Academic literature on the topic 'Equality of status and opportunity'

AbstractHistorically, citizenship has been a gatekeeper to political and social rights within communities, as entitlements of membership were closely connected to gender, race, and class. Nowadays, citizenship is a symbol of equality within states as much as a marker of inequality among states. It is (1) a defining feature of the international state system, which both reflects and reinforces inequalities of wealth and opportunity around the world, and (2) a tool for social closure, through which states determine who belongs to the group that can share common entitlements and who, by contrast, are excluded from them. These two characteristics of citizenship are central to understanding the citizenship-migration nexus: whereas the promise of equality represents a strong driver for migrants to acquire citizenship in their destination states, the different opportunities attached to citizenship of different countries encourage migration of individuals from less privileged parts of the world and enable mobility for those with a citizenship status in the more advantageous countries.

Abstract This cluster of articles, relating to education, leisure, and culture, affirm not only the right of every child to learn and play in a safe and stimulating environment, respectful of their own culture and language, but also insist on the importance of respecting the child’s agency and contribution to their own development.Article 28, the right to education, builds on earlier provisions in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and sets out in detail the right to access education. It emphasises that primary education should be both free and compulsory for every child, that secondary education made available to every child, and that higher education should be available according to capacity. Education must be provided on the basis of equality of opportunity at all levels, all forms of school discipline must be administered in a manner consistent with the child’s dignity, be provided with equality, and states must make efforts to address school drop-out.

AbstractGender equality is an increasingly topical issue, but it has deep historical roots. The principle of gender equality found its legitimacy, even if limited to salary, in the 1957 Treaty of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community (EEC). This treaty, in Article 119, sanctioned the principle of equal pay between male and female workers. The EEC continued to protect women’s rights in the 1970s through equal opportunity policies. These policies referred, first, to the principle of equal treatment between men and women regarding education, access to work, professional promotion, and working conditions (Directive 75/117/EEC); second, to the principle of equal pay for male and female workers (Directive 76/207/EEC); and finally, enshrined the principle of equal treatment between men and women in matters of social security (Directive 79/7/EEC). Since the 1980s, several positive action programmes have been developed to support the role of women in European society. Between 1982 and 2000, four multiyear action programmes were implemented for equal opportunities. The first action programme (1982–1985) called on the Member States, through recommendations and resolutions by the Commission, to disseminate greater knowledge of the types of careers available to women, encourage the presence of women in decision-making areas, and take measures to reconcile family and working life. The second action programme (1986–1990) proposed interventions related to the employment of women in activities related to new technologies and interventions in favour of the equal distribution of professional, family, and social responsibilities (Sarcina, 2010). The third action programme (1991–1995) provided an improvement in the condition of women in society by raising public awareness of gender equality, the image of women in mass media, and the participation of women in the decision-making process at all levels in all areas of society. The fourth action programme (1996–2000) strengthened the existing regulatory framework and focused on the principle of gender mainstreaming, a strategy that involves bringing the gender dimension into all community policies, which requires all actors in the political process to adopt a gender perspective. The strategy of gender mainstreaming has several benefits: it places women and men at the heart of policies, involves both sexes in the policymaking process, leads to better governance, makes gender equality issues visible in mainstream society, and, finally, considers the diversity among women and men. Among the relevant interventions of the 1990s, it is necessary to recall the Treaty of Maastricht (1992) which guaranteed the protection of women in the Agreement on Social Policy signed by all Member States (except for Great Britain), and the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997), which formally recognised gender mainstreaming. The Treaty of Amsterdam includes gender equality among the objectives of the European Union (Article 2) and equal opportunity policies among the activities of the European Commission (Article 3). Article 13 introduces the principle of non-discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or handicaps. Finally, Article 141 amends Article 119 of the EEC on equal treatment between men and women in the workplace. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Nice Union of 2000 reaffirms the prohibition of ‘any discrimination based on any ground such as sex’ (Art. 21.1). The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union also recognises, in Article 23, the principle of equality between women and men in all areas, including employment, work, and pay. Another important intervention of the 2000s is the Lisbon strategy, also known as the Lisbon Agenda or Lisbon Process. It is a reform programme approved in Lisbon by the heads of state and governments of the member countries of the EU. The goal of the Lisbon strategy was to make the EU the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy by 2010. To achieve this goal, the strategy defines fields in which action is needed, including equal opportunities for female work. Another treaty that must be mentioned is that of Lisbon in 2009, thanks to which previous treaties, specifically the Treaty of Maastricht and the Treaty of Rome, were amended and brought together in a single document: the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Thanks to the Lisbon Treaty, the Charter of Fundamental Rights has assumed a legally binding character (Article 6, paragraph 1 of the TEU) both for European institutions and for Member States when implementing EU law. The Treaty of Lisbon affirms the principle of equality between men and women several times in the text and places it among the values and objectives of the union (Articles 2 and 3 of the TEU). Furthermore, the Treaty, in Art. 8 of the TFEU, states that the Union’s actions are aimed at eliminating inequalities, as well as promoting equality between men and women, while Article 10 of the TFEU provides that the Union aims to ‘combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual orientation’. Concerning the principle of gender equality in the workplace, the Treaty, in Article 153 of the TFEU, asserts that the Union pursues the objective of equality between men and women regarding labour market opportunities and treatment at work. On the other hand, Article 157 of the TFEU confirms the principle of equal pay for male and female workers ‘for equal work or work of equal value’. On these issues, through ordinary procedures, the European Parliament and the Council may adopt appropriate measures aimed at defending the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment for men and women. The Lisbon Treaty also includes provisions relating to the fight against trafficking in human beings, particularly women and children (Article 79 of the TFEU), the problem of domestic violence against women (Article 8 of the TFEU), and the right to paid maternity leave (Article 33). Among the important documents concerning gender equality is the Roadmap (2006–2010). In 2006, the European Commission proposed the Roadmap for equality between women and men, in addition to the priorities on the agenda, the objectives, and tools necessary to achieve full gender equality. The Roadmap defines six priority areas, each of which is associated with a set of objectives and actions that makes it easier to achieve them. The priorities include equal economic independence for women and men, reconciliation of private and professional life, equal representation in the decision-making process, eradication of all forms of gender-based violence, elimination of stereotypes related to gender, and promotion of gender equality in external and development policies. The Commission took charge of the commitments included in the Roadmap, which were indirectly implemented by the Member States through the principle of subsidiarity and the competencies provided for in the Treaties (Gottardi, 2013). The 2006–2010 strategy of the European Commission is based on a dual approach: on the one hand, the integration of the gender dimension in all community policies and actions (gender mainstreaming), and on the other, the implementation of specific measures in favour of women aimed at eliminating inequalities. In 2006, the European Council approved the European Pact for Gender Equality which originated from the Roadmap. The European Pact for Gender Equality identified three macro areas of intervention: measures to close gender gaps and combat gender stereotypes in the labour market, measures to promote a better work–life balance for both women and men, and measures to strengthen governance through the integration of the gender perspective into all policies. In 2006, Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and Council regulated equal opportunities and equal treatment between male and female workers. Specifically, the Directive aims to implement the principle of equal treatment related to access to employment, professional training, and promotion; working conditions, including pay; and occupational social security approaches. On 21 September 2010, the European Commission adopted a new strategy to ensure equality between women and men (2010–2015). This new strategy is based on the experience of Roadmap (2006–2010) and resumes the priority areas identified by the Women’s Charter: equal economic independence, equal pay, equality in decision-making, the eradication of all forms of violence against women, and the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment beyond the union. The 2010–2015 Strategic Plan aims to improve the position of women in the labour market, but also in society, both within the EU and beyond its borders. The new strategy affirms the principle that gender equality is essential to supporting the economic growth and sustainable development of each country. In 2010, the validity of the Lisbon Strategy ended, the objectives of which were only partially achieved due to the economic crisis. To overcome this crisis, the Commission proposed a new strategy called Europe 2020, in March 2010. The main aim of this strategy is to ensure that the EU’s economic recovery is accompanied by a series of reforms that will increase growth and job creation by 2020. Specifically, Europe’s 2020 strategy must support smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth. To this end, the EU has established five goals to be achieved by 2020 and has articulated the different types of growth (smart, sustainable, and inclusive) in seven flagship initiatives. Among the latter, the initiative ‘an agenda for new skills and jobs’, in the context of inclusive growth, is the one most closely linked to gender policies and equal opportunities; in fact, it substantially aims to increase employment rates for women, young, and elderly people. The strategic plan for 2010–2015 was followed by a strategic commitment in favour of gender equality 2016–2019, which again emphasises the five priority areas defined by the previous plan. Strategic commitment, which contributes to the European Pact for Gender Equality (2011–2020), identifies the key actions necessary to achieve objectives for each priority area. In March 2020, the Commission presented a new strategic plan for equality between women and men for 2020–2025. This strategy defines a series of political objectives and key actions aimed at achieving a ‘union of equality’ by 2025. The main objectives are to put an end to gender-based violence and combat sexist stereotypes, ensure equal opportunities in the labour market and equal participation in all sectors of the economy and political life, solve the problem of the pay and pension gap, and achieve gender equality in decision-making and politics. From the summary of the regulatory framework presented, for the European Economic Community first, then for the European Community, and finally for the European Union, gender equality has always been a fundamental value. Interest in the issues of the condition of women and equal opportunities has grown over time and during the process of European integration, moving from a perspective aimed at improving the working conditions of women to a new dimension to improve the life of the woman as a person, trying to protect her not only professionally but also socially, and in general in all those areas in which gender inequality may occur. The approach is extensive and based on legislation, the integration of the gender dimension into all policies, and specific measures in favour of women. From the non-exhaustive list of the various legislative interventions, it is possible to note a continuous repetition of the same thematic priorities which highlights, on the one hand, the poor results achieved by the implementation of the policies, but, on the other hand, the Commission’s willingness to pursue the path initially taken. Among the achievements in the field of gender equality obtained by the EU, there is certainly an increase in the number of women in the labour market and the acquisition of better education and training. Despite progress, gender inequalities have persisted. Even though women surpass men in terms of educational attainment, gender gaps still exist in employment, entrepreneurship, and public life (OECD, 2017). For example, in the labour market, women continue to be overrepresented in the lowest-paid sectors and underrepresented in top positions (according to the data released in the main companies of the European Union, women represent only 8% of CEOs).

Artificial intelligence (AI)�s emergence along with its progressively broader impact on different sectors needs assessment of all effects on achievement of each sustainable development goal (SDG). As AI technology turns to be more prominent in lives of individuals, increasing number of practitioners as well as researchers have underscored importance to integrate AI as one learning content. In spite of recent efforts to develop AI curricula along with guiding frameworks within AI education, every educational opportunity does not provide equally inclusive as well as engaging learning experience for each learner. For promoting equity and equality in society along with increasing competitiveness in AI workforces, this is vital in widening applications of AI in sector of education. Different frameworks of AI can provide appropriate guidelines to make learning much more inclusive over disciplines. The paper will discuss how to promote educational experience with the use of applications of AI technology along with enhancing goals of sustainable development. The paper will also highlight benefits as well as drawbacks of using different technologies of AI in this sector of education.

As the energy sector navigates complex global challenges, energy security, sustainability, and technological transformation, one opportunity remains critically underleveraged: advancing gender diversity in leadership. Research indicates that companies with greater female representation in leadership outperform their peers on enhanced innovation, improved workplace culture, and stronger overall performance (McKinsey 2024). Despite these advantages, the energy sector lags significantly behind other industries, such as government and healthcare, in gender diversity at the C-suite level. (World Economic Forum 2024). According to the World Economic Forum, while women's presence in senior leadership roles had increased marginally to 2022, but then subsequently declined in the last 2 years to below 2021 levels. Sadly, achieving true gender equality remains over 130 years away. (World Economic Forum 2024). The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 5, aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. However, the UN's 2023 report states: "There has been progress over the last decades, but the world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. Gender equality has not only failed to move forward but has begun to reverse. Without a heightened commitment from the global community, gender equality will remain an unrealised goal." (United Nations 2023) While legislative measures, such as the 2022 EU Gender Balance Directive, are prompting companies to bring more women into boardrooms, the 2023 Allbright Report finds many organizations are limiting appointments to the minimum required. This signals a compliance mindset rather than a strategic commitment to fostering inclusive leadership pipelines (Allbright 2024).

The article reveals the theoretical and methodical aspects of students’ civic education by means of literature. Emphasis is placed on the fact that in the conditions of unstable development of society, escalation of conflicts both between states and between fellow citizens, the issue of students’ civic education is actualized. The authors understand this concept as a form of social education, the formation of a citizen of a specific state, capable of successfully acting for the sake of preserving democracy and peace. Currently, informal education, in addition to the content of “social and civic competencies” that is understandable for Ukrainian educators, uses the term “competencies for the culture of democracy”, which, according to the authors, is a structured concept implemented in the European dimension of civic education. The authors emphasize that fiction affects human feelings and consciousness, it is a powerful means of moral, aesthetic and civic education. Through artistic images, writers provide an opportunity to form their attitude to the events described, to draw certain conclusions, to reflect on universal values, on the actions of one or another character, to see models of civic active/passive behavior. The article analyzes the European experience of civic education, in particular Great Britain and Germany. The authors take into account the literature of these countries and identify aspects that can serve as a basis for students’ civic education, compare them with the Ukrainian realities of civic education. The authors present the main vectors of civic education in Germany, which are determined by the content of literary works and encourage pluralism of opinions, tolerance for the views and judgments of others, motivate students to actively participate in civic life, awareness of the value of freedom, respect for human dignity, the right to self-expression, responsibility for an individual’s moral choice. The works are also the basis for establishing in teenagers such democratic values as the right to life, to fair treatment, dignity, freedom from discrimination, the right to equality, understanding the need to protect one’s rights and the rights of other people.The analysis of content concepts of literature for pupils in Great Britain shows that the priorities of civic education are national patriotism and the education of a law-abiding citizen. The textual material of the works and civic education lessons help pupils to better understand different forms of governance and their impact on citizens; to understand the responsibility and functions of management and the duties of citizens; to acquire socio-cultural experience that gives the opportunity to feel morally, socially, politically, legally competent and protected in society and to take direct part in the activities of civil society institutions. In Finland, the basic democratic values of the national core curriculum are open democracy, equality, responsibility for one’s own choice. An important focus of education in Finnish high school is gaining experience in shaping the future based on joint decisions and interaction.Taking into account the global trends of digitization, the authors considered digital technologies to be educational innovations in students’ civic education (electronic textbooks (not just digitized, but interactive, with virtual 3D materials that teachers can compose at their discretion), textbook scans for download, various materials: interactive laboratories, virtual museums, forums for teachers to communicate, etc.).

Thus far in reporting the findings of our project “Fifty Years After: Black Employment in the United States Under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,” our analysis of what has happened to African American employment over the past half century has documented the importance of manufacturing employment to the upward socioeconomic mobility of Blacks in the 1960s and 1970s and the devastating impact of rationalization—the permanent elimination of blue-collar employment—on their socioeconomic mobility in the 1980s and beyond. The upward mobility of Blacks in the earlier decades was based on the Old Economy business model (OEBM) with its characteristic “career-with-one-company” (CWOC) employment relations. At its launching in 1965, the policy approach of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission assumed the existence of CWOC, providing corporate employees, Blacks included, with a potential path for upward socioeconomic mobility over the course of their working lives by gaining access to productive opportunities and higher pay through stable employment within companies. It was through these internal employment structures that Blacks could potentially overcome barriers to the long legacy of job and pay discrimination. In the 1960s and 1970s, the generally growing availability of unionized semiskilled jobs gave working people, including Blacks, the large measure of employment stability as well as rising wages and benefits characteristic of the lower levels of the middle class. The next stage in this process of upward socioeconomic mobility should have been—and in a nation as prosperous as the United States could have been—the entry of the offspring of the new Black blue-collar middle class into white-collar occupations requiring higher educations. Despite progress in the attainment of college degrees, however, Blacks have had very limited access to the best employment opportunities as professional, technical, and administrative personnel at U.S. technology companies. Since the 1980s, the barriers to African American upward socioeconomic mobility have occurred within the context of the marketization (the end of CWOC) and globalization (accessibility to transnational labor supplies) of high-tech employment relations in the United States. These new employment relations, which stress interfirm labor mobility instead of intrafirm employment structures in the building of careers, are characteristic of the rise of the New Economy business model (NEBM), as scrutinized in William Lazonick’s 2009 book, Sustainable Prosperity in the New Economy? Business Organization and High-Tech Employment in the United States (Upjohn Institute). In this paper, we analyze the exclusion of Blacks from STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) occupations, using EEO-1 employment data made public, voluntarily and exceptionally, for various years between 2014 and 2020 by major tech companies, including Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Facebook (now Meta), Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Intel, Microsoft, PayPal, Salesforce, and Uber. These data document the vast over-representation of Asian Americans and vast under-representation of African Americans at these tech companies in recent years. The data also shine a light on the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of large masses of lower-paid labor in the United States at leading U.S. tech companies, including tens of thousands of sales workers at Apple and hundreds of thousands of laborers & helpers at Amazon. In the cases of Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Intel, we have access to EEO-1 data from earlier decades that permit in-depth accounts of the employment transitions that characterized the demise of OEBM and the rise of NEBM. Given our findings from the EEO-1 data analysis, our paper then seeks to explain the enormous presence of Asian Americans and the glaring absence of African Americans in well-paid employment under NEBM. A cogent answer to this question requires an understanding of the institutional conditions that have determined the availability of qualified Asians and Blacks to fill these employment opportunities as well as the access of qualified people by race, ethnicity, and gender to the employment opportunities that are available. Our analysis of the racial/ethnic determinants of STEM employment focuses on a) stark differences among racial and ethnic groups in educational attainment and performance relevant to accessing STEM occupations, b) the decline in the implementation of affirmative-action legislation from the early 1980s, c) changes in U.S. immigration policy that favored the entry of well-educated Asians, especially with the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990, and d) consequent social barriers that qualified Blacks have faced relative to Asians and whites in accessing tech employment as a result of a combination of statistical discrimination against African Americans and their exclusion from effective social networks.

Despite initiatives to promote equality of opportunity, the reproduction of inequalities from generation to generation has worsened in Quebec in recent decades. Youth who grew up in a less advantaged environment are more likely to remain at the bottom of the ladder as adults. We know that education is a key factor in social mobility. A CIRANO study looks at the issue from another angle, that of geographic mobility. The authors follow the career paths of nearly 1.4 million young people and show that the lack of social mobility affects more strongly young people who grew up outside major cities, particularly those who still live there in their early thirties. This study is the first to examine the influence of geographic mobility on intergenerational income transmission in Quebec. It is based on Statistics Canada’s Intergenerational Income Database (IID), which has a longitudinal structure that tracks children to late stages of adult life. The data come from the Canada Revenue Agency’s tax data files and provide access to parent and child income information from 1978 to 2016. In terms of geographic mobility, analyses show that the deterioration of social mobility in Quebec is mainly the result of two phenomena: on the one hand, the deterioration of the socio-economic status of young people residing outside major urban centres at age 16 and having grown up in a family at the bottom of the income distribution, and improving the situation of young people from the same regions who grew up in families at the top of the income distribution.

Software is a hybrid object in the world research as it is equally a driving force (as a tool), a result (as proof of the existence of a solution) and an object of study (as an artefact). This specific status means we need to define strategies, tools and procedures which are adapted to the various issues it raises. These include the citation of contributions to software design and production, the reproducibility of research results involving software and the wider usage and long-term sustainability of the software heritage created. This opportunity note by the Committee for Open Science's Free Software and Open Source Project Group describes the issues at stake and formulates actionable recommendations.

The facilitated self-assessment provides the opportunity to discuss and reflect on current strengths and how to improve processes that drive positive change in GESI through your projects and organisation. It also provides an opportunity for your project and organisation to measure progress towards transformative practice and outcomes. It enables participants to identify strategies to strengthen gender equality/diversity and social inclusion, consider strategies to make change, and highlight opportunities for improvement within their work.

This book examines the progress and persistent challenges in achieving gender equality and LGBTQ inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean. Despite significant advances in women's education, health, and labor force participation, substantial gaps remain in areas such as economic opportunity and leadership representation, and gender-based violence remains high. The region has also witnessed a greater, though incomplete, acceptance of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. The book proposes a comprehensive policy framework structured around three pillars: foundational policies, policies that enable economic opportunity, and institutional reforms. It argues that addressing persistent challenges requires evidence-based policies that expand opportunities to unlock the regions full talent potential and drive progress toward a more equitable and inclusive society.

The change through grassroots democratic processes in the Indian political system is the result of a growing conviction that the big government cannot achieve growth and development in a society without people's direct participation and initiative. The decentralized political institutions have been more participatory and inclusive ensuring equality of political opportunity. Social exclusion in India is not a new phenomenon. History bears witness to exclusion of social groups on the bases of caste, class, gender and religion. Most notable is the category of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women who were denied the access and control over economic and social opportunities as a result they were relegated to the categories of excluded groups. It is true that the problems of the excluded classes were addressed by the state through the enactment of anti-discriminatory laws and policies to foster their social inclusion and empowerment. Despite these provisions, exclusion and discrimination of these excluded groups continued. Therefore, there was a need to address issues of ‘inclusion’ in a more direct manner. Madhya Pradesh has made a big headway in the working for the inclusion of these excluded groups. The leadership role played by the under privileged, poor and the marginalized people of the society at the grassroots level is indeed remarkable because two decade earlier these people were excluded from public life and political participation for them was a distant dream. Against this backdrop, the paper attempts to unfold the changes that have taken place in the rural power structure after 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act. To what extent the decentralized political institutions have been successful in the inclusion of the marginalized section of the society in the state of Madhya Pradesh [India].