A teacher like me: the role of teacher gender representation and gender stereotypes in education

Previous research showed that students can perform better with teachers of the same gender. It is often suggested that effects of student-teacher gender congruence on students’ performance can be explained through the role of gender stereotypes. However, empirical tests of these mechanisms are rare and solely situated in the ‘females in math’ context. As a result, still little is known about where, when and how effects of student-teacher gender congruence occur. In response, the main aim of this dissertation was to receive a better understanding of the role of students’ and teachers’ gender and gender stereotypes in student performance in secondary education in The Netherlands. This dissertation shows that student and teacher gender are related to student performance and that gender stereotypes are an important part of the puzzle that explains the role of gender in secondary education. However, context matters: student and teacher gender do not always relate to student performance and when they do the magnitude and direction of the associations can vary in different contexts.Global Challenges (FGGA

The individual level effect of symbolic representation: An experimental study on teacher-student gender congruence and students’ perceived abilities in math

Studies on representative bureaucracy have often confirmed the positive performance effects of bureaucracies mirroring the demographic characteristics of their clientele. However, little is known about the underlying individual level mechanisms leading to these outcomes. In this study, theoretical ideas from representative bureaucracy literature and social and educational psychology are combined in a new model that explains effects of passive representation from the perspective of the individual client in the educational field. It is hypothesized that positive effects of gender congruence on students’ academic self-concepts are mediated by gender stereotypical beliefs of students. This mediation is expected to be moderated by the self-confidence of the teacher. Results of a survey experiment among students in a Dutch high school do not support the hypothesized relationships. The study does reveal gender differences in stereotypical beliefs and academic self-concepts though. Furthermore, the academic self-concept for math of both male and female students is higher if the math teacher is a woman. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings and avenues for future research on the role of stereotypical beliefs in the association between gender representation and student performance.The politics and administration of institutional chang

Nitrides as ammonia synthesis catalysts and as potential nitrogen transfer reagents

In this article, an overview of the application of selected metal nitrides as ammonia synthesis catalysts is presented. The potential development of some systems into nitrogen transfer reagents is also described

Climate change adaptation in practice: People's responses to tidal flooding in Semarang, Indonesia

In many places in the world the effects of common floods are increased by climate change. In the area around the Indonesian city of Semarang, the number and effects of tidal flooding are becoming more and more severe. We found that the inhabitants used different strategies against the impact of flooding. In both the existing and the predicted flood prone areas, most people appear not to intend to leave the area, even when the floods become everyday routine. People are connected to their dwellings in a way that abandoning is not a realistic scenario. This study provides relevant information about the way people in the affected areas perceive flood risks and adaptation opportunities. Governmental policy-makers and urban planners could base their strategies and actions on this information. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Flood Risk Managemen

The integration of experiment and computational modelling in heterogeneously catalysed ammonia synthesis over metal nitrides

In this perspective we present recent experimental and computational progress in catalytic ammonia synthesis research on metal nitrides involving a combined approach. On this basis, it suggested that the consideration of nitrogen vacancies in the synthesis of ammonia can offer new low energy pathways that were previously unknown. We have shown that metal nitrides that are also known to have high activity for ammonia synthesis can readily form nitrogen vacancies on their surfaces. These vacancies adsorb dinitrogen much more strongly than the defect-free surfaces and can efficiently activate the strong N–N triple bond. These fundamental studies suggest that heterogeneously catalysed ammonia synthesis over metal nitrides is strongly affected by bulk and surface defects and that further progress in the discovery of low temperature catalysts relies on more careful consideration of nitrogen vacancies. The potential occurrence of an associative pathway in the case of the Co3Mo3N catalytic system provides a possible link with enzymatic catalysis, which will be of importance in the design of heterogeneous catalytic systems operational under process conditions of reduced severity which are necessary for the development of localised facilities for the production of more sustainable “green” ammonia

Flood Risk Assessment for Urban Drainage System in a Changing Climate Using Artificial Neural Network

Changes in rainfall patterns due to climate change are expected to have negative impact on urban drainage systems, causing increase in flow volumes entering the system. In this paper, two emission scenarios for greenhouse concentration have been used, the high (A1FI) and the low (B1). Each scenario was selected for purpose of assessing the impacts on the drainage system. An artificial neural network downscaling technique was used to obtain local-scale future rainfall from three coarse-scale GCMs. An impact assessment was then carried out using the projected local rainfall and a risk assessment methodology to understand and quantify the potential hazard from surface flooding. The case study is a selected urban drainage catchment in northwestern England. The results show that there will be potential increase in the spilling volume from manholes and surcharge in sewers, which would cause a significant number of properties to be affected by flooding

Effects of two contrasting canopy manipulations on growth and water use of London plane (Platanus x acerifolia) trees

Aims: Two contrasting canopy manipulations were compared to unpruned controls on London plane trees, to determine the effects on canopy regrowth, soil and leaf water relations. Methods: ‘Canopy reduction’, was achieved by removing the outer 30 % length of all major branches and ‘canopy thinning’, by removing 30 % of lateral branches arising from major branches. Results: Total canopy leaf areas recovered within two and three years of pruning for the canopy-thinned and reduced trees respectively. Canopy reduction increased mean leaf size, nitrogen concentration, canopy leaf area density and conserved soil moisture for up to 3 years, whereas canopy thinning had no effects. Another experiment compared more severe canopy reduction to unpruned trees. This produced a similar growth response to the previous experiment, but soil moisture was conserved nearer to the trunk. Analysis of 13C and 18O signals along with leaf water relations and soil moisture data suggested that lower boundary layer conductance within the canopy-reduced trees restricted tree water use, whereas for the canopy-thinned trees the opposite occurred. Conclusions: Only canopy reduction conserved soil moisture and this was due to a combination of reduced total canopy leaf area and structural changes in canopy architecture