Pitt GSPIA Professor to Receive Award for Article on Relationship Between Women’s Empowerment, Volunteerism, and Nonprofit Sector

PITTSBURGH—Nuno Themudo, University of Pittsburgh assistant professor of international affairs, will receive the 2010 Best Article on Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Research award for his article “Gender and the Nonprofit Sector.” Themudo’s research showed that there is a strong relationship between women’s empowerment, volunteerism, and the nonprofit sector worldwide. 

Themudo, a faculty member within Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, will receive the award from the Association of Researchers on Nonprofit Organization and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) at its conference in Washington, D.C., Nov. 17-20. ARNOVA is the largest association of scholars interested in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. 

Themudo’s paper examines whether women’s inclination towards altruistic behavior and participation in the nonprofit sector translates into stronger nonprofit sectors in countries with higher women’s empowerment—defined as women’s relative control over resources and participation in political and economic forums. 

The paper, which originally appeared in the August 2009 Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, uses cross-national data to examine relationships between women’s empowerment, volunteerism, and the nonprofit sector. The two relevant datasets that were analyzed within the article are the World Values Survey, a massive transnational survey of social and political values and behavior, and the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, a cross-country mapping of national statistics on the nonprofit sector. Themudo suggests that the nonprofit sector has largely failed to acknowledge the influence of women and that there is a need for a gender theory that offers new insights into the nonprofit sector. Despite being the majority of workers in the U.S. nonprofit sector, women are still much less likely than men to occupy its leadership positions 

According to the paper, women’s empowerment could be strengthened by policy makers intensifying their efforts to promote women’s empowerment—increasing not only equity but also strengthening the nonprofit sector. Contact Amanda Leff Ritchie for a full PDF of the article. 

###

11/15/10/tmw/lks/jdh