Tackling the gender pay and employment gaps
In this special episode of Eurofound Talks for International Women's Day 2024, Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound researchers Carlos Vacas and Barbara Gerstenberger about the gender pay and employment gaps in Europe.
Despite gender equality being a core principle of the EU, women are less likely to be in employment than men in all EU Member States and are paid less than men in almost every Member State, with the pay gap larger in higher paying jobs. Mary, Carlos, and Barbara discuss what progress has been made on these issues in recent years, the broader consequences of gender inequalities in the world of work, and the challenges that must be addressed if Europe is to meet gender equality targets.
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Episode speakers
Mary McCaughey
Head of UnitMary McCaughey is Head of Information and Communication in Eurofound. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the College of Europe, Bruges, she started work in Brussels with Europolitics and the Wall Street Journal Europe. She worked with the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) in South Africa during the country’s transition to democracy, and in 1998 she took up the post of spokesperson with the Delegation of the European Union in Pretoria, heading up its press and information department during the negotiation of the EU–South Africa free trade agreement. Following the end of the Kosovo War, she worked as a communications consultant for the European Agency for Reconstruction in Serbia. She took up the post of Editor-in-Chief in Eurofound in 2003.
Barbara Gerstenberger
Head of UnitBarbara Gerstenberger is Head of the Working Life unit at Eurofound. In this role, she coordinates the research teams investigating job quality in Europe based on the European Working Conditions Survey and industrial relations in the EU. She joined Eurofound in 2001 as a research manager in the then newly established European Monitoring Centre on Change (EMCC). In 2007, she moved to Eurofound’s Information and Communication unit as Head of Communication Products, before being appointed Coordinator in the Directorate in 2011. Previously, she worked as senior research officer in the European Metalworkers’ Federation in Brussels. A graduate in political science from Hamburg University, she completed a Master's degree in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Carlos Vacas‑Soriano
Senior research managerCarlos Vacas Soriano is a senior research manager in the Employment unit at Eurofound. He works on topics related to wage and income inequalities, minimum wages, low pay, job quality, temporary employment and segmentation, and job quality. Prior to joining Eurofound in 2010, he worked as a macroeconomic analyst for the European Commission and as a researcher in European labour markets at the Spanish Central Bank. He holds an MA in European Economic Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges and a PhD in Labour Economics from the University of Salamanca (Doctor Europaeus).
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