Blogging About Feminist lnterdisciplinarity in the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender

This article provides information about several blog posts discussed during a round-table discussion on feminist interdisciplinary studies in relation to communication, language, and gender. Topics under discussion include the nature of interdisciplinarity and its relevance to feminist studies, intercultural communication, and the study and teaching of gender in women\u27s studies programs in higher education

Gender role self-concept, categorical gender, and transactional-transformational leadership: implications for perceived workgroup performance

Prior research has shown that female managers are more likely to display transactional-transformational leadership, but they are less likely than their male colleagues to benefit from this in terms of leadership effectiveness. The aim of this study is to address this intriguing finding. Our expectations were that female managers need masculinity so that their leadership can display positive effects on perceived workgroup performance, whereas androgyny would be advantageous in male managers. We collected data from 67 workgroups, and asked managers to report on their gender role self-concept as well as workgroup performance, and 473 workgroup members to report on their manager's leadership style. Our analyses revealed that, expectedly, androgyny might be advantageous in male managers using contingent reward, intellectual stimulation, and charisma/inspiration. For female managers, however, a lack of gender-typical attributes might be disadvantageous, especially when using charisma/inspiration

College Women’s Feminist Identity: A Multidimensional Analysis with Implications for Coping with Sexism

This study examined components of women’s feminist identity and possible relations to their reported coping responses to sexism. A sample of 169 undergraduate women (M = 19.4 y, SD = 1.2) from diverse ethnic backgrounds completed surveys assessing their experiences and gender-related views. The first set of analyses revealed that women’s social gender identity, exposure to feminism, and gender-egalitarian attitudes independently contributed to feminist identification; moreover, non-stereotyping of feminists further predicted feminist self-identification. A second set of analyses tested the relative contribution of feminist identity components to women’s cognitive appraisals of coping responses to sexual harassment. Seeking social support was predicted by self-identification as a feminist (for White European American women only). Confronting was predicted by social gender identity, non-stereotyping of feminists, and public identification as a feminist. Findings highlight possible components of women’s feminist identity and their possible impact on coping responses to sexism