Can Applying a Gender Lens to Social Innovation Promote Women\u27s Rights and Gender Equality?

Social innovation is not new, but it is increasingly being called on to provide solutions to some of the world’s most pressing social and economic problems. Despite awareness about its importance, research in the field of social innovation is often vague, and there are competing definitions and understandings of the concept. There is also very little research that attempts to connect the field of social innovation with the fields of gender studies, women’s studies, feminist research, or men and masculinity studies. This dissertation applies a gender lens to the concept of social innovation. In doing so, it aims to develop the foundations for future research at the intersection of social innovation and gender equality. To conduct this research, I sought an affiliation with the MATCH International Women’s Fund, a Canadian organization that provides grants to support women’s social innovations in the Global South. This is a qualitative exploratory study in which I used peer-reviewed academic research as well as practitioner tools and knowledge from a range of sectors and disciplines. These include the results of 25 in-depth interviews with people engaged in social innovation or a related field, data from Twitter Canada, and a fellowship experience at Canada’s leading innovation hub, MaRS Discovery District. My research demonstrates the need for gender sensitivity and analysis in the field of social innovation. I argue that social innovation will not achieve its full potential if it does not understand how to respond to existing gender hierarchies all over the world. Innovation is about bringing together different perspectives; when we leave an analysis of gender out, we miss out on a lot. A gender analysis is not as simple as including more women in innovation; it is also about how innovation is interpreted and understood

Fragmented Time and Domiciliary Care Quality

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the marketization of domiciliary care, its consequences for employment practice, specifically fragmented time, and the implications for care quality. Design/methodology/approach – Focus groups and face-to-face or telephone interviews were conducted with care commissioners, service providers and care workers across Wales. There were 113 participants in total. Findings – These demonstrate fragmented time’s negative consequences for service providers, care workers and, ultimately, care quality. Research limitations/implications – No care recipients were interviewed and care quality was explored through the perceptions of other stakeholders. Social implications – For policy makers, tensions are evidenced between aspirations for high-quality care and commissioning practice that mitigates against it. Current care commissioning practices need urgent review. Originality/value – The research extends the definition of fragmented time and integrates with a model of care quality to demonstrate its negative consequences. Links between employment practice and care quality have only previously been hinted at

Neuronavigated and Laparoscopic-Assisted Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Placement

Hydrocephalus is an abnormal accumulation of excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain causing increased intracranial pressure, which can arise from a variety of causes, including congenital, acquired, or idiopathic pathologies. Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunting is most commonly used to treat hydrocephalic patients, relieving the increased intracranial pressure by draining excess CSF from the ventricles to the peritoneal cavity. VP shunts are primarily completed using either an open or a more minimally invasive neuronavigated laparoscopic-assisted surgical technique. There is a high level of surgical complications, shunt failures and revision rates following VP shunting. It is suggested that different surgical techniques are associated with varying degrees of patient outcomes, surgical complications, and revision rates, with the less invasive laparoscopic-assisted approach producing improved results. We present our results on 14 consecutive hydrocephalic patients, analyzed retrospectively between 2017 and 2019, investigating the benefits offered by the neuronavigated laparoscopic-assisted insertion of VP shunts. Additionally, we explain our workflow and procedural technique. By investigating these differences, changes can be implemented in current routine procedures to ameliorate patient safety, surgical complications, and revision rates

Is age just a number? Credibility and identity of younger academics in UK business schools

Abstract In this article, we use discursive qualitative interviews to explore identity challenges and opportunities experienced by younger academics in the business school environment. We frame identity construction and the influence of age as a reflexive and subjective process. We establish links between identity study and critical reflexivity and advocate for their benefits of supporting young academics in unpacking and navigating their fragile academic identities. Our data gleans important insights into the sense-making process, where identity norms and definitions of young academics influence their engagement in shaping their identity and the extent to which they achieve confidence and credibility. Where internal and external perceptions of required identities were problematic, imposter syndrome arose, presenting as accounts of marginalisation. We position the interplay of identity regulation and identity work as shaping the consequences of what were sometimes precarious outcomes of self-identity. Alongside this conceptual contribution, we provide practical avenues for support initiatives that may help young academics build legitimacy and overcome perceptions of marginalisation

‘You’re only a care worker’. Exploring the status of adult social care work through the intersection of HRM innovation and job quality

This paper examines the intersection between job quality and innovation by exploring policy-led innovation aimed at delivering high-quality adult social care jobs that attract and retain much-needed skilled workers. Through qualitative enquiry, we examine workforce policy’s emphasis on training, development and career progression, key elements of job quality, to create higher-skilled, higher-status roles. Drawing on focus groups and interviews with care providers and care workers in Wales (UK), we question the likely success of policy-led innovation given first its ineffective delivery and second its failure to address broader aspects of job quality. Policy thus fails both to institutionalise skilled roles in care work and to raise the status of the care worker occupation. We contribute to emerging HRM and interdisciplinary theory and policy debates about the complex nature of innovation activities and their outcomes for job quality in care work within a sector typified by low-quality jobs. We illustrate the different ways in which job quality and innovation interact and how both can be constrained by one another as a function of environmental antecedents

Psychodrama and emotional labour in the police: A mutually beneficial methodology for researchers and participant

This study utilises the qualitative methodology of psychodrama to create mutually beneficial research. Psychodrama is a group psychotherapy that uses action to explore participants' experiences and solutions to challenges. We demonstrate that the principles of this method can be used to identify the emotional feeling and display rules of emotional labour in policing. Researchers gained insight into officers’ cognitive processing, identifying how feeling and display rules are communicated and enforced in the police, developing practical, operationally-sound solutions to officer mentalhealth. Participants reported experiencing therapeutic relief and new perspectives on their work as a result

Fetal liver blood flow distribution: role in human developmental strategy to prioritize fat deposition versus brain development

Among primates, human neonates have the largest brains but also the highest proportion of body fat. If placental nutrient supply is limited, the fetus faces a dilemma: should resources be allocated to brain growth, or to fat deposition for use as a potential postnatal energy reserve? We hypothesised that resolving this dilemma operates at the level of umbilical blood distribution entering the fetal liver. In 381 uncomplicated pregnancies in third trimester, we measured blood flow perfusing the fetal liver, or bypassing it via the ductus venosus to supply the brain and heart using ultrasound techniques. Across the range of fetal growth and independent of the mother's adiposity and parity, greater liver blood flow was associated with greater offspring fat mass measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, both in the infant at birth (r = 0.43, P<0.001) and at age 4 years (r = 0.16, P = 0.02). In contrast, smaller placentas less able to meet fetal demand for essential nutrients were associated with a brain-sparing flow pattern (r = 0.17, p = 0.02). This flow pattern was also associated with a higher degree of shunting through ductus venosus (P = 0.04). We propose that humans evolved a developmental strategy to prioritize nutrient allocation for prenatal fat deposition when the supply of conditionally essential nutrients requiring hepatic inter-conversion is limited, switching resource allocation to favour the brain if the supply of essential nutrients is limited. Facilitated placental transfer mechanisms for glucose and other nutrients evolved in environments less affluent than those now prevalent in developed populations, and we propose that in circumstances of maternal adiposity and nutrient excess these mechanisms now also lead to prenatal fat deposition. Prenatal developmental influences play important roles in the human propensity to deposit fa

A systematic review of maternal smoking during pregnancy and fetal measurements with meta-analysis

Funding: The study was supported by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology, who provided funds for publication. KMG is supported by the National Institute for Health Research through the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre and by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), projects Early Nutrition and ODIN under grant agreement numbers 289346 and 613977.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A discussion of statistical methods to characterise early growth and its impact on bone mineral content later in childhood

Background Many statistical methods are available to model longitudinal growth data and relate derived summary measures to later outcomes. Aim To apply and compare commonly used methods to a realistic scenario including pre- and postnatal data, missing data and confounders. Subjects and methods Data were collected from 753 offspring in the Southampton Women’s Survey with measurements of bone mineral content (BMC) at age 6 years. Ultrasound measures included crown-rump length (11 weeks’ gestation) and femur length (19 and 34 weeks’ gestation); postnatally, infant length (birth, 6 and 12 months) and height (2 and 3 years) were measured. A residual growth model, two-stage multilevel linear spline model, joint multilevel linear spline model, SITAR and a growth mixture model were used to relate growth to 6-year BMC. Results Results from the residual growth, two-stage and joint multilevel linear spline models were most comparable: an increase in length at all ages was positively associated with BMC, the strongest association being with later growth. Both SITAR and the growth mixture model demonstrated that length was positively associated with BMC. Conclusions Similarities and differences in results from a variety of analytic strategies need to be understood in the context of each statistical methodology

Changes in viral load and HBsAg and HBeAg status with age in HBV chronic carriers in The Gambia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little is known about changes in hepatitis B viral load (HBV DNA) in relation to age in Africa. The aim of this study is to determine the natural course of HBV chronic infection, particularly in relation to sequential changes in serum HBV DNA levels and hepatitis B surface (HBsAg) antigen/hepatitis e antigen (HBeAg) status by age.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was conducted on 190 HBV chronic carriers, aged 1–19 years who were followed for 19 years. 160, 99 and 123 were traced at 5, 9 and 19 years later. All available samples were tested for HBsAg and HBeAg, whilst 170, 61, 63 and 81 were tested for HBV DNA at the baseline, and at 5, 9 and 19 years following recruitment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In general HBeAg which correlated with high levels of HBV DNA was lost at a much faster rate than HBsAg. 86% of the carriers who were recruited at the age of 1–4 yrs lost HBeAg by the age of 19 years compared to 30% who lost HBsAg. HBeAg negative carriers had serum HBV DNA levels of < 10⁵copies per mL, HBV DNA positivity declined from 100% in 1–4 yrs old carriers at recruitment to 62.5%,60% and 88% at 5, 9 and 19 years respectively following recruitment.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>After 19 years of follow up, the majority of HBV surface antigen carriers had lost HBeAg positivity and had low levels of viral replication. However small proportions (10–20%) retained HBeAg and continue to have high levels of viral replication.</p