Be an Advocate for Others, Unless You Are a Man: Backlash Against Gender-Atypical Male Job Candidates

Previous research shows that gender vanguards (individuals who demonstrate gender-atypical skills and behavior) suffer backlash in the form of social and economic penalties (Rudman & Phelan, 2008). This study examined backlash against female and male job applicants who were either gender-atypical or typical. Professionals (N = 149) evaluated female or male managerial applicants for internal promotion described in their performance review as showing either self-advocacy or advocacy on behalf of their team. Atypical, other-advocating men were judged to be low on agency and competence and penalized with job dismissal. Serial mediation analysis demonstrated that, compared with other-advocating women, other-advocating men were perceived to lack agency, which contributed to a perceived loss of competence that ultimately led to greater penalties. The implications of these findings for contemporary leadership theories and men’s and women’s professional success in the workplace are discussed

Problem-Based Learning as an Authentic Assessment Method

Traditional learning and assessment typically focus on students being told what to do, memorising it, and the teacher assigning a problem on how to use it (Savery, 2006). By contrast, in problem-based learning (PBL) and assessment a problem is assigned to a group or individual, the teacher then facilitates the students’ learning as they identify what they need to know, and the students learn and apply a solution to the problem (Savery, 2006). PBL was developed and pioneered by Barrows and Tamblyn in McMaster University as part of the Medical School programme due to students’ lack of application of their learning and disengagement with traditional teaching methods. Although primarily used in STEMM education, PBL has been found to be very effective in other areas of education and continues to be widely used in higher education (Dolmans et al., 2005). Given the evidence that PBL is an effective approach to learning, this report examines PBL as an alternative and more authentic assessment than the current exam-driven approach in a business school context. In this project, we examined three questions: (1) Is PBL an authentic assessment and alternative to the exam approach? (2) Does PBL help students in the development of DIT graduate attributes and research skills? (3) Is PBL useable and useful in the business school context? In analysing these three questions, we provide evidence based on the literature that PBL is an effective and authentic alternative to exam assessments and is adaptable to the business school context. In today’s ever changing and fast paced world, it is important that we have a learning approach and assessment that reflects the complexity of this new context (Awang & Ramly, 2008). Whilst exam-driven approaches focus on learning content, modern and novel approaches like PBL focus on both process and content. In doing so, students develop a more whole holistic approach to the topic that incorporates teamwork, originality and understanding. Similarly, in recent years, employers’ desired graduate attributes have shifted from specific to broader transferable skills such as communication skills, critical thinking, research skills etc. However, according to the World Economic Forum (2015), Ireland had lower percentages of critical thinking and creativity compared to other OECD countries. Thus, it is essential to develop a learning strategy that includes authentic assessment that is suitable and can adapt to the changing world of learning and work

Hierarchy enhancing vs. hierarchy attenuating: do men and women differ in their preferences for leadership roles

Building on the role congruity (Eagly & Karau, 2002) and goal congruity perspectives (Diekman et al., 2011), the present research investigated gender differences in leadership aspirations and leadership role preferences amongst Irish university business students. Specifically, the author examined whether greater importance assigned to communal goals by women underlies the greater preference that women, compared with men, show for hierarchy-attenuating than -enhancing leadership roles. Studies 1 and 2 tested the mediating role of goals in the relationship between gender and leadership role preferences. Study 3 examined perceived goal affordance for hierarchy-attenuating and -enhancing leadership roles. Study 4 examined the effect of activating communal or agentic goals on participants’ leadership role preference. Studies 1 and 2 showed that men and women did not differ in leadership aspirations. However, women more than men, preferred hierarchy-attenuating leadership roles, with perceived importance of communal goals mediating this relationship. Study 3 showed that hierarchy-attenuating leadership roles were perceived as affording communal goals more than hierarchy-enhancing leadership roles. Similarly, hierarchy-enhancing leadership roles were perceived as affording agentic goals more than hierarchy-attenuating leadership roles. Study 4 showed that participants in the communal goal condition, more than participants in the control condition, preferred hierarchy-attenuating leadership roles. There was no difference found for leadership role preference between participants in the agentic goal condition and the control condition. Overall, results suggest that women, compared with men, are more likely to prefer a leadership role which affords their communal life goals. Therefore the current research provides insight into men and women’s leadership aspirations and leadership role preference and further supports and extends the goal congruity perspective in the new domain of leadership. Implications for future research include examining leadership aspirations longitudinally and further examination of the process behind women’s preference for hierarchy attenuating leadership roles

Be an advocate for others, unless you are a man: backlash against gender-atypical male job candidates

Previous research shows that gender vanguards (individuals who demonstrate genderatypical skills and behavior) suffer backlash in the form of social and economic penalties (Rudman & Phelan, 2008). This study examined backlash against female and male job applicants who were either gender-atypical or typical. Professionals (N = 149) evaluated female or male managerial applicants for internal promotion described in their performance review as showing either self-advocacy or advocacy on behalf of their team. Atypical, other-advocating men were judged to be low on agency and competence and penalized with job dismissal. Serial mediation analysis demonstrated that, compared with other-advocating women, other-advocating men were perceived to lack agency, which contributed to a perceived loss of competence that ultimately led to greater penalties. The implications of these findings for contemporary leadership theories and men’s and women’s professional success in the workplace are discussed

Be an Advocate for Others, Unless You Are a Man: Backlash Against Gender-Atypical Male Job Candidates

Previous research shows that gender vanguards (individuals who demonstrate gender-atypical skills and behavior) suffer backlash in the form of social and economic penalties (Rudman & Phelan, 2008). This study examined backlash against female and male job applicants who were either gender-atypical or typical. Professionals (N = 149) evaluated female or male managerial applicants for internal promotion described in their performance review as showing either self-advocacy or advocacy on behalf of their team. Atypical, other-advocating men were judged to be low on agency and competence and penalized with job dismissal. Serial mediation analysis demonstrated that, compared with other-advocating women, other-advocating men were perceived to lack agency, which contributed to a perceived loss of competence that ultimately led to greater penalties. The implications of these findings for contemporary leadership theories and men’s and women’s professional success in the workplace are discussed

Fairness and Inclusion for Users of Surface Transport—An Exploratory Thematic Study for Irish Users

This paper explores the conditions of public transport with respect to user accessibility, design of infrastructure, and safety from a gendered perspective. Our investigation aims to understand the factors that direct a citizen’s choice of whether or not to use public transport. Our discussion is focused on gender disparities among user experiences, so we confine our focus to that of women’s perspectives and their experiences with public transport use. A framework for our discussion was formed with consideration of the theoretical aspects of fairness, justice, and gender in transport, as well as user statistics. We identified several spaces where public transport policy planning and implementation may be improved in order to balance gender disparity of access, safety, and security across the gender divide. (We acknowledge that both distinct and interchangeable definitions of safety and security exist. In this work, we err to the latter, while also recognising from user-based qualitative data that safety concerns are not limited to infrastructure, but also relate to other unwanted sources of physical, mental, or emotional harm experienced within the transport system.) Primary among these was the necessity of both the acknowledgment and appreciation of the issues disproportionately experienced by women. A one-size-fits-all approach was found to ill-recognise the societal minutiae of constant caring responsibilities, income limitations, ability/disability, or the effects of past negative experiences faced by women. We conclude that improvements may be achieved by targeting and meeting actual, not just perceived need

Seasonal Patterns of Body Temperature Daily Rhythms in Group-Living Cape Ground Squirrels Xerus inauris

Organisms respond to cyclical environmental conditions by entraining their endogenous biological rhythms. Such physiological responses are expected to be substantial for species inhabiting arid environments which incur large variations in daily and seasonal ambient temperature (Ta). We measured core body temperature (Tb) daily rhythms of Cape ground squirrels Xerus inauris inhabiting an area of Kalahari grassland for six months from the Austral winter through to the summer. Squirrels inhabited two different areas: an exposed flood plain and a nearby wooded, shady area, and occurred in different social group sizes, defined by the number of individuals that shared a sleeping burrow. Of a suite of environmental variables measured, maximal daily Ta provided the greatest explanatory power for mean Tb whereas sunrise had greatest power for Tb acrophase. There were significant changes in mean Tb and Tb acrophase over time with mean Tb increasing and Tb acrophase becoming earlier as the season progressed. Squirrels also emerged from their burrows earlier and returned to them later over the measurement period. Greater increases in Tb, sometimes in excess of 5°C, were noted during the first hour post emergence, after which Tb remained relatively constant. This is consistent with observations that squirrels entered their burrows during the day to ‘offload’ heat. In addition, greater Tb amplitude values were noted in individuals inhabiting the flood plain compared with the woodland suggesting that squirrels dealt with increased environmental variability by attempting to reduce their Ta-Tb gradient. Finally, there were significant effects of age and group size on Tb with a lower and less variable Tb in younger individuals and those from larger group sizes. These data indicate that Cape ground squirrels have a labile Tb which is sensitive to a number of abiotic and biotic factors and which enables them to be active in a harsh and variable environment

Psychometric Properties and Correlates of Precarious Manhood Beliefs in 62 Nations

Precarious manhood beliefs portray manhood, relative to womanhood, as a social status that is hard to earn, easy to lose, and proven via public action. Here, we present cross-cultural data on a brief measure of precarious manhood beliefs (the Precarious Manhood Beliefs scale [PMB]) that covaries meaningfully with other cross-culturally validated gender ideologies and with country-level indices of gender equality and human development. Using data from university samples in 62 countries across 13 world regions (N = 33,417), we demonstrate: (1) the psychometric isomorphism of the PMB (i.e., its comparability in meaning and statistical properties across the individual and country levels); (2) the PMB’s distinctness from, and associations with, ambivalent sexism and ambivalence toward men; and (3) associations of the PMB with nation-level gender equality and human development. Findings are discussed in terms of their statistical and theoretical implications for understanding widely-held beliefs about the precariousness of the male gender role

Be an advocate for others, unless you are a man: backlash against gender-atypical male job candidates

Previous research shows that gender vanguards (individuals who demonstrate genderatypical skills and behavior) suffer backlash in the form of social and economic penalties (Rudman & Phelan, 2008). This study examined backlash against female and male job applicants who were either gender-atypical or typical. Professionals (N = 149) evaluated female or male managerial applicants for internal promotion described in their performance review as showing either self-advocacy or advocacy on behalf of their team. Atypical, other-advocating men were judged to be low on agency and competence and penalized with job dismissal. Serial mediation analysis demonstrated that, compared with other-advocating women, other-advocating men were perceived to lack agency, which contributed to a perceived loss of competence that ultimately led to greater penalties. The implications of these findings for contemporary leadership theories and men’s and women’s professional success in the workplace are discussed

Be an advocate for others, unless you are a man: backlash against gender-atypical male job candidates

Previous research shows that gender vanguards (individuals who demonstrate gender-atypical skills and behavior) suffer backlash in the form of social and economic penalties (Rudman & Phelan, 2008). This study examined backlash against female and male job applicants who were either gender-atypical or typical. Professionals (N 149) evaluated female or male managerial applicants for internal promotion described in their performance review as showing either self-advocacy or advocacy on behalf of their team. Atypical, other-advocating men were judged to be low on agency and competence and penalized with job dismissal. Serial mediation analysis demonstrated that, compared with other-advocating women, other-advocating men were perceived to lack agency, which contributed to a perceived loss of compe- tence that ultimately led to greater penalties. The implications of these findings for contemporary leadership theories and men's and women's professional success in the workplace are discussed