Leadership and gender in higher education: a case study

Literature concerning leadership styles in HE provides no distinct view on whether style relates to gender. Transformational styles are regarded by some as particularly suited to times of change, and likely to be adopted by women; but others argue such styles are unsuited to HE. In a study of leadership within an institute of higher education undergoing change, transformational and transactional leadership behaviours were identified in all senior managers, male and female. However, when official communications were plotted over time, transformational attitudes were superseded by transactional. Women managers apparently identified more with male gender paradigms and displayed male-type leadership behaviours, whilst men showed female paradigm identification and female-type leadership. Additionally, managers indicated that past experience of ‘poor’ management and their subject training had greatly influenced their leadership approaches.     

Producing alternative gender orders: a critical look at girls and gaming

This article examine some of the ways in which girls are discursively set up as subordinate in relation to boys and men by and within the digital games industry and culture at large, and how they push back on these imposed subjects positions when engaging in media production (game development) under both regular and inverse conditions. Expanding on our previous research on gender and game play, this project explores how the hegemonic discourses of female participation in games culture are taken up by girls who want to make their own digital games. We employ a poststructural understanding of gender and power as fluid and produced through and within social relations to demonstrate how participants are not helpless victims of subjection. Rather, these girls are active in the construction of their own subjectivities, leveraging different aspects of their identity and/or exercising an institutionally sanctioned (albeit temporary) autonomy to resist discursive positioning.     

Exploring explanations for the gender gap in study abroad: a case study of the Netherlands

Higher Education - The overrepresentation of female students in study abroad programmes across the Western world represents one of the major gaps in scientific research on study abroad. In this...     

Constructions of Malawian boys and girls on gender and achievement

Gender differences in achievement have been widely documented and a number of feminists, particularly from the West, have used the concept of identity to explain them. This paper draws on constructions on gender and achievement generated through surveying 59 boys and 103 girls from four secondary schools, as well as interviewing 40 of the girls in order to contribute to our understanding of identity construction in an African context. The data show that the majority of boys and girls support dominant gender norms, but there is some indication of fluidity. Thus, the notion of identity formation is crucial to the analysis and interpretation of the findings, as it highlights the possibility for agency and change, since gender identities are not stable.     

Dealing with gender in the classroom: a portrayed case study of four teachers

This paper emerges from a qualitative case study that takes place in a US preschool setting and explores teachers’ influences on the construction of children’s gender identities. According to postmodern theories of gender, identity is constructed and constituted through social interactions and performances. This study focuses on the gender identities constructed as preschool teachers and students interact and learn. In this portrayed case study, we combine the methodological elements of case study and portraiture. Portraiture methods enhance the traditional case study process, authorising a more considered presentation of participants and context. Four teachers at one preschool setting are portrayed. Some of the findings include the teachers’ awareness of the importance of their interactions with students and the impact they have on students’ gender performances. We also suggest that teachers need more resources and self-awareness regarding their own gender performances; teachers’ self-knowledge may be important in disrupting gender-stereotyped teaching and social constructions, and in creating more inclusive learning spaces for all students.     

Paradox of student gender: a case study of economic education from China

In many Chinese universities and colleges, female students outperform male students in social science subjects. This paper presents a case study, which examines gender difference in economic education in a Chinese university. We look at a sample of students from the Chinese university and find that holding constant observed student characteristics, female students on average appear to earn higher scores than male students and the gender difference is primarily driven by low achieving students. We further find that the gender difference in exam scores is not because of female students' ability, family background and other unobservable student characteristics. Instead, it is simply a result of female students exerting more effort than male students. We finally explore a wide range of possible explanations for the gender difference in diligence, but find little support for any of the explanations.     

旅游开发中少数民族妇女社会角色变迁研究——基于大理新华白族旅游村的案例分析

旅游发展对云南世居少数民族妇女的影响是深刻、多样而又复杂的,随着旅游业的发展,这些影响将日益凸显并呈现新的特点。文章选择云南大理新华白族旅游村为案例,通过参与观察、深度访谈和文献研究等方法,从家庭观念、就业观念、教育观念等方面深入分析旅游开发中少数民族妇女社会角色的变迁。     

Teachers performing gender and belonging: a case study of how SENCOs narrate inclusion identities

This paper investigates how the narratives Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) tell can be framed as social, discursive practices and performances of identity by analysing accounts offered in focus groups and life history interviews. I explore how the narratives deployed demonstrate an engagement with a rhetoric about who works in inclusive education. I argue that this rhetoric informs the materialisation of what Butler terms an ‘intelligible identity’ (1993, 2004), one which might be identified as a SENCO identity because it is gendered as feminine and caring. However, I explore how some of these narratives simultaneously negotiate and refigure rhetorical constructions of intelligible identities by invoking a child-centred warrior persona to alternatively iterate belonging to the special educational needs community. Thus my analysis considers the potential for personal narratives to decouple gender from a rhetoric of caring and identifies potential alternatives for claiming a SENCO identity.     

Teachers negotiating discourses of gender (in) equality: the case of equal opportunities reform in Andalusia

This article is focused on the analysis of the narratives produced by a group of teachers, experts in coeducation, while they were discussing their everyday activities. They are responsible for the implementation of a Plan for Gender Equality in public secondary schools in Andalusia (Spain). This study is based on contributions about doing gender view, according to which gender is not an attribute of individuals, but a way of making sense of interactions and practising a complex system as functioning on three levels: sociocultural, interactional, and individual. We use these levels to understand gender culture in schools through teachers’ discourse. Our interest lies particularly in the meanings, contradictions, difficulties, and conflicts experienced by expert teachers in co-education. Our study was based on group discussions with teachers in charge of the plan for equal opportunities between women and men in school settings. Results show teachers’ conflicts about meanings and how they are supposed to apply the Equality Plan. We observed interactional levels during these conflicts and analysed how teachers construct and validate their discourse.     

新常态下外来人口对交通拥堵影响的实证研究——以北京市为例

通过选取1996—2015年北京市外来人口和衡量交通拥堵水平的数据,建立向量自回归(VAR)模型,并运用脉冲响应函数和方差分解方法实证分析外来人口对交通拥堵的影响机制。研究结果表明:外来人口对路段车流量的影响存在拐点效应,即外来人口在短期内对车流量的贡献表现出明显的上升趋势,当车流量达到路段负荷时,这一影响会逐渐减弱。同时外来人口对拥堵路段呈现出V型曲线收敛路径,即短期内外来人口对交通拥堵的刺激作用明显。     

Perspectives on literacy,gender and change: a case for Zambia

This study examines illiterate participants' perceptions of literacy training that was conducted after 6-12 months of training in one urban Copperbelt province and one center in rural Luapula province in Zambia. Interviews were conducted among 29 female and 11 male participants and 15 male and 3 female officials. Analysis is based on interviews, observations, and written records. The researcher identified five broad areas of change: affective, attitudinal, pedagogic, economic, and sociopolitical. This study shows that literacy in rural areas is beneficial to people personally, to gender relations, and to socioeconomic development. The findings support the arguments advanced by Rockhill (1987), Bhola (1981), Freire (1970), and Nyerere (1978) about the need to reduce the fears and insecurities associated with being illiterate and the gain from developing people and not just production. The literacy training did not enrich people culturally nor did it alleviate poverty; it concentrated on integrating people into new modes of production. Affective changes included changes in self-esteem and feeling happier. Attitudinal changes included positive learning experiences about child care among both men and women. Nutrition and sanitation improved. Couples reported a greater effort at demonstrating polite behavior and respect toward each other. Literacy increased their status among friends and was accepted in steps, such as being proud of knowing how to write their name. Some participants changed their attitudes toward family planning, and clinic attendance increased. Literacy gave some more confidence and awareness of social relations. Literacy helped read seed and fertilizer labels. Lack of reading materials was a problem. Participants reported reading the Bible and magazines and writing letters. Participants tended to participate in church or literacy groups rather than political ones.     

Engineering,technology and science disciplines and gender difference: a case study among Indian students

It is proposed to examine the argument that females cannot perform better in engineering and science fields because of their poor mathematical or logical reasoning. The major reason for the reduced number of females in the above fields in India is the socio-cultural aversion towards females choosing the field and restriction in providing higher education for them by their parents. The present study shows that the females who get the opportunity to study engineering and science perform equal to or better than their male counterparts. An analysis of CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) of 2631 students who have completed their engineering or science programme in one of the top engineering colleges in India for five years shows that female academic performance is equal to or better than that of males. Mathematical, logical, verbal and mechanical reasoning are tested while calculating CGPA.     

The policyscape of transgender equality and gender diversity in the Western Australian education system: a case study

ABSTRACT

In this paper, our purpose is to investigate policy informing texts and discourses referencing transgender equality and gender diversity in the Western Australian education system. Drawing on scholarship from transgender, queer and policy studies, we highlight the interplay of progressive and conservative forces affecting the Western Australian education system’s commitment to supporting transgender and gender non-binary students. Based on a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) project, the paper constructs a Western Australian case study, which threads together the critical examination of policy informing texts, qualitative interview data and media discourses surrounding public narratives, such as the Safe School Coalition Australia’s attempt to implement a school program, which builds awareness about gender and sexual diversity. Emerging through the material, discursive and spatial elements of locales and networks, our case study has the potential to deepen knowledge regarding the heuristic capacity of employing policyscape as an analytic category. In this vein, we draw attention to the possibilities and challenges for re-conceptualizing gender and providing trans-affirmative school spaces that promote equality.     

Neo-democracy in educational policy-making: a critical case study of neoliberal reform in Massachusetts

This paper explores changes to the educational policy-making arena through case study analysis of a Massachusetts law passed in 2012 that limits seniority-based job protections for public K-12 teachers. I use data from interviews with policy stakeholders, observations of public meetings, and policy artifacts to explore struggles over democratic engagement in what unfolded as a highly undemocratic policy development process. Using the policy cycle framework, I explore the ways that political pressure and political discourses shaped the policy development process through various contexts of political struggle. Ultimately, I argue that the case is indicative of what I am calling ‘neo-democratic’ decision-making, in which high-level interest group conflict leads to narrow forms of democratic engagement.     

Counseling sexually abused girls: the impact of sex of counselor

OBJECTIVE: The present study was conducted to assess the impact of sex of counselor on the therapeutic process for sexually abused girls in individual counseling. METHOD: Raters evaluated videotapes of counseling sessions recorded for 35 sexually abused girls who had been systematically assigned to brief-term psychoeducationally oriented treatment with either a male or female counselor. Clients' in-session behavior was rated using accepted therapeutic process measures, while statistically controlling for the effect of girls' pretreatment comfort level with male and female counselors. RESULTS: Overall, MANCOVA results revealed that girls' participation in counseling was not significantly related to session number, the child's age (i.e., preadolescent vs. adolescent), or the sex of counselor who provided treatment services. However, univariate results and graphic representations of girls' behavior suggest that adolescent clients, when compared with their preadolescent counterparts, seemed to be more reluctant to discuss certain child sexual abuse topics. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that caution is warranted regarding categorical recommendations on the assignment of young female survivors to male counselors. Delimitations and limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.     

Teacher development under curriculum reform: a case study of a secondary school in mainland China

In 2003, a curriculum reform of education was initiated in mainland China to improve the quality of senior secondary education. The major purpose of this reform was to move from a teacher-centred to a student-centred approach in teaching. In order to find out how teachers coped with the challenges of the reform and how their work was affected, an in-depth study was conducted at a senior secondary school in City B, Guangdong, using qualitative research. While the curriculum reform was found to offer teachers an opportunity for re-professionalisation, teacher development in the sample school was revealed as having changed towards an assigned professionalism. In addition, teaching research officers limited themselves to instruction on practical teaching techniques. Furthermore, the existence of teacher leadership on a subject panel was heavily dependent on the panel head’s leadership style. On the whole, the tendency was for teachers to be explicitly instructed to partake in contrived collegiality and imposed reflection.     

School attainment and gender: Attitudes of Kenyan and Malawian parents toward educating girls

This paper compares the attitudes of Kenyan and Malawian rural parents to educating girls, using perceptions of gender-specific academic potential, educational aspirations and opinions on the gender appropriateness of primary school subjects and various careers. Suggestions are offered as to how these attitudes affect girls' educational attainment. The paper closes with a discussion of the ways that parents' attitudes affect girls' completion of primary school in Malawi and how the high wastage rate might be cut.     

Teacher development under curriculum reform: a case study of a secondary school in mainland China

International Review of Education - In 2003, a curriculum reform of education was initiated in mainland China to improve the quality of senior secondary education. The major purpose of this reform...