by Simonetta Longhi
In the UK, as in many other countries, ethnic minorities are paid on average less than the white British majority. Although the exact magnitude of the difference varies across studies due to the use of different data and methodology, the patterns are rather consistent. Continue reading
by Emma Jeanes
Gender equality is firmly back on the public agenda. Unless you’ve switched off the television and radio, disconnected from social media and abandoned the printed press you can’t fail to notice that gender equality and related topics of sexual harassment, that disproportionately affects women, are regular topics of conversation. Social media has played a crucial role in spreading the word, with many campaigns such as #MeToo and #HeForShe drawing attention to gender inequality, and coalescing support to tackle it. This is all fantastic news and a step in the right direction. What is also heartening is the role men are playing in this as women cannot address gender inequality on their own. Continue reading
Sarah Womack is former political correspondent and social affairs correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, with a particular interest in women’s issues and social science.
Here she writes about International Women’s Day, and how ESRC research contributes to its 2017 campaign theme #BeBoldForChange
There’s a fascinating piece of social history that goes like this; in the beautiful coastal outpost that is Aldeburgh, Suffolk, three young women gather in 1860 to plot their careers. One said she would become Britain’s first female doctor. One would pursue the right of women to go to university.
The third, only 13 at the time, would press for women to have the vote. Continue reading
Kristin Hübner, is a PhD student at the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick.
Her piece ‘Doubting gender. Or why it is best to leave certain questions unanswered’ finished in the top 10 of the ESRC’s writing competition, The World in 2065– in collaboration with academic publishers, SAGE.
“Any social scientist who tries to predict the future should be regarded with healthy distrust”, I was told by my professor during one of my first sociology lectures which, ironically, dealt with the subject of social change. If this quote is to be believed, then the following paragraphs can only be understood as a work of fiction. Confronted with the choice between dystopia and utopia I chose the latter, believing and hoping that constructions of reality can eventually create a tangible reality.
ESRC blog 