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This chapter approaches issues of ecospirituality through Gender and the Environment analytical lenses. We propose the need to actively queer human/Nature relations and understandings by exploring studies related to ecospirituality, Earth relations, and gender dynamics. The chapter considers ecospirituality as ritual practices, material cultures, codified ethics, and/or cosmological structures related to a category of “the sacred,” which influence how various gendered and sexed bodies interact with the non-human world. Here, we propose that ecospiritual categories can shape the ways that humans conceive of their humanness and their sexed and gendered bodies. Within the context of religion/Nature interactions white evangelical masculinist subcultures in the United States are considered as an example that demonstrates the paradoxical characteristics of the gender binary and human/Nature dualisms. The chapter proceeds to offer queered ecologies as alternative narratives that can assist the larger Gender and Environment discourse in better understanding ecospiritual practices and worldviews, and how the latter can contribute to prosustainable lifeways as a viable alternative to masculinist hegemonies that are continuing to predominate the ways that many humans – especially those in the Global North – understand and relate to the natural world at great cost to life on the planet.

The breadth of research and study on the topic of fairy tales is rich and abundant. However, there exists a gap in the research of the genre where it pertains to the meticulous study of male fairy tale.

The character Hook has enjoyed some status in film including the notable portrayal by Dustin Hoffman in the 1991 film (Spielberg, 1991), this character relied heavily on traditional fairy tale tropes and depicted little in the way of character evolution or progression. Nevertheless, a more progressive and complex version of Hook was depicted in the Once Upon A Time series (2011–2018). This version of the character enjoys not only an extended and complex narrative journey but comprises several layers of nuanced character construction that implores a contemporary exploration thereof.

While Vladimir Propp's dramatis personae stands as, likely, the most prominent model for the study of fairy tales, its comprehensiveness can be called into question when applied to contemporary fairy tale characters. For example, whereas previously the female fairy tale character was confined to the role of damsel in distress, contemporary versions display substantial development in this area. And as illustrated through the complexity of Once Upon A Time's Captain Hook this is not, in contemporary times, confined only to the female character. Consequently, this chapter adapts the Looking Glass paradigm and utilises what the author has termed the Looking Glass Masculinity Matrix as an evaluative tool to unpack the contemporary representation, in line with current societal ideals and/or values.

Considering the critical role of higher education institutions in the advancement of the 2030 Agenda, this paper aims to analyse the incorporation of the gender perspective (Sustainable Development Goal 5) in the University Cooperation for International Development.

Following a qualitative methodological strategy, this paper identifies the potentialities and challenges of this perspective from the point of view of the technical staff of the cooperation units of seven Spanish universities.

Results show a strong intention to incorporate gender principles, in accordance with the SDGs framework. However, the findings also point to certain divergences in the forms of understanding and implementing gender equality in practice. Finally, this paper uncovers a variety of strategies to navigate the resistances, still existing in the university community.

Spain is orienting the legal framework of its cooperation and international relations towards the ambitious horizon of a feminist foreign policy. Universities are key actors in international development cooperation and the implementation of the SDGs. This is an issue that has received little research attention, particularly from a gender perspective.

Employability skills have transformed from the acquisition of university degrees to possessions of cognate skills other than only degrees that can help employees secure employment in contemporary work environments. This study evaluates essential skills that will prepare millennia of youths and graduates for employment in the present job market. The study investigated four major hypotheses to underscore the employability opportunities of graduates in challenging 21st-century work environments.

To clearly gain an understanding of women’s disparity in society, the study employed a qualitative approach to evaluate the incidence of gender prejudice in a men’s dominant world. The study utilised two distinguished sampling strategies, purposive and snowballing sampling techniques, which were deemed suitable and useful due to the nature of the study. The study recruited 42 participants by conducting semi-structured interview sessions for the study. The study employed a deductive approach to analyse the data obtained from participants. A thematic content analysis was used to take away prejudice and establish an overarching impression of the interviewed data. Atlas.ti was used to analyse the transcribed interview data from the participants to establish common themes from the surveyed informants.

The results of this investigation indicated that there is a deep-rooted trend of institutionalised men’s dominance in politics and religious leadership. Women perceived less representation and men dominated the two domains of existence in their local environment. The study established that women are optimistic about a turnaround narrative on gender equality in politics and religious leadership. They expressed their concern about strengthened public debate and campaigns on women’s representation, and against gender discrimination. The study further shows that women are influencing the ethical and moral sense for change against women’s neglect in society. They expressed their concerns against the selection of people into political offices for elected political posts and observed the peculiarity of political godfathers fixing their favourite men into those offices.

The study discovered that women are leading campaigns for their representation in politics as well as church leadership today. The novelty of this study bothering around two domains of women’s lives – politics and religion, in particular, church leadership. These have not been evidence before in a study.

This chapter explores the interaction between celebrity culture and contemporary masculinities, introducing the public appearances of actors Timothée Chalamet, Paul Mescal, and Barry Keoghan that are under examination in the following chapters. The chapter sets the context of hegemony, heterosexuality, and masculinity, which will be the basis of the examination that is offered in the following chapters of these books where a showcase of their sartorial choices is presented to analyse whether they challenge traditional norms of gender and masculinity. The present chapter begins by setting a theoretical framework that draws on key theorists like Butler, Foucault, and Gramsci, emphasising the role of hegemony in reinforcing heteronormative standards. The analysis then moves to celebrities with attention to how they through their sartorial choices, particularly at high-visibility events like award shows, engage with and potentially subvert expected masculine norms. Despite being heterosexual men conforming to cisheteronormative societal norms in their personal lives, their public fashion choices serve as a form of cultural commentary that challenges rigid boundaries around male attire and behaviours. Furthermore, the chapter reviews relevant literature on the social construction of gender, the concept of hegemonic masculinity, and the performative nature of gender, drawing on established studies to frame the actors’ public presentations within broader societal and cultural dynamics. This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how gender norms are maintained and challenged within the sphere of celebrity culture.

The present study aims to gauge the experience of gender non-binary (NB) employees in the context of employee value propositions (EVP) in Indian enterprises and make suggestions for organizations to align their gender-aligned interventions with the EVP framework.

Qualitative methodology was used for collecting data through semi-structured interviews and subsequent analysis of the transcripts. The data was gathered from 10 NB participants working in Indian enterprises with the use of non-probabilistic purposive snowball sampling.

The analysis revealed eight themes representing the good, bad and ugly experiences of NB individuals within the context of EVP. These findings underscore the potential of enriching value propositions for employees to promote gender inclusion in corporate settings, contributing to long-term organizational success.

The study offers both theoretical and practical implications for fostering inclusivity at the workplace. It suggests that policymakers and organizations should align EVP with diversity and inclusion initiatives, re-evaluate hiring processes and promotion policies to ensure equal opportunities for NB individuals, provide regular staff training to address biases and implement inclusive insurance policies and representation in employee resource groups (ERGs).

This study provides unique insights into the experiences of NB employees within the framework of EVPs in Indian organizations.

This study aims to examine how women entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan's male-dominated sectors utilize the concept of positionality to navigate and redefine gender norms, focusing on their engagement with entrepreneurial masculinities and femininities. It explores the transformative potential of their strategic actions on gender dynamics within the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Employing qualitative research through 27 in-depth interviews, this study adopts constructivist grounded theory to delve into how women entrepreneurs interact with gender norms within their entrepreneurial context. This approach highlights the dynamic interplay between gender norms and the strategies employed by women entrepreneurs to navigate these challenges.

The findings reveal that women entrepreneurs actively employ and navigate entrepreneurial masculinities and femininities as strategies to challenge traditional gender roles. Their approaches vary from conforming to, challenging and creatively redefining the gendered expectations encountered in their entrepreneurial journey. This demonstrates their agency in reshaping gender norms and contributing to the diversity of gender performances within the domain of entrepreneurship.

While focused on Kazakhstan, the study's findings suggest broader implications for understanding gender dynamics in entrepreneurship across different cultural contexts. Future research could extend this inquiry to varied sociocultural settings, employing post-structuralist and ethnographic methodologies to further explore the performance of gender roles and the negotiation of belonging in entrepreneurial contexts.

By foregrounding the concept of positionality, this study enriches the dialogue on gender dynamics within entrepreneurship, offering fresh perspectives on the agency of women entrepreneurs in male-dominated sectors. It illustrates how gender identities and performances are not fixed but are actively constructed and negotiated, contributing to the evolving landscape of entrepreneurial masculinities and femininities.

This study aims to investigate the experiences of service providers supporting male victims and female perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV). The study explored the drivers, methods and treatments of female-perpetrated IPV, the nature and impact of abuse towards male victims, the barriers and facilitators to service provision and the impact on the practitioners themselves.

The study used a qualitative approach, using reflexive thematic analysis to analyse semi-structured interviews with 13 experienced service providers.

Two overarching themes were identified: systemic issues in service provision, including challenges with multi-agency approaches, funding and availability of services and the impact on practitioners; and gender stereotypes, which created barriers to male victims' help-seeking and influenced the treatment of female perpetrators.

The findings suggest the need for a multi-level approach, addressing gendered inequalities in IPV policy and funding, implementing gender-inclusive, evidence-based and trauma-informed practices, and raising public and professional awareness to challenge the dominant “domestic violence stereotype”.

This study provides a detailed, in-depth exploration of the experiences of service providers supporting “non-typical” populations in IPV, revealing the complex, multi-faceted challenges they face within a system that is inherently designed to support female victims of male perpetrators.

The author reflects on her journey to becoming a Black female full professor at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Additionally, she summarizes the research on the successes and challenges for women professors, Black professors more broadly, and Black female professors, more specifically, to contribute to a deeper understanding of the positionality and stance of Black women professors. Although HBCUs are higher education institutions where Black female professors achieve tenure in the greatest percentages, the author highlights the intersection of race and gender and the unfortunate gendered power dynamics in these spaces that frequently place Black female faculty at a disadvantage. The chapter concludes with strategies for Black women professors to survive and thrive in academia, in general, and at HBCUs, more specifically.

The purpose of this manuscript is to explore an assignment given to students in an online gender and leadership graduate course as a tool to help them think critically about how music influences perceptions of gender roles in both society and leadership.

The assignment directs students to review the current Billboard “Hot 100” chart, which lists the top 100 songs in the United States each week based on sales and streams. Students are prompted to identify a song with gendered themes and discuss how the song portrays women and/or men, what gender stereotypes the song supports or refutes, and whether the messaging is positive or negative in nature. Finally, the students discuss ways that the message in the song could influence the listener’s opinion about gender stereotypes and what effect that could have on gendered leadership issues.

Students use this assignment as an opportunity to apply the course material that relates to the importance of gender representation and the influence of media on gender issues in leadership.

Recommendations are provided to inspire creative ideas for leadership educators who seek to prepare students to understand organizational challenges related to gender issues in leadership.