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The content of the 847 papers presented by authors from Spanish universities at the six conferences of the Spanish Association for Communication Research (AE-IC) is analyzed. The six conferences were held in Santiago de Compostela (2008), Malaga (2010), Tarragona (2012), Bilbao (2014), Madrid (2016), and Salamanca (2018). The research variables of study are: author's profiles, geographic location, gender, home university, most commonly studied topics, and considered media. The results confirm that the gender divide no longer exist: in fact, there are more female than male authors. Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona exhibit the highest rates of participation, and Madrid and Catalonia are the most active regions, followed by Andalusia and Valencia. The topics treated are quite diverse, with the study of media content standing out, mainly those focused on political communication. Other common topics are the impact of the digital age, and audiovisual media structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication studies in Spain have now become consolidated based on their evolution over the last 50 years. The aim of this paper is to provide an in-depth analysis of the current state of Spanish higher education in Communication. To this end, an analysis is carried out of the structure and composition of the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees (master and PhD studies) in Communication at public and private universities in Spain, paying special attention to the centers that host these studies, the people who contribute to their operation, and their offerings and distribution. Using a descriptive methodology and the content analysis technique, an analysis form is applied to the universities composing the system of Communication studies in Spain, based on their offerings and the information available and accessible on their institutional websites. The results reveal the difficulty of accessing such data and the lack of common criteria (or compliance) for presenting such information on official websites. The results reveal a greater offering at the national level but a wide dispersion of the higher education offering in terms of type, location, type of university, and territorial distribution. We also highlight the gender gap in terms of faculty leadership as well as among teaching staff. We emphasize the phenomenon of double or combined degrees, especially at private universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines databases of female experts as tools to promote gender parity in the sources consulted and cited by journalists. To do this, we conducted a search of databases available online (n = 88) and carried out in-depth interviews with people in charge of these databases (n = 4) as well as a survey among female scientific researchers included in the database of the Association of Women Researchers and Technologists of Spain (AMIT) (n = 919). The main results reflect the great potential of these tools but indicate that, to be effective, they require fluid communication with the media and a design that allows their incorporation into the regular routines of journalists. In Spain, their impact is still low and, as in the rest of the world, there is great fragmentation of resources accompanied by very weak interaction among the different initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doctoral dissertations enable the transfer of research skills and capacities to future generations and the consolidation of lines of research in a given area of knowledge. The field of Library and Information Science in public universities in Spain is characterized by the supervision of doctoral theses by academics in the area. We identified active professors during the 2019-2020 academic year, their date of appointment as civil servants within the public university system, the dissertations that they supervised, and their participation in papers published in scientific journals. The analysis included 644 theses. About a quarter (23%) of university faculty have never supervised a doctoral thesis, and most faculty members and tenured professors (60%) show a lower than average rate of adviserships per year since their academic appointment. There is a high concentration of PhD advisers in just a few institutions and academics (8% of university professors have supervised 42% of the dissertations), with an important gender imbalance: women supervised an average of 1.8 dissertations, compared with 2.6 for men. Information units and services, study metrics and scientific publications, and information sources are the topics of 47% of the dissertations. Many of the professors with 10 or more adviserships (n/N = 12/18) lack a subject area specialization, and their role in PhD supervision was not related to their participation in research activities oriented toward publishing in scientific journals. Our results suggest that considering supervision of doctoral theses as an important academic merit could contribute to a further concentration of power and social capital among a small group of advisers. This phenomenon could reduce the plurality of topics addressed and favor suboptimal adviserships. The imbalances described emerge as another threat, exacerbating the epistemological crisis in the discipline and in the university studies in this area of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines databases of female experts as tools to promote gender parity in the sources consulted and cited by journalists. To do this, we conducted a search of databases available online (n = 88) and carried out in-depth interviews with people in charge of these databases (n = 4) as well as a survey among female scientific researchers included in the database of the Association of Women Researchers and Technologists of Spain (AMIT) (n = 919). The main results reflect the great potential of these tools but indicate that, to be effective, they require fluid communication with the media and a design that allows their incorporation into the regular routines of journalists. In Spain, their impact is still low and, as in the rest of the world, there is great fragmentation of resources accompanied by very weak interaction among the different initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses, from the perspective of public economics, the Demographic Supplement for Motherhood (CDM) introduced in the Spanish Social Security System in 2016. This measure is a supplement added to the contributory pension received on retirement, widowhood or disability for women who began to receive a pension and who have had two or more children. It was introduced with two objectives in mind: to reduce the gender gap in pensions and to socially recognise the contribution of motherhood to the pension system. In this paper, a socioeconomic analysis of this measure is carried out. The objectives and issues of this measure are reviewed and its distributional effects are analysed. The main source of information are data provided by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, in particular the Continuous Sample of Working History (MCVL). This is a new approach, with the focus being on public economics rather than on legal aspects and use of the MCVL data which, for the first time, includes measurements related to the CDM. The main objectives of this study are: 1) to estimate the impact that the CDM has had on the pension system during the first year of application; 2) to analyse the differences in treatment it generates; and, 3) to assess its distributional effects on the gender gap in pensions and on inequality among women. The study finishes with an analysis of other equality policies and puts forward the main conclusions reached and proposals for alternative measures. The results show that the CDM has affected 58.4% of new female pensioners. The women who have benefitted most from this measure are those who receive a widow's pension (50.9%), followed by retirement pension (39.8%) and disability pension (9.2%). Their sociodemographic characteristics show that 53.4% of the supplement is paid to mothers with 2 children, while women not receiving CDM tend to have higher educational levels than those who are in receipt of the supplement. It also shows that self-employed workers tend to have more than one child and, therefore, receive the CDM in a greater proportion (62.5%) than employed workers (57.5%). The estimated cost of this measure amounted to 64 million euros in 2016 (approximately 0.05% of the expenditure on contributory pensions), a figure that will increase considerably as the supplement is extended to future female pensioners. Among the main criticisms highlighted by this study is the difference in treatment this measure generates. It purports to be a measure which acknowledges the value of motherhood yet it discriminates against many mothers by excluding women who were pensioners before 2016 and who are the most affected, historically, by more unfavourable family and work structures. In addition, other categories excluded are mothers with only one child, women who took voluntary retirement, women who receive non-contributory pensions and women who do not receive any pension. Finally, the measure works against the principle of equality between men and women, promulgated by the European Union, because it discriminates against fathers. Another criticism is that the amount of the CDM increases as the pension rises and continues to be paid even when the maximum pension is reached. This means that those women with higher pensions benefit more from the supplement, which is contrary to measures applied in other countries. One suggestion to improve the equality of this measure is that the supplement should have an upper limit. Furthermore, its effect on reducing inequality has been insignificant. As a measure of equality between men and women, the CDM has reduced the gender gap between new pensioners (2.2%) but its effect on the whole system is very poor (0.22%). The pension gap between men and women in Spain is still very wide at a rate of 29.3% and much more work needs to be done to reduce this gap. Finally, a pension system that gives women greater rights for raising children can reinforce traditional roles, discouraging mothers from entering the formal labour market and fathers from taking a break from their professional careers. This is why these measures are being questioned by the Court of Justice of the European Union in terms of equal treatment between mothers and fathers. The CDM does not address the causes of the problem of gender discrimination. It does not address discrimination in employment nor does it offer the support required in the workplace for reconciling maternity and paternity leave. It is ineffective as a stimulus to change labour behaviour of women because its effect is in the long term and it is an outdated measure that can be counterproductive. In light of these problems, the priority for the government would be to establish authentic equality policies which create opportunities for both men and women to develop their full potential. 1) labour market policies that eliminate gender differences (access to employment, wages and job promotion at work), improving the flexibility and the rationale of the working day, and 2) reconciliation policies related to family and work life, aimed at all workers, that recognise fathers and mothers as having co-responsibility for childcare. The following measures are proposed to reduce the gender gap in pensions: a) Replace the current CDM with an additional contribution period per child or a fixed amount supplement, in recognition of the period of time dedicated to bringing up children. If contribution years were added for accessing the pension, the number of women with contributory pensions would increase. To avoid the same negative aspects already highlighted, it should be implemented in a way that covers all kind of pensions and gives greater support to mothers of children with disabilities. b) Improve non-contributory (universal) pensions, which are those of lesser value. This measure would increase the number of women with pensions in their own right, thereby reducing the coverage gap and the pension gap of the total population (including non-pensioners). This extension is vital to stop the pension system being a welfare system (low coverage) and being outdated and out of touch (excessively linked to family relationships). Our further studies will be centred on these proposals with data provided by the MCVL in future years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The personal experience of crossing a border differs according to gender. Specifically, the selectivity of immigration controls means that deportation affects many more men than women. Based on the analysis of official data on the detention of people in irregular situations, detention in migrant detention centres (CIE in its Spanish acronym) and repatriations, disaggregated by sex, this paper provides some theoretical reflections on why a gender gap exists in the deportation apparatus in Spain. Taking up the feminist criminology research agenda's challenge, it seeks to contribute to the development of "criminology of mobility" with an analysis of migration control in Spain from a gender perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gender issue has increased its relevance in recent decades, but there is a lack of studies that deal with the question of gender in the territorial scope, and even in the current time context in which unemployment is being affected by a deep economic crisis. Facing this challenge, this paper studies the characteristics and evolution of unemployment by gender in the Community of Madrid (Spain) in the period 2008-2014. The article is divided into two parts. In the first one, the evolution and the characterization of unemployment by gender are studied in relation to different sociodemographic variables. In the second part, a territorial perspective is adopted in order to show the deep spatial differences at the municipal level within the Madrid region, both in the evolution of unemployment by gender and the existing gap and in the unemployment situation during the current crisis. Finally, techniques of spatial statistical analysis are applied to detect spatial structures comparing feminine and masculine unemployment. The results confirm that, despite the fact that the gender gap in unemployment has decreased, there are still large spatial differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]