tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/gender-discrimination-7227/articlesGender discrimination – The Conversation2024-03-07T19:24:18Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2243702024-03-07T19:24:18Z2024-03-07T19:24:18ZPolitical power in Australia is still overwhelmingly male. But beneath the despair, there’s reason for hope<p>It’s 2024, but power still looks like a man. Despite Australia’s claim to egalitarianism, achieving equal political participation and representation remains a formidable challenge for women. Concerningly, the persistent and ingrained obstacles in women’s way are affecting the aspirations of the next generation of female leaders. </p>
<p>According to 2022 <a href="https://plan-international.org/uploads/2022/10/SOTWGR-2022-EN-Final-SD.pdf">research</a> spanning 29 countries, including Australia, satisfaction among young females aged 15-24 with their leaders’ decisions on issues they care about stands at a mere 11%. An overwhelming 97% acknowledged the importance of political participation. Yet, only 24% of those aspiring to engage in politics could see themselves running for office. </p>
<p>Worse still, 20% have been personally discouraged from political involvement. This is often because they’re either considered to be <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/05_women_lawless_fox.pdf">less qualified</a> or that they will inevitably <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/01/27/the-female-political-career-women-members-of-parliament-still-face-obstacles-to-elected-office">face discrimination</a> and gendered violence. </p>
<p>I crunched the numbers to assess the situation in Australia. While much has been said about the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjBo7vTp9SEAxU3amwGHUFXBH8QFnoECAYQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fiview.abc.net.au%2Fshow%2Fms-represented-with-annabel-crabb&usg=AOvVaw1oHrBbmWBZQhhBmxEIv6gA&opi=89978449">mistreatment</a> of female leaders, how does this play into the psyche of female constituents? </p>
<p>I found gender gaps have persisted in almost every political measure over the past 20 years. But there’s a glimmer of hope, mostly found online. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-secret-to-attracting-more-women-into-politics-give-them-more-resources-222159">What's the secret to attracting more women into politics? Give them more resources</a>
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<h2>Politics still unwelcoming and unrepresentative</h2>
<p>Using the <a href="https://australianelectionstudy.org/">Australian Election Study</a>, I examined the gender gaps in political attitudes and behaviours across generations between 2001 and 2022.</p>
<p>The pathway to power for women in politics has never been easy, and it doesn’t get easier once elected. The prevalent discrimination, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiVwpWMp9SEAxW8UWcHHb4eCPAQtwJ6BAg4EAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dz8asUgiCjw0&usg=AOvVaw2_nNYywdfZNl9-qQxzlqys&opi=89978449">gender deafness</a>, sexism and overt abuse not only <a href="https://theconversation.com/expect-sexism-a-gender-politics-expert-reads-julia-gillards-women-and-leadership-142725">force women to abandon</a> their leadership aspirations, but also act as signals that discourage young women from corridors of power. </p>
<p>It is therefore not surprising younger generations of Australian women display a diminished interest in politics, more so than older generations.</p>
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<p>I found they’re less represented than men in traditional participatory practices, such as discussing politics or attending political meetings. They’re also less likely to contribute money to a party or campaign. Girls in various Western democracies reported <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249019872_Good_Girls_Go_to_the_Polling_Booth_Bad_Boys_Go_Everywhere_Gender_Differences_in_Anticipated_Political_Participation_Among_American_Fourteen-Year-Olds">similar</a> disinterest. </p>
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<p>Young Australian women are also less satisfied with democracy than men. They report lower trust in government than their male counterparts and are more likely to believe government is run for few big interests rather than for all. </p>
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<h2>Discouragement is everywhere</h2>
<p>Politics continues to be off-putting because sexism is normalised in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-australian-media-womens-voices-are-still-not-heard-172060">media</a>. </p>
<p>Numerous studies show young Australian women <a href="https://www.plan.org.au/publications/she-can-lead/">think</a> female leaders receive unfair treatment from the media. The gendered media coverage is often characterised by negative portrayals of “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146167210371949">power-seeking</a>” ambitions, scrutiny of fashion choices, judgement based on reproductive decisions, and a <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-a-big-problem-with-the-murdoch-media-no-one-is-talking-about-how-it-treats-women-leaders-149986">failure to recognise</a> the mistreatment of female leaders (gender blindness). It all serves as a stark reminder of entrenched sexism in our national mindset.</p>
<p>Moreover, there’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-missing-women-of-australian-politics-research-shows-the-toll-of-harassment-abuse-and-stalking-168567">scepticism</a> in the personal circles of women aspiring to political roles. Friends and family can express concerns about their loved one’s safety working in parliament or for a political party. This undermines the progress of women in political leadership. </p>
<p>Women also hesitate to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-missing-women-of-australian-politics-research-shows-the-toll-of-harassment-abuse-and-stalking-168567">encourage</a> others to pursue political careers due to the potential for facing abuse.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/online-abuse-could-drive-women-out-of-political-life-the-time-to-act-is-now-214301">Online abuse could drive women out of political life – the time to act is now</a>
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<p>If the political landscape discourages the pool of potential female leaders, it’s understandable gender quotas have had <a href="https://hir.harvard.edu/equal-representation-the-debate-over-gender-quotas-part-1/">mixed success</a>. Labor’s quotas have not been a panacea for attracting young women to politics. </p>
<p>The reality is women <a href="https://theconversation.com/women-politicians-pay-too-high-a-personal-cost-for-their-leadership-201028">pay too high</a> a personal price in leadership positions. Competing work and family roles create high levels of stress and burn-out. This particularly <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-secret-to-attracting-more-women-into-politics-give-them-more-resources-222159">deters</a> young women from running for local government, for example – more so than older women and men of all ages. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman uses her smartphone on public transport." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Young women are increasingly engaging in political discussion online.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-using-smartphone-subway-1060222451">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Bottom-up quest for parity</h2>
<p>Despite these challenges, the 2022 federal election emerged as a pivotal moment in Australian politics, highlighting a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-explained-the-seismic-2022-federal-election-the-australian-election-study-has-answers-195286">significant shift</a> in the engagement of women and young people. These two social bases turned away from major parties, signalling a growing disenchantment with the established political order. </p>
<p>Young women are actively challenging traditional power structures, leveraging their access to higher education and social media to redefine the political narrative. They are not hesitant to explore political alternatives to the two major parties. </p>
<p>Young women have also been challenging the established political order through getting involved in politics online. They are participating in political discussions, sharing and blogging political information, accessing election information and creating and joining political groups on social media platforms.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jacinda-arderns-resignation-shows-that-women-still-face-an-uphill-battle-in-politics-an-expert-on-female-leaders-answers-5-key-questions-198197">Jacinda Ardern's resignation shows that women still face an uphill battle in politics – an expert on female leaders answers 5 key questions</a>
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<p>This has ushered in younger generations of Australian women who are unwilling to accept abuse and harassment as the inevitable costs of political engagement. With increasing education levels and a <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-young-people-are-moving-to-the-left-though-young-women-are-more-progressive-than-men-reflecting-a-global-trend-222288">more progressive</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/28/australian-voters-are-increasingly-driven-by-issues-rather-than-party-loyalty-and-thats-bad-news-for-the-old-political-order">issue-based mindset</a>, young women are raising their demands and expectations.</p>
<p>This is heartening. We’re starting to see a generation of women who refuse to accept the limitations imposed on them. This development signals a promising shift towards a more inclusive and representative political landscape.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224370/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Intifar Chowdhury 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>Data show young Australian women are less politically engaged than men. Given the negative experiences of female politicians, that’s hardly surprising. But there’s a glimmer of hope.Intifar Chowdhury, Lecturer in Government, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2226452024-02-02T16:35:52Z2024-02-02T16:35:52ZSexism permeates every layer of the music industry – new report echoes what research has been saying for years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573056/original/file-20240202-17-jb90pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7315%2C4836&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/close-beautiful-sad-ginger-girl-listening-2350075239">Gorgev/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The landmark <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5804/cmselect/cmwomeq/129/summary.html#:%7E:text=Women%20working%20in%20the%20music,employment%20and%20gendered%20power%20imbalances.">Misogyny in Music</a> report from British MPs on the women and equalities committee, published on January 30, shines an unsettling light upon the gender discrimination, sexual harassment and abuse which is rampant across the music industry. </p>
<p>The cross-party inquiry heard evidence from a wide range of witnesses connected to the music industry. The findings are deeply disturbing, highlighting that women working within the industry face “limitations in opportunity, a lack of support, gender discrimination and sexual harassment and assault as well as the persistent issue of unequal pay in a sector dominated by self-employment and gendered power imbalances”. </p>
<p>The report calls out the widespread misuse of non-disclosure agreements, which silence victims and protect perpetrators, meaning that: “People in the industry who attend award shows and parties currently do so sitting alongside sexual abusers who remain protected by the system and by colleagues.” The inquiry also found that the issues are “intensified for women faced with intersectional barriers, particularly racial discrimination”.</p>
<p>This report follows a raft of recent investigations into discrimination within the music industry. </p>
<h2>A culture of discrimination</h2>
<p>In September 2022 the <a href="https://www.ism.org/">Independent Society of Musicians</a> published its report, <a href="https://www.ism.org/news/new-ism-report-finds-harassment-and-discrimination-rife-in-the-music-sector/">Dignity At Work 2: Discrimination in the Music Sector</a>. The report was based on survey responses from 660 people in the music industry. </p>
<p>It found that 66% had experienced some form of discrimination and 78% of that discrimination was committed against women. Of the discrimination, 58% was identified as sexual harassment, with 76% of workers within studio or live music event settings having experienced discrimination. It also found that 88% of self-employed respondents did not report the discrimination which they had experienced (94% had nobody to report it to). </p>
<p>Important recent research reports have also been produced by <a href="https://blim.org.uk/">Black Lives in Music</a>, <a href="https://donne-uk.org/">Donne Women in Music</a> and <a href="https://womeninctrl.com/">Women in CTRL</a>. The findings also echo a number of the themes which have emerged through the work of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded <a href="https://fass.open.ac.uk/research/projects/wmlon?nocache=65bccc7c915f7">Women’s Musical Leadership Online Network</a>, which I lead with Professor Helen Julia Minors of York St John University.</p>
<h2>Further problems for the industry</h2>
<p>Gender discrimination permeates every layer of the music industry. Although representation of women has increased in recent years, men still dominate leadership roles. </p>
<p>The persistent gendered associations of certain musical instruments and genres <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-women-in-music-since-1900/0BE6E55834FDC9DA9081B8FBAC9F8871">still prevent women</a> from taking them up or performing them professionally at the same rates as men. Historically, women were encouraged to play “ladylike” instruments, such as the piano or harp, whereas wind and brass instruments – which require the distortion of the facial muscles – were strongly discouraged, as were the lower strings and percussion. </p>
<p>Although many of these historical restrictions have evaporated, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-women-in-music-since-1900/0BE6E55834FDC9DA9081B8FBAC9F8871">they linger on</a> in the present day for the drums, bass guitar and brass. Jazz, heavy metal and rap (despite having many women artists) are still often seen as masculine genres. </p>
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<img alt="black woman sat at a keyboard, looking fed up." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573057/original/file-20240202-23-hflkhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573057/original/file-20240202-23-hflkhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573057/original/file-20240202-23-hflkhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573057/original/file-20240202-23-hflkhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573057/original/file-20240202-23-hflkhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573057/original/file-20240202-23-hflkhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573057/original/file-20240202-23-hflkhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&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 issues are intensified for women faced with intersectional barriers, particularly racism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-american-woman-musician-sitting-on-2361474827">Krakenimages.com/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-women-in-music-since-1900/0BE6E55834FDC9DA9081B8FBAC9F8871">industry remains</a> male-dominated and beset with unequal working practices. Many of those working within it are self-employed, working on precarious contracts which often involve antisocial hours without the same protections as those working for companies. </p>
<p>Self-employed musician-mothers are often unable to take maternity leave of any significant length and childcare costs are exorbitant. The sexualised reception and constant scrutiny in media and social media endured by women within the music industry is exhausting, threatening and degrading. The widespread sexual abuse and harassment which so many women are subjected to is a shameful open secret. </p>
<p>The Misogyny in Music report is an urgent call for change.</p>
<h2>Recommendations from the report</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5804/cmselect/cmwomeq/129/summary.html#:%7E:text=Women%20working%20in%20the%20music,employment%20and%20gendered%20power%20imbalances">report includes</a> 34 recommendations. It calls upon the government to legislate to “ensure freelance workers are provided with the same protections from discrimination as employees”. It also asks for an amendment to <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/14/enacted#:%7E:text=14Combined%20discrimination%3A%20dual%20characteristics&text=(1)">section 14 of the Equality Act</a> “to improve protections for people facing intersectional inequality”. </p>
<p>The report urges the government to “bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit the use of non-disclosure and other forms of confidentiality agreements in cases involving sexual abuse, sexual harassment or sexual misconduct, bullying or harassment, and discrimination relating to a protected characteristic” (characteristics protected by the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/discrimination-your-rights">Equality Act</a>, such as age and race). It also suggests a retrospective moratorium on those already in place. </p>
<p>The report signals the establishment of a new Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) to act as “a single, recognisable body that anyone in the industry can turn to for support and advice”. </p>
<p>It considers the additional requirements which it would be useful to introduce for spaces within which it is known that abuse takes place, recommending that studios and music venues, the security staff that work at them, and artist managers should all be licensed. </p>
<p>What’s clear from the report is that the behaviour of men lies at the heart of these issues. Preventative measures, however, risk normalising these kinds of behaviour because they place the burden of responsibility on women to avoid becoming victims. Alongside legislative reforms, a deep cultural change is needed within the music industry to ensure it becomes a safer, inclusive and supportive space for women.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Hamer receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Gender discrimination permeates every layer of the music industry.Laura Hamer, Senior Lecturer in Music, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2141982023-09-27T21:34:26Z2023-09-27T21:34:26ZHidden in plain sight: Women face subtle forms of discrimination and bias in the workplace<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550442/original/file-20230926-19-ovbqmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5472%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The subtler, more insidious forms of discrimination that women face at work often go unnoticed.</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/hidden-in-plain-sight-women-face-subtle-forms-of-discrimination-and-bias-in-the-workplace" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Gender discrimination remains a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/12/14/gender-discrimination-comes-in-many-forms-for-todays-working-women/">pervasive issue</a> in <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/reports/women-symposium.html">the workplace</a>. While obvious cases of discrimination against women — like <a href="https://www.thestar.com/podcasts/this-matters/a-toronto-police-officer-shares-her-story-of-surviving-workplace-sexual-harassment/article_1a600227-7864-5388-bdcf-521010066b89.html">sexist comments</a> or <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2199225923548">the systematic underpayment of women</a> — dominate headlines, there are subtler, more insidious forms of discrimination that often go unnoticed.</p>
<p>Take Kelly, for example, a seasoned marketing manager we recently interviewed as part of a workplace discrimination project. Kelly had diligently worked towards a promotion, only to witness her junior colleague, Mark, receive it instead. This led her to wonder if Mark genuinely outperformed her, or if there was something more nefarious at play.</p>
<p>Kelly’s quandary isn’t unique. It reflects a pervasive, subtle challenge faced by women in many fields: incidents tinged with potential gender bias, yet ambiguous enough to defy clear categorization as discrimination.</p>
<p>It’s easy to condemn blatant discrimination because of how obvious it is. But discrimination doesn’t always reveal itself so openly; instead, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/was-that-racist.html">it can be a spectre</a> looming uncertainly in the background. </p>
<h2>Examining ambiguous incidents</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.15195/v10.a18">Our recent research</a> aimed to investigate women’s experiences of ambiguous incidents in the workplace. Seeking to understand the issue from multiple angles, we conducted interviews, a survey and an experiment.</p>
<p>The project uncovered myriad tales of women grappling with incidents that might have been driven by bias, but were cloaked in uncertainty. Their stories encompassed a wide spectrum of experiences, ranging from daily microaggressions, such as being ignored during meetings, to significant career milestones, like missing out on promotions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A forlorn-looking woman stands with her arms folded while two men shake hands in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550439/original/file-20230926-15-1v6b7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The experiences of women in the workplace range from daily microaggressions, such as being ignored during meetings, to significant career milestones, like missing out on promotions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most of the women we interviewed wrestled more with ambiguous incidents than with overt discrimination. As Kelly put it: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I think I would feel better if it was overtly gender discrimination, because at least you would feel somewhat validated in your perception, whereas you always question, like, maybe I’m not seeing things right, maybe I’m biased.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Like Kelly, 74 per cent of the women we surveyed reported that they had struggled with such ambiguities in the past year. Only 64 per cent said they had faced clear-cut discrimination. These aren’t just numbers; they represent the silent battles and moments of self-doubt that many women experience.</p>
<h2>Responding to possible discrimination</h2>
<p>Following ambiguous incidents, many women reported feeling confused or frustrated, often ruminating over their experiences and struggling to make sense of them. But, as we found, ambiguous incidents had more than just emotional impacts. </p>
<p>We designed an experiment in which participants were exposed to the same discrimination incident, but at different levels of ambiguity. Some participants experienced the incident as clear-cut discrimination, whereas others experienced it as ambiguous. </p>
<p>The experiment revealed that when a situation is clearly discriminatory, women are more likely to turn outwards by speaking to human resources, consulting with supervisors or seeking advice from diversity and inclusion groups. This sort of action not only addresses the issue at hand, but also sets the stage for organizational change.</p>
<p>But when an incident is ambiguous, women tend to turn inwards. They try to adopt a more formal communication style, work harder or draw more attention to their achievements. While this may help them navigate discrimination in the short term, it does little to catalyze the kind of systemic change necessary to foster gender equality.</p>
<h2>A call to leaders and allies</h2>
<p>What can leaders and allies do to help? </p>
<p>First, we all need to shatter the silence that surrounds these incidents. Ambiguity thrives when communication is stifled. Creating an environment where whispers of concern are welcomed, not shunned, is paramount. This goes beyond just having an <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.26279183">open-door policy</a>; it’s about building trust so that people know those doors lead to empathetic listeners.</p>
<p><a href="https://hbr.org/2022/11/7-ways-to-practice-active-allyship">Allies can also play a powerful role</a>. When someone stands up and acknowledges these subtle biases, it doesn’t just validate feelings, but also builds bridges. When colleagues and managers notice ambiguous discrimination, they should take the initiative to engage in private discussions with the affected women. A simple acknowledgement or private conversation can shift the narrative from doubt to trust. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two women have a conversation at a desk. One woman has her back to the camera." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550440/original/file-20230926-15-fsn084.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">When colleagues and managers notice ambiguous discrimination, they should take the initiative to engage in private discussions with affected women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, it’s essential to exercise caution. While it’s important to listen, it’s equally critical to distinguish between unintentional missteps and genuine bias. Colleagues and managers must take concerns seriously without unfairly penalizing people whose actions were ambiguous, but not biased. </p>
<p>To navigate this fine line, we must adopt a prudent approach. This involves seeking multiple perspectives, conducting thorough investigations and thoughtfully considering the context in which incidents occurred. </p>
<p>Lastly, as women start sharing their ambiguous experiences, their managers and colleagues should look for recurring themes. A single event may be an aberration, but a pattern is a cause for alarm. It signals systemic problems that require attention. </p>
<p>It’s vital to recognize that, in the journey towards diversity and inclusion, it’s not just the visible mountains we need to climb. Often, it’s the foggy valleys of ambiguity that prove the most challenging to traverse.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214198/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Doering receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>András Tilcsik receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan Doering receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>While blatant discrimination is easy to condemn because of how obvious it is, there are subtler, more insidious forms that also need to be rooted out.Laura Doering, Associate Professor of Strategic Management, University of TorontoAndrás Tilcsik, Professor of Strategic Management, University of TorontoJan Doering, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2131002023-09-26T13:42:16Z2023-09-26T13:42:16ZThe family home in South African townships is contested – why occupation, inheritance and history are clashing with laws<p>During apartheid, black South Africans could not own land – and therefore their homes – in what were classified as “white” cities. In racially segregated townships, living in “family houses” and passing them on depended officially on a <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA02586568_844#page=5">range of permits</a>. These were usually to rent from state authorities, but in some cases confusingly to build or buy a house without owning the plot underneath it, which was owned by the state.</p>
<p>A crucial measure in undoing apartheid was transferring ownership of township houses to their long-term residents. <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA02586568_844#page=8">In 1986</a>, a few years before apartheid’s end, the law changed to enable outright ownership for black people in urban areas. Subsequently, processes for transfer on a large scale were established.</p>
<p>This massive redistribution of public housing stock, alongside legal change, involved hundreds of thousands of homes. Township houses were now assets. The promise was improved security, rights, and inclusion in the property market.</p>
<p>But change did not necessarily give families greater security. Some family members benefited while others were left vulnerable. That is because the transfers – and the legal definitions of property and inheritance – do not account for how many people understand their homes: collective and cross-generational, available to an extended lineage.</p>
<p>This has led to confusion and heartache for hundreds of thousands of people. That confusion, I showed <a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/120/479/219/6132108">in a paper in 2021</a>, extended to encounters with state administration, which can become the stage on which family disputes are played out.</p>
<p>As I argued in another <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02587203.2019.1632737">paper</a>, with Tshenolo Masha, these understandings of home and kinship warrant legal recognition – indeed, constitutional recognition – as urban custom. Various state officials have taken seriously the collective ownership of family houses, as a matter of customary norms and practice, through administration and court judgments. But they face the rigid limits of existing law.</p>
<p>The family house is central but effectively legally invisible, leaving many people uncertain about what it even means to own or inherit.</p>
<h2>Collective home but individual property</h2>
<p>For many residents, family houses belong collectively to multi-generational lineages. Often, a group of siblings is at the core – the children of an earlier, typically male, household head. Family members might build extra structures on the site to live in. Or they might come and go, but the home is a place to return to. The family house is defended as customary, drawing parallels with the rural homestead.</p>
<p>By the end of apartheid <a href="https://www.britannica.com/question/How-did-apartheid-end">in 1994</a>, regulation was patchy at best, but the occupancy permits were understood to affirm group entitlement because they listed family members, not just the householder.</p>
<p>In statutory law, at stake is an asset with one or more named owners – an indivisible plot or <a href="https://www.saflii.org/za/legis/consol_act/dra1937172/">“erf” of land</a> that includes its built structures. Owners can sell, or they can evict; other occupants have no legal right to stop them. When family houses were transferred, one person was generally registered as owner.</p>
<p>In some cases, the allocation to the registered householder was automatic. In others, there were hearings, but even here residents found their ideas of home and ownership marginalised. A family member would come forward as family “representative” and “custodian” of the collective home. But that representative would typically become the sole titleholder.</p>
<p>In many cases, relatives were unaware that this had happened, or even that an application for title had been made.</p>
<h2>Inheritance: an added layer of complexity</h2>
<p>Inheritance has added another layer to the problem.</p>
<p>Under apartheid there were separate inheritance rules for black people without wills. These were finally struck down by the Constitutional Court in <a href="https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2000/27.html">2000</a> and <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2004/17.html">2004</a>. Magistrates’ courts were replaced by the dedicated inheritance office, the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/master/">Master of the High Court</a>. Inheritance by the eldest son was replaced by rules for all South Africans, prioritising spouses and children in nuclear families.</p>
<p>Once again, essential redress had the effect of narrowing which relationships would be recognised. When a custodian died, wider family members first discovered that they were not collective owners; then they realised they would not even inherit.</p>
<p>The family house is not a static idea in fights over the home. Warring parties may draw on both customary and legal concepts, sometimes at the same time. Among families that approach the state – and many do not – some subsequently drop out of official process. </p>
<p>There is <a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/120/479/219/6132108">no simple consensus</a> about who gets what or about how this should be decided.</p>
<h2>Efforts to resolve the issue</h2>
<p>The family house is contested, yet it is key to arguments about what is fair – based not just on who owns, but on the nature of ownership.</p>
<p>State officials have repeatedly tried to make the system more responsive. In Gauteng province, where Johannesburg is located, housing tribunals were set up in the late 1990s to decide ownership and to broker family house rights agreements. They were intended to prevent custodians from selling houses or evicting relatives. But it turned out that they held no legal water: from the point of view of deeds registration, custodians’ <a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/120/479/219/6132108">ownership was unrestricted</a>. </p>
<p>In the Master’s Office, where inheritance is administered, kin complain that their family home somehow became the property of one relative. In Johannesburg, officials <a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/120/479/219/6132108">try to explain the law</a>, while where appropriate querying how title came to be acquired.</p>
<p>What they cannot do, though, is change the rules.</p>
<p>The courts, too, have highlighted problems with rigid law and procedure. In a 2004 Constitutional Court <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2004/17.html">decision on inheritance</a>, a dissenting judge warned that customary understandings of home and custodianship risked being sidelined by standardisation.</p>
<p>More recently in 2018, automatically upgrading householders to owners was <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2018/42.html">declared unconstitutional</a>.
Men were usually documented as householders under apartheid, and gender discrimination was extended by giving them exclusive property rights. </p>
<p>Other judgments recognise the spirit of collective belonging and access, and they stop individuals from taking the house out of the families’ hands by inheritance or sale. But they cannot make legislation, so they send the question of who owns the house back to a tribunal.</p>
<p>Once again, solutions are restricted to workarounds.</p>
<h2>Towards legal recognition</h2>
<p>In 2022, the <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPPHC/2022/441.html#_ftnref78">Shomang judgment</a> in the North Gauteng High Court called for legally recognising the family house. </p>
<p>A sufficiently flexible notion of family title would be challenging to work out, and doubtless the basis for countless disputes. Surviving spouses need as much protection as the siblings in a lineage. But it would enable administrators and judges to mediate disputes in terms recognisable to the families involved. And to offer more than ad hoc workarounds.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213100/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maxim Bolt's research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK. </span></em></p>The transfer of township rental houses to inhabitants did not necessarily give families greater security. “Family houses” were frequently acquired by individuals.Maxim Bolt, Associate Professor of Development Studies, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2065372023-08-17T10:09:06Z2023-08-17T10:09:06ZHow gender inequality is hindering Japan’s economic growth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542561/original/file-20230814-23-4m3vtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&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/bokeh-shibuya-shopping-street-japanese-trade-566726533">Siriwat Sriphojaroen/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/how-gender-inequality-is-hindering-japans-economic-growth-206537&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p>Japan’s economy is under pressure from rising energy prices and defence costs and the impact of the pandemic. Plummeting birth rates and an <a href="https://theconversation.com/japan-is-not-the-only-country-worrying-about-population-decline-get-used-to-a-two-speed-world-56106">ageing population</a> further threaten the sustainability of its labour market. A <a href="https://www2.staffingindustry.com/row/Editorial/Daily-News/Japan-Worker-shortage-could-reach-11-million-by-2040-report-finds-65089">2023 study</a> by independent thinktank the Recruit Works Institute points to a labour supply shortage of 3.41 million people by 2030, and over 11 million by 2040.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/japans-politics-is-opening-up-to-women-but-dont-expect-a-feminist-revolution-yet-67243">Gender inequality</a> is another significant pressure point. Research <a href="https://www.piie.com/commentary/op-eds/study-firms-more-women-c-suite-are-more-profitable">shows</a> that a gender-inclusive society and workforce <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters">leads</a> to innovation and economic growth. However, Japan has one of the lowest levels of gender equality among G7 countries. It has slipped to its <a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/06/b041fdee1839-japan-falls-to-record-low-125th-in-global-gender-gap-ranking.html">lowest ranking yet</a> in the World Economic Health Forum’s latest <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2023/economy-profiles-5932ef6d39#report-nav">Global Gender Report</a>, particularly in terms of women in leadership positions. </p>
<p>Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently declared that Japan needs to urgently raise its birth rate. He also <a href="https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14895433">vowed</a> to increase the percentage of women executives in Tokyo stock exchange-listed companies, from 11.4% to 30% or more, by 2030. A <a href="https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14926108">policy draft</a> released in June indicates that this will be achieved through leadership quotas legally imposed on listed companies.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman office worker in an office setting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542562/original/file-20230814-9571-2qa64a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542562/original/file-20230814-9571-2qa64a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542562/original/file-20230814-9571-2qa64a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542562/original/file-20230814-9571-2qa64a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542562/original/file-20230814-9571-2qa64a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542562/original/file-20230814-9571-2qa64a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542562/original/file-20230814-9571-2qa64a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women face discrimination and restrictive policies in the workplace.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/business-woman-sees-large-city-big-290042417">Gbbot/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Japan has tried this countless times, however, and largely failed. As my research <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003174257-14/reimagining-gender-roles-within-japan-achieve-sustainable-gender-equality-sarah-parsons">shows</a>, this is because gender norms are deeply embedded in Japanese society. </p>
<h2>Socialisation of gender norms</h2>
<p>Gender norms in Japanese society are tightly connected to patriarchal hierarchies that have evolved historically from the influence of <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/japanese-confucian/#ConfModeJapa">Confucianism</a>. The role of a man is linked to being the breadwinner and head of the family. Women, by contrast, are seen as wives and caregivers, ultimately subservient to the head of the family. </p>
<p>Children are taught these norms from an early age. Research <a href="https://philpapers.org/rec/DAVGIJ">shows</a> that Japanese preschool teachers <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20622704">position</a> children in various gender roles by encouraging gendered speech and behavioural patterns. Girls speak softly and act in a cute, non-threatening way. Boys, by contrast, use more dominant language and behaviour. Children’s books and TV programmes often perpetuate these hierarchical linguistic patterns and behaviour.</p>
<p>These beliefs and values influence hiring practices and organisational behaviour within the Japanese workplace, which is still based on the male-based breadwinner/female-dependent model. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Preschool children on a day trip." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542564/original/file-20230814-30-od0ynf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542564/original/file-20230814-30-od0ynf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542564/original/file-20230814-30-od0ynf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542564/original/file-20230814-30-od0ynf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542564/original/file-20230814-30-od0ynf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542564/original/file-20230814-30-od0ynf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542564/original/file-20230814-30-od0ynf.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">Children are taught gendered roles and behaviour from very early on.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-little-kids-enjoying-field-trip-1971509282">Sally B/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From 1945 to 1991, a period which economists refer to as the <a href="https://econreview.berkeley.edu/the-japanese-economic-miracle/#:%7E:text=Known%20as%20the%20Japanese%20Economic,end%20of%20the%20Cold%20War">economic miracle years</a>, most Japanese women were isolated from the leadership career path. This resulted in low levels of Japanese women in key decision-making positions. </p>
<p>Today, leadership is still seen as a male-dominated environment – even when the topic is about female empowerment. Japan was <a href="https://time.com/6290088/japan-gender-equality-g7/">the only country</a> to send a male delegate to the recent G7 delegation on gender equality and female empowerment. </p>
<p>Gaining promotions to higher-paid positions relies on long hours and commitment to the company, <a href="https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/05/14/why-arent-there-more-women-leaders-in-corporate-japan/">regardless of gender</a>. Gendered norms therefore result in a significant double burden on Japanese women. </p>
<p>Despite having one of the most generous paternity-leave provisions in the world, only <a href="https://www.wtwco.com/en-gb/insights/2022/02/japan-childcare-leave-entitlement-for-fathers-announced">14% of Japanese men</a> took paternity leave in 2021, compared with Sweden’s <a href="https://www.leavenetwork.org/fileadmin/user_upload/k_leavenetwork/annual_reviews/2019/Sweden_2019_0824.pdf">90% rate</a> of uptake. Japanese men also spend <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=54757">the lowest amount</a> of time doing unpaid housework (41 minutes a day) among OECD countries. </p>
<p>Both the highly gendered workplace and unequal division of household labour mean that women are <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/704369#:%7E:text=Individuals%27%20narratives%20reveal%20how%20labor,consider%20having%20only%20one%20child">more likely</a> than men to miss out on promotions, take on lower-paid irregular jobs, and/or only consider having one child. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman hangs up washing in an indoor setting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542572/original/file-20230814-30-jhu41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542572/original/file-20230814-30-jhu41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542572/original/file-20230814-30-jhu41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542572/original/file-20230814-30-jhu41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542572/original/file-20230814-30-jhu41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542572/original/file-20230814-30-jhu41d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542572/original/file-20230814-30-jhu41d.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">Household division of labour continues to be unequal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/japanese-housewife-who-dries-laundry-indoors-1317087512">Kazoka/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Work-life expectations are unrealistic. And in the workplace, women face discrimination and harassment, as well as restrictive expectations of gendered behaviour and <a href="https://qz.com/1743901/why-japanese-companies-ban-women-from-wearing-glasses">appearance</a>. Yoshiro Mori stepped down as head of the Tokyo Olympics organising committee in 2021, after <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210405-why-japan-cant-shake-sexism">sexist</a> remarks he had <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56020674">reportedly</a> made in a Japanese Olympic committee meeting caused an international furore. Mori was quoted as saying women talk too much, and that when “allowed into” high-level meetings, they take up too much time. </p>
<h2>Failed solutions</h2>
<p>Previous Japanese government initiatives to raise the birth rate and improve gender equality have focused on introducing quotas for female leadership and executive boards, more childcare places, and enhanced parental leave. However, these have either failed to reach their target or have become <a href="https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/05/14/why-arent-there-more-women-leaders-in-corporate-japan/">tokenistic</a>. In fact, recent <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/world/loneliness-women-japan-gender-inequality/">initiatives</a> are reported to have exacerbated gender inequality and driven some women into poverty. </p>
<p>Singapore recently embarked on a similar mission as part of a national gender equality review. Its government has gathered ideas and feedback from women’s and youth groups, private organisations, academics, policymakers and the wider public. This has <a href="https://www.aware.org.sg/2021/07/aware-launches-historic-omnibus-report-gender-equality-all-stages-womens-lives/">resulted</a> in a policy wishlist and report, the findings of which will be implemented into both policy and education. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sports day in a Japanese primary school." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542568/original/file-20230814-23-pfn7ru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542568/original/file-20230814-23-pfn7ru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542568/original/file-20230814-23-pfn7ru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542568/original/file-20230814-23-pfn7ru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542568/original/file-20230814-23-pfn7ru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542568/original/file-20230814-23-pfn7ru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542568/original/file-20230814-23-pfn7ru.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">Improving gender equality must start with early-years education.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/ball-rolling-sports-day-1561873846">Maruco/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My research shows that this approach would work for Japan, too. It could allow people to voice their opinions and wishes in an open debate – which chimes with Japan’s <a href="https://erinmeyer.com/mapping-out-cultural-differences-on-teams/">cultural preference</a> for decision-making achieved through consensus – rather than making direct criticisms of the patriarchal order. </p>
<p>Such a review would need to look at all stages of life and aspects of society that are involved in the socialisation of gender roles, and the impact these have, from both a human rights and an economic perspective. There is already evidence that gender inequality is leading to <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/world/loneliness-women-japan-gender-inequality/">mental health issues</a> in Japan, especially for divorcees and single mothers. </p>
<p>This review would also offer an opportunity for feedback from the younger generation. Research shows that many younger Japanese are becoming disenchanted with traditional gender roles. They are looking at <a href="https://online.ucpress.edu/currenthistory/article/120/827/240/118342/Japan-s-Younger-Generations-Look-for-a-New-Way-of">new ways of living</a> by choosing careers outside the echelons of power within Japanese society. They are also <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-young-japanese-rejecting-marriage/a-62248097">rejecting</a> the institution of marriage. </p>
<p>Japan has the opportunity to rewrite its gender equality trajectory. Doing so would hopefully include other representations of gender and diversity that have so far not been widely accepted within Japanese society, or <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/12/japan-passes-law-promote-understanding-lgbt-people">protected</a> within the law. Same-sex marriage is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/08/japan-court-falls-short-of-calling-same-sex-marriage-ban-unconstitutional">still unconstitutional</a> in some prefectures. Societal change at this level will take a generation. The conversation needs to start now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206537/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Parsons works for her own company, East West Interface, that may share this article on social media etc and benefit from the associated PR. However, the original research that underpins this article is Sarah's own.</span></em></p>In the Japanese workplace, women face discrimination, restrictive behaviour and appearance codes and a lower glass ceiling than elsewhere. Only a profound cultural shift will change that.Sarah Parsons, Senior Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in East Asian Business, SOAS, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2039972023-05-22T12:28:07Z2023-05-22T12:28:07ZTrans joy and family bonds are big parts of the transgender experience lost in media coverage and anti-trans legislation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526881/original/file-20230517-29-eund6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some trans people find gender euphoria in being mothers and being with family.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/family-having-fun-at-home-royalty-free-image/1388504287">rparobe/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the beginning of 2023, 49 U.S. state legislatures have introduced <a href="https://translegislation.com/">over 500 anti-trans bills</a>. While mainstream media increasingly <a href="https://time.com/6131444/2021-anti-trans-violence/">cover violence</a> and <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d383z/anti-trans-violence-2022">legislative attacks</a> against trans people, many scholars and activists worry that focusing just on violence and discrimination <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spac034">fails to capture the full experience</a> of being trans.</p>
<p>Drawing on the success of movements like the <a href="https://kleavercruz.com/the-black-joy-project">Black Joy Project</a>, which uses art to promote Black healing and community-building, trans activists are challenging one-dimensional depictions of their community by highlighting the <a href="https://www.advocate.com/voices/trans-joy-challenging-times">unique joys of being transgender</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LzPI-r8AAAAJ&hl=en">My research</a> <a href="https://www.umass.edu/sociology/users/dpsiegel">on trans parents</a> affirms the reality of trans joy. From 2019 to 2021, I interviewed 54 transgender women – both current and prospective parents – from diverse racial and class backgrounds across the country. I found that while many have navigated discrimination in their parenting journeys, they also have fulfilling parent-child relationships, often with the support of partners, families of origin and their communities.</p>
<h2>Gender euphoria</h2>
<p>Scholars and community members use the term <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2021.1915223">gender euphoria</a> to describe a “joyful feeling of rightness in one’s gender/sex.” It diverges from the diagnosis of <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gender-dysphoria/what-is-gender-dysphoria">gender dysphoria</a>, or a sense of conflict between assigned sex and gender identity typically associated with feelings of distress and discomfort. </p>
<p>While gender dysphoria reflects some trans people’s experiences, physicians have historically used this concept to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2018-105293">restrict access to gender-affirming care</a>. For example, doctors may prescribe hormones only to people who obtain a letter from a therapist attesting that they fit a narrow understanding of transness that includes expressing hatred for their body.</p>
<p>Gender euphoria celebrates feeling comfortable with who you are and how you are perceived by the world. Some people transition with a specific set of goals, while others discover new sources of joy and new facets of their identity over time. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526888/original/file-20230517-19-42g2za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Parents kissing child on either cheek" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526888/original/file-20230517-19-42g2za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526888/original/file-20230517-19-42g2za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526888/original/file-20230517-19-42g2za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526888/original/file-20230517-19-42g2za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526888/original/file-20230517-19-42g2za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526888/original/file-20230517-19-42g2za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526888/original/file-20230517-19-42g2za.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">Some trans women find euphoria in their role as mothers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/happy-lgbtqia-couple-kissing-daughter-at-home-royalty-free-image/1421318476">Maskot/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many of the trans women I interviewed expressed their gender euphoria in relation to their role as mothers. A Black trans woman in her 20s, whom I will call Gloria, experiences joy in being recognized as a mother. “I love being called Mom. That’s the greatest thing,” she told me. “I love waking up every morning to see [my child’s] beautiful face. It keeps me motivated.”</p>
<p>Other people experience euphoria in how they express their gender. Naomi, a white trans woman in her 40s, experienced her first spark of gender euphoria at the nail salon. “It was the only gender-affirming thing I could express [at the time],” she said. “When the nail tech took the polish off and I saw how long my fingernails had gotten, my heart skipped a beat.”</p>
<p>For many trans people, transitioning opens up a new set of possibilities. When I asked Adriana, a trans Latina in her 30s, what it was like to come out as trans, she told me, “I’ve never been happier. The happiest day of my life was when my daughter was born, and the second happiest day of my life was when I [started transitioning].” </p>
<h2>Family and community connections</h2>
<p>While some trans people do experience rejection from their families of origin, that is not true for the majority of the community. In a 2015 national survey of over 27,700 trans adults, the U.S. Trans Survey, 60% of respondents reported having families who are <a href="https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Full-Report-Dec17.pdf">supportive of their trans identity</a>.</p>
<p>Liza, a white trans woman in her 20s, has a close relationship with her brothers. “We are still a little triad. Yes, things change, but ultimately, I’m the same person just using a different name,” she said. “I can see myself as part of this family going forward. There’s no break. I’m not breaking anything by coming out.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526889/original/file-20230517-25-oyufc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Family and friends in a room celebrating" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526889/original/file-20230517-25-oyufc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526889/original/file-20230517-25-oyufc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526889/original/file-20230517-25-oyufc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526889/original/file-20230517-25-oyufc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526889/original/file-20230517-25-oyufc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526889/original/file-20230517-25-oyufc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526889/original/file-20230517-25-oyufc4.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">Many trans people are supported by their families of origin and their chosen families.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/family-and-friends-coming-together-for-a-birthday-royalty-free-image/1398118272">Flashpop/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Trans women also form <a href="https://www.familyequality.org/resources/finding-and-forming-a-chosen-family/">chosen families</a> with friends, co-workers and other community members. Relationships with other trans people can have particularly positive effects on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2019.0014">identity development and overall well-being</a>, including emotional resilience, self-acceptance and a sense of connection. </p>
<p>Jane, a Black trans woman in her 20s, has a tight-knit group of first-time parents she can call “whenever [she’s] freaking out,” no matter the scope of the emergency. While she laments her father’s lack of support, Jane’s friends are always there for her. “[T]hey come to visit, they bond with my son, [and] we get to spend time together like a big family, you know?” </p>
<h2>Trans community care</h2>
<p>In addition to caring for their biological and adopted children, the trans women I interviewed felt a responsibility to take care of their community. </p>
<p>Sometimes this care manifested as parent-child relationships, in which respondents provide financial or emotional support to LGBTQ+ youth. Maggie, a white woman in her 50s, didn’t know she was a parental figure for her “queer kids” until they tagged her on Instagram to celebrate Mother’s Day. </p>
<p>“Someone might go, ‘Hey, can I stay on your sofa tonight? I’m having a hard time.’ Well, yeah, of course,” she said. “Or they might hang around the shop [I work at], and only later it dawns on me, ‘Oh, this was the only place they could come and get affirmed and not feel weird.’”</p>
<p>Many also provide care outside their family units. Whitney, a Black trans woman in her 20s, reaches out to and tells local teachers they can refer parents of trans kids to her if they have any questions about how to support their children on their gender journeys or if their kids need someone to talk to.</p>
<p>Respondents like Whitney, who began questioning her gender identity in her early teens, also mentor trans women who are older than they. “Why not,” she told me, “if I have relevant experiences and can help make their lives easier?” </p>
<p>Miriam, a white trans woman in her 60s, agreed that she has a lot to learn from younger trans people. “A lot of my community today, people who I count as family and my beloveds, are not of my generation,” she said. ‘Beloveds’ is the term she uses to describe her platonic loved ones. “I learn a lot from my beloveds in their 20s and 30s, who don’t have the same baggage I [dealt with] about how I could be and who I could be.”</p>
<h2>Anti-trans hate as a self-fulfilling prophecy</h2>
<p>Anti-trans politicians deploy a variety of tactics to stigmatize transgender communities, from describing gender-affirming care <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/11/politics/gender-affirming-care-bans-transgender-rights/index.html">as mutilation</a> to falsely accusing trans people of <a href="https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/new-report-anti-lgbtq-grooming-narrative-surged-more-than-400-on-social-media-following-floridas-dont-say-gay-or-trans-law-as-social-platforms-enabled-extremist-politicians-and-their-allies-to-peddle-inflamatory-discriminatory-rhetoric">predatory behavior</a>. </p>
<p>While these politicians <a href="https://www.aclu.org/podcast/protecting-women-and-children-is-a-shield-for-transphobia">claim to be protecting children</a> by restricting access to gender-affirming care, a 2021 Trevor Project survey found that recent political events have <a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2021/?section=Introduction">harmed the mental health</a> of 94% of LGTBQ youth in the U.S. A study based on data from the 2015 U.S. Trans Survey found that harassment based on gender identity at school <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.06.001">also harms transgender youths</a>, resulting in higher rates of suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts.</p>
<p>In contrast, research has shown that starting hormone replacement therapy <a href="https://theconversation.com/transgender-youth-on-puberty-blockers-and-gender-affirming-hormones-have-lower-rates-of-depression-and-suicidal-thoughts-a-new-study-finds-177812">reduces the risk of suicide</a> by 73% for trans youth, <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2018/04/analysis-finds-strong-consensus-effectiveness-gender-transition-treatment">among other mental health benefits</a>. Another study found that trans people who start hormones as adolescents report <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261039">lower levels of binge drinking, drug use and suicidality</a> than those who desired gender-affirming hormones but could not access them. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526907/original/file-20230517-17-80m0ex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Trans youth holding signs reading 'PROTECT TRANS KIDS'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526907/original/file-20230517-17-80m0ex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526907/original/file-20230517-17-80m0ex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526907/original/file-20230517-17-80m0ex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526907/original/file-20230517-17-80m0ex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526907/original/file-20230517-17-80m0ex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526907/original/file-20230517-17-80m0ex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526907/original/file-20230517-17-80m0ex.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">Legislation targeting trans youths has significantly harmed the children they intend to protect.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/GenderAffirmingCareBanKentucky/8766283f5ccc4352848130aca6a2b0fa">Timothy D. Easley/AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For Adriana, who described beginning transition as the second happiest day of her life, after the day her daughter was born, fear of rejection kept her in denial of her trans identity. She used alcohol and made “reckless decisions” to cope with her gender dysphoria. Transitioning, meanwhile, brought her closer to her daughter. “I was never myself around her, not completely, which my daughter noticed,” she said. “We’ve always been close, but now that I’m genuinely happy with myself, we’re even closer.”</p>
<p>Amid efforts to <a href="https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2022/10/24/idaho-conservatives-want-to-ban-drag-performances/">criminalize drag shows</a> and <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/07/15/1055959/book-bans-social-media-harassment/">ban LGBTQ topics</a> from public schools, highlighting the joy of trans motherhood directly rejects myths that <a href="https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2023/03/14/we-are-not-groomers-how-anti-lgbtq-stereotypes-inhibit-reproductive-justice/">portray trans women as “groomers”</a> or otherwise dangerous to children. Extensive research shows that <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/transgender-parenting/">having a transgender parent</a> does not affect children’s gender identity, sexual orientation or other developmental markers. Yet trans people experience discrimination in both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12354">adoption</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/swr/svz005">custody disputes</a> based on these pervasive myths. </p>
<p>Trans motherhood showcases the resilience of trans people who work diligently to take care of each other, even when they are failed by their communities and other institutions. Maria, an Indigenous Latina trans woman in her 30s, finds beauty in serving as a mother for the young queer and trans activists she works with. “I find it an honor that someone holds you in such high esteem that they want to call you their mom. … Because motherhood is a beautiful thing,” she said. “I think it’s a beautiful thing to help them in their journey to become the best versions of themselves.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203997/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Derek P. Siegel receives funding from the American Sociological Association. </span></em></p>Trans motherhood showcases the unique joys of being transgender, be it through developing a deeper connection with one’s own child or caring for others in one’s community.Derek P. Siegel, Ph.D. Candidate, Sociology, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2004962023-03-31T12:23:01Z2023-03-31T12:23:01ZUnconscious biases continue to hold back women in medicine, but research shows how to fight them and get closer to true equity and inclusion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518544/original/file-20230330-1798-cyxmdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1155%2C396%2C4595%2C3190&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women face much higher levels of discrimination in hiring and promotions compared to male medical professionals.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/female-doctors-discussing-while-walking-in-hospital-royalty-free-image/961012938?phrase=medical%20team%20diverse&adppopup=true">Cavan Images/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you work at a company, university or large organization, you’ve probably sat through a required training session meant to fight gender and racial discrimination in the workplace. Employers increasingly invest in efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion – commonly referred to as DEI policies. Yet research shows these efforts often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000160">fail to address the implicit biases</a> that often lead to discrimination.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=10vXfYgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">I am a professor and a physician</a> who has been working in university settings for over 30 years. I also study and speak about discrimination in medicine and science. Like <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/24994/sexual-harassment-of-women-climate-culture-and-consequences-in-academic">most of my female colleagues</a>, I have personally seen and experienced gender discrimination on many occasions throughout my career.</p>
<p>However, two things seem to have changed in recent years. First, modern training programs are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36937456/">starting to reflect decades of research</a> on effective interventions. Second, I am noticing a gradual shift with people now more interested in actively addressing discrimination and harassment than ever before. Taken together, these changes give me hope that the medical profession is finally making progress on efforts to fight discrimination.</p>
<h2>Existing policies haven’t worked</h2>
<p>Many institutional policies <a href="https://ss-usa.s3.amazonaws.com/c/308463326/media/27436024f0b84dfd274918375735238/202102%20-%20DEI%20Report.pdf">outline anti-racist and anti-sexist goals</a>, but research shows results have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1706255114">been slow in coming</a>.</p>
<p>In a study I conducted to understand what continues to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.25843">hold women back in their careers</a>, I interviewed more than 100 men and women in academic medicine, including many in high-powered positions. In my study, dozens of interviewees told me stories of DEI policies that, even with the right intentions, failed to produce good results.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518545/original/file-20230330-26-u00thy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man sitting at the head of a table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518545/original/file-20230330-26-u00thy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518545/original/file-20230330-26-u00thy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518545/original/file-20230330-26-u00thy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518545/original/file-20230330-26-u00thy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518545/original/file-20230330-26-u00thy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518545/original/file-20230330-26-u00thy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518545/original/file-20230330-26-u00thy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research shows that despite policies to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, men still fare better in medical careers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/businessman-at-conference-table-portrait-royalty-free-image/BA60388?phrase=board%20room&adppopup=true">Darren Robb/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, frequently search committees are encouraged to broaden and <a href="https://haas.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/EGAL_DEIChecklist.pdf">diversify the pool of candidates</a> for a position. In my study, I found that hiring committees often associate attempts to hire or promote a woman or member of an underrepresented group as “meeting a quota” or “affirmative action,” which the hiring committee sees as an imposition on their ability to choose the best candidates.</p>
<p>A male faculty member I interviewed claimed that a new colleague was hired “because she’s a woman,” even though she was as qualified for the position as other male candidates. Such reactions are part of why this approach, though commonly employed, has not fixed the problem of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmsa1916935">women getting fewer promotions than men</a>.</p>
<p>It is also clear that <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31513467/">blatant sexism is still present</a>. For a study I published in 2021, I was told stories of a male department chair putting a dog leash on the desk of a female co-worker, and a female candidate for a leadership position being criticized by the chair of the search committee for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.25843">not being “warm and fuzzy”</a>. </p>
<h2>Trainings fail to address implicit bias</h2>
<p>Implicit bias is any unconscious negative attitude a person holds <a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/implicit-bias">against a specific social group</a>. These unconscious biases can affect judgment, decision making and behavior. Implicit bias is often one of the <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2023/01/23/conversations-unconscious-bias-stop-discrimination-in-hiring/">underlying issues</a> that leads to discriminatory practices or harassment that DEI policies are meant to address.</p>
<p>Employee trainings are a staple of organizations’ efforts to meet diversity, equity and inclusion goals. Trainings can take various forms and cover a variety of topics, including implicit bias. These trainings, frequently done online, often “talk at” employees by simply offering information and directives rather than actively engaging them in discussion and analysis. </p>
<p>Trainings that fail to engage participants aren’t very effective in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F15291006211070781">lessening imlicit bias</a>. In fact, research has shown that some trainings suggest unconscious bias is an unchangeable fact of life and imply it <a href="https://hbr.org/2021/09/unconscious-bias-training-that-works">can therefore be ignored</a>.</p>
<h2>Effective ways to mitigate unconscious bias</h2>
<p>Describing how bias works and how it influences individuals is an important step in addressing discrimination. </p>
<p>Researchers have been studying <a href="https://theconversation.com/measuring-the-implicit-biases-we-may-not-even-be-aware-we-have-74912">how unconscious bias works and how to mitigate it</a> since the 1980s. These studies show that unconscious bias is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.04.009">habit that can be broken over time</a> with a clear, consistent and respectful series of evaluations, feedback and follow-ups. During this process, employees become more aware of bias in others, more likely to judge such bias as problematic and more able to mitigate bias in their own behavior. This type of intervention has been shown to produce measurable increases in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.07.002">number of female faculty in science and medicine</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518546/original/file-20230330-1797-8tm80s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people sitting in a semi-circle watching a woman give a presentation." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518546/original/file-20230330-1797-8tm80s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518546/original/file-20230330-1797-8tm80s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518546/original/file-20230330-1797-8tm80s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518546/original/file-20230330-1797-8tm80s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518546/original/file-20230330-1797-8tm80s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518546/original/file-20230330-1797-8tm80s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518546/original/file-20230330-1797-8tm80s.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">Many diversity, equity and inclusion policies rely on trainings that don’t do a good job of engaging employees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/businesswoman-explaining-strategy-over-a-flip-chart-royalty-free-image/1166085818?phrase=professional%20training&adppopup=true">Luis Alvarez/Digital Vision via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The question is whether the mandatory trainings and public messaging that are the staples of many DEI policies today can produce similar results to these intensive interventions. </p>
<p>Creating situations or a culture where people can and do share their experiences with harassment and discrimination – without risk of retaliation – can lead to increased awareness of bias in others and clear communication of the negative aspects of this bias.</p>
<p>One interviewee in my study talked about an exercise in which the women wrote down their experiences of discrimination and harassment and then the men read the women’s stories out loud. This woman felt that the men, by reciting the experiences of their female colleagues, finally began to understand how practices that seemed to be inclusive and fair were actively harming others.</p>
<h2>A changing social environment</h2>
<p>Sharing personal experiences of harassment or discrimination with people who have biases is an understandably scary or intimidating thing to do – especially given the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-021-06432-6">history of retaliation or shaming</a>. But my recent experiences seem to suggest that the culture in medicine is shifting from one of avoidance to one of engagement.</p>
<p>I recently gave a talk on gender discrimination at <a href="https://www.cancer.org/research/we-fund-cancer-research/eds-research-programs/jiler-professors-and-fellows-conference/2022-jiler-conference-the-feedback.html">a major cancer conference</a> that brought together researchers from all across the U.S. I shared the results of my study as well as my personal experiences with the audience. At the end of my presentation, the crowd of men and women stood and applauded – a response I have rarely, if ever, seen in my 30 years of attending medical conferences. </p>
<p>This enthusiastic response may suggest that people are broadly becoming more open to and supportive of women and other underrepresented people sharing their own stories of facing discrimination. With a large body of research showing that sharing personal experiences with people who are actively listening and engaging is one of the most effective ways to combat unconscious bias, this standing ovation seemed to me a hopeful sign of things to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200496/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer R. Grandis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After decades of effort to reduce discrimination in the workplace, a cultural change may be happening that will enable people to move past their unconscious biases.Jennifer R. Grandis, Distinguished Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, San FranciscoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1973252023-01-25T21:02:21Z2023-01-25T21:02:21ZHave you been labelled at work by your gender, age or ethnicity? Here’s how those labels can delegitimize you<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504502/original/file-20230113-25-hwndow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=46%2C0%2C6214%2C4177&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women who are seen as assertive can often be negatively labelled at work.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you or a colleague ever been negatively labelled at work, whether it’s based on your gender, age, race or ethnicity? Labels can often be mundane because we use them spontaneously on an everyday basis. But they can also be far from innocuous. Labels convey value judgments and serve to control the behaviour of the people they’re applied to.</p>
<p>My explanations of labelling draw on research, including my own. I head a <a href="https://www.concordia.ca/jmsb/faculty/claudine-mangen.html">research program</a> on gender inequalities and organizational leadership at Concordia University. My research is concerned with everyday practices <a href="https://doi.org/10.7146/kkf.v31i3.128517">like labelling</a>, how they arise and what they do.</p>
<h2>Differing expectations</h2>
<p>To understand labels, we have to look at how we interact with the world around us. We make sense of this world by using <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-world-is-getting-exponentially-more-complex-heres-how-we-navigate-it-188554">mental shortcuts</a> that enable us to save our mental resources. <a href="https://theconversation.com/bias-be-gone-can-our-unconscious-prejudices-be-overcome-175636">Shortcuts draw on categories</a>; one of the most salient categories is gender.</p>
<p>We instantaneously and spontaneously categorize people around us in gender categories, relying on information accumulated throughout our lives. Categories of course go beyond gender and also include race, age, ethnicity and so on.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505471/original/file-20230119-26-5e9z7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black woman stands at a table writing on a paper. Other people are seated around the table observing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505471/original/file-20230119-26-5e9z7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505471/original/file-20230119-26-5e9z7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505471/original/file-20230119-26-5e9z7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505471/original/file-20230119-26-5e9z7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505471/original/file-20230119-26-5e9z7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505471/original/file-20230119-26-5e9z7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505471/original/file-20230119-26-5e9z7e.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">When we assign a person to the woman category, we are inclined to see her in a caregiving role rather than an agentic role like a leader.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As we assign people to gender categories, we evaluate them in their roles, notably whether these roles are consistent with their gender category. During this evaluation process, we draw on social norms about women and men, who they are and what they do. Today’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-elections-matter-national-child-care-plan-could-create-workplace-gender-equality-169307">social norms</a> continue to <a href="https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/987047/">view men and women differently</a>: women are expected to act communally and care for others; men are expected to be agentic and assert themselves. </p>
<p>As a result, when we assign a person to the woman category, we are inclined to see her in a caregiving role rather than an agentic role like a leader. Our beliefs are gender-biased: if she had been a man, we would have attributed a different role to her. </p>
<p>When we see others behave in ways that deviate from the roles associated with their gender categories, we often draw on labels that designate this deviance. For instance, suppose we see a woman who is assertive. Since we categorized her as a woman, we expect her to be caregiving; we see her assertive behaviour as a deviance from this caregiving behaviour. We might then draw on a label that identifies and designates this deviance. </p>
<h2>Labels matter</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.7146/kkf.v31i3.128517">Women leaders I interviewed</a> told me how they have been labelled “bitch.” The names of interview participants I cite below have been changed to protect their anonymity. </p>
<p>For instance, Leslie explained: “Women are still perceived as the ones who should be softer, caretaking; everything is just from the heart, and doting and nurturing.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504503/original/file-20230113-11-61gavq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man and woman sit at a table giving each other sideward looks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504503/original/file-20230113-11-61gavq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504503/original/file-20230113-11-61gavq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504503/original/file-20230113-11-61gavq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504503/original/file-20230113-11-61gavq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504503/original/file-20230113-11-61gavq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504503/original/file-20230113-11-61gavq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504503/original/file-20230113-11-61gavq.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">When we see others behave in ways that deviate from the roles associated with their gender categories, we often draw on labels that designate this deviance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When women do not meet expectations around caretaking, they are penalized for their deviance. Leslie pointed out: “When you don’t fill that role, and people expect you to fill that role going back to expectations, you’re seen as a tough, sorry to say it, bitch.” </p>
<p>Tina argued that men do not have similar caretaking expectations: “We all know a guy who’s tough — he’s assertive, he’s confident. A woman who’s tough, she’s a bitch.”</p>
<p>Labels have consequences for those who are labelled. When labels are used to designate behaviour that deviates from an expectation, they can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843221123745">delegitimize and undermine people</a>. </p>
<p>Consider again the women leaders I interviewed. Labels that emphasize their gender obscure their other identities and roles. In other words, the labels suggest that their identities as women and leaders are incompatible.</p>
<p>The interview participants reacted in three ways to their labelling. They accepted it and made efforts to be seen as nice. They also rejected it, questioning the person who did the labelling. Finally, they sometimes ignored it. Either way, they spent time and energy dealing with labels that went to the core of who they are.</p>
<p>There are many other labels that we often use, many of which do the same thing as the “bitch” label that I illustrated. We do not question labels because they often seem so mundane and spontaneous. Therein, however, lies the danger of labels: they constitute a way of putting people down and delegitimizing them. </p>
<p>We should observe ourselves and question why we use the labels we do. What are our expectations of the people we label? If they don’t meet our expectations, rather than blaming them through a label, perhaps we should question our expectations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197325/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claudine Mangen receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Labels that reflect our gender, racial or age-specific biases can often undermine others.Claudine Mangen, RBC Professor in Responsible Organizations and Associate Professor, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1952782022-12-08T19:57:22Z2022-12-08T19:57:22ZDisenfranchising Indigenous women: The legacy of coverture in Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499056/original/file-20221205-16-cple79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C40%2C5415%2C3558&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Legal principles of coverture written into the Indian Act continue to negatively impact the rights of Indigenous women.</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/disenfranchising-indigenous-women--the-legacy-of-coverture-in-canada" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The recent controversy surrounding <a href="https://twitter.com/METLAkikwe/status/1581005693926375430">Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond’s claims of being Indigenous</a> has once again shone a spotlight on the issue of “<a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/infocus/pretendians-and-what-to-do-with-people-who-falsely-say-theyre-indigenous-put-infocus/">pretendians</a>” — people who have obtained privileged positions through false claims of indigeneity. </p>
<p>It also points to the way Indigenous women’s identities have been determined by men throughout most of Canada’s history. </p>
<p>In response to the CBC report that cast doubt on <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/mary-ellen-turpel-lafond-indigenous-cree-claims">Turpel-Lafond’s claims</a>, male-dominated organizations such as the <a href="https://www.ubcic.bc.ca/ubcic_stands_with_aki_kwe_dr_mary_ellen_turpel_lafond">Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs</a>, the <a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/sask-vice-chief-retracts-statement-001030504.html">Federation of Sovereign Indian Nations</a>, the <a href="https://twitter.com/DrewLafond/status/1580625731943428097">Saskatoon Tribal Council</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Snuneymuxw/status/1581024921261867008">Snuneymuxw First Nation</a> came out in support of Turpel-Lafond. </p>
<p>However, the response from Indigenous women has been vastly different. Many prominent Indigenous women do not support Turpel-Lafond’s claim. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498564/original/file-20221201-6191-r22ual.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498564/original/file-20221201-6191-r22ual.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498564/original/file-20221201-6191-r22ual.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498564/original/file-20221201-6191-r22ual.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498564/original/file-20221201-6191-r22ual.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498564/original/file-20221201-6191-r22ual.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498564/original/file-20221201-6191-r22ual.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498564/original/file-20221201-6191-r22ual.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond is a prominent scholar and former judge. A CBC investigative report raised questions about her Cree ancestry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Women like <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/cindy-blackstock-birth-certificate-mary-ellen-turpel-lafond-1.6661752">Cindy Blackstock</a>, who has worked with the community claimed by Turpel-Lafond. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/vice-chief-retracts-statement-supported-mary-ellen-turpel-lafond-ancestry-claims-1.6663444">Vice-Chief Aly Bear</a> from the Federation of Sovereign Indian Nations retracted her support after evidence came to light. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/mary-ellen-turpel-lafond-1.6615953">Native Studies professor Kim Tallbear</a> said she no longer believes Turpel-Lafond is Indigenous. And the Indigenous Women’s Collective is calling for the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/indigenous-collective-wants-universities-revoke-turpel-lafond-honorary-degrees-1.6637426">revocation of her honorary degrees</a>. </p>
<p>To understand these differing responses we need to go back to the gender discrimination of the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/indian-act">Indian Act</a>.</p>
<h2>What is coverture?</h2>
<p>Since its implementation in 1876, the act created a system where Indian men were the focal point for determining Indian status. The justification for placing Indigenous men in this role was the British <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/coverture">doctrine of coverture</a>.</p>
<p>Much has been said about the legal fictions that formed the foundation of colonialism, like the <a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/doctrine-of-discovery-is-a-legal-fiction-but-revoking-it-wont-herald-immediate-changes-experts-say/">doctrine of discovery</a> and <a href="https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/the-doctrine-of-discovery-and-terra-nullius">terra nullius</a>. However, coverture and the resulting entrenchment of patriarchy within Indigenous communities does not get as much attention.</p>
<p>With coverture, a married woman is not viewed as a separate legal entity from her husband. This doctrine, developed in England, was brought to Canada with colonization and was used to prevent women from being <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/persons-case">recognized as persons</a>, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/law-and-history-review/article/abs/married-womens-property-law-in-nineteenthcentury-canada/4DD51B94F0367BC0A2AA28F103DCC971">holding property</a>, <a href="https://www.bsbcriminallaw.com/blog/2020/04/can-my-wife-or-husband-testify-against-me-at-trial/#:%7E:text=Spouses%20could%20not%20testify%20against%20their%20partner%2C%20even,competent%20and%20compellable%20to%20testify%20against%20their%20partner.">testifying against her husband</a>, <a href="https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/women/women-win-the-vote">voting</a> or <a href="https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/snapshot-of-indian-act-denial-of-status-for-indigenous-women">passing on Indian status</a> to their spouses or children. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498565/original/file-20221201-20-9hfczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman wearing a white dress signing a contract." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498565/original/file-20221201-20-9hfczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498565/original/file-20221201-20-9hfczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498565/original/file-20221201-20-9hfczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498565/original/file-20221201-20-9hfczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498565/original/file-20221201-20-9hfczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498565/original/file-20221201-20-9hfczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498565/original/file-20221201-20-9hfczn.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">Coverture was a legal doctrine in English common law which held that a married woman had no legal identity separate from her husband.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Coverture in the Indian Act</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2808&context=ohlj">coverture ended in England in the 19th century</a>, and was gradually eroded in mainstream Canadian society, it remained embedded in the status provisions of the Indian Act. </p>
<p>When the Indian Act was first passed in 1876, <a href="https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/indian_status/">people who qualified for Indian status</a> were those who were:</p>
<ol>
<li>An Indian male. </li>
<li>Children of an Indian male.</li>
<li>A woman married to an Indian male. </li>
</ol>
<p>This meant that a European woman who married an Indian man could gain Indian status, as would any children she bore while married to him. However, an Indian woman who married a European man lost her status and she and her children were viewed as white. This change in status meant many Indigenous women were forced off reserves and away from their communities.</p>
<p>The inability of Indigenous women to keep their status after marriage only ended after decades of legal struggles by women like <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sandra-lovelace-nicholas">Sandra Lovelace Nicholas</a>, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jeannette-vivian-lavell">Jeannette Corbiere Lavell</a>, <a href="https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bedard-case">Yvonne Bedard</a> and <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mcivor-case">Sharon McIvor</a>. </p>
<p>The passing of <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bill-c-31">Bill C-31 in 1985</a> enabled Indigenous women to regain their Indian status and keep it upon marriage to a non-Indigenous man. But they were still not able to pass <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mcivor-case">full status on to their children</a> the way that Indigenous men could. </p>
<p>Today, their descendants are still being <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/descheneaux-ruling-indian-act-february-1.3701080">discriminated against</a>. Unlike Indigenous men, Indigenous women have never been able to pass Indian status to their spouses.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498584/original/file-20221201-6346-ddfaii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman wearing glasses and a red scarf with long grey hair." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498584/original/file-20221201-6346-ddfaii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498584/original/file-20221201-6346-ddfaii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498584/original/file-20221201-6346-ddfaii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498584/original/file-20221201-6346-ddfaii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498584/original/file-20221201-6346-ddfaii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498584/original/file-20221201-6346-ddfaii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498584/original/file-20221201-6346-ddfaii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 2017, Lynn Gehl, who is Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe, won a case before the Federal Court of Appeal after struggling for years to be registered under the Indian Act.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Struggle for equality</h2>
<p>While Indigenous women were fighting for equality in status under the Indian Act, advancements towards self-governance were being made with the inclusion of <a href="http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/constitution_act_1982_section_35/">Aboriginal rights in the Constitution</a>. However, male-dominated organizations such as the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/assembly-of-first-nations">National Indian Brotherhood</a>, the precursor to the Assembly of First Nations, took the lead in constitutional amendments, to the <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1191/index.do">exclusion of Indigenous women</a>. </p>
<p>Discrimination continued through backlash and fear that Indian women who might want to return home would place strain on limited resources. Many First Nations <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/kahnawake-six-nations-membership-bill-s3-1.5264898">established criteria</a> that prevented the women and their descendants from becoming full members in their communities, entitled to the same benefits and privileges that Indigenous men and their descendants have always had. </p>
<p>This has led to disadvantage and extreme hardship, <a href="https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/">as outlined in the report</a> of the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498566/original/file-20221201-24-5ca973.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people wearing red and holding photos of women." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498566/original/file-20221201-24-5ca973.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498566/original/file-20221201-24-5ca973.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498566/original/file-20221201-24-5ca973.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498566/original/file-20221201-24-5ca973.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498566/original/file-20221201-24-5ca973.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498566/original/file-20221201-24-5ca973.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498566/original/file-20221201-24-5ca973.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">People gather on Parliament Hill for the National Day of Awareness for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls on Oct. 4, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indigenous women and their supporters have <a href="https://rabble.ca/feminism/ending-sex-discrimination-indian-act-through-61a-all-way/">proposed changes</a> to the Indian Act that would neutralize the legacy of coverture by making all Indians equal. These changes did not receive sufficient support to be implemented. There has been no national campaign to allow spouses of Indigenous people to gain status under the Indian Act. </p>
<p>These types of issues, which are central to the advancement of self-government should be decided by nations with the full participation of Indigenous women. Instead, self-governance work often progresses without addressing the history of gender discrimination.</p>
<p>Discussions about the source of Indigenous identity must take place with the full involvement of Indigenous women. The history of coverture and unresolved gender discrimination must be considered when considering false claims of indigeneity. In academia, those making the false claims <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23262696-jean-teillet-report-on-indigenous-identity-fraud">tend to be female</a>, and it is Indigenous women who they are displacing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195278/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cheryl Simon 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>Few Canadians know about the doctrine of coverture and how it stripped Indigenous women of their agency.Cheryl Simon, Assistant Professor in Aboriginal and Indigenous Law, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1895532022-10-19T19:05:29Z2022-10-19T19:05:29ZWe studied the ‘bibles’ of jazz standards – and found sexism lurking in the strangest place<p>We are two female jazz singers, jazz researchers and lovers of jazz. And we have discovered jazz gave us another shared experience – sexism.</p>
<p>We’d both experienced garden variety sexism. Wendy was asked by a male school principal if her recent marriage meant she would resign from teaching to start a family. Melissa received passionate advice from a male audience member to swap her comfortable outfit with a “glamorous dress” when she sang jazz. </p>
<p>But as university music students, neither of us imagined something as innocent as a key signature in a textbook might be a symptom of gender discrimination.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/key-music">key</a> tells musicians which set of notes a song uses. In singing, a key affects whether the notes will be sung in the low, middle or high part of the voice. </p>
<p>But when we looked at what keys the “bibles” of jazz standards used, we found a hidden form of sexism.</p>
<h2>The Real books</h2>
<p>This unusual story begins in 1975 at the Berklee College of Music in the United States. Two music students, tired of reading shoddy, error-filled song sheets, created The Real Book to accurately notate jazz songs. Sold illegally to avoid copyright fees, it was a phenomenal success. </p>
<p>After years in surreptitious worldwide circulation, publisher Hal Leonard transformed The Real Book into a <a href="https://officialrealbook.com/history/">legal edition</a>. In 1988, Sher Music joined the act and produced The New Real Book. Despite similar titles, Sher’s book was unrelated but mimicked the idea of clearly notating jazz songs. </p>
<p>Together the two books cornered the market. </p>
<p>The real books remain the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/10/arts/pop-music-flying-below-the-radar-of-copyrights.html">bibles of jazz musicians</a> everywhere because they contain hundreds of songs called <a href="https://www.jazzstandards.com/overview.definition.htm">standards</a>. </p>
<p>Standards are common jazz songs jazz musicians are expected to know. Knowing them is your ticket to participating in jazz ensembles, and so universities use these books to train students. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489964/original/file-20221017-25-5rv6lv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman dances and three men play jazz instruments." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489964/original/file-20221017-25-5rv6lv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489964/original/file-20221017-25-5rv6lv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489964/original/file-20221017-25-5rv6lv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489964/original/file-20221017-25-5rv6lv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489964/original/file-20221017-25-5rv6lv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489964/original/file-20221017-25-5rv6lv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489964/original/file-20221017-25-5rv6lv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Knowing jazz standards is your ticket to join ensembles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Josephine Bevan/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, few educators realise one decision in 1975 about notating standards cemented a practice excluding women.</p>
<p>Jazz is valued as a “conversational” style of music where musicians express personal ideas and real stories. “Authentic” jazz singing is associated with the lower voice we use when speaking.</p>
<p>The human voice is a <a href="https://soundbridge.io/human-voice-instruments/">biological musical instrument</a> coming in a variety of sizes, with the male larynx (or voice box) generally larger than the female. This means men generally sing (and talk) in lower pitches, and keys that sit in the middle of the male voice are usually too low for women to sing. </p>
<p>When our Berklee students and Sher Music notated songs, they chose keys used by jazz musicians. And during that era, male instrumentalists and male singers dominated the jazz community.</p>
<p>So, when the real books were being developed, the editors didn’t choose keys that suited female voices. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-in-jazz-still-face-many-barriers-to-success-new-research-160732">Women in jazz still face many barriers to success – new research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s in a key?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Jazz-and-Gender/Reddan-Herzig-Kahr/p/book/9780367534141">Our research</a> examined the recordings of 16 renowned female jazz vocalists, including <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ella-Fitzgerald">Ella Fitzgerald</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/search?query=sarah+vaughan">Sarah Vaughan</a>. </p>
<p>We sampled 20 songs from The Real Book and 20 songs from The New Real Book and compared the keys in the books with the keys of the female recordings. </p>
<p>Less than 5% of 248 recordings fully matched the printed key. </p>
<p>If women sing songs straight from The Real Book or The New Real Book, they are likely to be singing too low for their voices. And if they shift the male key up one <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/octave-music">octave</a>, it will be too high.</p>
<p>Consequently, female jazz vocal students are disadvantaged. If they comply with the keys of the iconic texts, they won’t sound as “authentically jazz” as male students. The male voice will produce the conversational tone we have come to expect from jazz; the female voice will be too low or too high for this conversational style.</p>
<p>The female professional singers we studied <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposition_(music)">transposed</a> the standards to keys that suited a jazz style. But this skill takes time for students to learn. Transposing requires understanding music theory and having confidence to advocate for your needs as a singer. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489966/original/file-20221017-23-mgmyfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Black woman sings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489966/original/file-20221017-23-mgmyfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489966/original/file-20221017-23-mgmyfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489966/original/file-20221017-23-mgmyfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489966/original/file-20221017-23-mgmyfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489966/original/file-20221017-23-mgmyfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489966/original/file-20221017-23-mgmyfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489966/original/file-20221017-23-mgmyfs.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">Female singers who don’t transpose the standards will be at a disadvantage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Josh Rocklage/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Experienced jazz singers inevitably acquire these skills, but what about novice female singers? </p>
<p>For many young female singers, their introduction to jazz is coloured by keys ill-suited to their voices. Place them in a band where the instrumentalists are predominantly male with little understanding of voice production, and it is an uncomfortable situation for aspiring singers.</p>
<p>Fortunately, technology has advanced to a point where many standards are available on phones and can be transposed instantly. But this won’t happen until music teachers and jazz musicians understand and respect female singers by using the appropriate keys.</p>
<p>So, can a key signature be sexist? Yes, it can when it’s presented as the only choice of key for female students learning jazz standards. </p>
<p>It’s time to update our jazz bibles with sources including keys used by Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, and acknowledge sexism has been hiding in the strangest place. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/male-artists-dominate-galleries-our-research-explored-if-its-because-women-dont-paint-very-well-or-just-discrimination-189221">Male artists dominate galleries. Our research explored if it’s because ‘women don’t paint very well’ – or just discrimination</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189553/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>Few educators realise one decision in 1975 about notating standards cemented a practice excluding women.Wendy Hargreaves, Senior Learning Advisor, University of Southern QueenslandMelissa Forbes, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Singing, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1894072022-10-13T07:39:19Z2022-10-13T07:39:19ZEducational pathways drive France’s gender pay gap – what our research shows<p>Even though women hold more qualifications than men, they are still generally paid less than their male counterparts, starting from their entry into the workforce. In 2017, women with university and vocational qualifications earned on average <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?datasetcode=EAG_EARNINGS">70% of men’s salaries</a> in countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).</p>
<p>Most research in this area understandably concentrates on issues related to career, professional quotas, or parenthood. Recently, a <a href="https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4514861">study by France’s statistics agency Insee</a> showed that 68% of the gender wage gap in full-time, equivalent jobs can be explained by the fact that women and men rarely occupy the same positions.</p>
<p>But the choice of different professions (we sometimes talk about “occupational segregation”) can largely be explained by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0927537199000093">the specialisations pursued in university and vocational education</a>. According to research, the latter appear highly gendered and rarely balanced between men and women. For example, the percentage of women among new bachelor-level admissions in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is only 30%, whereas it is 77% for <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/regards-sur-l-education-2019_6bcf6dc9-fr">health and social welfare</a>.</p>
<p>Drawing on a large French public database, <a href="https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02136564/">our research</a> shows that what we study goes a long way in determining differences observed on the labour market.</p>
<h2>Limited data</h2>
<p>As early as 1984, American researchers <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/145880">Thomas Daymont and Paul Andrisani</a> suggested including educational choices in equations analysing the wage gap between women and men in the United States. However, this was easier said than done. Indeed, students tend to gradually specialise in their discipline, and masters degrees that follow may carry thousands of different names. For example, there are stark contrasts between social law, business law and criminal law. </p>
<p>This lack of data means there has been little research on the relationship between education choices and occupation. However, each year, several tens of thousands of master graduates are surveyed upon their entry into the professional world by France’s Ministry for Higher Education, Research and Innovation. This is the data that we used for our research.</p>
<h2>Seemingly well-balanced</h2>
<p>Gendered educational choices appear to hamper income equality early on. <a href="https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02136564/">Three years after graduation</a>, female graduates earned lower wages than men and were more often on temporary, part-time contracts. They were also less likely to hold executive-level positions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481074/original/file-20220825-20-20sr40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481074/original/file-20220825-20-20sr40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481074/original/file-20220825-20-20sr40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481074/original/file-20220825-20-20sr40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481074/original/file-20220825-20-20sr40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481074/original/file-20220825-20-20sr40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481074/original/file-20220825-20-20sr40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481074/original/file-20220825-20-20sr40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Based on a survey of 2013 masters-degree graduates 30 months after graduation, fields’ degree of female dominance appears to be correlated with salary levels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MENESR-DGESIP-SIES</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>The proportion of women in each sector appears to be related to salary levels. MENESR-DGESIP-SIES; data, survey into career prospects for Master’s graduates in 2013, 30 months after graduating, Provided by the author</em></p>
<p>Moreover, gender wage gaps appear to be correlated to the number of women in each specialisation. The median salary in male-dominated specialisations remains higher than in gender-balanced groups, which is itself higher than in female-dominated groups. Half of women from male specialisations earn over 2,000 euros per month, versus only a quarter from female-dominated specialisations.</p>
<p>We were also surprised by the complicated structure of many academic subjects. Take management science: despite being popular with men and women alike, the subject still conceals significant wage gaps. Nearly 640 euros per month on average separates people who graduate from the human resources pathway (highly female-dominated) and those from the financial one (highly male-dominated).</p>
<h2>Two branches of public policy</h2>
<p>The masters specialisation alone accounts for two thirds of the differences between men and women in securing full-time employment, and over a third of the gap in accessing the most prestigious roles. There is a majority of female students in specialisations leading to areas where employment opportunities are poorer, such as the public sector, NGOs and the social sector. </p>
<p>What are the takeaways for public policy? We could slash income inequality in two ways. First, target the labour market directly by <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-regards-croises-sur-l-economie-2014-2-page-121.htm">revaluing female-dominated jobs</a>. Second, take action in the university and higher education system. </p>
<p>Innovative research on this topic suggests avenues for action based mainly on a <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20140783">quota system</a> or the <a href="https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01713068/">role of models</a>. The work that we are undertaking with economist <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/anne-boring-222052">Anne Boring</a> aims to document how trajectories determining the choice of studies are formed for male and female students. Our objective is now to reconstitute the entire university path to understand the phases that create the gendered distribution for specialisations at the most detailed level.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189407/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>Region-level data from France indicate that some masters-level specialities dominated by women have low levels of remuneration once in employment.Louis-Alexandre Erb, Doctorant en économie des inégalités, Université Paris-EstYannick L’Horty, Économiste, professeur des universités, Université Gustave EiffelLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1892082022-09-14T16:54:05Z2022-09-14T16:54:05ZAn Ontario crackdown on massage parlours continues Canada’s legacy of anti-Asian racism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481612/original/file-20220829-24-bwzlnv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C3%2C1024%2C738&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Asian migrant massage workers and allies rally against Newmarket's discriminatory licensing crackdown on their workplaces in front of Newmarket Municipal Offices.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/chinatownFOCT/status/1564111055781068800?s=20&t=tzwVpNyuq3s4bDZQ53LMZA">(Friends of Chinatown Toronto)</a></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/an-ontario-crackdown-on-massage-parlours-continues-canada-s-legacy-of-anti-asian-racism" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In April 2022, the town of Newmarket in southern Ontario began a bylaw enforcement crackdown campaign to, in the words of Deputy Mayor Tom Vegh, <a href="https://www.newmarkettoday.ca/local-news/sex-work-debate-continues-as-newmarket-starts-licensing-alternative-massage-businesses-5248547">“drive [sex work] out of town.”</a></p>
<p>The crackdown has resulted in disproportionate illegalization, surveillance, harassment, ticketing and displacement of many of Newmarket’s Asian-owned massage businesses and their workers. </p>
<p>What many people may not know, however, is how Newmarket’s crackdown is representative of a long history of racist bylaws and licensing regimes targeting Asian businesses that hearken back to an era of unapologetic Canadian white nationalism. </p>
<h2>Contentious bylaw</h2>
<p>The Newmarket crackdown relies on a contentious new <a href="https://www.newmarket.ca/LivingHere/Documents/2020-31%20-%20Business%20Bylaw%20-%20Consolidation.pdf">licensing bylaw</a> that requires all massage businesses without Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) designation to obtain a Personal Wellness Establishment (PWE) licence. </p>
<p>The majority of Asian migrant massage workers practise as <a href="https://nowtoronto.com/news/op-ed-newmarkets-massage-parlour-bylaw-rescue-or-racism">foreign-trained or informally trained holistic health providers</a>. As a result of the new regime, all existing non-RMT massage businesses were rendered illegal by the new bylaw and forced to go to the town to apply for a PWE licence or risk being shut down. </p>
<p>However, the new PWE licensing regime is unabashedly discriminatory. According to the grassroots community group Butterfly, <a href="https://newcanadianmedia.ca/newmarkets-asian-massage-workers-say-licensing-bylaw-discriminates-stereotypes-them/">all of the Asian massage businesses have been rejected or otherwise not approved for a licence</a>. </p>
<p>The new bylaw sets out a vague requirement that applicants must successfully complete “training” from an “accredited educational institution” to the satisfaction of the licensing manager. </p>
<p>But despite repeated requests, the town has refused to define what training and which institutions would be accepted, insisting that determinations will be made on a “case-by-case” basis. That raises serious questions about the arbitrary nature of licence refusal.</p>
<p>Once criminalized, police posted yellow notices on the doors of Asian massage businesses demanding they shut down, <a href="https://www.newmarkettoday.ca/local-news/they-just-want-to-survive-newmarket-sparks-outcry-after-instructing-some-massage-parlours-to-halt-operations-5353229">issued harsh fines of $4,000 a day</a> and <a href="https://medium.com/@butterflycsw/open-letter-on-the-newmarket-crisis-32e159d5a52b">subjected workers to undercover police solicitation</a> while denying interpretation and translation services.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1565352165522100224"}"></div></p>
<h2>Warnings of repercussions</h2>
<p>These racially discriminatory impacts are exactly as predicted. </p>
<p>During formal consultations for the PWE licensing regime in spring 2021, numerous directly affected Asian massage workers, community, racial justice and women’s rights organizations repeatedly raised concerns.</p>
<p>They flagged the regressive licensing exclusion, the impact of punitive bylaw enforcement on the safety and livelihoods of Asian massage workers in other municipalities and the racialized violence that could be inflicted on these workers due to stigma. They also point out the harmful conflation of massage work and sex work with human trafficking. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A spa is illuminated at night behind yellow police tape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484141/original/file-20220912-18-ohauyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484141/original/file-20220912-18-ohauyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484141/original/file-20220912-18-ohauyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484141/original/file-20220912-18-ohauyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484141/original/file-20220912-18-ohauyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484141/original/file-20220912-18-ohauyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484141/original/file-20220912-18-ohauyv.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">An American massage parlour is seen after a mass shooting in March 2021. The shootings at three Atlanta-area massage parlours left several people dead, many of them women of Asian descent. The killer pleaded guilty, said he was motivated by sex addiction and was sentenced to life in prison.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nevertheless, Newmarket City Council dismissed these concerns entirely, often relying on racialized caricatures of Chinese massage workers as either corrupt villains or helpless victims. </p>
<p>One consultation witness even described Asian women in the massage industry as people <a href="https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/anatomy-of-an-anti-trafficking-policy-campaign">“who [don’t] even speak enough English to consent to sex.”</a> No one from the Newmarket City Council intervened or pushed back against this characterization.</p>
<p>Why do these racist tropes continue to carry so much weight, even in the face of direct political opposition from Asian migrant women themselves? </p>
<p>Part of the reason is that racism against Asian migrant women dates back to the very founding of exclusionary laws in Canada. The first immigration prohibition on the basis of race and/or gender was passed in 1885 and refused landing to <a href="https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/the-chinese-immigration-act-1885">“any Chinese woman who is known to be a prostitute.”</a> </p>
<p>Chinese sex workers were seen as legitimate objects of policing and exclusion due to their supposedly corrupting and immoral influence, proclivity to disease and illness, and passivity and helplessness to subjugation — all narratives evident in Newmarket’s view of Asian massage workers today.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-model-minority-myth-hides-the-racist-and-sexist-violence-experienced-by-asian-women-157667">The model minority myth hides the racist and sexist violence experienced by Asian women</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Shameful history of Asian business harassment</h2>
<p>Newmarket’s abuse of bylaws and licensing repeats much of what municipalities did to Asian people in this country a century ago during the era of white nationalist exclusion. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.roadtojustice.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Road-To-Justice-Legal-Reference.pdf">Racist bylaws and licensing regimes</a> were deployed from Vancouver to Lethbridge, Toronto, Ottawa and Québec City to control, harass and push out Asian businesses like Chinese laundries and restaurants. </p>
<p>It was common in that era for governments to introduce licensing regimes in sectors where large numbers of Asians worked to immediately render all businesses illegal and use permit issuance to racially filter legal and illegal establishments.</p>
<p>British Columbia implemented such <a href="https://bcredress.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/discriminatory_legislation_in_bc_1872_1948-reformatted.pdf">discriminatory licensing regimes</a> between 1881 up until the Second World War for laundries, logging businesses, pool halls, liquor stores and restaurants. </p>
<p>Bylaws were also mobilized to displace the presence of Asian businesses through zoning and location restrictions.</p>
<p>For instance, in 1911, in response to complaints by some white laundry proprietors that Chinese laundries were operating too close to the town centre, <a href="https://hermis.alberta.ca/ARHP/Details.aspx?DeptID=1&ObjectID=4664-0322#:%7E:text=On%201%20January%201911%20Lethbridge,the%20community%2C%20soon%20was%20achieved.">Lethbridge City Council</a> enacted a bylaw restricting Chinese laundries to less commercially attractive areas that were out-of-sight for most residents.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/writing-from-130-years-ago-shows-were-still-dealing-with-the-same-anti-asian-racism-158281">Writing from 130 years ago shows we're still dealing with the same anti-Asian racism</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Guard against repeating history</h2>
<p>We must recall this history so as to not repeat it. </p>
<p>The town of Newmarket’s draconian and heavy-handed use of bylaws and licensing to target, intimidate and displace Asian massage workers risks taking us back to a racist past in Canadian history to a time when Asians were seen as moral threats to be run out of “reputable” society. </p>
<p>Now, as then, Asian migrant workers continue to resist and demand equal respect and dignity. <a href="https://www.newmarkettoday.ca/letters-to-the-editor/letter-bylaw-taking-unbearable-toll-on-asian-massage-workers-5692790">In the words of the Newmarket massage workers</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We are not dishonourable trash to be cleansed from the city. We are not expendable labourers who can be coerced into the back-breaking, low-paying jobs they think we deserve. We are not helpless trafficking victims in need of rescue. We are human beings who can choose our own path, make our own decisions, and support ourselves with dignity if they’ll only let us.”</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vincent Wong previously served as Secretary of the Chinese Canadian National Council - Toronto Chapter and Staff Lawyer at the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic.</span></em></p>Newmarket’s draconian use of bylaws and licensing to target and displace Asian massage workers risks taking us back to a racist past in Canadian history, where Asians were seen as moral threats.Vincent Wong, Assistant Professor of Law, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1892212022-09-05T04:17:32Z2022-09-05T04:17:32ZMale artists dominate galleries. Our research explored if it’s because ‘women don’t paint very well’ – or just discrimination<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481462/original/file-20220829-34035-99g66p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1587%2C1078&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One of these vases was painted by a woman; the other by a man. Can you guess which is which?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">B van der Ast/M van Oosterwijck</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the art world, there is a gaping gender imbalance when it comes to male and female artists.</p>
<p>In the National Gallery of Australia, <a href="https://nga.gov.au/knowmyname/about/">only 25%</a> of the Australian art collection is work by women. </p>
<p>This is far better than the international standard where <a href="https://nmwa.org/support/advocacy/get-facts/">roughly 90%</a> of all artworks exhibited in major collections are by men. The <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artwork/georgia-okeeffe-jimson-weed-slash-white-flower-no-1">most expensive</a> painting by a female artist – Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 – does not even rank among the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_paintings#List_of_highest_prices_paid">100 most expensive paintings</a> ever sold. </p>
<p>Why is women’s art valued so much less than art by men?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481455/original/file-20220829-60594-nguhqg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481455/original/file-20220829-60594-nguhqg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481455/original/file-20220829-60594-nguhqg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481455/original/file-20220829-60594-nguhqg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481455/original/file-20220829-60594-nguhqg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481455/original/file-20220829-60594-nguhqg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481455/original/file-20220829-60594-nguhqg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481455/original/file-20220829-60594-nguhqg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Could you guess the gender of these artists?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">C Peeters/O Beert</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some economists <a href="https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2005/02/why_do_women_su.html">have suggested</a> the greater burden of child rearing and other domestic duties means women have had fewer opportunities to succeed in the art world.</p>
<p>Others have blamed the “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/report-names-laggers-as-women-artists-win-parity-20191029-p534vy.html">quality</a>” of women’s art. In 2013, German painter <a href="https://observer.com/2013/01/georg-baselitz-says-women-dont-paint-very-well/">Georg Baselitz said</a> “Women don’t paint very well. It’s a fact. The market doesn’t lie.”</p>
<p>We wanted to know: is work by women generally valued differently to work by men because it is of a lower artistic quality, or is it just discrimination?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<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>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Which painting do you like better?</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268122002669?dgcid=author">our new research</a> we showed average Americans pairs of paintings, painted between 1625 and 1979, side by side. Each of the pairs are similar in style, motif and period, but one work was by a male artist and the other by a female artist.</p>
<p>Participants were in two groups. One group saw the artists’ names and the other didn’t. We wanted to see whether more people among those who saw artist names preferred the male painting. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481453/original/file-20220829-64639-q2vdu3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two paintings of flowers in a vase." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481453/original/file-20220829-64639-q2vdu3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481453/original/file-20220829-64639-q2vdu3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481453/original/file-20220829-64639-q2vdu3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481453/original/file-20220829-64639-q2vdu3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481453/original/file-20220829-64639-q2vdu3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481453/original/file-20220829-64639-q2vdu3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481453/original/file-20220829-64639-q2vdu3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Which one of these paintings do you think is worth the most?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">E Gonzalès/G Caillebotte</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If seeing the names – and thereby inferring artist gender – causes more people to prefer male paintings, then there is gender discrimination.</p>
<p>Before we tell you the results, think about what you would have expected. And <a href="https://rmit.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e4JBs0wxKeftYF0">take a look</a> at our actual painting pairs and see if you can guess which is the male one (hint: you can’t).</p>
<p>We were pleasantly surprised to find our participants did not give a hoot about artist gender. In both groups, 54% preferred the painting from a woman.</p>
<p>We repeated this experiment, this time rewarding participants if they could accurately guess the preferences of others – the people in the first experiment. </p>
<p>Again, 54% of the people in each group picked the female paintings. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481450/original/file-20220829-62013-hfrglg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481450/original/file-20220829-62013-hfrglg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481450/original/file-20220829-62013-hfrglg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481450/original/file-20220829-62013-hfrglg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481450/original/file-20220829-62013-hfrglg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481450/original/file-20220829-62013-hfrglg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481450/original/file-20220829-62013-hfrglg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481450/original/file-20220829-62013-hfrglg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">54% of participants favoured the work painted by a woman.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">LC Breslau/RL Reid</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Which painting do you think is worth more?</h2>
<p>Next we wanted to find out if people picked male paintings for reasons other than personal taste. Art isn’t just bought and sold on aesthetic value: it is a speculative market, where art is treated as an investment.</p>
<p>We conducted two more experiments. In one, participants were rewarded if they picked the more expensive painting. In the other, they were rewarded to pick the one painted by the more famous artist.</p>
<p>Gender discrimination emerged in both these experiments. When asked to predict the value of and creator fame of paintings, people suddenly swung towards picking male artists. Preference for female paintings fell by 10% and 9% in these two new experiments.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481449/original/file-20220829-48396-zxgvqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481449/original/file-20220829-48396-zxgvqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481449/original/file-20220829-48396-zxgvqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481449/original/file-20220829-48396-zxgvqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481449/original/file-20220829-48396-zxgvqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481449/original/file-20220829-48396-zxgvqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481449/original/file-20220829-48396-zxgvqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481449/original/file-20220829-48396-zxgvqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is art by women less attractive than art by men?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">J Leyster/B Assteyn</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Gender discrimination in art comes not from personal aesthetic preference – Baselitz’ argument that women “don’t paint very well” – but people thinking paintings are more valuable and famous when painted by male artists.</p>
<h2>A question of fame</h2>
<p>In our fifth experiment, we again rewarded participants who could correctly guess which painting would be preferred by others. This time everyone saw the names of the artists. But only one group was told which of the two artists was objectively more famous – the male artist in 90% of cases.</p>
<p>The group with that information was 14% more likely to pick male paintings. People used fame information to predict the painting others liked better. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481448/original/file-20220829-60590-8l0l6s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481448/original/file-20220829-60590-8l0l6s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481448/original/file-20220829-60590-8l0l6s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481448/original/file-20220829-60590-8l0l6s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481448/original/file-20220829-60590-8l0l6s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481448/original/file-20220829-60590-8l0l6s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481448/original/file-20220829-60590-8l0l6s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481448/original/file-20220829-60590-8l0l6s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Participants chose work by male artists when asked to select the more famous painting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">LC Perry/WM Chase</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If women artists were discriminated against just because of their gender we would have seen a higher premium put on the male artists even in questions of aesthetics.</p>
<p>Here, discrimination only occured when our participants were asked to assign a monetary value to the art works, or when they were given information about the level of fame of the painter. </p>
<p>This means our art appreciators discriminated not on gender, but on something closely associated with gender: fame.</p>
<p>And because male artists have, historically, been given <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1574067606010234">more opportunities</a> to become artists – and therefore become famous – artwork by men is perceived as having a higher value.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481452/original/file-20220829-64639-8ddjov.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481452/original/file-20220829-64639-8ddjov.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481452/original/file-20220829-64639-8ddjov.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481452/original/file-20220829-64639-8ddjov.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481452/original/file-20220829-64639-8ddjov.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481452/original/file-20220829-64639-8ddjov.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481452/original/file-20220829-64639-8ddjov.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481452/original/file-20220829-64639-8ddjov.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Discrimination in the arts comes from people’s beliefs what others care to discriminate about.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">M Cassatt/JS Sargent</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Policy is slowly starting to recognise and target institutional factors that perpetuate male dominance because of historical notions of fame, like the National Gallery of Australia’s <a href="https://knowmyname.nga.gov.au/">Know my Name</a> initiative. </p>
<p>Discrimination in the arts exists, but it often comes from people’s beliefs about what others care to discriminate about. The task ahead is to change perceptions of people and institutions who do not discriminate – but merely conform to others’ discrimination.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beauty-and-audacity-know-my-name-presents-a-new-female-story-of-australian-art-150139">Beauty and audacity: Know My Name presents a new, female story of Australian art</a>
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</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189221/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>People in our experiments liked art by women – but believed women’s paintings are less attractive for investment.Robert Hoffmann, Professor of Economics, RMIT UniversityBronwyn Coate, Senior Lecturer in Economics, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1864712022-07-07T07:29:52Z2022-07-07T07:29:52ZWomen’s Afcon final stage is underway with a new challenge - testosterone testing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472824/original/file-20220706-23-ypurl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nigerian star forward Asisat Oshoala has suffered injuries in Morocco.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lluis Gene/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (<a href="https://www.cafonline.com/totalenergies-womens-africa-cup-of-nations/">Wafcon</a>) <a href="https://www.cafonline.com/totalenergies-womens-africa-cup-of-nations/news/2022-totalenergies-wafcon-opening-ceremony-a-powerful-celebration-of-the-beauty-">opened</a> in Morocco with several storylines that include challenges to perennial giants, broadcast to a global audience, increased monetary payout to the winner and an expanded number of finalists. There are 12 teams <a href="https://theconversation.com/womens-afcon-2022-nigeria-sweats-as-morocco-and-cote-divoire-usher-in-new-era-177844">left standing</a>. </p>
<p>The competition is the biggest women’s football tournament on the continent and it has brought excitement before sizeable stadium crowds and those watching via television all over the world. Morocco is one of the teams expected to challenge for the title that Nigeria has dominated since winning the debut edition of the tournament in 1991.</p>
<p>It’s the biggest and most talked-about Wafcon yet, but the 2022 competition in Morocco is also going to be remembered for the introduction of the enforcement of testosterone tests for players.</p>
<h2>The introduction of testosterone testing</h2>
<p>For <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/26/equatorial-guinea-footballers-gender-row">years</a> there have been controversies surrounding claims of teams sporting men footballers disguised as women. These cases are not all straight forward fraud. The issue of testing testosterone levels is <a href="https://theconversation.com/olympics-namibias-sprinters-highlight-a-flawed-testosterone-testing-system-165676">complex</a>. </p>
<p>Testosterone testing in <a href="https://theconversation.com/olympics-namibias-sprinters-highlight-a-flawed-testosterone-testing-system-165676">sport</a> is used to verify gender and – controversially – determine whether female athletes with high testosterone levels have an unfair advantage.</p>
<p>In the early years, Nigeria’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-49851991">Iyabo Abade</a> faced such claims and was eventually dismissed from the competition after she was discovered to be <a href="https://isna.org/faq/what_is_intersex/">intersex</a>. An intersex person can be born with a combination of male and female biological traits, but there are several different intersex conditions, falling into a broader range of what are known as <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/differences-in-sex-development/">Differences of Sexual Development</a>. Today, Abade identifies as a man, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-49851991">James Johnson</a>, and is in the process of transitioning surgically. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/olympics-namibias-sprinters-highlight-a-flawed-testosterone-testing-system-165676">Olympics: Namibia's sprinters highlight a flawed testosterone testing system</a>
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<p>South African athletics star <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/5/3/18526723/caster-semenya-800-gender-race-intersex-athletes">Caster Semenya</a>, also born intersex, and other African women track and field athletes are now required to reduce their naturally high testosterone levels or are prevented from competing. But reducing testosterone levels <a href="https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/new-testosterone-rule-for-female-athletes-risks-setting-an-unscientific-precedent-warn-experts/">weakens athletes</a>, compromising their ability to compete.</p>
<p>Wafcon now faces the same debate. For the first time, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) – deferring to the gender <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/jun/21/fifa-to-review-its-gender-eligibility-regulations-in-wake-of-fina-ruling">rules of</a> world football body Fifa – has taken the matter a step further. </p>
<p>It is using testosterone tests to determine who is eligible to participate. As should be expected, this has brewed controversy. Zambian top scorer and star, Barbra Banda, 22, has been <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-ug/news/awcon-2022-zambia-to-seek-redress-after-caf-decision-on-captain-banda-kamanga/blt48bdeb3c49933c81">deemed ineligible</a> after she <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/africa/62057259">reportedly</a> tested above the limit for testosterone levels.</p>
<p>Banda failed to suit up for her country’s opening game against Cameroon, yet much of Zambia’s hope of success lies on her shoulders. She is her country’s most decorated participant and led the Chinese Super League with 18 goals in 13 games on her debut season. She scored <a href="https://www.eurosport.com/football/tokyo-2020/2021/tokyo-2020-two-hat-trick-zambian-barbra-banda-makes-history-but-still-winless-olympic-women-s-footba_sto8434067/story.shtml">two hat tricks</a> at the Tokyo Olympics. Zambia was also reportedly <a href="https://chicagotoday.news/sports/controversial-exclusion-of-the-crack-of-zambia-in-the-africa-cup/">warned</a> about two other players, Racheal Nachula and Racheal Kundananji, who recorded high testosterone levels.</p>
<p>Zambia is not the only team affected. Media reports <a href="https://bestchoicesports.com.ng/exclusive-francisca-ordega-disqualified-from-2022-womens-africa-cup-of-nations/">indicate that</a> 10 other players from various countries are also affected. They include Nigeria’s Francisca Ordega, Morocco’s Nahla Rakkach, Botswana’s Nondi Mahlasela and Lesego Radiakanyo, Burkina Faso’s Charlotte Milligo, Burundi’s Saffira Guinand and Cameroon’s Claudia Dabda.</p>
<p>This is no doubt just a foretaste of the controversy that will follow the implementation of testosterone testing at Wafcon. But it hasn’t drowned out the news off the pitch.</p>
<h2>Changing of power</h2>
<p>In the early action involving the 12 teams that have made it to the final stage, Morocco dominated its opening game but only won with a set piece goal in a game that they should have won by a wider margin.</p>
<p>Defending champions Nigeria, winner of 11 championships, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/africa/62049929">lost</a> its opening game 1-2 to South Africa. Nigeria pulled a goal back very late in a game that was dominated by the South African team. Perennial power team Cameroon could only <a href="https://www.goal.com/en/news/2022-wafcon-wrap-cameroon-held-by-zambia-tunisia-and-senegal-off-/bltc2ad034a41d8e408">tie</a> 0-0 with Zambia even with the Zambians missing suspended star player Banda. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/womens-afcon-2022-nigeria-sweats-as-morocco-and-cote-divoire-usher-in-new-era-177844">Women's Afcon 2022: Nigeria sweats as Morocco and Cote d'Ivoire usher in new era</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These results underline the <a href="https://theconversation.com/womens-afcon-2022-nigeria-sweats-as-morocco-and-cote-divoire-usher-in-new-era-177844">changing of power</a> in women’s football in Africa. The expanded final tournament (up from eight to 12 teams) will help improve competition and narrow the gap between the top teams and the others.</p>
<p>South Africa has now beaten Nigeria in consecutive games and in domineering fashion. One of those games was <a href="https://guardian.ng/sport/banyana-banyana-overrun-super-falcons-to-win-aisha-buhari-cup/">at a competition in Nigeria</a>. The days of Nigeria coming into the competition as automatic favourites are quickly disappearing. Clearly, the investments that other African nations are making in women football are beginning to pay off and several teams are already showing promise. Both hosts Morocco and Senegal have already qualified from Group A after winning two of their opening games each. </p>
<p>The testosterone testing debate will continue to wage in later Wafcons and across women’s sports for some time off the field. On the field there is no doubt that the 2022 edition is taking Wafcon to another level.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186471/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chuka Onwumechili 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 thorny issue of testosterone testing has made news, not just the growing skills on the field.Chuka Onwumechili, Professor of Communications, Howard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1834962022-07-05T19:10:16Z2022-07-05T19:10:16ZDelay and deflect: How women gig workers respond to sexual harassment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468473/original/file-20220613-26-rnp35x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C5727%2C3778&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Service provider apps are set up in ways that endanger gig workers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>These days, we use apps to order food, call ride-sharing vehicles, assign home improvement tasks and personal errands. But these apps depend on people to deliver the promised service — to deliver food, provide rides and complete tasks. These gig workers use the apps to find work, and in North America, <a href="https://teamstage.io/gig-economy-statistics/">nearly half of these service workers are women</a>.</p>
<p>Platforms that provide gig services use powerful algorithms, artificial intelligence and big data to provide access for millions of gig workers and customers. That was <a href="https://www.citivelocity.com/citigps/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Uber_Drivers_of_Disruption.pd_.pdf">how these platforms were able to disrupt established industries</a>, like taxi and delivery services.</p>
<p>However, women gig workers deal with bias and harassment in the workplace. Women Uber drivers, for instance, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaa081">earn less</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3359319">feel unsafe</a> and <a href="http://lerachapters.org/OJS/ojs-2.4.4-1/index.php/PFL/article/view/3263">experience unwanted advances and sexual assaults</a>.</p>
<h2>Feeling unsafe and powerless</h2>
<p>Gig workers are rated for their performance on the platforms they use to provide the service. We interviewed 20 women gig workers and found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517524">that women gig workers experience harassment on the job, and develop response mechanisms to protect their ratings and future work opportunities</a>.</p>
<p>Women drivers felt that they faced more scrutiny from customers regarding their driving skills and how they were dressed, and this sometimes affected their ratings. Some women workers noted that they did not enjoy driving passengers because they felt unsafe and judged.</p>
<p>Women drivers had to deal with unwanted sexual comments and behaviours from customers, and considered this to be part of the job. To reduce their risk of harassment, women would be more selective of when and where they would work, which further worsened the pay gap because they would miss out on prime earning opportunities, such as weekends and evening hours.</p>
<p>Gig platforms prioritize assigning jobs to drivers with higher ratings, which prevented women drivers from confronting customers who made them feel uncomfortable. Prioritizing customer satisfaction comes at the expense of women workers’ safety and well-being. The design of the apps currently allows drivers to be harassed with impunity.</p>
<p>The platforms fail to enforce effective harassment prevention policies to their rating, matching and recommendation features.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/luh0kYJrvKA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Reshaping Work looks at the women in the gig economy.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Complicit platforms</h2>
<p>Our research found that in response to the harassment, women gig workers would “brush off” harassment because they were concerned about how the customer would rate them. Jennifer (all names used are pseudonyms), an Uber driver, said: “Is it worth it? Is it worth your life to speak up right now? And most of the time it’s not, so you just don’t.”</p>
<p>Due to concerns about the immediate threat and rating retaliation, the women workers we interviewed found it difficult to stand up for themselves in the moment. They hesitate reporting these encounters because the recourse process is time-consuming and difficult.</p>
<p>The only option left for them is to let the harassers get away with bad behaviours. To de-escalate potentially dangerous situations, the women laugh off the remarks or play along. Annette, an Uber driver, called this tactic “delay and deflect.”</p>
<p>Another gig worker, Penny, told us: “It bothers me, yes. I have a choice of losing it and getting angry and taking time to gather myself to the point where I can work again, or I can take a different route and just realize OK, you got this person here for five minutes and then they’re getting out of your car and you will never see them again.”</p>
<p>And Jennifer explained how the platform’s rating mechanism is complicit because in “certain situations, it’s just not worth standing up for yourself because if you do, and they give you a bad rating, it’s not like Uber reaches out to you to get clarification on the issue.”</p>
<h2>Invaluable assets</h2>
<p>Women workers are invaluable assets to the gig ecosystem. For instance, women passengers feel more comfortable when the driver is another woman. One driver told us that “[women passengers] are so creeped out by who the drivers are. [Passengers tell me] ‘Thank God, Tiffany, you’re driving me home.’”</p>
<p>Some platforms have implemented panic buttons that can dial 911 in an emergency, but this measure misses the point that an overwhelming amount of harassment encounters are more subtle, and not all of them are physical. Involving law enforcement could potentially escalate a situation that could place the women in danger or waste valuable money-making time.</p>
<p>Ella, who completes tasks like assembling furniture and home repair, shared that more than 90 per cent of her customers are women. She speculates this is because she herself is a woman.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a woman in a mask wearing a blue shirt puts together furniture" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.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">Women taskers — gig workers who complete home-based tasks — are popular on apps like TaskRabbit because other women feel more comfortable hiring them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The platforms do not explicitly discriminate against women workers, but they ignore both the gendered reality of women’s experiences and the advantages women workers bring. Our research highlights the gender-insensitive design of gig platforms by illustrating the platform’s inaction and failure to account for women’s lived experiences.</p>
<p>Ratings are an insufficient and lazy way of quality control that shifts the balance of control to the customer. Gig platforms need to address the limits of rating and rewards systems that further marginalize women. Current rating systems give disproportionate power to customers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.18420/ecscw2017-27">which leads to more biased results for women workers</a>. </p>
<h2>Safety for everyone</h2>
<p>Platforms need to consider gender when designing their features and systems. They can start by listening to women. For example, <a href="https://trips4w.com/">Trips4Women</a> is a women-only ride-sharing platform.</p>
<p>Further, platforms can provide safe spaces for women workers, such as designating public rest areas and partnering with commercial locations to identify worker-friendly washroom and rest facilities.</p>
<p>Both customers and gig platforms benefit when women workers thrive. Supporting women does not come at the cost of alienating other workers. To the contrary, supporting women workers will inevitably benefit workers overall by providing a safe and secure work environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183496/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>Rating services on ride and task apps disadvantage gig workers, whose future work assignments are affected by their ratings. Women workers are made vulnerable, and have to contend with harassment.Ning Ma, Postdoctoral Researcher, Computer Science, University of British ColumbiaDongwook Yoon, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1799312022-04-08T12:32:08Z2022-04-08T12:32:08ZFishing, strip clubs and golf: How male-focused networking in medicine blocks female colleagues from top jobs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456701/original/file-20220406-12863-lo8xzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C1074%2C7893%2C4095&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Building relationships with colleagues outside of work is important for career development. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/multi-racial-business-colleagues-at-conference-in-royalty-free-image/1340724372?adppopup=true">10'000 Hours/Digital Vision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Women have been entering academic medicine at <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/25785/chapter/1">nearly the same rate as men for decades</a>, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM200002103420606">very few women reach the top levels of leadership</a>. For example, as of April 2022, of the 71 U.S. cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute, only seven are directed by women. In 2018, women accounted for <a href="https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/faculty-institutions/report/state-women-academic-medicine">16% of medical school deans, 18% of department chairs and 25% of full professors</a>. To this day, women are still less likely than men to become associate or full professors of medicine or to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa1916935">be appointed as chairs of university medical departments</a> – and there has been no narrowing of this gender gap over time.</p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=10vXfYgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">cancer researcher, physician and surgeon</a>, and I also study gender inequity within medicine. In my most recent research, I interviewed more than 100 people in medicine to better understand why women struggle to advance in academic medicine. From this work, one important reason seems to be that women are consistently <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101338">excluded from important, male-dominated networking activities</a>, especially golf.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456705/original/file-20220406-26-3t2qv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three men watching sports and drinking." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456705/original/file-20220406-26-3t2qv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456705/original/file-20220406-26-3t2qv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456705/original/file-20220406-26-3t2qv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456705/original/file-20220406-26-3t2qv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456705/original/file-20220406-26-3t2qv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456705/original/file-20220406-26-3t2qv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456705/original/file-20220406-26-3t2qv4.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">Men mentioned watching or playing sports as a common networking activity in which women didn’t frequently participate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/ecstatic-men-watching-soocer-game-in-a-bar-after-royalty-free-image/515524312?adppopup=true">Tomazl/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Exclusion from networking blocks women’s advancement</h2>
<p>Networking is essential to success in many professional fields. Networking <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3081781">leads to success</a> in many ways. When colleagues befriend one another, they can promote one another’s careers and exchange information about opportunities. Networking also allows junior people to meet powerful senior colleagues who may take them under their wings and become invested in their success. </p>
<p>The effects of these social connections can be very tangible. Research in the sales field has shown that women who networked through golf made more sales of significantly higher value <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2020.05.005">than women who did not play golf</a>. </p>
<p>In my recent study, I wanted to see what kinds of activities are important for networking in research-focused medical institutions – and whether women were excluded. </p>
<p>To do this, I conducted interviews with 52 female and 52 male faculty members at 16 university medical centers across the U.S. in 2019. The people I spoke with had similar levels of education and years of professional experience, and similar career goals and ambitions for advancement and leadership. I asked each interviewee questions such as “How do people come to occupy leadership positions at your institution?” and “How has your gender played a role in your experiences in academic medicine?”</p>
<p>Both men and women mentioned “networking” and specifically “the boys club” – which excludes women – as important factors in career advancement.</p>
<p>Nearly all interviewees – 51 of the 52 men and 50 of the 52 women – saw networking as critical for career advancement. Despite the fact that interview questions never used the term “boys club,” 73% of the women and 42% of the men brought up this concept on their own in the interviews.</p>
<p>Women are notably absent from a number of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205283107">informal networking activities</a>. Of the 52 male interviewees, 30 mentioned watching or playing sports, five discussed hunting or fishing and five alluded to or mentioned strip clubs.</p>
<p>Nearly everyone I spoke to said networking often happened while drinking at bars, and this too was gendered. One male department chair said, “I think about the bar at meetings. The important stuff – the intangible side of science – happens there, and I worry about a male bias of who goes for drinks after the talks. Even when women join us, men may be more likely to hit on them after a few drinks rather than focus on helping their careers.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456704/original/file-20220406-17347-wsusk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three men on a golf course and two shaking hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456704/original/file-20220406-17347-wsusk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456704/original/file-20220406-17347-wsusk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456704/original/file-20220406-17347-wsusk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456704/original/file-20220406-17347-wsusk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456704/original/file-20220406-17347-wsusk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456704/original/file-20220406-17347-wsusk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456704/original/file-20220406-17347-wsusk8.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">Both men and women described the golf course as a place where important decisions are made and where more junior people can get access to senior leaders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/men-on-golf-course-putting-green-shaking-hands-royalty-free-image/185306650?adppopup=true">Kali9/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Special access on the golf course</h2>
<p>Of all the places where the interviewees said important networking happens, none was more important than the golf course. Both men – 29% – and women – 38% – described the golf course as a key place where relationships are built.</p>
<p>As one male physician said, “Big decisions are made on the golf course.” These included discussion about who should get resources or nominated for prizes and awards. Another woman echoed this but also pointed out the inequity, saying, “All the powerful events here happen on the golf course. And it’s not like the men are ever going to let you in that foursome.”</p>
<p>Some of the interview questions sought to explore how and why women were excluded from golf. As one male physician explained, “It did not feel like we were actively excluding the women, but I can tell you that if there was a woman resident, she would not have been invited to the golf games.” </p>
<p>Many of the people I surveyed specifically mentioned another important aspect that sets golfing apart from other networking activities – it is important for career progression because it is a way to get access to people in power.</p>
<p>One senior male medical researcher clearly explained the connection and how women are excluded from these activities. “I play golf, I go fishing, and my golfing buddies and my fishing buddies are males, because that’s just the way you do it. It bugs the hell out of my female colleagues, because I go fishing with the president and the vice president, and they do not. It gives me special access they do not have.”</p>
<p>The women I spoke with were acutely aware of this access. During one interview, a woman said of a senior male leader where she worked, “Unless you play golf, you don’t have the opportunity to see him.”</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=weekly&source=inline-weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>Limitations to female networking</h2>
<p>Both men and women considered informal social occasions to be powerful tools in career advancement. <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/05/learn-to-love-networking">Many studies</a> in other fields <a href="https://homepages.se.edu/cvonbergen/files/2013/01/Effects-of-Networking-on-Career-Success_A-Longitudinal-Study.pdf">back up this idea</a>. </p>
<p>Many of the women in the study described efforts by women to make up for the lack of female-inclusive networking opportunities. </p>
<p>A few of the women I interviewed described semiformal networks they were a part of – such as the alumnae group of the <a href="https://drexel.edu/medicine/academics/womens-health-and-leadership/elam/">Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program</a>. Others mentioned instances when female colleagues reached out to give them crucial information on salary negotiations or coached them for interviews for leadership positions. Finally, many shared experiences of informal networks around child care and family issues.</p>
<p>While these female-led networks were avenues for sharing information and provided some professional support, they lacked one key aspect present in many male groups: well-placed senior colleagues who could play a role in advancing the careers of more junior people. Since so few women occupy leadership positions today, there are inherent limitations to what female-led networking can accomplish, and women’s careers suffer because of it.</p>
<p>Many women in academic medicine are fully qualified to advance to the highest levels, yet they are not represented proportionally. My research shows that exclusion from networking opportunities is one of the reasons.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179931/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer R. Grandis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>By surveying over 100 people in academic medicine, a researcher found that women are consistently excluded from important networking activities like watching sports, drinking at bars and playing golf.Jennifer R. Grandis, Distinguished Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, San FranciscoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1775392022-03-06T18:58:43Z2022-03-06T18:58:43ZNew research asked government insiders how to fix gender discrimination in Australia - this is what they said<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449115/original/file-20220301-25-10wudmz.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">Tracey Nearmy/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We are about to mark another International Women’s Day. </p>
<p>But amid the breakfasts and uplifting speeches about girl power, we will also be reminded of the <a href="https://plan4womenssafety.dss.gov.au/resources/useful-statistics/">appalling rates of violence</a> against women, the stubborn <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/the-gender-pay-gap">gender pay gap</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-is-a-disaster-for-mothers-employment-and-no-working-from-home-is-not-the-solution-142650">pervasive sexism</a> that is seemingly entrenched in our society. An imbalance remains: women do the vast bulk of unpaid work at home while men make the bulk of the laws and policies that affect us all.</p>
<p>Nothing seems to change - or change fast enough. But there are concrete things we can do to fix it. New research offers practical ideas to fix gender inequality in Australia from those at the very centre of federal government policy-making. </p>
<h2>Talking direct to experts</h2>
<p>As part of her PhD research, Yolanda Vega interviewed past and present MPs, senior bureaucrats, diplomats and political and public service advisers during 2018 and 2019. They were asked what works and what we need to do to eliminate sex-based discrimination in Australia. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Women's rights protestors." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449117/original/file-20220301-12836-1reatdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449117/original/file-20220301-12836-1reatdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449117/original/file-20220301-12836-1reatdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449117/original/file-20220301-12836-1reatdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449117/original/file-20220301-12836-1reatdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449117/original/file-20220301-12836-1reatdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449117/original/file-20220301-12836-1reatdw.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">Australians have been taking to the streets to push political leaders to take more action against gender discrimination.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Diego Sidele/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In all, 25 interviews were conducted, and all were people who had direct experience of government policy-making and legislating around sex-based discrimination. Both sides of politics were involved and responses were kept anonymous so people could speak freely. </p>
<h2>More women in power</h2>
<p>Interviewees overwhelmingly believed we needed more women in the federal parliament to create a more equitable Australia (currently, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/australia-datablog/2021/mar/31/drilling-down-into-the-gender-balance-in-australias-parliament">31% of lower house MPs</a> and <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/Senate_Briefs/Brief03#:%7E:text=As%20of%20October%202021%2C%20women,per%20cent%20of%20the%20Senate">52% of the Senate</a> are women). </p>
<p>As one noted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Australia has had an enviable track record of 27 years of economic growth, the best in the world, yet various cohorts of women have fared so badly, particularly over the last 20 years.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They pointed to other parliaments as evidence of the benefits of more women in power, such as Scandinavian parliaments with <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1094006/share-of-women-in-the-parliaments-in-the-nordic-countries/">higher proportions</a> of female MPs, where they have “very pro-women” policies. </p>
<p>As a way to address this, one interviewee suggested increasing the number of women in parliament using the “<a href="https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2019/0310/1035494-gender-quotas/">Irish model</a>”, which uses financial incentives.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Every primary vote I received, at each election, returned to my party about A$3.00 per vote, paid from government revenue. In Ireland, which has the same system, a party can only access those payments if they have put up equal numbers of women. I think that is a great idea and would help drive change.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others noted the importance of women being visible across the political spectrum – out proudly telling their stories.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>People who go and talk about the importance of the rights of women [are] described by certain politicians as being ‘representatives of the green-left’ as if there is some political agenda involved in being in favour of women’s rights, which is really damaging.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>More men prioritising equality</h2>
<p>Interviewees also overwhelmingly wanted to see more male leaders within government prioritise gender equality. They said men needed to be encouraged to challenge the status quo and examine whether policy decisions (or a lack thereof) are based on prejudices and how these, in turn, affect women. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hold-the-celebrations-the-budgets-supposed-focus-on-women-is-no-game-changer-160768">Hold the celebrations — the budget's supposed focus on women is no game-changer</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Interviewees lamented that the attitude of male leaders has not changed over time. One structured way to ensure gender equality is incorporated into policy-making is to make it part of every aspect of the federal budget (and not just as a separate “women’s budget statement”). </p>
<blockquote>
<p>What is the best way of doing macroeconomic reform that does not disadvantage women? […] What do investment strategies look like that are positive for women?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another interviewee put it simply: “every policy needs to look at how it affects women”. This approach should be reinforced with measurements of success. As one person noted, “transparency” was needed if new policies were going to have a positive impact on women. </p>
<p>Another interviewees agreed, adding key performance indicators “have to be put in the job description”.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>you have to have someone say, ‘I am going to measure your performance […] on this topic, off you trot!‘</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Keeping the pressure on</h2>
<p>Interviewees also wanted to see Australia take a cold, hard look at some of the infrastructure “upholding” gender equality.</p>
<p>The 1984 Sex Discrimination Act was a watershed moment for Australian law and women’s equality (a reform that was not coincidentally, led by women). </p>
<p>A 1992 review added elements to stop employers using pregnancy as a means of discriminating against women - but that was 30 years ago. Or as one interviewee said, “those legislative frameworks served us well, but they are not finished yet”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The late Susan Ryan, pictured in 2014." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449119/original/file-20220301-15-p8vxpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449119/original/file-20220301-15-p8vxpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449119/original/file-20220301-15-p8vxpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449119/original/file-20220301-15-p8vxpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449119/original/file-20220301-15-p8vxpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449119/original/file-20220301-15-p8vxpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449119/original/file-20220301-15-p8vxpt.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The late Susan Ryan - the first Labor woman to serve in cabinet - spearheaded the creation of the Sex Discrimination Act.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a starting point, it was noted there are no provisions for childcare in the Sex Discrimination Act. But interviewees also wanted to see other critical examinations of Australia’s legal and policy landscape. </p>
<p>Several interviewees said Australia’s award system further ingrained sex discrimination and as a legislative instrument, the Fair Work Act often functioned as a barrier. For example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In my mind, that is where a lot of the economic disadvantage comes from – the award wage for a childcare worker versus a basic builder’s labourer are not equal. Some of them [awards] have been around and not amended for decades and decades and decades […].</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another interviewee said far more transparency when it came to pay negotiations - but this would be easy to fix if the federal government had the “political courage”. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>A lot of it comes down to the fact that pay is negotiated behind closed doors and there is no visibility of what you are paid, and if you are not prepared to shine a light on it, then you are going to struggle to get there. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>One expert had an even more striking idea, for a royal commission into the issue, or “what the hell is going on?”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We will have an inquiry into our banks, but surely the bigger issue is what is happening every day in workplaces across Australia, where women are being paid differently, just because of their sex. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The benefits of equality</h2>
<p>These are just some of the perspectives these experts at the heart of Australian government shared. Despite the serious nature of the discussions, the overriding theme was one of possibility and optimism with future governments. However, accountability, incentives and resources to include women in policy making are critical.</p>
<p>As a final thought, informants also spoke of the need to reframe the gender equality debate in more positive terms. And this needs to come not just from politicians, but the media and other community leaders, too:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I would turn the debate around. I would not be working for the elimination of discrimination against women in Australia or the elimination of barriers to equality, I would be celebrating the benefits of equality.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vega received funding from the Victoria Women’s Trust (Fay Marles Equal Opportunity Sub-Fund grant) in September 2017. The grant covered the vast majority of the travel costs associated with executing the 25 interviews in Australia.
Vega is a member of the Reason Australia Party and is affiliated with Emily's List Australia and various other women groups. Vega is the founder and former CEO of the Australian Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry. As CEO, Vega was appointed to several government boards and committees by Labor and Liberal federal governments.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Wheeler has engaged in paid and pro-bono consulting and research relating to issues of applied ethics and gender equality (e.g., Our Watch, Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, VicHealth). She has previously worked for research centres that receive funding from several partner organisations in the private and public sector, including from the Victorian Government.</span></em></p>One policy expert says we need a royal commission into ‘what the hell is going on’ with the gender pay gap.Yolanda K Vega, Lecturer and PhD Researcher, Swinburne University of TechnologyMelissa A. Wheeler, Senior Lecturer, Department of Management and Marketing, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1762182022-03-04T13:20:33Z2022-03-04T13:20:33ZYour chances of getting rid of student loan debt depend on who you are<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448144/original/file-20220223-25-4urvqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C4977%2C3325&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Single mothers are more likely than single fathers to have their debts discharged in court. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/license/522936678?adppopup=true">Heide Benser/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>To get rid of student loan debt through bankruptcy, you must prove to the court that paying back your student loans would cause an “<a href="https://codes.findlaw.com/us/title-11-bankruptcy/11-usc-sect-523.html">undue hardship</a>.” But in our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000338">peer-reviewed study of nearly 700 student loan discharge cases spanning 1985 to 2020</a>, we found that judges’ decisions to dismiss student loans are often influenced by personal factors, such as your gender.</p>
<p>To determine whether repaying the student loan debt is causing the debtor to experience an undue hardship, most courts <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5270362258430051298&q=brunner+v.+new+york&hl=en&as_sdt=3,43">apply three criteria</a> outlined in a case known as “<a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/831/395/398433/">Brunner</a>.”</p>
<p>Under Brunner, to prove they are experiencing an undue hardship, debtors must first demonstrate that repaying their student loans would not allow them to maintain a minimal standard of living. In other words, repaying the debt would prevent them from meeting their basic needs, including food, clothing and shelter. Second, debtors must show that additional circumstances exist that indicate their finances are unlikely to improve. These additional circumstances could include having a medical condition or caring for dependents. Third, debtors must show that they have made good-faith efforts to repay their loans. This includes efforts to make payments on the loans or attempts to consolidate their debt.</p>
<p>Meeting these three criteria is tough. Our data shows that about 38% of the debtors in the cases that we studied received a full or partial discharge of their student loans. But we also discovered other factors regularly come into play in the court’s decisions. Here are three factors that stood out in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000338">our research</a>.</p>
<h2>1. Being a single mom helps, but not being a single dad</h2>
<p>In student loan discharge decisions, judges <a href="https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R45113.pdf">regularly consider the expenses associated with a debtor’s children</a>. Our research team found it also sometimes matters to the court whether the debtor is a single parent. Being a single parent more than doubled the chances of obtaining a discharge, but only for mothers. Single fathers did not experience any notable benefit from being a single parent.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman seated in a kitchen looks over paperwork while a boy lingers over her shoulder with his arm around her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448126/original/file-20220223-15-tl6e3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C0%2C7892%2C5304&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448126/original/file-20220223-15-tl6e3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448126/original/file-20220223-15-tl6e3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448126/original/file-20220223-15-tl6e3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448126/original/file-20220223-15-tl6e3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448126/original/file-20220223-15-tl6e3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448126/original/file-20220223-15-tl6e3p.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">Courts are more likely to see the mother as a caregiver than they are a father.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/woman-struggling-with-home-finances-and-debt-while-royalty-free-image/1215795289?adppopup=true">Fertnig/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We’re not certain about why courts view single moms as more deserving of a discharge than single dads. It could have something to do with stereotypes about mothers being the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147315">“caregivers” in a family, whereas men are the “breadwinners</a>.” A mother’s plea to help fulfill her role as a caregiver may be seen as more persuasive than a father’s plea to be relieved of his financial obligations.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-you-get-rid-of-your-student-loans-by-filing-for-bankruptcy-130995">Can you get rid of your student loans by filing for bankruptcy?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. Disclosing a medical condition helps men, but not women</h2>
<p>When assessing a debtor’s ability to repay a debt, <a href="https://casetext.com/case/educ-credit-mgmt-corp-v-jorgensen-in-re-jorgensen">case law suggests</a>
that judges must consider any difficulties a person has in trying to find a decent-paying job. </p>
<p>Such struggles are captured by the “additional circumstances” mentioned in the second Brunner criterion. Those additional circumstances include medical conditions. However, judges appear to give medical conditions more consideration for men than they do for women.</p>
<p>Our research found that men reporting a medical condition are 93% more likely to obtain a student loan discharge than men who did not report a medical condition. We did not find this same effect for women. This gender gap is highly relevant, given that female debtors outnumbered male debtors in our analysis almost 2 to 1.</p>
<p>Women’s medical concerns seem to be dismissed or overlooked in multiple arenas – from courts to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732220942894">hospitals</a>. Psychologists theorize this may arise from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/6358624">stereotypes</a> that suggest women may dramatize medical conditions and exaggerate their pain. </p>
<h2>3. Not having an attorney hurts your cause</h2>
<p>Thanks to ubiquitous crime dramas, it is widely known that those who cannot afford an attorney <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/miranda_warning">can have one appointed</a>. Lesser known is that this constitutional right applies only to criminal proceedings. In most civil trials, like bankruptcy proceedings, there is no <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/right_to_counsel">right to an attorney</a>. When debtors cannot afford an attorney, they often must represent themselves.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/every-year-millions-try-to-navigate-us-courts-without-a-lawyer-84159">Every year, millions try to navigate US courts without a lawyer</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In student loan bankruptcy proceedings, 33% of debtors represent themselves, often to their detriment. We found that debtors who retained an attorney improved their chances of getting their student loans discharged by at least 60%. This was true whether the debtor was male or female.</p>
<p>The benefit of having an attorney in court is <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2004-16118-011">well-supported by research</a>. Attorneys who specialize in bankruptcy are likely to be aware of the factors upon which judges rely and can build a strong case for discharge. Without an attorney, it can be difficult to know which details to disclose and how to present them.</p>
<h2>Potential solutions</h2>
<p>Getting student loan debt discharged can be difficult and emotionally draining. </p>
<p>If you are thinking about seeking relief from student loan debt, the following suggestions may help.</p>
<p><strong>Develop a strategy that takes your gender into account:</strong> For single fathers, it might be advantageous to emphasize your “breadwinning” role, show the court that you have made efforts toward repaying the loans or have tried very hard to get a decent-paying job. For women with medical conditions, provide as much evidence as you can in the form of hospital visits, attempts to declare disability and the like.</p>
<p><strong>Regardless of gender, remember that having an attorney matters:</strong> Familiarize yourself with <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_services/flh-home/flh-free-legal-help/">legal aid organizations in your area</a>, which can offer free legal services. Also, be sure to search for <a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/services-forms/bankruptcy/filing-without-attorney">other free legal information</a> that can be found on <a href="https://www.flsb.uscourts.gov/dont-have-lawyer">court websites</a> and similar venues.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 150,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-150ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>None of this advice matters if you fail to file a separate case to get your student loans discharged – as is the case with most student loan debtors who file a bankruptcy case. Without the separate proceeding, students loans cannot be discharged. Around 241,000 people with student loan debt filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. in 2017, but <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=3715975">only 447 of those also filed a separate case to get rid of their student loans</a>. Consult the free legal resources to learn how to file this separate case.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176218/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelsey Lynne Hess receives funding from the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea C. F. Wolfs receives funding from the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Goldfarb receives funding from the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the National Institute of Justice, and the National Science Foundation. She is affiliated with the American Bar Association. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacqueline R. Evans receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. </span></em></p>When researchers examined the outcomes for cases to discharge student loan debt, they found that judges are often biased against people based on their gender and other factors.Kelsey Lynne Hess, Ph.D. Candidate in Legal Psychology, Florida International UniversityAndrea C. F. Wolfs, Teaching Professor in Psychology, Plymouth State UniversityDeborah Goldfarb, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Florida International UniversityJacqueline R. Evans, Associate Professor of Psychology, Florida International UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1754832022-02-10T13:37:23Z2022-02-10T13:37:23ZIn countries more biased against women, higher COVID-19 death rates for men might not tell an accurate story<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445207/original/file-20220208-23-bl0pjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2121%2C1412&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gender norms can affect every aspect of a person's life, including their health.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/girl-protecting-herself-with-mask-coronavirus-covid-royalty-free-image/1213944818">YES BRASIL/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pandemics and recessions have the potential to <a href="https://unfoundation.org/blog/post/shadow-pandemic-how-covid19-crisis-exacerbating-gender-inequality/">exacerbate existing health inequalities between men and women</a>. </p>
<p>Many social factors can put women at a higher risk of infection during a pandemic. In almost all societies, women assume the role of <a href="https://www.empowerwomen.org/en/resources/documents/2018/08/unpaid-care-work--the-missing-link-in-the-analysis-of-gender-gaps-in-labour-outcomes?lang=en">primary caregiver</a> when family members fall ill. They are also more likely to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12704">front-line health care workers</a>.</p>
<p>Despite this increased exposure to infection, the Ebola and Zika outbreaks highlighted how women are more likely to experience unequal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12704">access to resources</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-019-0489-3">health care</a>, and have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2015.1108827">limited decision-making power</a> about their own health and finances.</p>
<p>COVID-19 is no different. We are researchers in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=2kWMp-sAAAAJ">economics</a> and <a href="https://som.ucdenver.edu/Profiles/Faculty/Profile/14084">health</a>, and our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114698">recent study</a> found that COVID-19 cases and deaths among women may be underreported in countries with higher gender discrimination.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445215/original/file-20220208-22-18y53fz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Health care worker wearing a headscarf looking through a medical supply drawer in an ICU." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445215/original/file-20220208-22-18y53fz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445215/original/file-20220208-22-18y53fz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445215/original/file-20220208-22-18y53fz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445215/original/file-20220208-22-18y53fz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445215/original/file-20220208-22-18y53fz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445215/original/file-20220208-22-18y53fz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445215/original/file-20220208-22-18y53fz.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">Although women are more likely to be exposed to COVID-19 as caregivers, they are less likely to be able to access health care for themselves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/medical-staff-are-seen-in-the-newly-inaugurated-intensive-news-photo/1209813461">Mazen Mahdi/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Gender differences in COVID-19 rates</h2>
<p>To investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender-based health disparities, we examined male and female COVID-19 case and death rates across 133 countries from 2020 to 2021. We used data from <a href="https://globalhealth5050.org/the-sex-gender-and-covid-19-project/">Global Health 50/50</a>, an organization that tracks COVID-19 cases and deaths by gender worldwide.</p>
<p>We found that most countries, such as the United States, Netherlands, France, Ukraine and Armenia, report roughly equal or slightly higher female infection rates. But 14% of the countries we examined reported over 65% of their COVID-19 cases and deaths were among men. For instance, 88% and 85% of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bahrain and Qatar, respectively, were among men. Similarly, over 74% of total COVID-19 deaths in Chad, Bangladesh, Malawi and Pakistan were among men.</p>
<p>But what caused these rate differences across countries? We considered both biological factors, like gender differences in healthy life expectancy and death rates from chronic and infectious diseases, and social factors, like employment rates and gender norms. We assessed gender norms using publicly available indices measuring how countries are performing in women’s <a href="https://giwps.georgetown.edu/the-index/">peace and security</a>, <a href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/">financial inclusion</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1787/bc56d212-en">access to resources</a> and <a href="https://data.oecd.org/inequality/discriminatory-family-code.htm">status in the family household</a>. </p>
<p>We found that biological differences, which should result in more consistent case and death rates across locations, couldn’t account for these trends alone. Instead, social factors like higher gender discrimination within the family and limited access to wealth and education were significantly associated with larger differences in male and female COVID-19 case and death rates.</p>
<h2>Accounting for gender in health</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30652-X">Gender norms</a> play a role in what opportunities and resources are available for different people. Women often fall through the cracks of the health care system due to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17441690801900795">gender bias and their poorer socioeconomic status</a>. In many developing countries, women resort to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-018-0738-8">informal, unlicensed health care providers</a> and low-cost medicines, while men spend a greater share of family resources on their own health needs. And in some parts of the world, a woman’s husband or father must <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/19036">provide consent</a> before she can obtain health care treatment.</p>
<p>When women have less independence and decision-making power over their lives, they need to rely on their family members to access health care. In societies where women are devalued and do not have decision-making power, a household may prioritize spending their resources on men’s COVID-19 testing and hospital stays. Thus, we hypothesize that countries are reporting higher male COVID-19 cases and deaths due to underreporting of women’s cases and deaths.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445218/original/file-20220208-36884-6pok3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Parent and child walking together holding hands under an umbrella." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445218/original/file-20220208-36884-6pok3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445218/original/file-20220208-36884-6pok3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445218/original/file-20220208-36884-6pok3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445218/original/file-20220208-36884-6pok3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445218/original/file-20220208-36884-6pok3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445218/original/file-20220208-36884-6pok3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445218/original/file-20220208-36884-6pok3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In some families, the health of males is prioritized over females.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/student-and-his-parent-wearing-masks-walk-to-school-as-a-news-photo/1237686956">Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>This underreporting extends in other areas as well. For example, our data source does not account for transgender and nonbinary people. And country-level data on gender differences in medical access for other diseases and treatments is also unavailable. The World Health Organization’s European office has <a href="https://www.euro.who.int/en/data-and-evidence/news/news/2021/10/whoeurope-urges-countries-to-collect-gender-data-through-their-health-information-systems">urged countries to collect gender data</a> through their health information systems. While <a href="https://www.paho.org/en/topics/gender-equality-health">efforts have been made</a> to improve data collection across health care systems globally, collecting reliable data remains challenging.</p>
<p>Though our findings do show a strong association between gender norms and COVID-19 health disparities, they do not prove causation as a controlled experiment would. Such studies, however, are not possible during a pandemic. And results may vary regionally due to cultural and social differences. One recent study, for example, found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114716">more men in the U.S. die from COVID-19</a> than women because they are less likely to follow mask and social distancing guidelines. </p>
<p>Despite these limitations, it is clear that social factors play a role in COVID-19 health outcomes. Ignoring gender bias in health care has the potential to exacerbate long-standing inequities that existed prior to the pandemic.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=weekly&source=inline-weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175483/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Weinman is a reviewer of imaging studies in fibrosing lung disease for Parexel/Calyx and is on the advisory board and receives non-financial support from Boehringer Ingelheim for fibrosing lung disease.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yeva Aleksanyan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some countries report higher rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths among men. This might be due to underreporting among women with limited health access.Yeva Aleksanyan, Ph.D. Candidate in Economics, Colorado State UniversityJason Weinman, Associate Professor of Radiology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical CampusLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1737362021-12-15T23:52:31Z2021-12-15T23:52:31ZAllan Fels: As ACCC chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb will put the public interest first, despite years of fighting for business<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437908/original/file-20211215-27-141v3ai.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=392%2C481%2C2616%2C1242&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The proposed appointment of <a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/josh-frydenberg-2018/media-releases/government-nominates-gina-cass-gottlieb-australian">Gina Cass-Gottlieb</a> as chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) next year is welcome, as is the appointment of Liza Carver as ACCC enforcement commissioner. </p>
<p>If approved by a majority of the states, they will start in March.</p>
<p>Cass-Gottlieb is a fine appointment. She is widely regarded as the leading practitioner of competition law in Australia. Besides her outstanding skills, she has been adept at understanding the mind of the regulator and persuading clients to adapt their defence accordingly, quite often arriving at outcomes suitable for the defendant and the regulator.</p>
<p>A critical requirement is that the chair is a person of integrity who puts the public interest first. I believe Gina Cass-Gottlieb will do this despite years of being on the big business defence side. </p>
<p>I myself have urged her (and Liza Carver) to join the ACCC for over twenty years because I believe both have this essential attribute as well as the required skills. </p>
<p>Gina Cass-Gottlieb will be the first female chair since the establishment of competition institutions in the mid-1960s. </p>
<p>Interestingly, there has been a recent awakening by competition authorities and the OECD to the existence of gender issues in competition policy. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/uncomfortable-comparisons-why-rod-sims-broke-the-accc-record-105730">Uncomfortable comparisons. Why Rod Sims broke the ACCC record</a>
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<p>To take but one example, as everyone knows there has been massive discrimination past and present against women in terms of access to jobs, education, finance, small business opportunities, and so on. </p>
<p>This discrimination is not only inherently objectionable, but also constitutes a substantial restriction to competition in itself.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if the new leadership team addresses these issues – at least in their advocacy. I doubt there will be much litigation on this subject.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437909/original/file-20211215-23-c83uoh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437909/original/file-20211215-23-c83uoh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437909/original/file-20211215-23-c83uoh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437909/original/file-20211215-23-c83uoh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437909/original/file-20211215-23-c83uoh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437909/original/file-20211215-23-c83uoh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1218&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437909/original/file-20211215-23-c83uoh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1218&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437909/original/file-20211215-23-c83uoh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1218&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Liza Carver, named enforcement commissioner.</span>
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<p>Liza Carver is also a very good appointment. In the 1990s, she was an associate commissioner of the ACCC for six years. </p>
<p>Her original background was from the consumer and public interest law community.</p>
<p>Like Gina Cass-Gottlieb, for the last twenty years she has been on the defence side, but I believe she too has the necessary public interest commitment essential for the appointment.</p>
<p>It is also timely to appoint a lawyer as chair. </p>
<p>Many years ago, I used to say that lawyers had an unwarranted monopoly on the chairmanship, as they did in the first twenty years of competition law. </p>
<p>These days I would say the opposite: economists should not have a monopoly and where they are appointed, they need to have a strong feel for legal questions.</p>
<h2>Despite what you’ve heard, the ACCC litigated well</h2>
<p>Some claim that the appointments have been made because the ACCC has been poor at litigation, citing evidence of a set of recent losses in merger cases. However, the ACCC’s litigation generally across the whole field of competition and consumer law has been effective and successful. </p>
<p>Its recent losses in merger cases are not essentially the fault of a weak litigation team, but rather reflect the fact that the test for substantial lessening of competition introduced in the 1990s has proved problematic. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-mergers-harming-consumers-we-wont-know-if-we-dont-check-115378">Are mergers harming consumers? We won't know if we don't check</a>
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<p>The old pre-1990s test that a merger would only be prohibited if it gave rise to dominance had shortcomings. In particular, mergers that clearly would lessen competition – such as those where the number of major competitors was reduced from three to two – generally were left untouched. </p>
<p>But the test had one advantage: it was easy for courts to apply. It focused on the structure of the market at the time. It was not highly forward looking.</p>
<p>The current prohibition on mergers that are likely to “substantially lessen competition” is right in principle, but asks what the state of competition might be a few years after a merger. </p>
<p>Numerous fanciful stories are presented to the courts about how future competition is a real possibility, with the courts placing too much weight on the self-interested evidence of business applicants.</p>
<h2>Sims put the public interest first</h2>
<p>This problem has been added to by the substantial upskilling of the legal defence establishment compared with times in the 1990s when it was less equipped to deal with new vigorous enforcement of the law.</p>
<p>Claims that the ACCC’s own litigation skills are inadequate pale into insignificance compared with the forces arrayed against them.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437910/original/file-20211215-19-hxc274.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437910/original/file-20211215-19-hxc274.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437910/original/file-20211215-19-hxc274.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=968&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437910/original/file-20211215-19-hxc274.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=968&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437910/original/file-20211215-19-hxc274.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=968&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437910/original/file-20211215-19-hxc274.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1216&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437910/original/file-20211215-19-hxc274.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1216&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437910/original/file-20211215-19-hxc274.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1216&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Rod Sims, ACCC chair since August 2011.</span>
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<p>Outgoing ACCC chair Rod Sims has proposed changes in merger law because of his concerns. One way of fighting off a stronger merger law is to claim it is the regulator’s skills in enforcing the law that are the problem, not the law.</p>
<p>Sims himself has a record of fine achievements across the range of litigation, consumer protection, regulation, market studies and advocacy. </p>
<p>He brought to bear his skills and experience working in government bureaucracy, as a regulator and as a person who spent ten years in the private sector.</p>
<p>He has made a special contribution with his world-first pioneering work on digital platforms, which is being copied around the world. </p>
<p>Sims also had that essential commitment to putting the public interest first, despite enormous pressures from those affected by the application of the law. </p>
<h2>Crytocurrencies, cartels among priorities</h2>
<p>Looking ahead, there are some challenges for the new ACCC chair: above all, continued vigorous and intelligent day-to-day enforcement of competition and consumer law across the board. </p>
<p>Continuing to make progress on the application of the law to the digital platforms will be especially challenging. The economic analysis needed in this area is essentially new and different from that needed in past litigation and regulation.</p>
<p>Big changes are looming in the financial services sector, including the rise of cryptocurrency and new forms of business like those in the buy now and pay later arena. These require careful handling to protect consumers.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-allowed-facebook-to-grow-big-by-worrying-about-the-wrong-thing-152190">We allowed Facebook to grow big by worrying about the wrong thing</a>
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<p>Recent changes in the law need careful application. Historically there has been some limitation on the reach of cartel law. In former times, certain business practices that brought about the same results as would an agreed cartel were not covered by the law. </p>
<p>These days if there is a “concerted practice” by business that falls short of an agreement to fix prices – but if it has that effect – it is covered by the new law. This will require careful testing.</p>
<p>I do not agree with the view that the ACCC should not advocate for changes in the law nor comment on competition issues.</p>
<h2>Speaking up will matter</h2>
<p>Without strong ACCC advocacy, most of the good changes in competition law in the past 30 years would not have occurred, including the improved, strong merger law, more sensible provisions about the abuse of market power, criminal sanctions for cartel conduct, unconscionable conduct laws and public support for the Hilmer competition reforms. </p>
<p>In these matters the ACCC has usually started out as a lone voice fighting often loud, hysterical and uninformed opposition from the big end of town, both corporates and lawyers defending their clients.</p>
<p>Many challenges lie ahead for the new chair, but she will find Rod Sims has left the ACCC in excellent shape. We wish her well.</p>
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<p><em>Allan Fels was chair of the ACCC from its inception in 1995 until June 2003.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173736/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allan Fels was chair of the ACCC from its inception in 1995 until June 2003.</span></em></p>The inaugural chair of the ACCC says Gina Cass-Gottlieb’s experience opposing the ACCC in court will prove invaluable, and that it’s time to appoint a lawyer as chair.Allan Fels, Professorial Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1734332021-12-10T10:09:22Z2021-12-10T10:09:22ZWhen academics become anti-LGBT activists: fear and hate in Indonesian academia<p>In Western academia, it seems common sense that discrimination should have no place in society, including against LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual/transgender) people.</p>
<p>This achievement is the result of decades of struggle and bitter experiences of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/06/13/being-gay-in-america-is-still-a-radical-act/">LGBT-phobia in Western societies</a>.</p>
<p>Indonesian society, on the other hand, has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/on-gender-diversity-in-indonesia-101087">historically quite tolerant</a> with people of different gender expression and sexual orientation. But the country has experienced <a href="https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/interactive/2016/08/10/2016-indonesias-lgbt-crisis-words">an increasing wave of homophobia in politics and society</a> in the past few years.</p>
<p>This is also the case in Indonesian academia.</p>
<p>I compiled <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mYSN2CVb-euuIhe3R0K2o6-uFWMIFbABvbaFgFckd_U/edit?usp=sharing">a list of incidents throughout 2016-2021</a>. Though probably incomplete, the list involves many institutions and reveals an intense LGBT-hostile atmosphere among Indonesian universities.</p>
<p>These incidents include, among others, the <a href="https://www.tribunnews.com/video/2015/12/04/rektor-hasriadi-akan-pecat-penyebar-virus-lgbt">dismissal of students and staff</a> who share “the LGBT virus”, <a href="http://www.riaubook.com/berita/7899/terungkap-ternyata-ada-komunitas-lgbt-di-kampus-kampus-di-riau-ini-buktinya.html">university-sponsored rallies</a> against LGBT students, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/teror-akademik-masih-membungkam-wacana-keragaman-gender-dan-seksual-di-kampus-indonesia-167202">crackdowns on queer-themed academic discussions</a>.</p>
<p>As Western and Indonesian academia continue to engage in co-operation, we should find common ways of counteracting discrimination, including discrimination against people with non-heteronormative gender expressions and identities.</p>
<h2>Amplifying state-sponsored homophobia</h2>
<p>Over the years, Indonesian universities have joined the state-sponsored homophobia – including <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/09/05/police-lambasted-for-targeting-lgbt-community-in-raid-in-jakarta.html">law enforcement</a> and <a href="https://news.detik.com/berita/d-3125654/menristek-saya-larang-lgbt-di-semua-kampus-itu-tak-sesuai-nilai-kesusilaan">statements by politicians</a> fuelling hatred of LGBT people.</p>
<p>Academics often work hand-in-hand with these institutions and rely on statements from religious authorities, while at the same time providing anti-LGBT activists with seemingly scientific arguments.</p>
<p>Within the academic discourse, for instance, some Indonesian scholars (and also students) reproduce the state’s argument that LGBTs are a threat to an imagined national harmony.</p>
<p>In 2016, the then minister of research, Muhammad Nasir, declared LGBT individuals were <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/01/25/lgbt-not-welcome-university-minister.html">not welcome at Indonesian universities</a>. He said they “corrupt the morals of the nation”. The then minister of defence, Ryamizard Ryacudu, even said the LGBT movement was <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2016/12/22/a-case-against-the-militarys-newfound-proxy-war-obsession.html">part of a proxy war</a> to weaken the nation.</p>
<p>Academics usually refrain from such dramatic statements. But there are some who maintain the idea of LGBTs as a threat.</p>
<p>Indonesian terms for queer gender expressions, both nationally (such as <em>waria</em> or <em>transpuan</em>) and in local cultures (such as <em>bissu</em> in South Sulawesi or <em>tayu</em> in Bengkulu) have increasingly been superseded by the term “LGBT”, which has Western and foreign associations.</p>
<p>Moreover, “LGBT” is linked in both public and academic discourses to derogatory connotations.</p>
<p>Negative stigmas attached to LGBTs in global discourses typically involve pedophilia, Western intervention, pornography and prostitution. However, statements by Indonesian scholars often highlight <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13552074.2018.1429103">health issues (LGBTs as a threat that spreads STDs)</a> as well as <a href="https://www.e-ir.info/2016/03/21/against-state-straightism-five-principles-for-including-lgbt-indonesians/">religious stances</a>.</p>
<p>It is therefore not surprising that anti-LGBT proponents in academia often have a conservative Islamic background.</p>
<p>However, they effectively link their moral claims not only to religion, but also to Indonesian nationalism.</p>
<p>A common example is the use of the phrase, “the young generation of the Indonesian people” (<em>generasi muda bangsa</em>), which is seemingly threatened by sexually transmitted diseases and immoral activities.</p>
<p>Applying the term “<em>bangsa</em>” is an effective tool to connect religious morality with Indonesian nationalism. LGBTs thus emerge as the embodiment of an otherwise vague and abstract threat. </p>
<h2>Academics as anti-LGBT activists</h2>
<p>Conservative Indonesian scholars <a href="https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/ailas-unsuccessful-petition-a-narrow-escape-from-overcriminalisation/">gained public attention in 2017</a> when the Indonesian Family Love Alliance (Aliansi Cinta Keluarga or AILA) sought a judicial review at the Constitutional Court.</p>
<p>They demanded the criminalisation of homosexual activities and LGBT activism, with punishment of up to five years in prison. As usual, these academics argued that LGBTs contribute to the spread of HIV-AIDS.</p>
<p><a href="https://news.detik.com/berita/d-3266050/sidang-mk-kasus-homoseks-ahli-sebut-lgbt-picu-angka-kenaikan-hivaids">They also claimed it is unethical</a> that such people get expensive medicine paid for by public health insurance, making ordinary Indonesians pay for them.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the language they used referred not only to empirical findings but also moral stances.</p>
<p>Euis Sunarti, a professor at the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), for instance, is an AILA scholar. She teaches in the field of “family resilience and empowerment” (<em>ketahanan dan pemberdayaan keluarga</em>). In her view, LGBT activities threaten the institution of the family, and therefore the state must take action.</p>
<p>Statements from scholars mirror those of religious authorities and state officials. In this way, they further blur the boundary between religion, the state and science.</p>
<p>This anti-LGBT narrative also serves as a tool for unifying Indonesia’s many social and economic groups. Thus, it perpetuates the idea of a harmonious society at the expense of <a href="https://theconversation.com/onslaughts-against-gays-and-lesbians-challenge-indonesias-lgbt-rights-movement-54639">an already marginalised group</a>.</p>
<p>Sadly, it does so by generating fear and prejudice. </p>
<h2>Counteracting fear and hate</h2>
<p>Many academics from Western countries maintain close ties with scholars and institutions in Indonesia. Since they often support anti-discriminatory actions around the world, they should not turn a blind eye to discrimination against queer people committed by the institutions we are working with. </p>
<p>While open confrontation might not always be effective, I believe critical scholars cannot be quiet when minorities are discriminated against on Indonesian campuses.</p>
<p>The task is not only to challenge <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2020/01/30/rejecting-homophobic-pseudoscience.html">pseudo-scientific anti-LGBT discourses</a> in Indonesian academia, but also to evoke empathy for people who are increasingly marginalised and excluded from education due to their gender expressions and identities.</p>
<p>Fortunately, Indonesia is also home to many critical and engaged scholars. Academic institutions in the Global North can find knowledgeable partners among these scholars that we can work with.</p>
<p>However, Western scholars should not avoid controversial debates with our Indonesian counterparts either. For instance, when signing MoUs or other forms of agreement on co-operation with Indonesian counterparts, issues such as discrimination can be discussed.</p>
<p>Critical scholars can tackle LGBT hate in Indonesia in the same way they criticise, for instance, growing <a href="https://theconversation.com/islamophobia-in-western-media-is-based-on-false-premises-151443">Islamophobia in the West</a>. Stressing to Indonesian partners that state-driven hate against minorities is structurally similar to hatred against Muslims in the West – that is, as a supposed threat to the nation – might be a viable approach.</p>
<p>It is an academic duty to engage in creating a world with less fear and hate. This is something Indonesian and Western scholars should do together.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173433/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timo Duile receives funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG). The associated research does not explore topics related to the LGBT community.</span></em></p>As Western and Indonesian academics continue to engage in co-operation, we should find common ways of counteracting discrimination, including discriminatory practices against the LGBT community.Timo Duile, Lecturer and researcher at the Institute for Oriental and Asian Studies, University of BonnLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1698062021-10-17T11:56:25Z2021-10-17T11:56:25Z‘I don’t have an ounce of racism in me’: Jon Gruden and the NFL’s whiteness problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426474/original/file-20211014-20-7qgzua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=77%2C0%2C8640%2C5716&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jon Gruden is out as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after emails he sent before being hired in 2018 contained racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last weekend, the NFL (the <a href="https://sportytell.com/sports/most-profitable-sports-leagues/">world’s most profitable sports league</a>) found itself in an all-too-familiar controversy after a now-former head coach’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/sports/football/what-did-jon-gruden-say.html">disparaging emails</a> containing racist, misogynistic, homophobic and transphobic content were brought to light by a third-party investigation. </p>
<p>After the first emails were released last week, the former head coach in question, Jon Gruden of the Las Vegas Raiders, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jon-gruden-racism-denial-raiders-loss/">stood in front of reporters and said</a>: “I don’t have an ounce of racism in me. I’m a guy that takes pride in leading people together. And I’ll continue to do that for the rest of my life.” </p>
<p>The type of leadership Gruden referenced in his mad dash to damage control is everywhere, from the league’s ownership groups to its front offices and coaching staff. It demands the protection of men like Gruden while ostracizing anyone who dares challenge the dominant system of power (like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/sports/football/george-floyd-kaepernick-kneeling-nfl-protests.html">Colin Kaepernick</a>). Its existence has resulted in what some have described as a <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/163980/jon-gruden-espn-email-scandal">culture of rot</a> throughout the league. </p>
<p>What’s fascinating and perhaps unique about the coverage, response and fallout of the league’s most recent controversy is how clear it’s made it that whiteness is at the epicentre of this rot. </p>
<h2>Protection of white men in power</h2>
<p>The systemic and systematic protection of white men in power has bred <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/sports/football/what-did-jon-gruden-say.html">hypocrisy</a>, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-nfls-racist-race-norming-is-an-afterlife-of-slavery/">race norming (the practice of assuming a lower baseline of cognitive abilities in Black players)</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/dec/07/the-nfls-problem-with-violence-against-women-a-story-of-profit-and-apathy">gender exclusion and violence</a> and <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/nfl-qb-drew-brees-kneeling-ignorance-and-performative-white-allyship">preformative acts of solidarity</a> with the <a href="https://www.tidesport.org/racial-gender-report-card">league’s majority racialized player pool</a>. </p>
<p>Abhorrent language connected to racism, sexism and homophobia is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230305892_6">inextricably linked to behaviours and value systems aligned with white supremacy</a>. </p>
<p>When the news first broke, it looked like Gruden might actually keep his US$100 million contract position, as <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32377814/las-vegas-raiders-players-react-jon-gruden-2011-emails-coach-apologizes-again">several players and related personnel appeared neutral</a>. In instances like these, why don’t more people speak up? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden speaks with officials" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426562/original/file-20211014-25-1gdegcy.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">Assuaging white guilt, like Jon Gruden’s, by not disavowing racism obscures any required accountability of the NFL.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a vivid display of the systemic power operating within the league, <a href="https://www.sportscasting.com/tony-dungy-mike-tirico-let-jon-gruden-off-hook-racially-insensitive-language-during-sunday-night-football-delay-we-need-to-except-that-apology-and-move-on/">Mike Tirico and Tony Dungy defended Gruden’s character</a> and advocated for his vindication on <em>Sunday Night Football</em>. Dungy, a former player and coach himself, <a href="https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/8423224002">stated during the broadcast</a>: “I’m not going to chalk everything up to racism. I think we accept his apology, move forward and move on.” </p>
<p>After more emails were released and Gruden’s resignation was announced, Dungy sort of walked back on his on-air comments. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1447887228433313794"}"></div></p>
<p>What the segment revealed, however, was the <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11021/33882">depth of dominant white patriarchal ideologies upheld by people</a> and impenetrable systemic practices within the NFL. Assuaging white guilt by not disavowing racism obscures any required accountability of the NFL. </p>
<h2>A certain kind of leadership</h2>
<p>In a league run, owned and coached by a handful of executives — the “Jon Grudens” of the world — the resulting enabling of systemic, oppressive white supremacy makes pushing for meaningful change seemingly impossible. </p>
<p>Countless examples illustrate the pervasiveness of this “leadership” issue like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/01/sports/football/nfl-washington-fine-snyder.html">rampant sexual harassment claims</a> and the failed <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/its-time-for-the-nfl-to-take-the-rooney-rule-seriously-or-get-rid-of-it/">Rooney Rule policy</a> — an NFL policy that <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/12/31/rooney-rule-explained-nfl-diversity-policy">requires teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching jobs</a>. Only three out of 32 coaches are Black, in a league where <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1167935/racial-diversity-nfl-players/">over 57.5 per cent of its players are Black</a>. </p>
<p>The way in which such controversies are covered also constrains opportunities for organized resistance. For several decades, news outlets have recognized that <a href="https://www.ruhabenjamin.com/race-after-technology">racial slurs and misogynistic remarks from high-profile leaders are top revenue generators</a>. The preoccupation with dragging people through (virtual) public platforms happens within a matter of minutes. </p>
<p>The label of “racist” is depicted as a death sentence, immediately denied using various tactics like “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/color-blindness-is-counterproductive/405037/">I don’t see colour</a>” or “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/health/racial-microaggressions-examples-responses-wellness/index.html">I have Black friends</a>.” As readers, we must critically examine the deeper issues related to systems of racism that are at the root of these behaviours. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Las Vegas Raiders former head coach Jon Gruden walks across the field during an NFL football training camp practice" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426564/original/file-20211014-15-1j3f1t4.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">Only three out of 32 coaches are Black, in a league where over 57.5 per cent of its players are Black.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/John Locher)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While airing such vile acts provides necessary opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations, <a href="https://www.ruhabenjamin.com/race-after-technology">shaming and humiliation can be cathartic for people that too frequently have their experiences questioned or silenced</a>. A persisting consequence of witnesses labelling individuals as racists to be cast away <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv11vcbrf">too often delineates and absolves institutions from redressing larger systemic issues</a>. </p>
<p>When similar events occur (think of the <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/don-cherry-fired">firing of Don Cherry</a> or the <a href="https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2021/08/26/espn-pulls-rachel-nichols-from-nba-coverage-cancels-the-jump">Rachel Nichols debacle</a>), and some racialized community members surface in defense of “the system” or supposed “forgivable acts,” the <a href="https://www.crrf-fcrr.ca/en/resources/glossary-a-terms-en-gb-1/item/27038-lateral-violence">lateral violence</a> inflicted against one another <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2018.1427586">strengthens anti-Black racism, as well as existing white supremacist institutions, policies and practices</a>.</p>
<h2>The colloquial apology</h2>
<p>Gruden’s resignation message included the seemingly ubiquitous “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone” trope. This, of course, is not an apology, but rather a failed acknowledgement insinuating a false narrative that his words were not meant for harm. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1447742101693898753"}"></div></p>
<p>While we can debate intention versus impact, what cannot be understated is the power that words hold; they carry the weight, harm and oppression of the systems in which they are spoken. </p>
<p>As we continue to uncover behaviours and actions of coaches and other people in positions of power within institutions, we must interrogate the systemic structures of oppression which too often validate the transgressor and justify such practices. </p>
<p>While the resignation of Gruden signals a much-needed shift that hopefully forces franchises to be introspective when shaping their team’s social climate, we must not forget who the system was built to protect.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169806/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Braeden McKenzie receives funding from Sport Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sabrina Razack 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>Jon Gruden’s resignation signals a much needed shift that hopefully forces franchises to be introspective when shaping their team’s social climate.Sabrina Razack, Sessional Instructor, Kinesiology & Physical Education, University of TorontoBraeden McKenzie, PhD Candidate; Reseach Assistant @ the IDEAS lab; Sessional Instructor, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1627772021-06-17T14:28:09Z2021-06-17T14:28:09ZGender washing: seven kinds of marketing hypocrisy about empowering women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407045/original/file-20210617-12-zgs0pm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'We're all about you.'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/digital-art-painting-illustration-business-man-564387154">jesadaphorn</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At a time of so much focus on how women are held back and treated unfairly, corporations spend multiple millions telling us what they are doing to empower women and girls. When this makes them seem more women-friendly than they really are, it’s known as gender washing. </p>
<p>Gender washing comes in different varieties, and some can be easier to spot than others. To help identify them, it can be useful to look at the decades of research on corporate greenwashing – that better known variant related to climate change. </p>
<p>Inspired by a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1086026615575332?casa_token=CkZLSpkmkJEAAAAA%3A3VRqewkRzQLKk-_unLf4GtR79bhvVs_n2WQvkUOSBmkHL65U4r61f3H0Gk4lnYoXVO6zakPwuqF-">2015 paper</a> that identified seven varieties of greenwashing, I have published <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09692290.2021.1935295">a new paper</a> that classifies seven kinds of questionable corporate claims about empowering women and girls.</p>
<p><strong>1. Selective disclosure</strong></p>
<p>When corporations publicise improvements in, say, female boardroom representation, or the gender pay gap, while omitting contradictory or inconvenient information, it’s known as selective disclosure. </p>
<p>For example, pharma group Novartis frequently features on <a href="http://www.workingmother.com/frequently-asked-questions-about-working-mother-surveys">Working Mother</a> magazine’s annual list of the 100 best companies to work for, via an application highlighting the progress it has made in employment practices towards women. Novartis also proudly cites its support for Working Mother, per the tweet below. Yet as recently as 2010, <a href="https://sanfordheisler.com/case/novartis-pharmaceutical-gender-discrimination-class-action/">the corporation lost</a> the then largest gender pay, promotion and pregnancy discrimination case ever to go to trial.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1285972503391801344"}"></div></p>
<p><strong>2. Empty gender policies</strong></p>
<p>Some companies take initiatives to raise women’s voices internally which, in reality, have little impact. For example, “women’s networks” aim to increase female employees’ confidence and help them build leadership skills through networking events and mentoring schemes. But critics argue that such networks are frequently ignored, and don’t address the underlying causes of discrimination or engage men in efforts to tackle institutional sexism. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13678860500100517?casa_token=M6YF6dfj4GIAAAAA%3AwdsPPMRVIE-QT5d1MYLntVdVKfhZOGc94oxNezrrjgiqznM-73LO8ydW1qe5ORZMTjw_qy0zL7db">One study</a> from 2007 found that the members of one company’s women’s network feared it might actually damage their career prospects because at the time, it was ridiculed by male colleagues as a forum for “male-bashing” and exchanging recipes. </p>
<p><strong>3. Dubious labelling</strong></p>
<p>The promotional placement of the pink breast cancer awareness ribbon by brands with products containing known carcinogens or other arguably risky ingredients is an example of this third kind of gender washing. There are examples involving <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0891243214540991?casa_token=dqmpBlAII48AAAAA%3A5JsfDEKId7AeXO38mGCyQhEjfpOrEHbz0UjdPvV4obekV7Y9SwMkV_ph_HpwraxPS684OhKm-br8">makeup</a>, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.13035?casa_token=o0KFdzhtj4cAAAAA%3ALae1SGdaHxKGOFJLRfSbP54SJ1MJbKoIDZUsIATvk4uN_Yev0OXNqtGI4x1W9ZGMxpCqZyDEjdCFVQ">alcoholic drinks</a> and even <a href="https://nca.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0033563032000160981?casa_token=PohNuVZfFXcAAAAA:wF0QhHKQjQnrYsPYDEO1aM8AcafVEytoksKjfONbNaRUAA0_QZHq3m-BP4JYu6wip1ujv8rlmrSd#.YMCIHPnduUk">pesticides</a>.</p>
<p>The pink ribbon can also gender wash the objectification of women. For example, US bar chain Hooters has built its entire brand around waitresses with voluptuous breasts and skimpy clothing. In the company logo, the two Os are replaced by the eyes of an owl, symbolising breasts to be stared at, wide-eyed. Yet, once a year for breast cancer awareness month, the eyes are replaced by pink ribbons as Hooters invites customers to “give a hoot” for breast cancer awareness. Staring is thus rebranded as caring.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"914649676187439104"}"></div></p>
<p><strong>4. Useful partnerships</strong></p>
<p>One way in which a corporation’s image could be gender-washed is to associate with a feminist, women’s or girls’ organisation through funding or some other assistance. The corporation gets to place its logo on the organisation’s marketing materials, potentially distracting from practices elsewhere. </p>
<p>For example, Dove has partnered with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts on a <a href="https://free-being-me.com/downloads/">teaching resource</a> aimed at helping girls to question dominant beauty standards that damage their self-esteem. This is despite the beauty industry - of which Dove is part - <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/528849">perpetuating those standards</a> to sell products.</p>
<p><strong>5. Voluntary codes</strong></p>
<p>When rights abuses emerge in global supply chains – often most affecting female workers in the global south – there are often demands for tighter regulation of corporate behaviour. One way for corporations <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20097949?casa_token=gcBe12TotnkAAAAA%3A6rIR07PA5rkuCE5U80VB0p6ZAOZOaIDycef6zjTJTlz52HbjeswM1n64hRwienr7SoLnpBqk0TlNOiihqLVWg0Ph25Omg-n4DLnW8OyYzp3W6huPBNo&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">to respond</a> and potentially deflect such demands is by creating voluntary codes of practice. Their very voluntariness is presented by corporations as evidence of a commitment to empowering workers – particularly women.</p>
<p>Voluntary codes rarely lead to meaningful improvements. For example, when the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed in 2013, over 1,000 garment factory workers died, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-018-3798-1">some 80%</a> of them women. In the aftermath, the voluntary Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety was established and <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/our-commitment-to-the-workers-of-bangladesh">promoted by</a> western retailers such as Walmart as improving safety and empowering female factory workers. Yet crucially, there were no <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-018-4080-2">legally binding commitments</a> to prevent another disaster, and the alliance was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/31/rana-plaza-bangladesh-collapse-fashion-working-conditions">later criticised</a> by activists and researchers for not improving conditions quickly enough.</p>
<p><strong>6. Changing the narrative</strong></p>
<p>Corporations can position themselves as global leaders on issues where they have previously been found wanting. For example in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Nike <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0021943610389752?casa_token=dVWU3tTcZ1EAAAAA:yvP7HaS5wP6xHUD19QyhYlB7BCBO1GmMNpa02N6DtRZYyQcfSE6wycw8-4JpQZ-LqrG1Ybnnb7R3">was dogged</a> by claims of child labour, sexual and physical abuse among workers at supplier factories, 90% of whom were female. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0021943610389752">Nike’s response</a> included establishing a division of corporate responsibility and setting up the Nike Foundation. One of the foundation’s flagship campaigns was the Girl Effect, launched in 2008 to persuade global elites to invest in girls’ education in the global south. </p>
<p>The campaign quickly went viral, and was soon partnering with the UK’s Department for International Development on programmes to empower girls in the global south. Nike had gone from a brand tarnished by accusations of child labour and exploitation to a trusted partner in international efforts to promote girls’ rights.</p>
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<p><strong>7. Reassuring branding</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.chiquita.com/">Chiquita Banana</a>, the famous logo of Chiquita Brands Corporation, might give shoppers in the global north the impression of buying their bananas from a happy, Latina market woman cheerfully selling her wares. </p>
<p>Yet feminist scholars <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=16kwDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=cynthia+enloe+bananas+beaches+bases&ots=1Oyi5OdiuL&sig=ijIFpEmVipKmlHAE_t56ey2keZs&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=cynthia%20enloe%20bananas%20beaches%20bases&f=false">have documented</a> the long history of Chiquita – formerly the United Fruit Company – exploiting women on banana plantations in Latin America and the Caribbean. This includes past cases of <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230289673_3">sexual harassment, discrimination</a>, exposure to harmful chemicals, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/jcorpciti.21.85?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">and violations</a> of childcare and maternity rights. </p>
<p>Does all of this matter? If corporations want to take up the cause of gender equality, is that so bad? It is true that some women and girls do find ways within gender washing campaigns to make gains, but we can’t lose sight of <a href="https://theconversation.com/feminism-washing-are-multinationals-really-empowering-women-120353">the bigger picture</a>. </p>
<p>If a corporation’s employment practices, supply chains or products are harmful to women and girls, and it sells more products thanks to gender washing, then this has increased the harm done. That is why it is so important to identify and call out forms of gender washing whenever we see them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162777/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosie Walters receives funding from the ESRC, and is a member of the Women's Equality Party. </span></em></p>How companies love to tell us all the great things they’re doing to help women.Rosie Walters, Lecturer in International Relations, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1607632021-05-19T19:55:46Z2021-05-19T19:55:46ZWage restraint aims to lift the lowest-earning public servants, but it won’t fix stubborn gender and ethnic pay gaps<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401509/original/file-20210519-23-x7i04c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C8%2C5400%2C3581&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pay is a perennial issue: this strike by teachers was in 2019 over a government pay offer. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It has been a confusing couple of weeks for public sector employees. They started with the government announcing what looked like a three-year <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/union-bosses-to-government-we-wont-take-public-pay-freeze-lying-down/YUCMH4IV4JYBX62S2474IKDTT4/">pay freeze</a> for public servants but ended up with a “<a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-sets-pay-and-workforce-expectations-public-sector">lift/adjust/hold</a>” approach to public sector pay. </p>
<p>Employees earning under NZ$60,000 a year can now expect a pay increase, while those earning more will see an adjustment only in “exceptional circumstances”, or not at all. </p>
<p>The government took the chill off its pay restraint policy by <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/05/unions-delighted-public-sector-pay-freeze-off-the-table-after-crisis-talks-with-government.html">agreeing</a> to index pay against the cost of living and to review the system after one year rather than three.</p>
<p>The stated aim of the policy is to improve the relative lot of the least well paid. But the furore over pay restraint has obscured the deeper problem of gender and ethnicity pay gaps in the public sector.</p>
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<h2>Women are still paid less</h2>
<p>In the background sits the government’s wider <a href="https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/assets/SSC-Site-Assets/Workforce-and-Talent-Management/Government-Workforce-Policy-Statement-on-employment-relations.pdf">Public Sector Workforce Policy</a>. This prioritises fair and equitable employment within a diverse workforce, while also calling for pay expectations and other increases to be balanced against the cost of the COVID response and recovery. </p>
<p>In an effort to tackle systemic <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/union-bosses-to-government-we-wont-take-public-pay-freeze-lying-down/YUCMH4IV4JYBX62S2474IKDTT4/">inequalities</a>, the policy aims to build on the gains so far to further reduce the <a href="https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU2102/S00353/maori-nurses-are-tired-of-waiting-for-equity.htm">gender and ethnic pay gaps</a>.</p>
<p>It’s true progress on those fronts has been made, but public service employment statistics – as a subset of <a href="https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/resources/what-is-the-public-sector/">public sector employment</a> – reveal some stubborn disparities. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nzs-second-well-being-budget-must-deliver-for-the-families-that-sacrificed-most-during-the-pandemic-160528">NZ's second 'Well-being Budget' must deliver for the families that sacrificed most during the pandemic</a>
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<p>As of 2020, women made up <a href="https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/our-work/workforce-data/female-representation-in-the-public-service/">61.7%</a> of public service employees, a record high. While the overall <a href="https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/our-work/workforce-data/pay-by-gender-and-ethnicity/">average annual salary</a> was $84,500, the average for men was $89,900 but $81,200 for women. </p>
<p>At 9.6%, this gap between what men and women earn is at its smallest since 2000. But this is complicated by the fact that gender pay gaps within the public service <a href="https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/our-work/workforce-data/public-service-gender-pay-gap/">vary greatly</a> due in large part to occupational segregation — meaning women are more likely to be working in lower-paid jobs.</p>
<h2>Pay rates still reflect ethnicity</h2>
<p>Similar dynamics are at work in the <a href="https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/our-work/workforce-data/pay-by-gender-and-ethnicity/">ethnic pay gap</a>. European public service employees are, on average, paid more than other ethnicities. </p>
<p>Only male Europeans exceed the average annual salary. European women, on average, earn just under that amount. The salaries of Māori, Asian and Pacific workers, on average, fall well short of the overall average annual salary. </p>
<p>The Māori pay gap (the difference between average pay for Māori and non-Māori employees) was 9.3% in 2020, a decrease from 9.9% in 2019. Similarly, the Pacific pay gap was 19.5%, a drop from 20.1% in 2020. Again, ethnic pay gaps are influenced by Māori, Pacific and Asian public servants being more likely to be working in lower-paid jobs.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nzs-public-sector-wage-freeze-ignores-the-lessons-of-history-160607">Why NZ’s public sector wage freeze ignores the lessons of history</a>
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<p>Compounding this, women within those <a href="https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/our-work/workforce-data/pay-by-gender-and-ethnicity/">ethnic groups</a> earn less, on average, than their male counterparts. Wāhine Māori earn more than Pacific men but less than European men and women, and Māori and Asian men. </p>
<p>Pacific women have the lowest average salaries in the public service, despite having had the largest increase in average salaries over the past year (5.6% or around $3,600). What we see here are gender and ethnic disparities working in combination.</p>
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<h2>Can discrimination be justified?</h2>
<p>Clearly, there is much to be done. But if we are going to talk about COVID response and recovery, pay restraints and inequality all in the same breath, we also need to include wage subsidy payments.</p>
<p>The bulk of those payments went to private sector <a href="https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/covid-19/who-received-the-wage-subsidy-and-wage-subsidy-extension.html">male employees</a>. Breaking the payments down by <a href="https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/covid-19/who-was-supported-by-the-wage-subsidy-and-extension-24-july-2020.pdf">ethnic group</a>, Asian workers were the highest recipients, European workers were second, with Pacific and Māori workers third and fourth respectively. </p>
<p>Ideally, then, public sector “pay restraint” needs to take the gender and ethnic make-up of the workforce into account. This is a tricky balancing act, underpinned by New Zealand employees’ right to be free from <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1990/0109/latest/DLM225519.html">discrimination</a> on grounds of <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1990/0109/latest/DLM225519.html">sex, race and ethnicity</a>, even where there is <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1990/0109/latest/DLM225519.html">no discriminatory intention</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-new-zealand-can-radically-reform-its-health-system-why-not-do-the-same-for-welfare-160247">If New Zealand can radically reform its health system, why not do the same for welfare?</a>
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<p>Unpalatable as it might be, the government could argue that any discriminatory fallout from pay restraint is <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1990/0109/latest/DLM225501.html">justifiable</a> or there is a <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0082/latest/DLM304657.html">good reason</a> for any unintentional discrimination, such as on the grounds of helping the COVID recovery. </p>
<p>Similarly, New Zealand’s international legal obligations under the prohibition of <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/4a60961f2.html">employment discrimination</a> require any justification for differential treatment to be reasonable and objective on the grounds it is:</p>
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<li>legitimate </li>
<li>compatible with the obligation to ensure women in particular are guaranteed equal pay for equal work</li>
<li>solely for the purpose of promoting the general welfare in a democratic society. </li>
</ul>
<p>The aim of the measure must be <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/4a60961f2.html">proportionate</a>, in a “clear and reasonable” way, to its effect. A country’s lack of <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/4a60961f2.html">available resources</a> is not an objective and reasonable justification unless every effort has been made to address and eliminate the discrimination as a matter of priority. </p>
<p>The immediate controversy over pay restraint may have passed but the question of inequality remains. Any pay increase for the public sector’s lowest-paid workers is to be welcomed, but it’s only a partial solution to the over-representation of <a href="https://www.hrc.co.nz/news/human-rights-commission-launches-inquiry-discriminatory-pacific-pay-gap/">women and ethnic minorities</a> in those roles.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160763/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I am a public sector employee</span></em></p>Existing gender and ethnic pay gaps in the public service complicate using wage restraint to improve the lot of the lowest paid.Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1585412021-04-20T14:35:52Z2021-04-20T14:35:52ZSouth Africa has failed to champion human rights in the world. But that’s changing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395260/original/file-20210415-19-98zopa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nelson Mandela, first president of a democratic South Africa, wanted human rights to guide the country's foreign policy. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hamish Blair/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The story of democratic South Africa and its approach to human rights in the rest of the world is a tale of woe. For two-and-a-half decades, its foreign policy mostly failed to defend internationally – and quite often contradicted – the human rights principles contained in its <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/images/a108-96.pdf">constitution</a>. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052702556.html">assessment</a> in the <em>Washington Post</em> more than a decade ago still rings true:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>South Africa remains an example of freedom while devaluing and undermining the freedom of others. It is the product of a conscience it does not display. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Why has South Africa behaved this way? </p>
<p>Surprisingly, it is not the case of the country feeling compelled to make common cause with African states, many of which <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2021-02/FIW2021_World_02252021_FINAL-web-upload.pdf">have poor rights records</a>, as is often claimed. In fact, many African states weaker than South Africa are more committed to international human rights. A 2018 <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/african-states-at-the-un-human-rights-council-in-2018/">report</a> on the voting records of the 13 African members of the UN Human Rights Council ranked South African eighth on this score in terms of international commitment to human rights.</p>
<p>A more convincing <a href="https://www.routledge.com/South-Africa-and-the-UN-Human-Rights-Council-The-Fate-of-the-Liberal-Order/Jordaan/p/book/9781138609945">explanation</a> of South Africa’s actions is that it sees the world in terms of a conflict between the West and the developing world. When this ‘anti-imperialist’ struggle and human rights conflict, the latter must be sacrificed. This has resulted in a foreign policy <em>The Economist</em> described as <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2015/09/03/clueless-and-immoral">‘clueless and immoral’</a>.</p>
<p>While the overall picture remains bleak, the good news is that there have recently been signs that South Africa is becoming more willing to stand up for human rights. Evidence for this comes from its <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/hrc/pages/sessions.aspx">recent final year</a> of a six-year term on the UN Human Rights Council.</p>
<h2>A disappointing record</h2>
<p>In 2006, the Human Rights Council <a href="https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N05/502/66/PDF/N0550266.pdf?OpenElement">replaced</a> the UN Commission on Human Rights. The commission had become, according to then secretary-general of the <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/kofi-annan">United Nations Kofi Annan</a>, so dysfunctional that it was damaging <a href="https://undocs.org/A/59/2005">the reputation of the entire UN</a>. The plan was that the council would retain the commission’s good parts and shed the bad. </p>
<p>It is hard to find proof that South Africa, during its 2006 to 2010 council membership, did anything to improve the new organisation. Rather, it voted to shield the <a href="https://undocs.org/A/HRC/4/7">rights-abusing regime</a> in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/PB_Darfur_Rice.pdf">genocidal one</a> in Sudan. It <a href="https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G09/144/09/PDF/G0914409.pdf?OpenElement">helped</a> the Sri Lankan government to evade international pressure to ensure accountability for war crimes committed during the final months of the country’s civil war. </p>
<p>South Africa tried to <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/13249393.pdf">curtail the independence</a> of the UN’s human rights investigators. It prominently attacked free speech by supporting the Islamic bloc’s demand that speech lacking in <a href="https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/sdpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/RES/4/9">“respect for religions and beliefs”</a> be made illegal under international human rights law.</p>
<p>When South Africa <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/Group2014.aspx">returned</a> to the Human Rights Council in 2014 for a tenure that ended in 2019, it often made common cause with the authoritarian regimes in China and Russia. Perhaps most shocking was when South Africa <a href="http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/regular-sessions/watch/ahrc25l.20-vote-item3-56th-meeting-25th-regular-session-human-rights-council/3403776345001">represented</a> these states in attacking a 2014 resolution on the right to peaceful protest.</p>
<p>On the council, South Africa often <a href="http://webtv.un.org/watch/ahrc32l.2rev.1-vote-item3-41st-meeting-32nd-regular-session-of-human-rights-council/5009164455001">invokes</a> its democratic constitution and history. Yet, in a <a href="https://www.routledge.com/South-Africa-and-the-UN-Human-Rights-Council-The-Fate-of-the-Liberal-Order/Jordaan/p/book/9781138609945">recent book</a> and in <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/african-states-at-the-un-human-rights-council-in-2018/">reports</a> for the South African Institute of International Affairs, I show that apart from a vote for a <a href="https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G16/083/21/PDF/G1608321.pdf?OpenElement">2016 resolution</a> on human rights defenders and <a href="https://undocs.org/A/HRC/27/2">two votes</a> against hostile amendments on a <a href="https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G14/179/53/PDF/G1417953.pdf?OpenElement">2014 resolution</a> on civil society, South Africa not once, out of more than 100 such votes, voted to support human rights related to the democratic process.</p>
<h2>Rights violations in specific countries</h2>
<p>The Human Rights Council is notorious for singling out Israel. Frequent resolutions criticise Israel and support incisive investigations into its violations <a href="https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/RES/40/23">against Palestinians</a>, its <a href="https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/RES/40/24">settlement-building</a> in occupied Palestinian territory or its <a href="https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/RES/S-2/1">international aggression</a>. South Africa has backed council resolutions on Israel without fail.</p>
<p>While South Africa has been willing to support hamstrung country-specific investigations, such as the African Group’s 2017 <a href="https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/RES/36/2">resolution on Burundi</a>, it either <a href="https://www.universal-rights.org/country-voting-history-portal/country/?country=South_Africa">abstains or votes against</a> resolutions that authorise incisive investigations into the human rights problems of countries other than Israel. </p>
<h2>A welcome change</h2>
<p>In 2019, however, an improvement became detectable. South Africa, for the first time ever, supported imposing Human Rights Council investigations on countries that did not want them, Israel excluded.</p>
<p>It backed two resolutions on <a href="https://undocs.org/A/HRC/RES/40/29">Myanmar</a>, both of which urged criminal prosecution of alleged perpetrators of human rights <a href="https://undocs.org/A/HRC/RES/42/3">crimes</a>. Then, after an abstention on a similar <a href="https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G18/296/70/PDF/G1829670.pdf?OpenElement">resolution in 2018</a>, it supported extending an <a href="https://undocs.org/A/HRC/RES/42/2">investigation</a> into human rights violations related to the Yemeni Civil War.</p>
<p>South Africa’s actions regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, an issue on which it has been inconsistent, offer further proof of change. In March 2011, it <a href="https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/16/L.27">tabled a resolution</a> to confine discussion of sexual orientation throughout the UN to a committee that would meet for only 10 days a year. </p>
<p>Opponents of LGBTI rights <a href="https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3336&context=soss_research">did not want to discuss </a> sexual orientation. Proponents of LGBTI rights <a href="https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3336&context=soss_research">wanted to discuss</a> worldwide violence and discrimination against LGBTI people. Isolated, <a href="https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3336&context=soss_research">South Africa withdrew </a> its draft resolution.</p>
<p>Three months later, South Africa went from skunk to saviour when it led the council to adopt the first ever <a href="https://undocs.org/A/HRC/RES/17/19">UN resolution</a> on sexual orientation. But the glow faded as the country, weighed down by African opposition and its own confusion, failed to lead on the issue.</p>
<p>As patience with South Africa ran out, Latin American states took over and in 2014 sponsored a new sexual orientation resolution. South Africa and others successfully <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lesterfeder/lgbt-rights-resolution-passes-united-nations-human-rights-co#.hyzp1aQ7R">lobbied to weaken the text</a>. </p>
<p>In 2016, Latin America tabled a follow-up resolution. South Africa <a href="http://webtv.un.org/watch/ahrc32l.2rev.1-vote-item3-41st-meeting-32nd-regular-session-of-human-rights-council/5009164455001">denounced</a> the resolution’s sponsors for being arrogant, reckless, confrontational, divisive and causing acrimony. More importantly, it refused to support a resolution authorising reports on violence and discrimination against LGBTI people for the subsequent three years.</p>
<p>But in 2019, the country came in from the cold. It wholeheartedly supported Latin America’s <a href="https://undocs.org/A/HRC/RES/41/18">resolution</a> asking for three more years of reporting on the persecution of LGBTI persons. It <a href="https://ilga.org/downloads/RenewIESOGI_report.pdf">countered numerous attempts</a> to distort or weaken the text.</p>
<h2>Uncertain future</h2>
<p>In recent decades, South Africa has continued to find creative ways to disappoint those who share its former president Nelson Mandela’s belief that human rights should <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/south-africa/1993-12-01/south-africas-future-foreign-policy">be a light that guides</a> the country’s foreign affairs. </p>
<p>It is too soon to become optimistic, but some of South Africa’s recent actions on the Human Rights Council are small but significant breaks from a dismal past.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158541/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eduard Jordaan has received funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa.</span></em></p>South Africa frequently invokes its celebrated constitution that is based on human rights, but has often failed to live up to its ideals.Eduard Jordaan, Associate Professor of Politics, Rhodes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.