Perceptions Of Gender Roles Research Articles

Factors Influencing Children’s Perception of Gender Roles and Their Psychological Impact: Evidence From Sociology and Psychology

Gender stereotypes are ubiquitous and often have negative consequences. However, they are common in children’s media, toys, and stories. Awareness of these gender stereotypes can hugely influence children’s perception of gender roles. Further, family-related factors, such as familial makeup, parenting, and siblings order, may be crucial in children’s acquisition of gender knowledge, which may later affect children’s wellbeing, career aspirations, peer choices, and academic performance. In order to better understand factors influencing children’s perception of gender roles and what psychological impacts they have, we integrated findings across the fields of sociology and psychology. We reviewed literature on the roles of the media, family, toys, and stories in shaping children’s perception of gender roles across sociological and psychological journals. We only included papers discussing factors and impacts on children aged two to fourteen. The findings from this review indicate that children’s media, toys, and stories commonly portray a disproportionate distribution and stereotypical gender representation of male and female characters. Besides, familial factors can influence children’s perception of gender roles and gender flexibility. Findings underline harmful impacts gender stereotypes may have on children, ranging from mental health problems like depression, anxiety, and somatic complaints to bullying, problematic peer relations, impaired academic performance, and school misconduct. Given the prevalence of gender-stereotypical ideas embedded in parenting and children’s media, toys, and literature and their negative impacts, we should be working to reduce the adverse impact of these stereotypes on children.

Gender role incongruency in general surgery applicants

IntroductionDeviation of an individual outside of gender normative stereotypes can limit hiring and promotion. The application, interview, and ranking process for medical students pursuing a general surgery residency has multiple opportunities for gender bias to affect an applicant's acceptance. This study examines medical students applying for a top academic general surgery residency and potential bias in perceived gender roles. Methods269 medical students were interviewed for categorical positions at an academic general surgery residency. Applicants described themselves in one word; adjectives were compiled and categorized as grindstone, ability, communal, or agentic traits. Groups were compared across applicant gender and race. Results42% of applicants were women. When comparing gender, men applicants were more likely to use a grindstone/communal adjective (73.2% vs 57.1%, p = 0.006). Men applicants were less likely to identify with an agentic adjective (21% vs 35%). ConclusionsContrary to gender stereotypes, women general surgery residency applicants tend to self-identify using ability/agentic adjectives more than men applicants. Bias training is important to mitigate the negative consequences of perceived traditional gender role-violation.

Physics Teachers’ Perceptions and Attitudes to Innovative Teaching Strategies

This study investigated perception and attitude to innovative teaching strategies in Senior Secondary Schools in Kwara State, Nigeria. Sample selection used a descriptive survey design. A total of 141 physics teachers participated using the purposive sampling technique. The instrument used was “Physics Questionnaire on Perception and Attitude to Innovative Teaching Strategies (PQPAITS)”, with a 0.78 reliability coefficient using Cronbach Alpha. Data collected were analysed using descriptive methods, t-test, and analysis of variance. Results showed that physics perception and attitude to innovative teaching strategies were positive. Gender did not influence perception. The attitudes of males were more positive towards innovative teaching strategies than their female counterparts. Teachers with 5–9 years of teaching experience exhibited high value in perception. Conclusively, the attitudes and perceptions of teachers are favourable to innovative teaching and perception of gender roles were minimal. The study recommends training for senior school physics teachers in innovative teaching strategies.

Gender stereotype and Influencers’ role in genderless fashion

This paper aims to investigate the role of gender segmentation in the fashion industry through the generations, particularly among the Millenials and Z Generation. Although, in fact, it has been stated that the perception of gender roles and gender stereotypes are less strong for these generations, contributions regarding the fashion sector are still few. For this purpose, focus groups were conducted with young Italian fashion consumers who contributed to a discussion on gender stereotype in fashion, genderless fashion, and the role of Instagram influencers in the genderless fashion. Research is currently ongoing, but results are expected in line with Laughlin (2016) who affirmed that these generations are less sensitive to gender segmentation and with De Veirman (De Veirman et al., 2017) to the extent that influencers can raise awareness much more than other forms of persuasion. This study provides a guidance for scholars about consumer perception of genderless fashion and current findings provide brand managers and advertising practitioners with empirical data about the role of social media influencers in genderless fashion and Instagram marketing.

Validity and reliability of the gender equity scale in nursing education.

Equity is an emerging issue across all sectors of society, and one of the frequently raised concerns in nursing education is gender inequity. An accurate assessment appears to be a key component in creating an environment of gender equity in nursing education. This study aimed to develop a scale of gender equity in nursing education and establish its validity and reliability. In total, 341 senior nursing students participated in the psychometric evaluation of the Gender Equity Scale in Nursing Education. This psychometric evaluation revealed that the 4-subdomain (personal experience of gender inequity, perceptions of gender roles, gender discrimination, and gender biases in class), 23-item measure possesses both good reliability and validity, as well as a good level of internal consistency. The Gender Equity Scale in Nursing Education was developed as a self-report questionnaire for both female and male students and considers gender role stereotypes, gender-biased educational climates, gender discrimination, and gender inequity in nursing education.

Comparing Kuwaiti Children’s Perceptions of Gender Roles : An Educational Social Perspective

Comparing Kuwaiti Children’s Perceptions of Gender Roles : An Educational Social Perspective

Gender Role Perceptions in Selected South-African Folktales

The objective of the study was to unpack gender role perceptions in selected South-African folktales. To this end, 65 purposefully selected folktales which reinforce character roles were analysed and interpreted, using narrative analysis. With the exception of a few that are used as instruments of contestation, the studied South-African folktales mainly serve as a tool to confirm the entrenched hegemonic philosophy of patriarchal communal life in terms of marriage, work, character traits, and authority. The rebelliousness of female characters against the patriarchal system in some folktales indicates that there is an emerging dynamism of discourse which aims at transforming the gender stereotype ideology inculcated in the folktales.

Afghan women perceptions of gender roles, possibilities and barriers to change after settlement in Australia: A qualitative study

Gender roles and gender stereotypes are culturally and socially constructed. Previous studies suggested that the Afghan community is a male-dominated and conservative society, where men are more visible in social activities, and women remain responsible mainly for household tasks. This research aimed to show Afghan women’ perceptions of gender roles and the possibilities for and barriers in Australian society to change those roles after their settlement in Australia. The study involved semi-structured interviews with 21 Afghan women who had been living in Australia between 6 months and 10 years. The interviews were conducted face to face or by telephone, in either Farsi (Persian) or English. An inductive thematic analysis was used to explore the data and build themes. Afghan women were aware of gender roles, patriarchy, and gender inequality, and they hoped to address those issues now as they live in a society that offers more freedom to women. Moving to Australia had enhanced women’s possibilities, self-confidence and skills and inspired many to go beyond traditional stereotypes and seek out options previously denied to them on the basis of their gender. However, their attempts at realising gender equality often met with the disapproval of their family or the wider Afghan community.

Gender diversity on Malaysian corporate boards: a law and social movements perspective

AbstractThis article is a unique investigation of the interaction between sociocultural perceptions of women in Malaysia and reforms implemented in that jurisdiction to promote gender diversity on corporate boards. It adopts a law and social movements perspective to better understand the legal reforms that have emerged, often amid fraught interactions between the state and women's rights activists due to their conflicting conceptions of gender roles. The article draws on empirical data to shed light on the practical workings of the reforms, ascertaining the perspective of insiders through interviews and examining the composition of the boards of 30 of the largest listed companies. While an increase in the representation of women on corporate boards suggests that the reforms have facilitated progress towards gender equality, such progress must be viewed in the context of prevalent conservative perceptions of gender roles, and sustained state resistance against women's rights activists, which together impede progress towards substantive equality.

BİR TIP FAKÜLTESİ ÖĞRENCİLERİNİN TOPLUMSAL CİNSİYET ROLLERİNE YÖNELİK BİLGİ VE TUTUMLARI

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of medical students towards gender roles. A cross-sectional study was conducted. The study enrolled voluntary medical students from the 1st and 6th grades of school in University. Out of the 764 students in the study population, results for 518 could be analyzed. Beyond socio-demographic characteristics, students’ awareness of gender roles was measured using the 38-item Gender Roles Attitude Scale (GRAS). The mean age of the students was 21.68±3.04 years. The mean GRAS score of the students were 113.45±7.36. The highest mean score in the GRAS subscales belonged to the “egalitarian gender roles” (33.74±5.78), and the lowest score to the “male gender roles” (12.26±4.51). Females had significantly higher mean total GRAS scores than males. On the other hand, the mean GRAS scores of first-grade students were statistically higher than those of the grade six students The GRAS score was significantly correlated with age (r –0.23, p<0.001). Multiple linear regression was done to investigate the effects of age, female sex, and being first grade on the GRAS scores, where age (t=-1.895; p=0.059) and female sex (t=6.170; p<0.001) revealed significant. Gender role perceptions and attitudes of the society can be changed in a positive way with parent education. Among the subjects of undergraduate medical education, the concept of gender needs to be emphasized more. Raising conscious graduates in terms of gender perceptions can contribute to reducing health inequalities caused by gender.

Reprezentacije rodova u oglašivačkim narativima u Republici Srbiji

Perceptions of gender roles are a result of socialization processes happening under the influence of diverse cultural factors. One of the strongest shaping forces in that context are mass media, and within them, advertising. In the executed research it is treated as a domain actively participating in the creation of cultural gender normative. Key research question is focused on gender representations in advertising. An ad is treated as a cultural text transferring not only commercial, but also wider cultural meanings. Content analysis applied to the selected advertising content broadcasted in the Republic of Serbia showed that quantitatively larger representation and visibility of women does not necessarily mean their actual greater significance. Some traditional patterns are changing. Other however are persisting. In areas like family, household and children care, advertising practices are evolving. More content shows both genders working together (caring for children, preparing food etc.). Men are represented as more active participants of family life. On the other hand, traditional pattern of representing women in the context of the body, beauty, physique is not changing much. They are more frequently in decorative and passive roles which is a dimension of representation nonexistent with men.

Research in the Religious Realm: Intersectional Diversification and Dynamic Variances of Insider/Outsider Perspectives

This article discusses insider/outsider perspectives in qualitative research among religious people. Focus is on the insider researcher. Even if researcher and participants share the same overall religious adherence or are members of the same denomination, various factors can differentiate them substantially, affecting insider/outsider perspectives. The methodological implications of this phenomenon are drawn from research on the perception of gender roles among Mormon women in Belgium. The mutual perception of researcher and participant can influence the data collection phase as value-laden issues are being discussed. To ensure the validity and objectivity of research in this context, positionalities of researcher and participants need to be clearly defined and methodological safeguards put into place. The analysis of the interactions between researcher and participants led to the identification of seven intersecting insider/outsider perspectives: denominational, congregational, social, religious, topical, lingual, and academic. Moreover, as compound insider/outsider positions move on several continua, various factors can change the perspectives during interviews. This article adds to the methodology of qualitative research by uncovering perspectives which researchers can consider or adapt when interviewing religious participants.

Herstories in Contemporary Indian Films

AbstractThe notion that being a man is more valuable than being a woman is promoted in films and television. Studies prove that children who watch movies and television are more likely to believe that boys and men are superior to girls and women. This impacts boys, who are taught from an early age to exhibit masculine characteristics and actions. Moreover, male attitudes and behaviors are influenced by the relative invisibility of women in the mass media. Over the last several decades, Indian films have witnessed a significant transformation in the way women are portrayed through films. With a focus on several typical Indian films, this article examines the rapidly changing positions of women represented in Indian films and their impact on patriarchal Indian culture. This article examines four films about women in various roles—The Great Indian Kitchen, Netrikann, Nerkonda Paarvai, and Aruvi—and the influence they have on society in general. The main objective of this article is to connect the changing roles of women in Indian films with the changing status of women in India, since films are a mirror of societal developments. This research looked at empirical information on how media influence perceptions of gender roles and actions based on those perceptions. Women in contemporary films are depicted as more self‐assured, assertive, and career‐oriented than in the past. Filmmakers should strive for gender parity in films. Despite rising awareness of the need for both girls and boys to overcome traditional gender norms, content creators have been hesitant to adopt gender‐sensitive methods of presentation.

The 'Mighty Girl' Effect: Does Parenting Daughters Alter Attitudes Towards Gender Roles?

Understanding the malleability of gender norms is crucial to address gender inequalities. We study the effect of parenting daughters on a gender role attitude relating to the traditional male breadwinner model: whether the husband should earn and the wife stay at home. We control for other covariates that capture alternative explanations for gender role perceptions. Our results suggest evidence of a positive effect of parenting daughters on acceptance of less traditional gender roles. The effect is only robust among fathers and driven by parenting school age rather than younger daughters, which is consistent with a social identity explanation. Results suggest that parenting daughters of school age (as opposed to parenting only sons) increases the probability to disagree with the statement that 'husband should earn and wife stay at home' by over 5 percentage points. We conclude that gender role attitudes can be shaped by events that occur later in life.

A Feminist Reading of Limon and Zeytin: Motherhood and Gender Roles

The analysis of motherhood and gender roles has been one of the most crucial concerns for feminist theory. Throughout history, the conventional understanding of gender roles has resulted in the oppressed women in society. There are also the repercussions in parents’ roles in marriages mostly resulting in inequality in the division of labour due to the internalized roles that see men superior to women. This belief has affected and directed numerous marriages as a false model where the woman is loaded with all the domestic work as a housewife and man is the sole breadwinner who is exempted from domestic work and has loose connections also with childcare, which is also included in domestic affairs. As the wife and thus mother becomes the projected figure, it becomes quite hard to mention the possibility of the division of labour in marriages because conventional marriages favour the established understanding that only or predominantly mothers are responsible for childcare and housework and that fathers should be distanced from this process. Turkish cartoonist Salih Memecan’s comic books Annem, İşte Benim Annem and Sihirli Annem are among the comics portraying examples of the problems about the division of domestic work in marriages. Drawing an example of a rather long-established perception of gender roles within a family sphere, the author comes up with a marriage where the name and place of the wife figure, Çıtçıt (May) is quite diminished. Taking its departure from the ideas of the second-wave feminism, the purpose of this paper is to study Salih Memecan’s comic books Annem, İşte Benim Annem and Sihirli Annem in the light of feminist theory. Çıtçıt (May) and Babişko (Bubs) will be analyzed shedding light on their duties as parents and as a couple with regards to gender roles.

Perceptions of gender roles and freedom among Iranian international students in Hungary

This qualitative study investigated attitudes toward gender roles and perception of freedom among Iranian students (n = 20) in Hungary. Four topics were extracted from the abductive content analysis of semi-structured interview transcripts: (1) gender essentialism, (2) gender-role egalitarianism, (3) traditional gender stereotypes, and (4) gendered freedom. Results indicated that: many men adopted gender essentialism, although women did not; men held transitional gender-role attitudes, whereas women held egalitarian gender-role attitudes; men generally displayed greater gender stereotypes and sexism as compared to women; almost all students, regardless of gender, endorsed gender equality and freedom and reported feeling more freedom in Hungary than in Iran; although, women expressed greater outrage over gender inequality and put greater emphasis on gender role differences; some forms of freedom in Hungary seemed to be more of a privilege to one gender than the other (e.g., no veiling requirement for women and relaxed cross-gender relationship for men).

The Gendered Spaces and Experiences of Female Faculty in Colleges of Agriculture*

AbstractThe “leaky pipeline” metaphor has been used to describe the dearth of women in science, technology, and leadership roles. For colleges of agriculture within land grant universities (LGUs), college leadership and tenured faculty in agricultural science disciplines have historically been disproportionately male, even though women earn nearly an equal number of doctorates. Conscious gender discrimination may account for some of these disparities; however, this is not the only cause of this imbalance. Gendered constructions of the division of labor and allocation of power within organizational cultures are also important to consider when addressing gender inequalities. Using a qualitative feminist methodology, we explored the intersection of identity, social roles, and gendered organizational cultures in colleges of agriculture and life sciences for female faculty. Findings reflect how gender norms have shifted through time as more female faculty join academic units yet, subtle bias and the institutional culture of large LGUs still influence behavioral expectations and perceived gender roles. However, the power of academic leaders to support equality indicates a type of local level influence that can push against the structural constraints of the institution. We also discuss specific recommendations for academic departments and leaders of colleges of agriculture and life sciences.

Training programs to improve identification of sick newborns and care-seeking from a health facility in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review

BackgroundMost neonatal deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Limited recommendations are available on the optimal personnel and training required to improve identification of sick newborns and care-seeking from a health facility. We conducted a scoping review to map the key components required to design an effective newborn care training program for community-based health workers (CBHWs) to improve identification of sick newborns and care-seeking from a health facility in LMICs.MethodsWe searched multiple databases from 1990 to March 2020. Employing iterative scoping review methodology, we narrowed our inclusion criteria as we became more familiar with the evidence base. We initially included any manuscripts that captured the concepts of “postnatal care providers,” “neonates” and “LMICs.” We subsequently included articles that investigated the effectiveness of newborn care provision by CBHWs, defined as non-professional paid or volunteer health workers based in communities, and their training programs in improving identification of newborns with serious illness and care-seeking from a health facility in LMICs.ResultsOf 11,647 articles identified, 635 met initial inclusion criteria. Among these initial results, 35 studies met the revised inclusion criteria. Studies represented 11 different types of newborn care providers in 11 countries. The most commonly studied providers were community health workers. Key outcomes to be measured when designing a training program and intervention to increase appropriate assessment of sick newborns at a health facility include high newborn care provider and caregiver knowledge of newborn danger signs, accurate provider and caregiver identification of sick newborns and appropriate care-seeking from a health facility either through caregiver referral compliance or caregivers seeking care themselves. Key components to consider to achieve these outcomes include facilitators: sufficient duration of training, refresher training, supervision and community engagement; barriers: context-specific perceptions of newborn illness and gender roles that may deter care-seeking; and components with unclear benefit: qualifications prior to training and incentives and remuneration.ConclusionEvidence regarding key components and outcomes of newborn care training programs to improve CBHW identification of sick newborns and care-seeking can inform future newborn care training design in LMICs. These training components must be adapted to country-specific contexts.

Healthcare workers’ perception of gender and work roles during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods study

ObjectivesA high functioning healthcare workforce is a key priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to determine how work and mental health for healthcare workers changed during the COVID-19 pandemic...

Editorial

The new issue of Migration Letters reflects again on the complexities of a post-Covid 19 world, characterized by the overlapping of old and new migratory experiences, divided along old and new configurations of racial, ethnic and religious stratification. This issue includes several topics whose relevance in the inclusive recovery we wish for, has already been highlighted. These include the securitization of migration (Stefancik, Némethová and Seresová); the continuing relevance of global remittances (Biyase, Fisher and Pretorius); the structures of exclusion in naturalization process (Catherine Simpson Bueker); the health conditions of refugees (Mendola and Busetta) and the practices of ‘othering' during the Covid-19 pandemic (Lumayag and Bala). The articles in this issue also focus on the integration and irregular migration in the South of Europe (Hüseyinoğlu and Utku; Cela and Barbiano di Belgiojoso; Kobelinsky and Furri; Terzakis and Daskalopoulou) as well as in affluent EU countries like Austria (Rauhut). Finally, two important contributions reflect on the gender perspective, a most relevant approach needed to counterbalance the gender bias in much of Covid analysis so far. These articles analyze in particular ethnic minorities’ fertility practices in Southern Europe (Carella, Del Rey Poveda and Zanasi) and gender role perceptions among minorities in England and Wales (Zuccotti).