Swimming against the tide in STEM education and gender equality: a problem of recruitment or retention in Malaysia

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is acknowledged as one of the key drivers of technological innovation. Malaysian women join the educational pipeline as equals to their male counterparts. Nevertheless, women are persistently under-represented in technology and engineering, but over-represented in other STEM fields. Using data provided by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education, our results suggest that under-representation of women in engineering was attributed to low recruitment at the point of entry. Such a finding thus begs the question as to why women were not recruited into engineering. Malaysian policymakers and educators need to address under-representation of women in order to achieve gender equality in STEM, as part of the goals of Millennium Development and Vision 2020; to become a nation that is competent, confident and innovative in harnessing and advancing science and technology

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Gender, sexuality, and young adults in Malaysian Universities: A phenomenological study and implications for sexuality education and sexual health / Zahra Fazli Khalaf

Gender and sexuality are central aspects of human identity, and play an essential role in every aspect of people’s lives. Perceptions of gender and sexuality strongly affect the health status and general wellbeing of individuals. Although the importance of gender and sexuality has been widely discussed in the health literature, little is known about the meanings that people give to these concepts at different social classes and life stages. Young adulthood is a distinct period of development “characterized by identity explorations.” The concepts of gender and sexuality are two important areas of identity exploration that influence the young adults’ identity stabilization and leading them to embrace the adult roles. In addition, young adults who pursue higher education and delay in marriage, experience a prolonged transition to adulthood due to social and economic changes that might result in different issues and challenges with regard to the concepts of gender and sexuality. The international contexts of universities in Malaysia provided opportunities for intermingling of different cultures and citizens that might result in new experiences and challenges. Iranian students form the highest number of university students in Malaysia. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of gender and sexuality among young adult Malaysian and Iranian university students in Malaysia in order to capture the common experiences, and joint issues and challenges among this diverse group. I adopted a Transcendental Phenomenology to explore the lived experiences of gender and sexuality among the heterosexual male and female young adults (20-30 years old) involving 22 Malaysian and Iranian university students. The Transcendental phenomenology methodology led to illustration of the essence of the experience common to the whole group. iv Findings illustrated the stereotypical and androcentric views of gender and sexuality. Concept of gender was associated with physical appearance, gender behaviors, gender roles, social positions and sexual abilities. Concept of sexuality was perceived in relation to pleasure and physical enjoyment, emotional attachment, trust and commitment, responsibility, and women’s dignity and social honor. Perceptions of gender and sexuality was affected by different factors in the social and environmental structures. The university context led to the experience of positive perceptions of gender, and was understood as an influential factor in achieving gender equality. In addition, the international context of the universities provided opportunities for the development of trans-national non-committal sexual relationships. The participants faced several issues and challenges in experiencing their gender and sexuality, and expressed their needs for knowledge, and suggested some areas of education to stakeholders. The substantive theoretical model emerged from this research provides a framework for the understanding of the lived experiences and faced issues of gender and sexuality among this diverse group of young adults. The model can draw on a practical framework for empowerment of university students to meet the issues of gender and sexuality in a healthier way. The study confirmed the quest for a comprehensive sexuality education at university level as well as educational programs for improving personal growth and interpersonal relationship skills, and counseling services for enhancing academic achievements and decision-making skills for future social life

Diversity Without Inclusion: The Experience of Female Graduate Students of Color at a Minority Serving Institution (MSI)

Graduate education can be psychologically taxing, and the academic tasks that graduate students are required to perform can cause a great level of stress, insecurity, and uncertainty. The unique experiences that female students of color face at the intersections of gender, race, and class may have negative effects on their academic performance and attainment. This research explored the experiences of discrimination among the female African American/Black and Hispanic/Latina graduate students and their coping strategies to survive in the program of study at the University of North Texas (UNT), as a minority serving institution (MSI). A narrative research method was applied and 13 in-depth interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview protocol. The findings showed the participants experienced various types of intragroup and intergroup discrimination based on the intersections of their multiple identities, especially race, gender, and socioeconomic status. The findings of this study revealed structural discrimination that participants experienced through their education; starting with their low income neighborhood where they were raised and the discrimination at the university. They perceived that minorities are not represented in the management and faculty positions, and there is an inadequacy of support resources and lack of racially sensitive advising services for female graduate students of color. The findings of this research showed that a large majority of the participants perceived UNT as an institution with diversity but without inclusion. They had used two strategies to respond to the incidents of discrimination; building resilience to fulfil a purpose, and self-care and building support system. This research concludes that UNT is in need to create a climate that is more accessible, caring, and supportive for female graduate students of color. Implications for practice and policy are discussed