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In recent years, a proliferation of research has supported the "business case" for diversity, in which scholars collect empirical data to demonstrate a relationship between the demographics of employees and organizational financial performance. However, the business case is only one way—and, we argue, the wrong way—of valuing the presence of women in business. In this manuscript, we focus on gender lens impact investing to interrogate the epistemic assumptions underlying the business case for diversity, and suggest that these assumptions have the potential to strengthen the very power structures that have historically excluded and marginalized many women. We then present an alternative: an intersectional theory of gender diversity. We argue that intersectionality requires diversity initiatives in organizations to include both the recognition of the interactions of multiple forms of identity and marginalization and as well as the goal of dismantling the structures and practices that contribute to marginalization. This approach can be adapted to a range of organizational and industry contexts, and it will need to be thoughtfully applied in order to be effective in promoting gender equitable workplaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the first to examine experiences of women with leadership roles in the U.K. Higher Education sport sector. We carried out detailed interviews with women leaders. We utilized Bourdieu's model of habitus, capital, and field; Acker's concept of "gendered organizations;" and Shilling's concept of physical capital. Our findings show Higher Education operates more inclusively than the wider sport sector, which has the potential to advance gender equality. However, gendered practices remain with women working harder to accumulate and convert capital. Motherhood negatively impacts conversion of capital and respondents without children felt this benefitted their career. Finally, we discuss the impact of menopause on the careers of women and suggest this can impact self-perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trickle‐down effect has been proposed as one means to address women's continued underrepresentation in leadership positions globally. While earlier research supported the trickle‐down effect's prediction that increasing women's representation at higher managerial levels will positively impact women's careers at lower managerial levels, recent studies provide inconsistent evidence, leading to claims that it may be spurious. Due to data limitation, most prior trickle‐down research has explored just two managerial levels—board and executives—making it difficult to separate a trickle‐down effect from external pressures (e.g., shareholders, law) or internal factors (e.g., organizational culture) that may cause it. Furthermore, prior research does not adequately account for women's representation in managerial pipelines, a crucial source of potential managerial talent. To address these concerns, we analyze Australian workplace panel data (2014–2020) that allow for a more robust test of the trickle‐down effect than previously examined. Our results support the trickle‐down effect across multiple managerial levels below the board level, independent of managerial pipeline effects. The trickle‐down and pipeline effects were only observed for positions immediately above and below each managerial level. This highlights the proximity of positions within management hierarchies where the in‐group preference and women's direct advocacy for other women are most likely to occur. Our study suggests that simply appointing more women to top positions, such as boards, while beneficial, is not enough to address gender inequality in management meaningfully. We recommend that rather than focusing on gender representation at the top, organizations should set gender diversity goals and monitor progress at all managerial levels. We conclude with implications for theory, practice, and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how investments in automation affect the gender pay gap. The evidence of the effects of automation on the labor market is growing; however, little is known about the implications of automation for the gender pay gap. The data used in this paper are from a matched employer–employee dataset incorporating detailed information on firms, their imports, and employee–level data for Estonian manufacturing and service employers for the period of 2006–2018. Through the use of the imports of automation goods as a proxy for the introduction of automation at the firm level, this paper estimates the effect of automation using simple Mincerian wage equations. The causality of the effect is further validated using propensity score matching (PSM). We find that introducing automation enlarges the gender pay gap, and PSM confirms that this also has a higher causal effect on the wages of male employees than female employees. The results imply that a higher representation of women in higher-paid positions does not guarantee a reduction in the gender pay gap in the presence of automation, and appropriate measures in education and retraining are needed to tackle the effect of automation on gender inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent market growth in women's sport has happened as fans increasingly support brands that embrace social issues, suggesting that women's sport houses multiple logics (financial and social) that may be compatible. The purpose of this study is to explore employees' perspectives of the logics in women's sport and how these influence their workplace experiences. Using a case study design, we interviewed 15 women's sport employees. We observed that they navigate both financial and social logics, which they see as compatible. This understanding of a complementary relationship has both behavioral (e.g., collaboration) and emotional (e.g., collective anxiety) consequences for employees. Notably, collective anxiety is simultaneously associated with negative effects and positive coping mechanisms, demonstrating its complexity in shaping individuals' actions. This research advances understanding of how employees respond to multiple logics and the effects of this process. Insights from this study can help women's sport managers better support workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gendered experiences of women working in sports media have been the subject of growing research, particularly in the United States, but cases are emerging in other contexts. This paper examines the strategies used by seven women working in sports media in the United Kingdom and Ireland to deal with undesirable audience interactions, both online and in person. With emotional labor as an overarching framework, semistructured interviews interviews were conducted and reflexive thematic analysis was used to construct two themes: internal and external responses. The study reveals the additional self-regulated emotional burden carried by women working in sports media and the strategies used to cope. Women in sports media publicly downplay their mistreatment and have not yet embraced the reporting of gendered practices in the workplace. The findings contribute to a growing body of literature that sheds light on the experiences of women in sports media and offer insights for women working in the industry and their employers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first decade of the twentieth century, very few of London’s women workers were organized in trade unions. In contemporary discourse, female labourers appear alternately as bad workers, ‘natural blacklegs,’ ‘masculine,’ and immodest. Women union leaders sought to resolve these discursive tensions between work and femininity by framing collective action as a collaborative project defined by sisterhood. This article interrogates their efforts by examining the discourse of sisterhood in the trade journal, the Woman Worker. It demonstrates that outsid observers defined working-class women’s lives in terms of misery and poverty as well as female camaraderie and solidarity. Industrial women workers, on the other hand, imagined more expansive worlds for themselves and their families. Their published stories and their actions depict a range of affective experiences, from joy and desire to frustration, disappointment, and ambivalence. By highlighting the female labourer, this article recentres emotions, workers’ subjectivity, and women’s individual stories in historical narratives about gender, work, and Britain’s early labour movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research to date suggests that physical activity (PA) can buffer menopausal symptoms and support well-being, but there is limited evidence on the link between PA and menopausal symptoms in the United Kingdom, and no study has assessed how PA affects well-being through menopausal symptoms and three psychosomatic factors (i.e. depression, anxiety and stress). Objectives: This study investigated whether PA affects well-being through menopausal symptoms and psychosomatic factors. This study focuses on how PA influences working women with menopause. Design: A cross-sectional design based on the STROBE (i.e. Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) checklist was adopted. Methods: The participants were 324 working women in England. An online self-reported questionnaire was utilised to gather data through Qualtrics. The data were analysed with path analysis through structural equation modelling, and sensitivity analyses were performed to avoid or reduce statistical bias. Results: PA had a negative effect on menopausal symptoms (β = −0.21; p < 0.001) but a positive effect on well-being (β = 0.19; p < 0.001). Menopausal symptoms had a negative indirect effect on well-being, but PA had a positive indirect effect on well-being through menopausal symptoms and the three psychosomatic factors. Conclusion: PA was positively associated with well-being but negatively associated with menopausal symptoms. Menopausal symptoms may lower well-being through anxiety, depression and stress, but PA can be associated with better well-being through depression, anxiety and stress. Plain language summary: The influence of physical activity on well-being through menopausal symptoms, depression, anxiety, and stress Why was the study done? Studies have assessed the potential influence of physical activity on menopausal symptoms among women, but no study in the United Kingdom has examined this relationship. Although the positive effect of physical activity on well-being is well researched and documented, no study has explored how it is mediated by menopausal symptoms and psychosomatic factors (i.e. stress, anxiety, and depression). Evaluation of this potential mediation is needed to improve stakeholders' understanding of the best ways to manage menopause at work. What did the researchers do? The researchers designed an online survey and used Qualtrics to distribute it among 324 working women with menopause in England. They used the appropriate statistical analysis technique to ascertain how the effect of physical activity on well-being is mediated by menopausal symptoms and the psychosomatic factors. What did the researchers find? Women who reported higher physical activity experienced fewer menopausal symptoms. Women with higher physical activity reported better well-being through fewer menopausal symptoms and lower stress, anxiety, and depression. Physical activity may help to improve well-being among working menopausal women by lowering menopausal symptoms, stress, anxiety, and depression. What do the findings mean? Working women can maintain well-being and experience less menopausal symptoms, stress, anxiety, and depression if they participate in physical activities. Organizations can manage menopause by rolling out workplace programmes encouraging employees to regularly participate in physical activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Vietnam garment factories are increasingly moving to rural areas, encouraged by government incentives and labour shortages. Many factories predominantly employ women, and in this article we examine the experiences of 12 women working at a factory in their home village in northern Vietnam. Factory work, because it is in the formal sector, has made visible to the women's families and their communities that they are 'workers', in contrast to the invisibility of domestic and family agriculture work. Taking an empowerment approach to frame this study, we argue that their new financial resources and visibility as workers led them to challenge gendered roles in their households in important ways, including around financial decision-making and the distribution of domestic work. They also felt their status within the community was elevated. However, our findings show that empowerment is conditional, incremental and constrained by patriarchal familial dynamics and gendered societal scripts. As with elsewhere, the tensions between factory work as a form of empowerment and as a form of exploitation are inherently linked, and women's gendered identities shape the ways factory owners are able to create a cheaper factory workforce in rural Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a Saudi woman living in times of rapid socioeconomic transformation, working in a low-paid job may feel both obligatory and shameful. This paper argues that Saudi women – torn between traditionalism and modernity – are deeply impacted, though in ambivalent ways, by the recent empowerment discourse. It examines how the corporate world adopts the empowerment narrative to promote progress, modernity, and openness at the expense of women's needs, preferences, and values. Through interviews with a diverse cohort of 20 employed women aged 20–45 years, this study seeks to unravel the motivations that drive women to pursue work in a patriarchal society where the conventional role of men entails assuming financial responsibility for women. Through an exploration of the motivations underlying women's decisions to work – a few of which are the desire for recognition, financial independence, and self-worth – this paper investigates issues of visibility, space, and social responsibility. These key issues emphasize the struggles encountered by working women in attaining empowerment, autonomy, and self-worth despite their participation in the labour market and their financial independence. By examining low-skilled sectors in which women struggle with challenging working conditions, this paper aims to give voice to disadvantaged women who, in the empowerment plans, are left unheard and their future obscured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international literature on women and work calls on scholars to consider geographical, sociocultural, and institutional contexts governing women's employment dynamics over their life course. In Indonesia (and other lower middle‐income regions in Southeast Asia), female labor force participation is lower in urban areas than rural areas. The largest drop‐off occurs after marriage and childbearing. In this article, we argue that class and spatial context matters in examining the relationship between gender norms, gendered mobilities, and employment outcomes in mega‐urban settings. Using qualitative research, we probe beyond conventional demographic studies to explore the dynamics of married women's (decisions to stay, leave, change, or return to) employment in Greater Jakarta, Indonesia's largest urban core. Our participants were discouraged from employment participation by norms that prioritize married women's role as primary caregivers, and spatial and workplace/regulatory constraints. Our analysis underscores how the participants' employment‐related decisions consistently revolve around the concept of opportunity costs, defined as conflicts and tensions arise from mother's time away from children due to gender norms, lack of childcare and flexible formal employment options, and the long working and commuting hours in Greater Jakarta. Economic pressures for women to participate in the labor market are not matched by work–family policies, which are still rooted in entrenched ideals of women as wives and mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well documented that motherhood influences gendered outcomes in work institutions. However, how paid work influences women's private sphere and sense of self remains unclear and could vary across societies. This article focuses on identity construction among 28 college‐educated stay‐at‐home mothers in Shanghai. The findings from semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews reveal tension negotiation and reconciliation within these mothers' multiple self‐identities. Despite choosing to voluntarily leave their paid jobs and become stay‐at‐home mothers, participants differentiated between their maternal identity and their stay‐at‐home mother identity; in particular, they perceived motherhood as more valuable and socially acceptable than the choice to be a stay‐at‐home mother (i.e., participants readily identified as mothers but hesitated to describe themselves as stay‐at‐home mothers). To avoid this tension and protect their self‐image, participants incorporated aspects of their previous working identity into their stay‐at‐home mother identity, such as taking part‐time jobs and framing their childrearing experience as a future career asset. The results help explain how the notion of work shapes women's self‐image, even when they leave the labor market. Overall, the findings reinforce mothering imperatives and identities and the need to understand them from a cross‐cultural perspective in relation to societal prevailing gender norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do culture and development interact to determine women's empowerment? I develop a simple model of women's labor supply in which economic development simultaneously reduces the stigma against women working and relaxes the consumption constraint that often forces poor women to work. The model predicts that women's labor supply will follow a U‐shaped relationship, falling and then rising as development proceeds. In addition, in countries with more patriarchal values, women's labor supply will be lower, fall over a greater income range, and then rise more slowly on the upward sloping portion of the curve. I investigate and confirm these predictions in a broad sample of countries employing six different measures of historical patriarchy as well as a composite measure of patriarchal history. These findings indicate that as economic development proceeds, women's labor supply will diverge across countries as differences in the intensity of patriarchal values play an ever larger role in the allocation of women's labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'local' as a site of peacebuilding and as a subject position has played a significant role in scholarly debates on peacebuilding and international intervention, and increasingly so in work on the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Local women are called upon to represent the conflict experience, and localisation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda is becoming part of the rhetoric around implementation. This article examines the impacts of this focus with reference to peacebuilding and women's inclusion initiatives in Iraq in locations previously held by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The article analyses three programmatic case studies situated in Ninewa, a governorate in northern Iraq. The analysis offers a four-part typology of local women participants – local women as peacebuilders, a-political (and a-sectarian), non-elite and intermediary – and uses these types to explore how the participation and presence of local women is constructed within peacebuilding programming. By introducing these types, this article makes visible the practical and conceptual impact of the focus on the 'local' on the Women, Peace and Security agenda, its implementation in post-conflict contexts, and on how local women and their contributions are perceived in Women, Peace and Security-focused peacebuilding interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Studies have so far focused on learning in organizations, factors affecting learning, learning effectiveness and so on but the concept of learning in a hybrid work arrangement is yet unexplored. The purpose of this study is to measure the perception of faculty members in higher education institutions towards learning in a hybrid work arrangement and also to measure the differences of perception towards hybrid work arrangement based on employees' gender and organization type. Design/methodology/approach: The data was collected from a sample of 390 faculty members composing of Assistant Professors, Associate Professors and Professors, purposely chosen from two of the premier higher education institutions (one private and one public) located in Punjab, India. A self-structured questionnaire was administered to the faculty members who are working on a regular basis and have minimum of two years of work experience with the chosen university. For analysing the collected data exploratory factor analysis and other descriptive statistics have been applied. Findings: The findings of the survey show that in terms of gender differences, it is the female employees who are more satisfied with different aspects of hybrid/remote work arrangement as compared to male employees. In regard to organizational differences in the perception towards learning in a hybrid work arrangement it is found that public university employees have a more positive attitude so far as individual factors are concerned, but in terms of organizational factors, it is the private university that is scoring better than the public university. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited to only two higher education institutions, and its findings to be applicable in all higher education institutions, further studies may be required on a larger canvas. Future studies may be undertaken using advanced statistical tools like structural equation modelling to explore various variables associated with learning in a hybrid work arrangement. Originality/value: Applicability of hybrid work arrangement is very high in higher education institutions and to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study which adds to the literature on perception of employees towards organizational learning in a hybrid work arrangement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports of sexism in sport are ever-growing despite the potential for sexism to impact the well-being of everyone negatively. Relatively little research has investigated this phenomenon, meaning we do not have a clear picture of women's experiences and are far from implementing relevant solutions. We explored women's experiences of sexism while working in sport to gain an understanding of how multiple ecological layers intertwine to influence these experiences. A survey, based on the Everyday Sexism Survey, was completed by 105 women; qualitative data was abductively thematically analysed using LaVoi and Dutove ecological model to make sense of women's experiences. Higher-order themes represented the intrapersonal, interpersonal, organisational, and sociocultural levels at which participants experienced sexism. Clear evidence of sexism at all levels of the ecological model demonstrates that organisations and policymakers must consider the social and personal change necessary for women working in sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Gender equality is an important issue targeted all around the world, see, for example, the Gender Equality Strategy articulated by the European Union (EU). These goals were hindered by COVID-19, which caused a well-documented she-cession: females were hit harder than males. This paper shows that a "sisterhood behaviour" can mitigate the effects of the she-cession: female decision-makers were more likely to favour other females in recruitment and retention. Design/methodology/approach: Motivated by theories from psychology and industrial demography, we hypothesise a so-called sisterhood effect or homophily: female decision-makers are more likely to favour other females in recruitment and retention. We use firm-level survey data from 19 European countries collected before and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we apply a difference-in-differences methodology to test the hypothesised sisterhood behaviour. Findings: Our study finds that in firms where the top manager was a woman, gender discrimination was less likely or even not at all presented, i.e. COVID-19 did not decrease the proportion of female employees. Practical implications: The results suggest that promoting gender equality in leadership dimensions can also moderate discrimination at the level of the employees. Therefore, in a wider context, gender equality goals are interrelated. Originality/value: To the best of the author's knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to analyse the existence of the theories mentioned before in a manager – employee relationship using firm-level data from the COVID-19 period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does the way in which people do gender influence their career advancement strategies? Based on semi-structured interviews with Saudi women senior managers and drawing from the postcolonial feminist theory, we discover in this study that it does. We show that Saudi women choosing to do gender well, the Sailing Through cohort, achieve career advancement by amplifying their commitment to family responsibilities, enacting respectful femininity, and invoking family associations to build winning alliances. We describe this form of resistance as crafty agency. In contrast, Saudi women choosing to do gender differently, the Trailblazing cohort, achieve their advancement goals by acting in a serious, composed, and competitive manner, investing in their human and professional capital, and effectively using self-promotion and self-advocacy. We describe this form of resistance as determined agency. Overall, our study demonstrates that Saudi women's agency is not fixed, or definite, or passive but rather it is fluid, multifaceted, and transformational. This article contributes to gender studies by showing how different stances on doing gender drive the reinvention of gender identities and pursuit of alternative career advancement strategies. It also provides a nuanced understanding of how Saudi women attain senior management positions as they navigate the messiness and contradictions of gender roles and gendered contexts, agency, doing gender well and doing gender differently, and career advancement strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to expectations about solidarity and sisterhood between women, women managers sometimes distance themselves from junior women in the workplace when facing identity threat, that is, the feeling that one's social identity—such as race or gender—is devalued or undermined. For example, women managers might distance themselves from lower status junior women by seeing themselves as more masculine and career committed than their junior women colleagues. To advance our understanding of how to combat self‐group distancing, the present research proposed and tested whether taking the perspective of junior women would attenuate these ingroup‐distancing tendencies in women managers. Findings from a field study and an experimental study indicated that women managers reported greater self‐distancing from junior women (on masculine trait perceptions) compared to women employees. As predicted, this effect was attenuated for women managers with high levels of perspective‐taking (Study 1) and for women who were experimentally led to take the perspective of junior women (Study 2). For ratings of career commitment and support for affirmative actions, we did not replicate the self‐ingroup distancing effect reported in the literature. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and AimMethodsResultsConclusionFear of childbirth is a common problem that affects women’s health and wellbeing. A variety of interventions have been used in research and clinical settings, but it remains unclear how interventions should be designed to be as effective and acceptable as possible. Additionally, the experiences of psychologists working to support women fearing childbirth are sparsely documented and therefore unavailable for researchers and clinicians. This qualitative study aimed to bridge this gap by exploring and describing the experiences of perinatal psychologists working clinically with women suffering from fear of childbirth.Focus group interviews with eleven psychologists, analysed with reflexive thematic analysis with an inductive and semantic approach.We identified four main themes, with three to four subthemes each. It was described as essential to meet the woman where she stands: to listen, validate, explore, and tailor interventions. Depending on the needs of each woman, the psychologists had a smorgasbord of core interventions to offer. They also described how they could help the woman and her partner or support person to prepare for childbirth. Finally, they addressed the importance of multiprofessional engagement and cooperation. A list of recommendations based on the findings is presented.The findings add to the existing literature on how to treat and support women with fear of childbirth and should be considered as one of many sources of information guiding the development of future interventions, care strategies, and clinical pathways for women fearing childbirth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is worn in a range of industrial environments by women and men alike. However, the majority of PPE is designed around male anthropometrics and the impacts of this on women are largely undocumented. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to develop themes from in-depth interviews with 30 women working in diverse roles in industrial environments, around their experiences of wearing PPE. Four themes developed: ‘There's nothing here for me’; ‘Collateral damage’; ‘Organisational culture and the burden of responsibility’; and ‘Personally protective women’. The findings significantly expand upon previous literature concerning: the reduced range of PPE available for women when compared with men; considerable fit and comfort issues; and physical, day-to-day and health-related consequences. This work evidences the increased PPE-related burden on women, and demonstrates fundamental links between women wearing ill-fitting or inappropriate PPE and their reduced sense of belonging, confidence and morale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Female employees often face unique challenges in the workplace, especially when they have dual roles as workers and housekeepers. Dual role conflict can cause work stress, which impacts their performance at work. This study aims to analyze the effect of dual role conflict and work stress on the performance of female employees with work motivation as a mediator. This study uses a quantitative research method. The data collection method used in this study is to reveal the research variables using a scale. The data analysis method used in this study uses the help of the JASP Statistics application. The results of the study showed that there was a significant effect of dual role conflict on the performance of female employees. In addition, this study also showed that work stress had a significant effect on the performance of female employees in the educational institution. Furthermore, work motivation was proven to have an effect on the performance of female employees at YSM. This study revealed that dual role conflict affected the performance of female employees with work motivation as a mediator, and work stress also affected the performance of female employees with work motivation functioning as a mediator. The implications of this study indicate the importance of management paying attention to dual role conflict and job stress to improve the performance of female employees. In addition, the results of this study can serve as a basis for organizations in designing support programs that can increase work motivation and employee well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Peace Movement has carried out various activities in October, November, and December of 2024, such as the Film Cycle for Peace and the International Story Contest against Racism and Xenophobia. It has also launched a Network of Assistance and Guidance for Women Domestic Workers and a training service for the early detection of gender-based violence. In addition, anti-racist stories have been awarded and cultural and international volunteer activities have been organized. [Extracted from the article]

High temperatures and air pollution exposure are individually known risks to human health, with amplifying adverse health effects during periods of co-exposure. This study compared co-occurring individual-level exposures to particulate matter (PM5, aerodynamic diameter of ≤5 μm) and heat among women in residential and agricultural settings in Guatemala. We measured personal and ambient exposure to PM5, temperature, and humidity among 21 female sugarcane workers in the fields and on their off days. We measured similar exposures among a group of 30 community members not involved in sugarcane work. We collected 171 personal PM5 measurements across 18 sampling days. The median workday personal PM5 concentration was 271 µg/m3, which was 3.6-fold higher than ambient area levels in the fields. The median personal PM5 concentration was 95.8 µg/m3 for off-work days and 83.5 µg/m3 for community days. The average workday individual-level temperature and humidity were 39.4 °C and 82.4%, respectively, with significantly lower temperatures on off-work and community days. The women workers and community members were exposed to high levels of PM5 and heat in both occupational and residential settings. Research needs to consider individual-level exposures at both work and home to help tailor more effective comprehensive prevention efforts to reduce risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizations have started more progressively using and offering family benefits including parental leaves to address the issues of balancing work and family life. Although such leaves are fundamental for supporting, attracting, and retaining women, we examine whether such leaves may also inadvertently affect women's careers in occupations that overly value masculine traits, unless managed carefully. Drawing on the literature on gender stereotypes (micro factors) and occupation gender type (macro factors), we argue that longer (vs. shorter) parental leaves negatively affect women's work outcomes (i.e., annual income, salary recommendation, hireability, and leadership effectiveness) in men-dominated but not in women-dominated occupations because it lowers perceptions of women's agency. We find support for our hypotheses across three studies in the Australian context with an archival data set and two experiments. Our work shows that men-dominated organizational structures reinforce traditional gender stereotypes, whereas such reinforcement does not happen in women-dominated organizational structures. Our research equips leaders and organizations with insights into the unintended negative consequences of parental leave for women. This understanding serves as a crucial first step in developing strategies and programs to mitigate these effects, thereby supporting women in men-dominated occupations and fostering more inclusive and healthy workplaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intersectionality has gained a great deal of academic purchase within the social sciences but there is still a need for further conceptual and methodological innovation and clarity. As such, this study uses paid domestic labour as a case study to apply Billig et al.'s (Ideological dilemmas: A social psychology of everyday thinking, 1988) notion of ideological dilemmas to explore the common sense that paid domestic workers draw on to position themselves as women and workers. The analysis highlights how participants use (often contradictory) themes of common sense when speaking about their place in the household through dilemmas of servitude, belonging, and intimacy. Speakers draw on gendered ideology, not as a fixed set of ideas, but rather as a mobile discursive resource that can be deployed in situ, allowing them to justify, subvert, and evaluate social positions of domestic womanhood. The study provides both a conceptual window and a robust method for studying nonessentialist intersectionality through ideological dilemmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite significant historical progress toward sex/gender parity in employment status in the United States, women remain more likely to provide domestic labor, creating role competition which may increase depression symptoms. Pro-family employee benefits may minimize the stress of competing roles. We tested whether depressive symptoms were higher among women with competing roles versus without competing roles and whether this effect was greater among women without (vs with) pro-family benefits. Data included employed women (n  = 9884 person-years) surveyed across 4 waves (2010, 2015, 2017, and 2019) of the National Longitudinal Survey 1997. Depression symptoms were measured with the 5-item short version of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5). The effect of interaction between competing roles and pro-family employee benefits on depressive symptoms was also compared with that of non–family-related benefits, using marginal structural models to estimate longitudinal effects in the presence of time-varying confounding. MHI-5 scores were 0.56 points higher (95% CI, 0.15-0.97) among women in competing roles (vs not). Among women without pro-family benefits, competing roles increased MHI-5 scores by 6.10 points (95% CI, 1.14-11.1). In contrast, there was no association between competing roles and MHI-5 scores among women with access to these benefits (MHI-5 difference = 0.44; 95% CI, −0.2 to 1.0). Results were similar for non–family-related benefits. Dual workplace and domestic labor role competition increases women's depression symptoms, though broad availability of workplace benefits may attenuate that risk. This article is part of a Special Collection on Mental Health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effects of eliminating Gender Pay Gap on income and poverty. Drawing upon the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions for Portugal, we use econometric tools to estimate the counterfactual earnings. The results obtained over the period under study (2014, 2017 and 2019) show that the average hourly income of women would increase by around 38%; the average annual income of households with women in the labor market would be around 22% higher; the poverty indicators would fall by 5% points; single female households and Madeira region would show a more significant decline in poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of Thai women workers' experience during the economic boom between the 1960s and 1990s. Specifically, the paper focuses on the working conditions of female factory laborers located in Bangkok and neighboring provinces during this transformative period. To accomplish this, the paper utilizes a variety of previously unused primary sources: quantitative data from a series of surveys conducted by the Department of Labor and other governmental organizations, along with qualitative evidence from ethnographies, recorded interviews, and reports by non-profit organizations. Three aspects of working conditions are considered: health and safety, remuneration, and working hours. It is argued that women workers faced unsafe work environments and long hours, while the growth of their real incomes lagged behind that of GDP per capita. Despite socioeconomic and cultural obstacles to unionizing, this paper finds that collective action empowered women workers and gave them a voice in addressing these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article interrogates the impacts of different types of family benefits expenditures on the positive relationship between female employment and fertility rates in developed welfare states. It does this by theorizing how these family benefits align with welfare state regimes' preferences for different normative gender-role ideologies. Rather than treating family benefits as a monolith, this article investigates the impact of disaggregated expenditures in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) family policy database (1. services and in-kind benefits, 2. child-related cash benefits and 3. tax-based financial support for children) on both female employment and fertility rates. This is done using pooled time-series analysis covering the period 2000–9. The analysis yields evidence that expenditure most reflecting a 'full egalitarian' gender ideology including service and in-kind benefit provision has the most positive association with female employment and fertility due to an emphasis on defamiliarization. The picture for child-related cash benefits is mixed due to the presence of cash transfer provisions not employment-contingent captured in the indicator. In contrast, tax-based financial support for children harms female employment, reflecting a maternalistic 'traditional' ideological orientation, but is positive for fertility rates indicating a moderate pro-natal effect of tax-based financial support for children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Working women often experience difficulties associated with balancing family and career, particularly if they choose to have children. This systematic literature review aimed at investigating women's experience in returning to work after maternity leave. Methods: The review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. The literature search led to the identification of 52 articles, which underwent data extraction and qualitative analysis. Results: Results were organized in 5 categories: (1) Work-life balance; (2) Women's mental and physical health; (3) Job-related wellbeing and working experience; (4) Breastfeeding. Women's both mental and physical health seem connected to a longer maternity leave and a greater coworkers' and supervisors' support. Returning to work seems to constitute one of the most important barriers for exclusive breastfeeding or breastfeeding continuation. A shorter duration of maternity leave, a higher workload and the lack of occupational policies supporting breastfeeding seem to be hindering factors. Partner and family support, and the opportunity for fathers to work under a flextime system after childbirth seem to increase both breastfeeding initiation and duration. Women who continue breastfeeding after returning to work seem to experience more family-to-work conflict and overload. Conclusions: This paper show that there are still many understudied aspects in exploring women's experience of returning to work after maternity leave. This represents an important gap in the literature, since returning to work represents a particularly critical time in women's personal and occupational life, in which challenges and barriers may arise, potentially affecting their experience in the immediate future and years to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the moderating influence of marital status, family management, and employee resilience on the link between work-family/family-work conflicts and the emotional exhaustion of female hospitality workers. Four hundred and thirteen (413) pencil-and-paper self-reported and interviewer administered questionnaires were found useful for data analysis. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and partial least squares structure equation modeling. The results indicate a positive influence of work-family/family-work conflict on the emotional exhaustion of female workers. Resilience, family management, and married status mitigated the emotional exhaustion of female hospitality employees from work-family/family-work conflict. The theoretical and empirical contributions of the study were highlighted, and directions for future research were also indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Over the past two decades, many countries have reported an increased percentage of female staff in the general practice workforce. Considering the importance of general practice workforce planning, it is necessary to investigate the current working patterns of female GPs. Aim: To describe the female GP workforce in Ireland and to investigate factors that may affect their long-term commitment to general practice. Design & setting: Descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted with female GPs in Ireland. Method: A 'membership survey' was emailed to 1985 female GPs in November 2021. In total, 345 female GPs responded, providing a response rate of 17.4%. Results: The study revealed that a majority of the female GP workforce in Ireland worked in the position of the GP principal (62.3%), but also provided out-of- hours services (64.3%), and undertook caring responsibilities (84.1%). In total, 41.2% of the responders disclosed having at least one paid additional role, mainly in the field of academia and teaching. Most female GPs worked fewer than eight clinical sessions a week (80.5%). GPs who held General Medical Services (GMS) contracts (72.8%) were significantly more likely to work more clinical sessions a week and had been longer employed in general practices (>5 years) than GPs who did not have GMS contracts. Conclusion: Irish female GPs demonstrated a significant adjustment of their working patterns, including reducing their number of clinical sessions and balancing between additional roles, to ensure their long-term commitment to general practice. Current practices and vision on GP roles must be recognised and supported to allow for adequate workforce planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the effect of a female employee giving birth and taking parental leave on small firms and coworkers in Denmark using a dynamic difference-in-differences design. We find little evidence that parental leave take-up has negative effects on firms and coworkers overall. This is because most firms are very effective in compensating for the worker on leave by hiring temporary workers and by increasing other employees' hours. In contrast, we do find evidence that parental leave has negative effects on a small subsample of firms that are less able to use their existing employees to compensate for absent workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The sedentary aspects of many U.S. occupations and the amount of time American workers spend in the workplace make it an ideal location to implement health promotion programs. Methods: This study assessed the effectiveness of a free smartphone app with a goal-setting feature to increase physical activity (PA) and impact anthropometric, body mass (BM), and body composition (BC) changes among overweight and obese women within a community health workforce. Eighteen overweight and obese (body mass index [BMI] = 32.18 ± 4.48 kg/m2), adult (50.73 ± 8.76 years), female volunteers, tracked daily steps with a free smartphone app (StridekickTM) over an 8-week period. Pre- and post-program body composition (BC) measurements included: relative (%) body fat (BF), fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), and lean mass (LM), using dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA scan), and five anthropometric measurements (biceps, waist, abdomen, hips, and thigh). Findings: Pre- to post-program average daily steps resulted in significant anthropometric changes for biceps, hips, and thigh measures, with encouraging changes in FFM, LM, and relative (%) BF. The goal-setting feature of the app did not result in significant differences between the experimental and control groups. No differences were noted in FM, BMI, waist, and abdomen or step goals compared with steps completed. Conclusions: An occupational PA health promotion intervention program that tracked daily steps through the StridekickTM smartphone app resulted in anthropometric, BM, and BC changes. Application to Practice: The workplace is an ideal location to affect change in health behaviors via a free smartphone app to increase PA and improve health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working in the digital age requires a discussion on the right to disconnect. Although it has previously been studied in association with the digital transition movement, the "right to disconnect" has gained relevance in a context of mandatory teleworking due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation has led some countries to legislate on the subject, notably Portugal, where the right to disconnect has been enshrined in labour legislation since law no. 83/2021 of 6 December. This article presents a framework of the literature on the right to disconnect, as well as a documentary analysis and an exploratory study carried out in Portugal in November and December 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey sought to assess the working conditions of women in telework, particularly about working time. This study stresses that the right to disconnect is linked to the organisation of working time and analyses the negative impact of technology on work, in particular the permanence of the electronic connection to work. The results show that the majority of women value teleworking because they have more time for themselves and their families. However, the women who consider that they have less availability for teleworking indicate that the main reason for this is not being able to disconnect from work. In the context of the digital transition and the expansion of teleworking in organisations and the generalisation of hybrid work, the study of this new "right to disconnect" becomes crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an account of one woman's experience of the menopause. Affecting 51% of the global population, menopause has the potential to negatively impact home and work life. Yet, the arrival of menopause can often be a surprise due to a lack of education and awareness. Over 63% of UK working women claim menopause has negatively affected their careers, yet only 30% of employers support women to work through the menopause, and the cost to business and to women's health is significant. Shrouded in silence, the menopause is often misunderstood, and taboo exists. Therefore, women do not divulge, and many leave their jobs unsupported. Through Grace's story, this article explores how women's hormone health can affect work and by opening up conversations and raising awareness, as we have with mental health, it is possible to eradicate the silence behind the taboo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on the rich array of literatures that explore women's ageing and employment, we conduct a comprehensive review of research on middle‐ and older‐age women and work (including menopause and post‐menopause). In reviewing these studies, we blend our interdisciplinary discussions across several domains. We reflect on the question: How are employed, middle‐ and older‐age women treated in organizations, and what are employers' perceptions of these workers? Through our analysis, we identify and critique two predominant, conflicting yet inter‐related themes. These are, namely, notions of constraint (and women's supposed/perceived reduced competencies as they age) versus ideas of flexibility (foregrounding assumptions that employed women experience fewer limitations as they age). As a theoretical lens for theorizing the constraints theme, we draw upon the concept of abjection, highlighting how employer perceptions of women's health as supposedly diminishing can lead to discriminatory treatment at work. In analysing theoretical assumptions regarding apparently enhanced flexibility among middle‐ and older‐age women, we note how women's differing circumstances and requirements might go unrecognized. We argue the need to deepen theoretical understandings about ideas of flexibility during women's middle and older age. Reflecting on the limitations of both themes, we consider the implications for future research agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Returning to work is a barrier to breastfeeding. Although the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare (DLPW) in Thailand encourages employers to initiate a breastfeeding corner – a designated area where mothers can express their breastmilk privately and comfortably – in their workplace to support lactating employees, little is known about what kind of support mothers would like to continue breastfeeding after returning to work. This research aimed to explore mothers' needs and wishes for breastfeeding support in the workplace. Methods: This qualitative study used focus group discussions to collect data from female employees who had a child aged 6 − 24 months in factories that had initiated a breastfeeding corner between 1 October 2021 and 30 September 2022. The focus group discussions were held between June and July 2023. We employed semi-structured questions relating to breastfeeding support in their workplaces (e.g., a breastfeeding corner, lactation break, providing information or knowledge), baby food marketing in workplaces, and recommendations to improve breastfeeding support for working mothers. We applied thematic analysis to analyse the data. Results: Nineteen mothers from five factories located in Bangkok and surrounding provinces participated in the study. All participating factories had a breastfeeding corner in a first aid room, and no lactation breaks were given. Therefore, lactating employees spent time during their breaks pumping breastmilk. Furthermore, the lactating employees did not acquire any information or education about breastfeeding from the workplace during pregnancy or after delivery but rather obtained this from health system services and digital platforms. They also received support from family, health professionals, and colleagues when they returned to work after giving birth. Lactating employees would like employers to provide specific lactation breaks. They also wanted credible information or knowledge about breastfeeding to be provided during pregnancy and after giving birth, together with other social support. Conclusions: The Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, the Department of Health, and the Thai Breastfeeding Centre Foundation could collaborate with other relevant organisations to support employers in establishing breastfeeding support in their workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feminist activism persisted even in the isolating times of the COVID-19 pandemic. But how did the crisis shape feminist solidarity, especially for subjects facing multiple marginalities? In this article, based on in-depth interviews and participant observation, I examine how women tech workers in India – as gendered labour in the Global South – participated in various online groups to overcome their isolation. These women ostensibly acted as compliant neoliberal and heteronormative subjects, but their compliance paved the way for feminist solidarity. I theorize this paradox as the ‘praxis of compliance.’ As a theoretical framework, ‘praxis of compliance’ foregrounds the structural barriers to women workers’ participation in collective feminist activism. It also reveals some alternative strategies of building feminist solidarity within the constraints of the neoliberal economy as well as local and global crises that deepen inequality. I identify three potential areas of praxis of compliance for women tech workers in India: professional, personal and labour activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business ethics researchers and practitioners are interested in understanding the temporal mechanisms of various managerial activities, processes, and policies. In this direction, I borrow notions of time from Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway to examine how social time intersperses with the paid and (unpaid) care work of female employees during the pandemic. I explore how discussions of social time in connection to care work appear in newspaper discourses of "shecession", i.e. the large-scale job/income losses experienced by women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since shecession is a byproduct of the pandemic times, exploring the role of time in it is crucial. In fact, my findings show that the macro social time of the pandemic affects working women with care responsibilities who are situated at the intersection of multiple vulnerable social categories by simultaneously being a penalizer and a lost opportunity. Similarly, I also find that the micro social times of working women embed, stratify, and synchronize differently during the pandemic when compared to normal times. Working women with care responsibilities are thus adversely affected by both micro and macro social time changes. My findings, therefore, could be instrumental in developing and implementing inclusive policies and processes in business organizations and labor markets. In so doing, my study also indicates how a consideration of social time enriches the application of care ethics in work contexts. Ultimately, this article is also about developing caring organizations, societies, and families which care for the caregivers (working women), since receiving care is a precondition of giving care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractWomen living with HIV are consistently under-represented in HIV clinical trials, including cure trials. Little is known about how cisgender women living with HIV in Australia perceive HIV cure research, their level of trust in research institutions/staff, and factors salient to participation in HIV cure trials. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with women living with HIV and clinicians working with women living with HIV to investigate motivations and barriers to gender-equitable representation in HIV clinical research. Participant motivations for participation included altruistic desires to benefit younger women, and to optimise resulting interventions. Women living with HIV expressed optimism that a cure would dispel HIV-related stigma and brings about substantial material improvement to their lives. Reluctance to participate related to concerns regarding potential side-effects, antiretroviral treatment interruption, and impacts on fertility. Unfamiliarity with trials, confidentiality concerns and logistical difficulties were also cited. Lastly, onerous eligibility criteria, clinicians’ assumptions about women’s willingness and ability to meaningfully provide consent to participation were cited as barriers which could be addressed. Bolstering women’s participation in HIV cure research requires consideration of factors relating to reproductive health, analytical treatment interruption, and recruitment. Engaging women living with HIV in trial design and promotion may help overcome these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the representation of female emigrants in Romanian-language literature published between 2009 and 2017. It explores how global capitalism and patriarchy have impacted the position of women in the labor force, particularly focusing on the experiences of Romanian women who emigrated during this period. The authors analyze various novels written by postcommunist Romanian authors, which depict the struggles and sacrifices faced by these women as they navigate economic migration and separation from their families. While the novels often reinforce traditional gender roles and fail to critique capitalism directly, they also shed light on the complexity and precarity of women's experiences in the transnational labor market. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the use of the marriage bar at the Irish national broadcaster Radio/Telefís Éireann from 1962, when the station went to air, until 1972, when the station lifted the bar. The marriage bar was a regulation that required women to give up their jobs upon marriage. It applied, on a statutory basis, to all female civil servants, and as a cultural practice for most lines of white collar employment in Ireland. This article takes the Irish national broadcaster as a case study to examine the implication of the bar in the media sector in Ireland. It looks at multiple classes of women at the national broadcaster and examines the varied implementation of the bar and its impact on female workers. To that end, it looks first at women at the higher levels of the station who worked as department heads and producers. It then moves on to discuss the marriage bar’s impact on women who worked on screen at Radio/Telefís Éireann. Finally, it looks at women in the lower ranks of programme making roles who worked as Production Assistants and Research Assistants. It argues that the Irish national broadcaster utilised the marriage bar similarly to other public sector bodies in that it was used to reinforce a male breadwinner ideal within the organisation. This article will discuss multiple classes of women workers at the station drawing out some of the differences and similarities in the bar’s implementation across classes. It will first discuss the ways in which the marriage bar was applied to producers and directors, the highest-ranked female workers at the station. It will then move on to the treatment of married women who worked on screen before addressing women who worked as production assistants and research assistants. Significantly, those who worked as PAs and RAs represented some of the lowest ranking women at the national broadcaster. Finally, the article will discuss the end of the marriage bar at the station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the work of working‐class women (WCW) amid turbulent times. Its timespan is just prior to and during the Covid‐19 pandemic in the UK. The women's work, and the key skills involved, are fundamental to everyday lives, but both have been under‐valued and under‐rewarded. The pandemic shone a fresh light on the societal importance of this work and highlighted how its under‐valuation and the women's systemic low pay and inferior working conditions have serious ramifications not only for individual workers and their families but for the provision of key services. The article centres WCW, at the intersection of classed and gendered disadvantage, to ask about inequalities in work experiences. Analysing nationally representative samples of thousands of workers in the UK prior to and as Covid‐19 rolled out, we compare WCW with other workers. We show that the women faced both persistent and new inequalities at work: enduring low earnings, pandemic‐led risks to jobs and paid hours, little opportunity to work from home or flexibly, and stressful key working roles. We reveal the heavily classed nature of some of these findings, show that others were more strongly gendered, while still others were classed and gendered outcomes that require intersectional analyses of the women's working lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]