Framing inclusive innovation within the discourse of development: Insights from case studies in India

The concept of ‘inclusive innovation’ for development has become increasingly prominent in both academic and policy discourses, raising important questions as to how this is being framed. Results from case studies conducted in India suggest inclusive innovation to be interpretively flexible and contested. One case presents a grassroots framing emphasising social and political empowerment, rooted in community self-sufficiency, autonomy and traditional belief systems. In contrast, the other cases co-opt the language of inclusion to present a predominantly market-based framing, heavily emphasising market readiness and participation. This framing is transforming rural social practices (including the organisation of space and time, the meaning of production and the role of women), introducing the potential for market dependency.     

Digital Games, Gender and Learning in Engineering: Do Females Benefit as Much as Males?

The aim of this paper was to explore whether there is a gender difference in the beneficial effects of Racing Academy, which is a video game used to support undergraduate students learning of Mechanical Engineering. One hundred and thirty-eight undergraduate students (15 females and 123 males) participated in the study. The students completed a pre-test a week before they started using Racing Academy. The pre-test consisted of a test of students’ knowledge of engineering, and a measure of students’ motivation towards studying engineering. A week after using Racing Academy the students completed a post-test which was identical to the pre-test, except it also included a measure of how frequently they used Racing Academy and how motivating the students found playing Racing Academy. We found that after playing Racing Academy the students learnt more about engineering and there was no gender difference in the beneficial effect of Racing Academy, however there is some evidence that, female students found Racing Academy more motivating than male students. The implications for the use and design of video games for supporting learning for both males and females are discussed.     

How do we defeat the ‘dark side’? Analysing a call to tackle lad culture at a UK university

Extensive feminist critique of lad culture has raised serious concerns about its role in the sexualisation and objectification of women; its association with ‘pack-like’ boisterous behaviour and pressured heavy drinking of alcohol; and its use of banter, irony and infantile humour to provide a protective shield for sexist and homophobic practices. These concerns have culminated in the National Union of Students calling for lad culture to be tackled on university campuses in the UK. This article analyses how the call to tackle lad culture was represented in a student newspaper and made sense of by groups of male students at one university in Southern England. The findings identify three interpretative repertoires, one aligned with feminist critiques, with lad culture constructed as a series of harmful and unacceptable social practices; the other two, critical of feminist-aligned critiques, deployed rhetorical strategies to distinguish a ‘light’ side of lad culture from a ‘dark’ side, and disavow the ‘dark’ side by claiming it was performed by individual ‘bad people’. This article recommends future campaigns address these multiple repertoires together in one, non-judgemental debate space. This will include the acknowledgement of broader definitions of lad culture, and the facilitation of ongoing student debate about the ‘light’ and ‘dark’ sides of lad culture, and the ‘grey areas’ in between.     

Gender differences in lower limb frontal plane kinematics during landing

The aim of this study was to investigate gender differences in knee valgus angle and inter-knee and inter-ankle distances in university volleyball players when performing opposed block jump landings. Six female and six male university volleyball players performed three dynamic trials each for which they were instructed to jump up and block a volleyball suspended above a net set at the height of a standard volleyball net as it was spiked against them by an opposing player. Knee valgus/varus, inter-knee distance, and inter-ankle distance (absolute and relative to height) were determined during landing using three-dimensional motion analysis. Females displayed significantly greater maximum valgus angle and range of motion than males. This may increase the risk of ligament strain in females compared with males. Minimum absolute inter-knee distance was significantly smaller, and absolute and relative inter-knee displacement during landing significantly greater, in females than males. Both absolute and relative inter-ankle displacement during landing was significantly greater in males than females. These findings suggest that the gender difference in the valgus angle of the knee during two-footed landing is influenced by gender differences in the linear movement of the ankles as well as the knees. Coaches should therefore develop training programmes to focus on movement of both the knee and ankle joints in the frontal plane in order to reduce the knee valgus angle during landing, which in turn may reduce the risk of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injury.