Vice-Chancellor's Gender Equality Fund Final Report 2017: Illuminating and Understanding Women's and Men's Experiences Navigating Family Care Responsibilities and Their Academic Careers

The research project arose from the March 2017 meeting of the Vice Chancellor’s Gender Equality Committee. At that meeting there was an agreement that there was an opportunity for the Vice Chancellor to consider an additional project titled: ‘illuminating and interrogating the career experiences and interpretations of academic employees with family responsibilities’. By drawing on the constructs illuminating and interrogating, the present research addresses that part of the research which suggests that the dominant discourses and enacted practices that underpin gender inequities are often hidden, latent and less visible, in part because of ‘recent tendencies towards “gender denial” and suggestions that ‘the problem of gender in organizations has been “solved”’ (Lewis & Simpson 2012, p. 141). Further, the literature suggests that dominant discourses can reproduce a situation where women’s delayed career development and the difficulties some women experience securing, in the case of this research, full-time tenured academic positions are interpreted and constructed as unintentional and natural. Women are often understood or positioned as having different priorities and so their delayed career progression is a consequence of their personnel choices rather than gendered organisational practices. Accordingly, Simpson, Ross-Smith and Lewis (2010) argued that ‘discourses of choice’ can legitimate gendered workplace practices because organisations can ‘absolve themselves of responsibility’ (p. 205) for perceptions of differential career access and development. Further, Tatli, Ozturk and Woo (2017) claim that existing gender inequities and the lack of responsibility for tackling them has been legitimised ‘or rendered invisible through a belief in individual choice as the determining factor of career progression for women’ (p. 407). Thus, ‘blaming the victim’ [women] is a means of avoiding the address of gender inequity and so the practices and interactional dynamics involved in constructing and reproducing inequities are often unacknowledged and passively accepted rather than named and challenged. The timeliness and relevance of the research project is, in part, supported by the suggestion that ‘in university employment, particularly for academic staff ‘a strongly male dominated culture persists in which female academic employees (especially mothers) continue to experience discrimination’ (Strachan et al 2016, p. 44). For many women combining family responsibilities and academic career advancement continues to reflect the proposition, flexibility versus advancement (Valantine & Sandborg 2013). That is, despite robust work life integration policies and corresponding cultural values female academics experience and interpret their take up as limiting rather than advancing their academic careers. The present research is also a broader response to findings emerging from aspects of an ARC Linkage Grant Report titled ‘Gender and Employment Equity: Strategies for Advancement in Australian Universities’ (Strachan et al 2016). While bringing to light issues and complexities relevant to women’s academic careers the study was quantitative in orientation. Moreover, while addressing issues pertinent to family responsibilities and work life balance, the ARC project scope was significantly broader and so exploring women’s and men’s family and academic career experiences while important was one of several other focuses. Further supporting the studies’ emphasis, relevant research suggests that despite the development and implementation of family friendly policies, in contemporary workplaces there are tensions, ambiguities and gaps between policy formulation and enacted workplace practices (Cooper & Baird 2015; McDonald, Townsend & Wharton 2013; Putnam, Myers & Gailliard 2014). Fewer of these and like studies have explored these tensions and gaps in context to university workplaces. According, while policy supporting workplace flexibility remains an ongoing dialogue, a clear concern in these studies has been the dissonance between policy and practice which is a focus of the present study

Evaluating the impact of marketing interventions on sugar-free and sugar-sweetened soft drink sales and sugar purchases in a fast-food restaurant setting

Background Beverages high in added sugar, such as sugar-sweetened soft drinks, continue to be associated with various health issues. This study examines the effects of a manufacturer-initiated multicomponent intervention on the sales of sugar-free (SFD) and sugar-sweetened (SSD) soft drinks and the amount of sugar people purchase from soft drinks in a fast-food restaurant setting. Methods A database of monthly sales data of soft drinks from January 2016 to December 2018 was obtained from three treatment and three control fast-food restaurants. A multicomponent intervention consisting of free coupons, point-of-purchase displays, a menu board, and two sugar-free replacements for sugar-sweetened soft drinks was introduced in August 2018 for five months in Western Sydney, Australia. A retrospective interrupted time series analysis was used to model the data and examine the effects of the interventions on SFD and SSD sales and their consequential impact on sugar purchases from soft drinks. The analyses were carried out for volume sales in litres and sugar in grams per millilitre of soft drinks sales. A comparison of these measures within the treatment site (pre-and post-intervention) and between sites (treatment and control) was conducted. Results The interventions had a statistically significant impact on SFDs but not SSDs. On average, SFD sales in the treatment site were 56.75% higher than in the control site. Although SSD sales were lower in the treatment site, the difference with the control site was not statistically significant. The net reduction of 6.34% in the amount of sugar purchased from soft drinks between sites during the experimental period was attributed to the interventions. Conclusions The interventions significantly increased SFD sales and reduced sugar purchases in the short run. Aside from free coupons, the findings support the recommendation for fast food restaurants to nudge customers towards choosing SFDs through point-of-purchase displays and the replacement of popular SSDs with their SFD counterparts

The effectiveness of robot-enacted messages to reduce the consumption of high-sugar energy drinks

This exploratory study examines the effectiveness of social robots' ability to deliver advertising messages using different "appeals" in a business environment. Specifically, it explores the use of three types of message appeals in a human-robot interaction scenario: guilt, humour and non-emotional. The study extends past research in advertising by exploring whether messages communicated by social robots can impact consumers' behaviour. Using an experimental research design, the emotional-themed messages focus on the health-related properties of two fictitious energy drink brands. The findings show mixed results for humour and guilt messages. When the robot delivered a promotion message using humour, participants perceived it as being less manipulative. Participants who were exposed to humourous messages also demonstrated a significantly greater intent for future purchase decisions. However, guilt messages were more likely to persuade consumers to change their brand selection. This study contributes to the literature as it provides empirical evidence on the social robots' ability to deliver different advertising messages. It has practical implications for businesses as a growing number seek to employ humanoids to promote their services

A preliminary evaluation of mobile phone apps to curb alcohol consumption

Mobile apps have become increasingly prevalent in modern society, and persuasive technology has a broader market than ever. Mobile-based alcohol cessation apps can promote positive behaviour change in users and improve the overall health of our society. This research aimed to understand the various features users respond to and make design recommendations for alcohol cessation apps. This paper reports on three sources of feedback (user ratings, user reviews, MARS App Quality score) provided on 20 alcohol cessation apps in the Google Play Store. Our findings suggest that self-control type apps received much greater positive user reviews than motivational apps. In addition, this trend was not observed through numeric user ratings. We also speculate on design recommendations for apps that are meant to inhibit alcohol intake

Users' perceptions of the contribution of a University green roof to sustainable development

Universities are well placed to adopt and use the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on their campuses to educate and showcase how the SDGs can be delivered in the built environment. Green infrastructure, such as green roofs, green walls, or green parks, are highly visual implementations with environmental and social benefits that contribute to several SDGs, such as 3 (good health and wellbeing), 10 (reduced inequalities), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 13 (climate action) and 15 (life on land). These features may be referenced in sustainability teaching and learning, which may raise and heighten awareness of the social, economic, and environmental benefits of green infrastructure. In this study, we explored users’ perceptions of the extent to which a university campus green roof contributes to the SDGs and whether users focussed more on its social or environmental benefits. Statistical analyses, namely independent samples t-tests and analysis of variance, were conducted to determine what influenced users’ perceptions of the green roof. The analyses revealed that users’ perceptions did not differ largely by sociodemographic characteristics, though students perceived the social benefits as greater than university staff. Those with greater knowledge of green roofs perceived its environmental benefits as greater, but not the social benefits. The findings demonstrate the importance of green infrastructure on university campuses for encouraging engagement with the SDGs, whilst indicating that knowledge of such infrastructure increases appreciation of their environmental credentials

Using Twitter to promote a youth mental health agenda

Agenda-setting theory suggests the media shapes public perceptions. Guided by this theory, this study examines the effects of organizational Twitter accounts on public discourse in the Twittersphere. The tweets that mention one of three youth mental health organizations were theorized to emanate the particular focus of the organization mentioned. This was investigated by analysing: randomly selected tweets that mentioned one of three national mental health organizations—ReachOut, headspace or the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre but not authored by these organizations (n = 600); and the population of tweets that mentioned one of these three organizations and authored by either of the two counterparts of the mentioned organization (n = 115). Findings supported anticipated patterns, whereby the tweets reflected the remit of the three organizations. These findings reveal the influential role of social media in setting a youth mental health agenda. The implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed

Gender differences in employees’ sponsorship-linked attitudes and OCBs

Based on theory and evidence that males and females differ in the processing of marketing messages and norms governing gender roles, this study examines whether male/female employee attitudes and behaviour differ in response to their employer’s sponsorship program. Attitudes covered both specific attitudes towards the sponsorship and attitudes toward the employer, as well organisational citizenship behaviours. Analysis of 246 responses to an online survey confirmed differences in most attitude constructs, but fewer behaviour differences. Both differences and similarities point to the need for employers who engage in sponsorship to consider gender and probably other sub group differences in their internal marketing communications strategy development

Take heart, charity stunts can make CEOs better people

The annual Vinnies CEO Sleepout is usually held on one of the coldest and longest nights of the year in many of Australia’s big cities. The fundraising event sees business and community leaders as well as government officials sleep outdoors. The purpose is to gain an understanding of the experience of homelessness firsthand, and to raise money for homelessness. Not all the CEOs who participate are from the top end of town or have access to unlimited funds. Many are owner-operators, or CEOs of a small company. Some have experienced homelessness themselves

'Did you hear the one about ...?' : humour and comedic devices in marketing education

Marketing academics are not stand-up comedians, but humour can be used for valid educational purposes. Whilst a considerable amount of literature exists on humour, limited discussion has been afforded to the ways humour can be incorporated into marketing classrooms. This conceptual paper surveys relevant literature on both humour in education and comedic devices and proposes a research study whereby students reflect on the memorable exposure to teacher humour through critical incident technique. The results of the proposed study have implications for marketing educators seeking to understand what millennial students (‘Gen Y’) find funny and identify potentially effective comedic devices that have application in higher education

'LOL! That was funny but does it help me learn?' : humour in the marketing classroom

The positive role of humour in the classroom is well-accepted in the education literature. However, its direct impact on student learning is less extensively researched. Moreover, what little work has been undertaken in this field has been largely based on experimental research design. By using the Critical Incident Technique method, interpretive information was collected from undergraduate students at an Australian university. Data was coded in two stages: first, to identify categories of humorous incidents; and second, to identify whether students perceived the use of humour as being connected to their learning. This paper makes a contribution as it explains how the ‘associative network model’ offers a theoretical explanation on why ‘relevant’ or ‘related’ humour contributes towards student learning