Dr. Áine Ní Léime is Deputy Director of the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology. She has a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from the University of Dublin, Trinity College. She is currently P.I.  for a Science Foundation Ireland Public Service Fellowship running from 2020-2022 on the topic: Costs of Discrimination in the Workplace and Benefits of Diversity. And recently was P.I. for the Irish strand of an EU (NORFACE) funded cross-national project, Dynamics of Accumulated Inequalities for Seniors in Employment (DAISIE) running from 2018-2022 involving colleagues from the Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. While her recent research focuses on gender, employment, pensions and older workers, she has research expertise in creativity and ageing, leisure, volunteering and ageing.

She completed a Marie Sklodowska Curie International Outgoing  Fellowship (2015 – 2018) spending two years in Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (mentor Professor Dale Dannefer) and a final year at NUI Galway. She was PI of this EU-funded cross-national study entitled Gender, Older Workers and the Lifecourse (GENDOWL) – a comparative, qualitative study on gender and extended working life using an innovative life-course approach. She was Chairperson of COST Action IS1409 a research network: Gender, Health and the impact of Extended Working Life Policies in Western Countries for which she was the main proposer. The COST Action ran from April 2015 to April, 2019.

She teaches on the M Sc. in Ageing and Public policy and is module leader for  the module Work, Pensions and Retirement.

Projects:

Project: Costs of Discrimination and the Benefits of Diversity for Businesses in Ireland

Funded by Science Foundation Ireland and hosted by the Department of Children Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth DCEDIY (2021- 2023)

This project was conducted in the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, ILAS Institute in association with Dr Nata Duvvury, Gender and Public Policy Cluster, Whitaker Institute.

This research seeks to:

Ø Investigate the costs of wage discrimination in Ireland

Ø Investigate the rationale for and benefits of and challenges associated with implementing diversity policies for businesses in Ireland

Ø Provide policy recommendations to help promote diversity in the workplace.

Ø Produce a Diversity Index that may be used to assess the level of diversity practices by Irish businesses.

The methodology involves

1. conducting decomposition analysis on wage differentials to assess the costs of wage differentials.

2. Conducting a scoping review, interviews and a pilot survey of Irish businesses engaged in relation to their diversity policies and practice

The rationale for conducting this project is as follows

• People with disabilities and some groups of migrants have lower wages and are less likely to be employed than the general population generating loss to the economy

• There is a lack of research into the diversity policies and practices of Irish businesses and a need to establish baseline data.

• Diversity policy and practice for disability and migrant status is at an early stage for Irish business

• The research findings will help inform public policy in promoting decent sustainable work and reducing inequality.

The report will be published and launched in early 2024.