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Article
Publication date: 22 June 2021

Noemi Schneider, Richard Blaese and Brigitte Liebig

The promotion of research-based entrepreneurship is considered a crucial task for universities and policymakers in many Western countries. Research has shown that the university…

Abstract

Purpose

The promotion of research-based entrepreneurship is considered a crucial task for universities and policymakers in many Western countries. Research has shown that the university environment plays a decisive role in the spin-off activities of researchers. Although the number of science-based spin-offs has increased in recent years, women are still an exception when it comes to developing spin-off ventures. In turn, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the university environment that supports entrepreneurship from a gender perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the theoretical framework of the “Entrepreneurial University,” this contribution examines the formal and informal conditions for academic entrepreneurship using the example of Swiss universities of applied sciences (UAS). Based on a cross-sectional dataset of 1,551 researchers from various disciplines who were surveyed in 2019, linear regressions and logistic regression models were used to test gender-specific differences in the perception of organizational conditions concerning the entrepreneurial exploitation of research.

Findings

The results demonstrated significant differences in the perception of formal and informal conditions in higher education. First, they show gender differences in the perception of informal entrepreneurial support in universities; in particular, female researchers received less informal support for spin-off projects. For example, women hardly viewed commercial use of research and development knowledge as a career option and considered the existence of entrepreneurial role models at universities to be low. Second, further analyses highlighted that also formal support offerings were less known among female researchers.

Originality/value

The study highlights organizational barriers for female researchers regarding the development of spin-off creation at UAS, including the different formal and informal conditions for female academics in comparison to their male counterparts.

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

Keywords

Content available
974

Abstract

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2015

Yvonne Riano, Katharina Limacher, André Aschwanden, Sophie Hirsig and Doris Wastl-Walter

There is much scientific interest in the connection between the emergence of gender-based inequalities and key biographical transition points of couples in long-term…

1502

Abstract

Purpose

There is much scientific interest in the connection between the emergence of gender-based inequalities and key biographical transition points of couples in long-term relationships. Little empirical research is available comparing the evolution of a couple’s respective professional careers over space and time. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to filling this gap by addressing the following questions: what are the critical biographical moments when gender (in)equalities within a relationship begin to arise and consolidate? Which biographical decisions precede and follow such critical moments? How does decision making at critical moments impact the opportunities of both relationship partners in gaining equal access to paid employment?

Design/methodology/approach

These questions are addressed from the perspectives of intersectionality and economic citizenship. Biographical interviewing is used to collect the personal and professional narratives of Swiss-, bi-national and migrant couples. The case study of a Swiss-Norwegian couple illustrates typical processes by which many skilled migrant women end up absently or precariously employed.

Findings

Analysis reveals that the Scandinavian woman’s migration to Switzerland is a primary and critical moment for emerging inequality, which is then reinforced by relocation (to a small town characterized by conservative gender values) and the subsequent births of their children. It is concluded that factors of traditional gender roles, ethnicity and age intersect to create a hierarchical situation which affords the male Swiss partner more weight in terms of decision making and career advancement.

Practical implications

The paper’s findings are highly relevant to the formulation of policies regarding gender inequalities and the implementation of preventive programmes within this context.

Originality/value

Little empirical research is available comparing the evolution of a couple’s respective professional careers over space and time. The originality of this paper is to fill this research gap; to include migration as a critical moment for gender inequalities; to use an intersectional and geographical perspective that have been given scant attention in the literature; to use the original concept of economic citizenship; and to examine the case of a bi-national couple, which has so far not been examined by the literature on couple relationships.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2015

Elena Makarova and Walter Herzog

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the gender stereotype of science by analysing the semantic attributes of gender in relation to three science subjects – chemistry…

2529

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the gender stereotype of science by analysing the semantic attributes of gender in relation to three science subjects – chemistry, mathematics, and physics – among students and their science teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

This cross-sectional study applied a survey of 3,045 students and 123 teachers in secondary schools. The gendered image of science was assessed using a semantic differential consisting of 25 pairs of adjectives with semantically opposite meanings.

Findings

In summary, the results of the study demonstrate that from the female students’ perspective mathematics and physics are negatively related to female gender, whereas chemistry is neither significantly related to the male nor to the female profile. From the male students’ point of view mathematics is negatively related to the female gender, whereas chemistry and physics are positively related to the male gender. In the science teachers’ perception chemistry and physics combine feminine and masculine attributes, whereas the teachers’ perception of mathematics matches only with the male, but not with the female gender.

Originality/value

In contrast to previous research, the study is the first to analyse the gender stereotype of chemistry as well as to assess the gender image of three science subjects from students’ and teachers’ perspectives.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2015

Ruedi Epple, Martin Gasser, Sarah Kersten, Michael Nollert and Sebastian Schief

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of cantonal social policies and cultural settings (in Switzerland) on women’s and men’s employment behaviour. Special…

1609

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of cantonal social policies and cultural settings (in Switzerland) on women’s and men’s employment behaviour. Special consideration is given to the transition to parenthood.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on data from the Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS) this paper conducts multilevel analyses to test individual and cantonal effects on the probability of employment and on working hours. To analyse the effect of parenthood, models for women and men with children under three are contrasted with models for women and men without children or with older children.

Findings

The paper documents the persistence of gender inequality in employment linked to parenthood. How the reconciliation of work and family life can be realised for women and men strongly depends on a set of policies and cultural conditions. Moreover, individual characteristics such as education or marriage are important predictors.

Research limitations/implications

A shortcoming of this study is the focus on the individual employment use and not on household-level division of labour. This disadvantage is due to the design of the SLFS, which is (at present) the only available survey to allow regionalisation at the cantonal level. However, the paper adds important results to the debate about gender inequality and parenthood in Switzerland as previous research has focused only little on cantonal diversity.

Originality/value

The paper connects to previous cantonal comparative studies of female employment but extends their analyses in three important ways. By analysing cantonal differences in policies and culture this paper takes the diversity of framework conditions in Switzerland into account. Furthermore it simultaneously analyses male and female employment behaviour to get a better understanding of gender inequality and parenthood.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2017

Daniela Christen and Andreas Balthasar

Health monitoring of the migrant population in most European countries shows that migrants have a lower standard of health conditions than the resident population. One of the…

Abstract

Purpose

Health monitoring of the migrant population in most European countries shows that migrants have a lower standard of health conditions than the resident population. One of the problems is that the interaction between migrants and general practitioners (GPs) is not optimal. Most of the migrants are not able to fully understand the GP’s advice or instructions. GPs report that they are not adequately supported by health institutions, and they are asking for new solutions. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic review to find existing international approaches to improve the interaction between GPs and their migrant patients.

Design/methodology/approach

The literature search identified 2,387 articles, 36 of which met the full inclusion criteria. In total, 12 of the included studies referenced approaches for improving GPs’ communication skills. Seven articles described solutions for a better understanding of cultural differences, and six articles listed approaches to health education for GPs. One article highlighted how health information can improve the interaction between GPs and migrants, and four articles detailed new technologies that could improve and enhance quality of care. The last six articles included good practice strategies described by GPs.

Findings

This paper provides an overview of international approaches from the viewpoint of GPs. It concludes that there is no single instrument or method that works in all situations. There are, however, a wide range of approaches available that could lead to substantial improvements in the quality of care for the migrant population.

Research limitations/implications

Different health systems in the reviewed countries and changing roles of GPs must be taken into consideration when making statements about successful approaches. Migrants have different backgrounds and cannot all be categorized as one and the same group of patients. Another limitation of the review concerns the evidence level of the articles included, since most of the studies do not reach high level of evidence. In addition, there is a need to analyze aspects of the relationship between GPs and the migrant population that have been neglected up to now, such as financial issues, patients’ expectations, or lack of trust.

Originality/value

This paper provides an overview of international approaches from the viewpoint of GPs.

Details

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2015

Shireen Kanji and Sandra Hupka-Brunner

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how and whether young women’s strong and early preference for having children relates to the degree of occupational segregation of the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how and whether young women’s strong and early preference for having children relates to the degree of occupational segregation of the careers they envisage for themselves and the careers they actually enter by the time they reach age 23.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on theories predicting that young women act to replicate gendered social stereotypes in their career choice and to anticipate careers they perceive to be reconcilable with future motherhood, the authors conduct quantitative analyses using panel data from the Transitions from Education to Employment Survey, a longitudinal survey of young people in Switzerland. OLS regression analyses how expressing a strong desire to have children at age 16 impacts: the proportion of women in the career engaged in at age 23 and the career anticipated age 16, relative to women not expressing this strong preference. Logistic regression examines whether selection into wanting children could be held responsible for the results. Finally the authors explore how initial expectations and later outcomes relate to each other.

Findings

Women who express a strong interest in having children (Kinderwunsch) at age 16 anticipate and enter occupations with a substantially higher proportion of women. Differences in objective labour-market characteristics, such as academic attainment, ability and psychosocial factors, namely self-efficacy, are not related to having a strong desire for children at an early age. Family factors have multifaceted effects.

Research limitations/implications

This research uses data from a cohort who were age 16 in 2000. The rapidly changing social context of Switzerland necessitates updating this analysis at regular intervals across cohorts.

Practical implications

Discussion is required to expand young women’s understandings of the implications of different career choices and to broaden the range of options that they consider and to which employers provide access.

Social implications

Wanting to have children is one of the factors that fuels occupational gender segregation. Although women might envisage that more gender-segregated occupations would allow them to combine work and family life, this may not be the case in reality.

Originality/value

This paper explores the important but previously under-explored relationship between early fertility preferences and occupational entry for women.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2015

Nicky Le Feuvre, Morgane Kuehni, Magdalena Rosende and Céline Schoeni

The purpose of this paper is to examine the gendered processes of ageing at work in Switzerland, a country already characterised by particularly high employment rates for seniors…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the gendered processes of ageing at work in Switzerland, a country already characterised by particularly high employment rates for seniors of both sexes, and where the notion of “active ageing” has recently appeared on the policy agenda. The study illustrates the mechanisms through which men and women accumulate dis-/advantage across the life course, and the influence that critical events in different life domains have on the conditions under which they prepare the transition to retirement.

Design/methodology/approach

The data used in the paper were collected with a mixed methods approach, including secondary statistical data analysis, expert interviews (with human resource and line managers), company case studies and 63-biographical interviews with male and female seniors employed in three different sectors (food distribution, health, transport) of the Swiss labour market. The interview guide covered issues relating directly to the employment histories and working conditions of the over 50s, but also enabled respondents to reflect on the influence of past or recent events in their private lives on their experiences of ageing at work (and vice versa).

Findings

The study shows that, in the Swiss context, ageing at work is a social experience, that is profoundly marked by societal-level normative “gender scripts” and by the gendered nature of major life-course transitions. However, rather than producing a clear distinction between the experiences of men on the one hand and women on the other, studying the accumulation of dis-/advantages (Dannefer, 2009) enables us to elaborate a more nuanced typology, mapping the Swiss experience of ageing at work according to four alternative ideal-type models: confident, resentful, determined and distressed.

Social implications

In a context characterised by prolonged life expectancy and restricted welfare budgets, a clearer understanding of the conditions under which men and women make decisions about the continuation, interruption or adaptation of their professional activities (and care commitments) in the second half of their adult lives has clear implications, both for patterns of “active ageing” and for gender equality.

Originality/value

The paper sheds new light on the gendered variations in the experience of ageing at work in the Swiss context; it examines the implications of the dis-/advantages accumulated by different categories of men and women during various transitions in the employment and family spheres on their autonomy, well-being and satisfaction during this critical period of their adult lives.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2014

Karine Charry and Nathalie T. M. Demoulin

The purpose of this paper is to represent the first empirical investigation of co-branding strategies whose target is children. It analyses such strategies’ potential in the…

1118

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to represent the first empirical investigation of co-branding strategies whose target is children. It analyses such strategies’ potential in the context of brand extension for non-familiar brands combined with familiar ones and provides managerial implications for both brands.

Design/methodology/approach

A leisure centre-based survey was used to collect information on children’s attitudes, evaluations of fit and consumption intentions of co-branded products.

Findings

The findings confirm that co-branding strategies may have a very positive impact on attitudes towards partner brands, intentions to consume co-branded products and the host brand. They also indicate that consumption intentions for other products from the host product category are enhanced. From a theoretical perspective, the study stresses the essential mediating role of brand fit. Indeed, this construct appears to enable preadolescents to integrate simultaneous evaluations of two brands while constructing their attitudes towards one product. The asymmetric spill-over effect is also confirmed, with the non-familiar (weaker) brand benefiting more from the co-branding than the familiar (strong) brand.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitations pertain to the small sample size and the absence of direct behavioural measures that could be added through later research. It would also be interesting to study further the concept of fit and the nature of the underlying mediating process (cognitive vs affective) among the target audience, as well as to analyse the impact of the various types of co-branding (functional vs symbolic).

Practical implications

The derived guidelines suggest how non-familiar brands to the pre-adolescent target (including retailers’ brand) may expand their businesses through successful alliances with a more familiar brand that is viewed favourably.

Social implications

In this study, concerns were high to select a co-branded product that does not harm children’s health, to the contrary (vegetable soup with cheese). The results demonstrate that the tactic may increase the target’s intentions to eat products that it would not necessarily fancy (as often the case for healthy products) while contributing to the positive development of economic actors. In this, the paper shows that economic interests should not always be opposed to social welfare.

Originality/value

This study investigates the very popular strategy of brand alliance among an original target (eight-to 12-year-olds) and identifies the original process through which preadolescents appraise two brands that endorse one product, a unique marketing context. This represents an important starting point to further studies on brand alliances.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 42 no. 11/12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

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