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Monitoring as a steering tool for gender equality policy in higher education institutions: ideal and reality
Get PDFIn an ideal-typical process of gender equality policy development and implementation, empirical evidence plays a central role. The gender analysis at the beginning of the process describes the gender issue to be addressed. Based on this baseline, objectives and priorities are defined, policies are designed and implemented, and these are then monitored and, ideally, evaluated. The aim of monitoring is to provide information on the implementation of the gender equality measure so that countermeasures, if needed, can be taken at an early stage in the event of deviations from the planned implementation. However, this requires that the monitoring indicators are derived from the policy objectives and are measurable. Practice shows that the availability of data, rather than the objectives, determines the development of indicators. The procedure for developing indicators is described and reflected on using the example of monitoring the implementation of the recommendations of the Austrian Convention of Higher Education Institutions on strengthening gender competencies in higher education processes. The preconditions for the steering function of monitoring and its limitations are discussed
Mind the Gaps. Zur Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern in Österreich
No full textDer Research Brief fasst eine umfassende Analyse der ökonomischen, sozialen, politischen und gesellschaftlichen Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern in Österreich zusammen. Die exemplarische Darstellung von Indikatoren entlang verschiedener Gleichstellungsdimensionen zeigt, dass in den letzten zehn Jahren eine Verringerung der strukturellen Unterschiede, jedoch keine vollständige Angleichung der Lebensbedingungen von Frauen und Männern erreicht wurde. Trotz dieser positiven Entwicklung besteht weiterhin erheblicher Handlungsbedarf, um eine tatsächliche Gleichstellung der Geschlechter in allen Lebensbereichen zu gewährleisten.
This Research Brief summarises a comprehensive analysis of the economic, social, political and societal equality of women and men in Austria. The exemplary presentation of indicators along various equality dimensions shows that although structural differences have been reduced in the last ten years, the living conditions of women and men have not been completely equalised. Despite this positive development, there is still a considerable need for action to ensure genuine gender equality in all areas of life
Introduction: Advancing the Commonsverse: The Political Economy of The Commons
Get PDFThis introductory article sets out the twin goals of this special issue: “Advancing the Commonsverse: The Political Economy of the Commons”. The first is to introduce the innovative work of David Bollier and Silke Helfrich in theorizing and researching the commons. The second is to explore the possibilities and constraints of the commons and the process of commoning as they unfold in real-world political-economic settings. Bollier and Helfrich have formulated a remarkable, ‘in-the-round’, moral-empirical theory of the commons. In their social ontology, peer governance and moral economy commons form a subversive alternative to the capitalist order. Bollier and Helfrich’s theory restores an older tradition of a moral critique of capitalism in the tradition of “moral economists” such as Karl Polanyi and H.P. Tawney. It raises important questions about the socio-ethical foundations of our society and economy, the relationship between civil associations and the state, and the nature of the state. In the final part of this introduction, we discuss the complex relationship between the commons and the state. We frame this relationship as one of mutual dependency and argue for the careful redesign of our institutions of public administration and democratic governance to make them more receptive and accessible to the creative powers of the commons. Finally, we introduce the contributions to this special issue, including a reflective concluding essay by David Bolllier
Behavioral barriers impede pro-environmental decision-making: Experimental evidence from incentivized laboratory and vignette studies
Get PDFDespite increasing concerns about climate change, many people struggle to translate their pro-environmental values into action. Here, we explore the origins of this value-action gap focusing on the role of behavioral barriers that are characteristic for many environmentally relevant decisions. Using incentivized online laboratory and vignette experiments, we find that individuals are less likely to behave in accordance with their environmental values if they are not immediately affected by the consequences of their actions, if the impacts of their actions are uncertain, and if they contribute only marginally to the outcome. The behavioral barriers also exert an indirect effect on environmental behavior by undermining reciprocity and positive peer effects. The value-action gaps are correlated across the different experimental settings with men and younger participants showing a particularly large gap. These insights are important for climate communication and education, highlighting the important role of the perceived relevance and potential consequences of personal behaviors in collective action
The Formal Employment of Family Caregivers: Towards the (De)familialisation of Long-Term Care?
No full textHow can the preferences of policy makers be operationalised in optimum control problems with macroeconometric models? A case study for Slovenian fiscal policies
Get PDFIn this paper, we use the results of a survey among Slovenian politicians in order to design an objective function for an optimal control problem with a macroeconometric model for fiscal policy in Slovenia that takes account of policy makers’ preferences. The paper discusses three different scenarios in which the policy preferences revealed in interviews can be included in the objective functions of the control problems. These objective functions are then used to calculate optimal fiscal policies for the Slovenian economy until 2030. For this purpose, we utilise the macroeconometric model SLOPOL10 and the OPTCON2 algorithm. The results indicate qualitatively similar behaviour of the optimised dynamic system and a better performance (lower values of the loss due to deviation from “ideal” paths) from a ranking-based approach than from an ad-hoc assumption of policy makers’ preferences. We sketch how to integrate the approach in a decision-support system for macroeconomic policy design
Status Quo im MINT-Bereich an Hochschulen und am Arbeitsmarkt, Schwerpunkt MINT-Fokusbereich.
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A critical reflection of skepticism towards science and democracy in Austria
Get PDFThis study examines the extent to which the Austrian population is skeptical about science and democracy. Furthermore, it considers what the possible reasons for any skepticism might be and in which areas actions could be taken to improve the situation. It builds on a mixed-methods approach including a literature review of relevant social science research, a historical analysis, a secondary analysis of survey data, expert interviews, focus groups, and a stakeholder workshop. The study shows that a large share of Austrians expresses high levels of trust and support for science and democracy. However, different forms of criticism exist throughout the population, and these can be observed across all societal groups. Negative comments tend to focus on assumptions about: the practical implementation of science and democracy, links to politics, and specific technological domains. Around 10% of the population contradicts or rejects scientific knowledge on a broader scale. Our study shows that science skepticism and negative perceptions of democracy are linked, and that they are related to broader question about the role of science in society