Special Issue "Moving toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sandra L. Hanson
E-Mail Website
Chief Guest Editor
Department of Sociology, Catholic University, Washington, DC 20064, USA
Interests: gender inequality in education and occupation systems; gender inequality in STEM; intersection of gender and race/ethnicity inequality; cross-national comparisons of inequalities; quantitative methods
Dr. Enrique S. Pumar
E-Mail Website
Chief Guest Editor
Department of Sociology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053, USA
Interests: economic sociology; international migration; urban sociology; sociology of development; comparative historical sociology; Latino/Hispanic populations and societies

Special Issue Information

Sustainability requires ending discrimination based on gender and providing equal opportunities for education and employment. For this Special Issue we invite original research papers on the topic of “Moving Toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems” from a wide range of perspectives, disciplines, methodologies, and countries. We encourage original research papers that examine the effects of gender structures but also provide initiatives to reverse gender inequalities and promote sustainability.

Dear Colleagues,

The open access journal Sustainability (ISSN2071-1050) is pleased to announce its plan to publish a Special Issue on “Moving toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems.” Sustainability involves meeting our needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. For sustainability to occur we need natural resources, but also human, social and economic capital. It involves programs, initiatives and actions aimed at the preservation of these resources and draws on politics, economics, philosophy and other social sciences and the hard sciences. This is the time for global action.

The United Nations has adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building on the principle of “leaving no one behind”, the new Agenda emphasizes a holistic approach to achieving sustainable development for all. One of the main Sustainable Development Goals set out in the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda is to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” Additionally, gender equality is a relevant factor in all 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Inclusive sustainable development can be realized only when all human rights – including gender equality – are protected, respected, and fulfilled.

There is considerable evidence that gender equality has not been fully achieved in education and occupation systems in the U.S. or elsewhere. Gender inequality often intersects with other inequalities involving, for example, race/ethnicity, age, social class, and religion. These inequalities are problematic in that gender equality is critical for achieving the principle of inclusion in sustainability. A movement toward equality in education and occupation systems will advance sustainable development on a wide scope including promoting economic growth, reducing poverty, moving toward food security and resilience to disasters as well as creating communities that are more peaceful and inclusive.

Although there is gender inequality across areas of education and occupations, some of the greatest inequality is in the STEM fields. Considering how applied sciences promise to resolve some of our more pressing development issues today, gender equality in this field is vital to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Many women are held back from advancing in STEM by biases and norms that are built into educational and occupational structures. This is the case in spite of the considerable contributions that women scientists have made both historically and currently.

In sum, sustainability requires ending discrimination and exclusion based on gender and providing equal opportunities for education and employment. For this Special Issue we invite original research papers on the topic of “Moving Toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems” from a wide range of perspectives, disciplines, methodologies, and countries. We encourage original research papers that examine the effects of gender structures but also provide initiatives to reverse gender inequalities and promote sustainability.

Dr. Sandra L. Hanson
Dr. Enrique S. Pumar
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website. Page limit: 30 pages (including the bibliography/references and any appendixes).

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainability
  • gender
  • education
  • occupations
  • structures
  • inequality

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Gender, Family and Caregiving Leave, and Advancement in Academic Science: Effects across the Life Course
Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6820; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126820 - 24 Jun 2021
Viewed by 561
Abstract
Family and caregiving leave are increasingly important dimensions for careers in academic science, and for vital, sustainable institutional structures. These forms of leave are intended to support equity, and particularly gender equity. A key question is how the actual use of leave affects [...] Read more.
Family and caregiving leave are increasingly important dimensions for careers in academic science, and for vital, sustainable institutional structures. These forms of leave are intended to support equity, and particularly gender equity. A key question is how the actual use of leave affects critical milestones of advancement for women—compared to men—in (1) time to tenure and (2) the odds of promotion to full professor. We address this question with descriptive statistics and event history analyses, based on responses to a survey of 3688 US faculty members in 4 scientific fields within a range of Carnegie institutional types. We find that leave that stops the tenure clock extends time to tenure for both men and women—the effect is gender neutral. Promotion to full professor is another matter. Being a woman has a strong negative effect on the likelihood of promotion to full professor, and women are especially disadvantaged in promotion when they used tenure leave years earlier. These findings have implications for a life-course perspective on gender and advancement in academic science, the roles of caretaking and leave, and the intended and unintended consequences of leave policies for equitable and sustainable university systems. Full article
Article
Perception and Preference for Home-Based Telework in the COVID-19 Era: A Gender-Based Analysis in Hanoi, Vietnam
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3179; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063179 - 14 Mar 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1113
Abstract
The rapid and widespread of COVID-19 has caused severe multifaceted effects on society but differently in women and men, thereby preventing the achievement of gender equality (the 5th sustainable development goal of the United Nations). This study, using data of 355 teleworkers collected [...] Read more.
The rapid and widespread of COVID-19 has caused severe multifaceted effects on society but differently in women and men, thereby preventing the achievement of gender equality (the 5th sustainable development goal of the United Nations). This study, using data of 355 teleworkers collected in Hanoi (Vietnam) during the first social distancing period, aims at exploring how (dis)similar factors associated with the perception and the preference for more home-based telework (HBT) for male teleworkers versus female peers are. The findings show that 56% of female teleworkers compared to 45% of male counterparts had a positive perception of HBT within the social distancing period and 63% of women desired to telework more in comparison with 39% of men post-COVID-19. Work-related factors were associated with the male perception while family-related factors influenced the female perception. There is a difference in the effects of the same variables (age and children in the household) on the perception and the preference for HBT for females. For women, HBT would be considered a solution post-COVID-19 to solve the burden existing pre-COVID-19 and increasing in COVID-19. Considering gender inequality is necessary for the government and authorities to lessen the adverse effects of COVID-19 on the lives of citizens, especially female ones, in developing countries. Full article
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