CALL FOR PAPERS
’24orMore’
International Conference on increasing female labour participation.
4-6 November 2009, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The Taskforce Part-Time Plus invites researchers and professionals with academic and/or practical knowledge and expertise in the field of increasing female labour participation to submit an abstract before June 15th, 2009.

Background Conference
This international conference will encourage the sharing of new approaches and instruments towards increasing female labour participation in research and practice. It is organised by a Taskforce aimed at increasing female labour participation, initiated in 2007 by the Dutch government and its social partners (employers’ associations and trade unions).

According to the recent MENA report ‘Shaping the future’ by the World Bank, national income growth and prosperity depend on the availability of a sufficiently large and skilled workforce that has the ability to adapt to the changing needs of society. Meanwhile, Europe and several other regions are facing a shrinking population and labour force. Assuming that participation levels remain unchanged, Central Asia, China, the East-Asian high-income countries, Europe and North America will collectively lose 216 million workers between now and 2050. The European Union alone stands to lose 66 million workers. The latter implies that there will be two retirees for every active person.
At the same time, the participation rate of women in the labour force is far below their potential when compared to their male counterparts. If we take the Netherlands as an example, we see that the majority of women is working part-time jobs of less than 24 hours. To compensate for this, innovative solutions, measures and instruments are required.


The majority of Dutch women are not financially independent and have reduced career prospects. To date, employers do not fully use innovative solutions and instruments to maximise the potential of women. This is regrettable, from an economic as well as from a social or personal perspective. Within this discussion the role of men is also relevant. For more information about the taskforce and the conference please send an e-mail to proposal@24ormore.org.

Suggested themes for papers (not exhaustive):
• Cultural environment as an impediment or enabler for increased female labour participation.
• The influence of multicultural society on female labour participation.
• Political, social and economic instruments available as an instrument for exploring additional labour; best practices and worse case scenarios.
• The effects of flexible working arrangements (e.g. compressed working weeks, individual work patterns, annualised hours) on labour participation.
• The role of ambition in labour participation; differences between male and female workers; the role of stereotypes.
• ‘Life course theory’ in relation to labour participation of men and women.
• The position of men in the discussion on female labour participation.
• Female labour participation from backyard to frontline; taking female talent to the max.
• The impact of economic, social, cultural or other factors on increasing women working hours.
• The role of different stakeholders e.g., employers and their policy, family and friends and the government.
• The influence of the quality, cost and the different forms of child care on labour participation.



Submission Guidelines
• Abstracts can be submitted by June 15th 2009 to: proposal@24ormore.org
• A cover sheet to the abstract should list the title and contact information.
• Reviewing process: blind and peer review.
• Notification of accepted abstracts: July 3rd, 2009.
• Full papers to be submitted by: October 1st, 2009.
• Authors are invited to submit substantial, original and unpublished research and best practices on any issue relevant to the subject.
• The abstract should be written in English and must be no longer than 2 pages (around 1500 words).
• Please forward your abstract in a word document in order to be reviewed.
• The methodology, method, perspective and academic field can be chosen freely.
• By submitting an abstract proposal, you automatically accept to write a full paper (max. 20 pages) based on your proposal.
• Selection criteria: papers will be chosen for each topic. Preference will be given to papers that include 1) substantial, original, and unpublished research and/or 2) provide demonstrative cases, best practices and success stories on increasing female labour force participation and/or that formulate practical policies and implementation measures for the public and private sectors. The focus of the conference will be on practical solutions that promise an early impact.
• The text must be in Times font, 12-point, with 1,5 line spacing.
• The proceedings of the conference will be posted on the website and will be published in a book.
• Presenters of accepted abstracts will receive a conference registration waiver for the entire conference.
• In addition, travel costs and hotel accommodation will be reimbursed for foreign guests presenting (subject to limited availability) for the duration of the conference.