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

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 25838

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sandra L. Hanson

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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 (9 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 174 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

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

by Sandra L. Hanson and Enrique S. Pumar

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1868; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031868 - 07 Feb 2022

Viewed by 1238

Abstract

This book comprises a Special Issue in the Sustainability Journal on “Moving toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Moving toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

11 pages, 379 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Differential Attainment Rate among Latina Students: A Comparative Analysis of Recent Trends in Educational Achievements across Gender between 2005 and 2020

by Enrique S. Pumar

Sustainability 2021, 13(23), 13399; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313399 - 03 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1685

Abstract

Grounded on educational achievement data between 2005 and 2020 from the Digest of Educational Statistics, this paper makes the point that despite considerable academic achievements, Latinas continue to underperform when compared to women of other races and ethnicities while concurrently outscoring Latinos. When differential attainment rates are disaggregated among co-ethnics Latinas, there is enough evidence to suggest that national development and quality of life, particularly the rate of women’s participation in secondary schooling, condition the association between ethnicity, gender, and educational achievement. Besides contributing to the literature and methodology of transition rates, the research supports the advocacy for more inclusive and equitable educational attainment announced in Sustainable Development Goal 4 and it suggests that more attention should be paid to how transnationalism affects education. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Moving toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems)

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16 pages, 1478 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Gender, Educational Attainment, and Job Quality in Germany, Sweden, and the UK: Evidence from the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey

by Yi-Jung Wu, Xiaojie Xu and Jingying He

Sustainability 2021, 13(23), 13139; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313139 - 27 Nov 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2387

Abstract

This research aims to explore the relationships between gender, educational attainment, and job quality, including work autonomy, work intensity, and job satisfaction across Germany, Sweden, and the UK. The European Working Conditions Survey 2015 was used to achieve this research objective. Descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analysis were used to determine how educational level plays an important role in creating gender differences in job quality across three countries. The findings show that receiving postsecondary education can improve work autonomy for both German and Swedish women. However, postsecondary education has different impacts on gender gaps in job quality in these countries. While postsecondary education lowers the gender gap in work autonomy and intensity in Sweden, postsecondary education increases the gender gap in work autonomy and intensity in Germany. Postsecondary education does not significantly decrease gender differences in job satisfaction in Germany or Sweden or any of our job quality measures in the UK. These findings challenge the commonly held belief that higher education has a positive effect on job quality. In fact, gender norms and national institutional factors may also play important roles in this relationship. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Moving toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems)

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15 pages, 268 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Gender and Educational Inequalities during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Preliminary Insights from Poland

by Małgorzata Krywult-Albańska and Łukasz Albański

Sustainability 2021, 13(22), 12403; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212403 - 10 Nov 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3130

Abstract

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has had a profound impact on many spheres of social life across the world. One of them has been the deepening of social inequalities and the aggravating of discrimination based on gender. Emerging studies in the field of education and occupation systems point to the fact that women seem to have been particularly affected, along with layoffs in those sectors of the economy where female staffs prevail. Additionally, in many countries, the burden of combining professional careers and supporting the education of young children falls disproportionately on mothers. These transformations pose a challenge to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, wherein gender equality is an important factor. This article uses official statistical data to examine gender and educational structures during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland, set against the backdrop of other European nations and analyzed in the context of sustainability. Have educational and gender inequalities been exacerbated as data from other countries suggest? In order to answer this question, the article traces changes in the education system in Poland and their implications for gender structures. The latter have also been affected by transformations on the labor market in various sectors of the economy, therefore, the second part of the analysis focuses on the labor market changes during the pandemic. The final section offers conclusions on the implications of the pandemic for the studied issues. Throughout the article, we apply the principles of unobtrusive research. Following the theoretical framework outlined in the first part of the paper, we carry out a descriptive analysis of existing statistical data collected by the Eurostat. These official statistics are supplemented by an overview of public opinion polls to allow for perspectives on structural changes, as they are perceived by those affected by them. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Moving toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems)

12 pages, 1305 KiB

Open AccessArticle

by Aleida Cobas-Valdés and Javier Fernández-Macho

Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 12004; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132112004 - 29 Oct 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1430

Abstract

Female participation in the labor market has been increasing over time. Despite the fact that the level of education among women has also increased considerably, the wage gap has not narrowed to the same extent. This dichotomy presents an important challenge that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with respect to gender inequities must address. Hispanics constitute the largest minority group in the US, totaling 60.6 million people (18.5% of the total US population in 2020). Cubans make up the third largest group of Hispanic immigrants in the US, representing 5% of workers. This paper analyzes the conditional income distribution of Cuban immigrants in the US using the clustering of effects curves (CEC) technique in a quantile regression coefficients modeling (QRCM) framework to compare the transferability of human capital between women and men. The method uses a flexible quantile regression approach and hierarchical clustering to model the effect of covariates (such as years of education, English proficiency, US citizenship status, and age at time of migration) on hourly earnings. The main conclusion drawn from the QRCM estimations was that being a woman had the strongest negative impact on earnings and was associated with lower wages in all quantiles of the distribution. CEC analysis suggested that educational attainment was included in different clusters for the two groups, which may have indicated that education did not play the same role for men and women in income distribution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Moving toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems)

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19 pages, 317 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Obstacles to Sustaining Diversity: Historical Context and Current Experiences of Underrepresented Minority Women and Men in Sociology and Economics

by Roberta M. Spalter-Roth

Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 11858; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111858 - 27 Oct 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1699

Abstract

White men predominate in the top ranks of the professorate, but recent efforts have attempted to decrease inequality and increase diversity in the academy by hiring more faculty, especially women of color. Have equality and diversity efforts worked or has negative departmental climate limited efforts to make diversity sustainable? Despite the long history of and many contributions by women of color (URC) as public intellectuals, activists, and founders of organizations to promote Blacks and Latino/a people, we find that much of their work is still marginalized and is not viewed as legitimate science. This treatment may lessen the ability to increase equality and sustain diversity in academic institutions. The paper tests whether URC women scholars are still experiencing inequalities in comparison to their male peers of color in two disciplines, that of sociology and economics. We include these two disciplines because of similarities in origin and of topics. First, we hypothesize that women of color have significantly more negative experiences in sociology and economics departments than do men of color, when other conditions are held constant. Second, we hypothesize that structural conditions, are related to experiential outcomes for these scholars. Third, we hypothesize that participation in minority-oriented organizations improves women of color’s experiences. Fourth, we hypothesize that interacting gender with participation in minority-oriented organizations, significantly improves women of color’s situation. The study results show that women of color continue to experience greater problems of access, marginality, inclusion, and harassment in sociology and economics departments. The sustainable development goals of achieving gender equality and increase educational opportunities cannot be achieve without addressing these inequities and inclusion issues. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Moving toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems)

16 pages, 285 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainability of Regional Factors on the Gendered Division of Housework in China

by Chenghua Guan and Ling Zuo

Sustainability 2021, 13(19), 10656; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910656 - 25 Sep 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1901

Abstract

In China’s labor market, the traditional patterns of “male breadwinners, female housewives” have been changing noticeably, whereas such patterns remain unchanged in the household production field. This phenomenon greatly affects gender equality and social sustainability. Until now, most of the studies have focused on the attribution of micro-factors (e.g., individual income, education level, and time availability) to the formation of this pattern. However, the effect of macro-region factors (e.g., the regional economic development, population composition, employment, and gender norms) on the distribution of housework have been rarely studied. In this study, the data from the China General Social Survey (2015CGSS) and the China Genuine Progress Indicator Survey (2017CGPiS) of Beijing Normal University were comprehensively analyzed. On that basis, a gender norms index was first constructed to measure regional differences in gender concepts. Moreover, this study, by considering macro-region-varying factors, suggested that the synergetic effect between all of the mentioned factors could significantly impact the distribution of housework, especially in eastern China. Nevertheless, in western China, the effect of male gender norms on the distribution of housework is significantly more serious than that of female gender norms, which inspires the authors of this study to strengthen the male’s family consciousness education. All of the mentioned findings could help formulate region-differentiated policies and strategies to achieve more reasonably and sustainably distributed housework in China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Moving toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems)

19 pages, 295 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Gender, Family and Caregiving Leave, and Advancement in Academic Science: Effects across the Life Course

by Mary Frank Fox and Monica Gaughan

Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6820; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126820 - 24 Jun 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2806

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 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

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Moving toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems)

16 pages, 451 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Perception and Preference for Home-Based Telework in the COVID-19 Era: A Gender-Based Analysis in Hanoi, Vietnam

by Minh Hieu Nguyen and Jimmy Armoogum

Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3179; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063179 - 14 Mar 2021

Cited by 47 | Viewed by 6248

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 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

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Moving toward Sustainability: Rethinking Gender Structures in Education and Occupation Systems)

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