Cultural Reform Research Articles

Beyond stereotypes: The story of a single-woman entrepreneur in a patriarchal society

ABSTRACT Even after four decades of research on gender in entrepreneurship, studies continue to show that entrepreneurial activities are often associated with masculine traits. With the increasing number of single women globally and India being the most populous country in the world, I introduce the story of Ana, a single-woman entrepreneur in India who navigates a patriarchal entrepreneurial landscape. This article used the narrative inquiry lens to collect the data. The analysis showed three main themes: neoliberal masculinity, hegemonic masculinity, and desirable femininity. Masculinity traits served as a temporary cloak or mask to protect women from the adversities of patriarchal society. Analysis of Ana’s journey offers insight into the population often hidden from mainstream discourses. The article further urges fostering a more inclusive entrepreneurial landscape by urging policy makers and practitioners to implement safety measures, offer financial support, and provide cultural reforms for single women entrepreneurs to navigate a patriarchal society.

The Impact of Social Marginalisation on Science Engagement and the Extent of Barrier Reduction

This paper examines the impact of social marginalisation, including race, gender, and social class, on science engagement. Socially marginalised groups, such as women, people of colour, and lower socioeconomic classes, face significant barriers in science education and careers due to discrimination, stereotyping, and limited access to science capital. The paper explores how these factors intersect to influence the formation of scientific identity and contribute to underrepresentation in scientific fields. Efforts to reduce these barriers, such as inclusive science communication and stereotype manipulation, are critically evaluated. Although these interventions offer potential solutions, they remain idealistic and face significant challenges. The paper concludes that addressing these barriers requires deep structural and cultural reforms within the scientific community.

Legal Culture and Disability Rights in Indonesian Islamic Higher Education: A Review of Practices

This research aims to examine disability rights in relation to Islamic universities in Indonesia, paying attention to the legal culture concerning equal opportunities for disabled people. As a qualitative study with an empirical legal research method, this research will therefore gather information from various sources to examine current practices concerning regulations, facilities, and academic and social support, and disability education in Islamic higher learning institutions. The findings indicate that there is a major disparity between the legislation and the realities on the field. Implementation of strategies is poor, and a number of strategies are even ineffectual. Lack of physical infrastructure, academic accommodations, and training on the disability topics are some of the main challenges regarding full inclusion. Based on the study findings, it is suggested to enhance and expand the existing policies that include all parties and policies based on Islamic values that support equality and social justice. The final section reiterates the call for the reform of institutional culture and the advocacy of continuous public education to achieve cultural change.

On Schools’ Safe Spaces: A Review of Gender-Responsive Basic Education in the Schools Division Office of Imus City

This research investigates the implementation of the Safe Spaces Act (Republic Act No. 11313) in the public elementary and secondary schools of the Schools Division Office of Imus City. The study evaluates the extent of gender-responsive policy implementation in educational institutions, emphasizing the dissemination of policy information and the strategies employed to create a safe and inclusive environment for all students. Using a qualitative research design, the study employs thematic analysis to interpret the data collected from interviews with Gender and Development (GAD) focal persons. Key findings indicate that while integration into curricula, printed materials, and online platforms are common dissemination methods, there are significant challenges such as insufficient budget, lack of knowledge, and cultural resistance. The study highlights the necessity for cultural reform, adequate resources, and enhanced critical reasoning among stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the Safe Spaces Act. Recommendations include the extension of the study to other divisions, the incorporation of quantitative methods for broader validation, and policy improvements to foster a more inclusive educational environment. The ultimate goal is to safeguard learners’ rights and promote gender equality within the school system.

Exploring work-life integration in vascular surgery and surgery

ObjectiveThere is a growing emphasis on achieving work-life balance, defined as the balance between work and personal life. However, this concept is gradually shifting towards work-life integration (WLI), which is relevant in the health care sector, particularly surgery. We performed a literature review to evaluate factors that contribute to WLI in the field of surgery, with a particular focus on vascular surgery. MethodsA literature review of WLI in surgery, specifically vascular surgery, was performed from inception to February 2024. PubMed was searched for papers written in the English and French languages using the MeSH terms “work-life balance” or “work-life integration” in “vascular surgery” or “surgery.” Findings were categorized in a tiered framework focused on faculty or staff, trainees (including medical students, residents, or fellows), and people identifying as underrepresented in medicine (URIM). ResultsTwenty-four articles were identified as relevant for this review. Previous reports have identified a high prevalence of burnout and suicide among the vascular surgery workforce. Collegial support and institutional culture were identified as pivotal in enhancing WLI. Inefficiencies in health care delivery, administrative burdens, and a lack of autonomy were recognized as barriers for WLI. Factors specific to gender and parenthood lead to unequal challenges in achieving WLI. Medical trainees’ WLI perceptions influenced their specialty choices and risk of burnout. Also, URIM trainees encountered additional obstacles like discrimination and attrition, though some reports indicated a resilience advantage among minority physicians. ConclusionsThis review has highlighted differences in challenges related to WLI across faculty and staff, trainees, and individuals identifying as URIM and emphasizes the need for systemic and cultural reforms, flexible work arrangements, and greater support for underrepresented groups to foster a healthier work-life ecosystem in health care.

‘Open your eyes onto these unexploited treasures’ – The Société d’Encouragement au Tourisme and the making of a Lebanese nation in the 1930s

ABSTRACT This article is an historical study of tourism development in mandate era Lebanon (1920–1943). Based on organisational papers as well as governmental and contemporary press records, it examines the efforts of the Société d’Encouragement au Tourisme (S.E.T.), established in 1935, to develop tourist infrastructure and promulgate a nation called Lebanon. Tourist development, including the building of roads, the making of centres d’estivage, and the preservation of natural features, this article argues, consolidated a hierarchical conception of a Lebanese nation within its colonial boundaries. While tourism development integrated Beirut and Mount Lebanon alongside selected ruins such as Baalbek, it excluded other regions such as Jabal ‘Amil in the South and ‘Akkar in the North. Furthermore, this article argues, that advocates deemed tourism a practice of citizenship. Tourism development not only sought to create symbols of national identity, but to instil national sentiments in Lebanese citizens. Under the banner of tourism development, its advocates mobilised several registers to enact social and cultural reform, including through the organisation of spectacles, educational programmes, and legal stipulations that conceptualised a strong nation-state to regulate, control, and reprimand its citizens.

A Contested Victory: Liberal Reformism and Women’s Physical Culture in Colombia, 1930–1946

The relationship between women’s sports, female physical education, and liberal reformism is pivotal to understanding gender relations in Colombia from 1930 to 1946. The Liberal Republic was a political period when public officials placed cultural reforms at the centre of governmental attempts to ‘transform’ and ‘modernise’ Colombia. Print media, official correspondence, and legislation are crucial to grasping women’s reactions to the advancement of female physical culture and how they publicly advocated for its implementation. The endeavours of the Liberal Republic to promote physical culture at the national level highlight the way in which their reformism worked in everyday life and uncover how female educators and sports enthusiasts discussed and embraced the government’s initiatives from below.

Performance and race: teaching Shakespeare to Saudi students using current events and popular culture

ABSTRACT This article considers the relevance of Shakespeare’s works to foreign students when taught in a non-native context, specifically, in Saudi Arabia. It argues that a student-centred approach could shed light on what is relevant to young people today, even if the texts themselves may seem anachronistic. Adopting a comparative approach that explores common factors between early modern England and contemporary Saudi Arabia, I examine the theatrical practices of both periods in relation to gender, religion, and race. I offer an historical overview of Saudi theatre, highlighting factors that played a role in delaying its development, such as women’s absence from the stage and the antitheatrical sentiments influenced by the reformist Sahwa movement. Aiming to make Shakespeare accessible through connections to current events and popular culture, I consider Saudi Arabia’s fast-changing socio-political landscape, including cultural reforms and recognition of women’s role in theatre. In particular, I focus on blackface, a theatrical trope that has traces in the early modern period and still persists in the western world. I have found that this approach has helped develop students’ ethical sensitivities to ethnic bias and religious intolerance, as well as directing them towards making appropriate choices as future playwrights, performers, and directors.

Analysis of Saudi Arabian Television Advertising on Social Changes Post MBS Cultural Reform

This study aims to determine the social changes that occur among Saudi Arabian teenagers in the Takki film series; the form of social change that occurs in this film series, how the characters respond to these changes, and how they adapt to the changes that occur. The method used is a descriptive qualitative method, the researcher presents a description or narrative about this film series and is accompanied by articles related to the research object. From the research conducted, it was concluded that there were three important points discussed by researcher regarding the social changes that occurred among Saudi Arabian teenagers, namely gender equality, the limitations of women, and also opportunities for the cinema industry in Saudi Arabia. There is still an imbalance in terms of gender equality, the limitations of women which are very visible in this film series, and how the film industry is still very behind.

Державна політика щодо добробуту населення та продовольчої безпеки України у контексті її конкурентоспроможності: теоретичний аспект

The article is devoted to analyzing the dependence on population well-being and food security in Ukraine in the context of post-war reconstruction and state competitiveness, as well as the risks and limitations of state policy. The article combines three concepts for the first time: «well-being of the population”, «food security», «state competitiveness». The authors used various theoretical and practical approaches, criteria, indicators, and methods that reflect different aspects and problems of population well-being and state competitiveness. They also considered international standards and recommendations and the specificity of national conditions and needs. Population well-being, food security, and state competitiveness depend on each other, but they are not a linear and unambiguous dependence. Various factors, such as context, values, interests, strategies, and policies, influence this dependence. Post-war reconstruction and state competitiveness create new challenges and threats to population well-being and food security in Ukraine, such as uneven distribution of resources, goods, opportunities, and influence among different groups of the population, especially vulnerable and marginalized, negative impact on the environment, which is an essential factor of population well-being, reduction of quality of life, health, security, and happiness of the population. The author proposed a strategy that would consider the interests and needs of different population groups and the preservation and improvement of the environment. Such a strategy should be based on the guaranteed minimum level of well-being, ensuring equal opportunities, improving quality of life, strengthening social cohesion, and ensuring social security, protection, responsibility, and integration. The risks and limitations of state policy on population well-being in Ukraine can be prevented and overcome by conducting administrative, economic, demographic, social, political, defense, environmental, and cultural reforms. The results of this study can be used for planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of state policy on population well-being and state competitiveness in Ukraine, as well as for cooperation with international partners and the public. The author calls for further research on these issues, especially using new data, methods, and tools. Keywords: state policy, food security, well-being, population, Ukraine, strategy, scientific foundations, priorities, challenges, post-war reconstruction, competitiveness, state.

Views of a non-probability sample of corresponding authors with retracted publications in biomedical fields about the impact of different types of retractions on researchers' careers.

Echoing Arturo Casadevall and Ferric Fang in their Reforming Science: Methodological and Cultural Reforms, "great human enterprises must undergo periodic cycles of self-examination and renewal to maintain their vigor". Especially in the last decade, the research culture has undergone such cycles, partially driven by countercultural transformations that have been reshaping assumptions towards reward-deserving achievements. Addressing retractions is among the challenges in this culture. This work builds upon research carried out at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), which explored the views of 224 reviewers serving on panels for the US National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, among others. We show results of a survey that add to our previous data. It was sent to a population of 1,089 corresponding authors affiliated with institutions from the 20 most productive countries in biomedical fields. We explored how corresponding authors of at least one retracted publication issued between 2013 and 2015 in biomedical journals envisioned the impact of different types of retractions on the careers of the first and corresponding authors. As such impact (if any) is not always immediate, we selected this time frame to ensure that potential respondents would have tangible post-retraction experience.

The climate emergency: A tale of two cities

The rising concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and the associated impacts of climate change have prompted the urgent need to reduce GHG emissions. In response, the cities of Manchester and Melbourne declared climate emergencies in 2019, calling for radical resource mobilisation to address global warming. Despite the increasing discourse on climate change policies and ambitions, there is limited evidence on the current practices in the built environment following these climate emergency declarations. To address this gap, this research conducted a comparative analysis of the building sector practices in Manchester and Melbourne. Through 63 in-depth interviews with building professionals and policy experts, this study sheds light on the alignment of these practices with climate goals. The findings reveal that while the United Kingdom has made notable progress in establishing its net-zero pathway, little attention has been given to driving this transformation at the building project level. In Melbourne, stricter regulations are necessary, particularly in the residential sector, to facilitate emission reductions and behavioural change. This paper, therefore, proposes a holistic cultural reform framework to support the transition of the sector towards a performance-based culture. By contextualising this analysis within the broader policy landscape and gathering insights from building professionals and policy experts, this research contributes to global efforts in climate change mitigation and offers practical implications for the building sector.

The reform of Chinese Musical Culture and the Formation of Musical Psychology in the Early 20th Century

In the history of the origin and development of aesthetic ideas, refl ected in music psychology in China, two historical stages should be highlighted: the fi rst one – from antiquity to the beginning of the 20th century, and the second stage – from the beginning of the 20th century to the present, when the Chinese civilisation turned to the assimilation of Western forms of culture, including music. The article presents the view of one of the main researchers of musical psychology of the fi rst third of the 20th century, professor Wang Guangqi, and analyses the signifi cance of his ideas for the formation and development of musical psychology as a new science, as well as their relevance in the current problem fi eld of this area of musicology.

Penguatan Etika Pemerintahan sebagai Upaya Meningkatkan Kinerja Aparatur Pemerintahan

Accelerating government ethics in bureaucracy is a very important thing for every government apparatus to realize. As a government administrator, you must be able to actualize ethical values in providing services to the community. The aim of this research is to examine and explain how to strengthe government ethical values as an effort to improve the performance of government officials. The method used in this writing is a qualitative method with a literature review study approach. The results of the discussion in this paper show that strengthening government ethics can be realized by internalizing Pancasila values for government officials. Pancasila, as a state ideology and also as a guideline for attitudes and behavior, needs to be synergized by the apparatus in the form of services to the community. Apart from that, it is urgent to implement bureaucratic culture reform by the government as the embodiment of professional and qualified bureaucrats.

Structural and Cultural Reforms In The Indonesian Bureaucracy

Bureaucratic reforms carried out in Indonesia at present has five main goals and objectives, namely a cleanbureaucracy, bureaucracy is efficient, transparent bureaucracy, bureaucracy that serves well as a decentralizedbureaucracy. The five targets and objectives are more directed at the implementation of structural reforms in the bureaucracy, but bureaucracy is a form and order which contains the structure and culture. Structure refers to thearrangement of a temporary order that contains the value of culture, systems, and custom made ​​by the principals that reflect the behavior of human resources. Therefore, institutional reform of the bureaucracy including the composition of agovernment bureaucracy, as well as the values ​​of reform, governance systems and procedures of the behavior of human resources. In connection with the reform of the bureaucracy that should be done with reference to the two aspects are equally important, namely the institutional aspects that lead to the reform of its structure, levels of hierarchy andmanagement system; and reform of aspects of culture, namely rearranging organizational culture that had been executed.

Promoting Multicultural Education in the Middle East: Perception and Practice

In the current era, human diversity is constantly changing due to the exponential spread of information and communication technologies, which promotes human interaction. Cultural overlap between different societies, as well as increasing rates of migration across borders strengthen multiculturalism. The education system is often influenced by the cultural reformation in society, which shapes the way education is structured, teaching styles, curriculum development and education objectives. Given that Islamic culture is the dominant one in the Middle East, it is assumed that its ideals and principles will uphold multiculturalism and inclusion, as with any other great religions. This study aims to explore the role of Islamic culture in promoting multicultural education in the Middle East, to examine the application of the concepts of multicultural education, and to reflect on the idea of multiculturalism. A sample of 37 college instructors and 312 higher education students participated in the study by answering the questionnaire, which was conducted using a mixed-method approach. The results of the study showed that Islamic values and beliefs have a remarkable influence on the adoption of multiculturalism in education without compromising Islamic beliefs and values. Furthermore, multiculturalism ideas are incorporated into instruction and student communications. According to the research report, employing a multicultural education platform effectively will require curricular adaptation.

On permanent world peace from a political anthropology perspective

Humans share the same cruel genes as their close relatives, chimpanzees, and their belligerence and bloodlust may never lead to permanent peace of the world. Some people think that war can reduce violence by enlarging the scale of human social bodies, but it not only depends on the institutional structure of peace but also makes the scale of war between social bodies larger, which cannot solve the problem. With the development of religion and other cultural traditions, through thousands of years of subtle influence, people have formed a "no killing" rule of civilization in their minds and tend to solve disputes in a peaceful way to counter against the aggressive genes in their bodies. However, many religious traditions have made some "exceptions" under the rule of “no killing”, which makes killing a religious excuse and makes it possible to kill people on a larger scale. To solve the problem of permanent peace of the world, we need to start with religious and cultural reforms and more strictly limit the "exception" principle of killing. Of course, it will take a long time.

Students drawing conclusions about assessment to inform school change

ABSTRACT Student agency in assessment is evident when students make assessment choices, and their voices inform decisions. This paper presents an in-depth case study of a high performing school that sought student voice to reform its assessment culture to enhance student agency. Secondary students in an Australian school were invited to draw a visual metaphor: if assessment were a food, what would it be? Responses were analysed to identify: What can be learnt about assessment culture from students’ drawings and comments? And how did student voice inform changes in school assessment practices and assessment culture? Six years later, the student ideas were revisited by a school leader to identify how cultural and structural conditions for student agency within the assessment culture had changed. Using visual methodologies with students provided insightful commentary on how assessment practices may be modified to support learning and the challenges of engaging in assessment culture reform.

Masculine Conformity and Social Dominance’s Relation With Organizational Culture Change

While the workforce is becoming increasingly more modernized and diverse, masculine norms are prevalent among certain organizations that remain male-dominated. Namely, the military is an institution that promotes masculine stereotypes and a culture where such stereotypes form a normative system of hierarchy. This study, surveying 145 military cadets at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC), found that social dominance orientation, or preference for in-group superiority and out-group inequality, was associated with higher conformity to masculine norms. Moreover, higher levels of social dominance explained the relationship between masculine conformity and less acceptance toward cultural reforms in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). These findings suggest that achieving true organizational culture change in the military involves challenging not only masculine norms but, more importantly, the dominant and nonegalitarian attitudes of social dominance.

Hu Shi and the Critical Review group

When discussing modern Chinese thought, it is customary to place Critical Review and New Youth in a dichotomous relationship. This paper argues the opposite, emphasizing the “connection” between the two. Specifically, through the debate between Hu Shi and the key members of the Critical Review group—Mei Guangdi and Wu Mi—at a wedding banquet held at the YMCA in Nanjing on December 1, 1923, this paper points out that there was no lack of “friendship” between them despite their opposing views, for, with the exception of a few in the group who criticized the use of vernacular Chinese, Mei and Wu approved of cultural reform. That is, Hu Shi and the Critical Review members were highly complementary in their understanding of the “new” and the “old”; the latter was only disapproval of the radical form of New Culture. However, unlike Hu Shi who emphasized the equal importance of elites and non-elites in National Studies, the Critical Review scholars stressed the role of the elites and the connection between traditional Chinese thought and New Humanism.