The contributions gathered in this special issue outline an analytical framework, stemming from d... more The contributions gathered in this special issue outline an analytical framework, stemming from diverse objectives, related to the drafting and implementation of Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) within universities. They focus on three areas of interest: actions for integrating gender perspectives into research and education, implementation processes, and the relationships between GEP content and the broader social context.
The chapter introduces the scientific debate on work-life balance, starting with a short reconstr... more The chapter introduces the scientific debate on work-life balance, starting with a short reconstruction of the history of the concept, from the emphasis on conflict between separate spheres to the more recent urges to abandon it, because of its many limitations and biases. Moreover, the authors outline the main thematic axes around which the debate on work-life balance has developed, such as gender, class and generation, but also those that should be explored further, by adopting an intersectional approach in the analysis of the relationship between work and other spheres of life. Finally, the ongoing changes, implications and challenges presented by the Coronavirus pandemic are considered, in order to identify the possible trajectories and perspective that are opening for future research agenda.
Cambio. Rivista sulle trasformazioni sociali, 2022
This contribution is aimed at shedding light on how the concept of utopia is closely linked, both... more This contribution is aimed at shedding light on how the concept of utopia is closely linked, both in terms of content and method, to the gender perspective and, more specifically, to feminist reflection. We do so by dwelling on some of the most influential voices that have contributed to the recent rediscovery of utopia as a sociological method and mobilizing force for critiquing and reacting to advanced capitalism and existing arrangements of gender relations.The article closes with some reflections on how utopian realism can enable us to overcome the fear of change in gender relations and counter the risk of "retrotopias".
Gender disparity in academic careers is a global phenomenon, although its causes and consequences... more Gender disparity in academic careers is a global phenomenon, although its causes and consequences vary among different national contexts. Despite the progress that has been made in recent years and the increasing attention paid to the issue, for instance in Europe with the Lisbon Agenda and the creation of the European Research Area in 2000, achieving gender equality in various workplaces and professions, including academia, remains a major challenge. While female university students perform better than their male counterparts, the situation suddenly changes in postdoctoral fellowship positions, and it worsens further throughout the subsequent stages of academic careers. In Italy, for instance, as in other countries, women remain signiHcantly underrepresented not only in early career stages but also in full professorships and in leadership positions (Checchi, Cicognani and Kulic 2018; Murgia and Poggio 2019; Picardi 2019; Gaiaschi and Musumeci 2020). These phenomena are known as the 'leaky pipeline'/and or 'glass door' (regarding women more likely to leave their academic careers and less likely to obtain tenured positions), and as the 'glass ceiling' (women less likely to achieve full
GARCIA is concerned with the implementation of actions in European Universities and research cent... more GARCIA is concerned with the implementation of actions in European Universities and research centres to promote a gender culture and combat gender stereotypes and discriminations. By taking into account the organisations, but also their broader national context, this project aims to develop and maintain research potential and skills of both, women and men researchers, in order to sustain the quality of their working conditions. Particular attention is given to the early stages of academic and scientific career, which are usually little considered in gender equality plans, even though the current recruitment practices within Academy make wide use of non-tenure track positions. These unstable career perspectives occur at a life stage in which important choices are made in private life, particularly for women. Moreover, creativity and autonomy – fundamental conditions to achieve original and meaningful research – are necessarily affected by the high instability of their professional li...
“Contextualizing women’s academic careers: Comparative perspective on gender, care and employment... more “Contextualizing women’s academic careers: Comparative perspective on gender, care and employment regimes in seven European countries. Italy”. In N. Le Feuvre (ed.) Contextualizing women’s academic careers: Comparative perspective on gender, care and employment regimes in seven European countries, Garcia Working Papers, n. 1, pp. 3-60
and Social Research-the formal criteria used for the departmental recruitment process entirely ov... more and Social Research-the formal criteria used for the departmental recruitment process entirely overlap with the HR documents of the University of Trento, except for the specific descriptions of each scientific profile, and the department's choice whether or not to restrict the selection to some particular criteria, as described in the following subsections. For both RTD-a and RTD-b positions, candidates appointed with a post-doctoral grant for more than twelve years are excluded.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe how organizational members became storywriters o... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe how organizational members became storywriters of an important process of organizational change. Writing became a practice designed to create a space, a time and a methodology with which to author the process of change and create a learning context. The written stories produced both the subjectivity of practical authors and reflexively created the con/text for their reproduction. Design/methodology/approach A storywriting workshop inspired by a processual and participatory practice-based approach to learning and knowing was held in a research organization undergoing privatization. For six months, 31 organizational members, divided into two groups, participated in writing one story per week for six weeks. The written story had to refer to a fact that had occurred in the previous week, thus prompting reflection on the ongoing organizational life and giving a situated meaning to the change process. Findings Storywriting is first and fore...
This paper addresses the topic of work–life interferences in academic contexts. More specifically... more This paper addresses the topic of work–life interferences in academic contexts. More specifically, it focuses on early career researchers in the Italian university system. The total availability required from those who work in the research sector is leading to significant transformations of the temporalities of work, especially among the new generation of researchers, whose condition is characterized by a higher degree of instability and uncertainty. Which are the experiences of the early career researchers in an academic context constituted by a growing competition for permanent positions and, as a consequence, by a greatly increased pressure? Which are the main gender differences? In what elements do Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics disciplines differ from Social Sciences and Humanities? The collected narratives reveal how the ongoing process of precarization is affecting both the everyday working activities and the private and family lives of early career research...
Revue multidisciplinaire sur l'emploi, le syndicalisme et le travail, 2012
Cet article porte sur la construction de la masculinité, ou mieux des masculinités, dans les orga... more Cet article porte sur la construction de la masculinité, ou mieux des masculinités, dans les organisations. Notre discussion sera basée sur une analyse de quatre-vingt-douze entretiens réalisés dans la province de Trente, au nord-est de l'Italie, entre 2006 et 2007. Les entretiens ont été menés avec des hommes appartenant à différentes organisations, tant publiques que privées, qui ont eu recours au congé parental. Les histoires recueillies narrent les expériences des hommes qui ont défié le modèle dominant de masculinité dans les organisations où ils travaillent. En particulier, l'utilisation d'une approche narrative nous a permis de souligner l'importance de la narration tant pour défier que pour reproduire l'ordre de genre dominant dans les organisations, comme clé d'analyse à la fois pour découvrir et pour déconstruire les pratiques hégémoniques. Cette approche permet aussi de mettre en évidence les positions des voix alternatives ou marginales, souvent c...
Nesta carta executiva, Barbara Poggio relata sua experiência como vice-reitora de igualdade e div... more Nesta carta executiva, Barbara Poggio relata sua experiência como vice-reitora de igualdade e diversidade da Universidade de Trento (Itália), enfatizando a questão das assimetrias de gênero e os desafios atuais no meio acadêmico. O texto resulta de uma palestra na Faculdade de Negócios da University of Lakehead (Canadá) em junho de 2021. O objetivo da carta é chamar atenção para a implicação de que o ambiente acadêmico predominantemente masculino tem implicações importantes para as condições de trabalho e a qualidade de vida. Além disso, destaca o impacto da atual transformação acadêmica e a afirmação da agenda neoliberal, enfatizando a performatividade, a excelência e a competição, e as implicações em termos de crescente precariedade.
Research Handbook on Work-Life Balance. Emerging Issues and Methodological Challenges, 2022
The chapter introduces the scientific debate on work-life balance, starting with a short reconstr... more The chapter introduces the scientific debate on work-life balance, starting with a short reconstruction of the history of the concept, from the emphasis on conflict between separate spheres to the more recent urges to abandon it, because of its many limitations and biases. Moreover, the authors outline the main thematic axes around which the debate on work-life balance has developed, such as gender, class and generation, but also those that should be explored further, by adopting an intersectional approach in the analysis of the relationship between work and other spheres of life. Finally, the ongoing changes, implications and challenges presented by the Coronavirus pandemic are considered, in order to identify the possible trajectories and perspective that are opening for future research agenda.
DI.RE. DIfferenze REtributive, DIfferenze da eliminaRE Una ricerca sulla (s)valutazione del lavor... more DI.RE. DIfferenze REtributive, DIfferenze da eliminaRE Una ricerca sulla (s)valutazione del lavoro femminile in Alto Adige ���������� ����������������������� ���������������� ������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������� ����������� ����������������������� ������������������������������������������������������ ��������
GARCIA is an EU-Framework 7 funded project under topic SiS.2013.2.1.1-1 "Supporting changes in th... more GARCIA is an EU-Framework 7 funded project under topic SiS.2013.2.1.1-1 "Supporting changes in the organisation of research institutions to promote Gender Equality" Grant agreement n. 611737 • Project coordinator:University of Trento • Homepage: www.garciaproject.eu GARCIA-GA n. 611737, Working Paper n.9 Table of contents 1. Executive summary 4 2. Methodological manual 9 2.1 Contextualising academic careers: mapping gender, care and employment regimes in different European countries 12 2.2 Mapping the organisational level-integrating gender budgeting into scientific organisations 17 2.2.1 Data collection 17 2.2.2 Analyses of the decision-making bodies and decision-making processes at the institutional level 20 2.2.3 Analyses of the decision-making bodies and decision-making processes in the departments selected 26 2.3 Structural and cultural organisational analyses 29 2.3.1 Quantifying academic careers at the organisational level 30 2.3.2 Understanding gendered organisational cultures 34 2.3.3 Map of existing work-life balance policies 2.3.4 Actions to integrate the gender dimension into research and teaching 42 2.4 Mapping the leaky pipeline phenomenon 50 2.4.1 Quantifying the leaky pipeline at the national and organisational level 51 2.4.2 "Movers" vs "Leavers": a qualitative analysis of the leaky pipeline 62 2.5 Deconstructing "excellence": revealing gendered sub-texts in the recruitment procedures 64 2.5.1 The analysis of formal criteria 66 2.5.2 Exploring actual practices in recruitment procedures 69 40 2 GARCIA-GA n. 611737, Working Paper n.9
The contributions gathered in this special issue outline an analytical framework, stemming from d... more The contributions gathered in this special issue outline an analytical framework, stemming from diverse objectives, related to the drafting and implementation of Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) within universities. They focus on three areas of interest: actions for integrating gender perspectives into research and education, implementation processes, and the relationships between GEP content and the broader social context.
The chapter introduces the scientific debate on work-life balance, starting with a short reconstr... more The chapter introduces the scientific debate on work-life balance, starting with a short reconstruction of the history of the concept, from the emphasis on conflict between separate spheres to the more recent urges to abandon it, because of its many limitations and biases. Moreover, the authors outline the main thematic axes around which the debate on work-life balance has developed, such as gender, class and generation, but also those that should be explored further, by adopting an intersectional approach in the analysis of the relationship between work and other spheres of life. Finally, the ongoing changes, implications and challenges presented by the Coronavirus pandemic are considered, in order to identify the possible trajectories and perspective that are opening for future research agenda.
Cambio. Rivista sulle trasformazioni sociali, 2022
This contribution is aimed at shedding light on how the concept of utopia is closely linked, both... more This contribution is aimed at shedding light on how the concept of utopia is closely linked, both in terms of content and method, to the gender perspective and, more specifically, to feminist reflection. We do so by dwelling on some of the most influential voices that have contributed to the recent rediscovery of utopia as a sociological method and mobilizing force for critiquing and reacting to advanced capitalism and existing arrangements of gender relations.The article closes with some reflections on how utopian realism can enable us to overcome the fear of change in gender relations and counter the risk of "retrotopias".
Gender disparity in academic careers is a global phenomenon, although its causes and consequences... more Gender disparity in academic careers is a global phenomenon, although its causes and consequences vary among different national contexts. Despite the progress that has been made in recent years and the increasing attention paid to the issue, for instance in Europe with the Lisbon Agenda and the creation of the European Research Area in 2000, achieving gender equality in various workplaces and professions, including academia, remains a major challenge. While female university students perform better than their male counterparts, the situation suddenly changes in postdoctoral fellowship positions, and it worsens further throughout the subsequent stages of academic careers. In Italy, for instance, as in other countries, women remain signiHcantly underrepresented not only in early career stages but also in full professorships and in leadership positions (Checchi, Cicognani and Kulic 2018; Murgia and Poggio 2019; Picardi 2019; Gaiaschi and Musumeci 2020). These phenomena are known as the 'leaky pipeline'/and or 'glass door' (regarding women more likely to leave their academic careers and less likely to obtain tenured positions), and as the 'glass ceiling' (women less likely to achieve full
GARCIA is concerned with the implementation of actions in European Universities and research cent... more GARCIA is concerned with the implementation of actions in European Universities and research centres to promote a gender culture and combat gender stereotypes and discriminations. By taking into account the organisations, but also their broader national context, this project aims to develop and maintain research potential and skills of both, women and men researchers, in order to sustain the quality of their working conditions. Particular attention is given to the early stages of academic and scientific career, which are usually little considered in gender equality plans, even though the current recruitment practices within Academy make wide use of non-tenure track positions. These unstable career perspectives occur at a life stage in which important choices are made in private life, particularly for women. Moreover, creativity and autonomy – fundamental conditions to achieve original and meaningful research – are necessarily affected by the high instability of their professional li...
“Contextualizing women’s academic careers: Comparative perspective on gender, care and employment... more “Contextualizing women’s academic careers: Comparative perspective on gender, care and employment regimes in seven European countries. Italy”. In N. Le Feuvre (ed.) Contextualizing women’s academic careers: Comparative perspective on gender, care and employment regimes in seven European countries, Garcia Working Papers, n. 1, pp. 3-60
and Social Research-the formal criteria used for the departmental recruitment process entirely ov... more and Social Research-the formal criteria used for the departmental recruitment process entirely overlap with the HR documents of the University of Trento, except for the specific descriptions of each scientific profile, and the department's choice whether or not to restrict the selection to some particular criteria, as described in the following subsections. For both RTD-a and RTD-b positions, candidates appointed with a post-doctoral grant for more than twelve years are excluded.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe how organizational members became storywriters o... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe how organizational members became storywriters of an important process of organizational change. Writing became a practice designed to create a space, a time and a methodology with which to author the process of change and create a learning context. The written stories produced both the subjectivity of practical authors and reflexively created the con/text for their reproduction. Design/methodology/approach A storywriting workshop inspired by a processual and participatory practice-based approach to learning and knowing was held in a research organization undergoing privatization. For six months, 31 organizational members, divided into two groups, participated in writing one story per week for six weeks. The written story had to refer to a fact that had occurred in the previous week, thus prompting reflection on the ongoing organizational life and giving a situated meaning to the change process. Findings Storywriting is first and fore...
This paper addresses the topic of work–life interferences in academic contexts. More specifically... more This paper addresses the topic of work–life interferences in academic contexts. More specifically, it focuses on early career researchers in the Italian university system. The total availability required from those who work in the research sector is leading to significant transformations of the temporalities of work, especially among the new generation of researchers, whose condition is characterized by a higher degree of instability and uncertainty. Which are the experiences of the early career researchers in an academic context constituted by a growing competition for permanent positions and, as a consequence, by a greatly increased pressure? Which are the main gender differences? In what elements do Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics disciplines differ from Social Sciences and Humanities? The collected narratives reveal how the ongoing process of precarization is affecting both the everyday working activities and the private and family lives of early career research...
Revue multidisciplinaire sur l'emploi, le syndicalisme et le travail, 2012
Cet article porte sur la construction de la masculinité, ou mieux des masculinités, dans les orga... more Cet article porte sur la construction de la masculinité, ou mieux des masculinités, dans les organisations. Notre discussion sera basée sur une analyse de quatre-vingt-douze entretiens réalisés dans la province de Trente, au nord-est de l'Italie, entre 2006 et 2007. Les entretiens ont été menés avec des hommes appartenant à différentes organisations, tant publiques que privées, qui ont eu recours au congé parental. Les histoires recueillies narrent les expériences des hommes qui ont défié le modèle dominant de masculinité dans les organisations où ils travaillent. En particulier, l'utilisation d'une approche narrative nous a permis de souligner l'importance de la narration tant pour défier que pour reproduire l'ordre de genre dominant dans les organisations, comme clé d'analyse à la fois pour découvrir et pour déconstruire les pratiques hégémoniques. Cette approche permet aussi de mettre en évidence les positions des voix alternatives ou marginales, souvent c...
Nesta carta executiva, Barbara Poggio relata sua experiência como vice-reitora de igualdade e div... more Nesta carta executiva, Barbara Poggio relata sua experiência como vice-reitora de igualdade e diversidade da Universidade de Trento (Itália), enfatizando a questão das assimetrias de gênero e os desafios atuais no meio acadêmico. O texto resulta de uma palestra na Faculdade de Negócios da University of Lakehead (Canadá) em junho de 2021. O objetivo da carta é chamar atenção para a implicação de que o ambiente acadêmico predominantemente masculino tem implicações importantes para as condições de trabalho e a qualidade de vida. Além disso, destaca o impacto da atual transformação acadêmica e a afirmação da agenda neoliberal, enfatizando a performatividade, a excelência e a competição, e as implicações em termos de crescente precariedade.
Research Handbook on Work-Life Balance. Emerging Issues and Methodological Challenges, 2022
The chapter introduces the scientific debate on work-life balance, starting with a short reconstr... more The chapter introduces the scientific debate on work-life balance, starting with a short reconstruction of the history of the concept, from the emphasis on conflict between separate spheres to the more recent urges to abandon it, because of its many limitations and biases. Moreover, the authors outline the main thematic axes around which the debate on work-life balance has developed, such as gender, class and generation, but also those that should be explored further, by adopting an intersectional approach in the analysis of the relationship between work and other spheres of life. Finally, the ongoing changes, implications and challenges presented by the Coronavirus pandemic are considered, in order to identify the possible trajectories and perspective that are opening for future research agenda.
DI.RE. DIfferenze REtributive, DIfferenze da eliminaRE Una ricerca sulla (s)valutazione del lavor... more DI.RE. DIfferenze REtributive, DIfferenze da eliminaRE Una ricerca sulla (s)valutazione del lavoro femminile in Alto Adige ���������� ����������������������� ���������������� ������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������� ����������� ����������������������� ������������������������������������������������������ ��������
GARCIA is an EU-Framework 7 funded project under topic SiS.2013.2.1.1-1 "Supporting changes in th... more GARCIA is an EU-Framework 7 funded project under topic SiS.2013.2.1.1-1 "Supporting changes in the organisation of research institutions to promote Gender Equality" Grant agreement n. 611737 • Project coordinator:University of Trento • Homepage: www.garciaproject.eu GARCIA-GA n. 611737, Working Paper n.9 Table of contents 1. Executive summary 4 2. Methodological manual 9 2.1 Contextualising academic careers: mapping gender, care and employment regimes in different European countries 12 2.2 Mapping the organisational level-integrating gender budgeting into scientific organisations 17 2.2.1 Data collection 17 2.2.2 Analyses of the decision-making bodies and decision-making processes at the institutional level 20 2.2.3 Analyses of the decision-making bodies and decision-making processes in the departments selected 26 2.3 Structural and cultural organisational analyses 29 2.3.1 Quantifying academic careers at the organisational level 30 2.3.2 Understanding gendered organisational cultures 34 2.3.3 Map of existing work-life balance policies 2.3.4 Actions to integrate the gender dimension into research and teaching 42 2.4 Mapping the leaky pipeline phenomenon 50 2.4.1 Quantifying the leaky pipeline at the national and organisational level 51 2.4.2 "Movers" vs "Leavers": a qualitative analysis of the leaky pipeline 62 2.5 Deconstructing "excellence": revealing gendered sub-texts in the recruitment procedures 64 2.5.1 The analysis of formal criteria 66 2.5.2 Exploring actual practices in recruitment procedures 69 40 2 GARCIA-GA n. 611737, Working Paper n.9
Generare parità. Riflessioni ed esperienze su educazione e genere, 2024
Al centro del volume il racconto della travagliata esperienza di un percorso di educazione alla r... more Al centro del volume il racconto della travagliata esperienza di un percorso di educazione alla relazione di genere nelle scuole in Provincia di Trento. Progettato con cura e realizzato con successo, viene clamorosamente cassato dall’amministrazione appena insediata. Una vicenda che evidenzia le contraddizioni, le complessità, le strumentalizzazioni di un tema che, invece che diventare spunto educativo, resta divisivo. Sono presenti, inoltre, i con- tributi di alcuni esperti che descrivono l’attuale dibattito in corso nel nostro Paese e riflettono sulla necessità e sulle prospettive di queste iniziative.
Nonostante nelle università il numero delle studentesse abbia superato quello degli studenti, e a... more Nonostante nelle università il numero delle studentesse abbia superato quello degli studenti, e a dispetto dei migliori risultati ottenuti, le donne restano sottorappresentate nelle carriere accademiche e negli organi di governo degli atenei. Quali sono gli ostacoli e i processi che rendono più difficile per le donne entrare in modo stabile nell’accademia e raggiungere le posizioni apicali? Frutto di una ricerca di respiro nazionale sugli intrecci tra percorsi accademici, genere e politiche in Italia, il volume affronta la questione delle ostinate disparità di genere nelle carriere, dal reclutamento alla stabilizzazione e agli avanzamenti alle posizioni di vertice. Combinando vissuti individuali, dimensione organizzativa e processi di governance, la prospettiva multidimensionale dell’analisi offre un quadro inedito delle disparità di genere in accademia e dei processi che contribuiscono a riprodurle, rintracciabili sia nel persistere di pratiche e modelli di genere tradizionali, sia nei nuovi assetti universitari.
This innovative and thought-provoking Research Handbook explores the theoretical debate surroundi... more This innovative and thought-provoking Research Handbook explores the theoretical debate surrounding work–life balance, and provides a reflection on the opportunity to adopt multilevel research approaches and perspectives, along gender and temporal axes. The Research Handbook is an international overview of current research on work–life balance, considered in macro, meso and micro perspectives.
Offering both theoretical reflections and empirical research examples illustrating the multiple strategies through which the different articulations that characterize the work–life intersection can be analysed, this Research Handbook includes analyses of gendered labour, generational assets and technological changes. Contributors provide translation and actualization of specific research practices and methodological choices, focused on different national contexts. The empirical analysis ranges from comparative research based on quantitative methods, to qualitative approaches centered on longitudinal, discursive and narrative perspectives, and mixed-method studies. Further contributions adopt innovative research methods based on the use of digital and visual technologies.
This Research Handbook will be an inspiring read for both undergraduate and postgraduate sociology and social policy students. The book is also addressed to researchers, consultants and policy makers interested in work–life balance issues.
Educare le nuove generazioni alla parità è una responsabilità che spetta, oltre che alle famiglie... more Educare le nuove generazioni alla parità è una responsabilità che spetta, oltre che alle famiglie, anche al mondo della scuola. Per riequilibrare le evidenti asimmetrie tra uomini e donne in molti ambiti della sfera sociale, economica e lavorativa è fondamentale promuovere un cambio di mentalità fin dalla Scuola primaria. Scritto da esperti di varia formazione, questo volume propone attività e suggerimenti didattici per accompagnare docenti di ogni ordine e grado in questa importante sfida.
Il volume raccoglie gli atti del V convegno nazionale organizzato dal Centro Studi interdisciplin... more Il volume raccoglie gli atti del V convegno nazionale organizzato dal Centro Studi interdisciplinari di Genere (CSG) dell’Università di Trento nelle giornate del 31 gennaio e 1 febbraio 2020, che si è proposto di interrogare il rapporto tra genere e resistenza, nelle sue molteplici articolazioni. R-esistenza può essere intesa come una forma di opposizione o di contro-reazione a processi di cambiamento sociale che hanno messo in discussione l’ordine simbolico-culturale tradizionale e, con esso, gerarchie e ruoli di genere consolidati all’interno delle famiglie, del mondo del lavoro e della società più in generale. R-esistenza indica anche l’insieme di pratiche di difesa messe in atto nei confronti di ideologie, teorie, politiche e regole lesive dei principi di inclusione, equità e pari opportunità, che limitano la libertà di scelta, di posizionamento e di orientamento di singole/i o di gruppi non conformi alle norme dominanti.
The literature on gender and science shows that scientific careers continue to be characterised –... more The literature on gender and science shows that scientific careers continue to be characterised – albeit with important differences among countries – by strong gender discriminations, especially in more prestigious positions. Much less investigated is the issue of which stage in the career such differences begin to show up.
Gender and Precarious Research Careers aims to advance the debate on the process of precarisation in higher education and its gendered effects, and springs from a three-year research project across institutions in seven European countries: Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland, Switzerland, Slovenia and Austria. Examining gender asymmetries in academic and research organisations, this insightful volume focuses particularly on early careers. It centres both on STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and SSH (Social Science and Humanities) fields.
Atti del convegno "Saperi di genere. Prospettive intedisciplinari su formazione, università, lavo... more Atti del convegno "Saperi di genere. Prospettive intedisciplinari su formazione, università, lavoro, politiche e movimenti sociali" - http://events.unitn.it/saperidigenere2017
Il rapporto tra genere e potere non è certo un tema inedito. Al contrario, rappresenta una questi... more Il rapporto tra genere e potere non è certo un tema inedito. Al contrario, rappresenta una questione fondativa nella genealogia sia del movimento femminista, sia degli studi di genere come ambito di ricerca. In virtù di tale carattere fondante abbiamo scelto di cimentarci con una sfida che ci è parsa complessa, ma al contempo promettente, proprio perché sempre attuale.
I contributi che compongono il volume hanno cercato di districare questo nodo in relazione ai domini - spesso sovrapposti - della sessualità, della politica, del lavoro e della cultura, scelti in quanto ambiti privilegiati per un’analisi multi e interdisciplinare in ottica di genere e, al contempo, in quanto dimensioni in cui il potere si dispiega in modalità particolarmente evidenti e pervasive. La sfida posta dal convegno ci pare sia stata compresa da autori e autrici dei contributi che, intrecciando differenti prospettive disciplinari, differenti posizionamenti soggettivi e differenti interessi di ricerca, ci offrono un mosaico di riflessioni aperte alla contemporaneità e alle sue sfide, benché forti della solidità di un bagaglio teorico ormai maturo. Ulteriore elemento di forza è stata la capacità degli autori e delle autrici di sviluppare i propri contributi proprio a partire dal carattere ambivalente e, dunque, euristicamente molto fertile del concetto di genere, declinandolo nella sua duplice valenza di categoria normativa - in cui il potere si articola in modo rigidamente asimmetrico - e di categoria trasformativa, che ha in sé la possibilità di decostruire la norma, ridefinendo in forme nuove e differenti il potere stesso.
By Annalisa Murgia, Barbara Poggio and Maura de Bon (2010)
Nelle organizzazioni, l’adozione di i... more By Annalisa Murgia, Barbara Poggio and Maura de Bon (2010) Nelle organizzazioni, l’adozione di interventi e politiche di genere è solo una questione etica oppure anche un imperativo strategico? Cosa significa gestire le organizzazioni in un’ottica di genere? Come è possibile farlo in modo efficace? A partire da queste domande il volume offre una serie di strumenti operativi, di analisi, intervento e gestione, utili per attivare processi di cambiamento e raggiungere condizioni di equità di genere nelle organizzazioni lavorative.
Ogni discorso sul genere è già di per sé un discorso sui confini e sul loro possibile superamento... more Ogni discorso sul genere è già di per sé un discorso sui confini e sul loro possibile superamento, ma in questo volume la liminalità è il filo rosso dei diversi scritti in cui vengono delineate le nuove frontiere degli studi di genere, sia attraverso al considerazione di tematiche emergenti come le biotecnologie, le comunità virtuali, le relazioni interculturali e la precarietà lavorativa e biografica, sia tramite il ricorso a strumenti di ricerca non convenzionali, come l’analisi visuale o l’etnografia virtuale. Al contempo il tema dei confini attraversa le diverse sollecitazioni a riflettere sui corpi e sulle identità, individuando nelle dimensioni della pratica e della performatività categorie imprescindibili per leggere e decostruire i processi di produzione e riproduzione del genere.
Entrepreneurship can be read as a cultural and economic phenomenon. In recent times, gender has b... more Entrepreneurship can be read as a cultural and economic phenomenon. In recent times, gender has become an increasing influence on entrepreneurship. This groundbreaking new study considers both gender and entrepreneurship as symbolic forms, looking at their diverse patterns and social representation. Presenting an ethnographic study of the gender structuring of entrepreneurship, this work employs three strategies:
A critical survey of gender studies which argues that entrepreneurship is a cultural model of masculinity that obstructs the expression of other models;
'Reflexive' ethnographic observation conducted in five small firms which describes how business cultures are 'gendered' and how gender is the product of a social practice;
An analysis of how discursive and narrative practices in business cultures constitute gender and entrepreneurship.
This book brings together stories told by men and women. With a play on words sometimes used by f... more This book brings together stories told by men and women. With a play on words sometimes used by feminists in the past, it could have been entitled "His/story and Her/story," in order to convey from the outset a banal, but sometimes overlooked, fact: the contents of stories depend on the voice telling them, and the experience recounted in first person differs according to the gender of the narrator.
Negli ultimi anni la narrazione sembra aver ha assunto piena cittadinanza nell´ambito delle scien... more Negli ultimi anni la narrazione sembra aver ha assunto piena cittadinanza nell´ambito delle scienze sociali, emergendo da una situazione di clandestinità e ottenendo riconoscimento sia in quanto oggetto sia come strumento di ricerca. Nel libro vengono affrontate quattro principali questioni relative all´impiego delle narrazioni nel contesto degli studi e della ricerca sociale: cosa sono le narrazioni, perchè occuparsene, dove trovarle, come analizzarle. Partendo dal senso dell´approccio narrativo nella ricerca sociale, il volume introduce i lettori nei principali ambiti di produzione quotidiana delle storie: la costruzione identitaria, le relazioni familiari, i processi di apprendimento e i contesti organizzativi e, ponendo alcune questioni di metodo, li invita ad esplorare possibili itinerari di indagine.
Una donna entra in un gruppo di lavoro a netta prevalenza maschile. Cosa succede? Quali sono le r... more Una donna entra in un gruppo di lavoro a netta prevalenza maschile. Cosa succede? Quali sono le reazioni dei colleghi? Le due autrici raccolgono le testimonianze di donne e uomini che hanno affrontato sul campo questa situazione ed evidenziano come, malgrado l'esperienza vissuta sia la stessa, i racconti delle une e degli altri divergano in modo significativo: le testimonianze delle donne appaiono spesso romanzi, quelle degli uomini resoconti di cronaca. Perché? Quali sono le regole di genere esplicite e implicite trasmesse dalle narrazioni?
This special issue aims to contribute to the debate on gender inequalities in academia and the ge... more This special issue aims to contribute to the debate on gender inequalities in academia and the gender equality policies that address them. In this introduction we offer an overview of the debate and of the main research issues and theoretical perspectives, showing how a multiplicity of approaches are needed for both understanding and transforming higher education institutions. Macro, meso and micro level approaches illuminate the gendered individual, cultural and institutional factors that constrain and enable academic life, with special attention paid to how the neoliberal turn, and its organizational consequences, exacerbates gender inequalities. Women, gender, care, and intersectionality approaches allow scholars to focus on the different gendered or intersectional relationships within academia. Policy-oriented approaches allow us to analyse and assess progress in institutional efforts to close the gap on gender inequalities in academia. Actor-centred studies expose the power struggles between actors that oppose or promote gender equality policies in academia.
A che punto sono i Gender Studies in Italia? Quali cambiamenti sono avvenuti, e quali invece manc... more A che punto sono i Gender Studies in Italia? Quali cambiamenti sono avvenuti, e quali invece mancano ancora nelle nostre accademie e nella società in generale? Quali sono le resistenze in atto? E quali le direzioni future per i Gender Studies? Per rispondere a queste domande, abbiamo invitato quattro accademicə provenienti da diverse discipline: Barbara Poggio, Raffaella Sarti, Giuseppe Burgio e Thomas Casadei. Partendo da un excursus tematico e sul posizionamento/riconoscimento degli studi di genere in ambito sociologico, storico, pedagogico e giuridico, la Tavola Rotonda si sviluppa evidenziando, da un lato, le relazioni con i movimenti femministi e, dall'altro, le potenzialità e le insidie del processo di istituzionalizzazione degli studi di genere in accademia, per poi terminare con un confronto sui futuri scenari di sviluppo dei Gender Studies.
In this executive letter, Barbara Poggio reports her experience as vice-rector of equality and di... more In this executive letter, Barbara Poggio reports her experience as vice-rector of equality and diversity at the University of Trento (Italy), emphasizing the issue of gender asymmetries and the current challenges in the academic environment. The text results from a lecture at the Faculty of Business at the University of Lakehead (Canada) in June 2021. The letter's purpose is to draw attention to the implication that the predominantly male academic environment has important implications for working conditions and quality of life. In addition, it highlights the impact of the current academic transformation and the affirmation of the neoliberal agenda, emphasizing performativity, excellence, and competition, and the implication in terms of increasing precariousness.
L’articolo cerca di delineare alcune piste di riflessione mirate a fare chiarezza sul nesso gener... more L’articolo cerca di delineare alcune piste di riflessione mirate a fare chiarezza sul nesso genere-educazione a partire dalla prospettiva del diritto di bambine e bambini a crescere libere/i da stereotipi e aspettative sociali fondate sul genere. Nella prima parte viene ripercorso il dibattito pubblico che si è sviluppato negli ultimi anni attorno al tema del “gender”, e che in alcuni casi ha portato alla chiusura delle esperienze educative presenti in diverse scuole italiane al fine di promuovere l’equità di genere, richiamandone le principali argomentazioni. Nella seconda vengono discussi i meccanismi sociali che producono asimmetrie e discriminazioni in base a genere e orientamento sessuale, evidenziando il ruolo trasformativo che può essere svolto dalla scuola e dai contesti educativi per promuovere equità e valorizzazione delle differenze.
Il capitolo passa in rassegna i primi dieci anni di "Sociologia del Lavoro", cercando di mettere ... more Il capitolo passa in rassegna i primi dieci anni di "Sociologia del Lavoro", cercando di mettere in luce quale sia stata la rappresentazione dominante degli attori all'interno del mercato del lavoro e di identificare i soggetti mancanti o meno visibili. Il focus si concentra in particolare su come (e da chi) la questione dell'occupazione femminile è progressivamente inclusa e tematizzata nel dibattito sul lavoro.
Questo articolo presenta alcuni risultati di una ricerca condotta in otto diversi paesi europei s... more Questo articolo presenta alcuni risultati di una ricerca condotta in otto diversi paesi europei sulle dinamiche occupazionali, le esperienze lavorative e le opportunità di apprendimento delle donne che lavorano nella cosiddetta “Information Society”. La ricerca ha preso in considerazione le caratteristiche dell’occupazione femminile nell’ambito della grande distribuzione commerciale e dei servizi finanziari, due settori che negli ultimi anni sono stati coinvolti da profondi cambiamenti organizzativi e da significative innovazioni tecnologiche e che sono caratterizzati da una crescente presenza femminile. Al centro dell’analisi vi è l’impatto delle ristrutturazioni organizzative e dell’introduzione della ICT (Information Communication Technology) sui modelli di lavoro delle donne, soprattutto coloro che sono in posizioni non manageriali, e sulla costruzione delle loro competenze ed expertise.
Murgia, A., Poggio, B. (2012) "I giovani tra lavoro e non lavoro. Storie di equilibri instabili i... more Murgia, A., Poggio, B. (2012) "I giovani tra lavoro e non lavoro. Storie di equilibri instabili in una prospettiva di genere" in Sociologia del lavoro, n. 124, pp. 166-181
In questo contributo vengono discussi alcuni dei principali risultati di una ricerca mirata ad an... more In questo contributo vengono discussi alcuni dei principali risultati di una ricerca mirata ad analizzare il fenomeno dell’instabilità lavorativa tra i giovani highly skilled in Italia. D opo aver delineato un quadro generale dei cambiamenti che connotano la situazione di questo specifico segmento, vengono presentati gli esiti di una indagine qualitativa basata sulla conduzione di interviste in profondità, focalizzando in particolare l’attenzione sulla temporaneità dei contratti, sulla qualità del lavoro, sull’intreccio tra lavoro e vita privata e sulla questione dei diritti e della sicurezza sociale. Infine viene sviluppata una riflessione sui possibili interventi per contrastare le criticità evidenziate, anche sulla base degli esiti di un focus group condotto con testimoni privilegiati.
Despite the remarkable growth of women participation in the higher education system, one can obse... more Despite the remarkable growth of women participation in the higher education system, one can observe the persistence of significant gender imbalances in the scientific careers, both in horizontal and vertical way, or even the emergence of new asymmetries due to the current trends in work and management patterns as well as to the processes of redefinition ongoing within different scientific fields. The complexity and articulation of the phenomenon require the adoption of multiple analytical tools and interpretations, which allow to account for both the changes taking place, and of the plurality of factors at play. This special issue intends to show and discuss some facets of the phenomena in the Italian context, considering the transition from education to work, women’s trajectories and strategies in some disciplinary fields, the experiences of early-career researchers, and the pay gap phenomenon among physicians. These issues will be investigated using different research tools and interpretative lens.
An assessment of the present condition of Italian sociology, followed by 5 papers on different as... more An assessment of the present condition of Italian sociology, followed by 5 papers on different aspects of the discipline
Purpose
The article describes how organizational members became storywriters of an important p... more Purpose
The article describes how organizational members became storywriters of an important process of organizational change. Writing became a practice designed to create a space, a time, and a methodology with which to author the process of change and create a learning context. The written stories produced both the subjectivity of practical authors and reflexively created the con/text for their reproduction.
Design/methodology/approach
A storywriting workshop inspired by a processual and participatory practice-based approach to learning and knowing was held in a research organization undergoing privatization. For six months, thirty-one organizational members, divided into two groups, participated in writing one story per week for six weeks. The written story had to refer to a fact that had occurred in the previous week, thus prompting reflection on the ongoing organizational life and giving a situated meaning to the change process.
Findings
Storywriting is first and foremost a social practice of wayfinding, i.e of knowing as one goes. Writing proved to be an effective practice that involved the authors, their narratives, and the audiences in a shared experience where all these practice elements became connected and through their connection acquired agency.
Originality/value
Narrative knowledge has been studied mainly in storytelling, while storywriting by organizational members has received less attention. This paper explores storywriting both as a situated, relational, and material practice and as the process that produces narratives which can be considered for their content and their style.
This paper addresses the topic of work–life interferences in academic contexts. More specifically... more This paper addresses the topic of work–life interferences in academic contexts. More specifically, it focuses on early career researchers in the Italian university system. The total availability required from those who work in the research sector is leading to significant transformations of the temporalities of work, especially among the new generation of researchers, whose condition is characterized by a higher degree of instability and uncertainty. Which are the experiences of the early career researchers in an academic context constituted by a growing competition for permanent positions and, as a consequence, by a greatly increased pressure? Which are the main gender differences? In what elements do Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics disciplines differ from Social Sciences and Humanities? The collected narratives reveal how the ongoing process of precarization is affecting both the everyday working activities and the private and family lives of early career researchers, with important consequences also on their future prospects.
The issue of work-life balance has received in the last years increasing visibility and legitimac... more The issue of work-life balance has received in the last years increasing visibility and legitimacy in the European social and organizational policy agenda, stimulating also in Italy the implementation of several initiatives and actions aimed to promote a better balance between work experience and other life domains ,in particular the family. However, in discourses and practices about work-life balance more widespread in Italy we can find several ambiguities and paradoxes, and in particular the existence of gender subtests that seem to reproduce those same assumptions and stereotypes that they are expected to overcome. In this paper I intend to highlight the main ambivalences and critical issues of the work-life balance practices in Italian organizations and to single out some theoretical and operational insights in order to redefine them.
Traditional literature and research on entrepreneurship relies on a model of economic rationality... more Traditional literature and research on entrepreneurship relies on a model of economic rationality alleged to be universal and agendered. This article presents a description of the processes that position people as ‘men’ and ‘women’ within entrepreneurial practices and as ‘entrepreneurs’ within gender practices, relying on an ethnographic study carried out in small enterprises in Italy. Our analysis shows how gender and entrepreneurship are enacted as situated practices and how the codes of a gendered identity are kept, changed and transgressed by constantly sliding between different symbolic spaces. In particular we highlight five processes of the symbolic construction of gender and entrepreneurship: managing the dual presence, doing ceremonial and remedial work, boundary-keeping, footing and gender commodification. We then propose a final metaphor which conveys a summary image of these processes. In concluding, we link our analysis to the original purpose of our investigation, highlighting not only how entrepreneurship is equated with the masculine, but also how alternative and possible forms of entrepreneurship exist, in the same way as different forms of gender.
This article examines the organizational dynamics responsible for maintaining the gender asymmetr... more This article examines the organizational dynamics responsible for maintaining the gender asymmetry in organizations, by considering the narratives of women and men working in male dominated jobs and positions. Using a symbolic-interpretative approach we analyze the rules and the rituals by which gender is created and recreated in organizations and we show the ambiguity that characterizes social expectations towards women entering traditionally male territories. We present gender as a set of social practices which define the relations between men and women and which, in the organizations that we studied, are based on a dichotomous and hierarchical symbolic order. Viewing gender as something organizations ‘do’ and not as a natural attribute of people, can help organizational actors, and in particular the management, to be aware of the hegemonic masculinity underlying the dominant social practices and, therefore, to change the strategies for change.
Uses the neologism "entrepreneur mentality" - paying implicit homage to Foucault's govermentality... more Uses the neologism "entrepreneur mentality" - paying implicit homage to Foucault's govermentality - to highlight how an entrepreneurial discourse is mobilized as a system of thinking about women entrepreneurs which is able to make some form of that activity thinkable and practicable, namely: who can be an entrepreneur, what entrepreneurship is, what or who is managed by that form of governance of economic relations? Discourses on women entrepreneurs are linguistic practices that create truth effects. Argues that social studies of women entrepreneurs tend to reproduce an androcentric entrepreneur mentality that makes hegemonic masculinity invisible. They portray women's organizations as "the other", and sustain social expectations of their difference, thereby implicitly reproducing male experience as a preferred normative value. Taking a deconstructive gaze on how an entrepreneur-mentality discourse is gendered, reveals the gender sub-text underpinning the practices of the scientific community that study women entrepreneurs and, in so doing, open a space to question them.(Publication abstract)
Gender in Management: An International Journal, 2010
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the persistence of vertical segregation in t... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the persistence of vertical segregation in the European labour market, suggesting an interpretation of the phenomenon (and a consequent basis for intervention) based on the concept of gender practice. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is theoretical in nature. It consists of a brief survey of the main explanations proposed in the literature and of the approaches most frequently used to counteract vertical gender segregation. It then focuses on a practice-based approach. Findings – The paper describes the opportunities offered by an approach based on an interpretation of gender as practice. Originality/value – The paper intends to provide the debate on gender and management with insights derived from adoption of an interpretative perspective emergent from both the theoretical point of view and that of managerial action and policy.
Organising Immigrants' Integration Practices and Consequences in Labour Markets and Societies, 2023
This chapter aims to highlight the complexity of the Italian case in relation to immigrants’ inte... more This chapter aims to highlight the complexity of the Italian case in relation to immigrants’ integration at work. After an initial framing aimed at tracing the political and cultural directions that accompany these processes, an attempt is made to read the Italian case as the outcome of an encounter between market-based institutional logic and community-based institutional logic. These logics guided policy choices and favoured the development of a plurality of immigrant access to the labour market. Moreover, an attempt is made to find a point of contact between institutional logics and organisational practices that develop locally in the various integration contexts. Considering the examples of the village of Riace, and a case of the market insertion of female immigrants, we highlight the extensive use of arrangements that make institutional logics less effective and deterministic.
collana diretta da Paolo Crepaz L'ostacolo obliquo è qui inteso come simbolo di un'attività sport... more collana diretta da Paolo Crepaz L'ostacolo obliquo è qui inteso come simbolo di un'attività sportiva dove ogni persona, in base alle personali abilità, può sperimentare l'adeguatezza e il successo della propria azione. La collana Ostacolo obliquo, rivolta ad atleti, genitori, insegnanti, tecnici e operatori sportivi, mira ad avvicinare allo sport secondo una prospettiva equa e inclusiva.
Opening Up the University. Teaching and Learning with Refugees, 2022
The relation between the ongoing ‘refugee crisis’ in Europe and higher education systems have on... more The relation between the ongoing ‘refugee crisis’ in Europe and higher education systems have only recently started to receive attention among academics and policy makers. This partly results from an overall tendency of approaching forced migration more from the perspective of political and socio-legal problems posed to receiving countries, and less from the one of the educational requirements and knowledge skills that accompany present flows. This chapter discusses the recent experience of the University of Trento in developing fellowship programs for refugee students and scholars. The aim is to unravel the different territorial scales within which a university operates, focusing specifically on the regional dimension and on the latter’s interconnections with the national and European level. It offers insights on the limits and the possibilities these different scales impose/offer on the type of interventions that can be implemented. The first part of the analysis discusses how the collaboration between the University and the Provincial Government fostered establishment of reception policies for refugee students and, more recently, academics. It takes as a case in point the programs ‘SuXr - University Students for Refugees’ and ‘Refugee and Asylum Seekers at the University’. Both programs reflected the intent to create educational strategies that would bring higher educational communities closer to the lived reality of refugees, and that strengthen the collaboration between the university and the local civil society. The second part of the chapter discusses the administrative, economic and socio-cultural challenges related to the implementation of the above-mentioned programs. It does so by referring partly to the university ‘internal’ (administrative and academic) adjustment to refugee programs, and partly to the criticism raised at the city level by right-wing populist parties. The recent victory of the Lega party in provincial election is deeply transforming the relation between the university, the local government and the urban network of civil society associations, and requires renewed educational/employment support strategies for refugee students/scholars. Drawing from the ongoing experience of Trento, the chapter suggests the importance of analysing the opening – as well potential closing – of universities to refugees in relation not only to changing academic culture and mission, but also to shifting political situation at local, national and European levels.
Introduzione al volume Fare la differenza. Stereotipi di genere e nuove pratiche di affermazione ... more Introduzione al volume Fare la differenza. Stereotipi di genere e nuove pratiche di affermazione nei campi scientifici, a cura di Mariacristina Sciannamblo e Assunta Viteritti
in A. Murgia, B. Poggio (eds.) Gender and Precarious Research Careers: A Comparative Analysis, London, Routledge, pp. 15-49
The literature on gender and science shows that scientific careers continue to be characterised -... more The literature on gender and science shows that scientific careers continue to be characterised -albeit with important differences among countries -by strong gender discriminations, especially in more prestigious positions. Much less investigated is the issue of which stage in the career such differences begin to show up.
The chapter discusses the potential of a narrative approach in equality and diversity research fi... more The chapter discusses the potential of a narrative approach in equality and diversity research fieldwork, with a specific focus on gender. After introducing the reason why narratives gained growing attention in human science and in organizational studies, the main methodological implications of narrative research are outlined. This contribution will show how narratives can be particularly efficacious means to shed light on three main facets of gender practices in organizations – in processes of identity construction and gender positioning; in reproducing or deconstructing the dominant gender orders; and in fostering gender change – to promote more inclusive contexts. For each dimension an example of application will be drawn from the author’s research experience based on different narrative materials: stories of women and men working in typically male environments; narratives of working fathers who used parental leave; narratives used as stimuli for reflexivity and experiential learning about gender in organizations.
Contextual Embeddedness of Women’s Entrepreneurship: Going beyond a Gender Neutral Approach, 2018
Although the literature on women entrepreneurship has grown rapidly since 1990, its focus on indi... more Although the literature on women entrepreneurship has grown rapidly since 1990, its focus on individual women and their businesses does not explain current patterns of women's entrepreneurship because its basic assumptions position women as inadequate and incomplete entrepreneurs, while there is scant empirical evidence of such underperformance (Mirchandani, 1999; Marlow and McAdam, 2013). This literature has been mainly gender blind, positivistic, and in danger of reaching a dead end in the absence of a reflexive critical perspective informing the idea of who can be and what might be an entrepreneur (Ahl and Marlow, 2012; Hughes, Jennings, Brush, Carter and Welter 2012). At the beginning of the 2000s, feminist/gender studies conducted a fierce critique of the gender neutral approach in entrepreneurship studies (Bruni, Gherardi and Poggio 2004a; Wee and Brooks, 2012). The argument centered on the invisible masculinity supported by the concept of entrepreneurship, and on how masculinity was not only a hidden sub-text but also a normative assumption that marginalizes women entrepreneurs and other forms of masculinity and ethnicity, thus establishing a model of entrepreneurialism that appears to be universal and gendered. Since the critiques against a gender-neutral approach and the plea for a gender/feminist approach are widespread, we shall not repeat them here. Nevertheless, the relationship between gender and entrepreneurship, and the theoretical approach within which both terms become connected, should be made clearer before a 'gender as a social practice approach' is proposed. In broad terms we can distinguish between two conceptions: the gender in entrepreneurship approach and the gendering of entrepreneurship. To classify these
Intervento realizzato nell'ambito del ciclo di incontri - RRI - Introdurre una prospettiva di gen... more Intervento realizzato nell'ambito del ciclo di incontri - RRI - Introdurre una prospettiva di genere nell’innovazione e nella ricerca. Il contributo si concentra sull'introduzione di una prospettiva di genere nella ricerca scientifica.
In the last years, a relevant part of the public debate in Italy focused on issues relating to ge... more In the last years, a relevant part of the public debate in Italy focused on issues relating to gender equality and LGBTQ rights. More specifically, since 2013 two law proposals were presented with the aim to introduce the recognition of partnerships and marriages of same-sex couples, educational programs on gender identities and relations in schools (Giorgi A., Ozzano L., 2015). One of the most relevant voices in this debate is represented by the neo-conservative Catholic movement that countered all the law proposals, invoking the defense of the “natural family”. The contribution is aimed at the analysis of rhetoric and discursive strategies of this movement, considering the main relevant groups and formations. The paper, methodologically based on the Critical Discourse Analysis, examines the most relevant political documents (manifestos and press releases) of these political formations. The analysis of the documents allows to reconstruct topics and political frame of what can be defined as a new conservative and populist wave. In fact, the public discourse of these groups present some typical populist traits. i) The classical “them and us” opposition (Mény and Surel, 2002) that constructs the “traditional and natural family” as object of defeat by specific public threats. ii) The construction of scapegoats in order to mobilise public opinion, producing what Herdt (2009) calls “sexual panic”, related in particular to the protection of the children’ innocence. iii) The evocation of nature as core of this theoretical architecture, with the use of the so-called Gender Ideology. Finally, we will try to show how this discourse is not a simple counter position against a socio-political change, but rather the proposition of a proper socio-political project, nurtured by in the seduction of nature and tradition.
This chapter focuses on the relationship of gender and science and on gender construction process... more This chapter focuses on the relationship of gender and science and on gender construction processes within the domains of formal production and legitimation of knowledge, namely universities. The first part of the chapter addresses the persistence of significant gender asymmetries in these domains. In fact, despite women’s increased presence in educational spheres, evidence continues to persist of the existence of gender disparities in participation in technical and scientific educational programs, as well as of imbalance in higher status scientific careers. These asymmetries seem to be today reinforced by the emerging practices of science production and of evaluation of scientific performances, as well as by the new work arrangements in scientific organizations, due to the growing hegemony of neoliberal models. In the second part attention is focused on strategies aimed to combat gender asymmetries in scientific and academic organisations in Europe. In particular I consider the projects funded by the European Commission in recent years aimed to reduce gender inequality in science under the label of “structural changes”, by attempting to illustrate their strenghts and weaknesses. In the concluding section some of the issues arising from the consideration of European policies on gender and science are taken up and developed in light of the stimuly offered by Connell’s theory.
Feminist practice and theory have always conferred value on narrative knowledge produ-ced through... more Feminist practice and theory have always conferred value on narrative knowledge produ-ced through storytelling, mainly because of its ability to stimulate reflexive thought. In ourcontribution we intend to present and discuss a training methodology founded on memorywork and designed to stimulate an individual and group reworking of the leadership dimen-sion, and of the gender and leadership relationship. We will describe a narrative workshopconducted with groups of women working in managerial positions and based on the pers-pective of workplace learning through experiential reflexivity. The narrative methodologyproved to be a particularly effective tool: it gave the participants a chance to conduct retros-pective analysis of their past work experiences (individual and organizational), and it gene-rated —due to the interaction with other stories (those furnished in the training activityand those provided by other trainees)— different interpretative perspectives and new mea-ning configurations in order to face working life and organizational dynamics.
gender cultures in their organizations. We briefly introduce the main results coming from previou... more gender cultures in their organizations. We briefly introduce the main results coming from previous researches, in which we identified three main organisational plots to describe how the use of parental leave is managed in the Italian context in the case of male full-time dependent employees. In order to analyse their experiences, we metaphorically referred to three mythological figures, the Titans brothers Atlas, Epimetheus and Prometheus. In this chapter we broaden our research interests, by considering the phenomenon of labour market flexibilisation and its consequences for non-standard employment relations, with a specific focus on fathers’ rights. The research shows that the practices of resistance to hegemonic gender models within organisations appear to be significantly different for fixed-term and self-employed workers with respect to those of fathers with a standard work arrangement, since the legislation itself denies – or makes no exercisable – their right to use the parental leave. To give an account of this emerging condition in the labour market, we make reference to a further mythological figure, Menoetius, the fourth brother of the Titans. While the other three brothers – Atlas, Epimetheus and Prometheus – survived to the war between the Titans and Olympians, Menoetius encountered a different fate. By leveraging on his story, we analyse the manifold and ambivalent experiences of fathers deprived of their rights at work.
Cozza, Michela e Barbara Poggio (2010) "C'era una volta l'ITC" in A. Zanutto (a cura di), Trasfor... more Cozza, Michela e Barbara Poggio (2010) "C'era una volta l'ITC" in A. Zanutto (a cura di), Trasformazioni in FBK, Edizioni FBK, Trento.
M. Reynolds, R. Vince (a cura di) Handbook of Experiential Learning and Management Education, 2006
1 This article is the result of an entirely collaborative effort by the three authors. If, howeve... more 1 This article is the result of an entirely collaborative effort by the three authors. If, however, for academic reasons individual responsibility must be assigned, Silvia Gherardi wrote the introduction, the first section, and the conclusion; Barbara Poggio wrote sections 2, 3, and 4. silvia.gherardi@soc.unitn.itbpoggio@soc.unitn.it
Formare alle differenze nella complessità. Generi e alterità nei contesti multiculturali, 2009
Prima versione del saggio pubblicato in M. Da Cortà Fumei (a cura di) "Formare alle differenze ne... more Prima versione del saggio pubblicato in M. Da Cortà Fumei (a cura di) "Formare alle differenze nella complessità. Generi e alterità nei contesti multiculturali", Franco Angeli, Milano, 2009, pp. 31-53.
in M. Kostera, H. Höpfl (eds.) Interpreting Maternal Organisations, 2002
In my research experience in organizational settings I have found motherhood frequently cited as ... more In my research experience in organizational settings I have found motherhood frequently cited as the true and only reason for genders differences in the labour market. Entrepreneurs and managers often describe the organizations of today as gender neutral places from which discrimination has been eliminated. But there remains this original, natural and therefore ineradicable difference that makes women -as potential mothers -constitutionally unsuited to a career. Labour market statistics show that the likelihood of pursuing a career is often associated with the foregoing of motherhood (Nicholson and West 1988, Billing and Alvesson 1994). Analyses of mobility highlight the strength of the link between the absence of children and career prospects (Felmlee 1984, Bison, Pisati and Schizzerotto1996). It seems so that only by renouncing their maternal part, or by sublimating it in other roles, can women obtain legitimation within organizations and compete in the career stakes.
Recent scholarship on fathers and work-life issues discusses a wide range of impact factors, why ... more Recent scholarship on fathers and work-life issues discusses a wide range of impact factors, why traditional role models of fatherhood and work still persist, although fathers today more and more wish to be active caregivers in the family. At this conference we focus on three core issues in the field: (1) life conduct, strategies and capabilities of fathers, (2) gender and organizational culture and social responsibilities, (3) policies and politics of fatherhood. How do policies and actors, andin a more general waywhat kind of mechanisms within work organizations create or prevent capabilities for fathers to participate in family life and child care? In how far can we perceive barriers for an increased involvement of fathers as a matter of inequality not only for women, but also for men and especially for fathers? Scholars from different countries with different institutional contexts and theoretical and methodological approaches will contribute to this conference.
La conciliazione famiglia-lavoro come leva per la Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, 2023
Le politiche di conciliazione sono finalizzate a consentire alle persone di trovare un equilibrio... more Le politiche di conciliazione sono finalizzate a consentire alle persone di trovare un equilibrio sostenibile nel vivere i diversi ruoli sociali, tra opportunità professionali, impegni di cura e altri ambiti di vita. Strategie e pratiche di conciliazione possono essere efficaci solo nella misura in cui sono in grado di adattarsi alle diverse esigenze e caratteristiche dei soggetti che operano all’interno delle organizzazioni, tenendo conto delle loro specificità, in relazione ai vari assi della diversità (genere, età, situazione familiare, appartenenza etnica, condizione contrattuale, ecc.), così come alle diverse fasi dei corsi di vita. Ciò significa sviluppare strumenti capaci di adattarsi e tenere conto delle diverse situazioni, evitando il rischio di una eccessiva standardizzazione. Al contempo, è importante che chi ha la responsabilità di decidere e disegnare tali politiche e azioni, sia consapevole del rischio che il destinarle a specifici target, in particolare alle donne con figli, può avere in termini di riproduzione di quegli stereotipi e squilibri che si vorrebbero superare.
By JO LITTLER Fortunes of Feminism collects together some of Nancy Fraser's writing on gender ove... more By JO LITTLER Fortunes of Feminism collects together some of Nancy Fraser's writing on gender over a twenty-five year period, between 1985 and 2010. They are all texts which were originally published elsewhere, including reworked chapters from her book Justice Interruptus: Critical Reflections on the Postsocialist Condition, and articles published in a range of left, feminist and critical theory journals, including Signs, New German Critique and (in the case of several of the later chapters) New Left Review. Here, they are re-framed and re-staged, with substantial explanatory prologue, accruing extra meanings in their new assemblage. As the title expressively tells us, this is a 'Drama in Three Acts', a show charting the vicissitudes of feminism in the Global North between the new left and the neoliberal present.
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Papers by Barbara Poggio
rendono più difficile per le donne entrare in modo stabile nell’accademia e raggiungere le posizioni apicali? Frutto di una ricerca di respiro nazionale sugli intrecci tra percorsi accademici, genere e politiche in Italia, il volume affronta la questione delle ostinate disparità di genere nelle carriere, dal reclutamento alla stabilizzazione e agli avanzamenti alle posizioni
di vertice. Combinando vissuti individuali, dimensione organizzativa e processi di governance, la prospettiva multidimensionale dell’analisi offre un quadro inedito delle disparità di genere in accademia e dei processi che contribuiscono a riprodurle, rintracciabili sia nel persistere di pratiche e modelli di genere tradizionali, sia nei nuovi assetti universitari.
Offering both theoretical reflections and empirical research examples illustrating the multiple strategies through which the different articulations that characterize the work–life intersection can be analysed, this Research Handbook includes analyses of gendered labour, generational assets and technological changes. Contributors provide translation and actualization of specific research practices and methodological choices, focused on different national contexts. The empirical analysis ranges from comparative research based on quantitative methods, to qualitative approaches centered on longitudinal, discursive and narrative perspectives, and mixed-method studies. Further contributions adopt innovative research methods based on the use of digital and visual technologies.
This Research Handbook will be an inspiring read for both undergraduate and postgraduate sociology and social policy students. The book is also addressed to researchers, consultants and policy makers interested in work–life balance issues.
Gender and Precarious Research Careers aims to advance the debate on the process of precarisation in higher education and its gendered effects, and springs from a three-year research project across institutions in seven European countries: Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland, Switzerland, Slovenia and Austria. Examining gender asymmetries in academic and research organisations, this insightful volume focuses particularly on early careers. It centres both on STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and SSH (Social Science and Humanities) fields.
I contributi che compongono il volume hanno cercato di districare questo nodo in relazione ai domini - spesso sovrapposti - della sessualità, della politica, del lavoro e della cultura, scelti in quanto ambiti privilegiati per un’analisi multi e interdisciplinare in ottica di genere e, al contempo, in quanto dimensioni in cui il potere si dispiega in modalità particolarmente evidenti e pervasive. La sfida posta dal convegno ci pare sia stata compresa da autori e autrici dei contributi che, intrecciando differenti prospettive disciplinari, differenti posizionamenti soggettivi e differenti interessi di ricerca, ci offrono un mosaico di riflessioni aperte alla contemporaneità e alle sue sfide, benché forti della solidità di un bagaglio teorico ormai maturo. Ulteriore elemento di forza è stata la capacità degli autori e delle autrici di sviluppare i propri contributi proprio a partire dal carattere ambivalente e, dunque, euristicamente molto fertile del concetto di genere, declinandolo nella sua duplice valenza di categoria normativa - in cui il potere si articola in modo rigidamente asimmetrico - e di categoria trasformativa, che ha in sé la possibilità di decostruire la norma, ridefinendo in forme nuove e differenti il potere stesso.
Nelle organizzazioni, l’adozione di interventi e politiche di genere è solo una questione etica oppure anche un imperativo strategico? Cosa significa gestire le organizzazioni in un’ottica di genere? Come è possibile farlo in modo efficace? A partire da queste domande il volume offre una serie di strumenti operativi, di analisi, intervento e gestione, utili per attivare processi di cambiamento e raggiungere condizioni di equità di genere nelle organizzazioni lavorative.
A critical survey of gender studies which argues that entrepreneurship is a cultural model of masculinity that obstructs the expression of other models;
'Reflexive' ethnographic observation conducted in five small firms which describes how business cultures are 'gendered' and how gender is the product of a social practice;
An analysis of how discursive and narrative practices in business cultures constitute gender and entrepreneurship.
La ricerca ha preso in considerazione le caratteristiche dell’occupazione femminile nell’ambito della grande distribuzione commerciale e dei servizi finanziari, due settori che negli ultimi anni sono stati coinvolti da profondi cambiamenti organizzativi e da significative innovazioni tecnologiche e che sono caratterizzati da una crescente presenza femminile.
Al centro dell’analisi vi è l’impatto delle ristrutturazioni organizzative e dell’introduzione della ICT (Information Communication Technology) sui modelli di lavoro delle donne, soprattutto coloro che sono in posizioni non manageriali, e sulla costruzione delle loro competenze ed expertise.
This special issue intends to show and discuss some facets of the phenomena in the Italian context, considering the transition from education to work, women’s trajectories and strategies in some disciplinary fields, the experiences of early-career researchers, and the pay gap phenomenon among physicians. These issues will be investigated using different research tools and interpretative lens.
The article describes how organizational members became storywriters of an important process of organizational change. Writing became a practice designed to create a space, a time, and a methodology with which to author the process of change and create a learning context. The written stories produced both the subjectivity of practical authors and reflexively created the con/text for their reproduction.
Design/methodology/approach
A storywriting workshop inspired by a processual and participatory practice-based approach to learning and knowing was held in a research organization undergoing privatization. For six months, thirty-one organizational members, divided into two groups, participated in writing one story per week for six weeks. The written story had to refer to a fact that had occurred in the previous week, thus prompting reflection on the ongoing organizational life and giving a situated meaning to the change process.
Findings
Storywriting is first and foremost a social practice of wayfinding, i.e of knowing as one goes. Writing proved to be an effective practice that involved the authors, their narratives, and the audiences in a shared experience where all these practice elements became connected and through their connection acquired agency.
Originality/value
Narrative knowledge has been studied mainly in storytelling, while storywriting by organizational members has received less attention. This paper explores storywriting both as a situated, relational, and material practice and as the process that produces narratives which can be considered for their content and their style.
it focuses on early career researchers in the Italian university system. The total availability
required from those who work in the research sector is leading to significant transformations
of the temporalities of work, especially among the new generation of researchers, whose
condition is characterized by a higher degree of instability and uncertainty. Which are the
experiences of the early career researchers in an academic context constituted by a growing
competition for permanent positions and, as a consequence, by a greatly increased pressure?
Which are the main gender differences? In what elements do Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics disciplines differ from Social Sciences and Humanities? The collected
narratives reveal how the ongoing process of precarization is affecting both the everyday
working activities and the private and family lives of early career researchers, with important
consequences also on their future prospects.
This chapter discusses the recent experience of the University of Trento in developing fellowship programs for refugee students and scholars. The aim is to unravel the different territorial scales within which a university operates, focusing specifically on the regional dimension and on the latter’s interconnections with the national and European level. It offers insights on the limits and the possibilities these different scales impose/offer on the type of interventions that can be implemented.
The first part of the analysis discusses how the collaboration between the University and the Provincial Government fostered establishment of reception policies for refugee students and, more recently, academics. It takes as a case in point the programs ‘SuXr - University Students for Refugees’ and ‘Refugee and Asylum Seekers at the University’. Both programs reflected the intent to create educational strategies that would bring higher educational communities closer to the lived reality of refugees, and that strengthen the collaboration between the university and the local civil society.
The second part of the chapter discusses the administrative, economic and socio-cultural challenges related to the implementation of the above-mentioned programs. It does so by referring partly to the university ‘internal’ (administrative and academic) adjustment to refugee programs, and partly to the criticism raised at the city level by right-wing populist parties. The recent victory of the Lega party in provincial election is deeply transforming the relation between the university, the local government and the urban network of civil society associations, and requires renewed educational/employment support strategies for refugee students/scholars.
Drawing from the ongoing experience of Trento, the chapter suggests the importance of analysing the opening – as well potential closing – of universities to refugees in relation not only to changing academic culture and mission, but also to shifting political situation at local, national and European levels.
This contribution will show how narratives can be particularly efficacious means to shed light on three main facets of gender practices in organizations – in processes of identity construction and gender positioning; in reproducing or deconstructing the dominant gender orders; and in fostering gender change – to promote more inclusive contexts.
For each dimension an example of application will be drawn from the author’s research experience based on different narrative materials: stories of women and men working in typically male environments; narratives of working fathers who used parental leave; narratives used as stimuli for reflexivity and experiential learning about gender in organizations.
The first part of the chapter addresses the persistence of significant gender asymmetries in these domains. In fact, despite women’s increased presence in educational spheres, evidence continues to persist of the existence of gender disparities in participation in technical and scientific educational programs, as well as of imbalance in higher status scientific careers. These asymmetries seem to be today reinforced by the emerging practices of science production and of evaluation of scientific performances, as well as by the new work arrangements in scientific organizations, due to the growing hegemony of neoliberal models.
In the second part attention is focused on strategies aimed to combat gender asymmetries in scientific and academic organisations in Europe. In particular I consider the projects funded by the European Commission in recent years aimed to reduce gender inequality in science under the label of “structural changes”, by attempting to illustrate their strenghts and weaknesses. In the concluding section some of the issues arising from the consideration of European policies on gender and science are taken up and developed in light of the stimuly offered by Connell’s theory.