Politics & Gender, Diversity & Equality

The first Gender Chair in Salzburg

The professorship in Politics & Gender, Diversity & Equality was established in March 2020 – as the first professorship of Gender Studies at the PLUS and the Land Salzburg. Internationally, this Gender Chair is unique in its explicit intersectional focus, its methodological pluralism (and esp. its emphasis on quantitative methods), its strong international orientation and the transdisciplinary approach to teaching and research. As the only professorship enshrined in our university’s constitution, its significance is described in the university’s development plan and highlighted in the context of its cooperation with the state and city of Salzburg. The newly established chair represents and promotes Gender Studies (Research & Teaching) at the PLUS.

You can find the link to the inaugural lecture here: https://unitv.org/beitrag.asp?ID=1203&apv=3

Research & Teaching Focus

The research and teaching in this field of political science examine the causes and consequences of inequalities in politics, for instance, the causes and effects of persisting political gender stereotypes.

Projects

Courses currently offered by the chair include

Lectures:

Gender and Power: Introduction to Gender Studies I (Lefkofridi, Z.)
Gender, Diversity & Equality (Link to UniTV) (Lefkofridi, Z.)
Freedom of speech in academic contexts

Seminars:

Einführung in die Geschlechterforschung: Geschlecht & Macht II (Zwiener-Collins, N.)
EU gender mainstreaming and gender equality lab: qualitative and quantitave approaches (Ceron, M.)
Gendering EU Crisis Management and Policymaking (Ceron M./ Gianna E.)
The Inner Work of Social Justice (Ein 12-Wochen Mindfulness-Based-Student Training (MBST) (Ramstetter, L.)
“Pathways to Gender Equality: Empowerment Through Theatre” (Erasmus Blended Intensive Programme-BIP) (Lefkofridi, Z.)
Dissertantinnenseminar – Gender, Diversity, and Equality (Lefkofridi, Z.)
EX Applied Methods: Qualitative Coding Lab (Lefkofridi, Z./ Beloshitzkaya, V.)
Gendered Body Politics Doctoral Research Lab (Beloshitzkaya V. / Ramstetter L./ Ceron, M.)
Gender and Politics PhD-Research Seminar (Lefkofridi, Z./ Beloshitzkaya, V./ Ceron, M./ Ramstetter, L.)
PF Gender, Diversity and Equality (Lefkofridi, Z.)
Gender equality policies and gender mainstreaming in the EU (Ceron, M.)
Methods of textual data collection and analysis (Beloshitzkaya, V./ Koxha, K./ Zwittlinger L.)
Foundations of Equality & Diversity: A 12-week Mindfulness-Based Student Training (MBST) (Ramstetter, L.)
Gender, Society and Politics (Lefkofridi, Z.)
Unequal Political Participation (Lefkofridi, Z.)
Gender(ed) Statistics (Zwiener-Collins, N.)

Colloquia:

Gender Debates in Austrian Politics (Gianna, E.)
Gender Perspectives on Austrian Politics (Gianna, E.)
Gender, Diversity & Inclusion in Salzburg (Lefkofridi, Z.)
Elections in the EU: Europe, Diversity & Gender Equality (Lefkofridi, Z.)

Third mission:

Based in the Department of Political Science, the chair actively promotes synergies within PLUS and in collaboration with other institutions in Salzburg, including the Institute for Diversity Morzateum and Südwind Salzburg. Projects developed as a result of these collaborations include:

Gender Lecture and Performance Series

Staff

LEFKOFRIDI Zoe, Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. MA MAIS
ZWIENER-COLLINS Nadine, MSc Ph.D. – Postdoc
BELOSHITZKAYA Vera, Ph.D. – Postdoctoral Researcher (Horizon Europe)
CERON, Matilde, Dr. – Postdoctoral Researcher (Horizon Europe)
GIANNA, Ermela, MA – Project Assistant (Horizon Europe)
KLEINLERCHER, Elisabeth, Mag. MSc. – Project Communication Officer (Horizon Europe)
SOKIC Nikolina, Mag. – GDE Administrator
KULTERER, Laura – Student Assistant
LOTTER, Larissa – Research Assistant (Horizon Europe)
GYORNI, Julia – Research Assistant (Horizon Europe)

PhDs & Projects

Klaudia Koxha (Z. Lefkofridi): „Populism and European Integration in Western Balkans“
Mariia Teplikakova (N. Zwiener-Collins): „Anti-Gender Backlash as a Challenge to Further European Integration“

Formerly associated:

Johannes Karremans, PhD
Anja Ratzenböck, BA
Carsten Wegscheider, MA PhD
Mirella Werthmann, BA
Lara Zwittlinger, B.A. B.A.
Antonia Heil, B.A.
Leo Neuwirth, Research Assistant (Horizon Europe)
Anna Pasetti – Research Assistant (Horizon Europe)
Lena Ramstetter, Dr. – Senior Scientist (Land Salzburg)

Recent Publications

2025

Lefkofridi, Z., Wegscheider C., Zwiener-Collins, N. (2025): Gendered dynamics in representation: Examining candidates’ policy congruence with parties and voters. In Party Politics. Link: https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688251332188.
Nezi, R. and Lefkofridi, Z. (2025) Back to the Future: New Democracy’s Dominance and the Left’s Fragmentation in the June 2023 Greek Parliamentary Election. South European Society and Politics.
Nezi, R. and Lefkofridi, Z. (2025) Still Second-Order in 2024? National, Nationalist & Personalised Issues in the Greek EP election. Politique européenne.
Jansesberger, V. and Lefkofridi, Z. (2025) Gender, Politics & the Market. European Journal of Gender & Politics. LINK TO ONLINE Appendix.

2024

Lefkofridi, Z. Systeme, Geschlechterrollen und ihre Konsequenzen: das (un)politische Wesen.Fachzeitschrift Systeme 38 (1): 3-8.
Lefkofridi, Z. Systeme, Geschlechterrollen und ihre Konsequenzen: das (un)politische Wesen. Fachzeitschrift Systeme 38 (1): 3-8.
Ceron, M., Christiansen, T. & D. Dimitrakopoulos (eds.)(2024). The Politicization of the European Commission’s Presidency. Spitzenkandidaten and Beyond. Palgrave. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-48173- 4
Bressanelli, E., M. Ceron & T. Christiansen (2024). Much Ado About Nothing? Assessing the Im- pact of the Spitzenkandidaten Process on EU Policy-making. In The Politicization of the European Commission’s Presidency. Spitzenkandidaten and Beyond DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-48173-4
Ceron, M. (2024). EU economic governance as a supranational determinant of health inequalities in the Eurozone. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 49(5). DOI:10.1215/03616878-11257048.
Zwittlinger, L., Zwiener-Collins, N., Lefkofridi, Z. Kognitive Dissonanz aufgrund gelebter Realitäten? Die Auswirkungen von Covid-19 Lockdownpolitik auf Österreichs Geschlechterrollenbilder [Cognitive dissonance due to lived realities? The impact of Covid-19 lockdown policies on Austria’s gender role attitudes]. In: Aschauer, W., Eder, A. & Prandner, D. (eds.) Die Auswirkungen der Corona-Pandemie auf die österreichische Gesellschaft. Ergebnisse der Längsschnittstudie „Werte in der Krise“ 2020-2022. Baden-Baden: Nomos. [ISBN]: 978-3-7560-0639-7.

2023

Ceron, M. (2023). The National Recovery and Resilience Plans: towards a next generation of fiscal coordination? Politics and Governance, 11(4). DOI:10. 10.17645/pag.v11i4.7359.
Zwiener-Collins, N. and Lefkofridi, Z. (2023). Unequal political participation: Do gender roles matter? In: Grand, P., Fink M.& Tiemann, G. (eds.) 20 Jahre Österreich im European Social Survey: Gesellschaftliche Einstellungen, Präferenzen und Bewertungen. Wien, Köln: Böhlau, 95–125. (Open Access)
Beloshitzkaya, Vera / Kathleen P. Reilly (2023). Do communist gender regimes have a lasting effect on contemporary gender role attitudes in the post-communist region?, in: European Journal of Politics and Gender (published online ahead of print 2023). https://doi.org/10.1332/251510821X16742247424552.
Dingler, Sarah / Lena Ramstetter (2023). When does she rebel? How gender affects deviating legislative behaviour, in: Government and Opposition, 58 (3), 437-455. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2021.40.
Fridkin, L., Fonts, N. B., Quy, K., & Zwiener‐Collins, N. (2023). Understanding effects of COVID‐19 on undergraduate academic stress, motivation and coping over time. Higher Education Quarterly. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/hequ.12425 (OA).
Ramstetter, Lena / Silke Rupprecht / Luis Mundaca / Walter Osika / Cecilia U.D. Stenfors / Johannes Klackl / Christine Wamsler (2023). Fostering collective climate action and leadership: Insights from a pilot experiment with a behavioral intervention involving mindfulness and compassion, in: iScience, 106191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106191.
Rump, M. & Zwiener-Collins, N. (2023). Welche nicht-intendierten Folgen hat Protestverhalten? Eine Panelanalyse zum Zusammenhang von Anti-Corona-Protesten und Demokratiezufriedenheit in Österreich. Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft (forthcoming).
Ulmke, Naara / Johannes Klackl / Jochim Hansen / Pascal Lemke / Lucas Hagedorn / Tom Rosenzweig / Lena Ramstetter / Tilmann Hüppauf / Eva Jonas (2023). Political Value-Congruent Climate Change Communication: An Efficacy Study from Germany and Austria, in: PsyEcology, 14(2), 183–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/21711976.2023.2204728.

2022

Saini, R., Jafri, J., Zwiener-Collins, N. & Poulter, T. Decolonising quantitative methods teaching in UK Sociology, in: A. Meghji, S. Papadakis, & M. Tinsley (eds.): Rethinking British Sociology: Postcolonial and Decolonial Transformations. [In press].
Lefkofridi, Zoe / Atusa Stadler / Nadine Zwiener-Collins (2022). Geschlecht und Demokratie in Österreich, in: Christoph Kühberger / Reinhard Heinisch / Reinhard Klaushofer / Margit Reiter (Hg.): Demokratie nach 1945: Perspektiven auf Geschichte, Politik und Recht in Österreich, Wien/Köln: Böhlau, 233–251.
Zwiener-Collins, Nadine / Zoe Lefkofridi / Anja Ratzenböck, A. (2022). Gender equality: Why is it important and what can we do to achieve it?, in: Quarterly Bulletin of the NGO Committee on the Family, June 2022, No. 122.

2021

Chesta, Riccardo E. / Zoe Lefkofridi (2021). Symbolic Gesture In Political Protest, in: Florian Bettel, Irina Kaldrack, Konrad Strutz (eds.): Throwing Gestures: Protest, Economy and the Imperceptible, Wien: Verlag für Moderne Kunst, 161-182.
Dingler, Sarah / Zoe Lefkofridi (2021). The Gender Dimension of Populism, in: Reinhard / Christina Holtz-Bacha / Oscar Mazzoleni (eds.): Political Populism: Handbook of Concepts, Questions and Strategies of Research, Baden Baden: Nomos, 345-360.
Jansesberger, Viktoria / Zoe Lefkofridi / Armin Mühlböck (2021). Electoral Support for FPÖ in Regional and National Arenas: Different Levels of Government, Same Causality?, in: Regional & Federal Studies, 31(3), 337-358. https://doi.org/10.1080/13597566.2021.1928087.
Lefkofridi, Zoe / Suanne Rhein (2021). Inclusive Solidarity? The Social Democratic Dilemma Between EU Rules and Supporters’ Preferences, in: Markus M. L. Crepaz (eds.): The Handbook on Migration and Welfare, Cheltenham and Camberley: Edward Elgar (in print).
Rump, Maike / Nadine Zwiener-Collins (2021). What determines political trust during the COVID-19 crisis? The role of sociotropic and egotropic crisis impact, in: Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 31(1), 259-271. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2021.1924733.
Zwiener-Collins, Nadine / Juvaria Jafri / Rima Saini / Tabitha Poulter (2021). Decolonising quantitative research methods pedagogy: Teaching contemporary politics to challenge hierarchies from data, in: Politics, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211041449.

2020

Karremans, Jan / Zoe Lefkofridi (2020). The Political Economy of the European Union: The Tension between National and Supranational Politics, in: Ernesto Vivares (eds.): The Routledge Handbook to Global Political Economy: Conversations and Inquiries, London: Routledge, 472-487.
Karremans, Jan / Zoe Lefkofridi (Hg.) (2020). Responsive vs. Responsible? Party Democracy in Times of Crisis, in: Party Politics, 26(3), 271-279. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068818761199.
Katsanidou, Alexia / Zoe Lefkofridi (2020). A Decade of Crisis in the European Union: Lessons from Greece, in: Journal of Common Market Studies, 58(1), 160-172. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13070.
Lefkofridi, Zoe (2020). Competition in the European Arena: How the Rules of the Game Help Nationalists Gain, in: Politics and Governance, 8(1), 41-49. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v8i1.2517.
Lefkofridi, Zoe (2020). Opinion-Policy Congruence, in: Jacques Thomassen / Robert J. Rohrschneider (eds.): Handbook of Political Representation in Liberal Democracies, Oxford, 358-377.
Lefkofridi, Zoe (2020). Will the EU Survive or Disintegrate?, in: Markus Pausch (eds.): Perspectives for Europe: Historical Concepts and Future Challenges, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 95-118.
Lefkofridi, Zoe / Nathalie Giger (2020). Democracy or Oligarchy? Unequal Representation of Income Groups in European Institutions, in: Politics and Governance, 8(1), 19-27. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v8i1.2526.
Lefkofridi, Zoe / Philippe C. Schmitter (2020). Neofunctionalism in the Decade of Crises, in: Nathalie Brack / Seda Gürkan (eds.): Theorizing Crises of the European Union, London: Routledge.