Girls get smart, boys get smug: Historical changes in gender differences in math, literacy, and academic social comparison and achievement

Girls’ lack of self-belief has frequently been cited as a major barrier to advancement in both empirical research and in the popular imagination. With girls now outcompeting boys at almost every educational level, this paper considers if girls still have lower self-concept than boys, if this changes when controlling for academic ability, and what mechanisms explain gender differences. We compare and contrast rational choice, contrast, and assimilation approaches to self-concept and juxtapose historical trajectories in gender differences in self-concept and achievement to distinguish between them. We do this in five age cohorts born between 1981 and 1993 (N = 66, 522) for math, literacy, and general academic domains. Results suggest that there are still significant differences in self-concept between equally able boys and girls and that a mix of assimilation and contrast mechanisms likely explains the size and direction of these effects

Girls get smart, boys get smug: Historical changes in gender differences in math, literacy, and academic social comparison and achievement

Girls’ lack of self-belief has frequently been cited as a major barrier to advancement in both empirical research and in the popular imagination. With girls now outcompeting boys at almost every educational level, this paper considers if girls still have lower self-concept than boys, if this changes when controlling for academic ability, and what mechanisms explain gender differences. We compare and contrast rational choice, contrast, and assimilation approaches to self-concept and juxtapose historical trajectories in gender differences in self-concept and achievement to distinguish between them. We do this in five age cohorts born between 1981 and 1993 (N = 66, 522) for math, literacy, and general academic domains. Results suggest that there are still significant differences in self-concept between equally able boys and girls and that a mix of assimilation and contrast mechanisms likely explains the size and direction of these effects

An umbrella review of the benefits and risks associated with youths’ interactions with electronic screens

The influence of electronic screens on the health of children and adolescents and their education is not well understood. In this prospectively registered umbrella review (PROSPERO identifier CRD42017076051), we harmonized effects from 102 meta-analyses (2,451 primary studies; 1,937,501 participants) of screen time and outcomes. In total, 43 effects from 32 meta-analyses met our criteria for statistical certainty. Meta-analyses of associations between screen use and outcomes showed small-to-moderate effects (range: r = –0.14 to 0.33). In education, results were mixed; for example, screen use was negatively associated with literacy (r = –0.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) = –0.20 to –0.09, P ≤ 0.001, k = 38, N = 18,318), but this effect was positive when parents watched with their children (r = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.02 to 0.28, P = 0.028, k = 12, N = 6,083). In health, we found evidence for several small negative associations; for example, social media was associated with depression (r = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.05 to 0.19, P ≤ 0.001, k = 12, N = 93,740). Limitations of our review include the limited number of studies for each outcome, medium-to-high risk of bias in 95 out of 102 included meta-analyses and high heterogeneity (17 out of 22 in education and 20 out of 21 in health with I2 > 50%). We recommend that caregivers and policymakers carefully weigh the evidence for potential harms and benefits of specific types of screen use

Immediate chest X-ray for patients at risk of lung cancer presenting in primary care: randomised controlled feasibility trial

Background: Achieving earlier stage diagnosis is one option for improving lung cancer outcomes in the United Kingdom. Patients with lung cancer typically present with symptoms to general practitioners several times before referral or investigation. Methods: We undertook a mixed methods feasibility individually randomised controlled trial (the ELCID trial) to assess the feasibility and inform the design of a definitive, fully powered, UK-wide, Phase III trial of lowering the threshold for urgent investigation of suspected lung cancer. Patients over 60, with a smoking history, presenting with new chest symptoms to primary care, were eligible to be randomised to intervention (urgent chest X-ray) or usual care. Results: The trial design and materials were acceptable to GPs and patients. We randomised 255 patients from 22 practices, although the proportion of eligible patients who participated was lower than expected. Survey responses (89%), and the fidelity of the intervention (82% patients X-rayed within 3 weeks) were good. There was slightly higher anxiety and depression in the control arm in participants aged >75. Three patients (1.2%) were diagnosed with lung cancer. Conclusions: We have demonstrated the feasibility of individually randomising patients at higher risk of lung cancer, to a trial offering urgent investigation or usual care

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M>70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0<e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

The representation and production of visual gender bias in anatomy images and its effects on student attitudes

Background: Gender bias in medical discourse is persistent and influences the way medical professionals treat and diagnose patients, and thus has a meaningful impact on health. Medical education provides a pathway for improving the attitudes, beliefs and knowledge that future healthcare practitioners hold about gender. However, it also has the ability to contribute to the construction of gender bias. Research on the role that images, a critical part of medical education curricula, play in contributing to gender bias has been limited. Further, no research on images from medical education has adopted a framework that distinguishes between the sites of the image, its production and its audience. An account of these three sites provides a comprehensive understanding of not only what messages are portrayed in medical images but also of how these messages are constructed and perceived. Aims: The purpose of this thesis was to examine the visual representations of gender in medical education through the medium of anatomical textbooks. The aims were threefold: a) to determine how gender bias is visually represented in anatomical textbooks; b) to investigate how the context of image creation influences the construction of gender bias in medical illustrations; and c) to determine what effects gender-biased images have on the implicit and explicit attitudes of anatomy students. Methods: This research was comprised of three separate studies and employed a mixed methods approach in order to determine the representation, production and effects of gender bias in medical images. Study 1 included an extensive content analysis on the representation of gender in 6004 narrative and conceptual images from anatomical textbooks used in Australian Medical Schools. The study focused not just on gender ratios but also on other forms of gender bias that might be present. In Study 2, 83 illustrators from the Association of Medical Illustrators and the Medical Illustration Sourcebook participated in an online interview that gathered data in relation to the contextual factors that influence the construction of gender in medical images. Participants provided detailed information on their experiences with clients, reference materials, and their own work, with a particular focus on gender bias. The data were analysed using a mix of quantitative and thematic analysis. In Study 3, a randomised control trial was conducted with 457 students studying anatomy at the University of Wollongong to assess the effect that gender-biased images from anatomical textbooks had on their implicit and explicit attitudes. In this study participants were randomly assigned to a treatment (gender-biased images) or control (non-gendered images) priming task before completing an Implicit Association Test and a questionnaire. The data was analysed using multiple regression. Results: Study 1 found that females comprise only 36% of all images in anatomy textbooks, but 57% of all sex-specific images. Further, other forms of bias were found to exist in the visualisation of stereotypical gendered emotions, roles and settings; in the lack of ethnic, age and body type diversity; and in the almost complete adherence to a sex/gender binary. Study 2 indicated that multiple levels of proximal and distal context had an influence on how gender was represented in medical images, including the intrapersonal processes of the illustrator, the immediate physical and social context of the image and the broader institutional and societal contexts. A number of contextual themes were also identified in the data including the sexualisation of nudity, the use of gendered stereotypes, the impact of social networks, the limitations with diversity and pathology, the representation of average bodies and the tension between resource accuracy and accessibility. Lastly, Study 3 revealed that, compared with control images, gender-biased images significantly increased students’ implicit gender bias (Cohen’s d = .33) but had almost no impact on explicit attitudes. Conclusions: This thesis provides evidence of the continued and complex gender bias present in images from anatomical textbooks. The research has revealed that the context of image production is multileveled and that there are a range of factors that influence the inclusion of gender bias in images. The finding that gender-biased images have an impact on the implicit attitudes of future healthcare providers is significant as this can contribute to perpetuation of gender bias in medical discourse and could have negative healthcare outcomes