LIST OF PANELS

A just society happens when political, economic and social participation in public and private lives is possible for all to consider equally, regardless of their current position in society (Van Dijk 2022). Women, who comprise more than 50% of all humans, are the largest disempowered group worldwide, despite decades of action leading to women’s equality featuring in every public programme or policy.  UNWomen (2022) reports that there are currently 30 women heads of state or government which means that at the current rate, equal representation will only be achieved in another 130 years. Ministerial or leadership portfolios typically reflect traditional female roles. The most common briefs are areas of Family/children/youth/elderly/disabled; followed by social affairs; environment/natural resources/energy; employment/labour/vocational training, and women affairs/gender equality. For public organisations, achieving equality has been no more than a numbers game – if they can demonstrate, especially in their senior management cadre, equal representation by persons of all genders, then they claim they’ve banished prejudice. But women’s equality is not about representation - it is about the voice given to understanding the intersections that contribute to and continue to perpetuate inequality. Ever since Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term 'intersectionality' (1989) and Chandra Mohanty wrote "Under Western eyes" (1987), scholars agree that the intersections of gender, race, and class are not the only factors that maintain inequality - history, context and a myriad of other factors necessitate a nuanced understanding of not only women, but equality as well.

Those leading public institutions and influencing the conversation around the nature of women’s equality have the responsibility and opportunity to shape how gender will be understood and practiced through organisational structures, processes and policies. This panel will interrogate:

a)    Where are women found? Women’s agency and its portrayal in policy development.

b)    Where are women heard? The manner in which women’s voices are integrated in public policies.

c)    Where women practice their gender? Examples of women’s participation in policy development and their lived experiences.

d)    Where women succeed? Sharing policy successes in ensuring women’s equality through sustainable public policies.

e)    Where women lead? Exploring how women contribute to leadership discourse in influencing public policy development.

The purpose of the panel will be to leverage the agency of women in different contexts to enhance their contribution to public policy development. Key deliverables will be:

·         The development of networked relationships among an international group of women with executive agency in policy development

·         Increased awareness of public policy and administration research as a developmental resource in achieving equitable goals, even in inhospitable political environments.

·         Initiation of a common research and evaluation framework that can measure the complexity of intersectional equality in leadership, while capturing and including contextually specific differences within it. 

Sharing experiences that question representation as the indicator for women’s equality will offer recognition for the contributions made by more than 50% of the world’s population.

The panel requests submissions by scholars, practitioners and students interested in the intersection between women’s equality and public policy development. Papers can be submitted in any of the following categories or as a combination of categories:

• Studies detailing the lived experiences of women’s participation in targeted women’s empowerment public policies or programs identifying them as ‘beneficiaries’
• Studies detailing women researchers’ experiences/participation in the design, operationalisation and writing of public policy
• c)    Case studies describing and analysing the development of targeted women’s policies and programmes
• d)    Case studies depicting women leaders and their experiences in influencing the leadership discourse for integrated public policy development

The format of papers should include a strong theoretical/conceptual framework, methods discussion while findings and conclusions contribute to leverage the agency of women in different contexts to enhance their contribution to public policy development. The panel is interested in theoretical, methodological and empirical presentations that may be context specific. The workshop will adopts the plenary discussions format with sessions geared towards in-depth discussions with submissions considered for a possible book publication after the conference.

Format: Onsite (hybrid)