The gathering, coordinated by Kevin Munger, Assistant Professor at EUI, connected junior and senior scholars from across the CIVICA alliance to investigate how gendered identities, political beliefs and online cultures increasingly intersect and drift apart. Through comparative analysis, data-driven discussion and multidisciplinary exchange, this event exemplified how CIVICA supports impactful research collaboration across European universities.

Key Insights from Kevin Munger, Chair of Computational Social Science at EUI

'Youth gender attitudes are drifting apart, especially among the youngest cohorts—a pattern our workshop traced to both long-run shifts in gender relations and the distinct socialization environments of today’s internet. We discussed how progress since the 1960s often “stops at the door of the home”: egalitarian ideals rose, but breadwinning norms and the invisibility of care work persist, creating friction as young people form identities, date, and plan families. This misalignment is sharpened by declining material conditions for some young men, which can fuel zero-sum framings of gender relations. 

Online dynamics matter. Gendered subcultures—think Tumblr and 4chan—helped incubate influential “e-deologies,” while the mobile, image/video-first internet and dating apps quantify and amplify appearance-based and status cues, reshaping expectations and experiences. Meanwhile, new research shows fragmentation is deeper than legacy measures suggest: URL-level analyses (not just domains) reveal sharper polarization, with fringe platforms and a small set of political entrepreneurs playing outsize roles. These dynamics blur national boundaries and are hard to study because algorithms personalize exposure and effects. 

This matters now because students and educators are navigating highly mediated peer worlds where identity, status, and politics intermix. Meanwhile, policymakers confront downstream consequences for participation, partnership, and likely fertility. CIVICA’s collaborative model is crucial here: combining comparative perspectives, better measurement of the “tails,” and cross-disciplinary theory helps us move beyond U.S.-centric anecdotes toward testable, policy-relevant accounts of how youth gender polarization emerges—and where interventions might work.'

Why This Matters – and Why CIVICA Is the Place for It

Events like this show how CIVICA provides a space for meaningful academic exchange and joint inquiry into today’s most pressing social challenges. Through the alliance, CIVICA:

  • Brings researchers together across disciplines and institutions to share perspectives and methods.
  • Encourages comparative and cross-country research that deepens understanding of complex issues.
  • Creates opportunities for emerging scholars to engage with and contribute to wider academic debates.

As digital transformation accelerates and public discourse becomes increasingly divided, collaborations of this kind are vital. CIVICA Thematic Activities enable researchers to address urgent questions with fresh evidence and shared insight, helping ensure that academic research informs public understanding and policymaking across Europe.

More information about the current call for thematic activities can be found here.