TITLE:
The Views of Spanish Undergraduates on Gender Equality, Parental Responsibilities and Joint-Custody
AUTHORS:
Francisca Fariña, Ramon Arce, María José Vázquez, Mercedes Novo, Dolores Seijo
KEYWORDS:
Spanish Undergraduates; Gender Equality; Joint-Custody; Shared Parenting
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Applied Sociology,
Vol.3 No.1,
March
20,
2013
ABSTRACT: In recent years we
have witnessed concerted efforts to achieve real equality between men and women
through legislative reform in the European Union (i.e., EU Directives
2002/73/EC; 76/207/EEC), and nationwide in Spain (e.g., Law 3/2007, of 22
March, for Effective Gender Equality) as well as regional legislation (e.g.,
Law 7/2004, 16 July, Galician Law for the Equality of Women and Men). In view
of the principle of equal rights enshrined in legislative reform, one would
expect social change entailing the removal of existing inequalities on the
grounds of sex. In order to explore the views of Spanish youth regarding gender
equality, a pioneering field study was carried out to assess their knowledge of
current legislation, and to examine their views towards gender equality,
particularly in relation to specific issues such
as family, divorce, separation, joint-custody, sexual relationships, education,
and employment. Moreover, perceived or real models of equality were
contrasted with ideal or desired models of equality. Thus, a total of 2071
Spanish undergraduates were administered an ad hoc questionnaire. The results
reveal the vast majority of undergraduates favoured gender equality, and the
equal participation of women and men in family and working life as well as
joint-custody in cases of divorce or separation. Nevertheless, differences in
gender were observed i.e., more women supported policies promoting the
principle of equality than men. The findings underscore the need for
implementing intervention strategies designed to foster shared responsibility
and address different forms of discrimination based on sex in the family and
the workplace and to combat them.