the sciences?</p>
<p>It is significant to note the wide variations from one country to another in the proportion of women in scientific courses. Paradoxically, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/pourquoi-legalite-entre-les-sexes-nefface-t-elle-pas-les-segregations-dans-les-filieres-scientifiques-152272">more egalitarian the country, the more women are excluded</a>. Indeed, women who manage to study in countries where they have to fight to gain access have already made a transgressive choice, so their disciplinary orientation is freer. We can see that these variations are explained by context and, as mentioned above, not by natural gender differences. In countries where women’s access to education is not in question, stereotypes play a role in the choice of disciplines. It also has an overall impact on test results, according to the mechanism known as stereotype threat described above.</p>
<p>As a result, the percentage of women in France’s top scientific schools is very low, particularly at ENS-PSL (École normale supérieure), as described in the study: <a href="https://presses.ens.psl.eu/464-cepremap-filles-sciences-une-equation-insoluble.html">“Girls + Sciences = an Unsolvable Equation?”</a>. We were particularly struck to find how commonplace gendered appreciation was in teachers’ school reports. Specific teacher training is therefore desirable to limit these biases.</p>
<p>This phenomenon is not limited to studies. The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-019-0686-3">behaviour of promotion juries</a> at the Centre for National Scientific Research (CNRS) has been analysed by Isabelle Régner: it is not the implicit bias that is responsible for inequality in terms of women’s promotion, but its non-recognition by the jury.</p>
<h2>Why act and how?</h2>
<p>We need to work toward greater individual and social equity, which will in turn lead to greater efficiency. In academic research, but also in industry and education, <a href="https://online.uncp.edu/articles/mba/diversity-and-inclusion-good-for-business.aspx">several studies</a> have shown that mixed groups (gender, social origin…) perform better.</p>
<p>We need to capitalise on this observation on a global scale. Given the scientific challenges we face, we must not lose 50% of our brainpower.</p>
<p>We therefore need to inform and convince people of the deleterious effects of gender bias, which is more widespread than is generally believed. With <a href="https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/">Association Implicit Test</a>, the strength of this bias can be measured in the difficulty, via slowness, of associating the words <em>man</em> with <em>literature</em>, or <em>woman</em> with <em>science</em>.</p>
<p>A perverse effect should also be mentioned: while representation on university bodies is parity, which is desirable, there are also burn-out effects on women’s careers. Indeed, since the pool of female professors remains unequal, particularly in the higher positions (full professor, called “A rank” in France), women find themselves individually over-solicited for collective tasks that are not particularly rewarding in terms of their careers. The result is ultimately, and paradoxically, contrary to the objective of equity.</p>
<p>Instead, we should be looking at the foundations – that is to say, the conditions of access to university and research careers. Incentive measures could be envisaged to encourage laboratories to recruit young women by helping them at the start of their careers: welcome funding in addition to that already in place, award of a thesis grant within two years of taking up the position… Measures also justified by inequalities in terms of biological clocks. And above all, in order to objectify these issues of gender bias, we need to collect gendered data on careers and working conditions: Nancy Hopkins in the documentary <em>Picture a Scientist</em> shows that, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), laboratory space allocated to female professors was significantly smaller than that allocated to male professors. And, as Jane Willenbring says in the same documentary, it is important to make scientific universities a welcoming place for women.</p>
<p>In short, even if changes are moving in the right direction, they are still very slow. Should we carry on at the current pace, a <a href="https://cache.media.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/file/Charte_egalite_femmes_hommes/90/6/Chiffres_parite_couv_vdef_239906.pdf">recent study</a> by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research estimates that gender equality within the field of higher education and research won’t happen before 2068, despite being enshrined in law. Action is thus urgently needed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214050/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>From primary school to academic positions, despite some progress, gender inequality continues to be rife.Clotilde Policar, Professeure, directrice des études sciences à l'ENS, École normale supérieure (ENS) – PSLCharlotte Jacquemot, Chercheuse en sciences cognitives, directrice du département d'études cognitives à l'Ecole normale supérieure, École normale supérieure (ENS) – PSLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2138402023-10-05T16:44:51Z2023-10-05T16:44:51ZThe FIFA Women’s World Cup is closing its gap with the men’s tournament<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-fifa-womens-world-cup-is-closing-its-gap-with-the-mens-tournament" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Few events capture the global imagination the way the FIFA World Cup does. The tournament is more than just a series of soccer matches; it’s a cultural phenomenon that transcends borders, languages and social categories. </p>
<p>However, there has been a glaring disparity between the men’s and women’s World Cups regarding viewership, financial investment and media coverage.</p>
<p>The men’s World Cup has a long and storied history <a href="https://www.britannica.com/sports/World-Cup-football">dating back to its inception in 1930</a>. Over the years, it has grown exponentially regarding viewership and financial investment. The tournament <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/soccer-legend-maradona-cheering-lionel-messi-heaven-argentina-fans-sin-rcna61657">has been a platform for legendary players</a> like Pelé, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi to showcase their talents on the world stage. </p>
<p>In contrast, the women’s World Cup was <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/chinapr1991">launched by FIFA much later, in 1991</a>. Despite its relatively short history, the tournament has made significant strides, with players like Mia Hamm, Christine Sinclair, Megan Rapinoe, Abby Wambach and Marta Vieira da Silva becoming household names.</p>
<h2>Rapid growth, unequal playing conditions</h2>
<p>The growth of the FIFA Women’s World Cup reveals a compelling narrative about the rapid progress of women’s soccer. The men’s World Cup grew from 18 to 64 matches, with a total attendance increasing from nearly <a href="https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/rajkumarpandey02/fifa-world-cup-attendance-19302022/">590,500 in 1930</a> to about <a href="https://publications.fifa.com/en/annual-report-2022/tournaments-and-events/fifa-world-cup-quatar-2022/fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022-in-numbers/">3.4 million in 2022</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, the total attendance for the women’s World Cup surged from approximately <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/19/sports/women-s-world-cup-all-is-ready-and-the-stands-are-full.html">510,000 in 1991</a> to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66517612">nearly two million in 2023</a>.</p>
<p>Starting 61 years later than the Men’s World Cup, the women’s tournament <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/fifa-says-women-s-world-cup-ticket-sales-surpass-1-68-million-1.6501777">expanded from 26 to 64 matches</a> in just 32 years, catching up with the men’s format. </p>
<p>Regarding average attendance, the women’s World Cup has almost doubled <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/from-humble-beginnings-the-fifa-women-s-world-cup-1.1030918">from around 19,600</a> to <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/272800/average-number-of-spectatators-at-the-fifa-womens-world-cup/">nearly 30,900</a> in 32 years, while the men’s average attendance increased from about <a href="https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/rajkumarpandey02/fifa-world-cup-attendance-19302022/">32,800 to almost 53,200 over 93 years</a>. These trends suggest the women’s World Cup is not only catching up to the men’s World Cup, but is doing so at a much faster rate. </p>
<p>If this rapid growth continues, the women’s World Cup could match or surpass the men’s in total and average attendance in the coming decades.</p>
<h2>Numerous challenges</h2>
<p>The women’s World Cup has faced numerous challenges, including fewer teams, shorter matches and <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/fifa-will-allow-natural-grass-fields-2023-womens-wc/">artificial turf compared to the men’s natural grass</a>. Financial and media disparities persist. The <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/07/the-2019-womens-world-cup-prize-money-is-30-million.html">2019 women’s World Cup had a prize pool of US$30 million</a> — a fraction of the US$400 million allocated for the 2018 men’s World Cup. </p>
<p>Although the 2023 women’s event has seen a significant increase in prize money to US$110 million, it still <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/success-womens-world-cup-cant-hide-financial-gap-with-men-2023-08-21/">pales in comparison to the US$440 million for the 2022 men’s World Cup</a>.</p>
<p>This financial imbalance extends beyond the players to the tournament itself, with the <a href="https://time.com/6303306/womens-world-cup-sponsorship-revenue/">men’s World Cup attracting more high-profile sponsors</a>. As a result, female athletes receive less <a href="https://europeanleagues.com/wp-content/uploads/Laura-McCallums-dissertation-Gender-inequality-in-the-football-industry.pdf">professional recognition and fewer resources than the men do</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fifa-womens-world-cup-professional-women-athletes-are-still-fighting-for-equitable-sponsorship-209781">FIFA Women’s World Cup: Professional women athletes are still fighting for equitable sponsorship</a>
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<p>Media coverage for the women’s World Cup is improving, closing the gap with the men’s tournament. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanaglass/2019/10/21/fifa-womens-world-cup-breaks-viewership-records/?sh=47431fc11884">The 2019</a> <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66517612">and 2023</a> editions set new viewership records. </p>
<p>Media coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup not only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302221075691">changes normative expectations about what women can achieve</a> in sports but also serves as a platform for creating female role models and breaking long-standing gender stereotypes. This heightened visibility positively influences public beliefs about women’s capabilities in traditionally male-dominated fields. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://theathletic.com/4176907/2022/05/19/fifa-appoints-three-female-referees-for-world-cup-for-first-time-in-competition-history/">FIFA’s appointment of three women referees and three women assistant referees in 2022</a> serves as a sign of changing employment opportunities. As a result, these shifts in perception may affect income disparities and career advancement for women.</p>
<h2>Gender parity in world soccer</h2>
<p>Despite the ongoing inequalities, the skill level between men’s and women’s soccer is comparable. For instance, <a href="https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/brazils-marta-becomes-alltime-world-cup-goal-scorer-with-17-211518392.html/">Brazilian forward Marta set a milestone by scoring 17 goals in a World Cup competition</a>, surpassing Miroslav Klose’s previous record of 16 goals in 2019. </p>
<p>The range of goals scored by the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/268922/leading-scorers-at-the-fifa-world-cup-since-1930/">Top 10 men</a> <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/soccer/news/womens-world-cup-2023-top-goal-scorer-golden-boot-rankings/de5r0qcuakrkkggmzt29kn1t">and women</a> players is similar, suggesting a comparable level of competition and skill.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A chart listing the top scorers of men and women's FIFA world cups" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551884/original/file-20231003-23-i8ithx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551884/original/file-20231003-23-i8ithx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551884/original/file-20231003-23-i8ithx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551884/original/file-20231003-23-i8ithx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551884/original/file-20231003-23-i8ithx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=704&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551884/original/file-20231003-23-i8ithx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=704&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551884/original/file-20231003-23-i8ithx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=704&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Top goal scorers in men’s and women’s FIFA World Cups. The range of goals scored by men and women players is similar, suggesting a comparable level of skill in both sexes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(FIFA and ESPN)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The women’s World Cup has come a long way, but the road to gender equality remains long and fraught. Still, the trajectory is clear: with rising viewership, burgeoning sponsorships and an ever-expanding talent pool, the future is not just promising — it’s luminous. </p>
<p>With an unprecedented two million fans flooding the stadiums in 2023, it’s clear the world is finally recognizing the extraordinary skill and electrifying excitement that women bring to soccer. Milestones like the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2021.634696">2023 expansion to 32 teams and standardizing match duration</a> indicate progress as well. </p>
<p>But this is no time for complacency. Equity isn’t merely about filling stadiums or equalizing prize money; it’s a battle against entrenched stereotypes that have stifled women’s sports for far too long. </p>
<p>We’re at a pivotal moment, and the time for action is now. Governments, sporting bodies and organizations must keep investing in women’s soccer to champion these phenomenal athletes and make tuning into the women’s World Cup as second nature as watching the men’s tournament. Soccer is more than a game; it’s a movement shaping the future — one we all have a vested interest in.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213840/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clare Ardern previously received funding from the Australian National Health & Medical Research Council and the Swedish Research Council for Sport Science. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy and JOSPT Open, which are published by Movement Science Media.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karim Khan is the Scientific Director for the CIHR institution of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sabeena Jalal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Women’s World Cup is emerging from the shadow of its male counterpart, breaking attendance records and drawing a global audience.This surge in popularity is a win for gender equality.Sabeena Jalal, Senior Researcher, Department of Family Practice, University of British ColumbiaClare Ardern, Assistant Professor in Physiotherapy, University of British ColumbiaKarim Khan, Professor, Department of Family Practice and the School of Kinesiology, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2085902023-09-22T12:28:07Z2023-09-22T12:28:07ZAsian women are still a minority in diplomatic positions: this is how we can fix this<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534261/original/file-20230627-7336-wfx2kc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C44%2C4992%2C3682&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women in diplomacy.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/illustration-international-diverse-people_3207233.htm#query=women%20across%20country&position=7&from_view=search&track=ais">Freepik</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://investinginwomen.asia/knowledge/global-gender-gap-report-2022/">2022 Global Gender Gap Report</a> showed Asian countries have managed to narrow the gender gap in economic, education and health sectors. But when it comes to political participation, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0192512120935517">the gap persists</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-9426-5_1">Studies</a> have shown in most Asian countries, women are still marginalised in the field of international relations. They are underrepresented in <a href="https://www.sfpa.sk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ulicna-intempl-final-kopie-kopie.pdf">ambassadorial positions</a> and their low involvement <a href="https://dcollection.ewha.ac.kr/public_resource/pdf/000000201749_20230919130428.pdf">during negotiation processes</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://ieomsociety.org/proceedings/2022malaysia/495.pdf">Studies</a> about representation of women in modern diplomacy also assert that in general, Asian women continue to be the minority in this field, with very low percentage.</p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.sfpa.sk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ulicna-intempl-final-kopie-kopie.pdf">some progress</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-9426-5_11">efforts</a> to achieve gender parity, Asian women are still <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-9426-5_11">in constant conflict</a> with cultural dynamics that hamper their advancement in foreign affairs.</p>
<p>Here’s how we fix it. </p>
<h2>Women are not represented</h2>
<p>As of 2023, the global share of women serving as cabinet ministers globally is just 22.8%, according to the <a href="https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/infographics/2023-03/women-in-politics-2023">the Inter-Parliamentary Union</a>. Asian countries (Central and Southern Asia) rank the second lowest of the world regions or at <a href="https://www.ipu.org/news/press-releases/2023-03/women-in-power-in-2023-new-data-shows-progress-wide-regional-gaps">10.1%</a>.</p>
<p>Most of the women (84%) in the cabinet ministers in Asia are assigned in ministries or institutions related to women’s issues, gender equality and children. Meanwhile, the number of women serving in traditionally <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/history-of-education-quarterly/article/abs/lady-astors-campaign-for-nursery-schools-in-britain-19301939-attempting-to-valorize-cultural-capital-in-a-maledominated-political-field/C7F81D3D2296C8AC47F4208908401E5D">male-dominated fields</a>, such as defence, energy and transportation, remains small – less than 12%. </p>
<p>Globally, out of 193 countries, the portion of women who serve in ministerial positions at the ministries of foreign affairs is only around 20%.</p>
<p>In Asia, the proportion of women as ambassadors and permanent representatives in United Nations (UN) organisations is just <a href="https://www.agda.ac.ae/docs/default-source/2023/women-diplomacy.pdf?sfvrsn=6189673b_3">12%</a>, far less than the global average of 20.54%. The Maldives has the greatest ratio of female ambassadors among Asian countries – at 50%, while Cambodia with 25% share is the lowest in Asia.</p>
<p>Right now, only <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-58682-3_2">17 Asian nations</a> that currently have ever had female foreign ministers. In Southeast Asia, it is only Philippines, Timor Leste, Myanmar and Indonesia.</p>
<p>During President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo term, Indonesian female ambassadors made up <a href="https://theconversation.com/data-bicara-keterwakilan-perempuan-indonesia-sebagai-duta-besar-kurang-dari-6-strategi-pengarusutamaan-gender-perlu-diperkuat-197033">13.46%</a> from the <a href="https://kemlu.go.id/portal/id/page/29/kedutaan_konsulat">total 95 embassies and three permanent missions</a>, that is higher than the previous administration which stood at 9.55%.</p>
<h2>The challenges</h2>
<p>There are three challenges behind the low representation of women in Asian foreign affairs. </p>
<p><strong>First</strong>, the dearth of representation of women in international affairs is inextricably linked to <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2017/03/16/here-s-why-closing-foreign-policy-gender-gap-matters-pub-68325">the notion</a> in most Asian nations that males still dominate this field. Historically, diplomacy has been a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/fpa/article/13/3/521/2625550">male-dominated domain</a> with <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-9426-5_7">very few provisions</a> for women.</p>
<p><strong>Second</strong>, in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00219096231176738">most Asian countries</a>, there are still <a href="https://download.e-bookshelf.de/download/0010/5370/59/L-G-0010537059-0024446644.pdf">unequal cultural and structural power relations</a> inside internal organisations. <a href="https://www.diplomacy.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IC-and-Diplomacy-FINAL_Part16.pdf">Patriarchal views and gender preconceptions</a> about the function of female ambassadors still exist.</p>
<p><strong>Third</strong>, female diplomats are also affected more disproportionately because they <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/politics-and-gender/article/abs/work-and-family-balance-in-top-diplomacy-the-case-of-the-czech-republic/CA79AA24B75D006C2D0A601966A65F32">carry double burden</a> in balancing work and personal life.</p>
<p>While they hold public positions, most of them still carry domestic responsibilities. It is still more difficult for women, compared to men, to deal with frequent job rotations, long working hours and placements abroad.</p>
<h2>Promoting gender-responsive policies</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nyu.edu/washington-dc/dc-dialogues/women-in-and-of-the-world/broad-influence--how-women-are-changing-the-way-america.html">Research</a> has shown that if women achieved critical mass –somewhere between 20-30% – within an organisation they can <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-a-critical-mass-of-women-can-change-an-institution">wield power and influence</a> in public life and the workforce. </p>
<p>But it is not enough to only ensure women receive fair representation in organisations. After achieving critical mass, the next step is to include a gender perspective in foreign policy approaches, formulation and implementation.</p>
<p>In recent years, several governments in Asia <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/Brief-Feminist-foreign-policies-en_0.pdf">have recognised</a> the needs of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/fpa/article/16/2/143/5781199">gender mainstreaming</a> and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26760832">feminist foreign policy</a>.</p>
<p>Indonesia, for example, has issued <a href="https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Home/Details/163046/permenlu-no-21-tahun-2020">a ministerial regulation</a> that facilitates gender-related concerns in ministries, including facilities for female employees.</p>
<p>Other Asian countries are also beginning to implement gender-responsive foreign policy. Several Asian countries have developed <a href="https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2020/10/women-peace-and-security-in-asia-pacific-20-years-on-progress-achieved-and-lessons-learned">National Action Plans</a> on women, peace and security. These include Indonesia (2014), the Philippines (2010 and 2017), South Korea (2014) and Timor Leste (2016). </p>
<p>Sending more female ambassadors to regional and global forums is another way for achieving gender balance and equality.</p>
<p>Efforts have been started but much more is needed. All stakeholders must keep echoing the necessity of gender equality in the work place through better and wider <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10357718.2021.1893653?journalCode=caji20">attempts to normalise gender equality</a> in foreign policy institutions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208590/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Para penulis tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi di luar afiliasi akademis yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Although there have progress to achieve gender equality, women are still under-represented in diplomacy in Asia.Athiqah Nur Alami, Researcher at Research Center for Politics, Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN)Ganewati Wuryandari, Professor, Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN)Mario Surya Ramadhan, Researcher, Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2105222023-08-22T21:14:07Z2023-08-22T21:14:07ZUnpacking the invisible, gendered labour of women coaches<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543098/original/file-20230816-19-muhqw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C172%2C5373%2C3186&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Emotional labour is not recognized, nor valued enough, in coaching.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/unpacking-the-invisible-gendered-labour-of-women-coaches" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Despite <a href="https://sirc.ca/blog/next-steps-in-the-safe-sport-journey/">a positive shift</a> in sport culture towards prioritizing <a href="https://coach.ca/mental-health-hub">athletes’ mental health and well-being</a>, the crucial work of coaches in supporting athletes — and the resulting emotional toll — remains taken for granted.</p>
<p>Referred to as <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-emotional-labour-and-how-do-we-get-it-wrong-185773">emotional labour</a>, this often-overlooked part of coaching requires coaches to manage their emotions in order to influence or mediate the emotions of their athletes.</p>
<p>This situation is particularly pronounced for women coaches, who are consistently striving to establish themselves in a <a href="https://access.portico.org/stable?au=pgk5szzh4t">male-dominated space</a> driven by <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315668017-29/issues-maltreatment-high-performance-athlete-development-gretchen-kerr-ashley-stirling">competition and mental toughness</a>.</p>
<h2>Gendered division of labour</h2>
<p>There is <a href="https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/0b7a6aa1-3594-4d47-8402-b239803606d1/content">preliminary evidence from sport scholars of a gendered division of labour</a> among coaches at Canadian universities. This divide affects expectations about the types of work men and women coaches engage in and how their performance is evaluated.</p>
<p>Research findings also indicate that athletes place greater expectations on women coaches to provide <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/wspaj.2018-0011">a higher degree of emotional understanding</a> than they do on men coaches. Men coaches are also praised for the same emotionally supportive behaviour women coaches are expected to provide.</p>
<p>The gendered assumption that women have an innate capacity and responsibility to care for people is even embedded within <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/sport-policies-acts-regulations/policy-actively-engaged-women-girls.html">Canada’s federal gender equity policy</a>. It reads:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The leadership, skills and perspectives of women are lost to the sport system at a time when, because of the ongoing identified need to build human resource capacity, the system can least afford to do without their involvement.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Implicitly and explicitly, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Improving-Gender-Equity-in-Sports-Coaching/Norman/p/book/9781032049120">women coaches are expected to prioritize others, and be nurturing and supportive</a> — all while being measured against a male coaching standard that expects self-sufficiency, and demanding and assertive behaviour.</p>
<h2>Emotional labour</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520272941/the-managed-heart">Women typically engage in more emotional labour</a> than men in both their professional lives and at home. This is because women are often socialized from a young age to develop emotional skills and manage their expressions and feelings.</p>
<p>This trend also extends into the world of coaching. Our preliminary research with nine Canadian women intercollegiate coaches revealed that all used emotional labour to navigate displays of emotions typically associated with both masculinity (e.g., courage, confidence, authority) and femininity (e.g., empathy, compassion, positivity). </p>
<p>The coaches received negative backlash when they failed to meet either set of gendered expectations, placing them in a double-bind and leading to emotional exhaustion and burnout.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman coach in a black, long-sleeved shirt speaks to a group of young girls wearing red pinnies" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543097/original/file-20230816-29-udslzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543097/original/file-20230816-29-udslzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543097/original/file-20230816-29-udslzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543097/original/file-20230816-29-udslzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543097/original/file-20230816-29-udslzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543097/original/file-20230816-29-udslzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543097/original/file-20230816-29-udslzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Athletes place greater expectations on women coaches to provide a higher degree of emotional understanding than they do on men coaches.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One coach said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“There’s very low tolerance for meanness … they won’t take that from a woman, but they’ll take a lot of it from the men. And they’ll just call that, ‘well, he’s just, you know, he expects a lot from us,’ or ‘he’s demanding’ or ‘he’s a tough coach,’ but it’s really hard for women to get away with it.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The coaches also said they were required to engage in emotional labour to create supportive spaces, meet their athletes’ needs and build relationships with many stakeholders. </p>
<p>One coach said that as a woman, she was expected to “take care of all the motherly stuff and like nurture the athletes if they cry … or be the positive push.”</p>
<h2>Invisible, gendered labour</h2>
<p>All the coaches we spoke to said they considered emotional labour to be work. One coach said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I’m not resentful at all of that labour, and I’m not unwilling to do it. But I would never deny the toll it takes or the amount of work that it is.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The coaches said that while university administrators idealized athlete-centred culture, they felt their labour for fostering such a culture was largely undervalued. </p>
<p>When one coach advocated for a raise and demonstrated the additional work she did to support student-athletes, she was told: “don’t go above and beyond, just do as much as you get paid.”</p>
<p>Another coach recounted that, during a staff meeting, all the coaches were told they were on one-year contracts because “they wanted to keep the coaches competitive.” Such examples demonstrate how the emphasis on competition impacts how coaches’ work is measured and evaluated, while ignoring the emotional burden coaches assume.</p>
<p>One coach spoke about the stress of this impact:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I was lying to myself to be like, oh, like mental health is really important to me. But meanwhile, I’m only worried about the mental health of my athletes and my coaches … I’ll get to mine when I get, if I get a chance. And then I wasn’t getting a chance at all.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Broadening the definition of coach’s work</h2>
<p>By acknowledging gendered biases and stereotypes that impact women coaches’ working realities and the standards they are held to, we may be able to advance gender equity in the coaching field.</p>
<p>The emotional realities experienced by women coaches are impacting their ability to thrive in a sport culture that doesn’t recognize or support key parts of their work.</p>
<p>Emotional labour is currently not recognized, nor valued enough, in coaching to be included in job descriptions or job evaluations, making it largely invisible work.</p>
<p>A crucial next step towards gender equity in coaching is broadening the definition of coaching to acknowledge its emotional realities. Doing this will ultimately <a href="https://sirc.ca/blog/next-steps-in-the-safe-sport-journey/">enrich the sport experience for all involved</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210522/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The emotional realities experienced by women coaches are adversely impacting their ability to thrive in a culture that doesn’t recognize or support key parts of their work.Jesse Porter, Research Assistant, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Brock UniversityKirsty Spence, Associate Dean, Teaching and Undergraduate Studies, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2117152023-08-21T20:26:16Z2023-08-21T20:26:16ZFIFA Women’s World Cup successes reflect gender gap differences between countries<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543811/original/file-20230821-29-pfq61q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C10%2C6968%2C4642&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Spain's Esther González holds the trophy celebrating at the end of the Women's World Cup soccer final between Spain and England at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 20, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/fifa-womens-world-cup-successes-reflect-gender-gap-differences-between-countries" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The recent FIFA Women’s World Cup was nothing short of exhilarating, with the final match between Spain’s victorious La Roja team versus England’s Lionesses leaving fans on the edge of their seats.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66517612">record-breaking two million fans attended the games</a> in Australia and New Zealand, serving as a testament to the heights women can reach with the right opportunities and support.</p>
<p>But this year’s Women’s World Cup also signified a broader shift beyond the boundaries of the playing field. The games were accompanied by cries for <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/25/womens-world-cup-shows-equality-still-has-long-way-go">equal treatment of women in sports</a> <a href="https://www.iadb.org/en/improvinglives/what-womens-world-cup-says-about-gender-equality">and far beyond</a>.</p>
<p>By examining the performances of countries that participated in the Women’s World Cup, we can gain insights into the efforts countries are making to address gender inequality beyond sports.</p>
<h2>Gender equality policies</h2>
<p>Countries ranking highest in the Women’s World Cup, such as Sweden, England, Spain and Australia, have <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/gender-equal-countries-gender-gap/">devised policies and made investments in women and girls</a> that go beyond women’s sports. </p>
<p>Scandinavian countries are known for their improved conditions for women, such as more equal sharing of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2021.1872759">unpaid</a> <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200303-how-sweden-is-fixing-the-housework-gender-gap">domestic</a> work, although the problem is still not solved. Sweden has a <a href="https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/countries/sweden">National Gender Equality Policy</a> that also includes a statement that men’s violence against women must stop. </p>
<p>Ensuring that access to education translates to workforce opportunities, political power-sharing and equal economic benefits is also critical. England requires employers with 250 employees or more to report on their <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gender-pay-gap-reporting-guidance-for-employers/who-needs-to-report">gender pay gap</a> — an important policy that supports economic parity.</p>
<p>Spain has been <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/02/spain-un-experts-hail-new-feminist-legislation">praised for its feminist policies</a> facilitating access to sexual and reproductive rights. Spain’s <a href="https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/countries/spain?language_content_entity=en">Equality Law</a> includes paternity leave, gender-balanced political representation, and equality plans to eliminate gender <a href="https://bovemontero.com/en/2023/02/27/what-is-an-equality-plan-and-what-are-its-new-features-in-2023/">discrimination</a> are required by all public and private organizations with more than 250 employees. </p>
<p>Australia also has a <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/office-women/national-strategy-achieve-gender-equality">National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality</a>, including a <a href="https://www.directory.gov.au/portfolios/prime-minister-and-cabinet/department-prime-minister-and-cabinet/womens-economic-equality-taskforce">Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(98)00156-9">Research has recommended many of the same policies</a> these countries have embarked upon for mainstreaming gender equality elsewhere around the world.</p>
<h2>Sustainable development</h2>
<p>The countries that excelled in the Women’s World Cup were also those that rank higher in <a href="https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/rankings">sustainable development</a>. This link between higher sports achievement and sustainable development makes sense, since recent research has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-022-01017-9">connected higher UN Human Development Index rankings with achievement in Olympic sports</a> and vice versa. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI">Human Development Index</a> measures things like life expectancy, education and gross national income per capita.</p>
<p>Women’s soccer scores appear to be even more strongly related to another type of development index — the <a href="https://hdr.undp.org/planetary-pressures-adjusted-human-development-index#/indicies/PHDI">Planetary pressures-adjusted Human Development Index</a>. This index takes into account the human impact of activities, like the amount of carbon dioxide emissions per person, on the planet. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A line graph of data from numerous countries with total soccer points on the Y-axis and Planetary pressures-adjusted HDI on the X-axis" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543793/original/file-20230821-27-6a2tbm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Several Women’s World Cup finalists are seen in the top-right region of this graph, illustrating that a lower environmental footprint is associated with higher team success.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Deborah de Lange)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My analysis found that a lower environmental footprint was associated with higher team success. This implies that our environmental activities affect women’s capabilities to succeed — at least when national soccer scores are used as outcomes.</p>
<h2>Gender development</h2>
<p>My analysis found that women’s soccer scores were also related to the <a href="https://hdr.undp.org/gender-development-index#/indicies/GDI">Gender Development Index</a>, which differs from the Human Development Index. </p>
<p>The Gender Development Index measures inequality between males and females across three measures: life expectancy, education and earned income. Since men and women live under different circumstances, women’s issues must be specifically paid attention to. The cries for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/mar/01/moving-the-goalposts-canada-women-fight-equal-pay">pay equity in women’s soccer</a> attest to this.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A line graph of data from numerous countries with total soccer points on the Y-axis and GDI on the X-axis" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543791/original/file-20230821-17-dw4hl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A higher Gender Development Index is associated with women’s soccer team success.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Deborah de Lange)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My analysis found that a higher Gender Development Index was associated with women’s soccer team success. Countries that had higher Gender Development Index scores were more likely to have higher scores in soccer.</p>
<h2>Women are half the population</h2>
<p>The world needs to be reminded that women comprise <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/gender-ratio">roughly 50 per cent</a> of the world’s population. Countries with more women tend to do better on soccer scores. </p>
<p>Developing the largest possible talent pool for women’s sports would benefit from increasing numbers and the quality of those numbers. Give every girl a better chance from the beginning. Cutting down the available talent pool <a href="https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA11427">will not lead to positive outcomes</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bar graph that peaks in the centre and slopes downwards on both sides" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543794/original/file-20230821-19-bb35h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The gender ratio variation across countries competing in women’s soccer. Countries with a higher percentage of women do better on the Planetary pressures-adjusted Human Development Index, the Gender Development Index and in the Women’s World Cup.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Deborah de Lange)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unfortunately, there is still evidence of <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/gender-biased-sex-selection">sex-selective abortions</a> and <a href="https://www.unicef.org/gender-equality">discrimination against girls</a> in many countries. This not only hurts the soccer scores of these countries, according to my analysis, but also extends to other areas, like government and politics.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/gender-race-identity/autocracy-and-patriarchy-are-surging-worldwide">autocracies like Russia</a> — governments where absolute power is held by one person — <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203822302-17/reconstructing-gender-iraqi-women-dictatorship-war-sanctions-occupation-nadje-al-ali">often rely on the consolidation of male power</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqw021">to the detriment of women</a>. Democracies, on the other hand, hinge on human rights, which include women’s rights. In fact, the top-ranking women’s soccer teams all come from democracies. </p>
<h2>Continuing the fight</h2>
<p>The story of women’s soccer is one of perseverance. Although the first international soccer match between Scotland and England was in 1881, a disheartening turn of events unfolded in 1921 when the English Football Association <a href="https://girlssoccernetwork.com/europe-womens-soccer-ban/">banned women from playing</a>. This held back women in soccer for 50 years.</p>
<p>It has been an uphill battle for women since then. There has been <a href="https://www.historyextra.com/period/general-history/women-barred-banned-illegal/">a long history of women being banned</a> from many types of activities and realms, all of which has damaged women’s development globally.</p>
<p>History tells us that we must be forever vigilant and continue to fight for women’s rights and equality. In fact, <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/agenda/briefing/2021-02-08/12/women-s-rights-still-a-long-way-to-go-to-achieve-gender-equality">we still have a long way to go</a>, especially considering the way <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-pandemic-deepened-gender-inequality-in-dual-career-households-203818">the pandemic set women back</a>.</p>
<p>Improving women’s circumstances requires a variety of interventions. These include enforcing equal pay and employment opportunities through legislation and changing tax laws and benefits to reinforce women as equal household partners. </p>
<p>Adding a “women in sports inequality” variable to the Gender Development Index may enhance our ability to measure the impacts of these changes for the progress we so desperately need to make.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211715/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah de Lange receives funding from SSHRC and ESRC.</span></em></p>By examining the FIFA Women’s World Cup performances, we can gain insights into the efforts countries are making to address gender inequality beyond sports.Deborah de Lange, Associate Professor, Global Management Studies, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2108832023-08-20T12:12:23Z2023-08-20T12:12:23ZGender inequality will still be an issue at the Paris 2024 Olympics — despite the Games being gender-balanced<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542864/original/file-20230815-26675-69iu8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C7%2C5101%2C3416&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tourists walk past the Olympic rings in front of Paris City Hall with one year until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony, on July 26, 2023. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/gender-inequality-will-still-be-an-issue-at-the-paris-2024-olympics-despite-the-games-being-gender-balanced" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>With one year to go until the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games, fans around the world have been following their teams’ performances at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. </p>
<p>For fans <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-upside-to-canada-being-knocked-out-of-the-fifa-womens-world-cup-210782">whose national teams didn’t advance as much as they had hoped</a>, they can look forward to seeing those same teams play at the Paris Olympics.</p>
<p>But the same is not true for the men’s national teams that competed at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/looking-back-on-the-2022-fifa-world-cup-a-tournament-of-surprises-and-controversy-194493">2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar</a>. At the Olympic Games, <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/articles/mens-olympic-football-tournament-paris-2024-dates-stadiums-cities-qualifiers-qualified-teams-format">men’s national teams are limited to 23-year-old and younger players</a>, with three exceptions for overage players. There are <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/articles/womens-olympic-football-tournament-paris-2024-dates-stadiums-cities-qualifiers-qualified-teams-format">no age restrictions for the women players</a>.</p>
<p>This is only one of the many gender-based differences in how men and women athletes compete at the Olympic Games. </p>
<h2>Olympic Games sport programme</h2>
<p>My research examines how the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has promoted gender equality at the Games. My book <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Gender-Equality-and-the-Olympic-Programme/Donnelly/p/book/9781032416809"><em>Gender Equality and the Olympic Programme</em></a> focuses on the sport programme — all the sports and events included at the Games — because it is the most visible aspect of the Olympic Games.</p>
<p><a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-programme-commission">According to the IOC</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“the Olympic programme is the fundamental core of the Olympic Games as decisions regarding the programme have an impact on virtually all other areas of the Olympic Games and Olympic Movement.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The inclusion of specific sports and events, as well as how women and men athletes play those sports (and what they wear to play them), sends important messages about how the IOC and other international sport federations define and attempt to achieve gender equality. </p>
<p>In addition, the sport programme is highly contested. International sport federations, athletes, Games Organizing Committees, broadcasters and the IOC all have interests in its composition. And, sometimes, <a href="https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1101717/ioc-paris-2024-programme-rejections">those interests conflict</a>.</p>
<h2>IOC’s quest for gender equality</h2>
<p>Most of the IOC’s claims about gender equality achievements at the Games are focused on the sport programme. The IOC has announced that at the 2024 Games, for the first time, there will be <a href="https://olympics.com/en/news/paris-2024-first-games-to-achieve-full-gender-parity">an equal number of men and women athletes</a>, and the same number of events (opportunities to win a medal) for men and women.</p>
<p>In 2014, the IOC released <a href="https://library.olympics.com/Default/doc/SYRACUSE/20238/olympic-agenda-2020-20-20-recommendations-international-olympic-committee?_lg=en-GB">a strategic plan for the future of the Olympic Games</a>. Among the 40 recommendations is one about fostering gender equality. Including an equal number of men and women athletes at the Games is one strategy the IOC identified to “foster gender equality.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in an open-collar shirt and blazer smiles from behind a podium emblazoned with the Olympic logo" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542865/original/file-20230815-29-w6qgzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542865/original/file-20230815-29-w6qgzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542865/original/file-20230815-29-w6qgzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542865/original/file-20230815-29-w6qgzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542865/original/file-20230815-29-w6qgzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542865/original/file-20230815-29-w6qgzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542865/original/file-20230815-29-w6qgzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Paris 2024 Olympic Organizing Committee President Tony Estanguet takes the stage during the representatives of national Olympic committees ceremony, on July 26, 2023 in Saint-Denis, outside Paris.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Claims about achieving “gender balance” have been an integral part of all the IOC’s statements about Paris 2024. It is crucial to critically examine what these claims mean and how they relate to achieving gender equality. </p>
<p>Ensuring gender parity — the same number of men and women athletes and men’s and women’s events — is important for gender equality at the Games, but it does not address the conditions of men’s and women’s participation. </p>
<h2>Gender differences in sporting events</h2>
<p>The IOC’s <a href="https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/Beyond-the-Games/Gender-Equality-in-Sport/IOC-Gender-Equality-and-Inclusion-Objectives-2021-2024.pdf">aim to achieve gender balance</a> reveals an incomplete, numbers-focused commitment to gender equality. </p>
<p>When men and women compete in the same sports, international federations continue to enforce differences between men’s and women’s events. These differences include: the <a href="https://assets.ctfassets.net/761l7gh5x5an/3zdJc5antr1dA3GYeDKdBu/bef82a9d7336e9b798c364066db92581/2-ROA-20230613-E.pdf">length of races</a>; <a href="https://iwf.sport/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2020/01/IWF_TCRR_2020.pdf">weight categories</a>; the <a href="https://worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/book-of-rules">height, weight, size and spacing of equipment</a>; the <a href="https://resources.fina.org/fina/document/2021/01/12/a13c160d-b94a-4b63-93aa-a06fa370433f/2019_2021_wp_rules_congress_amended_06012020_0.pdf">size of venues</a>; and differences in <a href="https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/rules/">judging</a>, <a href="https://uww.org/sites/default/files/2019-12/wrestling_rules.pdf">rules</a> and <a href="https://www.fivb.com/en/volleyball/thegame_glossary/officialrulesofthegames">uniforms</a>.</p>
<p>For example, in artistic gymnastics, <a href="https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/rules/">the differences between the men’s and women’s competitions</a> include age requirements (18 years old for men and 16 for women); different apparatus (e.g., parallel bars for men and uneven parallel bars for women); the number of apparatus (six for men and four for women); and uniform requirements (long or short pants for men, leotards or unitards for women).</p>
<p>On the floor and vault — apparatus on which both men and women compete — women’s floor routines are set to music and include dance elements, while the men’s do not. When performing the same skills, men’s eligible scores are lower than women’s. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young Black women in a leotard balances on one bent leg while on a balance beam" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542862/original/file-20230815-23-n8p5qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542862/original/file-20230815-23-n8p5qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542862/original/file-20230815-23-n8p5qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542862/original/file-20230815-23-n8p5qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542862/original/file-20230815-23-n8p5qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542862/original/file-20230815-23-n8p5qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542862/original/file-20230815-23-n8p5qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Simone Biles, of the United States, performs on the balance beam during the artistic gymnastics women’s apparatus final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, on Aug. 3, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What the audience sees is women’s gymnastics performed in ways that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2015.1124859">emphasize stereotypical femininity</a> and minimize strength and power. In contrast, men’s gymnastics events are organized to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19799-5_8">emphasize the athletes’ strength and power</a>.</p>
<p>These gender-based differences are examples of gender inequality. </p>
<h2>Complete gender equality</h2>
<p>In cases where sports are gender-differentiated, women’s sports are designed to be a lesser version than the men’s. Women’s races are shorter, there are fewer weight categories, equipment and venues are lighter and smaller and women wear more revealing uniforms.</p>
<p>Differences in men’s and women’s conditions of participation are the result of decisions made by those who control Olympic sports — decision-makers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243219867914">who continue to be predominantly men</a>. The differences are not naturally occurring, nor are they universal.</p>
<p>In fact, there are several sports and events on the Olympic programme that are not gender-differentiated. For example, men and women athletes competing in <a href="https://www.worldarchery.sport/rulebook">archery</a> and <a href="https://www.worldbadminton.com/rules/">badminton</a> use the same venue, equipment and rules.</p>
<p>This is evidence of internal contradictions in the Olympic programme; some events are constructed to be different for men and women athletes, while others are not. This reinforces the need to identify and explain the remaining examples of gender-based differences.</p>
<p>These internal contradictions also require further attention from the IOC and the adoption of a more complete definition of gender equality — one that includes opportunity and status. </p>
<p>The IOC needs to look beyond the numbers and work with international federations to address athletes’ conditions of participation in the same sports. </p>
<p>Crucially, embracing and enforcing gender equality should not mean using men’s sports as the standard (e.g., increasing the length of women’s races to be the same as the men’s distance). Rather, this is an opportunity for international federations to determine the best possible conditions for all athletes in their sports.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210883/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michele K. Donnelly has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). </span></em></p>The IOC needs to look beyond gender parity and work with international federations to address athletes’ conditions of participation in sports to achieve true gender equality.Michele K. Donnelly, Assistant professor, Department of Sport Management, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2085032023-07-04T14:07:07Z2023-07-04T14:07:07ZCouples in which the woman is the only earner report lower life satisfaction – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535371/original/file-20230703-274838-e2we55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=155%2C95%2C5507%2C3692&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tired-business-woman-sleepy-bored-sitting-2142729487">CrizzyStudio/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many women will, at least temporarily, be the breadwinner <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231211055246">at some point in their relationship</a>. Changing employment trends and gender roles will affect many households. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcad034">our new peer-reviewed study</a> shows that for heterosexual couples, wellbeing is lower when the woman is the sole earner, versus if the man is the breadwinner or if both partners are employed. </p>
<p>Over 14 years of European social survey data, men and women reported lower life satisfaction when the female wife or partner was the breadwinner, with men suffering the most. This is true even after controlling for income, attitudes toward gender and other characteristics. </p>
<p>We analysed the <a href="https://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/">survey responses</a> of over 42,000 working-age people spanning nine countries. The data measures wellbeing by asking people to score how satisfied they are with their lives as a whole nowadays, from zero (extremely dissatisfied) to ten (extremely satisfied). Most people give a score <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/happiness-and-life-satisfaction#:%7E:text=The%20distribution%20of%20life%20satisfaction,-More%20than%20averages&text=Life%20satisfaction%20is%20often%20reported,-called%20%27Cantril%20Ladder%27">between five and eight</a>. </p>
<p>These “life satisfaction points” give us a sense of how different groups’ wellbeing compares. Before any controls, men’s life satisfaction is 5.86 when the woman is the sole earner, versus 7.16 when the man is the only earner. For women, the corresponding figures are 6.33 and 7.10 respectively.</p>
<p>Couples in Germany seem to struggle the most with female-breadwinner situations, followed by the UK, Ireland and Spain. However, the issue is fairly universal across Europe, even in more gender equal countries like Finland.</p>
<h2>Men struggle more</h2>
<p>In female-breadwinner households, men appear to struggle mentally more than women. We found that women’s breadwinning carries such a heavy psychological burden for men that they would prefer she was not employed at all. After accounting for basic characteristics, incomes and gender attitudes, out-of-work men report significantly higher life satisfaction when both partners are jobless. </p>
<p>Watching their partners go to the office (or work from home) every day might lead out-of-work men to feel worse about themselves. But when their partner is in the same boat as them, jobless men may instead feel like their lack of employment is less “deviant”.</p>
<p>Men in female-breadwinner couples report the lowest wellbeing when they are unemployed rather than “inactive” (not actively looking for work and/or doing housework or other care responsibilities). Unemployment is associated with the greatest <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00036840903373295">psychological costs</a>, such as self-doubt, uncertainty, loneliness and stigma. In this study, we do not include people who are inactive for health or disability reasons.</p>
<p>In fact, unemployed men would rather swap places with their breadwinner wives. Men’s wellbeing is significantly higher when the woman is unemployed instead of the man, whereas women report equally low wellbeing when either partner is unemployed.</p>
<h2>Characteristics of female-breadwinner households</h2>
<p>Certain factors may contribute to female-breadwinner couples’ low wellbeing. For example, these couples <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928720971094">have lower average household incomes</a> than two-earner and male-breadwinner households, and are more likely to find it “difficult” or “very difficult” to cope on their current income. Additionally, more men in female-breadwinner couples report “fair”, “bad” or “very bad” health and are less educated.</p>
<p>When we controlled for these and other basic characteristics (like age and children) as well as gender-role attitudes and each partner’s share of household income, women’s wellbeing is only marginally lower (-0.048 life satisfaction points) when the woman is the sole earner instead of the man. </p>
<p>Yet, even after accounting for these factors, men’s wellbeing is still over half a life satisfaction point lower (-0.585) when the woman is the only earner. In Germany, this difference is over one full life satisfaction point (-1.112).</p>
<p>So, while our study suggests the characteristics of female-breadwinner couples mostly explain women’s lower wellbeing, they do not account for the discrepancy with men’s wellbeing.</p>
<h2>Masculinity, (un)employment and wellbeing</h2>
<p>In many countries, being the breadwinner remains central to men’s sense of self. Providing financially for the family is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/189945">key to masculinity</a> and tantamount to being a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt14bt2mz">“good” dad</a>. When these roles are reversed, couples can experience <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00031224211012442">social “sanctions”</a> like gossiping, ridicule and judgement from family, friends, and other people they know, as well as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00016993211066261">mental health difficulties</a>.</p>
<p>Unemployed men may be particularly vulnerable to isolation and loneliness, since they are less likely than women to have community or care-based social networks <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23747850">to draw on</a>, like friendships developed at the school gates. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203781906/sex-differences-social-behavior-alice-eagly">gendered expectations of selflessness</a> may lead women to go further than men in shielding a partner from the true extent of their distress. This could work the other way, too: when the man is unemployed, the woman may be more perceptive of and negatively affected by his struggles than he would be if these roles were reversed.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young, heterosexual couple with dark hair, sitting side by side, both covering their faces with their hands" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535319/original/file-20230703-258594-j88myj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535319/original/file-20230703-258594-j88myj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535319/original/file-20230703-258594-j88myj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535319/original/file-20230703-258594-j88myj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535319/original/file-20230703-258594-j88myj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535319/original/file-20230703-258594-j88myj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535319/original/file-20230703-258594-j88myj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Unemployment can take a toll on relationships.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sad-young-couple-sitting-table-on-756447463">Tiko Aramyan/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet, unemployment has become a normal part of working life, including for middle-class professionals who were traditionally more <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520298613/crunch-time">protected from this risk</a>. Our findings suggest that gender norms affect how couples cope with unemployment, with men placing more value on their own employment status than their female partner’s.</p>
<p>Additionally, men’s distress under the female-breadwinner arrangement may trigger women to hold themselves back from taking jobs or seeking higher-paying roles, further reinforcing gender inequalities in employment rates, career progression and incomes. </p>
<p>Clearly, there is still a long way to go to sever the link between breadwinning and masculinity. Challenging this idealisation of male breadwinning is critical so that men no longer feel like failures when they fall short of this expectation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208503/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Kowalewska receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, grant number ES/S016058/1, <a href="https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FS016058%2F1">https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FS016058%2F1</a>. </span></em></p>And men struggle more than women with female breadwinning arrangements.Helen Kowalewska, Lecturer in Social Policy, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2084552023-06-29T20:01:31Z2023-06-29T20:01:31ZFriday essay: the forgotten female soldiers who fought long ago – and why their stories matter today<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534509/original/file-20230628-17-azrnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">(Clockwise from left): American civil war soldier Frances Hook; 19th century Dahomey women soldiers; defending a besieged German city in 1615; 18th century British soldier Hannah Snell and Union soldier Frances Clayton. Sources: </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons, Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbuettel</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On the Swedish island of Björkö lie the remains of Birka, a significant Viking trading post. Birka is studded with burial chambers, stuffed with clues about their occupants – amber, textiles, gold, silver and many other treasures. One particular chamber caught the eye of 19th-century archaeologists, who labelled the grave Bj.581. This grave contained weapons: a sword, an axe, a spear, a battle knife, two shields and 25 arrows, and the remains of two horses. </p>
<p>Clearly, this was the grave of a warrior. No one really looked closely at the skeleton in this grave to confirm it was male but for 100 years, the record held that the warrior in Bj.581 was a man.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533952/original/file-20230626-202639-ca7ga3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533952/original/file-20230626-202639-ca7ga3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533952/original/file-20230626-202639-ca7ga3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=977&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533952/original/file-20230626-202639-ca7ga3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=977&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533952/original/file-20230626-202639-ca7ga3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=977&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533952/original/file-20230626-202639-ca7ga3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1228&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533952/original/file-20230626-202639-ca7ga3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1228&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533952/original/file-20230626-202639-ca7ga3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1228&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An 1889 sketch of the archaeological grave labelled Bj581.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the early 1970s, bone analysis suggested the skeleton was female. DNA analysis published in 2018 confirmed the bones were those of a woman, with two X chromosomes.</p>
<p>The team conducting the DNA analysis also examined the relationship between the skeleton and the contents of the grave, drawing the same conclusion as all previous investigations: “the person in Bj.581 was buried in a grave full of functional weapons and war-gear […] outside the gate of a fortress”. If it looks like a warrior, and is armed like a warrior, it must be a warrior.</p>
<p>Critics were unconvinced. Had the authors of the study got the wrong skeleton? Had another skeleton been mixed up in the grave? (No, the evidence is firm on both points.) In spite of these sceptics, the story of this skeleton took off around the world, precisely because it challenged so many assumptions about women, combat and the history of war.</p>
<p>Women have long fought in wars, but their contribution is often erased. The military historian John Keegan famously wrote in 1993 that </p>
<blockquote>
<p>warfare is […] the one human activity from which women, with the most insignificant exceptions, have always and everywhere stood apart […] Women […] do not fight. They rarely fight among themselves and they never, in any military sense, fight men. If warfare is as old as history and as universal as mankind, we must now enter the supremely important limitation that it is an entirely masculine activity.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But it turns out history is full of examples of women on the frontlines: women who fought in their own right, women who dressed as men in order to fight, and women who faced great danger supporting male troops in the teeth of battle. Women have survived and even thrived as part of the machine of war – but are rarely part of military history. Why have their stories been forgotten?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534472/original/file-20230628-30373-mwwsk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534472/original/file-20230628-30373-mwwsk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534472/original/file-20230628-30373-mwwsk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534472/original/file-20230628-30373-mwwsk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534472/original/file-20230628-30373-mwwsk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534472/original/file-20230628-30373-mwwsk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534472/original/file-20230628-30373-mwwsk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534472/original/file-20230628-30373-mwwsk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An engraving depicting Gesche Meiburg, one of the women who helped to defend besieged Braunschweig in 1615.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbuettel.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A convenient amnesia</h2>
<p>The amnesia about women in combat is a convenient, if not deliberate, forgetting. When Western governments were forced by the 1970s feminist movement to consider the question of whether women should be allowed to fight, they often pointed to the all-male battlefields of the past, even if this history was inaccurate. </p>
<p>Decision-makers refused to see a history in which so-called women camp “followers” were following so closely they were actually on the battlefield, providing food and drink and supporting artillery fire. </p>
<p>They didn’t see women in the thick of battle, fighting alongside men – most often disguised as men, occasionally in their own right, and sometimes (but rarely) even leading those men.</p>
<p>Women were a commonplace feature on battlefields. They also fought in sieges, which for long periods of time were far more common than pitched battles. In the Kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin), from the late 18th century, an all-female regiment of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahomey_Amazons">crack troops</a> existed for 100 years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533953/original/file-20230626-20-pk9ejp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533953/original/file-20230626-20-pk9ejp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533953/original/file-20230626-20-pk9ejp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533953/original/file-20230626-20-pk9ejp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533953/original/file-20230626-20-pk9ejp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533953/original/file-20230626-20-pk9ejp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533953/original/file-20230626-20-pk9ejp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533953/original/file-20230626-20-pk9ejp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dahomey women soldiers photographed around 1890.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Suppressing this history helped perpetuate the exclusion of women from combat. This, in turn, stopped them taking on military leadership roles, which required combat experience – and these roles have been a crucial route to political and societal leadership. But perhaps more importantly, excluding women from combat served as a potent reminder that despite what the feminist movement told the world, women were not equal. </p>
<p>Women, it was long argued, were simply too fragile to fight. They would be uniquely and horrifyingly susceptible to violence on the battlefield. And men would be too distracted by their presence to fight properly; women would disrupt the essential bond between men, between brothers, that allowed for battlefield excellence. </p>
<p>The exclusion of women soldiers from combat was only overturned in Australia in 2011 and in the United States in 2013. In the United Kingdom, all combat roles were finally opened to women in 2018. The exclusion of women from combat for so long was justified by a dominant view of history that presented women as having rarely demonstrated an aptitude or interest in fighting. But that history is wrong.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534216/original/file-20230627-29-9zpqxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534216/original/file-20230627-29-9zpqxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534216/original/file-20230627-29-9zpqxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534216/original/file-20230627-29-9zpqxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534216/original/file-20230627-29-9zpqxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534216/original/file-20230627-29-9zpqxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534216/original/file-20230627-29-9zpqxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534216/original/file-20230627-29-9zpqxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A female American soldier tackles an obstacle course while training in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Robin Trimarchi/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-i-want-to-serve-on-the-front-line-despite-challenges-for-women-at-war-3622">Why I want to serve on the front line, despite challenges for women at war</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A ‘very good-looking corporal in our regiment’</h2>
<p>One of the most common, and intriguing, ways for women to enter combat was in male disguise. Women who dressed as men to become soldiers are known to have fought in the armies and navies of Russia, England, the Netherlands, France, various German states, and both sides of the American Civil War. </p>
<p>Around 119 cross-dressing women are documented as having served in Holland between 1550 and 1840; around 40 in <em>ancien regime</em> France; between 30 and 70 in Revolutionary France; 22 in the Prussian army during the wars against Napoleon in the early 19th century; and more than 60 in Britain between 1660 and 1832.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534252/original/file-20230627-27-rjhwty.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534252/original/file-20230627-27-rjhwty.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534252/original/file-20230627-27-rjhwty.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=866&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534252/original/file-20230627-27-rjhwty.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=866&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534252/original/file-20230627-27-rjhwty.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=866&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534252/original/file-20230627-27-rjhwty.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1088&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534252/original/file-20230627-27-rjhwty.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1088&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534252/original/file-20230627-27-rjhwty.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1088&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ann Mills served on board the Royal Navy’s Maidstone frigate dressed as a man.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wellcome Collection</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While these women were motivated to fight for many reasons – including safety, as life in the military was often more safe for a woman than life outside it – one of their primary motives was patriotism.</p>
<p>During the American Civil War, (1861–65), between 250 and 1,000 women fought. (The reason for the variation in all these numbers is that it is impossible to know how many disguised women fought – by definition we only know about the ones who were uncovered, not those whose masquerade was never challenged). There are multiple accounts of soldiers finding women’s bodies among the dead on both sides of the conflict. </p>
<p>One Union Soldier remarked of a Confederate soldier, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ve picked up a great many wounded rebs [rebels …] among these were found a female dressed in mens clothes & a cartridge box on her side […] she was shot in the breast & through the thy and was still alive &; as gritty as any reb I ever saw".</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Part of the reason for the large number of disguised women during the Civil War is that all traditional forms of service for women (such as nursing or laundry) were reserved for men. The only way for a woman to join the war effort was to fight. More than 2 million men served in the Union Army and between 750,000 and a million men were in the Confederate forces over the course of the war.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-confederate-flag-so-offensive-143256">Why is the Confederate flag so offensive?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Both sides were fighting a bitterly contested war with an almost insatiable need for manpower. This seems to have reduced the need for physical checks of soldiers, and as fighters were drawn from the general population, experience and skill were not the prerequisites they might otherwise have been. </p>
<p>One Union soldier described a new recruit encountered on a long march: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>we enlisted a new recruit on the way to Eastport. The boys all took a notion to him. On examination, he proved to have a Cunt so he was discharged.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533966/original/file-20230626-64693-pa09h8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533966/original/file-20230626-64693-pa09h8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533966/original/file-20230626-64693-pa09h8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=966&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533966/original/file-20230626-64693-pa09h8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=966&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533966/original/file-20230626-64693-pa09h8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=966&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533966/original/file-20230626-64693-pa09h8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1214&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533966/original/file-20230626-64693-pa09h8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1214&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533966/original/file-20230626-64693-pa09h8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1214&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illinois soldier Frances Hook also known as Private Frank Miller, Frank Henderson and Frank Fuller, pictured circa 1861 and 1865.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At least eight disguised women fought at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Antietam">Battle of Antietam</a>, where on the bloodiest day of the conflict, 30,000 were killed; this number may have been more, because investigations of a grave site near another battle found a female skeleton among the men. Her identity remains unknown. </p>
<p>Of the eight fighters at Antiteam, one woman had an arm amputated; one was shot in the neck. Another survived that battle, and the Battle of Fredericksburg, where she was promoted to sergeant only to give birth a month later. </p>
<p>There are confirmed accounts of five women fighting at Gettysburg. One lost her leg and two marched in the famous Confederate Army infantry assault called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickett%27s_Charge">Pickett’s Charge</a>. One of these anonymous women could be heard screaming in agony from her wounds on the battlefield. She would not have been alone. The Confederate Army lost more than half of the soldiers who fought that day to injury or death: 6,555 men.</p>
<p>Pregnancy of officers should have been a giveaway that there were disguised women in the ranks. And yet, one memo read, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The general commanding directs me to call your attention to a flagrant outrage committed in your command […] an orderly sergeant […] was to-day delivered of a baby – which is in violation of all military law and the army regulations. No such case has been known since the days of Jupiter. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another soldier wrote to his wife, regaling her with the story of the “very good looking corporal in our regiment” who had fallen ill, before “this same good looking corporal had been relieved of a very nice little boy and that the corporal and the boy was doing first rate”. </p>
<p>His wife wrote back: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think it was quite a grand thing about that corporal what a woman she must have been […] she must have been more than the common run of woman or she could never stood soldiering especially in her condition.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533967/original/file-20230626-24-7wjt71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533967/original/file-20230626-24-7wjt71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533967/original/file-20230626-24-7wjt71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=804&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533967/original/file-20230626-24-7wjt71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=804&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533967/original/file-20230626-24-7wjt71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=804&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533967/original/file-20230626-24-7wjt71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1010&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533967/original/file-20230626-24-7wjt71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1010&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533967/original/file-20230626-24-7wjt71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1010&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Lyons Wakeman.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Women recorded their own experiences in letters home, and some were unafraid of a soldier’s life. Sarah Rosetta Wakeman (Private Lyons Wakeman) wrote to her parents about fighting and marching with a typical soldier’s bravado. “I don’t fear the rebel bullets and I don’t fear the cannon…” </p>
<p>After a battle, she explained, “I had to face the enemy bullets with my regiment. I was under fire about four hours and laid on the field of battle all night.”</p>
<p>Women soldiers in the Civil War, despite extensive documentation (and photographs), were not officially recognised by Americans later on. In fact, their existence was totally denied. In 1909, the investigative journalist Ida Tarbell wrote to the adjutant general of the US Army asking whether his department had a record of the number of women who enlisted and served in the Civil War. </p>
<p>Tarbell received the following reply: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have the honour to inform you that no official record has been found in the War Department showing specifically that any woman was ever enlisted in the military service of the United States […] during the period of the civil war. It is possible, however, that there may have been a few instances of women having served as soldiers for a short time without their sex having been detected, but no record of such cases is known to exist in the official files. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The office of the adjutant-general was either lying or lazy: they did have records of women’s military service, including discharge records and pension records.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534508/original/file-20230628-21-azrnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534508/original/file-20230628-21-azrnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534508/original/file-20230628-21-azrnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1314&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534508/original/file-20230628-21-azrnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1314&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534508/original/file-20230628-21-azrnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1314&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534508/original/file-20230628-21-azrnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1651&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534508/original/file-20230628-21-azrnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1651&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534508/original/file-20230628-21-azrnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1651&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Frances Clayton enlisted in the Union Army under the name Jack Williams.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The playbook of patriarchy</h2>
<p>Suppressing the memory of women’s combat wasn’t limited to the period after the American Civil War. The many examples of female combat during the 20th century included 800,000 to a million women who fought for the Red Army during World War II. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534203/original/file-20230626-33184-bzl1g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534203/original/file-20230626-33184-bzl1g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534203/original/file-20230626-33184-bzl1g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534203/original/file-20230626-33184-bzl1g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534203/original/file-20230626-33184-bzl1g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534203/original/file-20230626-33184-bzl1g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534203/original/file-20230626-33184-bzl1g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534203/original/file-20230626-33184-bzl1g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Russian civil war poster, circa 1917-1921.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet officialdom chose to believe that women may have fought when their countries were desperate, as the Soviets were, or in rare exceptions cross-dressed as men, but as they were “exceptional”, their experiences were simply discounted. </p>
<p>In essence, keeping women out of combat became part of the of the playbook of patriarchy – at a time when the feminist movement was breaking down all the barriers to female employment in every other imaginable category. (The US had female astronauts in training 30 years before it allowed women in combat).</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534255/original/file-20230627-16-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534255/original/file-20230627-16-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534255/original/file-20230627-16-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534255/original/file-20230627-16-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534255/original/file-20230627-16-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534255/original/file-20230627-16-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1075&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534255/original/file-20230627-16-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1075&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534255/original/file-20230627-16-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1075&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Roza Shanina, a graduate of the Soviet Union’s Central Women’s Sniper Training School, during WWII.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The contribution of women to warfare isn’t just important in historical terms. There is a strong link between authoritarianism and the suppression of gender equality. The right to engage in combat is no different from any other right. </p>
<p>Before his 2016 election, it was <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/11/01/president-trump-would-be-a-disaster-for-women-in-the-military-sexism-clinton-election/">widely reported</a> Donald Trump was opposed to women in combat. One <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/11/03/trump-voters-dont-like-women-in-military-combat-roles-that-may-have-consequences-for-the-use-of-force/">study</a> showed the two strongest factors associated with opposing the deployment of a co-ed unit into combat were support for Trump and support for the Republican Party. </p>
<p>Moreover, women’s demonstrated capacity in combat serves as a profound reminder of their overall social equality; it is harder to take away women’s rights if they are equal on every level with men. </p>
<h2>Ukraine today</h2>
<p>Today, we are sitting at the crest of a major change, whereby generations of women will move through the military with no ceiling on their progression and no rules telling them what they cannot do. The consequences of this change are already visible in places like Ukraine. </p>
<p>The first Russian invasion in 2014 caused Ukraine to reassess its use of women in the military. In 2018, all positions were opened to women. By 2021, there were 57,000 women in the Ukrainian military, about 22.8% (vastly exceeding most other countries). Ukrainian women were ready to fight when Russia invaded last year, and there has not been much fuss about it. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533964/original/file-20230626-98865-zpv5wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533964/original/file-20230626-98865-zpv5wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533964/original/file-20230626-98865-zpv5wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533964/original/file-20230626-98865-zpv5wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533964/original/file-20230626-98865-zpv5wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533964/original/file-20230626-98865-zpv5wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533964/original/file-20230626-98865-zpv5wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533964/original/file-20230626-98865-zpv5wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A female Ukrainian soldier poses for a photo against a Kherson sign on November 11, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dagaz/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They have taken on all roles, including leadership positions. They are fighting an enemy that has resolutely kept women out of combat, despite significant recruitment issues (and a long, if now ignored, history of female combat). Ukraine is far from a perfect place for gender equality in wider society. But as it becomes normal for women to fight, and as they become heroes of the war, things may change.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-attitudes-to-women-in-the-military-are-changing-as-thousands-serve-on-front-lines-198195">Ukraine war: attitudes to women in the military are changing as thousands serve on front lines</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The conflict between Ukraine and Russia also underlines the argument that authoritarian governments, whatever their diversity, have one thing in common: they suppress women’s rights. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hyper-masculine style has relied on traditional views about gender. Domestic violence was decriminalised in Russia in 2017, and now is only punishable as a crime when the abuse is so severe it requires hospitalisation. Russian women are still barred from a list of 100 professions. </p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, the Russian military facing off against Ukraine has no combatant women in it – even when Putin had to forcibly conscript men to fight in 2022, he did not mobilise women. Indeed, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_combat">list</a> of nations that admit women into combat roles remains almost exclusively a list of democracies with high levels of gender equality. Allowing women in combat roles is a key measure of gender equality.</p>
<p>As time goes on, in these countries at least, women will get more and more chances to demonstrate their leadership in the crucible of combat – and to bring back that leadership into society.</p>
<p><em>Sarah Percy is the author of <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/sarah-percy/forgotten-warriors-a-history-of-women-on-the-front-line">Forgotten Warriors: a History of Women on the Front Line</a>, published by Hachette.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208455/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I am the author of a book from which this essay is drawn but this will be clearly credited.</span></em></p>Fighting in sieges, an army of crack female troops, cross-dressing as male soldiers: women have survived and thrived as part of the war machine. But they’re rarely included in military histories.Sarah Percy, Professor of International Relations, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2036822023-06-12T12:16:23Z2023-06-12T12:16:23ZCranogwen: dadorchuddio cerflun i'r arloeswraig yn Llangrannog<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531283/original/file-20230612-248743-ohn2oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1162%2C683&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cranogwen oedd enw barddol Sarah Jane Rees. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Merchant logo Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cafodd cerflun ei ddadorchuddio ym mhentref Llangrannog yng Ngheredigion dros y penwythnos i anrhydeddu aelod o’r plwyf hwnnw, <a href="https://bywgraffiadur.cymru/article/c-REES-JAN-1839#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F1124576%2Fmanifest.json&xywh=1186%2C889%2C1364%2C1100">Cranogwen</a>. Dyna oedd enw barddol Sarah Jane Rees (1839-1916), arloeswraig ym myd hawliau cyfartal i ferched yng Nghymru. Yn ferch i forwr, dilynodd amrywiol yrfaoedd, fel morwr, athrawes, bardd, darlithydd, golygydd, pregethwr ac arweinydd mudiad dirwest. </p>
<p>Daeth yn sydyn i enwogrwydd cenedlaethol ym Medi 1865, pan enillodd wobr yn yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yn Aberystwyth, gan guro prifeirdd y dydd, gan gynnwys <a href="https://bywgraffiadur.cymru/article/c-THOM-WIL-1832#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=10&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F4832868%2Fmanifest.json&xywh=587%2C588%2C1223%2C1055">Islwyn</a> a <a href="https://bywgraffiadur.cymru/article/c-HUGH-CEI-1832#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F4674472%2Fmanifest.json&xywh=1077%2C1487%2C3868%2C3121">Ceiriog</a>. Syfrdanwyd y gynulleidfa: nid oedd neb yn disgwyl y byddai “geneth wledig yr olwg” yn ennill y fath gystadleuaeth. Mae hynny'n ddealladwy ddigon pan gofiwn nad oedd y mwyafrif o ferched Ceredigion yn llythrennog yr adeg honno.</p>
<p>Ond ymhell cyn 1865, nid oedd Cranogwen wedi dilyn y trywydd disgwyliedig ar gyfer merched ei hoes. Ganwyd hi ym mwthyn Dolgoy-fach, i fyny ar y bryn goruwch traeth Llangrannog. Erbyn iddi gyrraedd ei harddegau roedd yn rhaid dechrau cyfrannu at incwm y teulu. Y dewis amlwg i ferched gwerinol pryd hynny oedd naill ai gweini neu wnïo dillad. Danfonwyd Sarah ar brentisiaeth i wniadwraig yn Aberteifi, ond dychwelodd adref yn fuan, gan ymwrthod yn llwyr a’r alwedigaeth hwnnw. </p>
<p>Yn hytrach perswadiodd ei thad i’w chymryd fel aelod o’r criw ar ei fadlong, y Betsy; bu’n gweithio fel morwr am dair blynedd wedi hynny, gwaith anarferol i fenyw'r pryd hynny. Ond gyda’r fath brofiad llwyddodd yn 1860, yn 21 oed, i ennill swydd fel athrawes ysgol Llangrannog, yn dysgu eu crefft i forwyr ifanc yn ogystal â dysgu plant yr ardal.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cerflun o fenyw yn darllen llyfr." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531292/original/file-20230612-202521-x7aghp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mae cerflun Sebastien Boyesen o Cranogwen yn sefyll ym mhentref Llangrannog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Molyneux Associates</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Newidiwyd ei byd yn llwyr gan ei buddugoliaeth Eisteddfodol. Cymaint oedd y cywreinrwydd ynghylch y ferch a gurodd Islwyn a Ceiriog nes oedd y wlad i gyd am ei gweld a’i chlywed. Oes y ddarlith oedd canol y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg yng Nghymru, yn enwedig ymhlith yr enwadau Anghydffurfiol. Gallai capel a lwyddodd i ddenu darlithydd poblogaidd ennill swm go ddefnyddiol er mwyn talu dyledion adeiladu’r capel. Perswadiwyd Cranogwen i dderbyn gyrfa newydd fel darlithydd cyhoeddus, yn erbyn ei hewyllys i gychwyn gan y golygai rhoi'r gorau i'w swydd fel athrawes.</p>
<p>Dechreuodd ar ei gyrfa gyhoeddus yng ngaeaf 1865, gan ddarlithio i gapeli gorlawn ym mhob rhan o’r wlad ac i gynulleidfaoedd Cymraeg yn Lloegr hefyd; ni fyddai’r mwyafrif o’i chynulleidfaoedd erioed wedi gweld na chlywed menyw yn siarad o’r pulpud neu’r sêt fawr o’r blaen. </p>
<p>Yn 1869-71, talodd ymweliad â’r Cymry alltud yn yr Unol Daleithiau, gan roi darlith i bob sefydliad Cymreig ar draws y wlad, o Efrog Newydd i San Ffransisco. Yn anffodus ni chyhoeddwyd ei darlithiau erioed, ond ymddengys o’r nifer fawr o adroddiadau papurau newyddion arnynt mai ei phrif bwnc oedd pwysigrwydd addysg i bawb, er mwyn iddynt oll ddarganfod eu doniau, eu diwyllio, a’u defnyddio er budd eu cymdeithas yn gyffredinol. Ac yr oedd y neges hon ar gyfer merched yn ogystal â bechgyn, menywod yn ogystal â dynion.</p>
<p>Aeth ymlaen i danlinellu’r neges yn ei rôl nesaf fel y golygydd cyntaf o fenyw ar gylchgrawn Cymraeg, sef <a href="https://cylchgronau.llyfrgell.cymru/browse/2649281/">Y Frythones</a>. Ym mhob un o’i gyrfaoedd heriodd Cranogwen syniadau cul ei hoes ynghylch gwahaniaeth rhywedd, a’u pwyslais ar y credo mai lle’r fenyw oedd y cartref, a dim ond y cartref. Ei nod oedd mynd a merched eraill gyda hi, “allan o’u hogofau”, fel y dywedai, ac i’r sffêr cyhoeddus fel awduron, areithwyr ac arweinwyr eu cymdogaethau. </p>
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<p>Ystyriai syniadau patriarchaidd yr oes ynghylch galluoedd a phriodoldebau’r ddau ryw yn amhriodol a gwastraffus o’r doniau hynny a feddai menywod yn ogystal â dynion, doniau i arwain a gwella eu cymdeithas. “Nid yw gwahaniaeth rhyw yn ddim yn y byd”, meddai yn Y Frythones: os rhoddwyd i fenyw, fel i ŵr llwyddiannus, yr awydd a’r gallu i siarad yn gyhoeddus yn effeithiol, yna hynny a ddylai wneud.</p>
<p>Yr oedd ei dylanwad yn ystod ei hoes yn bellgyrhaeddol. Yn 1916, ar ôl ei marwolaeth, meddai <a href="https://bywgraffiadur.cymru/article/c-EDWA-MOR-1858">O. M. Edwards</a> amdani: </p>
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<p>“Yr oedd gan Granogwen gennad, ac amcan uchel. A llwyddodd. Ni fu yr un ferch yn ein hanes eto wnaeth fwy i gryfhau meddylgarwch, hunan-barch, a defnyddioldeb merched Cymru na Chranogwen.” </p>
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<p>Mae cerflun Sebastien Boyesen yn ran o ymgyrch ehangach gan y grwp <a href="https://monumentalwelshwomen.com">Monumental Welsh Women</a> i nodi cyfraniad merched i hanes Cymru. Priodol iawn yw hi, felly, bod y cerflun yn sefyll yn y pentref lle bu Cranogwen yn byw trwy ei hoes, gyda’i rhieni i gychwyn ac wedyn, ar ôl eu marwolaeth, gyda’i chymar, Jane Thomas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203682/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Aaron does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Roedd Cranogwen yn arloeswraig oherwydd iddi gyflawni gymaint yn ystod oes Fictoria, sef cyfnod lle nad oedd gan ferched lawer o hawliau.Jane Aaron, Emeritus professor of English, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2010052023-06-12T12:15:45Z2023-06-12T12:15:45ZCranogwen: statue unveiled for pioneering Welsh sailor, poet and gender equality campaigner<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513127/original/file-20230302-26-9gw4z9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1162%2C683&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sarah Jane Rees was also known as Cranogwen.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Library of Wales</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>You can read this article in <a href="https://theconversation.com/cranogwen-dadorchuddio-cerflun-ir-arloeswraig-yn-llangrannog-203682">Welsh</a>.</em></p>
<p>A statue has been unveiled in the small seaside village of Llangrannog in Ceredigion, to honour a pioneer in the development of gender equality in Wales. It pays tribute to <a href="https://www.uwp.co.uk/book/cranogwen/">Cranogwen, the bardic name of Sarah Jane Rees</a> (1839-1916). </p>
<p>Sarah was a sea-captain’s daughter, who followed various careers, as a sailor, teacher, poet, lecturer, journal editor, preacher and temperance movement leader. </p>
<p>She rose to sudden fame in September 1865, when she won a National Eisteddfod prize for which the most highly-esteemed Welsh language bards of the age, <a href="https://biography.wales/article/s-THOM-WIL-1832?&query=islwyn&lang%5B%5D=en&sort=score&order=desc&rows=12&page=1#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=10&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F4832868%2Fmanifest.json&xywh=587%2C587%2C1223%2C1055">Islwyn</a> and <a href="https://biography.wales/article/s-HUGH-CEI-1832#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F4674472%2Fmanifest.json&xywh=1075%2C1485%2C3868%2C3121">Ceiriog</a>, had also competed. The audience’s shock was immense: no one had expected a woman to emerge as winner, understandably enough as most of Ceredigion’s women were still illiterate at this time, signing their marriage certificates with a cross. </p>
<p>But well before 1865 her life had already followed different paths from those expected of women in her era. Sarah was born in Dolgoy-fach, a cottage high up on the hillside above Llangrannog’s shore. As soon as she was in her teens, she was required to start contributing to the family’s income: the choice was domestic service or needlework. She was apprenticed to a needlewoman in the nearby town of Cardigan, but returned home after a few months announcing her utter distaste for that work. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lady-rhondda-the-little-known-suffragette-whose-efforts-led-to-greater-equality-for-women-200767">Lady Rhondda: the little-known suffragette whose efforts led to greater equality for women</a>
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<p>Instead she persuaded her father to take her on board his two-masted ketch, the Betsy, as a crew member. So started her three year stint as a sailor, at that time an unusual occupation for a woman. But with that experience, she was enabled in 1860, at 21 years of age, to take up the schoolteacher’s post at Llangrannog, teaching young sailors as well as the local children.</p>
<p>Her triumph on the national stage changed her prospects: it made her an instant celebrity. The whole of Wales wanted to see and hear the young woman who had beaten Islwyn and Ceiriog at their own game. </p>
<p>The mid-19th century was the age of the public lecture, particularly among the <a href="https://welshchapels.wales/nonconformity/">Welsh Nonconformists</a>. If a chapel managed to secure the services of a popular lecturer, they could make a substantial profit from the ticket price, a sum often much needed to pay off chapel building debts. Cranogwen, as she became known, was persuaded, against her initial inclination because it meant giving up her hard-won teaching post, to become a public lecturer.</p>
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<img alt="A statue of a woman reading a book" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The statue of Cranogwen stands in the village of Llangrannog yn Ceredigion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Molyneux Associates</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>She started on her lecture tours in the winter of 1865. In packed chapels up and down the country she addressed congregations who had never previously seen a woman in the pulpit or the deacons’ pew. Between 1869 and 1871, she visited the United States and lectured to every emigrant Welsh-speaking settlement across the continent, from New York to San Francisco. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, Cranogwen never published her lectures, but according to the many descriptions of them in the contemporary press, they focused on the need for all those among her audience who aspired to live fully to recognise their own abilities, to cultivate them through acquiring education, and then to put them to work for the benefit of their communities. Only thus could they hope to find true happiness and fulfilment. And this message was for girls as much as boys, for women as well as men.</p>
<p>It was a message she went on to repeat in her new role, after her return to Wales, as the first Welsh woman to become a journal editor. In each of her careers Cranogwen challenged her era’s narrow conception of gender roles which confined women to the domestic sphere. Her primary aim was always to take other women with her, “out of their caves”, as she puts it, and into the public world as writers, speakers and leaders. </p>
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<p>She considered the patriarchal system’s refusal to allow women access to professional roles a lamentable waste of female talents and abilities. As editor of <a href="https://journals.library.wales/browse/2649281/">Y Frythones</a> journal, she disseminated these ideas widely, particularly in her responses to readers’ queries in her Questions and Answers column. </p>
<p>“Gender difference”, she says, “is nothing”. She saw the gender system of her mid-Victorian era as a man-made fabrication, which had no grounding in any real difference between the two categories male/female in terms of their intellectual, cultural and professional potential. </p>
<p>Her influence was profound. <a href="https://biography.wales/article/s-EDWA-MOR-1858">Sir O. M. Edwards</a>, a leading figure in Welsh fin-de-siècle culture, said of her in 1916: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Cranogwen had a mission and a noble aim. And she succeeded. No woman in our history to date has done as much to increase the intellectual confidence, the self-respect and the usefulness of the women of Wales as Cranogwen.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is indeed fitting that a statue be raised in her honour. It is part of a wider campaign - <a href="https://monumentalwelshwomen.com">Monumental Welsh Women</a> - dedicated to marking the contribution of women to the history of Wales. The statue, by sculptor Sebastien Boyesen, stands in the village in which Cranogwen lived throughout her life, first with her parents and subsequently, after their death, with her partner Jane Thomas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201005/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Aaron does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cranogwen was a trailblazer who challenged expectations of women during the Victorian era.Jane Aaron, Emeritus professor of English, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2053532023-05-31T12:38:48Z2023-05-31T12:38:48ZMost super rich couples have breadwinning husbands and stay-at-home wives, contrasting sharply with everyone else<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528142/original/file-20230524-15-8jribu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=484%2C0%2C6776%2C4671&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Uber wealthy couples are rather traditional when it comes to who works and who doesn’t. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/business-pasion-royalty-free-image/186565267?adppopup=true">EXTREME-PHOTOGRAPHER/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Men are the sole breadwinners in over half of super rich heterosexual couples – defined as those in the top 1% of households – while the women are not employed, according to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soad061">our new peer-reviewed study</a>. That’s twice the rate of less affluent heterosexual couples.</p>
<p>Our finding is based on 30 years of data, from 1989 to 2019, from the Federal Reserve’s <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scfindex.htm">Survey of Consumer Finances</a>. We examined how couples divide work, focusing on three different wealthy groups – the super rich, the just plain rich and the upper middle class, as defined by their wealth percentile, and compared them with those of less affluent couples. </p>
<p>To get a better sense of how much money we’re talking about and the extreme differences among these groups, super rich couples in the U.S. had a median net worth of US$17.6 million in 2019. That compares with $2.3 million for rich couples – those in the next 9% of the wealth distribution – and $796,000 for the upper middle class, who were in the 10% after that. Our fourth group comprised everyone below the 80% threshold, with median wealth of just $67,000. </p>
<p>We found that, in 2019, 53% of super rich heterosexual couples had arrangements in which the woman was not gainfully employed, compared with 27% of rich couples, 20% of upper-middle-class couples and 26% of less affluent couples. </p>
<p>On the flip side, just 28% of super rich couples had both the man and woman working full time. In rich, upper-middle-class, and less affluent households, that figure was 51%, 61% and 50%, respectively. </p>
<p>Looking at the data over time is revealing. Whereas the share of couples in which only the man worked has modestly declined over the last 30 years for the other groups, it remained high among the super rich. </p>
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<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>The uniquely high prevalence of sole male-breadwinner arrangements among the super rich is a symptom of stark class and gender inequalities in the U.S. economy. </p>
<p>Rising class inequality between the super rich and all others <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122418820702">has been driven</a> by a handful of men’s incomes and wealth rising exponentially compared with everyone else’s. </p>
<p>And even though <a href="https://doi.org/10.15195/v9.a6">women have made progress</a> in entering professional jobs that pay $100,000 or more, the glass ceiling – or perhaps more appropriately, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122418820702">diamond ceiling</a> – is still firmly intact. </p>
<p>Accordingly, a woman’s objectively high income may seem less consequential to the overall household finances when her husband earns an exorbitantly high income of a million or more. Or, it may seem trivial when the couple has massive amounts of wealth exceeding $10 million.</p>
<p>The absence of women at the top of the economic ladder has many implications. </p>
<p>The super rich are inordinately powerful in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-020321-031544">workplace</a> and in <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691162423/affluence-and-influence">politics</a>. If the majority of the wealthiest married women are not in the workforce, it is unlikely they have the same degree of public influence as their husbands. So men continue to exercise the majority of societal power associated with the super rich. </p>
<p>We also know that family structure shapes people’s worldviews and behaviors. Previous research shows that men with stay-at-home wives <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839214528704">are less supportive of women</a> in their own workplaces, including being less likely to promote them. This suggests that the most powerful leaders in the workplace and in politics may not be as eager to support women’s career advancement or family-friendly workplace policies as some might hope.</p>
<h2>What we still don’t know</h2>
<p>We don’t know what exactly drives super rich couples’ work-family decisions. </p>
<p>We believe that at least some of the women in these couples exit the labor force after their partner achieves economic success – and their incomes are no longer needed to maintain their lifestyle.</p>
<p>It’s also possible that some super rich men’s wealth accumulation was made possible, in part, by their wives’ unpaid labor throughout their careers. </p>
<p>The most highly compensated jobs in the U.S. economy tend to require <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12596">long hours</a>, frequent travel and the ability to be on call 24/7 – all of which tend to be incompatible with raising children and managing a household.</p>
<p>Men may have been able to meet these intense job demands and become financially successful because they have wives who stepped back from their own careers, freeing them from the majority of household responsibilities – a dynamic that few women have access to.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205353/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While most heterosexual couples are dual-earners, super rich couples continue to have gender-traditional arrangements in which the man is the sole breadwinner.Jill Yavorsky, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina – CharlotteSarah Thebaud, Associate Professor, Sociology, University of California, Santa BarbaraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2053932023-05-16T02:38:39Z2023-05-16T02:38:39ZJust 1 in 5 employees in the space industry are women. This lack of diversity is holding us back<p>This week, the <a href="https://www.spaceconnectonline.com.au/australian-space-summit/">Australian Space Summit</a> is celebrating some of our nation’s strengths and achievements in the space sector. But it’s taking place under the shadow of significant cuts to space technology investment <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/11/australias-first-national-space-mission-up-in-the-air-after-federal-budget-cuts">announced in last week’s federal budget</a>. </p>
<p>Space technologies play a critical role in responding to many national priorities, such as climate and disaster resilience, connecting regional Australians, contributing to regional security and driving economic growth. Yet, the sector suffers from a branding issue – most people think of rockets and astronauts, rather than the satellites we depend on globally.</p>
<p>This leads to a misunderstanding in government of the importance of space technologies to the issues we are seeking to solve. It also makes it harder to recruit talented people to the field. </p>
<p>So, how do we find enough people with the skills necessary to grow this critical technology sector?</p>
<h2>Why diversity and inclusivity matter</h2>
<p>The answer is placing a new priority on talent recruitment and expanding diversity and inclusivity in the space sector. </p>
<p>The space sector needs workers from all different backgrounds and disciplines, but is struggling to attract a diverse talent pool. This is due to a misconception that space only offers STEM-related jobs, as well as the overwhelmingly white and male make-up of the <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-8924-9_12">space industry, government and academia</a>. </p>
<p>This not only impacts the workforce pipeline, but also potentially the sector’s funding, due to a limited view of what kinds of solutions the space sector can provide to society’s biggest challenges.</p>
<p>This is an urgent public relations issue for the space sector. It needs to rethink how it markets itself to the public to better recruit for a myriad of positions in fields like space law, policy, technology governance, social anthropology and archaeology, business, arts, communications and more. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-outer-space-matters-in-a-post-pandemic-world-141977">Why outer space matters in a post-pandemic world</a>
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<p>The sector also needs to make diversity a priority. Currently, just <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1102082">one in five employees in the space industry are women</a>. First Nations Australians also continue to be sidelined, despite the fact the majority of our ground-based infrastructure for space systems is on Indigenous lands. </p>
<p>We need greater inclusivity of perspectives from people of diverse genders, sexual orientations and ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, as well as people with disability. Research shows diverse and inclusive groups lead to greater <a href="https://www.oecd.org/gov/pem/public-sector-leadership-implementation/pem-inclusion/">trust, democracy and innovation</a>, less “group think”, more positive work environments and greater employee retention.</p>
<p>Additionally, greater diversity can make it easier to tell the story of why space technologies matter to society. This would help in terms of government funding and the industry’s ability to punch above its weight globally.</p>
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<h2>A national conference on diversity in space</h2>
<p>Last month, we brought together over 200 experts from the space industry, government, academia and the community to discuss these issues at the first-ever <a href="https://giwl.anu.edu.au/events/conference-diversity-frontier-gender-equality-space">national conference on gender equality and diversity in space</a>. </p>
<p>The participants agreed that diversity is an overlooked opportunity for the space sector. Many of the challenges facing the sector could be addressed by recruiting from a more diverse talent pool and ensuring diverse perspectives are being <a href="https://www.e-ir.info/2022/07/28/opinion-getting-diversity-right-in-australias-nascent-space-industry-matters/">incorporated into technology design and solutions</a>.</p>
<p>These are some of our key recommendations:</p>
<p><strong>1) Enhance workplace conditions and enact informal networks</strong> </p>
<p>Policy changes can help with diversity recruitment, such as tackling poor organisational cultures, offering equitable leave policies and improving current promotion and hiring policies.</p>
<p>But informal networks are important, too. There are networks for women in space in various countries, such as <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/stem/womenstem.html">the US</a> and <a href="https://www.womeninspace.co.nz/">New Zealand</a>, which have proven to be vital in developing a more diverse workforce. A new Women in Space Network is <a href="https://forms.gle/1ttaBzCKN73dUKF18">soon to be launched in Australia</a>. </p>
<p><strong>2) Don’t just pay lip service to diversity</strong> </p>
<p>Diversity must be placed at the centre of programs and policies in both the space sector and in governments at the federal and state/territory level. The space sector must also do a better job of explaining the importance of its work to government agencies. </p>
<p><strong>3) Establish diversity procurement policies</strong> </p>
<p>This includes minimum targets to support women-owned and First Nations-owned enterprises in the space sector and giving preference to space businesses that demonstrate improvements to diversity in their workforce. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lost-in-space-australia-dwindled-from-space-leader-to-also-ran-in-50-years-83310">Lost in space: Australia dwindled from space leader to also-ran in 50 years</a>
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<h2>Australia risks falling behind</h2>
<p>In 2025, Australia will host the <a href="https://www.spaceindustry.com.au/iac2025/">International Astronautical Conference</a>, the largest annual conference for the space industry in the world. This is a great opportunity to showcase our leadership in promoting a values-based, diverse, equitable and sustainable space sector.</p>
<p>Yet, without tangible action now, Australia’s space sector risks falling further behind our international counterparts. </p>
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<p>The Australian Space Agency is currently working with a number of organisations, including the <a href="https://giwl.anu.edu.au/">Global Institute for Women’s Leadership</a>, the <a href="https://inspace.anu.edu.au/">ANU Institute for Space</a> and the <a href="https://inspace.anu.edu.au/activity/missions/australian-centre-space-governance">Australian Centre for Space Governance</a>, to develop our own policy for diversity in the space sector. </p>
<p>This is a step in the right direction, particularly in the wake of the latest budget. But the industry also needs to step up with data transparency on diversity, as well as tangible commitments and actions.</p>
<p>To this end, we are conducting research on improving diversity in the space sector. We are inviting anyone in government, industry and academic roles to <a href="https://anu.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d6IR87EO9OFYSUK">take part in a survey</a> to describe their experiences of inclusion, diversity, equality and access in their jobs. This input will contribute to Australia’s statement on diversity and inclusivity in the space sector.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1656480907929456641"}"></div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205393/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elise Stephenson receives funding from the Australian Space Agency and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She is affiliated with the Australian Centre for Space Governance. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cassandra Steer receives funding from the Australian Space Agency, the Department of Defence, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Geoscience Australia. She is Chair of the Australian Centre for Space Governance and affiliated with the International Institute of Space Law. </span></em></p>Why is the space sector struggling to attract a more diverse talent pool? We have a few solutions that could help.Elise Stephenson, Deputy Director, Global Institute for Women's Leadership, Australian National UniversityCassandra Steer, Deputy Director, Institute for Space (InSpace), Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2047612023-05-03T02:00:15Z2023-05-03T02:00:15ZThe AFL needs real cultural change. Can the new chief deliver it?<p>A long, competitive recruitment process to name a new Australian Football League chief executive has concluded with the appointment of an AFL insider. </p>
<p>By its own admission, the AFL has chosen a safe pair of hands in Andrew Dillon. AFL Commission Chair Richard Goyder described him as “an exceptional football person who had been involved in virtually every major decision across the AFL for many years”. To be exact, Dillon <a href="https://www.afl.com.au/news/917513/afl-commission-appoints-andrew-dillon-to-take-over-as-ceo#:%7E:text=Mr%20Goyder%20said%20Mr%20Dillon,choice%20for%20the%20AFL%20Commission">has been in the AFL for 23 years</a></p>
<p>Since 1897, 13 men have served as CEO of the AFL or its precursor, the Victorian Football League. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/apr/16/a-historic-appointment-of-a-woman-as-ceo-may-be-just-what-the-afl-needs">All have been white</a>, with an average age of 49 at the start of their tenure. </p>
<p>To be sure, Dillon is immensely qualified, but did the AFL miss an opportunity to transform Australia’s national sport with a history-making hire? </p>
<h2>The bold pick: a woman in the role</h2>
<p>The AFL had a chance to name a woman to the role, with an excellent candidate in Kylie Watson-Wheeler. She was unanimously appointed <a href="https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/news/845786/watson-wheeler-a-unanimous-choice-as-bulldogs-president">president of the Western Bulldogs</a> in 2020 and also serves as senior vice president and managing director of the Walt Disney Company Australia & New Zealand.</p>
<p>The AFL continues to see <a href="https://www.womens.afl/news/16754/females-lead-big-rise-in-football-participation-rate#:%7E:text=FEMALES%20now%20make%20up%20close,to%201%2C649%2C178%20players%20in%202018">double-digit growth</a> in women’s grassroots football participation, in addition to sizeable commercial gains and future possibilities emanating from the <a href="https://www.womens.afl/features/aflw-expansion-four-new-clubs-no-more-afl-overlap">AFL Women’s League</a>.</p>
<p>Of the eight current serving AFL commissioners, two are also women (Helen Milroy and Gabrielle Trainor). And they are not the first to sit at the decision-making table. Sam Mostyn’s 2005 appointment as the league’s first female commissioner was a <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/females-positioned-to-lead-afl-trailblazers-say-20190307-p512jw.html">transformational moment</a>, but she faced resistance and criticism in the job – highlighting the game’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-27/first-female-afl-commissioner-sam-mostyn-on-one-plus-one/12585664">complex cultural problems</a>. </p>
<p>The AFL’s 2022-24 gender equity action plan set <a href="https://resources.afl.com.au/afl/document/2022/10/27/0ad16b68-dd43-48a9-90aa-d295e4352f75/AFL-Workforce-Gender-Equity-Action-Plan-2022-2024.pdf">lofty aspirations</a> for gender representation across the codes. But <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/370729/O%27Shea%2CMichelle_Final%20Thesis_Redacted.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">research shows</a> the numbers of female hires often conceal the gendered workplace cultures and informal practices that can prevent women from progressing in sport management careers.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jobs-for-the-boys-women-dont-get-a-fair-go-in-sports-administration-111350">'Jobs for the boys': women don't get a fair go in sports administration</a>
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<p>Dillon has refuted suggestions that his appointment is the result of the “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-01/andrew-dillon-next-afl-chief-executive-/102285858">AFL boys club</a>”. Reflecting the AFL’s espoused diversity and inclusion strategy, he quickly turned the spotlight to “his talented, diverse workforce”. </p>
<p>Diversity is vital for developing the AFL, but the league needs to consider the structural and cultural barriers to attracting this diverse talent in the first place.</p>
<p>Dillon will also need to be sensitive to genuine equity and inclusion - an enduring problem for the AFL. </p>
<p>It is promising to see that <a href="https://www.womens.afl/news/118988/listen-laura-kane-s-unique-path-from-community-footy-to-the-afl">Laura Kane</a> will be the acting executive general manager of football, and she is expected to be among the candidates to fill the role permanently. But only time will tell if we will see real change in the codes’ hiring decisions.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1646450657119830018"}"></div></p>
<h2>Sexual harassment on and off the field</h2>
<p>Historically, AFL House has not been a safe haven for women. Sports journalist Michael Warner’s 2021 book, The Boys Club: Power, Politics and the AFL, unearthed numerous egregious claims about the game’s <a href="https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/an-unsafe-workplace-the-silencing-of-women-the-boys-club-reveals-claims-of-toxic-afl-culture/">treatment of female administrators</a>. </p>
<p>As is often the case in male-dominated organisations, <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/revealed-afl-uses-payouts-to-hush-womens-bullying-claims/news-story/bc58c179e67988a1c5674d4eaa4479a4">women’s voices have been quieted</a> in the AFL through the use of payouts and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) when they’ve made complaints of sexual harassment or bullying.</p>
<p>There are dangers for women on the field, as well. A 2022 report commissioned by the AFL (but not publicly released) <a href="https://www.womensforumaustralia.org/is_the_afl_a_safe_place_for_women">reported</a> that female and non-binary umpires were subjected to sexual abuse, assault and racial slurs at all levels of the game. The AFL offered a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-03/afl-formally-apologises-for-treatment-of-female-umpires/101034986">formal apology</a> to the umpires.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-all-about-gender-or-ethnicity-a-blind-spot-in-diversity-programs-is-holding-equality-back-198237">It's not all about gender or ethnicity: a blind spot in diversity programs is holding equality back</a>
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<p>These allegations came after the 2017 revision of the <a href="https://s.afl.com.au/staticfile/AFL%20Tenant/AFL/Files/AFL-Respect-and-Responsibility-Policy.pdf">AFL’s policy for managing complaints and incidents</a>, which sought to address the poor and inconsistent manner in which complaints levelled by women had been managed. The revised policy provides clear supportive processes for those making complaints, together with formal and transparent procedures for complaint management.</p>
<p>The number of complaints is <a href="https://www.respectatwork.gov.au/resource-hub/afls-respect-and-responsibility-policy">higher now than under the 2005 policy</a>, according to the AFL.</p>
<p>In another positive step, a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/may/19/aflw-players-to-earn-94-pay-rise-in-new-season-next-stop-full-time-professionalism#:%7E:text=2022%2002.19%20EDT-,AFLW%20players%20have%20had%20their%20pay%20almost%20doubled%20under%20a,increase%20from%20%2420%2C239%20to%20%2439%2C184.">recent pay deal</a> almost doubled the salaries of AFLW players (albeit under a one-year collective bargaining agreement). The minimum AFLW wage increased from $20,239 to $39,184, though this is still well below other women’s professional sporting leagues. </p>
<p>AFLW players also remain on precarious six-month contracts and most still rely on income from outside sources. While a step forward, the AFL’s commitment to ensuring AFLW players are the best paid female athletes in Australia by 2030 will require much more attention.</p>
<h2>Racism and homophobia need to be dealt with, too</h2>
<p>In his first comments since being named to the role, Dillon <a href="https://www.afl.com.au/news/917594/in-his-own-words-andrew-dillon-on-hawks-tassie-gill-and-his-biggest-challenge">said</a> he had no intention of trying to fast-track or interfere with the inquiry into allegations of historic racism at Hawthorn. </p>
<p>Although he mentioned getting “the right outcome at the right time”, his statement lacked any mention of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-28/hawthorn-hawks-racism-review-couple-legal-action/102153140">deep personal costs and ongoing trauma</a> for the people involved. This is a deeply concerning omission in response to an issue that continues to cast a dark shadow over the league since the allegations were made public last September.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1645639039469617153"}"></div></p>
<p>And last month, in a span of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-11/afl-racial-abuse-gillon-mclachlan-charlie-cameron/102210968">less than 24 hours</a>, racial and homophobic abuse was directed at four separate AFL players. </p>
<p>While the outgoing AFL chief executive, Gillon McLachlan, made calls to stop this sort of abuse from happening, it’s clear the sport needs wholesale cultural change.</p>
<p>Is Dillon the man for the job? Will his leadership be bold enough and his team diverse enough to put real action behind the promises? We are hopeful it is.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Diversity is vital for developing the AFL, but the league needs to consider the structural and cultural barriers to attracting this diverse talent in the first place.Michelle O'Shea, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney UniversityAlison Pullen, Professor of Gender, Work and Organization, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2038182023-04-24T21:12:53Z2023-04-24T21:12:53ZThe pandemic deepened gender inequality in dual-career households<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522399/original/file-20230421-5447-6sk3rj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=55%2C23%2C5258%2C3513&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Although younger couples tend to share household labour more equitably, women still take on the bulk of home and family responsibilities.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The switch to <a href="https://doi.org/10.25318/36280001202200800001-eng">remote work because of the COVID-19 pandemic</a> required dual-career couples to adapt to a new way of life. As work and domestic responsibilities blurred, couples attempted to balance work and family life at home. </p>
<p>For many heterosexual couples, this return to home life did not reflect their pre-pandemic routine, but one that resembled a scene from the 1950s.</p>
<p>Researchers examined these new relationship dynamics and found that, although both men and women were actively employed, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2020.1776561">women took on the greatest number of domestic responsibilities</a> during the pandemic. </p>
<p>Working mothers reduced their working hours or left their careers to take on the role of homemaker, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-08-18/pandemic-pushes-moms-to-scale-back-or-quit-their-careers">while their male partners continued to work</a>. </p>
<p>This phenomenon, where women take on a greater share of domestic responsibilities due to gender stereotypes, is known as the <a href="http://www.glopp.ch/A5/en/multimedia/A5_1_pdf2.pdf">gendered division of labour</a>. </p>
<p>Questions remain as to how and why the majority of domestic labour continues to fall on women, and what factors may be contributing to this type of gender inequality.</p>
<h2>Gendered division of labour</h2>
<p>The gendered division of labour can be explained by the social roles assigned to men and women at home and work. Social roles, in turn, are shaped by gender stereotypes. While women are seen as homemakers and caretakers, men are considered providers — <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1987-97607-000">best suited for employment</a>.</p>
<p>However, gender equality in the workplace and at home has greatly improved over the last several decades. Specifically, younger couples reported having more <a href="https://doi.org/10.17615/v2fd-fv26">equitable relationship dynamics</a>. </p>
<p>For example, men have taken on a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12497">more equal share of household work</a>. Overall, dual-career couples of today have different expectations of gender roles, with partners making household decisions based on factors beyond gender. </p>
<p>At the beginning of the pandemic, it was predicted that the shift to remote work would lead to more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000857">equal division of domestic labour</a>. However, our recent research, pending publication, found this progress was set back by the pandemic. In particular, we found the gendered division of labour among dual-career couples worsened.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman holding a child on her hip vacuums while a man sits on a couch looking at his phone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522398/original/file-20230421-22-jqtear.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522398/original/file-20230421-22-jqtear.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522398/original/file-20230421-22-jqtear.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522398/original/file-20230421-22-jqtear.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522398/original/file-20230421-22-jqtear.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522398/original/file-20230421-22-jqtear.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522398/original/file-20230421-22-jqtear.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The gendered division of labour worsened during the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The goal of our study was to better understand why couples were returning to a more unequal division of labour, despite significant progress over the last several years. We interviewed employees who were part of dual-career partnerships to understand the circumstances and decisions behind these inequitable outcomes.</p>
<h2>Pandemic increased gender inequality</h2>
<p>Our findings showed that the pandemic worsened the gendered division of labour among dual-career heterosexual couples working remotely. This division was influenced by the age of couples and the existence of children. </p>
<p>Our research found that couples 50 years of age and over had a more traditional division of labour during the pandemic. Despite being fully employed, women in these partnerships took on most, if not all, of the household tasks and care-giving responsibilities. </p>
<p>One woman over 50 told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“So, I’m cooking and cleaning, I do all the grocery shopping. I do all the out stuff. He (spouse) has never been interested in cooking and chores, not knowing where simple things are, like where a rolling pin is kept, because he’s never used it in the kitchen, so it’s very much a division.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>On the other hand, couples under 50 participated in a more equal division of labour, with women and men sharing domestic tasks and responsibilities. However, when these couples had young children, women often took on a majority of household and caregiving responsibilities. </p>
<p>For couples who did not have children, despite a more equal division of labour, women were responsible for more feminine-oriented tasks (i.e., cooking and cleaning) while their male partners participated in more male-oriented tasks (i.e., taking out the garbage and yard work). </p>
<p>One woman under 50 told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I’m Martha Stewart and making dinner…in terms of division of labour…it’s stereotypical, he (spouse) will do the stuff outside the house, so lawn mowing, shovelling and I would do stuff inside the house.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Overall, domestic labour defaulted to women, who took on more home and family responsibilities, more feminine-oriented tasks, and felt a greater emotional burden towards this division of labour.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An Asian man carrying two trash bags towards a dumpster" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522712/original/file-20230424-1075-8py20s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522712/original/file-20230424-1075-8py20s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522712/original/file-20230424-1075-8py20s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522712/original/file-20230424-1075-8py20s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522712/original/file-20230424-1075-8py20s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522712/original/file-20230424-1075-8py20s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522712/original/file-20230424-1075-8py20s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For couples who did not have children, women were responsible for more feminine-oriented tasks, while their partners participated in more male-oriented tasks like taking out the garbage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Women’s feelings about domestic labour</h2>
<p>The interviews provided us with the opportunity to better understand participants’ feelings towards their division of household labour. Women within the 50 and over age group felt dissatisfied and frustrated with such unequal division of labour. </p>
<p>One woman over 50 told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I don’t like it and am not pleased with it, but it’s a battle and I haven’t got the strength for a fight. I mean, you will have to keep going anyways anyhow.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>On the other hand, women under 50, who experienced a more equal division of labour, expressed mixed feelings of guilt, gratitude and anxiety. Many women felt fortunate to have partners who shared the workload in the household, but others felt guilty.</p>
<p>Our findings demonstrated that, despite differences in age and caregiving responsibilities, women felt a moral obligation towards domestic labour. Researchers refer to this as “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/189945">doing gender</a>.” </p>
<p>One woman under 50 told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I feel intense guilt and stress and anxiety because I’m not able to participate in the kinds of food preparation that I was able to do before.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Implications for the future</h2>
<p>Our findings have important implications for the workplace and beyond. Given the increasing number of dual-career couples, these inequalities can lead to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000857">significant negative career outcomes for both men and women</a>.</p>
<p>Employers must recognize these challenges and develop policies and practices to support working women who aspire to grow and develop their careers. This can include advocacy for paid leave for both mothers and fathers, flexible work-from-home arrangements, or improved pay and benefits to help with increasing costs of living.</p>
<p>As well, employers should facilitate critical discussions about gender inequality and open the door for progress around gender roles and gender expectations. </p>
<p>These work-related challenges are a reflection of existing gender inequities within our broader society. With our findings, we aim to raise awareness about gender inequality and encourage individuals to advocate for closing the gender gap. Our hope is to encourage and promote a more equal and fair future for both men and women.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203818/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>At the beginning of the pandemic, it was predicted that the shift to remote work would lead to more equal division of domestic labour. Recent research shows this was not the case.Tina Sharifi, PhD Candidate, Human Resource Management, York University, CanadaAyesha Tabassum, PhD Candidate, School of Human Resources Management, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2027732023-04-18T14:19:58Z2023-04-18T14:19:58ZFeeding Africa: how small-scale irrigation can help farmers to change the game<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521023/original/file-20230414-18-8gm5qb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A farmer watering his crops in Namong, Tone district, Togo.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by: Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Unlike large-acreage government irrigation schemes, small-scale irrigation is typically farmer led. Farmers decide what technologies to use to extract water, be it manual lifting or solar water pumps. They also choose the mode of irrigation, whether by buckets or drip kits. Farmers purchase, run and maintain the operation themselves on their own farms or as part of small groups of farmers. </p>
<p>Small-scale irrigation <a href="https://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/751751616427201865/FLID-Guide-March-2021-Final.pdf">can help</a> smallholder farmers to increase agricultural productivity and incomes. It can be scaled quickly and without large public investments. For these reasons, it can contribute more rapidly to the achievement of national agricultural and development goals, compared to large irrigation schemes. </p>
<p>Currently, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919216303773">less than 5%</a> of cultivated land in sub-Saharan Africa is irrigated. The reliance on rainfed agriculture prevents farmers from cultivating high-value <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211912415300067?via%3Dihub">nutritious crops</a> that often need large amounts of water that are applied more frequently. Some vegetable crops consist <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/79185">mostly of water</a>, for example, tomatoes or cucumbers, and their yield and quality deteriorate rapidly under water stress. </p>
<p>Rainfed agriculture limits smallholder production and profitability, particularly under climate change. It is therefore associated with higher food insecurity, poor diet quality, and high seasonal variability in diets. </p>
<p>Small-scale irrigation <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211912415300067">can</a> improve nutritional outcomes in several important ways. It increases food production in the dry season and also incomes. Extra income enables the purchase of healthy and diverse diets year round. </p>
<p>Evidence for the nutrition benefits of irrigation in Africa remains limited, however. One reason is that irrigated agriculture covers only small areas. In addition, nutritionists have largely focused on micronutrient supplementation or infant and young child feeding practices. And irrigation systems are mostly developed and analysed by engineers who do not consider linkages to nutrition in their work. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mcn.13395">recent research</a>, drawing on data from Tanzania and Ethiopia, has developed richer evidence of these important linkages. Our work, part of a broader <a href="https://ilssi.tamu.edu/files/2023/03/ILSSI-Brief-Nutrition_INTERACTIVE_031723.pdf">project</a>, provides the first strong evidence of the relationship between small-scale irrigation, food security, diet quality and nutrition. Small-scale irrigation contributes to the resilience of smallholder producers by preserving their food security and nutrition during times of drought. </p>
<p>These findings provide reasons for policymakers to support small-scale irrigation expansion. </p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>We started by <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mcn.13297">exploring</a> the relationship between small-scale irrigation and women’s dietary diversity in northern Ethiopia. Women’s dietary diversity is a measure of quality of food access, defined as the consumption of different food groups over the previous 24 hours. Food groups include (1) grains, white roots and tubers and plantains; (2) pulses; (3) nuts and seeds; (4) dairy; (5) meat, poultry and fish; (6) eggs; (7) dark green leafy vegetables; (8) other vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables; (9) other vegetables; and (10) other fruits. Increased dietary diversity is an intermediate indicator of nutrition. </p>
<p>We found that women’s diets in that region were generally poor and identified high seasonal fluctuations in diet quality. We also found that compared to non-irrigators, women in households with small-scale irrigation had better dietary diversity and irrigation can help offset the seasonality in dietary quality of women. </p>
<p>In a further study we focused on larger areas in Ethiopia and Tanzania. We found that the effects of irrigation on women’s diet adequacy were even stronger among households that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mcn.13395">had faced at least one drought</a> in the previous five years. In Tanzania, drought-affected households that used irrigation also had higher household dietary diversity. This suggests that small-scale irrigation is also a successful climate change adaptation strategy. </p>
<p>In the same study, we also explored the impacts of irrigation on <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mcn.13395">child nutrition</a>. We used standard measures like weight-for-height deviations, also known as wasting, which is a measure of acute malnutrition. </p>
<p>In Ethiopia, irrigation improved weight‐for‐height measures of children under five. In Tanzania, it did so in households that reported having faced drought. These effects of irrigation on the weight-for-height scores of young children in both countries were substantial. But there no significant impact on children’s linear growth. This is not surprising as chronic malnutrition, or stunting, occurs over the long run. It is challenging to address through a single intervention such as irrigation. </p>
<h2>Boosting the impact</h2>
<p>The benefits of irrigation clearly extend far beyond increasing agricultural productivity and incomes. Irrigation should, therefore, be promoted as a nutrition intervention, in addition to its potential for higher yields, incomes and employment. This is especially important for areas prone to recurring and severe drought.</p>
<p>Our findings suggest that irrigation’s benefits can be increased in three ways: </p>
<p><strong>Women’s empowerment:</strong> Women play a key role in agricultural production and also in preparing healthy foods for their families. For better results, women should be able to participate in and benefit from irrigation interventions. They should have greater input into decisions about technology and crop choice, and control over irrigated output. </p>
<p>Irrigation interventions and investments should be designed and implemented in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016722003345?via%3Dihub">ways that address local gender inequalities</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Addressing nutritional deficiencies:</strong> Policy makers should promote irrigated foods that not only generate income but also address local nutrient deficiencies. An example is orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, which are rich in vitamin A. Another is fruits and vegetables. Small-scale irrigation technology can also be used to grow livestock feed and boost dairy production. It can support livestock watering, such as for poultry and egg production. </p>
<p><strong>Delivering the message:</strong> Agriculture extension workers and community health workers currently work in isolation. There’s a strong case for working jointly to deliver messages about irrigated production, safe and effective storage practices and healthy diets. </p>
<p>Finally, agencies guiding small-scale irrigation investors need to define specific outcome indicators. These should relate to food security, nutrition, health and gender equality. Regular monitoring and evaluation of these is essential to track progress and to determine which approaches are most effective under which conditions. This would allow policymakers and implementing partners to deepen the impacts of irrigation on nutrition in smallholder communities that are most affected by the climate emergency.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202773/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The International Food Policy Research Institute, where Elizabeth Bryan works, receives funding from a large number of donors. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>The International Food Policy Research Institute, where Claudia Ringler works, receives funding from a large number of donors.</span></em></p>The relationship between small-scale irrigation and food security, diet quality, and nutrition is growing.Elizabeth Bryan, Senior Scientist, Natural Resources and Resilience Unit, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Claudia Ringler, Deputy Director, Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.