Demolishing gender structures

This report presents findings from Australian research investigating why policies and strategies to attract, retain and support the progression of women professionals in large construction companies have, for the most part, failed

Designing robust and revisable policies for gender equality: lessons from the Australian construction industry

The construction industry remains the most male dominated sector in Australia. Several decades of formal gender equality initiatives by government and business have failed to bring about any meaningful change to the hierarchical and numerical representation of women in the sector. Drawing on new institutionalism, particularly the concepts of ‘robustness’ and ‘revisability’, the nature and intent of formal policies and programs that impact on gender equality are analysed in two large Australian multinational construction firms. Through in-depth interviews with senior management and a document analysis of formal policies, it is concluded that gender equality initiatives and broader policies are primarily focused on increasing the numbers of women in construction rather than addressing gender practices and outcomes. These policies lack many of the qualities of robustness and revisability, which impacts on their capacity to genuinely challenge the gendered norms, practices and narratives of the sector

When following the rules is bad for wellbeing: The effects of gendered rules in the Australian construction industry

The construction industry is known to be highly masculinised and to have work practices detrimental to employees’ wellbeing. Drawing on feminist institutional theory and a rapid ethnographic approach in two construction multinationals in Australia, we examine the relationship between the gendered nature of construction and workplace wellbeing for professional women and men employed in the industry. The findings reveal that adhering to the gendered ‘rules in use’ in the construction industry is negatively associated with wellbeing and is usually endured in silence. We also identify the ways in which the gendered rules have different effects on the wellbeing of men and women. We conclude that the construction industry is characterised by a set of ‘greedy’ gendered institutions that are inextricably linked to workplace wellbeing for both men and women and that these rules must be broken to improve worker wellbeing

A randomised controlled trial of blood pressure self-monitoring in the management of hypertensive pregnancy. OPTIMUM-BP:A feasibility trial

Objective: To assess the feasibility of a blood pressure self-monitoring intervention for managing pregnancy hypertension. Study design: OPTIMUM-BP was an unmasked randomised controlled trial comparing a self-monitoring of blood pressure (SMBP) intervention versus usual care for the management of pregnancy hypertension. Women with chronic (CH) or gestational hypertension (GH) from 4 UK centres were randomised (2:1) intervention to control. Self-monitoring involved daily home blood pressure (BP) measurements, with recording via study diary or telemonitoring. Clinicians were invited to use the home readings in clinical and antihypertensive titration decisions. Main outcomes: The primary outcomes were recruitment, retention, adherence and persistence with the intervention. Results: Women from four UK centres were randomised: 158/222 (71%) of those approached agreed, comprising: 86 women with chronic hypertension (55 SMBP, 31 control) and 72 with gestational hypertension (49 SMBP, 23 control) of whom outcome data were available from 154 (97%) and were included in the analysis. The median (IQR) number of days with home BP readings per week were 5.5 (3.1–6.5) for those with chronic hypertension and 6.1 (4.5–6.7) with gestational hypertension. Participants persisted with the intervention for 80% or more of their time from enrolment until delivery in 86% (43/50) and 76% (38/49) of those with chronic and gestational hypertension respectively. Recorded clinic and study BPs were similar for both groups. Conclusions: This is the first randomised investigation of BP self-monitoring for the management of pregnancy hypertension and indicates that a large RCT would be feasible.</p

Explaining variation in the implementation of global norms:Gender mainstreaming of security in the OSCE and the EU

Why do regional security organizations choose different approaches to implementing global gender norms? To address this question, we examine how the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union (EU) integrated requirements derived from UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) on women, peace and security into their security policies. We identify differences in scope and dynamics between the change processes in the two organizations. The OSCE simply adapted its existing gender policy and has not changed it since, whereas the EU introduced a new, more extensive and specific policy, which it has already amended several times. Drawing on historical institutionalism and feminist institutionalism, we found that, first, reform coalitions prepared the ground for gender mainstreaming in the organizations’ respective security policies; and that, second, embedded policy structures, including rules and norms about external interaction as well as existing policy legacies, were responsible for the different approaches of the EU and OSCE with respect to UNSCR 1325

Two-year follow-up of infant and maternal outcomes after planned early delivery or expectant management for late preterm pre-eclampsia (PHOENIX): a randomised controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the best time to initiate delivery in late preterm pre-eclampsia in order to optimise long-term infant and maternal outcomes. DESIGN: Parallel-group, non-masked, randomised controlled trial SETTING: 46 UK maternity units POPULATION: Women with pre-eclampsia between 34+0 and 36+6 weeks' gestation, without severe disease, were randomised to planned delivery or expectant management. PRIMARY LONG-TERM OUTCOME: Infant neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years of age, using the PARCA-R (Parent Report of Children's Abilities-Revised) composite score. RESULTS: Between Sept 29, 2014, and Dec 10, 2018, 901 women were enrolled in the trial, with 450 allocated to planned delivery and 451 to expectant management. At 2-year follow-up, the intention-to-treat analysis population included 276 women (290 infants) allocated to planned delivery and 251 women (256 infants) to expectant management. The mean composite standardised PARCA-R scores were 89.5 (standard deviation (SD) 18.2) in the planned delivery group and 91.9 (SD 18.4) in the expectant management group, with an adjusted mean difference of -2.4 (95% CI -5.4 to 0.5) points. CONCLUSION: In infants of women with late preterm pre-eclampsia, average neurodevelopmental assessment at 2 years lies within the normal range, regardless of whether planned delivery or expectant management is pursued. Because of lower than anticipated follow-up, there was limited power to demonstrate these scores were not different, but the small between-group difference in PARCA-R scores is unlikely to be clinically important

Developing observational methods to drive future hydrological science: can we make a start as a community?

Hydrology is still, and for good reasons, an inexact science, even if evolving hydrological understanding has provided a basis for improved water management for at least the last three millennia. The limitations of that understanding have, however, become much more apparent and important in the last century as the pressures of increasing populations, and the anthropogenic impacts on catchment forcing and responses, have intensified. At the same time, the sophistication of hydrological analyses and models has been developing rapidly, often driven more by the availability of computational power and geographical data sets than any real increases in understanding of hydrological processes. This sophistication has created an illusion of real progress but a case can be made that we are still rather muddling along, limited by the significant uncertainties in hydrological observations, knowledge of catchment characteristics and related gaps in conceptual understanding, particularly of the sub-surface. These knowledge gaps are illustrated by the fact that for many catchments we cannot close the water balance without significant uncertainty, uncertainty that is often neglected in evaluating models for practical applications