Papers by Cinnamon Bennett
Women's labour market situation
Qualitative Research, 2017
The nature of qualitative research means that the personal values of an individual researcher can... more The nature of qualitative research means that the personal values of an individual researcher can and do (unwittingly) shape the way in which they analyse data sets, and the resultant conclusions drawn. However this phenomenon is under-studied in social research and this article seeks to help rectify this. This article presents findings from a small research project focused on discourses of class, masculinity and work among British male comedians from working-class backgrounds, interviewed on the popular BBC Radio 4 radio programme Desert Island Discs. Six different researchers, from varying disciplinary, methodological and theoretical groundings, as well as from varying personal backgrounds, analysed three interview recordings and transcripts separately. All the researchers wrote up their individual analyses of these interviews and wrote reflexive pieces examining why they thought they approached the data as they did. The researchers then came together as a group to compare and con...
I would like to thank my supervisory team: Christine Booth, my Director of Studies, and Professor... more I would like to thank my supervisory team: Christine Booth, my Director of Studies, and Professor Sue Yeandle. It is not an exaggeration to say that without their investment in me, and their enthusiasm for my work, I could not have completed this thesis. I would also like to thank all those people who have supported and encouraged me along the way, in particular Zoe and 'the girls', Sophie and Karen, but most of all my parents, David and Julie, whose confidence in me has never wavered, my brother D and Simon. Lastly, my case study fieldwork was achieved because a large number of practitioners gave up their time to speak to me. I extend my thanks to them all, especially Marilyn Taylor and Jane Becker. However, as always, I remain solely responsible for the contents.
Tough at the top: women's career progression – an example in the local government sector
Policy for a changeLocal labour market analysis and gender equality, 2008
Re-Conceptualising Feminist Agency in the State: A Study of the Implementation of Women’s Equal Opportunity Policy in British Local Government
Transforming Politics, 1999
The organisation of feminist agency in local state bureaucracies has broadly shifted from, in the... more The organisation of feminist agency in local state bureaucracies has broadly shifted from, in the 1980s, separate women’s structures, such as women’s policy units or women’s working parties, to a mainstreamed approach in the 1990s which dispenses with dedicated staff. The agenda for ‘mainstreaming equality’ has been articulated most clearly at the European Union level. This discourse expressly embraces the economic and human resource arguments for equality outcomes. It has been praised by proponents as ‘transformative’ (Rees, 1996), while simultaneously provoking unease among women’s activists. They feel that mainstreaming may represent ‘male-streaming’, the deradicalisation and eradication of feminist practice in the local state.
Brussels Economic Review, 2011
This paper draws its evidence from the report Meta-analysis of gender and science research: Count... more This paper draws its evidence from the report Meta-analysis of gender and science research: Country group report UK and Ireland countries (Bennett et al 2010) which used the Gender and Science Database (GSD, www.genderandscience.org) to compile an extensive literature review of the research already undertaken on women's and men's careers in science. The paper begins by outlining the nature of horizontal and vertical segregation in the Science Engineering and Technology (SET) sectors in the UK. It then describes Sue Berryman's model of a 'pipeline' to explain women's career progression in science occupations and academic disciplines (Berryman 1983). The model has provided a focus for different explanations of the barriers and issues faced by women, combining research on gendered stereotypes and labour market practices and processes. The policy responses which the model has prompted are outlined. The final section of the paper discusses the ways in which the model has been expanded through critique and the development of new research areas, such as in the fields of diversity, globalisation and multiple gendered subjectivities which offer promising ways of moving beyond a view of women's careers in science as single, narrowing and prescribed trajectories.
6. Mainstreaming a male perspective into UK regeneration: the experience in South Yorkshire
Gender Equality and Men, 2004
Women's labour market situation: myths, puzzles and problems
Policy for a changeLocal labour market analysis and gender equality, 2008
... Furthermore, there were marked gender differences in the proportion of pupils gaining'go... more ... Furthermore, there were marked gender differences in the proportion of pupils gaining'good'A-level ... trades, while it was commonplace for young women school leavers to enter personal services occupations ... by media images of working life and by a powerful culture of gendered ...
Mainstreaming Women's Enterprise: Yorkshire Forward's Approach
Local Economy, 2006
This contribution uses data from a case study within a wider research project into the state of w... more This contribution uses data from a case study within a wider research project into the state of women’s enterprise at regional level (Prowess, 2005). Drawing on the authors’ interviews with practitioners in winter 2004–5, and on relevant documentation, it discusses the mainstreaming approach undertaken by Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency for Yorkshire and the Humber, and its support for women entrepreneurs within the region, explaining how it developed, the benefits it offers, and some of the activity it has stimulated.
Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit, 2006
Owning and implementing labour market research
Equal Opportunities International, 2008
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the Gender, Employment and Local Labour Market (G... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the Gender, Employment and Local Labour Market (GELLM) Programme of Research (2003‐2006), which is delivered through a partnership of academics, policy‐makers, trade unions and practitioners at national and local levels of the UK, directed by Professor Sue Yeandle of Sheffield Hallam University. It discusses the contractual and task‐based relationships, which are set up among the partners and the ways in which the research process is designed and executed collaboratively. The GELLM partnership is maintained without complicated information technology or customised training, relying instead on the commitment of the individuals involved and a very clear and well managed face‐to‐face report‐back structure. The paper concludes by analysing the criteria that made this partnership work successfully and the types of impact it is able to achieve locally and nationally on gender equality policy‐making.Design/methodology/approachThe aims and obje...
Social Policy & Administration, 2021
Employment had risen to historically high levels in Britain before the coronavirus crisis; howeve... more Employment had risen to historically high levels in Britain before the coronavirus crisis; however, whereas work is traditionally conceptualized as a route out of poverty, this is no longer necessarily the case. Participation in non-standard or low-income work such as zero-hour contracts, involuntary part-time work and self-employment is increasingly a feature of the labour market and in-work benefits which top-up low incomes have been pared back. This case study undertaken in the period before the coronavirus crisis takes a multidisciplinary approach in relation to three key questions: are working women resorting to food bank use in times of financial hardship?; to what extent is this a function of non-standard working practices?; and is welfare reform a contributing factor? A three-strand approach is taken: a synthesis of literature, an analysis of national data and in-depth interviews with stakeholders involved with referrals to or delivery of emergency food provision within northern Britain. The findings highlight a growth in precarious employment models since the 2008/ 2009 recession and how this intersects with increasing conditionality in welfare policy. We contribute to the debate by arguing that ideological driven policy fails to acknowledge structural deficiencies in labour market demand and misattributes responsibility for managing precarious working patterns onto individuals who are already struggling to get by.
Local labour markets in public policy context
Policy for a changeLocal labour market analysis and gender equality, 2008
... In the 12 GELLM gender profiles of local labour markets (Buckner et al, 2004a-i, 2005a, 2005b... more ... In the 12 GELLM gender profiles of local labour markets (Buckner et al, 2004a-i, 2005a, 2005b, 2006) we highlighted the major changes in labour ... in the labour market Most analysts would characterise policy on the labour market in England in the past 30 years as neo-liberal. ...
Gender Mainstreaming in the European Union
European Journal of Women's Studies, Nov 1, 2002
This article aims to make a contribution to the conceptualization of mainstreaming gender equalit... more This article aims to make a contribution to the conceptualization of mainstreaming gender equality promoted by the European Union. It starts by exploring the historical periodization of equal opportunities delivery strategies and challenging the compartmentalization of these developments. It suggests that equality policies can better be conceptualized in terms of a `three-legged equality stool', which recognizes the interconnectiveness of three perspectives — the equal treatment perspective, the women's perspective and the gender perspective. The article argues that the gender perspective has been closely associated with strategies for mainstreaming gender equality, but that this association is misleading. As a result mainstreaming has remained a `fuzzy' concept, which in turn has led to many different styles and forms of practical implementation in European member states.
Mainstreaming Women's Enterprise: Yorkshire Forward's Approach
Local Economy, 2006
Gender Mainstreaming in the European UnionTowards a New Conception and Practice of Equal Opportunities
European Journal of Womens Studies, 2002
This article aims to make a contribution to the conceptualization of mainstreaming gender equalit... more This article aims to make a contribution to the conceptualization of mainstreaming gender equality promoted by the European Union. It starts by exploring the historical periodization of equal opportunities delivery strategies and challenging the compartmentalization of these developments. It suggests that equality policies can better be conceptualized in terms of a `three-legged equality stool', which recognizes the interconnectiveness of three perspectives — the equal treatment perspective, the women's perspective and the gender perspective. The article argues that the gender perspective has been closely associated with strategies for mainstreaming gender equality, but that this association is misleading. As a result mainstreaming has remained a `fuzzy' concept, which in turn has led to many different styles and forms of practical implementation in European member states.
Women's Career Development in Sandwell MBC
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Papers by Cinnamon Bennett