A paper examined gender equality within European institutions and the European Parliament. It said that the rise in female participation had been slow but substantial over the previous two decades, but representation in the most influential positions remained low. The report said that major improvements were unlikely unless stricter measures were enacted, and it called on the European Union to take action and to consider the need to use more quota-based measures.
Source: Vilde Renman and Caroline Conroy, Advances in EU Gender Equality: Missing the mark?, European Policy Institutes Network
Links: Paper
Date: 2014-Sep
A report examined progress in the promotion of gender equality in public research, and discussed the variety of policies across 31 European countries.
Source: Anke Lipinsky, Gender Equality Policies in Public Research, European Commission
Links: Report | European Commission press release
Date: 2014-Sep
A paper provided a gender analysis of the working and employment conditions of older workers (aged 50 and over) in European countries.
Source: Patricia Vendramin and Gerard Valenduc, A Gender Perspective on Older Workers' Employment and Working Conditions, European Trade Union Institute
Links: Paper | ETUI press release
Date: 2014-Sep
A special issue of a journal examined gender and educational achievement, presenting papers from across Europe that utilized a range of methodological approaches from different disciplinary backgrounds.
Source: Educational Research, Volume 56 Number 2
Links: Table of contents
Notes: Articles included:
Ruth Watts, 'Females in science: a contradictory concept?'
Gabrielle Ivinson, 'How gender became sex: mapping the gendered effects of sex-group categorisation onto pedagogy, policy and practice'
Birgit Spinath, Christine Eckert, and Ricarda Steinmayr, 'Gender differences in school success: what are the roles of students' intelligence, personality and motivation?'
Date: 2014-May
A report brought together the core findings from a series of six short statistical reports about the reconciliation of work, private, and family life in Europe. It said that the work had highlighted large gender disparities in employment situations between parents and non-parents, with lower employment levels, fewer work hours, and more underemployment among mothers in many western European countries, as compared with women without children and men with or without children. The work had also found persistent inequality among social groups, that certain groups such as single parents were more vulnerable to the challenges of work-life balance, and that long-standing social and cultural norms played a role in perpetuating gender inequality in employment. The report said that there were large differences between European Union member states in levels of, and support for, employment, and that, although the situation varied between countries, childcare and cultural norms regarding children were still important factors in employment decisions. The report concluded that there had not generally been a move away from the 'male breadwinner' model, and said that the findings illustrated the importance of recognizing the heterogeneity among groups (of women, men, parents, or non-parents), the importance of considering gender roles and cultural norms, and a need for work-life reconciliation policies targeting vulnerable groups. The supporting work was published as a series of annexes, alongside this report.
Source: Melinda Mills, Flavia Tsang, Patrick Prag, Kai Ruggeri, Celine Miani, and Stijn Hoorens, Gender Equality in the Workforce: Reconciling work, private and family life in Europe – final report, RAND Europe
Links: Report
Annex 1: Melinda Mills, Patrick Prag, Flavia Tsang, Katia Begall, James Derbyshire, Laura Kohle, Celine Miani, and Stijn Hoorens, Use of Childcare Services in the EU Member States and Progress Towards the Barcelona Targets: Short Statistical Report No. 1, RAND Europe
Links: Report
Annex 2: Celine Miani and Stijn Hoorens, Parents at Work: Men and women participating in the labour force – Short Statistical Report No. 2, RAND Europe
Links: Report
Annex 3: Kai Ruggeri and Chloe Bird, Single Parents and Employment in Europe: Short Statistical Report No. 3, RAND Europe
Links: Report
Annex 4: Melinda Mills and Patrick Prag, Gender Inequalities in the School-to-Work Transition in Europe: Short Statistical Report No. 4, RAND Europe
Links: Report
Annex 5: Flavia Tsang, Michael Rendall, Charlene Rohr, and Stijn Hoorens, Emerging Trends in Earnings Structures of Couples in Europe: Short Statistical Report No. 5, RAND Europe
Links: Report
Annex 6: Patrick Prag and Melinda Mills, Family-Related Working Schedule Flexibility across Europe: Short Statistical Report No. 6, RAND Europe
Links: Report
Date: 2014-May
A paper examined age-related gender pay differentials and wage returns associated with flexible employment (temporary and part-time jobs) in Europe. It said that there was no consistent pattern of age-specific wage returns from flexible forms of employment, but some differences were seen between Western and Eastern European countries.
Source: Iga Magda and Monika Potoczna, Does Flexible Employment Pay? European evidence on the wage perspectives of female workers, Working Paper 16.3, NEUJOBS
Links: Paper
Date: 2014-Apr
A paper examined to what extent European welfare states supported an individual adult worker model, and how existing policy should be assessed in terms of gender equality.
Source: Janneke Plantenga, Searching for Welfare, Work and Gender Equality, Working Paper 59, WWWforEurope
Links: Paper
Date: 2014-Apr
The Council of Europe published its gender equality strategy. The strategy had five objectives: to combat gender stereotypes and sexism; to prevent and combat violence against women; to guarantee equal access to justice; to achieve balance in the participation of women and men in political and public decision-making; and to achieve gender mainstreaming in all policies and measures.
Source: Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy 2014-2017, Council of Europe
Links: Strategy
Date: 2014-Mar
An article examined the gender wage gap across European countries. The size of the gender wage gap varied considerably, and most of the gap could not be explained by the data available. But country policies and institutions were related to features of their unexplained gender wage gaps in systematic, quantitatively important, ways.
Source: Louis Christofides, Alexandros Polycarpou, and Konstantinos Vrachimis, 'Gender wage gaps, "sticky floors" and "glass ceilings" in Europe', Labour Economics, Volume 21
Links: Abstract
Date: 2014-Feb
A special issue of a journal examined the unintended gender consequences of European Union policies. Despite gender mainstreaming and other policy tools designed to encourage gender neutrality in all policy areas, the EU continued to enact and enforce legislation that had the potential to challenge the integrity of the European gender project.
Source: Women's Studies International Forum, Volume 39
Links: Table of contents
Notes: Articles included:
Heather MacRae, '(Re-)gendering integration: unintentional and unanticipated gender outcomes of European Union policy'
Ania Zbyszewska, 'The European Union Working Time Directive: securing minimum standards, with gendered consequences'
Gill Allwood, 'Gender mainstreaming and policy coherence for development: unintended gender consequences and EU policy'
Date: 2014-Feb
