Gender Equality and Restless Sleep Among Partnered Europeans

Sleep is situated in the work–family nexus and can be shaped by national norms promoting gender equality. The authors tested this proposition using individual data from the European Social Survey matched to a country‐level measure of gender equality. In individual‐level models, women's sleep was more troubled by the presence of children in the home and partners' unemployment, whereas men's restless sleep was associated with their own unemployment and worries about household finances. In country‐level models, the authors find that in nations that empower women and elevate their status, men and women alike report sounder sleep, and the gender gap in restless sleep is significantly reduced among those living in gender‐equal countries. This study adds to the understanding of gender differences in sleep quality and provides new evidence on the importance of the national context in shaping the pattern of gender inequality in the domestic sphere.     

Framing Gender Equality in the European Union Political Discourse

In the last decade, the European Union (EU) approach to genderequality has broadened to new concepts, such as gender mainstreaming,and new issues, such as "family policies", "domestic violence",and "gender inequality in politics". However, the frame analysisof policy documents in these new areas shows, first, that eachissue has developed its own particular features, and, secondly,that the broadening of the EU-political discourse on genderequality has not led to a deeper framing of the issues in termsof gender equality. The lack of EU competence in these areas,the status of the policy documents, and differences in the actorshaving a voice and being referred to in the documents are proposedas possible explanations for its framing.     

Rescaling Gender Relations: The Influence of European Directives on the German Gender Regime

During the 1960s–1990s, a gradual yet definite shift inthe organization of gender politics in the European Union (EU)and member states has become apparent. This shift began withthe implementation of the early gender directives of the 1970sand has since evolved to include a partial "rescaling" of policy-makingfrom national to transnational spaces and a gradual redefinitionof gender regimes and policies at the national level. As a result,gender policy cannot be viewed as either predominantly transnationalor national but arises through interaction of multiple and coexistingpolicy spaces. In this article, I use a multiscalar analysisto highlight this complex interaction. I draw on (West) Germanyas a specific case study to offer a historical analysis of theimplementation of the early European gender directives and themanner in which these developments have contributed to the redirectionof the German gender regime and the emergence of a new "hybridregime."     

为了男女平等理想

Gender equality is closely related to the customs and social development of a country. Given the different cultures between East and West, gender issues vary from one nation to another. The advancement of gender equality, whether in developed or developing countries, also differs from one nation to another.     

Volunteer Behavior and Factors that Influence Volunteering Among Residents in Continuing Care Retirement Communities

The purpose of this survey was to explore volunteer preferences, perceived benefits and barriers, and the factors that influence volunteering among older adults living in a continuing care retirement community. This was a single group, one-time survey completed via a face-to-face interview. The sample included 127 older adults who were eligible and completed the survey. The majority were women (78%) and White (98%), with an average age of 88.0 (SD = 6.5) years. Engagement in volunteer activities ranged from 0 to 7, with a mean of .94 (SD = 1.30). Just under half (47%) of the participants were engaged in volunteer work, with the majority (87%) volunteering within the facility. Perceived benefits and barriers to volunteering were described. Chronic illness, age, time spent exercising, and resilience accounted for 25% of the variance in volunteer activity. Those who had fewer chronic illnesses, were younger, spent more time exercising, and were more resilient were more likely to volunteer. Findings from this study suggest that there are advantages to offering volunteer activities within senior living facilities. Ongoing study is needed to develop and implement successful facility-specific volunteer programs.     

老年家庭照顾者的照料负担及支持体系研究

文章探讨在当前我国社会化养老初级阶段,家庭在老年照料中的不可替代角色及家庭照顾者的重要作用。借助于问卷调查收集数据资料,分析被照顾老年人的基本特征,探析作为主要照料者的家庭成员的照料负担、照料内容、希望得到的支持与帮助;并探寻从经济支持、替代性照顾服务、心理支持、培训服务等方面构建以家庭照顾者需求为导向的支持体系。     

Substitute or Complement? Spousal Influence on Volunteering

Social scientists have documented the influence of family statuses on volunteering, ignoring intrafamily effects. Using newly issued data from the Current Population Survey on the volunteer behavior of 19,626 American couples, we test two competing theories concerning spousal influences on volunteering. Substitution theory predicts that spouses will trade off volunteer work; complementarity theory predicts that spouses’ volunteer work is positively linked. Using structural equation methods to control for simultaneity bias, we find support for the complementarity theory. The wife’s influence, however, is stronger than the husband’s. Spousal influence is stronger if both spouses volunteer in the same domain. The findings underline the importance of close relationships in mobilizing volunteer workers.     

Elderly Volunteering in Europe: The Relationship Between Volunteering and Quality of Life Depends on Volunteering Rates

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This paper investigates the effect of volunteering on quality of life (QoL) in 50+ populations across European countries...     

The Construction of Gender Among Working-Class Cohabiting Couples

Utilizing three typologies that emerged from the data, we examine how 30 working-class cohabiting couples construct gender through paid and domestic labor. Contesting couples contain at least one partner, usually the woman, who attempts to construct more egalitarian arrangements. In Conventional and Counter-Conventional couples, neither partner is actively contesting their gendered arrangements. Among Conventional couples each partner adheres to a traditional division of labor. Normative gender arrangements are upended in Contesting and Counter-Conventional couples when the female partner resists financial dependence on her male partner or if or the male partner does not earn enough income to provide even for himself. Nevertheless, institutionalized gender roles appear deeply entrenched among the working-class cohabitors in this study.     

Gender Mainstreaming: An Assessment of Its Conceptual Value for Gender Equality

Evaluations of gender mainstreaming show that there has been limited change to gender equality and it has been very fragmented across EU countries. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to evaluate the heuristic and conceptual value of the term gender mainstreaming as a metaphor for gender equality. Our results from applying an image‐schematic model of metaphor evaluation show that gender mainstreaming represents a nonsensical metaphor for gender equality. We conclude with recommendations for reconceptualizing gender mainstreaming.     

The Enduring Influence of Parent's Voluntary Involvement on Their Children's Volunteering in Later Life

This study investigates the effect of parent's voluntary involvement on their children's volunteering in later life, and examines the degree to which this effect persists across older age cohorts. To accomplish this, we make use of retrospective questions from the 2010 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating that ask respondents about their experiences in their school‐age years. The results show that parental voluntary involvement is positively related to adult voluntary participation, and that the effect of parental voluntary involvement on later volunteerism appears to persist well into adulthood. The implications of these findings for volunteering in Canada are discussed. Cette étude examine l'effet de la participation bénévole des parents sur le bénévolat de leurs enfants plus tard durante leur vie et la mesure dans laquelle cet effet persiste dans les cohortes plus âgées. À cette fin, nous faisons appel à des questions rétrospectives de l'Enquête canadienne sur le don, le bénévolat et la participation de 2010 qui pose aux répondants des questions sur leurs expériences durant leurs années d'âge scolaire. Les résultats montrent que la participation volontaire des parents est positivement liée à la participation volontaire des adultes et que l'effet de la participation bénévole des parents sur le bénévolat de leurs enfants plus tard dans leur vie semble persister durant leur âge adulte. Les implications de ces résultats pour le bénévolat au Canada sont discutées.     

The Influences of Religious Attitudes on Volunteering

Religiosity has long been known to promote volunteering in the US and elsewhere. Despite the growing body of research examining religious correlates of volunteering, however, few studies have focused on whether and how religious attitudes affect volunteering. With data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS II), 2004?C2006, we examine the influences of religious attitudes, namely, the religiously based feelings of exclusiveness and inclusiveness, and openness to other religious faiths, on volunteering. We find that while religious exclusiveness significantly promotes volunteering only in religious areas, religious inclusiveness promotes both religious and secular volunteering. Moreover, those who are open to other religious faiths are more likely to engage in both types of volunteer work. Implications of these findings are discussed for future research linking religious attitudes to volunteering.     

Exploring the Influence of Gender on Managerial Work in a Transitional, Eastern European Nation

Prior studies of women in management have beenconducted primarily from a Western, industrialized, andAnglo-American perspective. Therefore, their findingsmay not apply to other sociopolitical domains, such as those in transition to market-basedeconomies. This study surveyed Hungarian managers at twodifferent organizational ranks and employed in threedifferent sectors of the economy. Contrary to the gender-centered hypothesis,managers' gender did not influence their work-relatedbeliefs, values, or attitudes. However, as suggested bythe situational hypothesis, the variables of rank and sector had a strong effect onoutcomes.     

西安市建立妇女儿童发展研究基地

The Xi＇an （capital of Northwest China＇s Shaanxi Province） Women＇s Federation and Xi＇an Academy of Social Sciences recently hosted, in the academy, a conference to mark the founding of the Xi＇an Research Base of Women and Children＇s Development. More than 60 people -- including leaders of the federation and academy, liaison persons of the member units of the working committee on children and women under the municipal government, directors of the offices of the working committees on children and women under the governments of various districts and counties, and scholars dedicated to studying wolnen and children＇s development -- attended.     

Gender Equality as Institutional Work: The Case of the Church of Sweden

Institutional theory predicts that organizations respond to external changes in their environment to be able to safeguard their long‐term viability. One of the most significant institutional changes in the last century has been the entry of women into both labour markets and professions; however, an extensive literature reports that gender inequality and various forms of sexism still structure and influence the everyday work of organizations. Drawing on the recent literature on institutional work, the article reports on a study of how the Church of Sweden has managed to relatively successfully institutionalize female ministers as legitimate and widely respected members of the professional category of ministers ordained by the Church. Female ministers believe they are, by and large, respected in the Church, but suggest that gender remains an issue as women are at times expected to embody certain interests and have to answer some questions that their male colleagues may have been spared. The findings describe institutional work as an ongoing process with no fixed end‐point, stressing agency as the distributed and collective capacity to question established beliefs and norms.     

Parental Responsibilities: Dilemmas of Measurement and Gender Equality

Over the past half‐century, enormous changes have occurred in gendered divisions of housework and child care across many countries, with a growing consensus that there is a slow but steady pace of change in gendered divisions of time and tasks but one that is combined with a puzzling persistence of gender differences in parental caregiving responsibilities. Rooted in a 14‐year qualitative and ethnographic research program that focuses mainly on breadwinning mothers and fathers who self‐identify as stay‐at‐home or primary caregivers and guided by genealogical and relational sociological approaches, the author argues that the concept of parental responsibility requires greater attention and that its theorization and conceptualization have critical implications for if and how it can be measured, the methodological approaches that might be used to assess it, and the conceptual fit between parental responsibilities and gender equality.     

Gender,Equality and the Culture of Organizational Assessment

In spite of years of equal opportunities legislation and guidelines, a marked gender imbalance at the apex of organizational career structures persists (Carrier 1995). The predominant liberal model of equal opportunities (EO) seeks to alleviate sex-discrimination through advocating gender-neutral or ‘same’ treatment (Meehan and Sevenhuisjen 1991; Gatens 1991; Bock and James 1992). However, the present study suggests that ostensibly gender-neutral organizational practices may exclude characteristics, values and concerns more typically associated with women. This paper draws on a study of gender in selection to corporate management and raises questions about whether and how characteristics, values, goals and concerns which have been perceived as ‘female’ or ‘feminine’ may be excluded from ostensibly gender-neutral equality practices. Findings suggest that EO theory and practice need to move beyond limited either/or debates around ‘equality’ and ‘difference’. In order to do so, it may also be necessary to challenge dichotomous thinking about gender which currently informs much of that debate. In order to facilitate the development and progress of women in organizations it is not enough for EO initiatives to treat gender as a category of difference that can be overcome through superficial changes, for example in interview procedures, which merely seek to exclude issues perceived as gendered. Instead, a longer agenda for equality must move beyond the debate about women’s ‘sameness’ or ‘difference’ from men to include a deeper understanding of the gendered nature of organizational positions, structures and practices.     

Equality Machineries Matter: The Impact of Women's Political Pressure on European Social-Care Policies

This study examines the impact of feminist pressure and EuropeanUnion (EU) policies on national policy changes, such as theintroduction or extension of public childcare provision, parentalleave, and part-time work legislation. We compared six countrieson the basis of Qualitative Comparative Analysis and found thatwomen's political pressure, especially through national equalitymachinery, is a prerequisite for the emergence and extensionof social-care policies. Sequence analysis showed that nationalmachineries are crucial in translating EU measures into nationalpolicies.     

从“男主外女主内”到两性平等

随着中国社会进入全面转型期,中国的女性也正面临着自身的角色转变,传统的“男主外,女主内”的家庭模式正在被逐步打破。