Abstract
Clearly, the EU’s approach to equal opportunities moved from a narrow focus on equal pay and equal treatment in the workplace, to a gradual acceptance of specific, positive actions and even the increased expectation that men take on their just share of household tasks and family obligations. However, the extent to which this transformation contributed substantially to changing the lives of women throughout Europe is, at present, unclear.
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Notes
Business may be every bit a “man’s game,” but so too is academics. Although women outnumber men as graduates, within education and research “their presence decreases consistently as they progress on the career ladder, from 43 per cent of PhDs down to only 15 per cent of full professors” (CEC 2006b, 6).
Remember, in Kalanke the Court held that favoring a female candidate when choosing between equally qualified applicants for public service was contrary to the ETD. Two years later, in Marschall, the Court reversed itself and acknowledged that equally qualified candidates still stand different chances based on gender. On both these cases, see chapter 3 in this book. After discussing the Court’s contradictory positions on pregnancy, one critic writes: “There are occasions when judicial stupidity, and tastelessness, almost beggars belief” (Ward 2003, 183).
Domestic work refers to work done for one’s own household. According to Eurostat: “The most important categories are food management, care for textiles, cleaning and household upkeep, gardening, repairs, shopping and childcare” (2004, 44–45).
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© 2007 R. Amy Elman
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Elman, R.A. (2007). Assessing Material Reforms. In: Sexual Equality in an Integrated Europe. Europe in Transition: The Nyu European Studies Series. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230610071_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230610071_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
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