Restructuring the male breadwinner model: New challenges for a rapidly changing Australia. This project investigates changes to the Australian male breadwinner gender order in the key spheres of labour markets, households and public policies. Gender arrangements in these spheres play a key role in economic development reflecting the intertwining of economic and social processes in a country's well-being. Increased understanding of the implications of current changes affecting the gender order an ....Restructuring the male breadwinner model: New challenges for a rapidly changing Australia. This project investigates changes to the Australian male breadwinner gender order in the key spheres of labour markets, households and public policies. Gender arrangements in these spheres play a key role in economic development reflecting the intertwining of economic and social processes in a country's well-being. Increased understanding of the implications of current changes affecting the gender order and social reproduction will enhance economic well-being for both individuals and society in Australia. The impact of these changes are vital policy issues. This international collaboration will develop a conceptual framework for identifying policy reform to strengthen Australia's social and economic sustainability.Read moreRead less
From margins to mainstream: gender equality and employment regulation. Progress towards gender equality in employment has stalled, despite anti-discrimination laws. This investigation of alternative regulatory strategies will build Australian expertise and contribute to knowledge about the relationships between gender equality and employment regulation, generating policy options for employment and human rights bodies.
Prospects for quality work and gender equality in frontline care work. Despite policy concerns about unmet demand for paid care, frontline care workers generally have poorer conditions than workers in other feminised sectors. This project will investigate the regulatory options to improve the quality of care work to build Australian expertise and knowledge about the links between job quality and quality of care services.
Modelling the Impact of Home and Market Productivities on Employment Status, Part-time and Full-time Wages, and Household Formation. Australia has one of the highest proportions of part-time workers of OECD countries. The project aims to investigate, both theoretically and empirically, the determinants of full-time/part-time wage differentials, and of employment status and household formation. This will be done in a new framework that incorporates demand and supply side factors; that explicitly ....Modelling the Impact of Home and Market Productivities on Employment Status, Part-time and Full-time Wages, and Household Formation. Australia has one of the highest proportions of part-time workers of OECD countries. The project aims to investigate, both theoretically and empirically, the determinants of full-time/part-time wage differentials, and of employment status and household formation. This will be done in a new framework that incorporates demand and supply side factors; that explicitly allows for a distribution of productivities across home and market production; and that allows for the augmentation of workplace productivity by investment in human capital. The study will produce new models and empirical results, and contribute to rigorous, informed debate on these important issues.Read moreRead less
Addressing the deficit in men's participation in paid care work. This project aims to address the chronic and ongoing underrepresentation of men in front line, low paid occupations in the Health Care and Social Assistance Sector by exploring how men already employed in the sector overcome the barriers to participating in such jobs. Utilising a qualitative methodology, this project expects to generate new theoretical and practical knowledge in the areas of critical studies of men and masculinity ....Addressing the deficit in men's participation in paid care work. This project aims to address the chronic and ongoing underrepresentation of men in front line, low paid occupations in the Health Care and Social Assistance Sector by exploring how men already employed in the sector overcome the barriers to participating in such jobs. Utilising a qualitative methodology, this project expects to generate new theoretical and practical knowledge in the areas of critical studies of men and masculinity and labour market transitions. Expected outcomes include producing a better understanding of men in the low paid care work labour market. This should provide significant benefits in relation to tackling the serious current and projected shortages of personal and aged/disability carers in the coming years.Read moreRead less
Smashing Glass Walls: Building gender equality in male-dominated jobs. This project investigates gender segregation, which is a remarkably resilient problem in the Australian labour market, despite women's increasing labour force participation and strong educational attainment. It examines this problem with a focus on women’s careers in very male-dominated occupations. In these contexts, women enter in low numbers, find it difficult to progress, and face extremely hostile working environments. ....Smashing Glass Walls: Building gender equality in male-dominated jobs. This project investigates gender segregation, which is a remarkably resilient problem in the Australian labour market, despite women's increasing labour force participation and strong educational attainment. It examines this problem with a focus on women’s careers in very male-dominated occupations. In these contexts, women enter in low numbers, find it difficult to progress, and face extremely hostile working environments. Adopting a career stage, a worker- and industry-engaged, and a comparative design, the project will generate new insight into where and how sustainable careers for women are challenged in these contexts. This knowledge will inform strategies to build gender equality in jobs at the heart of the economy.
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Epistemologies of workplace change: transforming gender relations in engineering. The severe shortage of engineers threatens sustainable development in rich and poor countries alike. The situation is exacerbated in Australia by global warming and the mining boom, ultimately constraining the national capacity for future economic development and long-term prosperity. Women are potentially an important source of future engineers, but they are currently neither attracted to nor retained within the p ....Epistemologies of workplace change: transforming gender relations in engineering. The severe shortage of engineers threatens sustainable development in rich and poor countries alike. The situation is exacerbated in Australia by global warming and the mining boom, ultimately constraining the national capacity for future economic development and long-term prosperity. Women are potentially an important source of future engineers, but they are currently neither attracted to nor retained within the profession in significant numbers. This project, involving international collaboration, will generate a new conceptual model designed to re-dress this problem. A key outcome will be more efficient and effective gender equity policies in engineering and related industries.
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Understandings of Women's Disadvantage at Work: Discourses of Discrimination in the Workplace. In analysing the persistence of women's disadvantage in the workplace, research has focused on the inadequacy of anti-discrimination law and both government and corporate EEO policies. Less attention has been paid to the myriad ways in which these proscriptions of discrimination are understood and implemented in the workplace. This project will examine workplace discourses around sex discrimination in ....Understandings of Women's Disadvantage at Work: Discourses of Discrimination in the Workplace. In analysing the persistence of women's disadvantage in the workplace, research has focused on the inadequacy of anti-discrimination law and both government and corporate EEO policies. Less attention has been paid to the myriad ways in which these proscriptions of discrimination are understood and implemented in the workplace. This project will examine workplace discourses around sex discrimination in a range of industry case studies. It will contribute to a better theoretical understanding of the ways in which women's workplace disadvantage is constructed and negotiated within specific organisational contexts and cultures and also provide practical guidance for human rights agencies.Read moreRead less
Missing workers: retaining mature age women workers to ensure future labour security. This project will generate new data and analyses of the factors affecting the retention of mature age women in paid work. It will produce an evidence base on mature age women's employment for the development of policy frameworks aimed at strengthening labour security in the aged care and other sectors.
Work, care, retirement and health: ageing agendas. This project will undertake a gendered analysis of how Australians can retire well, taking account of their key resources (such as work, superannuation, the aged pension, and other assets) and key demands (such as to work longer and to care for others in the context of an ageing population and a more feminised workforce).