Blog
Record four female directors at Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival is underway and this year there are four female directors in the running for the Palme d'Or . Last year there were none.
It is the most women in one single year since Cannes started in 1946.
An improvement nonetheless, but as Charlotte Higgins discusses in the Guardian there is a chronic shortage of female directors in the industry.
Birds Eye View, whose aim is to 'celebrate and support international women film makers' suggest that only 6% of directors and 12% of screenwriters are women. The UK Film Council 2010 report states that of the number of UK titles released in 2009 only 17.2% of directors were women and 16.5% of writers were women.
The reasons why there are so few women are familiar; women are responsible for the majority of care at home, the lack of access to business networks make securing funding and sponsorship difficult, the 'macho' culture and the need to constantly prove your technical credentials that comes with working in a male-dominated occupation are also a problem.
As Lynne Ramsay said on the lack of women directors, "it is a bit like a country not being filmed – and that country not having a voice. It really does matter."
Close the Gap weekly (6)
This week there are a couple of events to highlight for May, including a conference about the challenges of promoting equality during hard economic times and details of the WiSE Conference.
EVENTS
20th May 2011
Promoting Equality During Austerity
MacKay-Hannah Conference. Keynote speaker is Alison Pritchard, Head of Strategy GEO. Other speakers include, Professor Ailsa McKay, Vice-Dean of CBS and Professor of Economics, Glasgow Caledonian University.
24-25 May 2011
WiSE Conference: Counting on Women- Gender, Care and Economics
Speakers: Professor Marilyn Waring, globally renowned feminist economist and Professor Martha Fineman, internationally renowned law and society scholar.
6 May 2011
The London Mathematical Society is organising this all day event.
19 May 2011
The Society of Petroleum Engineers and Women in Mining are hosting an event for women interested in working in the energy Sector. Taking place in London.
NEWS
José Zapatero's feminista agenda
When the suffragettes were out for the count
What's at stake in the Walmart women's lawsuit
Skills warning over energy sector
The World Bank's approach to gender mainstreaming
Tax and welfare changes will hit women and children hardest, says Ed Balls
Has feminism blocked social mobility for men?
It's nonsense for David Willetts to say that women have stolen men's careers
Female graduates earn 20% less than men
EU Skills makes gender equality commitment
Equality laws under attack by private sector interests
Pension chnages 'will help women and poor'.
RESEARCH
From Opportunity Now: What holds women back? Women and men's perceptions of the barriers to women's progression
Skills shortages in Scotland's energy sector.
Scottish Power have warned of skills shortages facing Scotland's energy sector. They have estimated that 80% of its engineers are due to retire in the next 20 years.
According to Scottish Power, in order to fill the skills gaps and shortages the sector needs to attract more engineers or it will be unable to support future developments in the energy sector, especially in renewables.
In Scotland, women are substantially underrepresented on engineering courses; only 14% of engineering graduates are women and less than 2% of engineering modern apprentices are women (Close the Gap, 2010).
In employment, 81% of the engineering workforce are men and of the low percentage of women, 70% are concentrated in administration and sales (Close the Gap, 2010).
Why are there so few women in engineering?
Historically, this has been a male-dominated occupation, and still is. The exception is during periods of male labour shortages. For example, during World War II many women trained and worked as engineers only to be pushed back into the home when the men returned from war.
Women account for 47% of the workforce, but they are concentrated in certain occupations. This is due to the gender stereotyping of women and men's roles and as a consequence the undervaluing of 'women's work'.
Consequently women are still more likely to be the main carer in their family and therefore looking for part-time/flexible work to balance responsibilities. The majority of part-time jobs are concentrated in administration and caring related occupations, areas which are undervalued and lower paid.
How can we ensure there is a critical mass of female engineers?
Scottish Power suggests that school pupils should be encouraged to study science and maths, and many pupils do. Crucially, these interventions need to actively encourage girls and young women to pursue science and engineering which will help challenge gender stereotyping at an early age.
Employers, sector representative bodies and schools have a role to play in ensuring there is an understanding of the subjects needed to become an engineer, the variety of engineering careers and the reality of an engineering workplace.
More importantly, employers need to tackle the barriers which prevent women entering and remaining in the sector i.e. lack of flexible working, and ensure there are transparent career progression routes. Otherwise the energy sector will continue to draw on only half the potential workforce.
New paternity regulations have come into force
The Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010 came into force on 3 April 2011 and mean that fathers* are now entitled to up to six months’ paternity leave on top of the two weeks to which they are currently entitled.
Parents can now share 46 weeks’ parental leave if the mother goes back to work after 20 weeks. A woman expecting a baby after 3 April 2011 can now transfer the second half of their one year maternity leave to their partner.
The father* is then entitled to take the mother’s maternity leave on statutory pay of £128.73 a week, or 90% of average weekly earnings if that is less, for 26 weeks. If the mother goes back to work after 30 weeks, the father is entitled to 16 weeks and so on.
The father* is, however, only entitled to Additional Statutory Paternity Pay during the first three months of leave; the last three months are unpaid. The new regulations also apply to parents who are adopting. *Despite the use of the name 'paternity leave', the leave is available to female partners of women who have given birth.
Close the Gap weekly (5)
This week we have events from the UKRC and a link to the UK Government's consultation on 'Strengthening Women's Voices in Government.'
EVENTS
24-25 May 2011
WiSE Conference: Counting on Women- Gender, Care and Economics
Speakers: Professor Marilyn Waring, globally renowned feminist economist and Professor Martha Fineman, internationally renowned law and society scholar.
The UKRC highlights apprentice recruitment drive by Jaguar Land Rover
March 2011
The UKRC welcome UN Status of Women Commission’s focus on science and technology
NEWS
Flexible working regulation to be scrapped
Cutting red tape can mean scaling back on equality
Women face discrimination for senior IT positions, claims study
Walmart sex-bias case divides US supreme court
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Promoting a a new generation of engineers in Highland and Islands
Scottish Enterprise
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