READING REFERENCES 2020 Council Library

Home , Cordelia Fine, FEMEN, Neurosexism, The Female Brain (book)

Council of the European Union General Secretariat

Neuroscience meets gender International Women's Day conference

Council of the European Union Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België Tel. +32 (0)2 281 65 25 Follow us http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/library-blog/ - #EUCOlibrary 1/21

RESOURCES SELECTED BY THE COUNCIL LIBRARIES

Men are better at... women are better at... Is there a basis in neuroscience for such claims?

To mark International Women's Day the GSC has invited renowned neuroscientist and author Gina Rippon give a lunchtime talk based on her recent book The Gendered Brain.

Known for relaying science in a highly accessible manner, Gina Rippon uses her expertise as a neuroscientist to fight a range of presuppositions stemming from people's biology. Rippon became widely known to the general public after publishing her book The Gendered Brain, in which she challenges the notion of 'the female brain' and the perception that the human brain is a static entity.

While there are many books written on the topic and many workshops designed to tackle the problem, none of these approaches is quite like Gina Rippon's. Unconventionally, she makes use of her expert knowledge in the field of neuroimaging to challenge societal norms and perceptions. Are we really that different? Let the science decide.

Please note:

This bibliography is not exhaustive; it provides a selection of resources made by the Council Library. Most of the titles are hyperlinked to Eureka, the resource discovery service of the Council Library, where you can find additional materials on the subject. Access to some resources might be limited to registered Council Library users or to users in subscribing institutions.

The contents are the sole responsibility of their authors. Resources linked from this bibliography do not necessarily represent the positions, policies, or opinions of the Council of the European Union or the European Council. Reuse of the covers is prohibited, they belong to the respective copyrightholders.

The Council Libraries cooperate with the Learning Centres of the European Commission, along with other Belgian and international libraries, and can borrow material from them.

If you are interested in any of these references, please submit your request to the Council Library. The books can be delivered to your office. Click on Request interlibrary loan via Eureka hyperlink and fill in the form, or contact [email protected]

Additional resources may be added to this list by request - please contact the Council Library to suggest a title: [email protected]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Publications by Gina Rippon……………………………………. 4 o Books……………………………………………………………. 4 o Articles………………………………………………………….. 5 o Videos…………………………………………………………… 6

• Material relating to the conference ……………………………. 7

o Books…………………………………………………………… 7 o Articles…………………………………………………………. 9

• Gender Equality ……………………………………………..… 11

o Books ………………………………………………………….. 11 o Articles………………………………………………………… 17

• Other References…………………………………………….…. 20

PUBLICATIONS BY GINA RIPPON

BOOKS

The Gendered Brain: The new neuroscience that shatters the myth of the female brain Gina Rippon London : The Bodley Head, 2019 Available at Council Library (105895)

On a daily basis we face deeply ingrained beliefs that your sex determines your skills and preferences, from toys and colours to career choice and salaries. But what does this constant gendering mean for our thoughts, decisions and behavior, and what does it mean for our brains. Drawing on her work as a professor of cognitive neuroimaging, Gina Rippon unpacks the stereotypes that bombard us from our earliest moments and shows how these messages mould our ideas of ourselves and even shape our brains. Taking us back through centuries of sexism, The Gendered Brain reveals how science has been misinterpreted or misused to ask the wrong questions. Instead of challenging the status quo, we are still bound by outdated stereotypes and assumptions. By exploring new, cutting-edge neuroscience, Rippon urges us to move beyond a binary view of our brains and instead to see these complex organs as highly individualised, profoundly adaptable, and full of unbounded potential. Rigorous, timely and liberating, The Gendered Brain has huge repercussions for women and men, for parents and children, and for how we identify ourselves.

Gender and our brains : how new neuroscience explodes the myths of the male and female minds Gina Rippon New York : Pantheon, 2019 Request via Eureka

A breakthrough work in neuroscience—and an incisive corrective to a long history of damaging pseudoscience—that finally debunks the myth that there is a hardwired distinction between male and female brains. We live in a gendered world, where we are ceaselessly bombarded by messages about sex and gender. On a daily basis, we face deeply ingrained beliefs that sex determines our skills and preferences, from toys and colors to career choice and salaries. But what does this constant gendering mean for our thoughts, decisions and behavior? And what does it mean for our brains? Drawing on her work as a professor of cognitive neuroimaging, Gina Rippon unpacks the stereotypes …

ARTICLES These articles can be requested via interlibrary loan in Eureka.

Not so different after all Gina Rippon New Scientist, 02 September 2017, Vol.235(3141), pp.24-25 Request interlibrary loan via Eureka

It has long been a tenet of traditional evolutionary accounts that differences in behavioral traits between men and women have fixed biological foundations. Allegedly, these traits "hold fast" in the face of external pressures, shifting only after very long periods of consistent environmental influence. This was supposedly reflected in the consistency of male/female differences down the ages. But this notion of biology holding fast against prolonged environmental pressure is crumbling. This year, there were reports of "big-headed" geckos on artificial islands in Brazil adapting within 15 years. And the relevance of social and cultural context was demonstrated by a paper showing that differences in cognitive abilities between men and women in 26 countries varied as a function of attitudes to gender roles.

Do women and men have different brains? Gina Rippon New Scientist, 02 March 2019, Vol.241(3219), pp.28-31 Request interlibrary loan via Eureka

The idea that male and female brains are ‘essentially’ different is one of the most controversial and contested in science, with potentially far-reaching consequences for the future of medicine and mental health treatment, the workplace and society as a whole. It’s time to accept that brains should not be ‘sexed’, says Gina Rippon. It’s misleading to attribute any differences in behaviour, abilities, achievements, or personality to the possession of either a female brain or a male brain. And she argues that new techniques can prove it. After centuries of ingrained neurosexism, neuroscience’s cutting-edge breakthroughs should at last liberate us from outdated misunderstandings of what our brains can and cannot do.

Greetings, Earthlings Gina Rippon New Scientist, 05 December 2015, Vol.228(3050), pp.9-9 Request interlibrary loan via Eureka

The myth of distinct male and female brains is challenged by the finding that sex differences in brain structure do exist. The individual brain apparently has a mix of masculine and feminine features. Aside from contributing to the collapse of a barrier to equality, the finding conforms to the broader idea that the biology of sex differences is not what previously thought.

VIDEOS

Science, gender and the brain with Gina Rippon 2019

"Neuroscientist Gina Rippon shatters the myth of the female brain. We live in a gendered world where we are bombarded with messages about sex and gender. On a daily basis we face deeply ingrained beliefs that your sex determines your skills and preferences, from toys and colours to career choice and salaries. But what does this constant gendering mean for our thoughts, decisions and behaviour? And what does it mean for our brains?"

Gina Rippon: the myth of the gendered brain 2019

"Acclaimed professor of neuroimaging Gina Rippon offers new research that suggests that this idea of the brain is little more than “neurotrash.” Rippon arrives at the Town Hall of Seattle with insight from her book Gender and Our Brains to challenge this damaging myth. She reveals how the scientific community has engendered bias and stereotype by rewarding studies that show difference rather than sameness. Drawing on cutting edge research in neuroscience and psychology, Rippon presents the latest evidence which indicates that brains are like mosaics comprised of both male and female components, and that they remain plastic, adapting throughout the course of a person’s life."

Demolishing the myth of the female brain 2019

Many scientists would like us to accept that men and women are born with innate talents and weaknesses according to their biological sex. But are they? In this short talk, neuroscientist Professor Gina Rippon takes apart the evidence for the gendered brain.

How Neurononsense keeps women in their place - with Gina Rippon 2016

There is a long history of debate about biological sex differences and their part in determining gender roles, with the ‘biology is destiny’ mantra being used to legitimise imbalances in these roles. The tradition is continuing, with new brain imaging techniques being hailed as sources of evidence of the ‘essential’ differences between men and women, and the concept of ‘hardwiring’ sneaking into popular parlance as a brain-based explanation for all kinds of gender gaps. But the field is littered with many problems. Some are the product of ill-informed popular science writing (neurotrash) based on the misunderstanding or misrepresentation of what brain imaging can tell us. Some, unfortunately involve poor science, with scientists using outdated and disproved stereotypes to design and interpret their research (neurosexism).

MATERIAL RELATING TO THE CONFERENCE

BOOKS

Brain Gender Melissa Hines Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2015 Request via Ebook central

Do biological factors, such as gonadal hormones, determine our sexual destiny after our genes are in place? Do they make men aggressive, or women nurturing? Do they cause boys and girls to play differently or to have different interests? Do they explain differences in sexual orientation within each sex group? Do they contribute to the preponderance of men in science or women at home? Scientists working from a psychosocial perspective would answer these questions differently than those working from a behavioral neuroscience or neuro-endocrinological perspective. This book brings both of these perspectives to bear on the questions, tracing the factors that influence the brain, beginning with testosterone and other hormones during prenatal life, and continuing through changing life situations and experiences that can sculpt the brain and its activity, even in adulthood.

Feeling gender : a generational and psychosocial approach Harriet Bjerrum Nielsen London : Palgrave Macmillan, 2017 Request via Eureka This book explores how feelings about gender have changed over three interrelated generations of women and men of different social classes during the twentieth century. The author explores the ways in which generational experiences are connected, what is continued, what triggers gradual or abrupt changes between generations - and between women and men within these generations. The book explores how new feelings of gender gradually change gender norms from within, and how they contribute to the incremental creation of new social practices. Nielsen suggests a new way of conducting psychosocial research that focuses on generational psychological patterns of gender identities and gendered subjectivities in times of change from a psychoanalytic perspective.

Handbook of the sociology of gender Barbara J. Risman ; Carissa M. Froyum ; William J. Scarborough (eds) New York City : Springer International Publishing, 2018 Online access This handbook provides a comprehensive view of the field of the sociology of gender. It presents the most important theories about gender and methods used to study gender, as well as extensive coverage of the latest research on gender in the most important areas of social life, including gendered bodies, sexuality, carework, paid labor, social movements, incarceration, migration, gendered violence, and others. Building from previous publications this handbook includes a vast array of chapters from leading researchers in the sociological study of gender. It synthesizes the diverse field of gender scholarship into a cohesive theoretical framework, gender structure theory, in order to position the specific contributions of each author/chapter as part of a complex and multidimensional gender structure.

Gender theory for troubled times Katheleen Lennn ; Rachel Alsop Cambridge: Polity Press, 2020 Request via Ebook central

Theorizing gender is more urgent and highly political than ever before. These are times, in many countries, of increased visibility of women in public life and high- profile campaigns against sexual violence and harassment. Challenges to fixed, traditional gender norms have paved the way for the recognition of gay marriage and gender recognition acts allowing people to change the gender assigned to them at birth. Yet these are also times of religious and political backlash by the alt right, the demonization of the very term 'gender' and a renewed embrace of the 'naturalness' of gendered difference as ordained by God or Science. A follow-up to the authors' 2002 text, Theorizing Gender, this timely and necessary intervention revisits gender theory for contemporary times. .

ARTICLES

The biggest myth about our brains is that they are “male” or “female” Lila MacLellan Quartz, 2017 Online Access

We take for granted how often laymen and even researchers use science—and specifically neuroscience—to “verify” stereotypes about gender: That men are naturally more competitive, for instance, or that women are more in touch with their emotions and better skilled at communicating. Such notions aren’t just academic, but pervasive and potent, indirectly influencing the way we organize our households and organizations, not to mention the way we see our relationships, and even ourselves.

Why sex matters for neuroscience Larry Cahill Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2006, Vol.7(6), p.477 Request interlibrary loan via Eureka

A rapidly burgeoning literature documents copious sex influences on brain anatomy, chemistry and function. This article highlights some of the more intriguing recent discoveries and their implications. Consideration of the effects of sex can help to explain seemingly contradictory findings. Research into sex influences is mandatory to fully understand a host of brain disorders with sex differences in their incidence and/or nature. The striking quantity and diversity of sex- related influences on brain function indicate that the still widespread assumption that sex influences are negligible cannot be justified, and probably retards progress in our field.

Neural correlates of face gender discrimination learning Junzhu Su ; Qingleng Tan ; Fang Fang Experimental Brain Research, 2013, Vol.225(4), pp.569-578 Request interlibrary loan via Eureka

Using combined psychophysics and event-related potentials (ERPs), the authors investigated the effect of perceptual learning on face gender discrimination and probe the neural correlates of the learning effect. Human subjects were trained to perform a gender discrimination task with male or female faces. Before and after training, they were tested with the trained faces and other faces with the same and opposite genders. ERPs responding to these faces were recorded. Psychophysical results showed that training significantly improved subjects’ discrimination performance and the improvement was specific to the trained gender, as well as to the trained identities.

Gender differences and stereotypes in strategic reasoning Maria Cubel ; Santiago Sanchez-Pages, Economic Journal, Economic Journal, 2017, Vol.127 (601), p.728-757 Online access This article explores the existence and endogeneity of gender differences in strategic behaviour. We report results from two experimental studies employing the beauty contest game, one in the laboratory and one in the classroom. We observe robust and significant gender differences in observed depth of strategic reasoning in favour of men in zero‐stake situations. These differences disappear when a monetary prize is awarded. We also find that females engage in more rounds of reasoning than males when gender and stereotypes are made salient. This effect of priming is driven by females who believe women are superior in the game.

Tempests and tales : challenges to the study of sex differences in the brain Margaret McCarthy ; Gregory Ball Biology of Sex Differences, 2011, Vol.2(1), p.4 Request interlibrary loan via Eureka

The topic of sex differences in brain and behavior continues to garner broad interest and generate considerable controversy. A spate of popular books in the past decade has heralded many of the recent advances in the study of the biological basis of human brain differences in relation to sex and gender.

GENDER EQUALITY

BOOKS

Invisible women : exposing data bias in a world designed for men Caroline Criado-Perez London : Chatto & Windus, 2019 Available at Council Library Main Collection (105754)

Invisible Women shows us how, in a world largely built for and by men, we are systematically ignoring half the population. It exposes the gender data gap - a gap in our knowledge that is at the root of perpetual, systemic discrimination against women, and that has created a pervasive but invisible bias with a profound effect on women's lives. From government policy and medical research, to technology, workplaces, urban planning and the media, Invisible Women reveals the biased data that excludes women. --publisher.

Women leaders and gender stereotyping in the UK press : a poststructuralist approach Judith Baxter Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2018 Available from the Council Library MAIN Collection (105027)

This book explores how the UK press constructs and represents women leaders drawn from three professional spheres: politics, business, and the mass media. Despite significant career progress made by women leaders in these professions, many British newspapers continue to portray these women in stereotyped and essentialist ways: the extent to which this occurs tending to correspond with the political affiliation and target readership of the newspaper. The author analyses news media articles through three fresh perspectives.

Measuring women's political empowerment across the globe : strategies, challenges and future research Amy C Alexander ; Catherine Bolzendahl ; Farida Jalalzai (eds) Cham : Palgrave Macmillan , 2018 Available from the Council Library MAIN Collection (105029)

In celebration of the one-year anniversary of Women’s March, this gorgeously designed full - colour book offers an unprecedented, front-row seat to one of the most galvanizing movements in American history, with exclusive interviews with Women’s March organizers, never-before-seen photographs, and essays by feminist activists. On 21 January 2017, the day after Donald J. Trump’s inauguration, more than three million marchers of all ages and walks of life took to the streets as part of the largest protest in American history. In red states and blue states, in small towns and major urban centres, from Boise to Boston, Bangkok to Buenos Aires, people from eighty-two countries on all seven continents rose up in solidarity to voice a common message: Hear our voice.

What women want : an agenda for the women's movement Deborah L. Rhode New York : Oxford University Press, 2017 Available from the Council Library MAIN Collection (105140)

"What Women Want is a trenchant examination of the struggle for women's equality, and a prescription for what to focus on next in order to ensure maximum success. Feminism today is a movement that lacks leadership, unity, and definition, and it has gotten stuck in a boom and bust cycle when it comes to public opinion and action. Despite significant progress over the last fifty years, equality is still a distant goal in the political, social, and economic spheres. Only by identifying the barriers (both internal and external) that remain, Deborah Rhode argues, can we begin to identify solutions."

Women and power : a manifesto Mary Beard London : Profile Books , 2017 Available from the Council Library MAIN Collection (105030)

Britain's classicist Mary Beard revisits the gender agenda and shows how history has treated powerful women. Her examples range from the classical world to the modern day, from Medusa and Athena to Theresa May and Hillary Clinton. Beard explores the cultural underpinnings of misogyny, considering the public voice of women, our cultural assumptions about women's relationship with power, and how powerful women resist being packaged into a male template. With personal reflections on her own experiences of the sexism and gendered aggression she has endured online, Mary asks: if women aren't perceived to be within the structures of power, isn't it power that we need to redefine?

Mes combats Simone Veil Paris : Bayard, 2016 Available from the Council Library MAIN Collection (105077)

De 1974 à 2008, de différents postes de ministre à la présidence du Parlement européen et jusqu'au Conseil constitutionnel, Simone Veil a marqué la vie politique française de multiples façons. Personnalité politique préférée des Français, elle a fondé ses engagements sur les valeurs transmises par ses parents : la tolérance, le respect des droits de chacun et de toutes les identités. Des valeurs humanistes que pour eux le judaïsme incarnait. Cet ouvrage rassemble les grands discours qu'elle a écrits tout au long de son parcours politique. D'une force et d'une modernité étonnantes, qu'ils portent sur l'Europe, les droits des femmes ou la mémoire de la Shoah, ils révèlent une personnalité d'une intelligence aussi extrême que sa sensibilité, qui n'a jamais cessée d'être habitée par le souvenir sans cesse présent, obsédant même, des six millions de Juifs exterminés pendant la Seconde guerre mondiale.

Becoming Michelle Obama New York : Crown, 2018 Available from the Council Library MAIN Collection (105429)

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments.

Gendering diplomacy and international negotiation Karin Aggestam ; Ann E Towns Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2018 Available from the Council Library MAIN Collection (104802)

This book addresses the question of where are the women located in contemporary diplomacy and international negotiation. The text presents a novel research agenda, including new theoretical and conceptual perspectives on gender, power and diplomacy. The volume brings together a wide range of established International Relations scholars from different parts of the world to write original contributions, which analyse where the women are positioned in diplomacy and international negotiation. The contributions are rich and global in scope with cases ranging from Brazil, Japan, Turkey, Israel, Sweden to the UN, Russia, Norway and the European Union.

The women who shaped politics : empowering stories of women who have shifted the political landscape Sophy Ridge London : Coronet, 2017 Available from the Council Library MAIN Collection (105034)

"From royalty to writers and from class warriors to suffragettes, Sophy Ridge tells the story of those who put their lives on the line for equal rights, and those who were the first to set foot inside the chambers of power, bringing together stories that you may think you know, and stories that have recently been discovered to reveal the truth about what it is to be a woman in Westminster. This book is a celebration of the differing ways that women have shaped the political landscape. The book also, importantly, sheds light on the challenges faced by women in government today, telling us the ways that women working in politics battle the sexism that confront them on a daily basis.

L'emprise du genre : masculinité, féminité, inégalité Ilana Löwy Paris : La Dispute, 2006 Online Access

Le livre d’Ilana Löwy cherche à comprendre comment les sociétés occidentales, tout en proclamant l’égalité entre hommes et femmes, ne cessent de reproduire ce que Françoise Héritier a appelé la « valence différentielle des sexes ».

Dis, c'est quoi le féminisme ? Nadia Geerts Waterloo : Renaissance du livre, 2017 Online Access

"Universalisme ou différentialisme ? Féminisme et laïcité ? Et le genre dans tout ça ? Faut-il être fière d'être une femme ? Libération sexuelle et prostitution. Le féminisme à l'épreuve du religieux. Menaces sur les droits des femmes. Défendre les femmes, ou défendre une idée ? Parité, mixité ou entre soi ? Toutes ces questions, et d'autres encore, l'auteur les aborde dans un dialogue avec sa fille adolescente. L'occasion d'une balade dans l'histoire du féminisme, d'Olympe de Gouges aux Femen, en passant par les suffragettes. Avec comme fil conducteur l'exigence du refus de toute réduction de l'individu à son sexe. Car le féminisme est avant tout un humanisme."

Women's activism and "second wave" feminism : transnational histories Barbara Molony ; Jennifer Nelson Cambridge: MIT Press, 2017 Online access

Women's Activism and "Second Wave" Feminism situates late 20th century feminisms within a global framework of women's activism. Its chapters, written by leading international scholars, demonstrate how issues of heterogeneity, transnationalism, and intersectionality have transformed understandings of historical feminism. It is no longer possible to imagine that feminism has ever fostered an unproblematic sisterhood among women blind to race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, nationality and citizenship status. The chapters in this collection modify the "wave" metaphor in some cases and in others re- periodise it. By studying individual movements, they collectively address several themes that advance our understandings of the history of feminism.

Spitzenfrauen Zur Relevanz von Geschlecht in Politik, Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Sport Annette Knaut ; Julia Heidler (eds) Wiesbaden : Springer Fachmedien, 2017 Online Access

(De-)konstruktionen durch mediale Darstellungen -- Selbstpräsentation von Führungspersonen in sozialen Medien -- PolitikerInnen und die journalistische Konstruktion von Privatheit -- (Des-)Integration in Institutionen -- Barrieren für Frauen in der Wissenschaft -- Geschlecht als Differenzierungskategorie im Sport. Dieser Band befasst sich mit aktuellen Veränderungen von Geschlechterrollen. Dabei wird untersucht, ob es eine Reproduktion von Geschlechterbildern gibt oder ob eine Debatte um Chancengleichheit obsolet geworden ist. Anhand der Zahlen ist diese Frage zu verneinen: Die typische Führungsperson ist noch immer männlich und führt eine traditionelle Ehe.

Geschlecht zwischen Struktur und Subjekt: Theorie, Praxis, Perspektiven Verlag Barbara Budrich, 2013 Online Access

Die AutorInnen beschäftigen sich mit der Dialektik von Individuum und Gesellschaft in Bezug auf die Kategorie Geschlecht und mit der nach wie vor vorhandenen Wirksamkeit patriarchaler Herrschaftsstrukturen. Ziel ist es, eine Debatte um Geschlecht als Subjekt- und/oder Strukturkategorie (wieder) anzustoßen.

ARTICLES Fixing the leaky pipeline : strategies for making economics work for women at every stage Kasey Buckles Journal of Economic Perspectives, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2019, Vol.33 (1), p.43-61 Online access

While women comprise over half of all undergraduate students in the United States, they account for less than one-third of economics majors. From there, the proportion of women at each stage of the academic tenure track continues to decrease, creating a "leaky pipeline." In this paper, I provide a toolkit of interventions that could be implemented by individuals, organizations, or academic units who are working to attract and retain women students and faculty at each stage of this pipeline. I focus on smaller-scale, targeted interventions that have been evaluated in a way that allows for the credible estimation of causal effects.

Discriminatory laws against women : a survey of the literature Sanchari Roy World Bank, Washington, DC , January 2019 Policy Research Working Paper Online access This paper reviews the empirical literature on the existence and impact of gender discriminatory laws on women's outcomes across various domains (categories) that constitute the Women in Business and the Law measure of gender inequality. The evidence to date suggests that there are significant negative consequences of legal gender discrimination on women's outcomes. However, there is considerable variation in the depth of the literature across different domains. In addition, a significant share of the evidence for certain domains is drawn from developed countries, which raises questions about its relevance for developing countries. The literature also highlights some potential unintended consequences of well-intended policy interventions to address legal gender discrimination in certain domains. The paper concludes with a discussion of the various theories relating women's legal rights to their outcomes.

Bridging the gender digital gap Judith Mariscal ; Gloria MayneMayne; Urvashi Aneja; Alina Sorgner Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, 2019, Vol.13 (9), p.1-13 Online access

Despite the headway the world has experienced over the last couple of years in terms of a substantial increase in digital access, there are still significant challenges to overcome in ensuring women are included in the transformation to a digital society, which in turn will enhance productivity and social development. Efforts to increase internet adoption access through broadband plans and legislative reforms have yielded improvements in use and adoption. However, there is still a stark and pervasive gender inequality in terms of access, ownership of digital devices, digital fluency as well as the capacity to make meaningful use of the access to technology. Even though affordability is a key source of exclusion, there are also significant socio- cultural norms that restrict access for women. This paper brings forward the argument that access alone is not enough, women need agency and capacity to leverage access. The authors thus highlight the need to make an assessment of the global gender gap and develop meaningful indicators that contribute to the design and implementation of effective policies that drive adoption. We need effective promotion of women´s digital adoption.

Financial sector: proportion of women in top decision-making bodies is increasing more slowly than at the beginning of the decade equal gender representation is still a long way off Elke Holst ; Katharina Wrohlich German Institute for Economic Research, 2018 Online access

Over the past year, the proportion of women serving on the executive and supervisory boards of the top 100 largest banks in Germany rose slightly to almost nine and 23 percent, respectively. However, growth has come to a halt in the 60 largest insurance companies: on both executive and supervisory boards, the proportion of women has sunk to almost nine and 22 percent, respectively. For over ten years, DIW Berlin has been investigating to what extent women are represented in the top decision-making bodies of banks and insurance companies.

A feminist generation? Cohort change in gender-role attitudes and the second-wave feminist movement Rosalind Shorrocks International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 2018, Vol. 30(1), pp.125-145 Online access

This article tests novel hypotheses regarding cohort trends in gender-role attitudes in European countries. The second-wave feminist movement in Western and Southern Europe is found to be an important socialization experience leading the generation who came of age during this period to be unusually feminist given their low levels of education, female labor force participation, and secularism compared with younger cohorts. The feminist movement was especially influential for attitudes toward the trade-off between women’s employment and family life. The feminist generation is not found in Eastern Europe, which did not experience the same second-wave feminist movement and its subsequent diversification and backlash. In addition, cohort change tends to be stronger for women, widening the gender gap in gender-egalitarianism across cohorts.

Promoting gender in the EU external response to migration : the case of the Trust Fund for Africa Noemi Cascone ; Anna Knoll European Centre for Development Policy Management, 2018 Online access

This report provides an analysis of how the gender action plan II commitments to gender equality and women's empowerment have been integrated into EU immediate external response to irregular migration through its development cooperation, taking the EU Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) as a case study. Considering that this action plan applies to all of the EU's external funding instruments, the EUTF provides for an interesting test case on how new political priorities given to migration and to gender equality and women's empowerment are translated into EU development policy.

Genèse de psychanalyse et féminisme Juliet Mitchell ; Catherine Nesci L'Homme & la Société, 2017, Vol.203-204(1), pp.33-38 Request interlibrary loan via Eureka

Juliet Mitchell décrit la genèse de son livre de 1974, Elle rappelle sa relation avec le mouvement parisien « Psychanalyse et Politique »,

Moving toward integrative feminist evolutionary behavioral sciences Justin R. Garcia ; Leslie L.Heywood Feminism & Psychology, August 2016, Vol.26(3), pp.327-334 Request interlibrary loan via Eureka

There is a long history of mostly antagonist interactions between feminist and evolutionary scholarship in the behavioral sciences. However, recent theoretical and empirical advances have highlighted that “nature” and “nurture” are not mutually exclusive, or even divorceable, levels of explanation. New developments in evolutionary theory, articulated under the name of “the extended synthesis,” show significant promise for integrating feminist and evolutionary approaches to the study of human behaviour.

OTHER REFERENCES

The following resources are not yet available at the Council Library. However, the Council Libraries cooperate with the Learning Centres of the European Commission, along with other Belgian and international libraries, and can borrow material from them.

Introduction to gender: social science perspectives Jennifer Marchbank London: Routledge, 2014 Request via Ebook central

Thoroughly updated in this second edition, Introduction to Gender offers an interdisciplinary approach to the main themes and debates in gender studies. This comprehensive and contemporary text explores the idea of gender from the perspectives of history, sociology, social policy, anthropology, psychology, politics, pedagogy and geography and considers issues such as health and illness, work, family, crime and violence, and culture and media. Throughout the text, studies on masculinity are highlighted alongside essential feminist work, producing an integrated investigation of the field.

Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Create Difference Cordelia Fine Request via Eureka

It’s the twenty-first century, and although we tried to rear unisex children―boys who play with dolls and girls who like trucks―we failed. Even though the glass ceiling is cracked, most women stay comfortably beneath it. And everywhere we hear about vitally important “hardwired” differences between male and female brains. The neuroscience that we read about in magazines, newspaper articles, books, and sometimes even scientific journals increasingly tells a tale of two brains, and the result is more often than not a validation of the status quo. Women, it seems, are just too intuitive for math; men too focused for housework.

Thinking woman : a philosophical approach to the quandary of gender Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth Cambridge : The Lutterworth Press, 2016 Online access

An introduction to the question of what it means to be a woman, exploring the approaches to womanhood and gender of both recent and historical female thinkers. Thinking Woman examines the lives and ideas of women in the history of philosophy who wished to understand and advocate for themselves as women.