Positions Of Power Research Articles

CEOs’ Perceptions of Loneliness in the Workplace: An Exploratory Study

Loneliness among CEOs is a topic that draws the attention of leadership experts, as it was suggested that it’s a less explored topic in leadership studies (Wright et al., 2023). The popular phrase “it’s lonely at the top” suggests that top managers frequently experience loneliness in their roles. Not having someone close to confide in is a challenge for many leaders at work (George, 2015). CEO loneliness can have negative effects both individually (e.g., health, well-being and stress) and organizationally (e.g., commitment, employee perceptions of the CEO and turnover) (Wright et al., 2023; Chen et al., 2021). The aim of this study was therefore to explore how CEOs perceived and experienced workplace loneliness; more specifically, we sought to identify what types of loneliness they encounter most often, what situations may trigger workplace loneliness, and how CEOs cope with loneliness in the workplace, in Norwegian organizational settings. Based on empirical results from 14 in-depth qualitative interviews with CEOs of small and medium-sized companies, it appeared they had experienced state loneliness at work and that none of them had reported trait loneliness. State loneliness often arose in situations such as confidentiality cases, decision-making processes and change management processes. Due to the nature of the CEO role, our participants stated that they often accepted the loneliness in the workplace as part of their role, which might suggest a potential coping strategy that they utilize. Other coping strategies that were found include disconnection techniques and the use of their support networks. Addressing this topic adds value to empirical research on leadership by raising awareness of the challenges of loneliness that business leaders in positions of power, specifically CEOs in a Norwegian cultural context, face in the workplace when performing their duties. It provides insight into the types of loneliness experienced, the situations that can trigger CEO loneliness, and how loneliness in the workplace can be addressed and mitigated.

Community Health Agents Dismantling Gender Norms in a Machismo Society.

Community health agents (CHAs) play a crucial role in healthcare delivery and can also impact societal gender norms. This study aims to understand CHAs' perceptions of gender roles and norms to identify long-term strategies for women's empowerment. We conducted 90-min focus group discussions (FGDs) among CHAs in Peru. FGDs illuminated women's perceptions of gender roles and how to empower women in communities. In total, 53 CHAs participated across six FGDs. CHAs noted that women face significant barriers, are treated disrespectfully, and relegated to domestic roles. Ideal gender norms were described as having access to education, increasing voice, inclusion in decision-making, and independence. Changing gender norms requires that men, women, families, and communities support women's progress in society. CHAs are in a unique and powerful position to drive social change. Understanding CHAs perceptions can help develop effective strategies for women's empowerment.

Importance of accounting for student identities and intersectionality for creating equitable and inclusive physics learning environments

This research focuses on the experiences of seven undergraduate women who were majoring in physics in a medium-size physics department at a small liberal arts college. In the semistructured, empathetic interviews we conducted, the women discussed how they decided to major in physics, their interactions with their peers and instructors, and who supported them during their physics trajectory. We used Standpoint Theory and focused on the experiences of undergraduate women to get a holistic perspective of how they became interested in physics, how they have been supported in their physics journey, as well as identify any challenges that they faced in their undergraduate physics program due to their identity. Using the Domains of Power framework, we analyzed how those in the position of power, e.g., instructors, can play important roles in establishing and maintaining safe, equitable, and inclusive environments for students, which is especially important for historically marginalized students such as women and ethnic and racial minority students in physics. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Studying Up Public Sector AI: How Networks of Power Relations Shape Agency Decisions Around AI Design and Use

As public sector agencies rapidly introduce new AI tools in high-stakes domains like social services, it becomes critical to understand how decisions to adopt these tools are made in practice. We borrow from the anthropological practice to "study up" those in positions of power, and reorient our study of public sector AI around those who have the power and responsibility to make decisions about the role that AI tools will play in their agency. Through semi-structured interviews and design activities with 16 agency decision-makers, we examine how decisions about AI design and adoption are influenced by their interactions with and assumptions about other actors within these agencies (e.g., frontline workers and agency leaders), as well as those above (legal systems and contracted companies), and below (impacted communities). By centering these networks of power relations, our findings shed light on how infrastructural, legal, and social factors create barriers and disincentives to the involvement of a broader range of stakeholders in decisions about AI design and adoption. Agency decision-makers desired more practical support for stakeholder involvement around public sector AI to help overcome the knowledge and power differentials they perceived between them and other stakeholders (e.g., frontline workers and impacted community members). Building on these findings, we discuss implications for future research and policy around actualizing participatory AI approaches in public sector contexts.

The Pijao Indians in the Colombian Andes: a legacy for organizational democracy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the organizational and managerial practices of the Pijaos community as a segmentary organization located in the Colombian Andes, providing a cultural legacy through the effective management of power and authority, while establishing a bridge to organizational democracy (OD). Design/methodology/approach A review of books, papers and historiographies was conducted to collect historical data on the Pijaos. Findings It was found that the social organization of the Pijaos was devoid of power ambitions and abuses of authority, thanks to characteristics inherent in their economic system, parenting style, socio-political structure and authority based on rotation of leaders rather than supreme delegation under an inheritance scheme. Originality/value Management literature has not considered the ancestral Amerindian communities of the southern continent to rescue their organizational practices and relate them to the new management trends, as organizational democracy, which not only operates based on flat structures but also considers the rotation of individuals holding positions of power.

Teacher Bullying—Does It Have an Impact on Peer Bullying Victimization?

AbstractPeer bullying in schools is well-documented through international research. There is, however, limited knowledge about teachers who bully students and how this is related to peer bullying. In the school hierarchy, the teachers have a strong position of formal power. When this power is exercised positively, through authoritative classroom leadership, this will both prevent bullying and support and protect victims of bullying. However, we cannot neglect the possibility that teachers can use their formal power negatively, and in the worst cases bully students. This study aimed to explore how teacher bullying was associated with being bullied by peers. Data from the Norwegian Annual Pupil Survey (2018) was used. The sample consisted of 173,742 students (48.93% female). The participation rate was approximately 90%. A Likert scale was used to estimate the extent to which students were being bullied by peers and teachers. The main results showed that teacher bullying was positively associated with peer offline and online bullying victimization while statistically controlling for gender and grades. With a rather small effect size, the association of teacher bullying with offline bullying victimization was stronger than with online bullying victimization. Bullying was measured using self-reporting with a single question. In future research, it is recommended that several questions be used to capture the complexity of bullying. The results from this study show that it is necessary to develop and implement preventive measures not only against bullying among peers but also against teacher bullying.

Acoustic Drift: Generating Helicity and Transferring Energy

This article studies the general properties of the Stokes drift field. This name is commonly used for the correction addedto the mean Eulerian velocity for describing the averaged transport of the material particles by the oscillating fluid flows. Stokes drift is widely known mainly in connection with another feature of oscillating flows known as steady streaming, which has been and remains the focus of a multitude of studies. However, almost nothing is known about Stokes drift in general, e.g., about its energy or helicity (Hopf’s invariant). We address these quantities for acoustic drift driven by simple sound waves with finite discrete Fourier spectra. The results discover that the mean drift energy is partly localized on a certain resonant set, which we have described explicitly. Moreover, the mean drift helicity turns out to be completely localized on the same set. We also present several simple examples to reveal the effect of the power spectrum and positioning of the spectral atoms. It is revealed that tuning them can drastically change both resonant and non-resonant energies, zero the helicity, or even increase it unboundedly.

Bourbachokátzouli: A Greek Governess in Victorian England

In Victorian fiction, the Greek woman often appears as a representation of modern Greece, with the 1821 War of Independence as a backdrop. When the novel A Modern Greek Heroine appeared in 1880, the Morning Post naturally noted that ‘this is not, as might possibly be supposed from its title, the biography of any champion of Hellenic independence, but a novel of English life’ (3). Henry Cresswell, the novel's author, imagined an alternative universe for his heroine. In A Modern Greek Heroine, Bourbachokátzouli has lost her father and connection to her homeland and is haunted not by the ghost of a lost cause but by a man suspected of insanity in a trajectory that brings her to Britain to seek employment as a governess. Cresswell drew inspiration from revolutionary Crete, giving his main protagonist the highly distinctive name of a real-life woman warrior from Sfakia, yet his Bourbachokátzouli is both an unconventional ‘modern Greek heroine’, resenting many elements of her Greek past, and an untypical Victorian governess harnessing the heroic in herself. Employed as a French governess in Britain and received as an untruthful Greek, she discovers heroism in self-abnegation, exposes late-Victorian society's limitations, subverts stereotypes, and finally finds herself in a position of power.

Is the Position of Power More Relevant than Gender for Commercialization of Research? An Explorative Longitudinal Study over 21 Years

AbstractThe existing gender gap regarding commercialization of research is a limiting factor for the knowledge economy. The aim of this study is to explore the long-time development of the proportion of women researcher’s involvement in the process of university spin-out (USO) foundations in a longitudinal study over 21 years at the Uppsala University in Sweden, using the perspective of the position of power. It was found that the proportion of women researchers among the USO-founders increased at the same pace as the increase in the proportion of women among full professors at the University and the gender gap was significantly reduced during the last 7 years studied. Furthermore, during the last 7 years studied, 2.7% of the women full professors at the University participated in USO creations compared to 2.6% of their male counterparts. These findings challenge the perception that women in general have a lower entrepreneurial propensity and strongly indicate that the position of power has a significant impact. Furthermore, the prosperity of women researchers to get involved in commercialization efforts in this Scandinavian study seems to be much higher than those previously reported from the Anglo-Saxen context which is discussed from the perspective of other influential factors. Since the study is limited to only one university recommendations for further studies to validate, the findings are given as well as policy recommendations.

Teacher Well-Being Under Threat: The Consequences of Workplace Bullying from Preschool to Higher Education

Workplace bullying can be defined as the repeated occurrence of aggressive behaviour by one or more persons in a position of power towards the victim. This phenomenon remains insufficiently researched among education professionals, especially between different levels of education. With this in mind, the present study aims to assess and characterise this phenomenon in the Portuguese teacher population, as well as its consequences. A digital questionnaire was used for the study, which includes a socio-demographic component and two scales, namely the LIPT-60 scale and the WBMMS scale. The questionnaire was published online and made accessible to all teachers employed in schools in Portugal. The final sample consisted of 2003 teachers. The obtained results revealed that 22.5% of the sample acknowledged experiencing workplace bullying. The most prevalent aggressive behaviours included communication blockage and defamation and disregard for work. Vertical descent emerged as the most common form of bullying. More than half of the victims reported experiencing health issues, with a quarter of them requiring a medical certificate. Finally, we would like to emphasize the significance of this study as an initial step towards the prevention and reduction of workplace bullying among Portuguese teachers.

Defining child maltreatment for research and surveillance: a Delphi study in 34 countries

Abstract Background Child maltreatment is a complex public health issue that has consequences across the life-course. Studies to measure child maltreatment and identify interventions and services are constrained by a lack of uniform definitions across sectors and countries. We conducted a Delphi study to reach consensus on types and characteristics of child maltreatment for use in surveillance and research in Europe. Methods Statements were developed following a scoping review and identification of key concepts by an international expert team (n = 19). A multidisciplinary expert panel (n = 70) from 34 countries participated in three rounds of online data collection. We defined consensus as ≥ 70% agreement or disagreement with each statement after the final round. Results Consensus was reached on 26/31 statements, with a participant retention rate of 94%. The definition states that child maltreatment is a subtype of violence against children. The perpetrator can be an adult or minor, but must be in a position of power over the child. To define an act or omission as child maltreatment, it must cause harm or have the potential to cause harm, regardless of intention, severity, chronicity, or the traditional/cultural beliefs of the perpetrator. In addition, the broad umbrella term encompassing emotional, behavioural or cognitive maltreatment should be “psychological”, and psychological maltreatment should be split into sub-types of psychological abuse and psychological neglect. “Neglect” is a broad type of child maltreatment within which there are subtypes that can all be characterised as “failure to provide” or “failure to supervise”. Conclusions This is the first study to demonstrate consensus on the types and key characteristics of child maltreatment across multiple sectors and countries, providing a unified definition of child maltreatment to improve consistency of measurement and surveillance in Europe. This abstract is submitted on behalf of Working Group 1 COST Action 19106. Key messages • A standardised definition is essential for monitoring child maltreatment. • We propose a consensus-based definition that can be used to improve child maltreatment measurement in research and surveillance.

Hierarchy as a signal of culture and belonging: Exploring why egalitarian ideology predicts aversion to hierarchical organizations

Variation in people's ideological preference for the maintenance of inequality between social groups (i.e., social dominance orientation; SDO) predicts important sociopolitical outcomes, such as endorsement of different social policies, institutions, and belief systems. We argue that SDO may also inform people's engagement with work organizations. Specifically, we propose that SDO may impact attraction to different organizational structures. Across 6 experiments (N = 3034), we find that people with relatively egalitarian values are less attracted to organizations with much (vs. little) managerial hierarchy; this gap in attraction is attenuated for relative anti-egalitarians (Studies 1a-b). These effects are not moderated by whether dominant vs. subordinate group members occupy positions of power in hierarchical arrangements (Study 2a-b) and are driven by signals concerning likelihood of organizational belonging that egalitarians (vs. anti-egalitarians) derive from managerial hierarchy (Studies 3a-b). We discuss implications for social dominance theory and research connecting ideology to organizational attraction.

“It Can't Just Be the Younger People”: Exploring Young Activists' Perspectives on Intergenerational Tensions and Solidarities for Climate Justice

ABSTRACTYouth activism for climate justice is inherently intergenerational. Fundamentally, young activists demand urgent action by today's adult power‐holders for the security and well‐being of their own and future generations. Despite intergenerationality being core to the movement, few studies with young activists have explored their views and experiences of intergenerational relations and tensions and how to advance intergenerational solidarities for climate justice. Addressing these critical topics, the present study used in‐depth interviews with young activists (ages 15–17) in the climate justice movement across the US. Themes generated through reflexive thematic analysis centre on: (1) youths' adoption of “next generation” and “last generation” identities, respectively emphasising the heightened climate risks faced by their own and future generations, and the closing window of opportunity to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown; (2) their experiences of hostile and benevolent adultism; and (3) the need for adults to listen to, take seriously, centre, amplify, and—most importantly—respond to youths' demands. They urge adults, particularly those in powerful positions, to use their age‐based privilege, political enfranchisement, material resources, professional status, and decision‐making authority to uplift young people's voices and tangibly advance climate justice through solidarity‐driven intergenerational partnerships and action. Implications for youth‐centred research and policy are discussed.

Understanding fallacious reasoning via detecting moves of motivated criticism in Argument Continuity—a new strategy of circular reasoning in coping responses to disagreement within a distorted reasoning context

Reasoning asymmetry arises when biased argument production aligns with biased argument evaluation by the same arguer, a phenomenon commonly termed motivated criticism or biased assimilation. This practice, often wielded by individuals in positions of power, aims to advocate for specific decision options. Argument Continuity exemplifies this asymmetry within a distorted reasoning context, where a motivated critic incessantly reiterates arguments in counterarguments to discredit less powerful opponents, disregarding evidential priority in reasoning exchanges. When these restatements are bolstered by appeals to authority, uncertainty, or the unlikelihood of adverse effects of a decision option, they signify moves of motivated criticism, perpetuating Argument Continuity discursively. The paper seeks to identify and annotate instances of Argument Continuities in Indigenous consultation reports, reconstructing a discourse of motivated criticism among officials responding to resource concerns. By developing annotation guidelines, it aims to classify and predict Argument Continuity, providing a tool to preempt fallacious reasoning by authorities across diverse public policy contexts.

Investigating Gender-Based Stereotypes in Advertisement Landscape: A Multimodal Analysis of an Indian Town

Abstract This study examines the prevalence of gender stereotypes in outdoor advertising within an Indian satellite town, focusing on the portrayal of women and men in stereotypical gender roles. Images of outdoor advertisements were collected from the busy streets and subjected to purposive sampling for analysis. The analysis was done with critical discourse analysis and multimodal discourse analysis. The results reveal a clear endorsement of men in powerful and high-status positions, while women are consistently depicted as objects and confined to traditional roles as homemakers. The purpose of this study is to emphasize the importance of addressing gender issues, not only for cultural understanding but also for recognizing the pervasive influence of gender-based social conditioning, which undermines the foundation of an equitable society.

Corruption, sextortion, gender-based violence: Open challenges for the European Union in harmonising substantive criminal rules

The TFEU granted the European Union a propulsive function of harmonizing criminal provisions by establishing minimum standards relating to the definition of crimes and penalties concerning impactful forms of criminality. Considering this, the European Commission has proposed two directives on corruption and gender-based violence, nevertheless lacking to enucleate borderline cases such as sextortion, namely that form of corruption in which sex, rather than money, is the currency of the bribe. Sextortion has been recorded in critical sectors such as education, healthcare, and law enforcement, but there are no specific laws regulating it. Consequently, law enforcement agencies pursue a case-by-case approach and prosecute sextortion either as a corruption case or as a gender-based violence case. Such an approach is not devoid of criticalities. On this point, one should consider, for example, the burdens of consent and the evidentiary system regarding sexual coercion or the unfair criminalization of victims since, technically, they are the ones who provide the sexual activity that constitutes the currency of the bribe. To overcome these concerns, this article suggests introducing an autonomous offense specifically designed to criminalize the conduct of those in a position of power demanding or receiving sexual services in exchange for treatments or services to which those who provide the sexual activity are already legally entitled. Placing the sextortion issue at the European level would fit within the current legal basis of the treaties (Article 83(1) and (2) TFEU) and align with current European initiatives in the field of corruption and gender-based violence.

Identity work responses to workplace stigmatization: Power positions, authenticity, religious coping and religious accommodation for skilled practising Muslim professionals

AbstractDespite the challenges Muslims face because of their stigmatized religious identity, little is known about how they navigate that identity in the workplace. Adopting an interpretivist perspective of identity work, this study investigates this issue by building on two‐round in‐depth interviews (35 in round‐one and 21 in round‐two) with skilled practising British Muslim professionals. It extends work on power positions to show the privileges those in senior managerial positions have, including assertiveness and control over workplace interactions and outcomes. It further advances understanding of authenticity, revealing that, despite their experiences of stigmatization, these professionals tend to remain true to their religious identity, openly practising their religion in the workplace. They perceive identity re‐interpretation to be part of authenticity, and a responsibility to contest religious stigma. Importantly, this study conceptualizes proactive religious coping as an identity work response to workplace stigmatization, theorized in this organizational context as turning to God and religious rituals for meaning, comfort, resilience and reconciliation, whilst also being proactive and fighting to challenge experiences of stigmatization. However, unlike for other stigmatized groups, inclusive organizational practices, particularly religious accommodation, are not a driver for authenticity, but rather a signal for environment‐fit and authenticity is instead driven by religious identity.

Julius Malema, from Masupatsela to the Formation of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF): Historical Narrative

Julius Malema was born in 1982 during the apartheid era in South Africa and began his political journey at an early age. As he rose in the political space, he became prominent, playing a critical role in reviving the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). He was exposed to formal politics from the age of nine when he joined Masupatsela (Trailblazers), the youth brigade of the African National Congress (ANC) at the time. He rose to positions of power through joining the ranks of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), the ANCYL, and post his expulsion from the ANCYL, established his own organisation, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), of which he is the current president, also known as the commander in chief (CiC). The article interrogates Malema's role in South African politics, and how he contributed to growing factionalism in the ANC. First, the article discusses Malema's early stages of joining politics, and his gradual growth, until he became the president of the ANCYL in 2008. Second, the article discusses his role in the politics of the mother body, the ANC, that is, in policies. Third, the article scrutinise why Malema was expelled from the ANCYL and, last, the emergence of the EFF in 2013 and its radical stance in the politics of South Africa.

Personal, Institutional, and Societal Barriers to Educators’ Engagement with Datafication on Campus

Datafied digital systems have permeated higher education over the past decade. Registration, grading, financial operations, alumni communications, and often teaching take place through digital platforms that extract and collate data, about students as well as faculty and staff. At the level of these data system processes, academics may not have the knowledge or practices to fully grasp the shift in their workplace that datafication represents. However, our research suggests that educators do understand the paradigm shift that datafication represents and have strong beliefs about how institutions should proceed to protect students and academia itself. Our team conducted an in-depth Comparative Case Study (CCS) investigation of how university educators make sense of the datafied infrastructures in and on which they work. This presentation overviews the knowledge, practices, experiences, and perspectives of educators in various institutional status positions from six different countries, in relation to datafied digital tools. We will focus particularly on the barriers that participants articulated to their own engagement with data, at personal, institutional, and societal levels. We will frame ways barriers are reinforced by institutional approaches to datafication, overview participants’ concerns, and explore how datafication has altered faculty’s power position as knowers within the academy.

Living on a low income during the cost-of-living crisis: Exploring experiences and perceptions

Drawing upon data from Changing Realities, an online participatory research project collected between September-October 2022 and March-April 2023, this article generates new knowledge on the lived experiences of low-income families in the UK during this turbulent political period and particularly through the (ongoing) cost-of-living crisis. Utilising the work of Wright and McIntosh, we articulate the ‘shared typical’ discernible of lived experiences of life on a low income during this tumultuous period. Findings provide new insights into how participants describe themselves as part of a collective, comprising parents and carers who shared similar experiences of life on a low income. However, in contrast they differentiated between themselves and those in positions of power and disconnected from their reality. In our discussion, we examine the implications of this and consider the broader understandings and realisations of poverty.