Discriminatory Environment Research Articles

A Game-Theoretic Assessment of Anti-Discrimination Measures in Scientific Collaboration

Abstract Rubin, Hannah, and Cailin O’Connor (2018. “Discrimination and Collaboration in Science.” Philosophy of Science 85 (3): 380–402) introduced a game-theoretic model to examine the dynamics of collaboration and discrimination in academia. They found that small minority groups face higher rates of discrimination in collaboration, despite moral and legal demands for equality. This paper extends their work by assessing the effectiveness of anti-discrimination measures, focusing on German legal provisions for discrimination in the workplace: internal complaints boards and training and organisational measures as mandated by the General Equal Treatment Act. My results show that internal boards are effective in preventing discrimination in initially fair (i.e. non-discriminatory) environments, but fall short in already discriminatory environments. In contrast, training and organisational measures significantly reduce discriminatory behaviour, even where awareness is low. This highlights the importance of proactive anti-discrimination measures.

Caught between two worlds: Social identity change among second‐generation Afghan immigrants in Iran

AbstractThis study investigates the identity processes among second‐generation Afghans living in Iran and evaluate the relevance of the social identity model of social change (SIMIC) to understand their unique experiences. We conducted 23 in‐depth interviews and analysed the data using grounded theory method. The findings showthat Afghan youths' efforts towards integration often fail due to unfavourable responses from the host society, compounded by the perceived discriminatory environment. In addition, in line with SIMIC, the results show that participants lacks socio‐psychological resources linked to previous group membership and this leads to poorer mental health. Finally, we explore the engagement in de‐labelling, the formation of purposeful social bonds, and the development of a cosmopolitan identity among our participants as the main identity‐oriented mechanisms to navigate the challenges of being rejected by both one's and the host community.

Affectional and gender minority student experiences in CACREP‐accredited counseling programs at conservative Christian institutions: A call for change

AbstractThis study explored the experiences of affectional and gender minority students at CACREP accredited counseling programs housed within conservative Christian institutions (CCIs) and the damage caused by the discriminatory environments there. The results highlight the opportunity and responsibility that CCIs have to both protect these vulnerable student populations and provide models for them as well as the need for the counseling field to align the expectations of practitioners with the expectations placed upon training programs.

Reframing stigma in Tourette syndrome: an updated scoping review.

Persistent tic disorders (PTD) such as Tourette's syndrome (TS) are common childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorders. Stigmatization of individuals with these disorders remains an ongoing problem. The purpose of this scoping review is to serve as an updated review of the research regarding stigmatization in youth with PTD since the publication of the original systematic review about this topic in 2016. The electronic databases Embase, Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, and CINAHL were searched. Of the 4751 initial articles screened after removing duplications, 47 studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies were examined under the social-ecological stigmatization model, which helps categorize stigmatization into individual, interpersonal, community, and structural levels and serves as a broader definition of stigmatization than the previous systematic review. On the individual level, youth with PTD had lower self-esteem than peers, often leading to fear of future stigmatization, avoidant behaviors, and self-stigmatization. They also experienced higher rates of bullying and other forms of abuse than peers at the interpersonal level. At the community level, youth with PTD faced discriminatory environments in school and work and limited availability of community services and healthcare access. At the structural level, knowledge about PTD was limited in the general population, often about the limited portrayals of PTD in the media. We hope that the broader scope of this review serves to help inform future efforts to decrease the stigmatization faced by this group.

Gendering and Beyond: Analyzing Children’s Early Year Education and Teaching Methodologies Employed in Rawalpindi/Islamabad’s Private Schools

This study aims to explore whether, the teaching methodologies deployedin private schools in Islamabad are confining children (between the agesof 3-12 years) to polarized gender identities? This question of children’sgendering becomes pertinent when we explore the implications of raisingchildren in gender confined environments. This research will analyze themechanisms deployed in private Montessori/Kindergarten and elementaryschools in Islamabad from feminist perspective. For this purpose,qualitative method research will be used, and we will conduct semistructured interviews with fifteen school teachers of five private schoolsbased in Islamabad. This particular category of schools has been chosenbecause these schools draw their teaching methodology and curriculumfrom the American and British systems of education. Based on thispremise these schools claim to be progressive and forward looking in theirscope to education and child development. Moreover, these privateschools are engaged with different international syllabi and techniques toengage the students of diverse socio-economic class backgrounds. Basedon this premise these schools claim to be progressive and forward lookingin their scope to education and child development. However, given thelack of attention to social learning in schools this study aims to find outwhether such ‘modernist’ schools are also blinded by the concerns forraising children in gender discriminatory environments. The paper aims toestablish that if gender binaries are transmitted to children through earlyyears schooling then what consequences does that instill on the childrenfrom the feminist standpoint. But the question that how and whetherchildren can be trained in schools to live beyond gendered binaries arebeyond the scope of this paper.

"We Gather Together We Collaborate Together": Exploring the Challenges and Strategies of Chinese Lesbian and Bisexual Women's Online Communities on Weibo

In China, lesbian and bisexual women face intense stigma and difficulties developing relationships with each other. Although prior research has shown that online communities help LGBT people connect and exchange social support, few studies have explored the challenges Chinese lesbian and bisexual women face when initiating, growing, and sustaining such communities, in an atmosphere of platform censorship of LGBT-related content and intense discrimination from non-LGBT people. To address this gap, we interviewed 40 Weibo users in China, four bloggers and 36 followers of their blogs, who self-identified as lesbian or bisexual women. We found that a key technique these bloggers used to initiate their online communities was helping followers publish posts seeking support, sharing personal experiences, and seeking offline relationships. Then, their followers built relationships with bloggers by journaling their daily experiences as lesbian or bisexual women via private-messaging channels. As the communities' members grew more attached to them, bloggers and their followers began to work together to protect themselves from external threats, including Weibo's censorship and non-LGBT+ infiltrators' harassment. However, such attachment to the communities sometimes might lead to conflicts within them, which in turn prompted many members to leave, raising questions about the communities' long-term prospects. Our findings foreground important design considerations for those seeking to help lesbian and bisexual women in China and other discriminatory environments to develop safe online communities.

Perspective: National Football League Teams Need Chief Diversity Officers.

The National Football League (NFL) and its teams, some of the world's most profitable sporting properties, face challenges with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). With a history of discriminatory work environments, including a recent high-profile lawsuit, the NFL and its teams have a poor reputation on these issues. This perspective piece investigated NFL teams' utilization of organization employees dedicated to DEI. Utilizing a content analysis of publicly available data, this piece investigated DEI employees at NFL team organizations. The study analyzed the position's characteristics including the name of the role, the department in which it was housed, and the reporting structure. The study also examined the demographics and professional background of the employees in the roles. The findings conclude that NFL teams lag behind other American businesses in their adoption of Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) roles. As of 2022, only 31.25% of NFL teams had a dedicated DEI staff person. Three additional teams host diversity councils utilizing employees with other job responsibilities. The employees filling the CDO roles were majority women and majority Black. Though not the only answer to a complex problem, in order to address these challenges and move forward, the NFL teams should create Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) roles. These positions should have appropriate reporting relationships, well-crafted position responsibilities, generous resources, and qualified and experienced employees.

Environment X Genetic Stability of Different Sorghum Bicolor Varieties/Promising Lines Under Various Environmental Conditions

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) as an important food and fuel crop is undergone breeding for novel types, and its expansion into the new environments is necessary, however the efforts become complicated for breeders as well as agronomists to select for the best performing genotype in a particular environment due to unexpected, but significant genotype x environment interaction. This study was performed to thoroughly analyse the trade-offs between the agronomic performance and stability of sorghum genotypes produced under agro ecological conditions of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Three sorghum lines i.e., G1 (S14), G2 (S22) and G3 (Jowar-86) were evaluated under eight environments which were formed by combining two sites of varying soil conditions (saline and normal soil) and were sown at four different sowing dates in order to determine the yield performance. Furthermore, AMMI analysis and GGE (generation×gene×environment) interactions were performed to identify the most stable variety for semi-arid environment. The results revealed that soil conditions significantly affect the grain yield of sorghum. The highest yield was obtained in E4 (1799 kg ha -1) under normal soil conditions and the best performing line was identified as G1. While under saline/problematic conditions E3 gave mean yield of 1530 kg ha-1 while line G1 gave 1505 kg ha-1 of yield. As far as the AMMI and GGE analysis is concerned, significant value for scores of PCAs were obtained as PC1 (61.3%) and PC2 (38.7%) while GGE analysis also gave significantly different scores for PC1 and PC2 as 86.8 and 13.2% respectively. The genotype G1 had low PC1 scores (1.59) as compared to G2 and G3 and thus it was identified as most stable genotype. The environment (E3) and (E4) were highly correlated to each and (E6), (E8) were discriminatory environments for all tested genotypes.

Revealing the queer-spectrum in STEM through robust demographic data collection in undergraduate engineering and computer science courses at four institutions.

Queer identities are often ignored in diversity initiatives, yet there is a growing body of research that describes notable heterosexist and gender-normative expectations in STEM that lead to unsupportive and discriminatory environments and to the lower persistence of queer individuals. Research on the experiences of queer-spectrum individuals is limited by current demographic practices. In surveys that are queer-inclusive there is no consensus on best practices, and individuals with queer genders and queer sexual, romantic, and related orientations are often lumped together in a general category (e.g. LGBTQ+). We developed two queer-inclusive demographics questions and administered them as part of a larger study in undergraduate engineering and computer science classes (n = 3698), to determine which of three survey types for gender (conventional, queered, open-ended) provided the most robust data and compared responses to national data to determine if students with queer genders and/or queer sexual, romantic, and related orientations were underrepresented in engineering and computer science programs. The gender survey with queer-identity options provided the most robust data, as measured by higher response rates and relatively high rates of disclosing queer identities. The conventional survey (male, female, other) had significantly fewer students disclose queer identities, and the open-ended survey had a significantly higher non-response rate. Allowing for multiple responses on the survey was important: 78% of those with queer gender identities and 9% of those with queer sexual, romantic and related orientations selected multiple identities within the same survey question. Queer students in our study were underrepresented relative to national data. Students who disclosed queer gender identities were 7/100ths of the expected number, and those with queer orientations were under-represented by one-quarter. Further work developing a research-based queered demographics instrument is needed for larger-scale changes in demographics practices, which will help others identify and address barriers that queer-spectrum individuals face in STEM.

Liability for Toxic Workplace Cultures

Title VII is meant to protect employees from discrimination and has historically been a crucial tool for creating social change in the workplace. But when considering modern-day workplace discrimination wrought by “toxic workplace cultures” defined herein, Title VII’s frameworks for confronting systemic discrimination prove outdated and ineffective. This Note proposes the codification of a new theory of discrimination under Title VII targeting toxic workplace cultures, with substantive and procedural elements working in tandem to better enable plaintiffs to collectively bring actions to hold employers accountable for fostering discriminatory environments. Part I defines toxic workplace cultures and walks through case studies of such cultures in action. Part II explains the existing frameworks of Title VII and why they do not provide recourse for victims of toxic workplace cultures. Part III proposes a solution through codifying a new cause of action for toxic workplace cultures under the statute and offers a brief case study highlighting a potential outcome were this proposal to be implemented.

Addressing the Healthcare Needs of African Men who have Sex with Men: Barriers to Healthcare and Promoting HIV and STI Treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Barriers to healthcare for men who have sex with men (MSM) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are rooted in stigma and discrimination against MSM fuelled by the criminalization of homosexuality. These barriers are influenced by factors involving MSM and the healthcare workers (HCWs). MSM are uncomfortable disclosing their identities and conceal symptoms of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), especially those in areas associated with homosexual behaviour to avoid stigmatization. MSM experience ill-treatment and abuse by HCWs and have concerns regarding HCWs maintaining confidentiality and privacy. This forces MSM to seek care from pharmacies/drugstores or resort to self-treatment, which may not be effective. This, coupled with increased HIV- and STI-risk behaviours resulting from depression and internalized homophobia, result in further spread of STIs. Further, barriers in HIV testing lead to exclusion of MSM from treatment cascades. Insufficient sexuality training of HCWs leads to discrimination or denial of treatment for MSM, particularly in government-run clinics. The criminalization of homosexuality deters HCWs from offering treatment to MSM. The prevailing discriminatory environment that accompanies the criminalization of homosexuality forces HCWs to don the role of moral and legal enforcers, making them the perpetrators of forced anal examinations that continue to be prevalent in SSA. Nevertheless, there is evidence to show HCWs in SSA recognize their lack of training in sexuality and have welcomed educational opportunities to better understand the healthcare needs of MSM. Pilot educational interventions for HCWs in SSA have been received enthusiastically, and have resulted in significant changes in HCW knowledge and attitudes and dealing with MSMs with STIs. This work reviews existing literature on barriers to STI-related healthcare for MSM in SSA. By drawing parallels to barriers that were overcome in the HIV epidemic in the 1980s, suitable solutions focusing on HCW education are suggested.

Does Public Racist Speech Constitute Hostile Discrimination? Comments on McGowan

ABSTRACT In ‘Just Words: On Speech and Hidden Harm: An Overview and an Application’, Mary Kate McGowan argues that some racist speech in public places should be made unlawful in the United States for the same reason that sexist behaviour in the workplace is already legally actionable—namely, to protect individuals from a hostile discriminatory environment. While McGowan may be correct that some public racist speech may constitute an act of discrimination in some morally significant sense, I present several reasons for doubting that such speech constitutes a hostile discriminatory environment in the relevant legal sense.

Antitrust regulation of product ecosystems: The case study of Kaspersky Lab. – Apple Inc.

Implementation of the ecosystem business model can not only bring significant gains to a company, but also entail additional risks, including those of violating antitrust laws. The article analyses the Apple Inc. ecosystem, which has recently become the subject of a number of complaints from independent software developers and of antitrust investigations. The study shows how a unique position within the ecosystem can lead a company to market dominance. As a result, actions aimed at creating preferential conditions for the company’s services can be interpreted as restricting competition through fostering a discriminatory environment and preventing independent software developers from entering the market. The analysis is based on public information about Apple’s actions against third-party developers and the recent investigation into the company’s conduct in response to the complaint by Kaspersky Lab. The reason for the initiation of legal proceedings was Apple’s actions setting new rules for the App Store and resulting in improper functioning of the parental control application “Kaspersky Safe Kids”. Methodologically, the study relies on ecosystem theory and the theory of industrial organization. The main research method is case study. The research demonstrates how Apple’s actions can be interpreted in terms of such concepts as essential facilities, tying practices, aftermarkets, and leveraging of market power. These concepts are applicable to Apple’s conduct, including the closed type of the ecosystem built by the company.

Non-Liability of “Foreignness”: Theorizing Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the Practice of Bricolage

Applying Bourdieu’s theory of practice, we theorize the non- traditional resource mobilization of immigrant entrepreneurs within the adversarial social and institutional context of their country of residence. Through a rigorous analysis of eight cases of immigrant entrepreneurs and their South African-based enterprises, our findings suggest that the habitus of immigrant entrepreneurs is a unique resource in that it represents an internalization of both cognitive and adaptive dispositions. Cognitive dispositions refer to their home-based frameworks through which their cognitive disposition is formed to interpret existing resources in novel ways. Adaptive dispositions refer to their ability to adjust and be responsive to the pressures of a new environment due to biases that perceive foreigners to be a liability. We posit that the habitus of immigrant entrepreneurship is that which embodies and applies both dispositions within even discriminatory environments in order to mobilize or construct resources via non-traditional means through local social capital. We conceptually extend this formulation to depict the practice of bricolage by immigrant entrepreneurs in an adversarial host country social field.

Redrawing the border through the ‘Right to Rent’: Exclusion, discrimination and hostility in the English housing market

The UK Immigration Act 2016 is central to the Conservative Government’s drive to create a more hostile environment for potential migrants and current ‘illegal’ migrants residing in the UK. The Right to Rent provisions of the Act, which require private landlords in England to conduct mandatory immigration document checks on prospective tenants, or face sizeable fines and criminal prosecution, have been highlighted as a key facet of the legislation. Drawing on qualitative interviews with key experts and analysis of Home Office guidance documents, we argue the Right to Rent has turned the private rental market into a border-check, with landlords responsibilised to perform ‘everyday bordering’ on behalf of the State. This creates a potentially discriminatory environment for all migrants, as well as for British citizens who lack documentation and/or may be subject to racial profiling. It may also be forcing vulnerable, undocumented migrants into even more precarious housing situations.

Qualitative Study of the Processes of Transgender-Men Identity Development

Describe and analyze the mental health service and medical needs of a group of transgender men from the point when they changed their gender identity to male. Transgender men volunteers who attended a specialized care center in Mexico City answered a qualitative semi-structured interview to explore their needs as well as the adversities they unnecessarily face due to the lack of information and care for their condition. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed for thematic analysis. Respondents began to develop their transgender identity in childhood; however, during that time, almost none of them had any helpful contact with a health professional. Those who did receive some form of care received mistreatment rather than positive feedback. It was not until adulthood that they obtained facts about a specialized care center. It is necessary for health professionals to have information about sexual diversity and be trained to meet the needs of transgender children, in order to have information on places and professionals who accompany them and advise on available treatments such as hormone blockers or treatments. The study includes a small but important sample. However, the currently hostile, discriminatory environment, significantly exposes transgender people to developing mental health problems.

The Science Identity Experiences of Undergraduate, Foreign-Born Immigrant Women in STEM at U.S. Institutions

This qualitative study examines the experiences of undergraduate, foreign-born immigrant women pursuing STEM careers. Eighteen students from two different institutions were interviewed. Employing a science identity framework, we explored how internal and external recognition influenced women’s identities as future STEM professionals. Data were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory approaches. Results include three main categories: identifying positive sources of external recognition and support, encountering discriminatory classroom environments, and incorporating altruistic and familial goals. We synthesized our findings in an emerging grounded theory model of science identity development for foreign-born immigrant women in undergraduate STEM programs. This model leads to several implications for how student affairs professionals can support immigrant women in STEM.

The Effect of Perceived Discrimination on Gender Role Conflict Among Men Engaged in A-typical Occupations: The Moderating Role of Work Autonomy

Empirical research suggests that gendered job-segregation have effects on men in the workplace consequent upon bias evaluations stemming from social norms regarding acceptable gender roles. These biases are capable of inducing workplace stressors that may affect the psychological well being of men engaged in female-dominated occupations. This study investigates the moderating role of work autonomy in the relationship between perceived gender discrimination and gender role conflict for men in atypical occupations. A cross-sectional survey method was used to collect data from a sample of 150 men in the occupations of nursing, librarian, and primary school teaching, and a hierarchical regression test analyzed hypotheses. Regression analysis demonstrated that perceived discrimination and work autonomy were significant predictors of gender role conflict (β = .60, p < .001), and β = -.62, p < .001, respectively). A moderated regression analysis was also conducted to test the assumption that job autonomy moderates the relationship between perceiving a discriminatory work environment and workers’ gender role conflict. The analysis indicated that 79% of the variation in the dependent variable could be explained by the main effects and the interaction effects, F (4, 145) =140.58, p < .05). This interaction effect, although significant, accounted for a minimal incremental effect above and beyond the direct effects of perceived gender discrimination and work autonomy (ΔR2 = .008, F (1, 145) = 5.48, p < .05). Research implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Harmonization of Market Conditions in Provision of Road Freight Transport

Abstract International road transport is a specific service within the frame of services provided in the European Union. It is because the conditions of being active on the market are influenced by the states where businessmen operate, but services can be provided throughout the whole year in other member states of the European Union. The aim of the contribution is to highlight the existing problems in international road freight transport sector. These problems persist despite the fact that market access was exempted from the national law of individual member states and regulated directly by EU regulations. Despite the unification of market access, tax and social harmonization is not ensured in international road freight transport. An unequal tax burden on carriers and different requirements of wage regulations create a discriminatory environment among entrepreneurs. The contribution identifies the factors that deform the equal operating conditions in single market. The aim of the contribution is also to provide the readers with the answers to the questions: Is it possible under current EU conditions to harmonize tax and social conditions? What impact would this harmonization have on business environment?

When Relevance Is No Longer the Question

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are not monolithic as they differ in size, curriculum specializations, and a host of other characteristics. However, HBCUs share a mission of providing a higher education for Black students within the broader context of a discriminatory social environment. The ability to understand and articulate the fundamental characteristics, which shape Black colleges, can provide more nuanced conversations about these institutions’ contributions toward addressing equity and access for Black students in higher education. Historically, scholars have used social and cultural capital to explain the role HBCUs play in Black students’ academic careers. However, this article uses Community Cultural Wealth to discuss the various forms of capital that HBCUs impart to their students. Specifically, in this article, we argue that using such a lens when discussing HBCUs is important because it provides a more holistic and broader outlook regarding the forms of culture HBCUs provide to their students.