Search Results

Despite an abundance of educated, qualified women in the workforce, they continue to be underrepresented at the top of institutional leadership hierarchies. Theories of gendered organizations explain that work processes reproduce gendered structures of society in the workplace. These processes advantage men while forming barriers to women's success. This paper extends critical human resource development (HRD) theory by applying the concept of sexism hidden in the workplace to leadership and by outlining both social and organizational practices that create gender inequities in leadership. [The authors'] cross-sector analysis of women leaders in religion and higher education revealed 27 gender-based leadership barriers which operate at the macro, meso, and micro levels of society. [The authors] argue that most current efforts to promote women into leadership focus one by one on only a few barriers, primarily those within organizations, while failing to take into account the wide variety of barriers and their prevalence across all societal levels. [The authors] offer strategies to address barriers across all three levels to help organizations create gender-equitable leadership environments.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

The aim of this article is to investigate and compare the rise and fall of the phenomenon of vocational education and training (VET) that was specifically designated for women in both Finland and Sweden. We distinguish between two types of women's VET: one that includes female connotations within broad VET schemes targeting certain occupational sectors (but not pointed out as for women only); and another that is described in educational policy documents as VET specifically designed for women, as was the case in Sweden until the 1960s and in Finland until the 1970s. Our focus here is on the latter. These kinds of educational programmes have often been dismissed as representing domestic work (within the home) and thereby not included or marginalised with a few sentences, in research in the history of VET. However, in most Western countries, VET is and remains a gendered issue, and Sweden and Finland are no exceptions. Our focus is on initial VET specifically designed for the domestic sector, taking the following research questions as our starting points: What societal motives underpinned the emergence, establishment and development of domestic education as VET? How can we understand the dismantling of education targeting women in particular?

Edited excerpt from publication. Show less

This comprehensive list of resources on women's issues was prepared by the Canberra Institute of Technology Library for the National Plan of Action for Women in TAFE. It includes such topics as Affirmative Action; Child Care Counselling; Education of Girls/Women; Equal Employment Opportunity; Equal Opportunity; Recognised Prior Learning; Sexual Harassment; Women and Finance and Women and Work

Items are in a variety of formats from books and magazine articles to video and audio recordings. Each entry contains information about the contents, relative strength and possible uses of the item. Show less

In 1993 a reference group was appointed to oversee a National Review of Education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This volume contains the summary and recommendations of the final report of the review. The review looked back to examine what has happened up to the present and assessed what has and has not worked in education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It then looked forward to suggest ways to improve the way things are done, and new action to improve further Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' experience of education. Two principal themes emerged from the evidence - equity and reconciliation. The review identified 21 long-term goals for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education, under four important themes: involvement, access, participation and outcomes. There are 44 recommendations contained in the report.

The final report is indexed at TD/ERD 87.73 and the statistical annex at TD/TNC 39.44. Show less

Opportunities for, and participation of persons with disabilities in the workforce is still a challenge in Suriname. Many persons with disabilities who want to work do not have the opportunity due to many barriers. Survey data shows that there are more women than men with disabilities. Difficulty seeing and walking are the most common types of disabilities in Suriname. The highest group of people with disabilities was found among the working-age population (15-64 years). Approximately two-thirds of people with disabilities are more likely to have completed at most, primary or lower secondary education. Completion of higher education seems to be more challenging for people with disabilities than for the rest of the population. The present research provides a background to describe not only the labour market performance of the people with disabilities, but also the actual and perceived barriers to their employment in the country. The study is a combination of analysis of survey-based microdata (quantitative data) and in-depth interviews (qualitative data).

Findings of this study suggest that there could be possibilities to increase the participation of people with disabilities in employment. However, since a key deciding factor for hiring is their educational level, investments will need to be made to the workplaces' infrastructure to accommodate people with disabilities. In addition, it is a shared opinion that guidance in the job search process and labour integration may be a critical element. Any employability-enhancing intervention must start with awareness raising led by the Government and key organizations for people with disabilities in order for campaigns that focus on reducing barriers and removing stigmas to go a long way. In terms of labour market policies, more investment in special education combined with job search assistance, vocational rehabilitation, and special employment programmes for people with disabilities can help participation and employment rates. Any intervention aimed at enhancing the generation of employment opportunities should be carried out in collaboration with the private sector and key organizations for people with disabilities. While a holistic approach to remove such barriers is most likely required, the analysis and recommendations presented are a solid starting point to initiate policy and programmatic changes.

Edited excerpts from publication and publisher's website. Show less

Access to higher education has changed dramatically in Victoria as a direct result of the federal deregulation of the volume of undergraduate places. The uncapping of higher education places was proposed by the Review of Australian Higher Education in 2008 with the objectives of boosting participation rates and improving equity of access. The findings of this study show that access to higher education in Victoria has opened up significantly, with large increases in the number of applications, offers and enrolments since 2007, the year before the uncapping was first foreshadowed. Demand has been strong. However, persistent imbalances remain in the socioeconomic composition of higher education applicants and enrollees. Further, the disparities in access between urban and rural regions remain large and disparities between Melbourne's metropolitan regions continue to be profound.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

SKILL-UP Programme is a joint effort of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs aimed to help the ILO Member States enhance their skills systems to take advantage of new opportunities offered by emerging global drivers of change relating to increased digitalization, international trade integration, technological change, large international migration flows, climate change, and demographics, among others. The overall objectives of this assessment were to identify, through surveys with staff from training institutions and companies, and including persons with disabilities, key challenges and barriers limiting disability inclusion, opportunities to address these challenges and inclusive approaches in practice. The results of this assessment provide evidence and recommendations to support the formulation and implementation of policies to facilitate disability-inclusiveness in the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system and in the industry sector. The assessment study found deficits in the supply of TVET and in the labour demand for persons with disabilities. Provisions to support overcoming these challenges should take into account the central role of the National Council of Persons with Disabilities.

Edited excerpt from publication with additional information. Show less

This article investigates the effects of a large-scale public sector employment quota policy for disadvantaged minorities (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) in India on their occupational choices, as defined by skill level, during the 1980s and 1990s. We find that, first, the employment quota policy significantly affects the occupational structure of both disadvantaged minority populations. In response to the employment quotas, individuals belonging to the Scheduled Caste group are more likely to choose high-skill occupations and less likely to choose low- and middle-skill occupations, while individuals belonging to the Scheduled Tribe group are less likely to choose high-skill occupations and more likely to choose low- and middle-skill occupations. Second, the impact of the employment quotas is significantly related with an individual's years of schooling. Overall, the results indicate that the employment quota policy changes the occupational choices of individuals within the targeted populations and contributes to their improved socio-economic standing.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This report examines the gender gaps that exist in the region comprising Mexico, Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic and how these relate to women's entry into the labor market. Its aim is to identify the challenges that women face in that market, and which are hampering progress towards gender equity and constraining welfare gains in these economies. In recent years, there has been a decline in momentum in the efforts towards closing the gender gaps in the labor market, and as things stand, the risk of the advances made so far being reversed is significant. On the one hand, sectors in which women constitute a major share of the workforce have been more severely hit by the global [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 health crisis, while the types of jobs they do there are susceptible to processes of automation and digitalization. In this context, the region is currently facing major challenges that now more than ever necessitate the advancement of a policy agenda with gender equality at its core. This report builds on the commitment to ensure that the women and men of the region enjoy the same conditions and opportunities that will allow them to achieve their full potential in their social, economic, political, and cultural lives, in order to benefit society as a whole and boost its development.

Excerpts from publication. Show less

Australia, along with the other developed economies, is grappling with the implications of an ageing population. Concerns about increasing welfare costs and shortfalls of labour supply have brought with them calls to prolong working lives. However, current public policy is inadequate if Australia wishes to make the best use of its ageing workforce. Present approaches to both public policy and advocacy have the potential to be harmful in terms of their response to age barriers in society.

This report attempts to offer a fresh approach, challenging the basis of the present advocacy on ageing and work. Against a background of apparent age inequality in the Australian labour market affecting both young and old, recent efforts aimed at overcoming barriers to older workers are considered and critiqued. The report offers a framework for developing public policy on age and work, proposing principles against which the legitimacy of actions should be tested. The framework has three elements: (1) a need for a life course perspective when considering the issue; (2) a requirement to remove a tendency towards ageism from public policy and age advocacy; and (3) a need for a critical stance on the present public policy emphasis on prolonging working lives. Greater reflection on the meaning of age in Australian society is needed and advocates for older people need to set an inclusive agenda that resonates for people of all ages. The report puts forward a number of recommendations for action.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less