Evaluation from a Gender+ Perspective as a Key Element for (Re)gendering the Policymaking Process

ABSTRACT

Feminist scholars have challenged the neutrality of policymaking processes and the outputs resulting from these processes. However, some elements of policymaking have not been studied as well as others. In this article I explore the concept of evaluation from a gender+ perspective as an essential step for a complete gender mainstreaming strategy, which can help to identify gender issues that should be integrated into the content of evaluated policies and to ensure gender does not get lost in the policymaking process. This exploration is carried out by relying on feminist policy and evaluation studies.     

Organizational perspective to gender mainstreaming in the Finnish state administration

Gender mainstreaming has been celebrated as a new policy strategy for change in gender relations. However, its transformative potential seems to be lost in the process of implementation. The aim of this article is to evaluate the policy effectiveness of gender mainstreaming and its ability to bring about change in gendered social structures and practices. Previous research has focused on gender mainstreaming as a policy strategy. This article provides a new perspective on the problems of implementation by approaching gender mainstreaming from an organizational perspective. Gender mainstreaming takes place in certain organizational contexts, implemented by local actors. This article reveals the practices of implementation in the Finnish state administration, specifically in the Ministry of Defence. The analysis is based on a discursive reading of thirteen group and individual interviews collected in the Ministry of Defence in 2012. The article pinpoints two interlinking problems concerning implementation of gender mainstreaming on the organizational level. First, the state officials, who should implement gender mainstreaming, do not have enough information to do so successfully. Second, there is resistance toward gender mainstreaming on the organizational level. This article suggests that negotiations about gender, gender equality and gender mainstreaming as complex issues concerned with social power relations should be included in the process of implementing gender mainstreaming.     

Policymaking from a Gender+ Equality Perspective

ABSTRACT

This article discusses policymaking from a gender+ equality perspective. It connects the knowledge from various subfields ranging from development planning, to feminist policy studies, to works on gender mainstreaming. By connecting different but convergent feminist subdisciplines, it draws a picture of the field of gender+ and policymaking. Central in this analysis are the questioning of gender+ bias in the policy process and the development of strategies to mainstream gender into policymaking. By delineating the boundaries of research on gender and policymaking, the article addresses existing challenges and reflects on gaps and promising terrains of study that could further develop and establish the field of feminist policy studies.     

Re‐inventing the Gendered Organization: Staff Attitudes towards Women and Gender Mainstreaming in NGOs in Malawi

Gender inequality within non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) is constructed on a daily basis through the gendered norms, attitudes and practices of individuals within them. The continual re‐invention of a gendered organization ensures the maintenance of the status quo and therefore the privileging of male/masculine interests over female/feminine interests. Gender mainstreaming is an approach designed to alter the status quo and facilitate women's empowerment. In Malawi, many NGOs have adopted gender mainstreaming as a strategy to address gender inequality both within their organizations and with the communities where they work. Gender mainstreaming initiatives involve a variety of activities including hiring more women staff members, designing policies within the organization to promote gender equality and educating staff members about gender issues through training workshops. While these strategies represent important steps forward for gender equality, it is not clear to what extent these policies and initiatives are translating into meaningful change within the organization.     

Mainstreaming disability in policies: the Flemish experience

Although research on gender mainstreaming (GM) is extensive, literature on disability mainstreaming (DM) is scarce. This article builds on the experience of GM to explore the conditions affecting DM, focusing on the first Flemish policy cycle of DM (2010–2014) in two policy domains: employment and education. We found no substantive difference in the conditions necessary for the successful implementation of DM compared with that of GM. Also, developments specific to the policy domains had more influence on the inclusive character of policies than did the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or the Flemish approach to DM.     

A Feminist Policy Analysis Framework

ABSTRACT

Most policy analysis models, both inside and outside of social work, approach policy in a gender-neutral manner. This fact belies the many ways our society is organized around gender, which is often regulated through policy. This article outlines a model for looking at policies through a gendered lens by framing a set of questions to be asked in a feminist policy analysis. The complexities and underlying issues inherent in such a model are discussed, as well as the model's implicit goals and values. The model provides an important framework for policy analysts and teaching students about policy.     

Gender Mainstreaming: The Answer to the Gender Pay Gap?

This article examines the argument that gender mainstreaming offers the way forward for closing the gender pay gap. It juxtaposes research on the process of gender mainstreaming with our account of the processes involved in Australian state government Inquiries into the gender pay gap since the late 1990s. We indicate that the continuous process of analysis and response that gender mainstreaming can offer demands political will, intensive links between research and action, and adequate resources — which means that gender mainstreaming is seldom delivered in practice. We use our account of the Australian Inquiries to argue that, provided adequate political and financial resources are in place, the gender pay gap can be narrowed through the institutional mechanisms of an industrial relations system but that the regulatory approach is limited by its vulnerability to changes in industrial relations policy. The article concludes that, whatever strategy is used to narrow the gender pay gap, it must be able to show those who use and observe it that gender itself is a continuous, effortful and political process.     

From evidence to action: Applying gender mainstreaming to pay gaps in the Welsh public sector

Progress on reducing gender disparities remains painfully slow, despite efforts to identify the determinants of gender pay gaps and specify size and shape. Recent studies highlight the need for a more nuanced account of the way that public policy shapes organizational responses and insights into the types of organizational practices that diminish pay disparities. In response, this research reports on an action research intervention in three large Welsh public organizations, subject to a unique statutory equality duty. Data demonstrate how an evidence‐based gender mainstreaming approach facilitated the development of a ‘no blame’ strategy, which legitimized organizational proactivity through collaborative and empowering change management processes. The research contributes to the study of gender pay gaps by demonstrating that gender mainstreaming, with facilitative local conditions and supportive public policy, shapes action on gender segregation, with particular success in women's low‐paid employment. Conclusions highlight theoretical and policy implications arising from the research.     

The Alliance for Jobs in Germany: The Promise and Failure of Gender Mainstreaming

SUMMARY

The German Alliance for Jobs, Education and Competitiveness, a new policy instrument for reducing unemployment, was introduced by the red-green coalition government in 1998. In 2000, this policy instrument was abandoned, largely because business, labor, and government could not find sufficient common ground to continue working together. I argue that this policy instrument had the potential to affect the female workforce positively but that leaders from all sectors failed to incorporate gender considerations. In my view, the German economy will continue to lag behind its competitors unless it adopts gender mainstreaming, increases opportunities for women, and transforms its economy into a more service-oriented economy.     

Impact of the Adoption of Tobacco-Free Campus Policies on Student Enrollment at Colleges and Universities,North Carolina, 2001–2010

Abstract

Objective: College and university administrators have expressed concern that adoption of tobacco-free policies may reduce applications and enrollment. This study examines adoption and implementation of 100% tobacco-free campus policies by institutions of higher education on applications and enrollment. Participants: North Carolina private colleges and universities and public community colleges. Analysis was conducted in 2011. Methods: Student enrollment and application data were analyzed by campus type to determine (a) if there was a difference in student applications and enrollment before and after policy implementation, and (b) if there was a difference in student applications and enrollment for campuses with versus without a policy. Results: No significant differences were found in student enrollment or applications when comparing years prior to and following policy implementation or when comparing with institutions without 100% tobacco-free campus policies. Conclusions: The authors found no evidence that 100% tobacco-free policy adoption had an impact on student enrollment or applications.     

Understanding parental leave experiences: connecting the dots with a multiple-methods approach

ABSTRACT

This research note draws selected findings from a multiple-methods study conducted in partnership with a large public-sector employer in Portland, OR to describe the added value of this approach for research translation. We focus on how our study of a newly implemented paid parental leave policy can translate to actionable steps for two important end-users: employers and policymakers. Using administrative records (N?=?579), a countywide employee survey (N?=?137 leave-takers) and focus groups (N?=?35), we describe how each data source contributes important and unique information about how the policy’s implementation affected diverse employees. We find gender differences in how employees changed leave-taking in response to the policy, and describe the critical but nuanced role that supervisors play. Working with employers and policymakers to develop and implement thoughtful policies will help to ensure equitable distribution of the benefits of paid leave policies.     

Girl Power,Mainstreaming and Critical Mass: Women's Leadership and Policy Paradigm Shift in Germany's Red-Green Coalition, 1998–20021

SUMMARY

Women's increased presence in German government since 1998 testifies to generational change, as well as to the completion of a gender-specific “long march through the institutions.” Securing more than 30% of the Bundestag seats, female lawmakers also reached critical mass in the Red-Green Cabinet, a coalition of the Social Democratic and Green Parties formed in 1998. This study of ministerial feminism, 1998–2002, shows that women are making a difference in Germany; these leaders have initiated paradigm shifts “bigger than the sum of the parts” insofar as national equality policies are reinforced at the European Union level, thanks to gender mainstreaming. Bolstered by new anti-discrimination articles in the Amsterdam Treaty, these women have undertaken strategic reforms in areas of gender and justice; research and technology; family and career; health, welfare and consumer protection; sustainable development, foreign aid, migration and human rights. Women have profited from supranational integration, in part because European Union decision-making builds on an inclusive concept of “power with,” in contrast to the traditional national exercise of “power over.”     

Making Policymakers More Gender Aware: Experiences and Reflections from the Women's Budget Group in the United Kingdom

SUMMARY

The UK Women's Budget Group (WBG) is a think tank focusing on the gender implications of economic policy that attempts to influence UK government policy to be more gender aware and adopt policies that decrease gender inequality. The WBG has had the overarching aim of encouraging the government to take account of gender in policy formation and to monitor and hold itself accountable for the gender effects of its policies. At the same time the WBG has advised the government on the gender effects of particular policies and proposed modifications to make policies more supportive of (or less harmful to) women, and poor women in particular. Such advice has covered a number of areas, including fiscal policy, tax credits, income support, financial support for children, childcare policy, maternity and parental leave, work-life balance policies, pensions, pay equity, training and productivity, the use of indicators and the collection of government statistics. While the government has been keen to acknowledge the WBG's influence on certain policies, in other areas the WBG has had no discernible effect on policy. This analysis focuses on several common gender issues, including taking account of gendered life-courses, intra- as well as inter-household gender inequalities, valuing and remunerating care and accounting for unpaid work, to assess the WBG's impact and possible reasons for success or failure.     

Caught between the orientalist–occidentalist polemic: gender mainstreaming as feminist transformation or neocolonial subversion?*

Here we provide a critical reading of gender mainstreaming as a potential emancipatory force that has been co-opted within orientalist–occidentalist polemics. This remains a critical period in the “mainstreaming” debate, where feminist reappropriation is necessary to repoliticize the concept and reorient development sector focus from tokenistic inclusivity to social transformation. We consider two sides of the debate. In the first scenario, the requirement for gender mainstreaming in international development discourse has not only failed to address its original feminist goals, but has become (or remained) an extension of orientalist, neocolonial projects to control and “civilize” developing economies. Here, a putative concern for gender equality in development is used as a means to distinguish between the modern, civilized One and the colonial, traditional Other. In the second scenario, gender mainstreaming is held up as all that these “othered” occidentalist forces stand against; an exemplar of the inappropriate imposition of “western” moralistic paradigms in non-western contexts. Ultimately, the co-optation of gendered discourses in development through these orientalist–occidentalist polemics serves to obfuscate the continued depoliticization of mainstreaming. A critical question remains: can gender mainstreaming ever transcend this discursive impasse and reassert its feminist transformatory potential?     

Gender mainstreaming and evaluation in the EU: comparative perspectives from feminist institutionalism

This article presents a focused comparative analysis of the institutionalization of two governance practices in the European Commission that levy distinct challenges to the gender status quo: gender mainstreaming (which overtly challenges gender bias) and evaluation (which does not have explicit feminist aspirations). With reference to five dimensions, we identify evaluation as relatively strongly institutionalized, and gender mainstreaming as relatively weakly institutionalized. We draw on the explanatory power of feminist institutionalism to unpack these findings, arguing that a feminist institutional perspective can shed light on this variation, as it provides greater insight into the formal and informal institutions that constrain, enable and shape the implementation of evaluation and gender mainstreaming. We assert that the notion of path dependency, the logic of appropriateness, and the concept of layering serve as useful tools to understand the gendered nature of the European Commission. This research provides insights into the institutional factors that impact the implementation of gender equality strategies (such as gender mainstreaming). In turn, this contributes to the development of more effective strategies to promote institutional change toward greater equality.     

The Policy Transfer Model

ABSTRACT

“New” social welfare policies are often actually policies borrowed from other states or nations. This paper reviews the recent theoretical developments in understanding the processes of policy transfer and presents a “policy transfer” model that can be a useful heuristic tool for social workers engaged in policy making. It discusses how the field of social work can benefit from understanding the factors underlying successful and unsuccessful policy transfer, and argues for the inclusion of the study of policy transfer in social welfare policy courses.     

Beijing fifteen years on: the persistence of barriers to gender mainstreaming in health policy

In 2010, fifteen years after the Beijing declaration on women's rights, the UN Commission on the Status of Women met to review progress in gender mainstreaming. Reports on gender equality by member states revealed differences in the degree of change achieved in this period, while highlighting common barriers to gender mainstreaming. The same barriers have long been identified by academics and activists, but prove remarkably resistant to strategies to address gender inequalities. This paper reviews approaches to gender mainstreaming in the context of health policy, and suggests that a model of the obstacles to gender mainstreaming, which identifies barriers as essentially pragmatic, conceptual, or political in origin, might enable a more explicit discussion of the factors underlying this resistance and the ways in which they might be challenged.     

Anti-Homophobia Education in Public Schooling: A Canadian Case Study of Policy Implementation

SUMMARY

An 18-month study investigating the implementation of a Canadian anti-homophobia school policy found that such policies need to address homophobic ideas, institutional forms of homophobia and heterosexism, and individual expressions of homophobia. Teacher development is identical as an area in which Canadian policy implementation can be improved. More resources are needed to support the complex negotiations that educators must undertake when their professional and personal commitments to equity and human rights education collide with their own and others' personal and community religious beliefs about homosexuality.     

A formative assessment of gender awareness and ability of staff based on the service programs of the All-China Women's Federation: The case of the “3861 My Home” program

In order to achieve “gender mainstreaming” which is a global strategy to promote the development of women, it has in recent years been a major task for the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) to improve the gender awareness and ability of policy makers and implementers. Thus, researchers should constantly propose and evaluate various possible attempts to improve gender awareness and the ability of individuals. There are few empirical studies on the assessment of gender awareness and the improvement of the ability of staff who have been trained and educated. Research studies focusing on the promotion of gender-sensitive awareness and ability of staff by participating in programs are even rarer.This study presents a specific case, namely the evaluation of promoting social service workers’ gender awareness and ability within the implementation of the “3861 My Home” program. Based on this case, this study examines how to promote gender awareness and ability of social service workers through the implementation of the service program of Women's Federation, and also assesses the quality of the results of this implementation. Moreover, this study also contributes to the literature pertaining to assessing the development of social service workers’ gender awareness and ability. In addition, the study provides an option for enhancing the gender awareness and ability of social service workers in addition to training: The participatory learning or action pertaining to gender awareness and ability based on the Women's Federation programs are able to effectively improve the gender awareness and ability of staff.     

Warrantless Arrest in Domestic Violence

Abstract

Legislators in the United States have responded to domestic violence by passing laws to criminalize domestic violence without empirical support of the effectiveness of this intervention. This research examines policy implementation and domestic violence arrest rates to determine the effectiveness of such legislation in Virginia. The implementation of written domestic violence policies and training for law enforcement officers was expected to increase domestic violence arrest rates. The findings show a positive impact of law enforcement training on felony (repeat offender) domestic violence arrest rates. The findings are relevant for social workers involved in policy and resource allocation for domestic violence interventions.