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2024/2025  BA-BHAAV2270U  Business, gender and labour market inequality

English Title
Business, gender and labour market inequality

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Second Quarter, Third Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 70
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Caroline de la Porte - Department of International Economics, Goverment and Business (EGB)
  • Janine Leschke - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • CSR and sustainability
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
Teaching methods
  • Blended learning
Last updated on 09-02-2024

Relevant links

Learning objectives
To achieve grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor errors:
  • Demonstrate knowledge of concepts, theories and methods used to study labour market inequality.
  • Explain contemporary labour market theories and concepts.
  • Operationalise key concepts with relevant data and indicators.
  • Develop a relevant research question and design drawing upon the topics covered in the course.
  • Show analytical proficiency in handling research questions and in supporting theory-driven arguments with relevant empirical evidence.
Course prerequisites
Basic business and society knowledge
Examination
Business, gender and labour market inequality:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
Students will write a 10-page essay (academic paper). Students formulate their own research question within a broader topic defined by the teachers drawing on the lectures, assigned readings, class discussions and exercises.
Assignment type Essay
Release of assignment The Assignment is released in Digital Exam (DE) at exam start
Duration 7 days to prepare
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter and Spring
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Students will write a 10-page essay (academic paper). Students formulate their own research question within a broader topic defined by the teachers drawing on the lectures, assigned readings, class discussions and exercises.
Description of the exam procedure

Students will write a 10-page essay (academic paper). Students formulate their own research question within a broader topic defined by the teachers drawing on the lectures, assigned readings, class discussions and exercises.

Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Inequality is a central issue in contemporary debates in business and social sciences as exemplified by Piketty’s research on inequality in his path-breaking book – “Capital in the Twenty-First Century". International organisations, such as the OECD, the World Bank and the European Union, are increasingly concerned with rising inequality across and within countries. Welfare states and labour markets are an important source and mitigator of inequalities. At the same time, labour market inequalities have a strong gender dimension which can be tackled by a variety of policies.

 

This course provides key inside on the role of governments, business and trade unions in creating and mitigating gender and labour market inequalities across countries and sectors of the economy. We examine various inequalities (gender, youth, migrant, low skilled) arising from recent decades of welfare state and labour market reforms and organizational changes within firms. The course thereby provides the students with analytical tools to assess the social and economic sustainability of advanced and emerging economies.

 

Digitalisation and big data are new trends influencing labour market inequalities. They also create new ethical dilemmas. For instance, we scrutinize the dilemmas in the "gig economy" and its implications on business models, wages and working conditions.

 

The course also focuses on work-place inequalities, especially from a gendered perspective and with a focus on youth and migrants. We discuss and examine, on the basis of country-examples, what businesses and policy makers can do to tackle such inequalities.

 

The course will enable the students to conduct independent research within the theme of labour market inequalities. Students will get hands-on experience of using relevant indicators and data and relating these to concepts and theories. This will allow them to analyse and understand complex societal problems. The skills acquired in this course are useful in preparation for writing a bachelor thesis and transferable to other settings, including work in businesses as well as, governmental and international organizations.

 

The coordinators and teachers of this course have an active labour market and gender research agenda and are involved in a range of EU projects of high relevance to this course.

 

Indicative overview of sessions

1. Course introduction and lecture – Labour market inequalities

2. Lecture -- Social investment across the globe

3. Group exercise – Labour markets and social protection across Europe

4. Lecture – The role of governments in moderating low wages

5. Lecture – The role of collective bargaining in labor market inequalities

6. Group exercise on wages and collective bargaining

7. Lecture – Flexible workers for flexible jobs - youth and migrants

8. Lecture – The "gig economy" - new inequalities through digitalisation of labour?

9. Group exercise – Working time and working conditions

10. Lecture – Unemployed and big data in public employment services

11. Group exercise - unemployment and active labour market policy

12. Lecture – Institutional constraints and opportunities for gender equality

13. Group exercise – Determinants of gender (in-)equality with a focus on welfare state and labour markets

14. Lecture – The role of the firm in gender equality

15. Student presentations of research question and approach in view of the exam & wrap-up and evaluation

Description of the teaching methods
The course combines lectures, group exercises and class discussions based on the assigned readings. Selected sessions make use of group presentations of exercises using comparative aggregate data and indicators along different dimensions of labour market inequality. The students will learn how to formulate a concise research question and create a good research design. This will be useful in view of the final exam but also other term papers including the bachelor thesis. The exercises focus on the links between research question, theory, indicators and data (qualitative and quantitative). They will also include reflections on comparative analysis including across countries, groups of workers or sectors of the economy. The students will learn to identify, navigate and use relevant databases in the labour market field (e.g. OECD, Eurostat, Eurofound) in view of substantiating their research questions. Finally, each student will individually present and get feedback on their own tentative research question, theory and data, in a final seminar, in preparation for the take-home exam.
Feedback during the teaching period
• Oral feedback from teachers and peers on the group exercises in selected classes.
• Oral feedback from teachers as part of class discussions on assigned readings in all classes.
• Oral feedback from teachers and peers on presentation of research question and design in the final session.

Student workload
lectures and exercises 38 hours
exam 74 hours
course preparation 94 hours
Expected literature

Readings include state-of-the art academic articles, selected book chapters as well as reports by leading international organisations such as the OECD. Below is an indicative sample of readings used for this course:

 

de la Porte, C., Larsen, T. and Lundqvist, Å. (2022), ” Still a Poster Child for Social Investment? Changing Regulatory Dynamics of Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Denmark and Sweden”, Regulation and Governance, https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1111/​rego.12492

 

Esping-Andersen, G. (2009) Incomplete Revolution: Adapting Welfare States to Women's New Roles, chapters 1 & 2, Polity Press, 19-74.

 

Hansen Paulsen, M. and Leschke, J. (2022) Reforming the Ideal(ised) Model(s) of Danish Labour Market Policies, in: Hagedorn Krogh, A., Agger, A. and Triantafillou, P. (eds) Public Governance in Denmark: Meeting the Global Mega-Challenges of the 21st Century?, Emerald Publishing Limited.

 

Kalleberg, A. (2011) Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s, Russel Sage Foundation, ch. 8 “Time at work: hours, intensity and control” – download at CBS library (e-book)

 

Kenworthy, L. (2022) More Jobs, In Would Democratic Socialism be Better?, Oxford University Press, pp. 36-43.

 

Kowalewska, H. (2019), Bringing Women on Board: The Social Policy Implications of Gender Diversity in Top Jobs, Journal of Social Policy, DOI: https:/​​/​​doi.org/​​10.1017/​​S0047279419000722

 

OECD (2019), Negotiating Our Way Up: Collective Bargaining in a Changing World of Work: Executive Summary and Overview, OECD Publishing, Paris, https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1787/​1fd2da34-en

 

OECD (2017) The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An uphill battle, OECD Employment Outlook, Paris: OECD, Consult chapters 4 & 11.

 

O’Reilly, J., Leschke, J., Ortlieb, R., Seeleib-Kaiser, M. & Villa, P. (2019) Comparing the problems of youth labor market transitions in Europe: Joblessness, insecurity, institutions, and inequality, ch 1 in: O’Reilly et al. (eds.) Youth Labor in Transition: Inequalities, Mobility and Policies in Europe, Oxford University Press

 

Rubery, J. and Grimshaw, D. (2015) The 40-year pursuit of equal pay: a case of

constantly moving goalposts, Cambridge Journal of Economics Vol 39, 319–343: doi:10.1093/cje/beu053

 

Trygstad, S., Larsen, T. P., Nergaard, K. (2018) Dealing with austerity and migration in the northern European cleaning sector: Social partner strategies to strengthen wage floors, European Journal of Industrial Relations, online first: https:/​​/​​doi.org/​​10.1177/​​0959680118790818

 

Wood, A., Graham, M. & Lehdonvirta, V. (2019) Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy, Work, Employment and Society, Vol 33(1): 56 –75.

Last updated on 09-02-2024