Subtle Sexism Research Articles

The Explanation That Hits Home: The Characteristics of Verbal Explanations That Affect Human Perception in Subjective Decision-Making

Human-AI collaborative decision-making can achieve better outcomes than either party individually. The success of this collaboration can depend on whether the human decision-maker perceives the AI contribution as beneficial to the decision-making process. Beneficial AI explanations are often described as relevant, convincing, and trustworthy. Yet, we know little about the characteristics of explanations that result in these perceptions. Focusing on collaborative subjective decision-making, using the context of subtle sexism, where explanations can surface new interpretations, we conducted a user study (N=20) to explore the structural and content characteristics that affect perceptions of human and AI-generated verbal (text and audio) explanations. We find four groups of characteristics ( Tone, Grammatical Elements, Argumentative Sophistication and Relation to User ), and that the effect of these characteristics on the perception of explanations for subtle sexism depends on the perceived author. Thus, we also identify which explanation characteristics participants use to identify the author of an explanation. Demonstrating the relationship between these characteristics and explanation perceptions, we present a categorized set of characteristics that system builders can leverage to produce the appropriate perception of an explanation for various sensitive contexts. We also highlight human perception biases and associated issues resulting from these perceptions.

Women academics’ encounters with sexism in academic medicine: a collective biography from the Indian context

Background People of all genders face sexism in academia and medicine is no exception. One of the key strategies that we, as academics, can employ to resist it is to talk, study and write about it. Recent reports in the Indian media about sexism faced by women in higher education academia have led to the development of policies to curb it. But these measures work only on overt forms of sexism. The more subtle sexism that women face is barely talked about because it has become so internalized in society, that it is ‘normal’. Methods To initiate the discussion on sexism that women students and faculty face in medicine, the authors conducted a piece of feminist research using collective biography as the methodology. Essays written by four women at different levels of seniority in academia, on the sexism they encountered during their career trajectory were coded independently by two authors and categories and themes were derived from the codes generated. Strategies to address sexism were discussed. Results Four themes emerged from the analysis – sexism in academic medicine is a real presence, resisting sexism, need for social support for change to happen and optimism for change. All the four essays recounted encounters with sexism, the different ways they resisted these practices, the support they received from families and colleagues in moving ahead and a hint of optimism and hope for change. Conclusions This small inquiry into a pervasive problem that women face in their everyday work emphasizes the need for a multipronged approach to address it. While the older generation of women in medicine have relied mostly on their inner strength and resolve to combat sexism, it is time that a collective effort by both men and women is made to take academia closer to achieving equality.

Gender-equal sexism: a covert and subtle form of gender discrimination

ABSTRACT As waves of feminist movements and LGBTQIA+ campaigns continuously question both sexist mindsets and the patriarchal society, the traditional, overt sexism has also transformed into many newer and more subtle forms. Through an eight-month digital ethnography, this study identified a new form of covert and subtle sexism—gender-equal sexism—in a Chinese online sports forum Hupu. Individuals with gender-equal sexism support gender equality principle, conduct plausible gender-neutral comparisons, and portray men with alternative masculinity to refute potential criticism of sexism, forming an obstacle to gender equality that is more difficult to identify and surmount. This study examined the major framework of gender-equal sexism and discussed how the technological and cultural dimensions of social media jointly shaped how Hupu users justified gender-equal sexism. The researcher called for more academic attention to the kinder and gentler forms of gender discrimination.

Overcoming hurdles of gender and race: seasoned U.S. practitioners reflect on their career progressions in journalism and public relations

ABSTRACT This study gives voice to US women who overcame the challenges of their gender or race and had to switch jobs or industries to achieve success in the journalism and public relations professions. A feminist theoretical approach was adopted to conduct in-depth qualitative interviews with 18 racially diverse journalists and public relations practitioners over the age of 50 who reflected on their professional mobility in different stages of their careers and in different organizational settings. Regardless of the industry and type of organization, women shared firsthand experiences of gender inequalities in pay and career progressions, double standards in physical appearance, and subtle sexism. Minority journalists and public relations practitioners reported instances of subtle racial inequalities and gendered racism. Women who switched from journalism to public relations found more flexibility in the workplace but did not necessarily improve their job security. Participants’ accounts underscored the need for recruiting, retaining, training, and empowering employees of diverse genders, races, ethnicities, and ages and addressing implicit sexism and implicit racism in all communication industries. This research also calls for improved industry standards that allow older women, especially women of color, to have more opportunities for leadership and professional development.

Learning to detect sexism: An evaluation of the effects of a brief video-based intervention using ROC analysis.

Empirical evidence for the effectiveness of interventions teaching lay people how to recognize sexism is scarce. The purpose of the present study was, thus, twofold: The first aim was to evaluate a brief intervention using a lecture-like educational video on how to recognize subtle sexism. The second aim was to demonstrate the usefulness of signal detection theory (SDT) for evaluating the participants' ability to discriminate between subtle sexist and non-sexist statements. Participants (N = 73) were randomly assigned to a subtle sexism treatment group (SSG), an overt sexism treatment group (OSG), or a control group (CG). After the intervention phase, the participants were asked to rate statements in vignettes with respect to how sexist they perceived them to be. The participants in the SSG were significantly better in correctly identifying subtle sexist content than the participants in the OSG and CG. However, they were not more accurate overall. This was because they claimed sexism more often, irrespective of whether it was present or not. We conclude that while our intervention increased participants' sensitivity in detecting sexist content, it did so at the cost of specificity. Our results make clear that practitioners teaching people how to recognize sexism should control intervention outcomes for unintended effects of biased decision criteria, given that erroneous allegations of sexism could have grave consequences. To this effect, the value of SDT, which allows for fine-grained and, consequently, more accurate insight than standard approaches to the analysis of intervention effects, was demonstrated.

Confronting Subtle Sexism in An Indonesian EFL Textbook

Language is a powerful tool to communicate ideologies and build a society. Through language, we can see what kind of society we are living in; and apparently, we are living in a society where sexism flourishes without us realizing it. This type of sexism is called as subtle sexism, appearing to be unintentional and harmless because the unequal and unfair treatmeant of women is perceived to be normative. In Indonesia, subtle sexism can be found in EFL textbooks. As the main language input, textbooks can transfer cultural values and ideologies through the targeted language. Hence, subtle sexism is ‘softly’ hidden on the pages and readers – students in this case – are not aware that they are being indoctrinated. This study examined an Indonesian EFL textbook entitled Bahasa Inggris Kelas XII for the twelfth graders in Indonesia which was published by the Ministry of Education and Culture. By implementing content analysis, this research has two objectives, i.e. (1) to find out whether the book promotes subtle sexism, and (2) how teachers, as the last filters, can confront subtle sexism in the book and other EFL textbooks in general. The results show that even though the textbook does not reflect any signs of blatant and covert sexism, it still promotes subtle sexism that the writers might not aware of. Also, this study tries to propose some suggestions for teachers to confront subtle sexism in EFL textbooks, such as using a gender bias checklist, making changes or creating new original materials, fostering a critical class discussion by using the sexist textbooks, and teaching gender-fair language.

English Through a Feminist’s Perspective: A History and Modern Aspects

Feminism, defined as the movement to emancipate and uplift women to promote complete equality among the two genders, has had to focus a lot on English Language since the Victorian Era, to gratify its’ basic purpose of women empowerment. While using English as a medium to propagate the cause, to achieve the right to Language had been a fight. This paper shall focus on a detailed study of English with the viewpoint of a feminist, a history of how feminism and women empowerment has been associated with the language, and how in modern days, feminists still have a lot to complain about. A detailed focus shall also be imparted to Gender Neutrality in English, and the subtle sexism that prevails in the most trusted dictionaries, thus rooting the agenda of patriarchy in each generation. Through an explanation of The Madwoman Thesis and Gynocriticism, feminism’s struggle as a female reader and author shall be explained in detail, including how to hold the pen, in itself, was a war that needed to be fought. In the recent scandalized view of what “feminism” or “feminist” means and what it actually stands for, the development that has been through language shall be talked about. Workplace language, societal language, and the behind the scenes incidents with authors and females in general shall also be highlighted.

Sexism in Professional Sports: How Women Managers Experience and Survive Sport Organizational Culture

Women remain the minority in sport organizations, particularly in leadership roles, and prior work has suggested that sexism may be to blame. This study examines women’s experiences of both overt and subtle sexism in the sport industry as well as the impact such experiences have on their careers. Based on interviews and journal entries from women managers working in a men’s professional sports league, the findings suggest that the culture of sport organizations perpetuates sexism, including the diminishment and objectification of women. Sexism occurs in women’s everyday interactions with their supervisors and coworkers, as well as others that they interact with as part of their jobs. Such experiences result in professional and emotional consequences, which women navigate by employing tactics that enable their survival in the sport industry.

Medicolegal Sidebar: Avoiding Gender-based Inequities During Orthopaedic Training.

Medicolegal Sidebar: Avoiding Gender-based Inequities During Orthopaedic Training.

Зарубежные методики психологической диагностики сексизма

We pay attention on the problems of Russian modern studies of sexism, which are suffering from the lack of relevant psychodiagnostic tools. We examine and describe foreign experience in diagnosing sexism. диагностики сексизма. The development of sexism interpretations and its measurement methodologies in the concepts of N. Benokraitis and J. Feagin (overt/blatant, covert, and subtle sexism), P. Glick and S. Fiske (hostile and benevolent sexism) are analyzed. The review presents the main theoretical concepts of sexism and related tests such as Attitudes Toward Women Scale by J. Spence and R. Helmreich; Modern Sexism Scale by J. Swim, K. Aikin, W. Hall, B. Hunter; Neosexism Scale by F. Tougas, R. Brown, A. Beaton, A. Joly; Ambivalent Sexism Inventory by P. Glick and S. Fiske; Implicit Association Test by A. Greenwald, D. McGhee and J. Schwartz.

Subtly Sexist Language

Why do I use 'chairman' instead of 'chairperson'? I hadn't really thought about it. Does it matter? --General Counsel of a major U.S. corporation (1) Where, after all, do human rights begin? In small places, close to home ... the neighborhood ... the school or college ... the factory, farm, or office. Such are the places where every woman, man, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. --Eleanor Roosevelt (2) Language can be a potent vehicle for subtle sexism. (3) As lawyers, we understand the power of words. What we say and how we say it can perpetuate gender stereotypes and status differences between women and men. In contrast, language also can be used as a constructive tool for reinforcing equality. Sometimes, sexist language is blatant and universally shunned. Other times, it is more subtle and even socially acceptable. For instance, social science research has considered the use of male-gendered generics (the use of such words as he, man, chairman, or mankind to represent both women and men) rather than gender-neutral alternatives (such as she or he, human, chairperson, or humankind). As we will discuss, this research concludes that male-gendered generics are exclusionary of women and tend to reinforce gender stereotypes. However, these words may not be recognized as discriminatory, because their use is perceived as normative and therefore not unusual. In addition, those who use these words may not intend to cause harm. Complaining about their use may even be criticized as a trivial activity or an overly sensitive reaction. (4) Sexism and sexist language get an unintentional boost from people who say, Gee, I haven't noticed it, and thus conclude that using male-gendered generics must not be a problem. Of that small group of people who are aware that language has the potential to be sexist, it is an even smaller group that understands the scope of sexist language's pervasiveness--from newspapers and textbooks, to classroom, boardroom, and courtroom presentations, to the inscriptions engraved on prized monuments, statues, and memorials. Substantial interdisciplinary research and commentary have underscored the use of male-gendered pronouns and nouns as a form of subtle sexism in various settings. (5) Yet, there is a surprising absence of discussion on the use and effect of these words among lawyers, law faculty, law students, and judges. (6) Given the declarations of law schools, law firms, and courts on their commitment to nonsexist and diverse environments, one might expect that legal professionals would no longer use male-gendered generics since alternative gender-neutral options are available. Given the persistent signs of gender discrimination and the lack of gender parity in the profession, (7) one might question whether a causal relationship exists between sexist language used in the legal community and sexism more broadly in these settings. We noticed, however, that some law teachers, students, and professionals continue to use male-gendered generics in their conversations, both inside and outside the classroom, and in their writings. This observation prompted us to research the subject more thoroughly to see if our impression of the ongoing use of these words in the legal community was accurate. If so, what are the implications of this conduct given the social science research on the effects of sexist language? Drawing from interdisciplinary research, we synthesized the research on subtly sexist language and, particularly, the use of male-gendered generics. We discovered a consensus among social science researchers that male-gendered generics are examples of subtle sexism. (8) Based on our original empirical analysis, we also studied the use of male-gendered words by judges in their judicial opinions, lawyers in their legal briefs, and faculty and other authors in law review articles. …

Fussy girls and chattering women – the construct and subordination of femininity in preschool teacher training

ABSTRACTIn Sweden, as in Western countries generally, most preschool teachers are women. This fact sometimes leads to the assumption that preschools are “feminine”, and that this might be bad for boys. We challenge this assumption. Using a gender critical approach we have studied preschool student teachers. “Femininity” might be used as a rhetorical and demeaning stereotype by them. Women and femininity however, are not interchangeable concepts. Failure to acknowledge this can pave the way for subtle sexism against girls and women. Our argument is supported by ethnographic observations and interviews with student teachers. By means of a Foucauldian genealogical analysis we uncover the conditions of possibility for two long-lasting feminine stereotypes. One stereotype argues that young girls should never fuss. The other claims that women are chattering gossipers. Our study shows that these archaic notions persist in Swedish preschool teacher training, despite its long tradition of work for gender equality.

Speak up about subtle sexism in science.

Female scientists face everyday, often-unintentional microaggression in the workplace, and it won't stop unless we talk about it, says Tricia Serio.

Using Experiential Learning to Increase the Recognition of Everyday Sexism as Harmful: The WAGES Intervention

The harms of subtle sexism tend to be minimized despite negative cumulative effects, thus people may be less motivated to address subtle sexism. We tested the effectiveness of an experiential learning intervention, WAGES‐Academic (Workshop Activity for Gender Equity Simulation‐Academic), to educate about the harms of subtle sexism in the academic workplace. Across two studies, WAGES increased the recognition of everyday sexism as harmful and promoted behavioral intentions to discuss and seek information about gender inequity compared to a control condition that provided identical information as WAGES but without experiential learning. These effects were due to WAGES limiting reactance and promoting self‐efficacy. Moreover, WAGES did not differ in reactance or self‐efficacy compared to a control condition that provided no gender inequity information. This suggests that WAGES buffers the potential negative effects of simply presenting gender inequity information. Results suggest that WAGES, and experiential learning more broadly, has the potential to change attitudes and behaviors about everyday sexism.

Sexism in News: A Comparative Study on the Portray of Female and Male Politicians in <i>The New York Times</i>

Adopting a comparative and descriptive case study of The New York Times, this paper aims to probe into the gender discrimination against female politicians in the news media. The New York Times, one of the most authoritative newspapers in the world, can be a convincing representative to expose the universal ideologies like sexism in the news media. The authors attempt to analyze the sexism in news from two dimensions, namely, horizontal dimension (synchronic) and vertical dimension (diachronic). Horizontally, the news reports concerning Barack Hussein Obama and Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, two rivals of the Democratic Party in the 2008 American presidential election, are chosen. By analyzing the difference in speech reporting, it can be seen that female politicians’ speeches are more controlled and interfered. Vertically, based on Markedness Theory, we explore the development and change in formal marking, distributional marking and semantic marking. It is observable that in spite of the current subtle sexism hidden in news reports, news media have made great efforts in preventing gender discrimination over the past century and sexism against women in the current news reports appears to be less direct and more subtle compared with the past.

The Subtlety of Age, Gender, and Race Barriers: A Case Study of Early Career African American Female Principals

While all educational leaders face challenges in achieving success, African American female principals often face a unique set of challenges associated with the complexity of their gender, race, and, as examined in this study, age. This case study investigates the experiences of two highly visible, early career African American female principals who confront barriers in their pursuit of the principalship and careers as principals. The primary research question for this study is, what are the experiences of highly visible, early career African American principals in a large urban school district? Specifically, how do age, gender, and race intersect in their professional experiences? Four findings emerged from the study: first, confronting the age barrier on the journey to the principalship; second, barriers at every turn—subtle sexism and racism; third, reaching its apex—the intersection of racism, sexism, and ageism; and, fourth, transcending race, gender, and age barriers—“this too shall pass.” Furthermore, implications for aspiring leaders and leadership preparation programs are presented to explicate how African American females and women in general can challenge barriers that continue to persist in educational leadership.

The Effect of Patronizing Behavior and Control on Men and Women’s Performance in Stereotypically Masculine Domains

The purpose of the present research was to examine whether contextual cues related to control contribute to gender differences in math performance that emerge from patronizing behavior. Specifically, in two experiments, men and women received patronizing behavior (i.e., praise paired with a devalued position that did not provide an opportunity for monetary rewards) from a male leader in a stereotypically masculine domain. In this context, we manipulated contextual control cues and measured math performance. In Experiment 1, 113 undergraduates (60 women, 53 men) from a Midwestern University in the United States received the patronizing behavior and all position assignments were made either at the outset (no control) or multiple times (ambiguous control) from one patronizing leader. In Experiment 2, 132 undergraduates (53 women, 79 men) from a U.S. Midwestern University received patronizing behavior and position assignments were made by one leader (ambiguous control) or multiple leaders (enhanced control). Consistent with Hypothesis 1, women had lower performance expectations than men, but no reliable gender differences emerged for desire to succeed. Consistent with Hypothesis 2, gender differences in math performance only emerged in the ambiguous control conditions in Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 with men performing better than women. Finally, consistent with Hypothesis 3, women performed better in the enhanced control (vs. ambiguous control), despite receiving patronizing behavior. Implications for research on patronizing behavior, subtle sexism, and stereotype threat, as well as directions for future research are discussed.

On their best behaviour? Newspaper journalists' coverage of women municipal candidates in Alberta

Do women in municipal politics encounter the same level of media bias as women in national politics? Does every type of newspapers exhibit a bias against women municipal politicians, if at all? These questions guided a study of how three daily and three community newspapers portrayed women council candidates during the 2007 Alberta municipal elections. Using content and discourse analysis, the study compared how journalists reported on female and male candidates’ personal traits such as age, appearance, family situation, gender, and emotions as well as their policy ideas and public utterances. Results from the study indicate that while local women politicians do face a subtle sexism, the media environment they encounter while campaigning is generally more gender-neutral and hospitable to them than the one awaiting women vying for elite national office. Thus, women contemplating a bid for council should not be concerned that local journalists will obsess about their looks or otherwise overtly disadvantage them before prospective voters.

Subtle sexism: Re-informing intergroup bias and regulating emotion in an Australian police organization

AbstractFrom a liberal feminist perspective, we argue that gender can both inform, and should continue to be informed by, social identity studies in efforts to understand and manage subtle sexism in contemporary workplaces. We investigated the presence of a form of subtle sexism, affective aversive sexism, in an Australian male-dominated organization: a police force. To do this we surveyed 159 policemen and examined relationships between individual emotional experience, emotional intensity and emotion regulation. Results indicated that, in a subtle display of intergroup bias, policemen experienced both higher positive and higher negative emotions in the presence of other policemen than of policewomen who, we argue, may be less central in the men's identities and relationships at work. Implications for research, training, and emotion management in the workplace are discussed and it is suggested that liberal feminist research can contribute much to understanding the dynamics that reproduce structural segregation in the workplace.

Subtle sexism: Re-informing intergroup bias and regulating emotion in an Australian police organization

AbstractFrom a liberal feminist perspective, we argue that gender can both inform, and should continue to be informed by, social identity studies in efforts to understand and manage subtle sexism in contemporary workplaces. We investigated the presence of a form of subtle sexism, affective aversive sexism, in an Australian male-dominated organization: a police force. To do this we surveyed 159 policemen and examined relationships between individual emotional experience, emotional intensity and emotion regulation. Results indicated that, in a subtle display of intergroup bias, policemen experienced both higher positive and higher negative emotions in the presence of other policemen than of policewomen who, we argue, may be less central in the men's identities and relationships at work. Implications for research, training, and emotion management in the workplace are discussed and it is suggested that liberal feminist research can contribute much to understanding the dynamics that reproduce structural segregation in the workplace.