Addressing gender inequality: Stumbling blocks and roads ahead

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record.Despite many positive changes in terms of gender equality in recent decades, women remain underrepresented in positions of power and prestige, and continue to shoulder disproportionate amounts of unpaid domestic labor. This special issue brings together an examination of the different ways in which gender inequality can be addressed, the efficacy of such approaches, and the consequences these approaches can have. In this introduction to the special issue, we discuss the focus of past and present gender research and outline issues which have received less attention. We further give an overview of the papers in this special issue, which focus on a diverse range of ways in which gender inequality can be addressed, such as collective action, workplace diversity initiatives and parental leave policies, gender-fair language, and government policies. Taken together, these papers illustrate (a) the importance of ensuring that initiatives are evidence-based, (b) the ways in which we can maximize the effectiveness of interventions, and (c) the need to understand when these initiatives may inadvertently backfire.This work was supported in part by a European Commission Grant (725128) awarded to the second author

The effects of gender trouble: An integrative theoretical framework of the perpetuation and disruption of the gender/sex binary

This is the final version. Available on open access from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordIn the Western world, gender has traditionally been viewed as binary and as following directly from biological sex. These views are slowly changing, both among experts and the general public, a change that has been met with strong opposition. In this paper, we explore the psychological processes underlying these dynamics. Drawing on Butler’s (1990) work on gender performativity as well as Goffman’s (1956) work on gender as a performance, we develop a psychological framework of the perpetuation and disruption of the gender/sex binary on a stage that facilitates and foregrounds binary gender/sex performance. Whenever character, costume, and script are not aligned the gender/sex binary is disrupted and gender trouble ensues. We integrate various strands of the psychological literature into this framework and explain the processes underlying these reactions. We propose that gender trouble can elicit threat: personal threat, group-based and identity threat, and system threat, which in turn lead to efforts to alleviate this threat through reinforcement of the gender/sex binary. Our framework challenges the way psychologists have traditionally treated gender/sex in theory and empirical work and proposes new avenues and implications for future research

Should I stay or should I go? Implications of maternity leave choice for perceptions of working mothers

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Working mothers often find themselves in a difficult situation when trying to balance work and family responsibilities and to manage expectations about their work and parental effectiveness. Family-friendly policies such as maternity leave have been introduced to address this issue. But how are women who then make the decision to go or not go on maternity leave evaluated? We presented 296 employed participants with information about a woman who made the decision to take maternity leave or not, or about a control target for whom this decision was not relevant, and asked them to evaluate her both in the work and the family domain. We found that both decisions had negative consequences, albeit in different domains. While the woman taking maternity leave was evaluated more negatively in the work domain, the woman deciding against maternity leave was evaluated more negatively in the family domain. These evaluations were mediated by perceptions of work/family commitment priorities. We conclude that while it is important to introduce policies that enable parents to reconcile family and work demands, decisions about whether to take advantage of these policies can have unintended consequences – consequences that can complicate women's efforts to balance work and childcare responsibilities

Gender Trouble and Social Psychology: How can Butler’s work inform experimental social psychologists’ conceptualization of gender?

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Frontiers Media via the DOI in this record.A quarter of a century ago, philosopher Judith Butler (1990) called upon society to create “gender trouble” by disrupting the binary view of sex, gender, and sexuality. She argued that gender, rather than being an essential quality following from biological sex, or an inherent identity, is an act which grows out of, reinforces, and is reinforced by, societal norms and creates the illusion of binary sex. Despite the fact that Butler’s philosophical approach to understanding gender has many resonances with a large body of gender research being conducted by social psychologists, little theorizing and research within experimental social psychology has drawn directly on Butler’s ideas. In this paper, we will discuss how Butler’s ideas can add to experimental social psychologists’ understanding of gender. We describe the Butler’s ideas from Gender Trouble and discuss the ways in which they fit with current conceptualizations of gender in experimental social psychology. We then propose a series of new research questions that arise from this integration of Butler’s work and the social psychological literature. Finally, we suggest a number of concrete ways in which experimental social psychologists can incorporate notions of gender performativity and gender trouble into the ways in which they research gender.This work was supported in part by a European Commission Grant (725128) awarded to the second author

Quotas and affirmative action: Understanding group-based outcomes and attitudes

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.More and more countries are adopting quotas to increase group-based equality in the boardroom and the political sphere. Nevertheless, affirmative action in general, and quotas in particular, remain a highly controversial subject – eliciting negative reactions from privileged groups, while support among minority and lower-status groups is generally higher. Focusing on gender, we take a broad approach to the topic and discuss (a) the effects of quotas and affirmative action on the underrepresentation of minority groups and on perceptions of their competence, (b) the effects of quotas and affirmative action on organisational performance, and (c) predictors of attitudes towards affirmative action and quotas. We conclude that the benefits of quotas outweigh their costs and that they are an effective way of tackling group-based inequality. We also discuss strategies that can be used to elicit more support among those groups that are particularly critical of quotas

What is a True Gamer? The Male Gamer Stereotype and the Marginalization of Women in Video Game Culture

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.Women and men play video games in approximately equal numbers. Despite this similarity, video gaming is still strongly associated with men. A common justification for this stereotype is that, although women might play games, they should not be considered “true” or “hard-core” gamers because they play more casually and less skillfully compared to their male counterparts. In this contribution, we review the existing literature on gender and gaming to investigate the male gamer stereotype in terms of its accuracy, persistence, effects, and future perspective. We conclude that the stereotype varies in accuracy depending on the definition of “gamer.” We further argue that the persistence of this stereotype can be explained by the fact that almost all professional and highly visible figures in gaming culture are male. On the other hand, female players who achieve a moderate level of competence are rendered invisible or are actively marginalized. We argue that the effects of the male gamer stereotype can be harmful to women, precluding them from the positive outcomes of video game play such as enhanced access to fields of science, technology, and engineering

Understanding sexual prejudice: The role of political ideology and strategic essentialism

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Despite the increased visibility and acceptance of the LGBTQ community, sexual minorities continue to face prejudice and discrimination in many domains. Past research has shown that this prejudice is more prevalent among those holding conservative political views. In two studies, we merge strategic essentialism and motivated ideology theoretical perspectives to empirically investigate the link between political orientation and sexual prejudice. More specifically, we examine how conservatives strategically use different forms of essentialism to support their views of gay individuals and their reactions to messages aimed at changing essentializing beliefs. In Study 1 (N = 220), we demonstrate that conservatives endorse social essentialism (i.e. the belief that gay and straight people are fundamentally different from each other) more than liberals do. In turn, they blame gay individuals more for their sexual orientation and show more prejudice towards them. At the same time, conservatives endorse trait essentialism (i.e. the belief that sexual orientation is a fixed attribute that cannot be changed) less than liberals do, which in turn predicts greater levels of blame and prejudice for conservatives relative to liberals. In Study 2 (N = 217), we additionally show that conservatives, but not liberals, are resistant to messages aimed at increasing trait essentialism and reducing prejudice toward sexual minorities. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings

A Comprehensive Measure of Attitudes and Behaviour: Development of the Support for Gender Equality among Men Scale (article)

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordThe datasets associated with this article are located in ORE at: https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.1805, https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.1806, https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.1807, https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.1808, and https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.1809In this paper, we develop and validate the 16-item Support for Gender Equality among Men Scale (SGEMS) across four studies. Drawing on exploratory (Study 1, n = 322) and confirmatory (Study 2, n = 358; Study 4, n = 192) factor analysis, we determine a two-factor structure: public and domestic support for gender equality. In Study 3 (n = 146) and Study 4, we validate the scale by establishing its relationship with, among others, several prominent measures of sexism, a behavioural measure, and social desirability. The scale fills a psychometric gap in the literature: To date, no validated measure of support for gender equality, measuring both attitudes and behavioural intentions and focusing specifically on men, exists. Considering the recent increase in interest in men as allies of the feminist movement the scale functions as a useful tool to explore the topic in depth in future research.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Sex, Drugs, and Reckless Driving: Are Measures Biased Toward Identifying Risk-Taking in Men?

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record.We investigated whether risk-taking measures inadvertently focus on behaviors that are more normative for men, resulting in the overestimation of gender differences. Using a popular measure of risk-taking (Domain-Specific Risk-Taking) in Study 1 (N = 99), we found that conventionally used behaviors were more normative for men, while, overall, newly developed behaviors were not. In Studies 2 (N = 114) and 3 (N = 124), we demonstrate that differences in normativity are reflected in gender differences in self-reported risk-taking, which are dependent on the specific items used. Study 3 further demonstrates that conventional, masculine risk behaviors are perceived as more risky than newly generated, more feminine items, even when risks are matched. We conclude that there is confirmation bias in risk-taking measurement.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by an internal competitive grant from the Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne, awarded to Cordelia Fine, who is also grateful for the support of the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia. This work was also supported by an internal competitive grant from the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, awarded to Thekla Morgenroth and Michelle Ryan. Michelle Ryan was also supported by a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowshi

Sensor setpoints that ensure compliance with microbial water quality targets for membrane bioreactor and chlorination treatment in on-site water reuse systems

Widespread implementation of on-site water reuse systems is hindered by the limited ability to ensure the level of treatment and protection of human health during operation. In this study, we tested the ability of five commercially available online sensors (free chlorine (FC), oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), pH, turbidity, UV absorbance at 254 nm) to predict the microbial water quality in membrane bioreactors followed by chlorination using logistic regression-based and mechanism-based models. The microbial water quality was assessed in terms of removal of enteric bacteria from the wastewater, removal of enteric viruses, and regrowth of bacteria in the treated water. We found that FC and ORP alone could predict the microbial water quality well, with ORP-based models generally performing better. We further observed that prediction accuracy did not increase when data from multiple sensors were integrated. We propose a methodology to link online sensor measurements to risk-based water quality targets, providing operation setpoints protective of human health for specific combinations of wastewaters and reuse applications. For instance, we recommend a minimum ORP of 705 mV to ensure a virus log-removal of 5, and an ORP of 765 mV for a log-removal of 6. These setpoints were selected to ensure that the percentage of events where the water is predicted to meet the quality target but it does not remains below 5%. Such a systematic approach to set sensor setpoints could be used in the development of water reuse guidelines and regulations that aim to cover a range of reuse applications with differential risks to human health. © 2022 The Author(s