localised femininities and masculinities within which professional identities are
developed.
Research presented in the stream ‘Unsettling inequalities in the public sector
showcased Barry, Berg and Chandler’s work examining the gendered politics of
social policy and social work in the Indian city of Mumbai. Their paper attempted
to show that social policy and social work are indeed open to debate,
contestation and (re)negotiation over time. In addition to this they explored the
impact of the quota system and how that in itself provides a ripple effect in the
way women are represented and perhaps seen as a threat to their male
counterparts. Moving to a different part of the globe Inal, Ozbilgin and Karatas-
Ozkan’s paper analysed Turkish Cypriot female solicitors’ career experiences in
the UK, using a case study approach. The study adopted a critical realist
perspective, taking into consideration the macro-contextual and micro-agentic
aspects of Turkish Cypriot women’s career development. The findings revealed
that macro, meso and micro effects are responsible for the polarisation of
opportunities in ethnic enclaves. Another paper of note examined gender
equality in career development within the world of banking. Maxwell explored the
concept of mentoring as a tool for enhancing the careers of female employees of
a high street bank.
Research presented in the Multiple Discrimination and Mapping Diversity stream
sought to capture an international understanding and meaning of diversity.
Morley’s work on gender equality in higher education suggests that participation
rates for women in higher education have increased between 1999 and 2005 in
all regions of the world, which suggests that there are now more undergraduate
women than men in higher education. Morley indicates that behind the figures
there is a more complex and concerning story. There appears to be a range of
questions that still need answers in both quantitative and qualitative terms.
Morley concludes by stating ‘that women’s exclusion from higher education is an
historical injustice.. .women are participating, in increasing numbers.....yet,
women’s academic identities are often forged in otherness, as strangers in
opposition to men’s belonging and entitlement’. Within the same stream other
papers were submitted which explored the concept of group coaching within
global financial services for new mothers, stories of discrimination and work life
decision-making during maternity leave and the use of social movement theory
as a strategy for change.
The conference also featured a doctoral colloquium, chaired by Dr Jose Pascal
da Rocha. There were five papers presented within this stream which provided
some interesting and exciting debates. The paper that sparked off the initial
debate was presented by Showunmi, entitled ‘The ‘Real’ Deal: Voices of
unemployed black women. A member of the audience challenged whether there
was a need to identify with the term blackness....The following paper presented
by Atewologun continued the debate as Atewologun explored multiple identities