The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (28 of 2002) (MPRDA) and the accompanied Broad-based Socio-economic Empowerment Charter aimed to rectify previous inequalities and disadvantages in the mining sector and specifically provide for the inclusion of women in core mining activities. According to the Act and the Charter, the mining industry was supposed to reach a quota of 10% women in core mining activities by 2009. The amendment of the Broad-based Socio-economic Empowerment Charter for the South African Mining and Minerals Industry (launched in 2010) set further requirements in terms of employment equity targets; the Charter requires a 40% historically disadvantaged South African representation in core and critical skills by 2015. Although well intended, the establishment of gender equality in the male-dominant mining sector remains one of the biggest equity challenges in the country and numerous problems accompany the deployment of women in core mining activities. Against this background, the main objective of the study was to critically analyse gender issues in the mining sector and to subsequently develop a conceptual framework that will enable the mining sector to contribute to and ensure the sustainable employment of women in the mining sector. A literature review was done, firstly to provide an understanding of persistent inequalities in society and the workplace, and secondly to gain an in-depth understanding of the variables that have an impact on women in the world of work in general and in the mining sector specifically. An empirical study was conducted to determine and investigate relevant gender-related issues in the mining sector. Quantitative (questionnaires) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and direct observation) research paradigms were used. From the literature review as well as the empirical study, it is evident that the deployment of women in core positions is still accompanied by various challenges, not only for managers but also for male co-workers as well as the women themselves. Although the numbers of women in the South African mining industry have risen, there is still a long way to go to successfully and sustainably ensure women‟s participation in the industry. Through the literature study and the empirical research, it became clear that various factors need to be considered for the successful and sustainable deployment of women in the mining sector. The study concludes by making recommendations and offering a conceptual framework, with the main pillars being company policies, workplace opportunities, infrastructure facilities, physical ability, health and safety and workplace relations. This framework can be implemented and used by various stakeholders in the mining sector to contribute to the successful and sustainable deployment of women in the mining sector. / PhD (Sociology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The promotion of education has long been a priority of the successive regimes of Ethiopia. Combined with the momentum of Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in recent years Ethiopia’s education sector has experienced a major expansion of primary school enrolment which has earned Ethiopia international acclaim and so much optimism in meeting the MDGs set for 2015. Despite this, however, large numbers of primary school aged children remain out of school, most of these are found in rural areas and many of them are girls. Many of the children that enrol do not stay on to complete the full cycle of their primary schooling. While there are numerous studies looking at rural children’s schooling, village-based ethnographic studies are rare, particularly in Ethiopia. The thesis offers a sociological insight as to why low enrolment and incompletion persist in rural areas. Drawing on an ethnographic approach study over extended period this thesis presents analysis of data from two local communities. Methodologically the analysis are anchored on the voices of the children, their parents and teachers and make a valuable contribution in emphasising not only the importance of bringing local people’s own voices into the debate, but also drawing attention to the ways voice may be utilised and calling for greater sensitivity to the way it is interpreted in scholarly and policy circles. Theoretically, the study shows the value of applying Bourdieu’s approach to social reproduction in analysing the challenges faced by rural children in completing primary school. Time spent with children, their families and their teachers suggests reproduction of educational inequality at all levels (home, school, community). While these are certainly important, this thesis argues that more attention needs to be paid to the social context in which children and their schooling are embedded. It suggests the challenges in schooling rural children are not simply explained either by the quantity of primary schools available, or a lack of value being accorded to education, or deliberate acts of discrimination (e.g. against girls). Rather, it has argued that discriminatory outcomes, or the reproduction of social inequality, have to be understood as the outcome of social practice, where ‘choices’ are made in circumstances of considerable constraint. Furthermore, it has shown that these patterns of social reproduction are as characteristic of teachers and the field of the school as they are of parents and children and the field of home and community. Rather than the school operating as an external change agent, as imagined in much of the education literature, the school is very much part of the local social context. The application of policies and the social practice of staff are significantly marked by their positionality within the communities which they serve.

This dissertation explores the mechanisms of the increasing female crime in China from the effect of the one-child policy, which is treated herein as a natural experiment. Data reveal that the women’s share of documented crime dramatically increased after the mid-1990s when the first one-child generation reached the age of legal responsibility. This change reflects the interplay of the behavioral change and the net-widening effect. The increasing criminality of the one-child generation is attributable to the gap between the equal gender expectations of the individual, which has been reshaped by the unique socialization practices under the influence of the policy, and a stubbornly unequal gender hierarchy in the society. As a result, the one-child-generation women who disproportionately suffer the resulting strains are more likely to become involved in property and occupational crime as the alternative means to fulfill their aspirations for economic success. Additionally, the effect of the policy affects not only the individual gender roles of the only children but also their peers who have siblings through the intermediary of a culture shift. Therefore, the policy has changed the behavior of a whole new generation through the process of socialization and the lag in the structural change. The net-widening effect is another pathway of the unequal gender structure and ideologies to the increasing female crime. Moral panic associated with the emergence of diverse forms of female offenses lead to an inordinate degree of adverse attention focused upon the one-child-generation women by criminal justice professionals. The increased criminalization of sexuality brought an increasing number of the one-child-generation women into conflict with the law, usually for prostituting themselves for easy money to fulfill their material satisfaction. Consequently, the one-child-generation female offenders are perceived as “doubly deviant” from the law and from the socially prescribed ideology of gender and are, therefore, punished more harshly than before by the criminal justice system. This dissertation not only explores an understudied country in criminological research but also seeks to apply the findings to a broad sphere to explain the increasing female crime that has been observed worldwide. It disentangles the theoretical controversy in explaining the increase in the share of crime committed by women in general by embedding the argument in a multidimensional gender role repertoire.

Human trafficking crime is rising globally at an alarming rate, and Vietnam is one of the nations with the highest prevalence of trafficking female victims for forced sex services and forced marriages. This study explored human trafficking awareness in remote communities of central Vietnam and the factors for young girls dropping out of school for work at an early age. The study also investigated the link between gender inequality and the child labor problem in these communities. There is no extant empirical research pertaining to human trafficking awareness in the remote communities of central Vietnam. This research fills this gap and highlights the importance of awareness strategies to combat human trafficking. Gender inequality, human motivation theory, vulnerability, and victimology provided theoretical constructs to explain the findings of this research study. The data collection process was conducted through semistructured face-to-face interviews with 19 villagers, mothers of the child labor victims, teachers, human services workers, members of the Vietnam Women's Union, and village leaders in the research sites. The coding technique was used for the data analysis process. Participants had (a) little knowledge about human trafficking crime; (b) no awareness of the ramifications; and (c) the effects of a culture of gender inequality on the lives of people in the remote communities of central Vietnam. Findings of this study have implications for assisting policy makers and law enforcement officials and offer guidance that may help to protect people in the communities and bring offenders to justice. The findings also encourage the Vietnamese government to bridge the gender inequality divide so that young girls in these remote communities can achieve an equal voice and equal justice that they deserve.

This thesis consists of four empirical studies on women and men in European labour markets. Study I examines effects of the sex of the immediate supervisor on the time men and women spend in initial on-the-job training (OJT) in Sweden. The results show that men receive longer initial OJT than women do, but men’s time in training is independent of the supervisor’s sex. For women in the private sector, the chances of receiving long initial OJT are higher if the immediate supervisor is a man. Study II analyses effects of labour market institutions on the quality of part-time work by comparing the skills and autonomy of female part-time jobs in Britain and Sweden. The results show that female part-time employees in Sweden hold positions of higher skill and have more autonomy compared to their equivalents in Britain. Both British and Swedish part-time employees face relative disadvantages when compared to female full-time workers. Study III examines associations between maternal employment policies and wage penalties for mothers by skill in 10 European countries. The results indicate that, net of variation in female labour force participation, extensive publicly funded childcare is associated with a modest decrease in the motherhood wage penalty, regardless of skill. By contrast, paid maternity leave is weakly associated with a larger motherhood wage gap in less skilled jobs only. Study IV examines the extent to which women’s opportunities to attain positions of high workplace authority are related to maternal employment policies, such as paid parental leave and part-time work. Based on data from 25 European countries, the results show that a high proportion of women working long part-time hours is associated with a wider gender gap in the attainment of high authority positions, to the disadvantage of women. However, paid parental leave appears to be unrelated to the gender authority gap. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2: In press. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.

Within the sample of Muslim-majority countries, the links between how explicitly "Islamic" a society is, the status of women, and economic and other societal outcomes is explored. A country is considered more or less "Islamic" depending upon if Islam is the official state religion, if Islamic law forms a basis for the legal system, and the degree to which the country has rejected or maintained traditional Islamic norms such as regarding the acceptance of polygamy and the legal obligation of women to wear the veil in public. It is found that if a country is more "Islamic," it tends to also have worse outcomes along different dimensions, such as degree of authoritarianism and absence of women's rights. However, focusing exclusively on whether the country has Islamic law as a basis of the legal system, these countries tend to be richer. An extremity index is composed, which contains only variables which describe the status of women in Muslim countries, along educational and legal dimensions. It is found in regressions that this extremity index is a statistically significant predictor of economic growth, where higher extremity leads to lower GDP growth rates. Oil is still an extremely important factor in explaining the variation in GDP levels and growth rates in the Muslim world.

Viešojo sektoriaus ekonomikos magistro baigiamojo darbo tema yra aktuali, kadangi lyčių aspekto integravimas į biudžetą – viena iš aukštos ekonominės galios garantijų. Įstatymų leidyba yra nepakankama priemonė užkirsti kelią lyčių nelygybei, kuri yra stipriai įsišaknijusi mūsų visuomenėje ir kurią palaiko stereotipinis požiūris į vyrų ir moterų vaidmenis. Pagrindinė problema, kuriai skiriamas šis darbas: biudžetas – vienas svarbiausių įrankių įgyvendinant politikų priimtus sprendimus, o nuomonė, jog jis yra ir turėtų būti neutralus lytims, klaidinga ir, žiūrint iš valstybės ekonomikos augimo bei šalies gerovės perspektyvos, per brangiai kainuojanti visuomenei. Tyrimo objektas – lyčiai jautrus biudžetas, kuris gali patobulinti lyčių analizę valstybės biudžeto ir išteklių paskirstymo plotmėje. Lyčių aspekto integravimas į biudžetą – tai procesas, kurio metu nagrinėjamas valstybės biudžetas, siekiant nustatyti, ar jis įvertina skirtingus socialinius vyrų ir moterų vaidmenis, ir siūlomi pakeitimai faktinės lyčių lygybės įgyvendinimui. Darbo tikslas – įrodyti lyčių aspekto svarbą, formuojant valstybės biudžetą. Šiuo metu biudžeto skirstymas Lietuvoje neatsižvelgia į lytis, taip tik didindamas nelygybę tarp moterų ir vyrų. Numatytam darbo tikslui pasiekti keliami uždaviniai: 1. pateikti užsienio šalių ir Lietuvos analizę lyčių lygybės kontekste; 2. pagrįsti lyčiai jautraus biudžeto diegimo Lietuvoje būtinybę; 3. ištirti Lietuvos moterų itaką bendrajam vidaus produktui; 4... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The final Master‘s work topic in Public Sector Economics is relevant since gender mainstreaming in the budget – is one of guarantees of high economic power. Legislation is insufficient to prevent gender inequality, which is deeply rooted in our society and supports the stereotypical approach to men's and women's roles. The main problem in this work: budget – one of the most important tools in implementing the decisions taken by politicians, that is way the opinion that it is and should be gender-neutral is false and, from a state of economic growth and the country's welfare perspective, costs a lot to society. The research subject is gender-sensitive budget, which may improve the gender analysis of the state budget in the context of resource allocation. The integration of gender aspect in the budget is a process when the the state budget is being considered, in order to determine whether it evaluates different social roles of men and women, and modifications are being suggested in order to implement the actual gender equality. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the importance of gender aspect, when the state budget is being formed. Currently, the allotment of budget in Lithuania does not consider gender, hereby inequality between women and men increases. To achieve the higher mentioned aim the tasks are put in: 1. to lay the analysis of foreign countries and Lithuania in the context of gender equality; 2. to justify the necessity of gender-sensitive budget in Lithuania... [to full text]

Though successively decreasing over time, gender wage gaps are still large in all western countries. When gender wage gaps exist, there is an unequal distribution of economic power between men and women. This paper examines variables that significantly relate to the differences in the size of the gender wage gap across Swedish municipalities. With data gathered from Statistics Sweden and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency for the year 2011, a series of OLS regressions are performed. By examining what variables are statistically related to variations in the gender wage gap over municipalities, for example, average wage, human capital, gender segregation and work absence, the aim is to further contribute to the field of gender economics. The results in this paper show that the gender wage gap exists in all 290 Swedish municipalities. It varies greatly with women earning only 56 percent of men’s wages in Danderyd to women earning 87 percent of men’s wages in Haparanda. In municipalities where average wages are high the gender wage gap is large. Long-term illness and lowered capacity to work are strong factors negatively affecting the gender wage gap. In municipalities where women are more affected by long-term illness and lowered capacity to work than men the gender wage gap is larger. Furthermore, there is a significant relation between the gender wage gap and human capital. The gender wage gap is larger in municipalities where a large share of the population has a higher education.

Bakgrund: Tidigare studier belyser hur jämställdhet inte blir till verkliga handlingar i organisationer. Vi konstaterar i denna studie att chefer är aktörer för verkställandet av jämställdhet till reella handlingar till följd av att det finns lagkrav på arbetsgivare att arbeta för att främja jämställdhet. Det som görs beträffande jämställdhet av chefer i organisationer idag kan förklaras som ojämställt därför undersöker denna studie; hinder, utmaningar och möjligheter i chefers verkställande av jämställdhet, vilket mynnar ut i följande problemformulering: Vilka hinder, utmaningar och möjligheter upplever chefer i sitt lagstadgade arbete med att verkställa och göra jämställdhet? Syfte: Denna studie syftar till att genom ett aktörs- och verksamhetsnära perspektiv, undersöka chefers lagstadgade arbete i att verkställa jämställdhet samt vilka hinder och utmaningar jämställdhetsarbete består av, genom tre feministiska teoribildningar presenterade av Kanter, Butler och Cavarero samt vad jämställdhetsarbete definieras som. Metod: Studien har genomförts med kvalitativ metod genom sex intervjuer med sju informanter i skilda branscher i Västra Götalandsregionen. Empiriska resultat och tolkning: Trots varierande förutsättningar i de olika branscherna studien undersöker, förekommer gemensamma karaktärsdrag. Informanterna i studien lägger vikt vid att strukturer i organisationen bör skapa jämställda möjligheter i karriären för såväl kvinnor som män. Samtliga informanterna anser att en jämn könsfördelning berikar arbetsgruppen genom att utöka med flera perspektiv. Ledarskapet är av stor vikt vid verkställandet av jämställdhet. Slutsatser: Hinder och utmaningar för jämställdhet utgörs av såväl strukturella- som könsbarriärer. Ett relationellt och individanpassat ledarskap öppnar upp för möjligheter av jämställdhet. / Background: Earlier studies illustrate how gender equality does not become real acts in organizations. We note in this study that executives are actors of the implementation of gender equality into real actions as a result of the legal requirements for employers to work to promote gender equality. What is being done about gender equality by managers in organizations today can be explained as gender inequality, hence this study examines; obstacles, challenges and opportunities in managers' implementation of gender equality, which emerges in the following problem formulation: What obstacles, challenges and opportunities do executives experience in their statutory work on implementing and equality? Purpose: This study aims at investigating the legislative work of managers in implementing gender equality and the obstacles and challenges of gender equality work through three feminist theories presented by Kanter, Butler and Cavarero, as well as what gender equality work is defined as. Method: The study has been conducted with qualitative method through six interviews with seven informants in different industries in the region of Västra Götaland, Sweden. Empirical results and interpretation: Despite the varied conditions in the different industries the study examines, there are common characteristics. The informants in the study emphasize that structures in the organization should create equal opportunities in the career of both women and men. All informants believe that an even gender structure enriches the working group by expanding with several perspectives. Leadership is of great importance in the implementation of gender equality. Conclusions: Obstacles and challenges for gender equality consist of both structural and gender barriers. Relational and individualized leadership opens for opportunities for gender equality.

Syftet med denna kvantitativa studie var att kartlägga förekomsten av mäns kollektiva skuld gentemot kvinnor i arbetslivet och dess eventuella samvarians med mäns attityd till könsbaserad ojämlikhet på arbetsplatsen. Även skillnader i kollektiv skuld och attityd till könsbaserad ojämlikhet mellan unga (18–41 år) och äldre (42–65 år) män undersöktes. En enkät delades ut till manliga anställda på ett internationellt telekombolag. Enkäten bestod av frågor översatta från Branscombe Collective Guilt Scale (BCGS) som mätte grad av kollektiv skuld samt frågor från Men´s Polarized Gender Thinking Questionnaire (MPGQ) som mätte mäns attityd till könsbaserad ojämlikhet på arbetsplatsen. Resultatet visade att kollektiv skuld hos män förekommer. En signifikant korrelation uppmättes mellan MPGQ och BCGS. Unga män rapporterade signifikant högre grad av kollektiv skuld jämfört med äldre män. Ingen signifikant skillnad uppmättes i attityd mellan grupperna. Denna studie belyser förekomsten av kollektiv skuld, dess koppling till attityd samt ålders inverkan på kollektiv skuld. / The purpose of this study was to examine the occurrence of collective guilt among men against women in working life and its possible correlation with men's attitude towards gender-based inequality at the workplace. Differences in collective guilt and attitude towards gender-based inequality between young (18-41 years) and elder (42-65 years) men was studied. A survey was distributed to an international telecom company. The survey was based on the Branscombe Colletive Guilt Scale (BCGS) which measured the level of collective guilt and the Men´s Polarized Gender Thinking Questionnaire (MPGQ) which measured men's attitude towards gender-based inequality in the workplace. The result demonstrated that collective guilt in men occurred. A significant correlation was measured between MPGQ and BCGS. Young men reported significantly higher levels of collective guilt compared to older men. This study illustrates the existence of collective guilt, its link to attitude, as well as the age's impact on collective guilt.