Sources Of Gender Differences Research Articles

Sources of gender differences in competency beliefs and retention in an introductorypremedicalscience course

AbstractGender disparities in retention in pathways to science continue to vary widely by course. Undergraduates intending to study prehealth and premedicine often represent a majority of students enrolled in introductory science courses, contribute to a large number of eventual science degree earners, and are a population that typically includes a high number of women. However, gender differences in attrition, grades, and attitudes persist in the introductory science courses required by undergraduate preheath and premedical programs, particularly within the physical sciences (i.e., Chemistry and Physics). We use structural equation modeling to study 416 undergraduate students across multiple sections of an Algebra‐based Physics course, a common course on the prehealth and premedical track where large gender differences in grades, retention and competency beliefs have been documented. Our analysis focuses on identifying potential academic and attitudinal sources for gender differences in students' beliefs about their Physics abilities at the end of the course, and retention to the second physics course, which is often influenced by these competency beliefs. Results suggest that while men's ability beliefs in Physics are relatively stable and largely derived from early performance indicators, this is a smaller source of ability beliefs for women. Instead, women's ability beliefs are mediated during the course through their sense of belonging in Physics, and the extent to which they believe that Physics ability is fixed or malleable. These findings can inform the design of interventions in Physics courses that specifically target the development of ability beliefs for women intending medical careers.

Interaction and decomposition of gender difference in financial risk perception

Previous literature suggests males tend to perceive lower risks than females. We revisit this gender difference by studying the interaction of gender with other observable characteristics in a survey of forecasting future stock prices. We find that some observable characteristics such as culture, age, and uncertainty of stock prices have a different effect on the risk perception between females and males. This additional source (“coefficient effects”) of gender difference is distinct from the differences in personal characteristics (“characteristics effects”). We disentangle these two sources of gender differences in risk perception by applying the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition technique. We find that characteristics effects and coefficient effects are both important, and the latter can be even more important than the former.

Gender Differences in Attitudes Towards Risk and Psychological Responses to Loss

Systematic differences in the attitudes of men and women toward risk is well established and has been shown to contribute substantially to gender-specific outcomes within labour markets and goods markets. Despite these important implications, surprisingly little is known about the source of gender differences in risk-taking. Focusing on the role of risk-related emotions, this paper empirically tests the theory that gender differences in attitudes towards risk can be explained, in part, by differences in how men and women respond to negative outcomes. Using a large UK longitudinal survey, we find that women on average have more intense psychological reactions to monetary losses than men, leading to a lower self-assessed ‘willingness to take risks in general’.

Gender-based Study of Interactive Metadiscourse Markers in EFL Academic Writing

This study aimed at exploring the gender differences in the usage of interactive metadiscourse markers in a sample of EFL academic essays written by male and female EFL majors joining the College of Languages and Translation, Al-Imam Mohammad bin Saud Islamic University. Further, it aimed at supporting the results with justifications in light of the cultural difference and discursive psychology approaches. To achieve this aim, thirty academic essays written by EFL male students and thirty essays written by EFL female students were analyzed based on the metadiscourse framework proposed by Hyland (2005). In order to achieve an acceptable degree of reliability, the essays were first analyzed electronically using a concordance software program. Then, all the interactive metadiscourse markers were examined qualitatively in context to determine their actual functions. The findings of the study indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between male and female students in using some interactive markers namely transitions, frame markers, and code glosses, in which the female students surpassed male students. The qualitative analysis, on the other hand, indicated that the student's psychological and cultural variations might be a source of gender differences regarding the employment of metadiscourse markers. The study also provided some implications for researchers, writing teachers, and textbook publishers in terms of enhancement of metadiscoursal proficiency in EFL writing classrooms.

Narrative characteristics of autobiographical memory predict expectations of narrator gender

ABSTRACT Gender differences in autobiographical memory have been documented in various domains. The current study attempts to sharpen an understanding of extant gender differences in autobiographical memory by considering listener expectations, contributing to a sociocultural model. Across three studies (a pilot and two separate data collections) a narrative database was created. Narratives were coded for variables that have been shown to differ by gender, including emotion, connectedness to others, factual and interpretive elaboration, and thematic coherence. Participants read narratives and assessed if the narrator was male or female, indicating their confidence. In the pilot study and study 1, narrative features consistently predicted participant’s assessments of narrator gender in two separate methods using the same narratives. In study 2, new narratives were used, showing replicability of the method and avoiding potential confounds of naturally occurring differences in study 1 and pilot data. More emotion words predicted higher likelihood of assessing a female narrator. Results support the use of such a methodology as an innovative way to examine gender-based listener expectations in autobiographical memory. They can be used for further theorising about the source of gender differences in this domain of memory that represents a combination of cognitive and social processes.

English

Although farmer organizations are acknowledged to link their members to markets, enhance their business skills and enable access to services, there is need for evidence that ascertains if all members benefit equitably. This paper examines benefit distribution and sources of gender differences in mixed-sex collective marketing farmer organizations in Uganda and Malawi. Through a cross-sectional survey, key informant interviews and gender segregated focus group discussions, data were pooled from 10 farmer organizations and 492 individual members. An independent samples t-test revealed that in both countries, men benefited more than women. In Uganda, significant differences existed in skills training, planning meetings, business networks, and impromptu general meetings. In Malawi, significant differences manifested in extension training and decisions regarding investment and marketing. In both countries, men were significantly more dissatisfied with the collective marketing initiatives than women, which resulted in side selling in Malawi. On the other hand, women were significantly more satisfied than men with the collective marketing and, in Malawi, they sold significantly higher quantities through their organizations than men. We conclude that collective marketing farmer organizations connect women members to markets but neither address gender inequalities nor stimulate women empowerment. We propose strategies that can improve gender responsiveness in mixed farmer organizations. Key words: Farmer organizations, gender differences, benefit distribution, smallholders, Uganda, Malawi.

Gender, Learning, and Overconfidence: Why Females Create More Accurate Earnings Estimates

We analyze the underlying source of gender differences in earnings estimates on a crowd-sourcing platform with low barriers to entry. This platform allows us to examine gender differences within earnings estimates among a sample of non-professional analysts in an effort to better understand the development of analyst ability. Estimates made by females are more accurate than those made by males. We eliminate explanations of more talented females joining the platform, an innate ability of females to process information, females utilizing more up-to-date information, superior stock selection among females, and survivor ship bias. Rather, our evidence is consistent with females learning faster and males exhibiting greater overconfidence. Our findings provide new insight into the mechanisms behind the increase in accuracy documented among professional female analysts. Finally, we observe a positive market response when females provide more optimistic estimates.

Gender and Organization Science: Introduction to a Virtual Special Issue

Gendered processes and outcomes are pervasive in organizational life. They shape how individuals perceive their career prospects, which types of opportunities they pursue, how they get work done within organizations, and how they balance this work with the rest of their life. Organizations themselves also shape and are shaped by gender dynamics, from the ways they design jobs and performance evaluation systems to the assumptions managers make about individuals’ preferences and motivations. This virtual special issue collects together 14 papers published in Organization Science that challenge common understandings about the sources of gender differences in career outcomes, the effects of balancing work–life obligations, and the ways that gender dynamics play out in teams and organizations. An important insight that emerges from a comparison of these studies is that demand effects are often confused for supply effects. What looks like a supply problem—we think that women choose not to aspire to top positions or to jobs in top paying fields—might actually be a demand problem—organizations or jobs look unappealing to women because of past histories of not hiring or promoting women into leadership roles or of making work–life balance appear to be impossible. These studies suggest that essentialist explanations that attribute gendered outcomes to inherent characteristics or choices of women might be too simplistic or inaccurate. Instead, future research would benefit from examining the complex interactions between supply-side and demand-side drivers of gender inequality.

Between Venus and Mars: Sources of gender differences in instructional leadership

Instructional leadership can be explained as an educational leadership approach whereby the school principal engages in a wide range of activities aiming to improve teaching and learning for all students. A recent meta-analysis found that female principals engaged in more active instructional leadership than male counterparts. The current qualitative study sought to understand this gender gap. Data were collected through 59 semi-structured interviews with 36 female principals and 23 male principals from Israel. Data analysis was a four-stage process – condensing, coding, categorizing, and theorizing. Findings showed that female participants, more frequently than their male counterparts, reported possessing two capabilities that are necessary for instructional leadership: (1) instructional expertise; (2) attention to relationships. Gender theories are employed to explain these findings. Practical implications and further research are discussed.

Gender Differences in the Development of Other-Regarding Preferences

We use data from a gender-neutral dictator and public goods game setting to analyze differences in other-regarding preferences between boys and girls aged 10 to 17. The results indicate a higher mean of dictator giving, degree of egalitarian decisions and lower frequency of selfish decisions, free-riding and efficiency concerns for girls. Gender differences are already established at approximately age 10. They cannot be explained by gender-specific increases in other-regarding preferences, differences in dispositions or the impact of personality traits. We conclude that genes and early social learning are the sources of gender differences in other-regarding preferences.

Mating Strategies and Gender Differences in Pro-Sociality: Theory and Evidence

This article examines gender differences in pro-sociality using theories from evolutionary psychology and empirical evidence from experimental economics. Although there has been extensive prior research in both fields, there remains a large disconnect between the source of gender differences in pro-sociality and experimental research aimed at informing cooperation and generosity. Thus, the main contribution of our article is to bridge this gap by arguing that differences in male and female motives for pro-sociality stem, at least in part, from gender differences in mating strategies. In particular, we discuss gender differences in: (i) signaling behaviors; (ii) conformance to social norms; and (iii) approaches toward resolving intra- and inter-group dilemmas. This article may be a useful resource for those hoping to gain a better understanding of the foundations of gender differences in pro-sociality; likewise, it draws useful attention to empirical research aimed at promoting charitable giving and enhancing resource allocation efficiency.

Gender and business ownership: questioning “what” and “why”

PurposeTo date, comparisons of performance in male and female businesses show contradictory results, although the majority of evidence is drawn from Anglo‐Saxon countries. This study aims to explore the effects of gender on business performance in a sample of Spanish firms.Design/methodology/approachThis paper extends previous work with a quantitative analysis of effects of gender on performance. In‐depth interviews yield insights on how gender impacts performance.FindingsThe quantitative analysis shows that gender has a simple effect on performance, but it is less robust when other factors are included in the model. Furthermore, this relationship is more complex, since gender has an indirect and moderating effect on performance. The results indicate possible sources of gender differences and suggest factors that require further investigation with a qualitative approach. This analysis expands our understanding in two ways: first, by suggesting that we have to make sense of businesses through another lens, and second, by implying that we have to be aware that we can find heterogeneity among women.Research limitations/implicationsPerformance differences are due to differences in women's assessment of performance and/or their socio‐economic positioning. The premises of mainstream theories should be questioned in order to develop gender research.Originality/valueThe study answers the call of using mixed methods to gain insights that lead to a cumulative knowledge in this area.

Gender Gaps in Spain: Family Issues and the Career Development of College Educated Men and Women

Our goal in this paper is to focus on highly educated men and women and try to explore the trade‐offs between family and working career in Spain, where changes in female behavior with respect to the labor market have been relatively recent but rather important. We compare male and female behavior with respect to labor supply and labor performance along their life cycle for different birth cohorts to explore the connection between family and work over time. Our results indicate that family plays a crucial role as a source of gender differences in the labor market in Spain. By 2008, children are the main determinant of the observed gap in labor supply between college men and women. Furthermore, with respect to hours worked, children are also an important determinant for the decision of college‐educated mothers to choose to work part‐time. However, children do not seem to contribute to explain the observed gender wage gap (5%) between college men and women.

The Sources of Gender Differences in Rates of Job Dismissal

Empirical studies, especially in the US and UK, have consistently reported that rates of involuntary job separation, or dismissal, are significantly lower among female employees than among males. Only rarely, however, have the reasons for this differential been the subject of detailed investigation. In this paper household panel survey data from Australia are used that also find higher dismissal rates among men than among women. This differential, however, largely disappears once controls for industry and occupation are included. These findings suggest that the observed gender differential primarily reflects systematic differences in the types of jobs into which men and women select.

Mating Strategies and Gender Differences in Pro-sociality: Theory and Evidence

This article examines gender differences in pro-sociality using theories from evolutionary psychology and empirical evidence from experimental economics. Although there has been extensive prior research in both fields, there remains a large disconnect between the source of gender differences in pro-sociality and experimental research aimed at informing cooperation and generosity. Thus, the main contribution of our article is to bridge this gap by arguing that differences in male and female motives for pro-sociality stem, at least in part, from gender differences in mating strategies. In particular, we discuss gender differences in: (i) signaling behaviors; (ii) conformance to social norms; and (iii) approaches toward resolving intra- and inter-group dilemmas. This article may be a useful resource for those hoping to gain a better understanding of the foundations of gender differences in pro-sociality; likewise, it draws useful attention to empirical research aimed at promoting charitable giving and enhancing resource allocation efficiency. (JEL codes: D03, D64) Copyright The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Ifo Institute for Economic Research, Munich. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.

Premenopausal hysterectomy is associated with increased brain ferritin iron

Iron is essential for triggering oligodendrocytes to myelinate, however, in gray matter (GM) iron increases with age and is associated with age-related degenerative brain diseases. Women have lower iron levels than men, both in the periphery and in the brain, particularly in white matter (WM), possibly due to iron loss through menstruation. We tested the hypothesis that hysterectomy could increase WM iron levels. We assessed 3 WM and 5 gray matter regions in 39 postmenopausal women, of whom 15 had premenopausal hysterectomy, utilizing a validated magnetic resonance imaging technique called field-dependent R2 increase (FDRI) that quantifies ferritin iron. A group of 54 matched male subjects was included for comparison. Amongst women, hysterectomy was associated with significantly higher frontal lobe WM iron. Men had higher iron levels than women without hysterectomy in 3 brain regions but did not differ from women with hysterectomy in any region. The results suggest that menstruation-associated blood loss is a source of gender differences in brain iron. It is possible that brain iron can be influenced by peripheral iron levels and may thus be a modifiable risk factor for age-related degenerative diseases.

Understanding The Impact Of Gender By Imagining The Self As The Other Gender: A Role-Play Writing Assignment

To encourage students to think about and understand the considerable role gender plays in their lives, a writing assignment early in a gender course asks them to consider the impact of permanently becoming the other gender. Students’ papers were examined for particular themes, which were used to illustrate course concepts and to spark class discussions. For example, some students wrote that they must learn how to be the other gender, which leads to a discussion about the sources of gender differences. Other themes as well as suggestions for expanding the assignment are discussed.

GENDER, SELF-REPORTED HEALTH, AND HEALTH-RELATED LIFESTYLES IN POLAND

Little is known about gender differences in the health of individuals in the former Eastern Europe. Determinants of health and health-related lifestyles may operate differently there than in the West. Data from the 1994 Polish General Social Survey (PGSS) are used to estimate structural and psychosocial effects on self-reported health, risk behaviors, and social participation for women and men. Employment improves the chance of better health for men, whereas marital happiness increases the probability of better health for women; smoking declines with education among men but not among women; and excessive drinking increases for unhappily married men. Religiosity protects the health of both women and men. This research sheds light on the possible sources of gender differences in health in Poland.

Gender Differences in Advanced Mathematical Problem Solving

Strategy flexibility in mathematical problem solving was investigated. In Studies 1 and 2, high school juniors and seniors solved Scholastic Assessment Test–Mathematics (SAT-M) problems classified as conventional or unconventional. Algorithmic solution strategies were students' default choice for both types of problems across conditions that manipulated item format and solution time. Use of intuitive strategies on unconventional problems was evident only for high-ability students. Male students were more likely than female students to successfully match strategies to problem characteristics. In Study 3, a revised taxonomy of problems based on cognitive solution demands was predictive of gender differences on Graduate Record Examination–Quantitative (GRE-Q) items. Men outperformed women overall, but the difference was greater on items requiring spatial skills, shortcuts, or multiple solution paths than on problems requiring verbal skills or mastery of classroom-based content. Results suggest that strategy flexibility is a source of gender differences in mathematical ability assessed by SAT-M and GRE-Q problem solving.

Mood, Persistence, and success

The idea that moods have a strong impact on performance has popular appeal but equivocal research support. In the present study, college students received tape-recorded instructions to recall vividly happy or sad experiences or to imagine a neutral situation. After the induction happy subjects persisted longer at an anagrams task and solved more anagrams than those who were sad. Women were also faster at reaching solutions when happy than in a sad mood. Results confirm our impression that positive moods promote persistence and ultimate success, but they raise questions about the role of self-efficacy and the sources of gender differences.