Gendered inequalities in competitive grant funding: an overlooked dimension of gendered power relations in academia

ABSTRACT

Research grant funding influences the organisation of academic work and academic careers. We problematise general approaches to gender bias in research grant funding and argue that it fails to include the wider structures of inequality and the unequal gendered power relations in academia. Approaching the subject with gender budgeting we challenge assumed gender-neutral practices. The objective is to illuminate how the gendered funding system and (the previous and subsequent) gendered structures of academia are maintained. The whole grants scheme is assessed, drawing on statistical data collected on the whole population of a medium-size, comprehensive research and educational institution in Iceland, and two types of competitive grants. The data is measured against the pool of applicants and comparisons within and between fields and ranks are made. By including the structures of inequality and the gendered power relations, the results show how the funding system is biased not only in favour of men, but towards the male-dominated and culturally masculine positions and fields. This approach illustrates the need to address the whole academic system in order to challenge the norms that maintain and reproduce gender inequalities.     

Weeding with Wisdom: Tuning Deselection of Print Monographs in Book-Reliant Disciplines

As university libraries transition to digital collections and new services, their book deselection projects often lead to the adoption of cross-discipline quantitative weeding criteria (such as age and low circulation) in the interest of speed and presumed fairness. Cross-discipline quantitative rubrics, however, can have unintended negative consequences when applied to disciplines such as history and literature that rely on older books with low circulation statistics. The authors argue for a discipline-differentiated approach to weeding academic library collections that can employ quantitative criteria for disciplines, such as in the sciences, that are more reliant on current materials and qualitative criteria for disciplines, such as in the humanities, whose scholars benefit from ready access to older and low-use books.     

Closing the PDF gap: ReadCube’s experiments in reader‐focused design

Key points

• Twenty years ago, a fraction of articles were paired with supplements; now, one in five research stories go beyond PDF.
• Why has the evolution of research content's delivery vehicles lagged behind the evolution of the research story?
• Hyperlinked in‐line references are the most used feature of the Enhanced PDF – exposing faster, easier ways to follow the path of research.
• Discovery need not start and end with the search engine – it can start within the PDF itself.
• Discovery is not a solitary process; therefore, content platforms must support collaboration to drive readership.

     

Relationships amongst cultural dimensions,educational expenditure and class size of different nations

Many studies have concentrated on investigating educational expenditure and pupil–teacher ratio to see how these two factors can influence the quality of education. This study chooses to examine these two educational factors from a different perspective. If educational expenditure and pupil–teacher ratio really have a significant impact on the quality of education as many studies have claimed, it is important to step back and understand why some regions choose to have high/low educational expenditure and high/low pupil–teacher ratios. This study found that culture has an important impact on these two educational factors. Hofstede's cultural dimensions, namely Power Distance and Individualism, were applied and results showed that these two cultural dimensions, when applied to 43 regions around the world, demonstrated a significant impact on educational expenditure and pupil–teacher ratio.     

学龄前双语聋童课堂教学评析

近年来,欧美一些国家积极倡导聋童双语教育,我国也于十年前开始聋童双语教育实验.最近由中国和挪威研究人员组成研究小组,对某省5所聋校进行了学龄前双语班课堂教学评估,重在分析课堂中教师与儿童的互动水平.研究将课堂教学行为分为不同类型,进行定时观察记录,并结合访谈和现场观察等方法共同分析.研究认为,教师在课堂中具有高控制性,儿童与教师、儿童与儿童之问语言交流空间少,聋人教师未能充分发挥作用,不同学校之间存在明显差异.     

动物也友善?

人类有一套道德准则,(美国)科罗拉多大学的动物行为专家马克·贝可夫说。如果我不按某种方式办事,你就不会跟我玩了。有些动物也有同样的准则。     

Pupillary and Attentional Responses to Infant Facial Expressions in Mothers Across Socioeconomic Variations

Maternal responses to infant facial expressions were examined in two socioeconomically diverse samples of South African mothers (Study I, N = 111; and Study II, N = 214; age: 17–44 years) using pupil and gaze tracking. Study I showed increased pupil response to infant distress expressions in groups recruited from private as compared to public maternity clinics, possibly reflecting underlying differences in socioeconomic status (SES) across the groups. Study II, sampling uniformly low-SES neighborhoods, found increased pupil dilation and faster orientation to expressions of infant distress, but only in the highest income group. These results are consistent with maternal physiological and attentional sensitivity to infant distress cues but challenge the universality of this sensitivity across socioeconomic diversity.     

From the Adam Smith Institute to the Zapatistas: An Internet Gateway to all development knowledge

This article critically examines a major World Bank Internet initiative, the Development Gateway. It describes the importance of the World Bank as the Knowledge Bank and the threats posed by the Internet to its near monopoly of development thinking. The Bank's Gateway plan attempts to bring together views of all stakeholders on a large number of topics at both global and country level. The article argues that this effort is naive, impossible and dangerous. The initiative, which will marginalise dissident and minority views, reveals biases and misunderstandings in the World Bank's overall approach to knowledge for development.     

Allergies and Learning Disabilities: A Status Report

This literature review examines the relationship between allergies and learning disabilities. Do allergies cause learning disabilities and related behavioural difficulties? The existing research is summarized and evaluated. The authors conclude that the role that allergies play in LD is complex and interrelated with other factors.