Gender and equity in elearning

This paper reports on a large scale survey of the perceptions of university students to their use of an online learning environment. The aim of the survey was to gather data to inform online learning practices at the university. The results were explored, amongst other factors, for gender differences. Findings include no significant differences between the female and male students with respect to being able to use the online learning environment confidently and effectively. In general the female students were more willing to participate in online discussions though there was no difference between the female and male students as to whether they were willing to voice their opinions online. An unexpected result was the greater value placed by female students on using this environment for working with students of diverse backgrounds.

Video games research: gender inequities

In this paper we explore current research on violence in video games, with a focus on gender inequalities and imbalance, and introduce a project being undertaken as part of an honours programme in Information Technology. The research focuses on the portrayal of violence in games as perceived by future game developers and the parallel issue of lack of female participation as players and developers. Although the project is in its infancy it has already highlighted a major shortcoming in video games research which will have a major impact on the results. Lack of gender representation in the population being surveyed limits the generality of any results obtained, which has a domino effect on the ability of the games industry to address gender issues.

Gendering men: implications for gender equality

This paper provides an overview of the main questions about men’s involvement in policies and practices toward gender equality and the key debates and issues that arise from them. It argues for the importance of locating this issue in the context of the limitations and potential of gender mainstreaming and an understanding of the gendered nature of the state and the social construction of men’s gender interests. It articulates the case for encouraging men’s involvement in gender equality, whilst being conscious of the dangers of involving men, and outlines a strategy to work through the dilemmas and tensions.

Gender differences in adherence to sodium-restricted diet patients with heart failure.

Background

Despite the importance of the sodium-restricted diet (SRD) to heart failure (HF) management, patient adherence is poor. Little is known about gender differences in adherence or factors that affect patients' ability to follow SRD recommendations. The purposes of this study were to determine whether there were gender differences in (1) adherence to the SRD; (2) knowledge about SRD and HF self-care; and (3) perceived barriers to following the SRD.
Methods and Results

Forty-one men and 27 women completed the Heart Failure Attitudes and Barriers questionnaire that measured HF self-care, knowledge, and perceived barriers to follow an SRD. Diet adherence was measured by 24-hour urinary sodium excretion (UNa). Women were more adherent to the SRD than men as reflected by 24-hour urine excretion (2713 versus 3859 mg UNa, P = .01). Women recognized signs of excess sodium intake such as fluid buildup (P = .001) and edema (P = .01) more often than men and had better understanding of appropriate actions to take related to following an SRD. There were no gender differences in perceived barriers to follow an SRD.
Conclusions

Although men and women perceived similar barriers, women were more adherent to the SRD and had greater knowledge about following an SRD. Further investigation of this phenomenon is warranted to determine if better adherence contributes to improved outcomes in women.

Performing and reforming leaders : gender, educational restructuring, and organizational change

Performing and Reforming Leaders critically analyzes how women negotiate the dilemmas they face in leadership and managerial roles in Australian schools, universities, and continuing education. The authors examine how new managerialism and markets in education transformed how academics and teachers did their work, and in turn changed the nature of educational leadership in ways that were dissonant with the leadership practices and values women brought to the job.

Schooling, normalisation, and gendered bodies : adolescent boys' and girls' experiences of gender and schooling

Dominant discourses construct boys and girls as two homogenous groups in need of particular, and uniform, kinds of interventions (Martino, Mills, & Lingard, 2005, Mills, Martino, & Lingard, 2004; Jones & Myhill, 2004). The boys and girls themselves, however, tell a much more complex story and challenge us to consider very different implications for addressing gender conformity and, more broadly, diversity in schools. In this chapter, the voices of students are used as text to explicate, first, how issues of gender, sexuality, social class, ethnicity and the body are implicated and interweave in girls’ and boys’ social experiences of schooling; and second, what the implications of this interweaving might be for addressing diversity in schools (Connell, 1995; 2002; Martino, 1999, 2000; Pallotta-Chiarolli, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2005). This work draws on and elaborates further our previous published research that investigates issues of gender and schooling. It locates such research within the broader international context of studies conducted into issues of gender and schooling that document student perspectives and voice (Fine & Weiss, 2003; Ferguson, 2001; Renold, 2003; Mac an Ghaill, 1994; Lees, 1993; Ornstein, 1995; Thorne, 1993; Mills, 2001; Hey, 1997; Willis,1977; Walker, 1988). The use of student voice as text is considered within that broader context and highlights the significance of gender regimes and power relations in students’ lives at school (Martino & Pallotta-Chiarolli, 2005; 2003; 2002; 2001; Pallotta-Chiarolli, 1998). We illustrate the extent to which the risky business of ‘fitting in’ involves negotiations around normative and transgressive masculinities and femininities and how such practices intersect with sexuality, race/culture, class, and geographical location (see James, 2003; Kumashiro, 2002).

Perceptions of gender balance of IS journal editorial positions

An analysis of 18,854 editorial positions on IS journals was undertaken to examine the perceived gender balance of those positions as an indication of their contribution towards a positive role model for females considering an IS academic career. The nature and extent of perceived gender balance is examined in terms of overall composition of editorial positions, journal prestige and the specific area within IS covered by a journal. The results indicate that perceived gender balance of editorial positions reflects that of ICT academia generally, and that female representation appears to be concentrated in journals covering areas that are traditionally seen as female occupations, e.g., health, education, librarianship. As such, little or no encouragement is given to females considering an IS academic career.

Gender and equity in e-Learning

Literature to date suggests contrary indicators of acceptance of the use of technology to support learning by females. With the increasing adoption of information technology to support teaching and learning, it is imperative that factors which may impede student learning are identified. The research reported here is of a large-scale survey of the perceptions of university students about eLearning and their use of the online learning environment. The aim of the survey was to gather data to inform about online learning practices at the University. The results were explored, amongst other factors, by gender. Findings include no significant differences between the female and male students with respect to being able to use the online learning environment confidently and effectively. In general the female students were more willing to participate in online discussions. However, there was no difference between the female and male students regarding their willingness to voice their opinions online. An unexpected result was the greater value placed by female students on using the online environment for communicating and collaborating with students of diverse background.

How is gender-based violence covered in the sporting news? An account of the Australian Football League sex scandal

Despite the significant amount of feminist and sociological research devoted to the question of sexual harassment and assault in sport, there has been little accompanying exploration of how the media discuss gender-based violence by sportsmen. This study examines the narratives of gendered behaviour that emerge in stories about Australian rules footballers and violence against women in the sport sections of two major Australian newspapers. As the audience for sport news is primarily male, the way that sexual misconduct by footballers is reported in this section of the newspaper provides an important dimension in theorising how media institutions influence public discourse and understandings of gender.

Would the 'real' girl gamer please stand up? Gender, LAN cafes and the reformulation of the 'girl' gamer.

In this paper we consider the significance of cyber 'LAN' cafeacutes as sites where on and off-line practices meet in way that complicates binary notions of the gendered gamer. Existing research into computer games culture suggests a male dominated environment and points to girls' lower levels of competence and participation in games. Building on recent studies interested in the constitution of gender through engagement with online technologies, we draw on Judith Butler's politics of performative resignification, and conceptualise digital culture as a resource through which 'girl' gamers are mobilised and potentially reformulated, experiencing their gaming identities in contradictory ways, and fragmenting the category 'girl' in the very act of articulating their place in a male dominated gaming culture. It is argued that through the meeting of on and off-line practices, LAN cafeacutes operate as a location that is particularly amenable to reformulative work in relation to gendered gaming identities.

Being normal is the only way to be : adolescent perspectives on gender and school

A book for teachers and parents of adolescents. Draws on the writings of teenage boys and girls and uses these to build specific knowledge about what it means to be an adolescent at school, what it means to be Cool and Normal, and the effects of these social constructions on learning and relationships.