an article by Nicole S Goedhart and Jacqueline EW Broerse (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Rolinka Kattouw (Oostwest, The Netherlands) and Christine Dedding (Amsterdam UMC, The Netherlands) published in New Media & Society Volume 21 Issue 11-2 (November 2019)
Abstract
The introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been shown to play a role in reinforcing existing social inequalities.
This study aims to gain insights into the perspectives, experiences and needs of disadvantaged groups with respect to ICT. In the Netherlands, a relatively large and important group of non-users are mothers with a low socio-economic position (SEP). Little attention has been paid to understanding why mothers with a low SEP scarcely use ICTs.
In an explorative participatory study in Amsterdam, using observations, interviews and focus groups, our results show that reinforcing factors related to poverty, motherhood, the complexity of ICT and being first-generation immigrant influence access.
The mothers’ needs are multifaceted and go beyond the simple distribution of ICT devices. ICT education should be tailored and integrated into existing social services and the daily lives of the mothers. Moreover, policymakers should pay attention to adapting the online information services to the mothers’ strengths.
Full text (PDF 19pp)
Showing posts with label intersectionality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label intersectionality. Show all posts
Tuesday, 12 November 2019
Friday, 6 September 2019
Are lower social class origins stigmatized at work? A qualitative study of social class concealment and disclosure among White men employees who experienced upward mobility
Author links an articvle article by Anna M. Kallschmidt and Asia A. Eaton (Florida International University, USA) published in Journal of Vocational Behavior Volume 113 (August 2019)
Highlights
Despite recognizing that socioeconomic standing can influence workplace behavior, minimal research in psychology has explored social class as a stigmatized and potentially manageable identity in the workplace. Compared to women and people of color, White men who moved up from low-income backgrounds may be especially likely to experience their previous class status as a concealable stigma at work.
In this study, we used qualitative methods to investigate whether having a lower social class background might be experienced as a stigmatized identity for some employees, using a sample of 20 White men who self-identified as having moved up in social class. Individual interviews were used to assess the nature of participants' social class concealment and disclosure at work.
Thematic analysis revealed five reasons why these White men concealed their former, lower-income status at work: Judgment, Nobody understands, It's personal, Pity, and Don't want to feel embarrassed or vulnerable.
Our analysis also revealed five reasons why participants disclosed their previous class identity at work: being Forced to, To relate, To motivate/help somebody, Noticing class cues, and Becoming close.
Results indicate that having a lower social class background can be experienced as stigmatizing at work. Moreover, while disclosure of one's lower-income background is more common than concealment for men in this group, that disclosure is often unintentional or unwanted.
Our results also indicate that, like other potentially concealable identities, social class disclosure is an ongoing process that happens unevenly across time and across people. Future research should expand on this work by examining the experiences of upwardly mobile employees from other identity intersections.
Hazel’s comment:
The sample is much too small for the results to be significant but they can be taken as indicative of a problem for White men working in the USA.
Is this a problem in the UK? My experience as an employment adviser seems to be saying “yes and it is a serious issue as the UK, England in particular, is very class conscious”.
Highlights
- White men who moved up in social class strategically manage class identity at work.
- Most of our sample purposefully concealed and disclosed their previous lower class.
- Men concealed when suspecting judgment, no understanding, pity, and for privacy.
- Men disclosed to relate to or help others, or when forced to or outed by class cues.
Despite recognizing that socioeconomic standing can influence workplace behavior, minimal research in psychology has explored social class as a stigmatized and potentially manageable identity in the workplace. Compared to women and people of color, White men who moved up from low-income backgrounds may be especially likely to experience their previous class status as a concealable stigma at work.
In this study, we used qualitative methods to investigate whether having a lower social class background might be experienced as a stigmatized identity for some employees, using a sample of 20 White men who self-identified as having moved up in social class. Individual interviews were used to assess the nature of participants' social class concealment and disclosure at work.
Thematic analysis revealed five reasons why these White men concealed their former, lower-income status at work: Judgment, Nobody understands, It's personal, Pity, and Don't want to feel embarrassed or vulnerable.
Our analysis also revealed five reasons why participants disclosed their previous class identity at work: being Forced to, To relate, To motivate/help somebody, Noticing class cues, and Becoming close.
Results indicate that having a lower social class background can be experienced as stigmatizing at work. Moreover, while disclosure of one's lower-income background is more common than concealment for men in this group, that disclosure is often unintentional or unwanted.
Our results also indicate that, like other potentially concealable identities, social class disclosure is an ongoing process that happens unevenly across time and across people. Future research should expand on this work by examining the experiences of upwardly mobile employees from other identity intersections.
Hazel’s comment:
The sample is much too small for the results to be significant but they can be taken as indicative of a problem for White men working in the USA.
Is this a problem in the UK? My experience as an employment adviser seems to be saying “yes and it is a serious issue as the UK, England in particular, is very class conscious”.
Friday, 21 June 2019
Equalities ‘devolved’: experiences in mainstreaming across the UK devolved powers post-Equality Act 2010
Olena Hankivsky (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada), Diego de Merich (Queen Mary University of London, UK) and Ashlee Christoffersen (University of Edinburgh, UK) pubvsliuhed in British Politics Volume 14 Isse 2 (June 2019)
Abstract
In an increasing number of jurisdictions, gender mainstreaming approaches have been supplemented with attention to other equality areas, including race and disability.
The UK is among the most advanced countries in mainstreaming ‘equality’, with nine equality areas protected in law and a joined-up equality infrastructure. Among the nations of the UK there are, however, important distinctions in implementation of the law.
In this article, we present findings of cross sectoral qualitative research (with academic, public and third sectors) aimed at understanding the progress of equality mainstreaming in the UK some years on from the implementation of the Equality Act 2010, with a specific focus on the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
We identify areas of progress as well as barriers to change and proposed solutions for the future.
Abstract
In an increasing number of jurisdictions, gender mainstreaming approaches have been supplemented with attention to other equality areas, including race and disability.
The UK is among the most advanced countries in mainstreaming ‘equality’, with nine equality areas protected in law and a joined-up equality infrastructure. Among the nations of the UK there are, however, important distinctions in implementation of the law.
In this article, we present findings of cross sectoral qualitative research (with academic, public and third sectors) aimed at understanding the progress of equality mainstreaming in the UK some years on from the implementation of the Equality Act 2010, with a specific focus on the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
We identify areas of progress as well as barriers to change and proposed solutions for the future.
Monday, 10 June 2019
Where fairness fails: data, algorithms, and the limits of antidiscrimination discourse
an article by Anna Lauren Hoffmann (The Information School, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA) published in Information, Communication & Society Volume 22 Issue 7 (2019)
Abstract
Problems of bias and fairness are central to data justice, as they speak directly to the threat that ‘big data’ and algorithmic decision-making may worsen already existing injustices. In the United States, grappling with these problems has found clearest expression through liberal discourses of rights, due process, and antidiscrimination.
Work in this area, however, has tended to overlook certain established limits of antidiscrimination discourses for bringing about the change demanded by social justice.
I show that, in mirroring some of antidiscrimination discourse’s most problematic tendencies, efforts to achieve fairness and combat algorithmic discrimination fail to address the very hierarchical logic that produces advantaged and disadvantaged subjects in the first place.
Finally, I conclude by sketching three paths for future work to better account for the structural conditions against which we come to understand problems of data and unjust discrimination in the first place.
Full text (PDF 17pp)
Abstract
Problems of bias and fairness are central to data justice, as they speak directly to the threat that ‘big data’ and algorithmic decision-making may worsen already existing injustices. In the United States, grappling with these problems has found clearest expression through liberal discourses of rights, due process, and antidiscrimination.
Work in this area, however, has tended to overlook certain established limits of antidiscrimination discourses for bringing about the change demanded by social justice.
- In this paper, I engage three of these limits:an overemphasis on discrete ‘bad actors’,
- single-axis thinking that centers disadvantage, and
- an inordinate focus on a limited set of goods.
I show that, in mirroring some of antidiscrimination discourse’s most problematic tendencies, efforts to achieve fairness and combat algorithmic discrimination fail to address the very hierarchical logic that produces advantaged and disadvantaged subjects in the first place.
Finally, I conclude by sketching three paths for future work to better account for the structural conditions against which we come to understand problems of data and unjust discrimination in the first place.
Full text (PDF 17pp)
Wednesday, 2 January 2019
Can Religious Affiliation Explain the Disadvantage of Muslim Women in the British Labour Market?
an article by Nabil Khattab (Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Qatar and University of Bristol, UK) and Shereen Hussein (King’s College London, UK) published in Work, Employment and Society Volume 32 Issue 6 (December 2018)
Abstract
This article aims to explain the labour market penalties among Muslim women in Britain.
It draws on theories of intersectionality and colour/cultural racism to argue that the labour market experience of British-Muslim women is multiply determined via criteria of ascription such as ethnicity, migration status, race and religion rather than criteria of achievement.
The study uses data from the Labour Force Survey (2002–2013) with a large sample (N=245,391) of women aged 19–65 years. The overarching finding suggests that most Muslim women, regardless of their multiple ascriptive identities, generation and levels of qualifications, still face significant penalties compared with their White-British Christian counterparts.
The penalties for some groups, such as Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black-Muslim women, are harsher than for Indian and White-Muslim women, demonstrating how different social markers and multiple identities have contingent relationships to multiple determinants and outcomes.
Abstract
This article aims to explain the labour market penalties among Muslim women in Britain.
It draws on theories of intersectionality and colour/cultural racism to argue that the labour market experience of British-Muslim women is multiply determined via criteria of ascription such as ethnicity, migration status, race and religion rather than criteria of achievement.
The study uses data from the Labour Force Survey (2002–2013) with a large sample (N=245,391) of women aged 19–65 years. The overarching finding suggests that most Muslim women, regardless of their multiple ascriptive identities, generation and levels of qualifications, still face significant penalties compared with their White-British Christian counterparts.
The penalties for some groups, such as Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black-Muslim women, are harsher than for Indian and White-Muslim women, demonstrating how different social markers and multiple identities have contingent relationships to multiple determinants and outcomes.
Friday, 29 December 2017
Political reservations for women increase the policy influence of low castes in India
a column by Guilhem Cassan and Lore Vandewalle for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Many policies are designed along a particular identity dimension, such as gender or ethnicity. However, such efforts overlook the fact that individuals are associated with several identity dimensions at a time. Using Indian data, this column demonstrates how the intersection of different identity dimensions may lead to unanticipated effects. It shows that political quotas for women in local elections change policies not only in favour of women, but also in favour of low castes.
Continue reading
Many policies are designed along a particular identity dimension, such as gender or ethnicity. However, such efforts overlook the fact that individuals are associated with several identity dimensions at a time. Using Indian data, this column demonstrates how the intersection of different identity dimensions may lead to unanticipated effects. It shows that political quotas for women in local elections change policies not only in favour of women, but also in favour of low castes.
Continue reading
Thursday, 9 November 2017
What does democracy mean? Activist views and practices in Athens, Cairo, London and Moscow
an article by Armine Ishkanian (London School of Economics and Political Science, UK) and Marlies Glasius (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
published in Democratization Volume 24 Issue 6 (2017)
Abstract
We shed light on the discontent with and the appeal of democracy by interviewing some of the most committed critical citizens: core activists in street protests. Based on interviews in Athens, Cairo, London, and Moscow, we found that they rejected representative democracy as insufficient, and believed democracy to entail having a voice and a responsibility to participate intensively in political decision-making.
Activists saw themselves as engaged in prefigurative politics by fostering democratic practices within the movement and, ultimately, in society, but also raised concerns about internal power dynamics reproducing existing inequalities and exclusions. The insistence by activists that citizens have both a right and a duty to participate should be taken more seriously by political scientists and policymakers, not just as a threat to democracy and democratization, but as an opportunity.
However, contemporary social movements are not straightforward sites of prefiguration, but sites of struggle between experimental and traditional forms of organizing, between inclusive aspirations and exclusive tendencies.
Abstract
We shed light on the discontent with and the appeal of democracy by interviewing some of the most committed critical citizens: core activists in street protests. Based on interviews in Athens, Cairo, London, and Moscow, we found that they rejected representative democracy as insufficient, and believed democracy to entail having a voice and a responsibility to participate intensively in political decision-making.
Activists saw themselves as engaged in prefigurative politics by fostering democratic practices within the movement and, ultimately, in society, but also raised concerns about internal power dynamics reproducing existing inequalities and exclusions. The insistence by activists that citizens have both a right and a duty to participate should be taken more seriously by political scientists and policymakers, not just as a threat to democracy and democratization, but as an opportunity.
However, contemporary social movements are not straightforward sites of prefiguration, but sites of struggle between experimental and traditional forms of organizing, between inclusive aspirations and exclusive tendencies.
Wednesday, 4 January 2017
The Intersection of Race, Sexual Orientation, Socioeconomic Status, Trans Identity, and Mental Health Outcomes
an article by Stephanie L. Budge (University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, USA), Jayden L. Thai (University of Louisville, Louisville, USA), Elliot A. Tebbe (University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, USA) and Kimberly A. S. Howard (Boston University, USA) published in The Counseling Psychologist Volume 44 Number 7 (October 2016)
Abstract
The present study examined patterns in trans individuals’ multiple identities and mental health outcomes.
Cluster 1 (socioeconomic and racial privilege; n = 239) was characterized by individuals who identified as trans women or cross-dressers, lesbian, bisexual, or questioning; had associates degrees; reported household incomes of $60,000 or more a year; and were non-Latino White.
Cluster 2 (educational privilege; n = 191) was characterized by individuals who identified as trans men or genderqueer, gay, or queer; had a bachelor’s degree; reported household incomes of $10,000 or less a year; and were people of color.
There was a pattern of individuals in Cluster 1 who identified with two privileged identities (identifying as White and having higher household incomes), whereas individuals in Cluster 2 identified only formal education as a privilege. Individuals in Cluster 2 reported statistically significant levels of anxiety. Implications of these results for future research and clinical practice are examined.
Full text (PDF)
Abstract
The present study examined patterns in trans individuals’ multiple identities and mental health outcomes.
Cluster 1 (socioeconomic and racial privilege; n = 239) was characterized by individuals who identified as trans women or cross-dressers, lesbian, bisexual, or questioning; had associates degrees; reported household incomes of $60,000 or more a year; and were non-Latino White.
Cluster 2 (educational privilege; n = 191) was characterized by individuals who identified as trans men or genderqueer, gay, or queer; had a bachelor’s degree; reported household incomes of $10,000 or less a year; and were people of color.
There was a pattern of individuals in Cluster 1 who identified with two privileged identities (identifying as White and having higher household incomes), whereas individuals in Cluster 2 identified only formal education as a privilege. Individuals in Cluster 2 reported statistically significant levels of anxiety. Implications of these results for future research and clinical practice are examined.
Full text (PDF)
Monday, 20 October 2014
Gender, space and identity: Male cabin crew and service work
an article by Ruth Simpson (Brunel University, UK) published in Gender in Management: An International Journal Volume 29 Issue 5 (2014)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the intersection of gender, sexuality and occupation and to analyse how male cabin crew utilise space in managing gender identity.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on a project where interviews were conducted with 17 male cabin crew, all aged < 35 years, from 5 different airlines in airports in the South East of England. The crew worked in a mixture of short-haul, low-cost and long-haul global carriers.
Findings
The paper shows how men in a feminised service role negotiate masculine subjectivities within and through space and how gendered meanings attached to space can impress on and both challenge and be challenged by the performances and subjectivities of individuals within them.
Research limitations/implications
The findings on which the paper is based surface the diverse challenges facing men in non-traditional roles – an area that would profit from further research in different contexts. Further, the findings have implications for work-based practices and employee relations within a paraprofessional service role.
Originality/value
The paper adds to the understanding of how gender and identity intersect as well as to how space, seen as both gendered and gendering, is implicated in the processes involved.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the intersection of gender, sexuality and occupation and to analyse how male cabin crew utilise space in managing gender identity.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on a project where interviews were conducted with 17 male cabin crew, all aged < 35 years, from 5 different airlines in airports in the South East of England. The crew worked in a mixture of short-haul, low-cost and long-haul global carriers.
Findings
The paper shows how men in a feminised service role negotiate masculine subjectivities within and through space and how gendered meanings attached to space can impress on and both challenge and be challenged by the performances and subjectivities of individuals within them.
Research limitations/implications
The findings on which the paper is based surface the diverse challenges facing men in non-traditional roles – an area that would profit from further research in different contexts. Further, the findings have implications for work-based practices and employee relations within a paraprofessional service role.
Originality/value
The paper adds to the understanding of how gender and identity intersect as well as to how space, seen as both gendered and gendering, is implicated in the processes involved.
Friday, 25 January 2013
Hierarchies of social location, class and intersectionality: Towards a translocational frame
an article by Floya Anthias (Roehampton University and City University, London, UK) published in International Sociology Volume 28 Number 1 (January 2013)
Abstract
This article evaluates the potential found within two approaches that recognise the complexity of social hierarchy in different ways.
First, it looks at the revival of class analysis within culturally inflected approaches to class. These have incorporated a number of societal relations, broadly referred to as the symbolic, the social and the cultural, into the analysis.
Second, the article assesses attempts to theorize the intersections of gender, ethnicity and class through the intersectionality framework. It considers the potential for developing more integrated analytical frameworks for understanding social hierarchy through cross-referencing these debates. It proposes an intersectional framing which centres on social location and translocation.
Hazel’s comment:
If, maybe that should be a big if, the UK is serious about social inequality then those in a position to try to do something about it need to understand more about social class and how it affects individuals.
“I can’t do that job, I ain’t a toff” or similar words have been heard during advisory interviews from clients who have the innate intelligence but not the social background to fit in with people whose parents stopped them saying ain’t by the time they were five years old.
Abstract
This article evaluates the potential found within two approaches that recognise the complexity of social hierarchy in different ways.
First, it looks at the revival of class analysis within culturally inflected approaches to class. These have incorporated a number of societal relations, broadly referred to as the symbolic, the social and the cultural, into the analysis.
Second, the article assesses attempts to theorize the intersections of gender, ethnicity and class through the intersectionality framework. It considers the potential for developing more integrated analytical frameworks for understanding social hierarchy through cross-referencing these debates. It proposes an intersectional framing which centres on social location and translocation.
Hazel’s comment:
If, maybe that should be a big if, the UK is serious about social inequality then those in a position to try to do something about it need to understand more about social class and how it affects individuals.
“I can’t do that job, I ain’t a toff” or similar words have been heard during advisory interviews from clients who have the innate intelligence but not the social background to fit in with people whose parents stopped them saying ain’t by the time they were five years old.
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Mainstreaming intersectional equality for older people? Exploring the impact of quasi-federalism in the UK
an article by Paul Chaney (Cardiff University, Wales, UK) published in Public Policy and Administration Volume 28 Number 1 (January 2013)
Abstract
Using an analytical framework based on European Commission directives and United Nations resolutions calling for a mainstreamed and intersectional approach to age equality, this paper examines the UK’s devolved administrations’ governance practices and territorially specific public policy on older people.
The findings reveal mixed progress.
Whilst a number of mainstreaming prerequisites have been secured and divergent, ‘regional’ equality rights and welfare entitlements established, shortcomings are also apparent including reliance on an intercategorical, additive approach to intersectionality, one that falls short of fully addressing the diverse needs and identities of older people.
Monday, 5 November 2012
A career journey: an auto-ethnographic insight
an article by Irene Ryan, (AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand) published in Gender in Management: An International Journal Volume 27 Issue 8 (2012)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the use of an auto-ethnographic life history can provide rich, original data to critically analyse the interplay between the socially constructed self, a career journey over time and societal change.
Design/methodology/approach
A reflexive auto-ethnography is used as a conduit to explore a career journey. The author draws on the fluidity of ageing to make visible gendered organisational processes. The setting is New Zealand.
Findings
To understand the interplay of a career journey through a life history approach and intersectional analysis reinforces the life-long significance of gender with ageing.
Originality/value
The author suggests that by reflecting on the complex interplay of one’s own life through an intersectional approach can add a further dimension to scholarly thinking on the “doing” of intersectionality when considering the career journey of others.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the use of an auto-ethnographic life history can provide rich, original data to critically analyse the interplay between the socially constructed self, a career journey over time and societal change.
Design/methodology/approach
A reflexive auto-ethnography is used as a conduit to explore a career journey. The author draws on the fluidity of ageing to make visible gendered organisational processes. The setting is New Zealand.
Findings
To understand the interplay of a career journey through a life history approach and intersectional analysis reinforces the life-long significance of gender with ageing.
Originality/value
The author suggests that by reflecting on the complex interplay of one’s own life through an intersectional approach can add a further dimension to scholarly thinking on the “doing” of intersectionality when considering the career journey of others.
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