Gender Inequality in a Comparative Perspective
Abstract
A sustainable participation in society for both men and women is a pressing challenge. Despite dramatic changes, gender inequality persists. Women are underrepresented in management, assume most domestic responsibilities, have higher poverty rates, are as engaged as men in voluntary associations but belong to different types of associations, and are more deeply embedded in informal social networks. These ‘gender gaps’ differ between countries, for example, between welfare regimes. However, we lack sufficient knowledge about which societal factors at the macro and meso level -cultural, economic, political institutions - influence lives of men and women and how they do so. EQUALITY is an innovative research project that aims to increase understanding of the persistent gender inequality at different levels and in different spheres of life in Europe and the US.
Overall aims
To integrate sociological, demographic, and economic insights to increase understanding of the persistent inequality between men and women in Europe and the US; and to investigate the different, sometimes contradictory, effects of the societal contexts on different dimensions of gender inequality, i.e., market success, division of household tasks, poverty, and civic engagement;
To unravel relevant societal contexts, including gender culture, policy and economic indicators;
To increase understanding of the direct, indirect, and interaction effects of societal contexts in relation to individual-level gender inequality;
To apply innovative multi-level modelling to increase understanding of gender in society;
To expand knowledge of conditions for achieving sustainable, equal participation of men and women.
EQUALITY has a website.
Project Leader:
Professor Tanja van der Lippe, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Principal Investigators:
Dr Ineke Maas, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Professor Judith Treas, University of California, Irvine, United States
Professor Sonja Drobnic, University of Hamburg, Germany
Dr Eva Fodor, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
