Toward sport reform: hegemonic masculinity and reconceptualizing competition

Hegemonic masculinity, a framework where stereotypically masculine traits are over-emphasized, plays a central role in sport, partly due to an excessive focus on winning. This type of masculinity marginalizes those that do not possess specific traits, including many women and men. I argue sport reform focused on mitigating hypercompetitive attitudes can reduce this harmful and marginalizing hegemonic masculinity in sport. I make this argument first by challenging the dichotomous nature of sport, especially in recognizing that all outcomes are a blend of winning and losing, that ties are relevant and informative outcomes to contests, and that winning and losing do not always tell accurate stories of the outcome. Secondly, I contend that expanding the potential outcomes in sport can help broaden the emphasis of competitive sport to take into account playing well and improving, in terms of both the test and the contest. I conclude that these reforms decrease hegemonic masculinity, making sport better for all.     

Correction to: Content valuation strategies for digital subscription platforms

Journal of Cultural Economics - A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-021-09408-5     

Counseling disabled persons throughout the period of further education and training

In this paper the special problems and needs of disabled adults during vocational rehabilitation in rehabilitation centers will be analyzed. For this purpose, the goals and measures of ideal counseling in regard to vocational choice, work and training adjustment, and social adjustment are compared with the results of evaluation studies and studies with drop-outs of these facilities. Conclusions are derived by which measures counselors can contribute essentially to the disabled trainees being better enabled to handle their adjustment problems more effectively.Paper presented at the International Round Table for the Advancement of Counseling Consultation on Counseling Disabled People and their Families, July 4–8, 1987, Vienna, Austria.     

‘It is the research of self experience’: feeling the value in action research

This article tells the story of an attempt to bring about major educational reform of the curriculum and educational values in Kazakhstan, using action research as part of that process. The article begins with a brief and selective review of the literature on aspects of emotion and moves to an account of the context and history of the reforms, before focusing on the ‘self experience’ of the participants and the authors. Emotion, its centrality and the interrelationship of three areas – the nature of teaching and teacher learning, the process of change and the experience of research – are explored in relation to reform and action research. The paper concludes with a reflection on the implications for the use of action research as a strategy for reform.     

From Treading Water to Smooth Sailing: Mentoring for New Academic Librarians

The two authors were paired as part of a formal mentoring program for orientation and to prepare for eventual promotion and tenure. One author has over twenty-five years’ experience on campus, and the other author has completed one year in her current position. During that first year, various themes emerged to remind both librarians that the more things change, the more they remain the same. As the mentoring experience evolved, it became difficult to distinguish the mentor from the mentee because both librarians understood that discussing common issues was mutually beneficial.     

A variant within the AQP1 3ʹ-untranslated region is associated with running performance,but not weight changes,during an Ironman Triathlon

The objective of this study was to test the association of the rs1049305 (G > C) variant within the 3?-untranslated region of the aquaporin 1 gene, AQP1, with changes in body weight, post-race serum sodium concentration and performance in Ironman triathletes. Five hundred and four male Ironman triathletes were genotyped for the rs1049305 variant within the AQP1 gene. Change in pre- and post-race body weight was calculated for 470 triathletes and used as a proxy for changes in body fluid during the race, as well as to divide triathletes into biologically relevant weight-loss groups (0–3%, 3–5% and >5%). There were no rs1049305 genotype effects on post-race serum sodium concentrations (P = 0.647), pre-race weight (P = 0.610) nor relative weight change during the Ironman Triathlons (P = 0.705). In addition, there were no significant differences in genotype (P = 0.640) nor allele (P = 0.643) distributions between the weight loss groups. However, triathletes who carry a C-allele were found to complete the 42.2-km run stage faster (mean 286, s = 49 min) than triathletes with a GG genotype (mean 296, s = 47 min; P = 0.032). The AQP1 rs1049305 variant is associated with running performance, but not relative body weight change, during the 2000, 2001 and 2006 South African Ironman Triathlons.