Supporting Women In Engineering and Technology Through A Collaborative Practice And Support Network Using Targeted Interventions

Despite ongoing efforts to recruit and retain women in third level engineering programmes in Ireland, there is still a lack of diversity in these programmes with typically fewer than 20% of students being female. This paper will describe the evolution of a female focused university wide network called WITU (Women in Technology United), which aims to retain female students in engineering and technology programmes, and to increase the number of gender minorities coming onto these programmes. It is also a response to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly, SDG 4 (quality education), and SDG 5 (gender equality), and addresses actions highlighted in a recent Athena Swan review in our University. The network was formed in 2020 and extended to become University wide during lockdown, which in itself presented specific challenges. This paper describes the activities of the WITU network which runs events and celebrations for female students on our engineering and technology programmes such as ‘Meet & Greet’ events for incoming year one students, scholarship workshops, coding camps and International Women’s Day celebrations. The events are run collaboratively with students, academics and employer networks, with participation from recent female graduate role models, who are contributing to the wider engineering community. This paper describes these events and their impact on participants. Outcomes and feedback from participants show the critical role of these types of targeted interventions in supporting women and gender minorities and address some of the most pressing global challenges relating to the abovementioned SDGs

Child sexual abuse and social identity loss: a qualitative analysis of survivors' public accounts

Emerging evidence suggests that social identities are an important determinant of adaptation following traumatic life experiences. In this paper we analyse accounts of people who experienced child sexual abuse. Using publicly available talk of people who waived their right to anonymity following successful conviction of perpetrators, we conducted a thematic analysis focusing on trauma related changes in their social identities. Analysis of these accounts highlighted two themes. The first highlights the acquisition in these accounts of unwanted and damaging identity labels. The second presents child sexual abuse as a key destructive force in terms of important identity work during childhood. Discussion of this analysis centres on the pathological consequences of social identity change. Both the loss of valued identities and the acquisition of aberrant and isolating identities are experienced and constructed as devastating by those affected by child sexual abuse. This has important implications, not only for those impacted by child sexual abuse, but for how abuse is discussed in society, and how it is approached by policy makers, educators and individuals working with survivors and their families

Sexual violence and traumatic identity change: evidence of collective post-traumatic growth

Recent research indicates that social identities play a crucial role in the connection between adversity, post-traumatic stress, and overall psychological well-being. Understanding of how trauma influences collective dimensions of the self, positively or negatively, is limited. This study focuses on analysing publicly accessible narratives of four women who chose to waive their anonymity after the conviction of the men who had attacked and sexually assaulted them in Ireland. Thematic analysis highlighted two themes that signal (i) collective dimensions to this personal trauma, (ii) attempts to reconstruct social identities in the aftermath of trauma. Women presented their experiences as having the potential to amplify positive connections with others despite the wider embedded sociocultural understanding of sexual assault. These changes were associated with redefinition of social identities. Discussion highlights the potential for personal and intimate trauma to result in positive social identity change; a phenomenon that we label collective post-traumatic growth

High prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults with Crohn's disease: associations with disease and lifestyle factors.

peer-reviewedObesity and overweight are major public health issues. Although traditionally associated with weight loss, there is now evidence that increasing Body Mass Index (BMI) and overweight are emerging features of Crohn's disease (CD) and may be associated with more severe disease course. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in patients with CD compared with matched healthy controls and to identify disease-specific and generic factors associated with current BMI in this group.PUBLISHEDpeer-reviewe

Running women or women runners: Does identity salience affect intention to exercise outside and feelings of safety?

Safety concerns for women are prevalent and influence their likelihood to exercise outside. While some women modify their exercise behaviour due to safety concerns, others exercise outside more freely. In this paper, two experiments are reported with women runners to examine whether making their identity as a runner or a woman salient changed their self-reported likelihood of exercising outside, sense of safety and personal safety anxiety. While study 1 (n = 153) found no significant experimental effect, it revealed a trend: women whose runner identity was made salient were more likely to self-report their willingness to exercise outside than those in the gender identity condition. Study 2 (n = 236) was conducted to examine this trend further. The second study employed a larger sample size and a more robust manipulation of social identity salience. A significant effect of the experimental condition on women's sense of safety was observed. Specifically, women in the runner identity salience condition had significantly greater feelings of safety than women in the gender identity salience condition. A similar trend emerged for self-reported likelihood to exercise outside. These findings corroborate prior research on the impact of identity salience on intention to engage in health behaviours. They contribute to the existing body of literature on the intricate interplay between women's physical activity intentions and safety concerns. Furthermore, these findings could aid in the development of interventions to increase women's physical activity levels.</p

PROTOCOL: Group‐based interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of the role of trauma type

Abstract This is the protocol for a Campbell systematic review. The primary objective is to assess the effects of group‐based treatments on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology in people diagnosed with PTSD (by a clinician or screening instrument) or referred to a PTSD treatment group for their symptoms by a medical professional. We will also examine a range of moderators that may affect the efficacy of group‐based treatments, including the nature of the trauma (interpersonal, stigmatized) and the group fit (in terms of gender and shared vs. unshared trauma). Further, we will also explore what, if any, group‐based and social identity factors are recorded and how they relate to PTSD outcomes

New group memberships formed after an acquired brain injury predicts post-traumatic growth: A prospective study.

Predicting positive psychosocial outcomes following an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) remains a challenge. Considerable research demonstrates that social group memberships can have positive effects on psychological well-being, particularly during life transitions. Social group memberships are argued to help people derive a sense of self. This prospective study examined if social group memberships (number of groups and connectedness with groups) could predict posttraumatic growth (PTG) in those affected by ABI. Thirty-six participants (10 females, Mage = 46.56, SD = 11.46) engaged in community rehabilitation services completed measures at two time-points. Mediation analyses demonstrated that the number of new group memberships (groups formed post-injury) predicted greater PTG at time 2, via stronger connectedness with these new group memberships (controlling for initial PTG). The observed results suggest that a focus on developing and strengthening connections with new group memberships may promote positive adjustment after brain injury

Institutional status and identity dimensions to cardiovascular stress responses

This study aimed to examine the effect of shared social identity (i.e., whether the source of information about a stressor comes from an ingroup vs. outgroup member) and message content (i.e., whether people were informed that the task is stressful vs. challenging) on cardiovascular reactivity to stress (CVR) across two higher education institutions differing in status (University vs. Institute of Technology [IoT]). The study employed a quasi-experimental 2 × 2 × 2 design. 80 healthy undergraduate students (38 female, 47.5%) were recruited from two institutions—a University (n = 40) and an IoT (n = 40). All students underwent a standardised cardiovascular stress testing protocol (i.e., baseline rest period, manipulation, stress task). Blood pressure and heart rate were continuously monitored throughout. Results indicated that IoT students who were informed that the task would be stressful by an outgroup member (a University student) displayed relatively higher SBP reactivity (M = 17.53, SD = 4.72). Interestingly, those from the University who were informed that the task would be stressful by an ingroup member (also a University student) similarly displayed high level of reactivity (M = 19.45, SD = 4.33). It appears that being told the task is stressful had different effects depending on what institution the person was in, and who provided the information. These findings provide preliminary evidence to suggest that cardiovascular responses to stress may not simply be impacted by the source or content, but also the status or social position of the informants group.</p