The Social World has Two Sexes: The Social World has Two Sexes: Incorporating Gender Issues in Incorporating Gender Issues in

ResearchResearch

Juliet Webster

Work and Equality Research

22 Northchurch Terrace, London N1 4EG, UK

Tel: + 44 20 72 49 25 04

WER@debeauvoir.co.uk

Why try to address gender issues?Why try to address gender issues?

Gender remains one of the main dimensions of inequality and social division in European societies

Persistent gender inequality is neither socially acceptable nor socially sustainable

It is a major objective of the EU to abolish gender discrimination

Conceptualising gender: Conceptualising gender: going beyond “women’s issues”going beyond “women’s issues”

The social - not the biological - characteristics of and relations between the two sexes

A series of socially ascribed and therefore contingent aspects of social life

The development and identity of the two sexes in relation to each other

Conceptualising genderConceptualising genderSandra Harding (1986): Individual gender Symbolic gender Division of labour by gender

3 levels of gender - Yvonne Hirdmann (1988): Cultural level - meanings of male and female Institutional level - conceptions of gender in societal

institutions Individual level - conceptions which regulate

interactions between individuals

‘‘Gender’ in European policyGender’ in European policy

Equal opportunities is a substantive policy issue which stands in its own right

Gender structures, relations and inequalities are present in all social arrangements. Gender is therefore a “horizontal” issue which is relevant to several other policy domains

The Relevance of Gender for a The Relevance of Gender for a Range of Social Policy Domains Range of Social Policy Domains

Gender

Labour Markets

Employment

Education & Training

Working Time

Family

Welfare

Public Services

Science & Technology

Knowledge Society

Gender-aware researchGender-aware research

Conceptual frameworks - recognising gender in framing research questions, using gender perspectives

Empirical methods - including gender in methodological design

Analysis - addressing the gender dimensions of findings

Policy conclusions - considering the implications for gender and for the equal opportunities project

What about gender-free issues?What about gender-free issues?

Are there topics which do not lend themselves to a gender analysis?

Is there a danger of ‘imposing’ gender on an analysis where it is not relevant?

At what level of analysis does gender become relevant?

How to avoid the risk of being ‘gender-blind’

““Women constitute half the Women constitute half the world’s population, perform world’s population, perform nearly two-thirds of its work nearly two-thirds of its work

hours, receive one-tenth of the hours, receive one-tenth of the world’s income and own less world’s income and own less

than one-hundredth of the than one-hundredth of the world’s property”.world’s property”.

(United Nations, 1980)(United Nations, 1980)