Addressing gender inequality: Stumbling blocks and roads ahead

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record.Despite many positive changes in terms of gender equality in recent decades, women remain underrepresented in positions of power and prestige, and continue to shoulder disproportionate amounts of unpaid domestic labor. This special issue brings together an examination of the different ways in which gender inequality can be addressed, the efficacy of such approaches, and the consequences these approaches can have. In this introduction to the special issue, we discuss the focus of past and present gender research and outline issues which have received less attention. We further give an overview of the papers in this special issue, which focus on a diverse range of ways in which gender inequality can be addressed, such as collective action, workplace diversity initiatives and parental leave policies, gender-fair language, and government policies. Taken together, these papers illustrate (a) the importance of ensuring that initiatives are evidence-based, (b) the ways in which we can maximize the effectiveness of interventions, and (c) the need to understand when these initiatives may inadvertently backfire.This work was supported in part by a European Commission Grant (725128) awarded to the second author

Brexit and Irish Consumers. Quarterly Economic Commentary Special Article, Spring 2018.

Concerns about the impact of Brexit on the Irish economy have tended to focus on the challenges to exporting firms. However, as the UK is a significant source of imports into the Irish economy and there is considerable integration of the retail sectors in both countries, the imposition of tariffs or other increases in trading costs could pass through to increased prices for Irish consumers. This paper examines the contribution of UK imports to overall household expenditure in Ireland and their exposure to tariffs and other cost increases from possible restrictions on trade. Our approach generates an estimate of potential increases in the level of CPI of between 2 per cent and 3.1 per cent. In the estimated scenarios, these increases are the equivalent of between €892 (increase in non-tariff trade costs) and €1,360 (tariffs plus other trade cost increases) in the annual cost of its consumption basket for the average household. This assumes that there is no switching or changes in expenditure patterns in response to the cost increases so gives an upper bound to the cost increase effects. We also find that these effects are very unevenly distributed across households. Households with lower income levels would face considerably higher percentage increases as they tend to consume a higher share of products that would be most affected by increases in tariffs and trade costs

The effects of gender trouble: An integrative theoretical framework of the perpetuation and disruption of the gender/sex binary

This is the final version. Available on open access from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordIn the Western world, gender has traditionally been viewed as binary and as following directly from biological sex. These views are slowly changing, both among experts and the general public, a change that has been met with strong opposition. In this paper, we explore the psychological processes underlying these dynamics. Drawing on Butler’s (1990) work on gender performativity as well as Goffman’s (1956) work on gender as a performance, we develop a psychological framework of the perpetuation and disruption of the gender/sex binary on a stage that facilitates and foregrounds binary gender/sex performance. Whenever character, costume, and script are not aligned the gender/sex binary is disrupted and gender trouble ensues. We integrate various strands of the psychological literature into this framework and explain the processes underlying these reactions. We propose that gender trouble can elicit threat: personal threat, group-based and identity threat, and system threat, which in turn lead to efforts to alleviate this threat through reinforcement of the gender/sex binary. Our framework challenges the way psychologists have traditionally treated gender/sex in theory and empirical work and proposes new avenues and implications for future research

Gender Trouble and Social Psychology: How can Butler’s work inform experimental social psychologists’ conceptualization of gender?

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Frontiers Media via the DOI in this record.A quarter of a century ago, philosopher Judith Butler (1990) called upon society to create “gender trouble” by disrupting the binary view of sex, gender, and sexuality. She argued that gender, rather than being an essential quality following from biological sex, or an inherent identity, is an act which grows out of, reinforces, and is reinforced by, societal norms and creates the illusion of binary sex. Despite the fact that Butler’s philosophical approach to understanding gender has many resonances with a large body of gender research being conducted by social psychologists, little theorizing and research within experimental social psychology has drawn directly on Butler’s ideas. In this paper, we will discuss how Butler’s ideas can add to experimental social psychologists’ understanding of gender. We describe the Butler’s ideas from Gender Trouble and discuss the ways in which they fit with current conceptualizations of gender in experimental social psychology. We then propose a series of new research questions that arise from this integration of Butler’s work and the social psychological literature. Finally, we suggest a number of concrete ways in which experimental social psychologists can incorporate notions of gender performativity and gender trouble into the ways in which they research gender.This work was supported in part by a European Commission Grant (725128) awarded to the second author

Quotas and affirmative action: Understanding group-based outcomes and attitudes

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.More and more countries are adopting quotas to increase group-based equality in the boardroom and the political sphere. Nevertheless, affirmative action in general, and quotas in particular, remain a highly controversial subject – eliciting negative reactions from privileged groups, while support among minority and lower-status groups is generally higher. Focusing on gender, we take a broad approach to the topic and discuss (a) the effects of quotas and affirmative action on the underrepresentation of minority groups and on perceptions of their competence, (b) the effects of quotas and affirmative action on organisational performance, and (c) predictors of attitudes towards affirmative action and quotas. We conclude that the benefits of quotas outweigh their costs and that they are an effective way of tackling group-based inequality. We also discuss strategies that can be used to elicit more support among those groups that are particularly critical of quotas

Walter Campbell:A distinguished life

An efficient and simple synthesis approach to form stable (68) Ga-labeled nanogels is reported and their fundamental properties investigated. Nanogels are obtained by self-assembly of amphiphilic statistical prepolymers derivatised with chelating groups for radiometals. The resulting nanogels exhibit a well-defined spherical shape with a diameter of 290 +/- 50 nm. The radionuclide (68) Ga is chelated in high radiochemical yields in an aqueous medium at room temperature. The phagocytosis assay demonstrates a highly increased internalization of nanogels by activated macrophages. Access to these (68) Ga-nanogels will allow the investigation of general behavior and clearance pathways of nanogels in vivo by nuclear molecular imaging

What is a True Gamer? The Male Gamer Stereotype and the Marginalization of Women in Video Game Culture

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.Women and men play video games in approximately equal numbers. Despite this similarity, video gaming is still strongly associated with men. A common justification for this stereotype is that, although women might play games, they should not be considered “true” or “hard-core” gamers because they play more casually and less skillfully compared to their male counterparts. In this contribution, we review the existing literature on gender and gaming to investigate the male gamer stereotype in terms of its accuracy, persistence, effects, and future perspective. We conclude that the stereotype varies in accuracy depending on the definition of “gamer.” We further argue that the persistence of this stereotype can be explained by the fact that almost all professional and highly visible figures in gaming culture are male. On the other hand, female players who achieve a moderate level of competence are rendered invisible or are actively marginalized. We argue that the effects of the male gamer stereotype can be harmful to women, precluding them from the positive outcomes of video game play such as enhanced access to fields of science, technology, and engineering

A Comprehensive Measure of Attitudes and Behaviour: Development of the Support for Gender Equality among Men Scale (article)

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordThe datasets associated with this article are located in ORE at: https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.1805, https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.1806, https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.1807, https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.1808, and https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.1809In this paper, we develop and validate the 16-item Support for Gender Equality among Men Scale (SGEMS) across four studies. Drawing on exploratory (Study 1, n = 322) and confirmatory (Study 2, n = 358; Study 4, n = 192) factor analysis, we determine a two-factor structure: public and domestic support for gender equality. In Study 3 (n = 146) and Study 4, we validate the scale by establishing its relationship with, among others, several prominent measures of sexism, a behavioural measure, and social desirability. The scale fills a psychometric gap in the literature: To date, no validated measure of support for gender equality, measuring both attitudes and behavioural intentions and focusing specifically on men, exists. Considering the recent increase in interest in men as allies of the feminist movement the scale functions as a useful tool to explore the topic in depth in future research.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Investment Efficiency, State-Owned Enterprises and Privatisation: Evidence from Vietnam in Transition. ESRI WP498. March 2015

Our research tests the difference in investment efficiency between state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private firms and then evaluates the effect of privatisation and equitisation policies on the investment efficiency of former state owned enterprises (SOEs). We use a novel dataset from Viet Nam which covers large and non-listed SMEs across the construction, manufacturing, and services sectors. Our methodology uses a structural model to test the relationship between Tobin’s Q and capital spending. We find no evidence of investment spending being linked to marginal returns by SOEs across all sectors and size classes. However, former SOEs which have been privatised and equitized with a minority state shareholding display positive links between Q and investment. In fact, the link is stronger for these firms than for private firms