Changes in values: Evaluating opportunities for women’s chances of female empowerment in software development

The discrimination of women within the labor market has a vertical as well as a horizontal dimension. These dimensions culminate in the problem of highly skilled jobs within the technical sector. The proportion of women amongst employees and students in this area is very limited, the reasons for this often being old-fashioned bureaucratic structures and a hierarchical corporate culture. Despite these forms of organization, agile frameworks, which are becoming increasingly popular and important, especially within software development, are setting the benchmark for team-based structures as well as a corporate culture based on communication and cooperation. The research questions posed are therefore whether agile frameworks could be used to increase the attractiveness of jobs within the software development sector for women as well as to increase opportunities for women`s empowerment within this sector. To answer these questions briefly, this paper focuses on new agile management roles as well as on women software developers in several European countries. Therefore, we will see that there are opportunities for empowering women but there is also – once again – a risk of gender stereotyping

The Justice of Earnings in Dual-Earner Households

The rise in female labor market participation and the growth of "atypical" employment arrangements has, over the last few decades, brought about a steadily decreasingpercentage of households in which the man is the sole breadwinner, and a rising percentage of dual-earner households. Against this backdrop, the present paper investigates the impact of household contexts in which the traditional male breadwinner model has been called into question on individuals' subjective evaluations of the equity or inequity of their personal earnings. In the first step, based on social production function theory, we derive three criteria used by individuals to evaluate the fairness or justice of their personal earnings: compensation for services rendered, coverage of basic needs, and the opportunity to earn social approval. In the second step, we apply considerations from household economics and new approaches from gender research to explain why men's and women's evaluations of justice are determined to a considerable degree by the specific situation within their household - for example, by the status and income relation between the two partners. The assumptions derived regarding gender-specific patterns in justice attitudes are then tested on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) from the year 2007. We find that, among women, the perceived justice of personal earnings depends much more strongly on the particular household context. At the same time, opportunities for social comparison within the household and the relation between the woman's personal income and that of her husband play central roles. Men's justice evaluations, in contrast, are determined to a much greater extent by whether their income allows them to conform to traditional gender norms and concepts of "masculinity", and by so doing, to gain social approval outside the household as well.

Investitionstest Handel 2010: Deutlich gesteigerte Investitionsbereitschaft

Die gesamte Weltwirtschaft wurde von der Finanzmarktkrise der vergangenen Jahre erheblich getroffen. Auch der Einzelhandel in Deutschland hatte mit Umsatzeinbußen zu kämpfen, überstand diese Zeit allerdings verhältnismäßig glimpflich. Der Großhandel hat sich nach teilweise deutlich gesunkenen Umsätzen im Vorjahr nun ebenfalls spürbar erholt. Für beide Handelsstufen liegt der ifo Geschäftsklimaindikator wieder klar im positiven Bereich. Die Skepsis bezüglich der zukünftigen Geschäftsentwicklung ist nahezu verschwunden, und die Investitionsbereitschaft ist im Vergleich zum Vorjahr wieder merklich gestiegen. Den Ergebnissen des ifo Investitionstests im Handel 2010 zufolge beabsichtigen speziell Unternehmen im Großhandel, ihre Investitionen zu erhöhen.Handel, Investition, Einzelhandel, Großhandel, Konjunkturumfrage, Personalabbau, Deutschland

Großhandel: Steigende Umsätze und schwungvolle Investitionsdynamik

Die Umsätze im Großhandel haben sich im vergangenen Jahr – nach dem starken Rückgang von 2009 – wieder spürbar erholt. Auch im ersten Halbjahr 2011 konnten die Umsätze weiter gesteigert werden. Der ifo Geschäftsklimaindikator ist nach der Wirtschafts- und Finanzmarktkrise ebenfalls wieder erheblich gestiegen. Die Meldungen der Unternehmen lassen derzeit große Zufriedenheit mit ihrem Geschäftsverlauf erkennen. Im Rahmen der ifo Investitionserhebung für den Handel wurden die Großhandelsfirmen nach der voraussichtlichen Entwicklung ihrer Umsätze, der Mitarbeiterzahl sowie ihrer Investitionsausgaben im laufenden Jahr befragt. Den Ergebnissen der Umfrage zufolge geht die Mehrheit der Großhändler angesichts reger Nachfrage von einem weiteren Umsatzplus für 2011 aus. Die Unternehmen beabsichtigen zudem, mehr Mitarbeiter einzustellen. Des Weiteren sollen die Ausgaben sowohl für Bauten als auch für Ausrüstungen im Vergleich zum Vorjahr aufgestockt werden. Insgesamt ist im Jahr 2011 ein deutlicher Anstieg der Investitionen im Großhandel zu erwarten.Großhandel, Umsatz, Investitionsklima, Branchenentwicklung

A Factorial Survey on the Justice of Earnings within the SOEP-Pretest 2008

In the 2008 Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) Pretest, the factorial survey method was tested for the first time for use in the SOEP longitudinal study. In this paper, we describe the construction and application of the vignette module, which has its origins in the field of justice research and is used in particular in the measurement of income justice. We show that the factorial survey method is applicable in large-scale survey research when taking certain constraints into account,and that respondents of varying ages and educational groups are able to deal sufficiently well with answering the questions. The results obtained suggest that older respondents tend to take fewer dimensions into consideration in forming their opinions. Further studies will be needed to determine whether this is evidence that the evaluation tasks were too complex for these respondents and should thus be interpreted as a method effect, or whether it represents a valid substantive result. The results of the study demonstrate convincingly that alongside occupation, education, and performance-factors relating directly to employment-familial aspects such as civil status, the partner's employment status, and number of children constitute important criteria for determining what constitutes a "fair" income. The factor survey in the 2008 SOEP Pretest offers diverse analytical potential, both from a methodological point of view and in terms of the empirical results obtained. The positive experience with the 2008 SOEP Pretest suggests that the SOEP vignette module can be used effectively in a future wave of the main SOEP survey.income, justice theory, fairness, factorial survey method, SOEP

A Factorial Survey on the Justice of Earnings within the SOEP-Pretest 2008

In the 2008 Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) Pretest, the factorial survey method was tested for the first time for use in the SOEP longitudinal study. In this paper, we describe the construction and application of the vignette module, which has its origins in the field of justice research and is used in particular in the measurement of income justice. We show that the factorial survey method is applicable in large-scale survey research when taking certain constraints into account, and that respondents of varying ages and educational groups are able to deal sufficiently well with answering the questions. The results obtained suggest that older respondents tend to take fewer dimensions into consideration in forming their opinions. Further studies will be needed to determine whether this is evidence that the evaluation tasks were too complex for these respondents and should thus be interpreted as a method effect, or whether it represents a valid substantive result. The results of the study demonstrate convincingly that alongside occupation, education, and performance – factors relating directly to employment – familial aspects such as civil status, the partner's employment status, and number of children constitute important criteria for determining what constitutes a "fair" income. The factor survey in the 2008 SOEP Pretest offers diverse analytical potential, both from a methodological point of view and in terms of the empirical results obtained. The positive experience with the 2008 SOEP Pretest suggests that the SOEP vignette module can be used effectively in a future wave of the main SOEP survey.income, justice theory, fairness, factorial survey method, SOEP

The Role of Institutional Uncertainty for Social Sustainability of Companies and Supply Chains

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Sentinel-1 Imaging Performance Verification with TerraSAR-X

This paper presents dedicated analyses of TerraSAR-X data with respect to the Sentinel-1 TOPS imaging mode. First, the analysis of Doppler centroid behaviour for high azimuth steering angles, as occurs in TOPS imaging, is investigated followed by the analysis and compensation of residual scalloping. Finally, the Flexible-Dynamic BAQ (FD-BAQ) raw data compression algorithm is investigated for the first time with real TerraSAR-X data and its performance is compared to state-of-the-art BAQ algorithms. The presented analyses demonstrate the improvements of the new TOPS imaging mode as well as the new FD-BAQ data compression algorithm for SAR image quality in general and in particular for Sentinel-1

Die wahrgenommene Gerechtigkeit des eigenen Einkommens: geschlechtstypische Muster und die Bedeutung des Haushaltskontextes

The rise in female labor market participation and the growth of ¿atypical¿ employment arrangements has, over the last few decades, brought about a steadily decreasing percentage of households in which the man is the sole breadwinner, and a rising percentage of dual-earner households. Against this backdrop, the present paper inves-tigates how household contexts in which the traditional "male breadwinner" model still exists or has already been challenged affect individuals' subjective evaluations of the justice of their personal earnings. In the first step we derive three criteria used by individuals to evaluate the fairness or justice of their personal earnings: compensation for services rendered, coverage of basic needs, and the opportunity to earn social approval. In the second step, we apply considerations from household economics and new approaches from gender research to explain why men's and women's evaluations of justice are determined to a considerable degree by the specific situation within their household. The assumptions derived regarding gender-specific patterns in justice attitudes are then tested on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) from 2007 and 2005. The results support our central thesis that gender-specific patterns in the evaluation of personal earnings are both reduced and increased in dual-earner households. They are reduced because women in dual-income households tend to have higher income expectations that challenge the existing gender wage gap. At the same time, gender-specific patterns are increased because men evaluate the equity of their personal income in relation to their ability to fulfill traditional gender norms and thus their capacity to live up to corresponding notions of "masculinity". Die zunehmende Erwerbsbeteiligung von Frauen und die Ausbreitung "atypischer" Beschäftigungsverhältnisse hat zur Folge, dass der Anteil an Haushalten, in denen der Mann der alleinige Ernährer der Familie ist, abnimmt und der Anteil an Zweiverdienerhaushalten seit Jahren ansteigt. Vor diesem Hintergrund fragt dieser Beitrag, welche Bedeutung Haushaltskontexte, in denen das traditionelle male-breadwinner Modell noch existiert bzw. bereits in Frage gestellt ist, für die Bewertung der Gerechtigkeit des eigenen Erwerbseinkommens haben. Dazu werden in einem ersten Schritt drei Beurteilungskriterien der Gerechtigkeit des eigenen Einkommens hergeleitet: Kompensation erbrachter Leistungen, Bedarfsabsicherung und Ermöglichung sozialer Wertschätzung. In einem zweiten Schritt wird erläutert, warum die Gerechtigkeitsurteile von Männern und Frauen maßgeblich von der spezifischen Situation im jeweiligen Haushalt bestimmt sind. Die daraus abgeleiteten Annahmen zu geschlechtstypischen Mustern von Gerechtigkeitseinstellungen werden mithilfe von Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels aus den Jahren 2007 und 2005 überprüft. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass in Zweiverdienerhaushalten geschlechtstypische Muster bei der Bewertung des eigenen Einkommens verringert und verstärkt werden: Verringert werden sie, weil Frauen in Zweiverdienerhaushalten höhere Ansprüche an ihr Lohnniveau haben, und verstärkt werden sie, weil Männer die Bewertung ihres Erwerbseinkommens davon abhängig machen, ob es sie in die Lage versetzt, den traditionellen Geschlechternormen und den darin transportierten Vorstellungen über "Männlichkeit" entsprechen zu können.Einkommensgerechtigkeit, Geschlecht, Zweiverdienerhaushalte, Geschlechternormen, fairness, equity, inequality, pay differentials, dual-earner households, gender, gender norms