The nation and the family: the impact of national identification and perceived importance of family values on homophobic attitudes in Lithuania and Scotland

The meanings attached to the nation can be consequential for group members’ attitudes and beliefs. We examined how national identity definition can influence the extent of individuals’ homophobia with 159 Lithuanian and 176 Scottish university students who completed a questionnaire which measured their national identification, homophobia, and the extent to which they felt traditional family values were central to their nation’s identity. Consistent with nation-wide differences in the significance given to the family, Lithuanian participants perceived family values to be more important for their national identity and expressed higher levels of homophobia than did Scottish participants. Moreover, the relationship between level of national identification and homophobia was stronger in Lithuania than in Scotland. Analyses revealed that the perceived importance of family values helped explain the difference between homophobia levels in Lithuania and Scotland. In both sites we found an indirect effect of national identification on homophobia via the perceived importance of family values, but this effect was significantly stronger for Lithuanian participants. These findings illustrate the ways in which identification with the nation is relevant to attitudes concerning sexuality, and how this varies according to national context. Our work indicates that LGBT rights campaigns should be informed by the knowledge that homophobia may be perpetuated by national valorisation of the family

Latina and European American Girls’ Experiences with Academic Sexism and their Self-Concepts in Mathematics and Science During Adolescence

The study investigated Latina and European American adolescent girls’ (N = 345, M = 15.2 years, range = 13 to 18) experiences with academic sexism in mathematics and science (M/S) and their M/S perceived competence and M/S value (liking and importance). M/S academic sexism was based on girls’ reported experiences hearing sexist comments about girls’ abilities in math and science. Older European American adolescents, and both younger and older Latina adolescents, who experienced several instances of academic sexism felt less competent in M/S than girls who experienced less sexism (controlling for M/S grades). In addition, among older girls (regardless of ethnicity), those who experienced several instances of academic sexism valued M/S less than girls who experienced less sexism

The "Persuadable Middle" on Same-Sex Marriage: Formative Research to Build Support among Heterosexual College Students

Same-sex marriage is a controversial policy issue that affects the welfare of gay and lesbian couples throughout the USA. Considerable research examines opinions about same-sex marriage; however, studies have not investigated the covariates of the “persuadable middle”— those individuals who are neutral or unsure about their views. This group of people is often the target of same-sex marriage campaigns, yet they have received no empirical attention.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89607/1/Woodford et al 2011 Persuadable Middle.pd

Students\u2019 Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness: Satisfaction and Related Factors

The relationship between students\u2019 attitude towards teaching evaluation and the success of a teaching evaluation procedure has been frequently investigated in education sciences. Nevertheless, accurate studies of the factors driving the rating are relatively rare. The present paper deals with the determinants of students\u2019 satisfaction and teachers\u2019 evaluation. Students\u2019 satisfaction and the clarity of lectures were analysed using a 15-item evaluation questionnaire based on a 4-point Likert scale, 9-dichotomous observations in addition to student, teacher, and course characteristics. The data were collected three weeks before the end of each term from all the classes in business and economics taught during the academic year 2006/2007 at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. The chosen collection method was an internet survey, i.e., the questionnaires were filled by students via internet on voluntary participation base. The study was carried out for students seeking a degree in economics. Note that such a degree represents an interesting case study due to the presence of a variety of subjects, including history, sociology, mathematics, statistics, economics, business, law, and foreign languages. Switching from the traditional in-class paper survey to the internet survey: (i) increased the number of evaluated courses and (ii) decreased the number of participating students. In order to reduce the sample size effect on the variables referred to teacher and class, we considered evaluations for classes with more than five responding students. The total sample size turned out to be of n=4111 responding students. Almost all evaluation items showed a positive impact on both student satisfaction and clarity of teacher\u2019s presentation. Instructors teaching foreign languages proved to be clearer than those in other subjects. When clarity of teacher\u2019s presentation was considered as a response, the hypothesis of the same-sex-preference appeared to be supported by data. The class size exhibited a nonlinear relationship with students\u2019 satisfaction, where the medium size was found to be optimal. Schools and subjects impacted differently on the dependent variables

Gender in STEM Education: an Exploratory Study of Student Perceptions of Math and Science Instructors in the United Arab Emirates

© 2015, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan. The current study addresses student perceptions of math and science professors in the Middle East. Gender disparity in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education continues to exist in higher education, with male professors holding a normative position. This disparity can also be seen in the United Arab Emirates. As female participation in STEM education lags behind men, it is possible that gender stereotypes may influence students’ first impressions of male and female instructors. The United Arab Emirates provides a unique context to study this phenomenon as it is a traditional patriarchal society that is highly dependent on the engineering discipline, especially within the oil and gas sectors. A total of 176 undergraduate students from 2 universities in the United Arab Emirates completed a survey about teaching effectiveness based on their perceptions of photographs of hypothetical male and female instructors. A factor analysis of survey items revealed 2 main subcategories of teacher effectiveness: namely teacher warmth and professionalism. A 2-way between-groups analysis of variance was conducted to explore the impact of teacher gender and student gender on perceptions of overall teaching effectiveness, as well as their perceptions of teacher warmth and professionalism. Findings revealed that there was a significant cross-gender effect on student perceptions of math and science instructors in the United Arab Emirates