Gender Bias Research Articles

Over twenty years of publications in Ecology: Over-contribution of women reveals a new dimension of gender bias

Biographical features like social and economic status, ethnicity, sexuality, care roles, and gender unfairly disadvantage individuals within academia. Authorship patterns should reflect the social dimension behind the publishing process and co-authorship dynamics. To detect potential gender biases in the authorship of papers and examine the extent of women’s contribution in terms of the substantial volume of scientific production in Ecology, we surveyed papers from the top-ranked journal Ecology from 1999 to 2021. We developed a Women’s Contribution Index (WCI) to measure gender-based individual contributions. Considering gender, allocation in the author list, and the total number of authors, the WCI calculates the sum of each woman’s contribution per paper. We compared the WCI with women’s expected contributions in a non-gender-biased scenario. Overall, women account for 30% of authors of Ecology, yet their contribution to papers is higher than expected by chance (i.e., over-contribution). Additionally, by comparing the WCI with an equivalent Men’s Contribution Index, we found that women consistently have higher contributions compared to men. We also observed a temporal trend of increasing women’s authorship and mixed-gender papers. This suggests some progress in addressing gender bias in the field of ecology. However, we emphasize the need for a better understanding of the pattern of over-contribution, which may partially stem from the phenomenon of over-compensation. In this context, women might need to outperform men to be perceived and evaluated as equals. The WCI provides a valuable tool for quantifying individual contributions and understanding gender biases in academic publishing. Moreover, the index could be customized to suit the specific question of interest. It serves to uncover a previously non-quantified type of bias (over-contribution) that, we argue, is the response to the inequitable structure of the scientific system, leading to differences in the roles of individuals within a scientific publishing team.

Estereotipos de género y videojuegos online en jóvenes universitarios de la ciudad de La Paz

Gender stereotypes (GE) are beliefs related to the ought and/or behaviors of men and women that perpetuate gender discrimination in different spaces; one of these is the virtual world. Where Dota-LOL online video games are found. Thus, the objective of this article is to know what attributes are assigned by young university students to the characters and to identify the beliefs attributed to the female characters. From a qualitative ap proach that assumes subjective reality, a deep and reflective analysis, 11 interviews were conducted. Confirming that in this type of video games women are assigned related roles: care, empathy, weakness; to men: leadership, aggressiveness, coldness, protector.

Parents’ views on gay male teachers in early childhood education

ABSTRACT The stigma surrounding men’s sexuality in Early Childhood Education (ECE) is complex and part of a sexuality hierarchy within which homophobic, emasculating and disparaging undertones are often used to label male teachers in ECE as gay. In this paper the authors demonstrate the complex and gendered ways in which this stigma unfolds in a South African context and offer a decolonising gender perspective to highlight how the country’s socio-political context impacts on how parents respond to gay men in ECE. The parents in this study expressed tolerance and acceptance of gay men’s involvement in ECE. Notwithstanding, these diverse views, many parents’ tolerance and acceptance of gay men in ECE was found to be powerfully structured along a discriminatory heterosexist culture. Despite this, some parent’s acceptance of gay male teachers in ECE were underpinned by gender-progressive attitudes to focus on curtailing gender discrimination and promoting gender diversity and inclusivity at school.

Mitigation measures for addressing gender bias in artificial intelligence within healthcare settings: a critical area of sociological inquiry

AbstractArtificial intelligence (AI) is often described as crucial for making healthcare safer and more efficient. However, some studies point in the opposite direction, demonstrating how biases in AI cause inequalities and discrimination. As a result, a growing body of research suggests mitigation measures to avoid gender bias. Typically, mitigation measures address various stakeholders such as the industry, academia, and policy-makers. To the author’s knowledge, these have not undergone sociological analysis. The article fills this gap and explores five examples of mitigation measures designed to counteract gender bias in AI within the healthcare sector. The rapid development of AI in healthcare plays a crucial role globally and must refrain from creating or reinforcing inequality and discrimination. In this effort, mitigation measures to avoid gender bias in AI in healthcare are central tools and, therefore, essential to explore from a social science perspective, including sociology. Sociologists have made valuable contributions to studying inequalities and disparities in AI. However, research has pointed out that more engagement is needed, specifically regarding bias in AI. While acknowledging the importance of these measures, the article suggests that they lack accountable agents for implementation and overlook potential implementation barriers such as resistance, power relations, and knowledge hierarchies. Recognizing the conditions where the mitigation measures are to be implemented is essential for understanding the potential challenges that may arise. Consequently, more studies are needed to explore the practical implementation of mitigation measures from a social science perspective and a systematic review of mitigation measures.

Migrant Women in the UK’s Digital Economy: The Elimination of Labour Market Barriers in the Digital Labour Market

This research paper delves into the complexities migrant women face within the UK labour market, with a specific focus on the digital economy’s role as both a barrier and a conduit for employment opportunities. Migrant women in the UK encounter dual barriers to labour market entry: systemic challenges rooted in migration and gender biases, and the digital divide that exacerbates access and inclusion issues within the burgeoning digital economy. Through an exploratory descriptive analysis, this study explores how digitalism—defined as the integration of digital technologies into economic and societal practices—circumvents traditional labour market entry barriers such as languages barriers. By setting out the grounds for a potential hypothesis and further research in the era of AI, this paper underlines how through the implementation of AI tools, traditional barriers such as language barriers are eliminated in the digital labour market.

“They’re Doing Their Own Kind of Nursing”: Challenging the Gender Bias

ABSTRACT Despite Iceland's reputation as a gender equal country, men make up about 4% of nurses which is low in comparison with similar countries. To shed light on what determines the choice of nursing and on cooperation at work, interviews with ten female and seven male nurses were analysed with reflexive thematic analysis. Drawing on poststructuralist and feminist theories, focusing on power relations and gender in the workplace, the analysis revealed stereotypical gender differences. Choosing nursing was for the female nurses a “natural” channel for their talents, the males were conscious of crossing a line and prepared for stereotyping obstacles. A powerful hierarchy characterized daily work, female nurses described suppressing working situations and lack of support, males ranked themselves higher in respect and opportunities, prioritized their professional boundaries, self-care, and nursing competence, free of gender labels. This difference is an important and self-sustaining part of nurses’ image as powerless, deters young people from nursing education and leads to distance between genders in the workplace. The findings highlight the need to recognize and tackle stereotyping, which maintains inequality, prioritizing diversity instead is a task for educational and health systems, and the debate on gender equality in Iceland.

The Value of Work: The Gendered Outcomes of Organizational Wage Reforms

ABSTRACT This study explores the influence of organizational practices on gender in/equality in a unique setting: the reformed Israeli kibbutz. The transition of the kibbutz from all members receiving an allowance to waged labor provides an opportunity to explore the impact of wage determination systems on gender pay inequality. The study uses a mixed-method approach: descriptive statistics of administrative data, in-depth interviews, and a focus group with kibbutz management. The findings demonstrate that a “market-based logic,” embedded with gendered preconceptions of “women’s work,” can seep into an organization through a shift in the wage determination system, and increase gender inequality. The findings also highlight the lack of organizational awareness about the gendered consequences of this shift, or even their uncritical acceptance of the “value hierarchy” as ordained by the market. The study thus supports the theory positing gender as a hidden but integral aspect of reward systems in contemporary labor markets. HIGHLIGHTS The choice of a wage determination system is critical for gender inequality. “Women’s work” is valued higher by analytical job evaluation systems, which reduce gender biases. Market-based wage determinations introduce biases and increase organizational gender inequality. Management prefers market-based wage determinations due to competition and costs. The “free market” not only obscures gender hierarchies but also legitimizes them.

Impact of an immersive engineering program on children's understanding of and interest in engineering: Addressing gender stereotypes

AbstractBackgroundThe gender gap in engineering presents a critical barrier to achieving a diverse and innovative engineering workforce. This gap is influenced by gender stereotypes, socialization processes, masculine culture, and insufficient early experiences with engineering. These contribute to diminished STEM self‐concept, interest, and participation among women.Purpose/HypothesisThis study assessed an engineering outreach program's impact on children's understanding of and interest in engineering and beliefs about who can be an engineer. It compared whether discussions of gender bias differentially influenced these outcomes for girls and boys.Design/MethodThe study was a short‐term sequential quasi‐experimental design with boys and girls in grades 4–5. Six classroom groups attended a half‐day engineering field trip and were randomly assigned to two conditions: Gender Presentation or No Gender Presentation. Pre‐ and post‐program surveys measured changes in understanding of and interest in engineering and beliefs about who can be an engineer.ResultsAll children, regardless of gender or condition, had higher understanding of and interest in engineering after the program, but also demonstrated a bias in selecting men over women as engineers. Participants reported that both girls and boys like and are good at engineering and these ratings increased from the pre‐program to the post‐program survey.ConclusionThis research affirms the effectiveness of immersive and inclusive programming in enhancing children's understanding of and interest in engineering. No substantial gender‐specific differences emerged regarding the impact of discussions on gender biases. The program underscores the value of early inclusive educational interventions in fostering equitable interest in engineering among young students.

Gender dynamics during COVID-19 and its impact on South Asian women migrants in GCC countries

ABSTRACT The feminisation of migration was already an established phenomenon much before the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world and disrupted the migration pattern. It not only disturbed existing equilibrium but also rewrote a new order of gendered migration. It imposed severe constraints on mobility by closing the borders of sovereign nation-states, imposing lockdowns and putting populations under quarantine. Migrant workers, especially women were adversely affected by these restrictions and became easy victims of economic, social and structural inequalities. Under these observations, the research paper analyses the magnitude and patterns of gender dynamics among South Asian women in the Gulf. It also examines how a global health crisis reinforces existing gendered socialisation and creates new gender biases which impact women migrant workers disproportionately. The research article also discusses roles and responsibilities, patterns of expenditure, remittances etc of migrating women from South Asia to the Gulf and the changes which have occurred.

Racial Bias in Academia: An Audit Experiment Revealing Disparities in Faculty Responses to Prospective Students

Building on Milkman, Akinola, and Chugh (2015), this article presents data from an experiment conducted in Australia that included fictional emails from prospective students seeking a meeting with faculty members. The results show significantly different responses from faculty depending on the student’s name and association with a racialized group. While the study reveals evidence of racial bias, there is, contrary to previous studies, little evidence of gender bias. Additionally, the study concludes that gender or racial diversity at the university or discipline level is not associated with lower rates of bias. Additional exploratory analysis further examines the data for evidence of change processes, including the interaction of gender and racial diversity, and lower rates of bias among more junior academics.

Women in the Metaverse and the gender data gap: a cultural approach

The metaverse is an immersive and interconnected technological environment that we are already a part of. We live in a "meta" environment compared to reality, in which the digital world and the analog world continuously intersect in an uninterrupted flow. We are surrounded in our daily lives by digital connections and objects that connect with each other and with the real world, from which they draw data. In the metaverse, whether understood in this broad sense or in a narrow sense, social structures and gender biases are reproduced, with all the elements of intersectionality present in reality, deeply rooted in the socio-cultural context and represented in the data used by algorithmic models. The predominance of men in the fields of study and work in information and communication technologies, where algorithmic models are developed, does not facilitate the overcoming of these problems. The data underlying artificial intelligence and the metaverse reflect the gender biases present in work, education, scientific research, journalism, and many other sectors. However, digital technology, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse can offer opportunities to overcome the gender gap.

Elderly Victimization in the Context of Witchcraft Accusations and Persons Accused of Witchcraft Practices Living Within the Gambaga Witches’ Camp: Understanding of Human Rights

The practice of sociocultural belief systems in Ghana such as witchcraft accusations leads to situations where some elderly people in the northern part of Ghana are likely to be victimized based on sociocultural belief systems. Persons accused of witchcraft practices can be denied some of their basic fundamental human rights. The lack of a clear understanding of human rights standards among many rural folks, especially in a rural part of Northern Ghana, makes many people consider accusations of persons suspected of witchcraft practices as a non-abuse of victims’ human rights when persons accused of witchcraft are encamped in witches’ camps. Hence, this study sought to explore the accused persons of witchcraft practice’s understanding of human rights and how their conceptualization of human rights has led to elderly victimization based on sociocultural practices regarding witchcraft accusations. The study employed a qualitative method where 37 participants were selected consisting of persons accused of witchcraft practices living within the Gambaga witches’ camp. A thematic approach was used in the data analysis. The study found that accused persons of witchcraft practices have a distinctive understanding of human rights, which they conceptualized to include social and cultural rights, economic rights, civil and political rights and legal rights and missed out on the civil and political aspects of human rights. The study found that the accused persons’ lack of understanding of the civil rights concept of human rights made most of the persons living within the Gambaga witches’ camp to be victims of torture, undergo forced labour, lack their right to protection, gender discrimination and slavery within the camp. The study recommended that traditional leaders should engage in community dialogues that facilitate open and inclusive community dialogues to discuss the negative impact of witchcraft accusations on individuals and the community as a whole.

Gender on the mind? Gender heuristics and rationalizations in candidate evaluations

AbstractAs more women enter politics, public and scholarly narratives about the extent and nature of gender bias in mediated campaigning environments diversify. Yet there is still little understanding of how voters substantively think about gender in their evaluations of women and men candidates and how voters' thoughts are affected by different types of media coverage. Drawing on literature on gender stereotyping and rationalization, this paper distinguishes two roles in which gender manifests in the candidate evaluation process—as a heuristic and as a rationalization. We empirically investigate these different ways in which gender affects voters' thoughts following neutral and contextually rich candidate stimuli by means of a mixed methods think aloud study. The results show that voters think less—but more positively—about substantive aspects of women's political profiles. These favorable thoughts include heuristic inferences of communal traits for women but not men candidates. Moreover, we find that voter rationalizations involve gender as ex post vote justifications and socially desirable drivers of candidate evaluations. Together, the findings not only showcase the complex roles of gender in voters' candidate evaluations but also the importance of considering the normative context in which vote decisions take place.

Is a distributive analysis enough? A critical take on the case law of the European Court of Justice

ABSTRACT This essay articulates both empirical and historical insights of a distributive analysis, which entails presenting a critical intervention in a legal field dominated by a mainstream scholarly or policy view that is both ideologically tainted and empirically inaccurate. The transition from distributive consequences to what critical scholars refer to as a distributive analysis is a strategic intervention within each specific legal field that ought to be historicised. This article shows how the application of a distributive analysis to two canonical case studies in consumer law and gender discrimination as two distinct and relatively marginal fields in European Union law developed through the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice. Finally, this article questions whether a distributive analysis, without a theoretical grounding in critical theory, is sufficient to ensure that it is not only an empirical tool but also committed to not perpetuating the existing inequalities within the liberal or neoliberal foundations of the European legal order.

Group Identity, Self-Concept, and Gender Bias: A Regression Analysis of Female Student Experiences Within Emergency Management-Related Higher Education Programs

Group Identity, Self-Concept, and Gender Bias: A Regression Analysis of Female Student Experiences Within Emergency Management-Related Higher Education Programs

A - 67 A Critical Analysis of EEG Neurofeedback Training Efficacy in Historically Disadvantaged Communities

Abstract Objective Electroencephalogram neurofeedback training (EEG-NFT) is gaining popularity as a way of supporting emotional regulation following traumatic brain injury (TBI; Dehghani et al., 2023; Bezmaternykh et al., 2021; Rajeswaran and Bennett, 2019), as well as mental disorders defined in the DSM-5-TR (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2022; Deiber et al., 2021; Micoulaud-Franchi et al., 2021; Neurofeedback Collaborative Group, 2023). EEG-NFT can extend well beyond TBIs and mental health disorders, especially in marginalized individuals facing ongoing trauma due to discrimination, hate crimes, and chronic stress as a result of frequent micro- and macroaggressions (Choi et al., 2022; Majeno et al., 2021; Moody and Lewis, 2019). One area not explored is the efficacy of EEG-NFT for individuals who have experienced racial or gender discrimination, especially if they are receiving training while continuing to experience microaggressions during the course of treatment. The authors commenced a review to determine (1) how often demographic data is shared in EEG-NFT research, (2) how frequently individuals who experience stigma enroll in neurofeedback, and (3) the efficacy of EEG-NFT specifically on marginalized individuals. Method Literature Review. Results Current literature reveals a deficiency in research amongst marginalized populations. Conclusions EEG-NFT shows promising results in emotional regulation for various mental disorders and TBIs, but there remains a significant gap in understanding its effectiveness for marginalized populations. The authors are moving forward with a detailed study, starting with an IRB proposal at Antioch University New England, to explore the efficacy of EEG-NFT in these underrepresented groups and plan to present preliminary results later this year.

A - 81 Gender Bias in Collateral Informant Ratings of the Lawton & Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale Varies by Ethnolinguistic Group

Abstract Objective Building on our prior work showing that sociocultural factors influence the nature of one’s daily activities and the degree of assistance rendered once cognitive difficulties emerge, the present study aimed to examine gender differences in the frequency of abnormal IADLS ratings [Not Applicable (N/A), Requires Assistance (R/A), Dependent] in cognitively healthy older adults from different ethnic (Hispanic vs. Non-Hispanic) and linguistic (English vs. Spanish) groups. Method Baseline data from 1060 healthy older adults [Non-Hispanic English-speakers (NE) = 597; Hispanic English-speakers (HE) = 249; Hispanic Spanish-speakers (HS) = 214] 50–90 years of age enrolled in the Texas Alzheimer’s Research and Care Consortium were analyzed using univariate analyses of variance and multivariate chi-squares within each ethnolinguistic group. Results Women obtained significantly (p < 0.001) higher IADLS total scores (indicative of greater impairment) than men in each ethnolinguistic group. A significant difference (p < 0.01) was found between gender across the sample for items related to Food Preparation, Housekeeping, and Laundry, wherein 7–25% of all men vs. < 1% of all women received “N/A” ratings. Significantly more HE men vs. women also received “N/A” ratings for Finances (4:1) and Medications (7:1), while a similar trend was observed in the NH and HS groups but did not reach statistical significance. No participants received an “N/A” rating and no significant gender differences were observed for remaining IADLs. Conclusion(s) Obtained findings highlight considerable gender bias on the Lawton & Brody IADLS in healthy older adults, which clearly limits the utility of this instrument in the provision of patient-centered neuropsychological services and may confound the interpretation of clinical trial outcomes.

Gender bias in assessing narcissistic personality: Exploring the utility of the ICD-11 dimensional model.

Narcissistic personality disorder as captured in categorical diagnostic systems (e.g., DSM-5) emphasizes grandiose features more associated with masculine norms and under-emphasizes vulnerable features more associated with femininity. This poses significant implications in diagnostic outcome and clinical treatment in women with narcissistic preoccupations. Research finds that clinicians using the DSM-5 categorical system tend to diagnose vulnerable narcissism in women as other 'feminized' personality disorders (e.g., borderline), but no research has explored gender differences in narcissism using the new ICD-11 dimensional framework for personality disorders. This study investigated the clinical utility of the ICD-11 approach in capturing gender differences in narcissistic presentations. Adopting an online vignette-based study, mental health clinicians (N = 157; 71.3% female) completed ratings of ICD-11 personality disorder severity and trait domains for two cases reflecting 'grandiose' and 'vulnerable' narcissism in hypothetical male or female patients. The results showed that ratings of core impairments in personality functioning and overall severity were consistent irrespective of patient or clinician gender, contrasting prior research using categorical models. While some differences were observed in trait domain (e.g., negative affectivity) between patient gender, these results suggest the clinical utility of the ICD-11 model as emphasizing elements of personality functioning in the process of assessment and diagnosis, therefore potentially being less susceptible to influences of gender stereotype in aiding clinical conceptualization.

Divergence of rhizosphere microbial communities between females and males of the dioecious Hippophae tibetana at different habitats.

Females and males of dioecious plants have evolved sex-specific characteristics in terms of their morphological and physiological properties. However, little is known about the difference in rhizosphere microbes in dioecious plants. In this study, we used amplicon sequencing to analyze the differences in rhizosphere microbial diversity and community composition of males and females of dioecious Hippophae tibetana at different habitats, and their key factors in driving the differences were investigated. The results showed that there were differences in the diversity, community composition, and connectivity and complexity of the co-occurrence network of rhizosphere microbes between females and males of the dioecious H. tibetana at different habitats. Zoopagomycota is a unique phylum of rhizosphere fungi in the males of the dioecious H. tibetana, while Dependentiae is a unique phylum of rhizosphere bacteria in the females of the dioecious H. tibetana. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis indicated significant enrichment of species at different levels, suggesting that these species could be potential biomarkers for females and males of H. tibetana. Spearman's analysis showed that the dominant genera of rhizosphere fungi were significantly positively correlated with soil physicochemical properties (total nitrogen and phosphorus; organic matter; available phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen; salt content; water content). PICRUSt and FUNGuild predictive analysis indicated that the function of rhizosphere fungi was different between females and males of the dioecious H. tibetana at different habitats, while metabolites were the dominant functions of rhizosphere bacteria in all samples. These results highlighted the sexual discrimination of rhizosphere microbes on the dioecious plants and provided important knowledge for females and males of the dioecious plant-microbe interaction.IMPORTANCEThis study explores the differences in rhizosphere microbes of dioecious Hippophae tibetana at different habitats and their key factors in driving the differences. Through employing amplicon sequencing techniques, we found that rhizosphere microbial communities and diversity were different between females and males of the dioecious H. tibetana at different habitats, and there notably existed unique phylum and potential biomarkers of rhizosphere microbes between females and males of the dioecious H. tibetana. Rhizosphere fungi were significantly positively correlated with soil physicochemical properties. This study reveals the differences in rhizosphere microbes of dioecious H. tibetana at different habitats and driving factors; it also contributes to our understanding of the dioecious plant-microbe interaction.

Individual Difference Predictors of Attitudes toward Polyamorous Targets and Likelihood to Date a Polyamorous Partner in a Student Sample

An online survey was completed by a convenience sample of 495 students to assess attitude toward polyamorous targets as an outgroup using 0–100 feeling thermometers. Also assessed was the likelihood of dating a polyamorous partner. These two measures were only weakly related for women participants but modestly related for men participants. Overall, feeling thermometer averages were favorable (66%) but dating likelihood was very low, with 89% rating dating a polyamorous partner as unlikely. Women were slightly more favorable toward polyamorous targets than were men but target gender showed no effect (i.e., ratings of polyamorous men were the same as those of polyamorous women). However, men were slightly more willing to date a polyamorous partner than were women. In terms of personality and individual difference variables as predictors of attitudes, authoritarianism, erotophobia–erotophilia, and participant sexual orientation accounted for a quarter of the variance in feeling thermometer ratings of polyamorous targets. Specifically, those who had lower authoritarianism, were more comfortable with sexuality, and were sexual minority in orientation were likely to rate the polyamorous targets the most favorably. Individual difference variables did not predict willingness to date a polyamorous partner consistently across gender and sexual orientation participant subgroups; the most consistent predictors were sociosexuality and erotophobia–erotophilia. This study adds to our knowledge in a nascent area of sexual attitude and discrimination research—it demonstrates the differences between rating an outgroup person and attitude toward engaging with them personally. The latter appears to involve more complexity in terms of the relationship with personality and the type of social perceiver. More research is needed into the differentiation between general ratings of others who engage in non-mainstream, stigmatized sexual practices versus when the ratings involve personal involvement or behavior of the social perceiver (i.e., such as dating).