Stigmatized as token women?

Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit widmet sich dem Stigma der Inkompetenz, das –attributionstheoretischen Überlegungen (Kelley, 1973) zu Folge– Frauen anhaftet, die mit der Quotenregelung an österreichischen Universitäten in Verbindung gebracht werden. Im Rahmen des Vortests, der mit Psychologiestudent/innen der Universität Wien durchgeführt wurde, wurden erste Erkenntnisse zu derartigen Stigmatisierungseffekten gewonnen, sowie ein Fragebogen zur Erfassung der Einstellung zur Quotenregelung konstruiert. Die Hauptstudie, die Nachwuchswissenschaftler/innen der Medizinischen Universität Wien als Stichprobe heranzog, untersuchte, ob Stigmatisierungseffekte im Zusammenhang mit der Quotenregelung auftreten. Zudem wurden mehrere Variablen, von denen ein moderierender Einfluss auf Stigmatisierungseffekte angenommen wurde, betrachtet. Weder die Ergebnisse des Vortests noch jene der Hauptstudie bestätigen das vorhergesagte Stigma der Inkompetenz für Frauen, die mit der Quotenregelung in Verbindung gebracht werden. Anderen Faktoren scheinen bei der Bewertung von Profiteurinnen der Quotenregelung von größerer Bedeutung zu sein: zum Beispiel die wahrgenommenen Fairness von Quoten, die Einstellung zu und das Wissen über Quoten, Verleugung bestehender sexistischer Diskriminierung und – überraschenderweise – das Alter der Urteiler/innen. Die vorliegende Arbeit ist eine der Ersten, die sich in Österreich mit dem Thema der Stigmatisierung durch Quotenregelungen befasst; sie ist daher als erster Überblick zum Thema zu begreifen. Viele Fragen bleiben derzeit offen und Forschung zum Thema Quotenregelung und ihren möglichen Konsequenzen ist dringend erforderlich. Im Laufe der Arbeit werden daher konkrete Implikationen für zukünftige Forschung formuliert.The research reported in this diploma thesis studies the stigma of incompetence which is –considering Kelley’s (1973) attribution theory – assigned to women benefitting from quotas at Austrian universities. The pretest was conducted on a sample of undergraduate psychology students to get a first insight in stigmatizing effects, and to develop a questionnaire on attitude toward quotas. The main study, which used young scientists at the Medical University of Vienna as a sample, aimed to reveal if stigmatization of women due to association with quotas occurs; furthermore, it scrutinized several factors that were hypothesized to moderate stigmatizing effects. Neither pretest, nor main study confirms that women associated with quotas suffer from a stigma of incompetence. Negative stigmatization is not induced solely based on the application of quotas; other factors seem to be more important in predicting evaluation of female quota beneficiaries, such as perception of fairness, attitude toward and knowledge about quotas, denial of discrimination, and – interestingly – raters’ age. The present study is but a first look at stigmatization due to quotas, and among the first of its kind in Austria; therefore a lot of questions remain unanswered, and a lot more research has to be done. Concrete implications for such are given with the goal to further pursue understanding of quotas and their consequences

Kompetenzen, Einstellungen, Rahmenbedingungen: Stück für Stück zu guter Lehre!

Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird ein Modell relevanter Lehrkompetenzen und Einstellungen aus Sicht von Lehrenden der Medizinischen Universität Wien vorgestellt. Lehrende wurden gefragt, welche Kompetenzen und Einstellungen sie für gute Lehre als wichtig erachten. Ihre Aussagen wurden inhaltsanalytisch zu drei Kompetenz- und zwei Einstellungskategorien zusammengefasst. Aussagen zu Rahmenbedingungen von Lehre wurden ebenso berücksichtigt. Die Ansichten der Lehrenden wurden zudem mit jenen von Lehr-Expertinnen/Lehr-Experten und Studierenden verglichen; Überschneidungen und Unterschiede werden herausgearbeitet. Es resultiert ein integratives "Puzzlestein-Modell", welches verdeutlicht, dass Lehre durch ein Ineinandergreifen von strukturellen Bedingungen sowie Kompetenzen und Einstellungen seitens der Lehrenden gekennzeichnet ist. Nur gemeinsam formen diese Teile – gleich einem Puzzle – das Gesamtbild guter Lehre. 21.06.2013 | Miriam Zehnter, Lydia Taus & Katharina Mallich-Pötz (Wien

Obituaries of Female and Male Leaders From 1974 to 2016 Suggest Change in Descriptive but Stability of Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes

We analyzed 1415 newspaper obituaries of female and male leaders published in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland from 1974 to 2016, covering a time-span of 42 years, to investigate change in descriptive and prescriptive gender stereotypes. The obituaries’ content was condensed to four categories: agency, competence, and communion were used to investigate changes in descriptive stereotypes. The category likability was used to infer changes in prescriptive stereotypes. Consistent with theories claiming changeability of stereotypes, our results indicate changes in descriptive stereotypes. Female leaders were described as increasingly agentic over time, but not as increasingly competent. Descriptions regarding communion remained unchanged. In contrast, the description of male leaders remained relatively stable at first, followed by changes in recent years, where men were described as decreasingly competent and increasingly communal. Simultaneously, our results support theories suggesting stability of stereotypes over time indicating unchanged prescriptive stereotypes. Accordingly, increases in female leaders’ agency were associated with decreases in likability. In male leaders, increases in communion were associated with decreases in likability. Overall, our results reconcile divided theories regarding the changeability of gender stereotypes. Furthermore, our results emphasize that research and praxis need to enhance attention on prescriptive stereotypes to facilitate female leadership

Reverse Sexism and Its Impact on Job Satisfaction and Career Planning: Italian Validation of the “Belief in Sexism Shift Scale”

The belief that men are the new victims of sexism and anti-male bias is gaining traction globally. The concept of reverse sexism, called the belief in sexism shift, is a new and particularly insidious form of contemporary anti-female sexism that combines the prejudice of hostile sexism with the subtlety of modern sexism. Facilitating the cross-cultural study of a rising form of sexism, in this paper, we provide an Italian translation of the BSS and examine its psychometric properties. In Study 1, we confirmed that the Italian BSS scale has the same uni-dimensional factor structure as the English version. In Study 2, we established that the Italian BSS scale measures the same construct among women and men. In Study 3, we found that the Italian BSS scale was a better predictor, compared to other measures of sexism, of numerous perceived career constraints. Subsequently, explorative analyses revealed that BSS escalated the effect of perceived career constraints on perceived job satisfaction and development opportunities among women and men. Together, our results suggest that BSS is a prevalent form of sexism in Italy that has the potential to negatively affect women and men

Belief in sexism shift: Defining a new form of contemporary sexism and introducing the belief in sexism shift scale (BSS scale).

The belief that the target of sexism has shifted from women to men is gaining popularity. Yet despite its potential theoretical and practical importance, the belief that men are now the primary target of sexism has not been systematically defined nor has it been reliably measured. In this paper, we define the belief in sexism shift (BSS) and introduce a scale to measure it. We contend that BSS constitutes a new form of contemporary sexism characterized by the perception that anti-male discrimination is pervasive, that it now exceeds anti-female discrimination, and that it is caused by women's societal advancement. In four studies (N = 666), we develop and test a concise, one-dimensional, 15-item measure of BSS: the BSS scale. Our findings demonstrate that BSS is related to, yet distinct from other forms of sexism (traditional, modern, and ambivalent sexism). Moreover, our results show that the BSS scale is a stable and reliable measure of BSS across different samples, time, and participant gender. The BSS scale is also less susceptible to social desirability concerns than other sexism measures. In sum, the BSS scale can be a valuable tool to help understand a new and potentially growing type of sexism that may hinder women in unprecedented ways

Obituaries of Female and Male Leaders From 1974 to 2016 Suggest Change in Descriptive but Stability of Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes

We analyzed 1415 newspaper obituaries of female and male leaders published in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland from 1974 to 2016, covering a time-span of 42 years, to investigate change in descriptive and prescriptive gender stereotypes. The obituaries’ content was condensed to four categories: agency, competence, and communion were used to investigate changes in descriptive stereotypes. The category likability was used to infer changes in prescriptive stereotypes. Consistent with theories claiming changeability of stereotypes, our results indicate changes in descriptive stereotypes. Female leaders were described as increasingly agentic over time, but not as increasingly competent. Descriptions regarding communion remained unchanged. In contrast, the description of male leaders remained relatively stable at first, followed by changes in recent years, where men were described as decreasingly competent and increasingly communal. Simultaneously, our results support theories suggesting stability of stereotypes over time indicating unchanged prescriptive stereotypes. Accordingly, increases in female leaders’ agency were associated with decreases in likability. In male leaders, increases in communion were associated with decreases in likability. Overall, our results reconcile divided theories regarding the changeability of gender stereotypes. Furthermore, our results emphasize that research and praxis need to enhance attention on prescriptive stereotypes to facilitate female leadership.© 2018 Zehnter, Olsen and Kirchle