Anna Zamberlan (Università di Trento)
Daniela Piazzalunga (Università di Trento)
Stefani Scherer (Università di Trento)
Gender inequality remains stubbornly high, notwithstanding relevant changes over the recent decades. Inequalities based on gender penetrate basically every area of society, including
education, employment, income and wealth, family dynamics, health and healthy aging, political participation, and others again. Yet, gender differences vary considerably over these spheres,
over the life-course, and across countries. Life-course events are clearly related to inequalities, but often the development of inequalities over the life-course and the related accumulation
processes are not in the spotlight. On top, notable differences exist across social segments of society. Despite its high salience, gender is neither the only cleavage in society, nor can it be
understood as detached from other inequalities. While gender differences are amply documented, only recently has the intersection of gender and other social divides received
increasing attention. When analysing disparities within the group of women (or of men) based on factors such as education, social class, or migration background, a more complex structure
of inequalities emerges.
Social policy tries to intervene in various ways to mitigate existing inequalities, but the consequences are not always straightforward. The already advantaged might gain even more
from interventions, and trade-offs might exist across different spheres, often contributing to increasing inequalities rather than reducing them.
This session invites papers contributing to our understanding of the drivers and correlates of gender inequalities in the various spheres, their dynamics over the life-course, the possibility
to intervene through social policies, as well as their consequences. Structural factors like economic crises, the recent pandemic, or the broader socio-economic context might exacerbate
or mitigate the existing inequality structure. Cultural processes are relevant too, including the social transmission of values, beliefs, norms, and behaviours across generations and within
social groups. Policy interventions to alleviate inequalities come with mixed results and potential inequality trade-offs.
We welcome contributions providing empirical research (quantitative or qualitative in style) on related topics. Preference will be given to contributions dealing with intersections among
various inequalities, their accumulation over life, and the policy interventions trying to deal with them. We explicitly invite also contributions in English.