The doctoral dissertation in the field of Social and Public Policy will be examined at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies at Kuopio Campus and online.
What is the topic of your doctoral research? Why is it important to study the topic?
My doctoral dissertation examines why inclusion gaps persist in European gendered welfare societies despite long-standing commitments to equality and social inclusion. I study how family arrangements, labor markets, and state support systems are associated with the gender pay gap, child poverty, the allocation of social protection expenditure, and immigrant women’s entrepreneurship. The topic is important because European welfare states are strongly committed to equality and inclusion, yet inequalities in pay, poverty, care responsibilities, and economic participation remain persistent. The starting point of the dissertation is that these gaps cannot be understood through one policy measure or one institution alone. Rather, they emerge through the interaction between families, labor markets, and public support.
What are the key findings or observations of your doctoral research?
The key finding of the dissertation is that inclusion gaps are system-level phenomena. They do not arise from a single policy, institution, or life situation, but from how care, labor markets, and public support are organized in society. The results show that women’s labor-market participation, the amount of public support, or formal equality goals do not alone guarantee equal inclusion. Growth in women’s employment may coexist with persistent gender pay gaps, child poverty is connected to broader labor-market and educational structures, and the effects of social protection depend on what kinds of support the system prioritizes. The dissertation also shows that women’s political and economic empowerment is associated with the strengthening of the welfare state’s social safety net. However, these effects are not straightforward or the same across all policy areas. Overall, the findings show that more support does not always mean more inclusion. What matters is also how support is organized, what kinds of care and labor-market incentives it creates, and how it responds to the life situations of different groups. More equal welfare societies therefore require better-aligned policy mixes in which care, work, and public support reinforce one another.
How can the results of your doctoral research be utilised in practice?
The results can be used in the development of family, labor-market, gender-equality policies. The key message is that these policy and practice areas should not be designed separately from one another. Childcare, pay equality, employment, social protection, poverty reduction, and the integration of immigrant women are interconnected. Strengthening inclusion does not require only more public support. It also requires better-aligned welfare mixes that enable care, support labor-market participation, and recognize the different starting points of different groups.
What are the key research methods and materials used in your doctoral research?
The dissertation consists of four quantitative sub-studies based on harmonized Eurostat country-year panel data. Depending on the sub-study, the data cover 24 to 27 EU countries from approximately 2006 to 2023. The dissertation uses panel regression models, interaction analyses, and tests for nonlinearity. The results describe macro-level associations, not individual-level causal relationships. However, they help identify the institutional conditions under which inclusion gaps emerge, are mitigated, or change form.
The doctoral dissertation of Ning Zhu, M.Soc.Sc., entitled Inclusion Gaps across European Gendered Welfare Societies: Family, Labor Market, and State Perspectives will be examined at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies at the Kuopio Campus and online. The opponent will be Associate Professor Mia Tammelin, Tampere University, and the custos will be Professor Mikko Jakonen, University of Eastern Finland. Language of the public defence is English.
For further information, please contact:
Ning Zhu, Doctoral Researcher, [email protected]