The macro level effects of gender - (un)fair language in Polish

A recent analysis of more than 100 countries found that the extent to which their languages grammatically allowed for an asymmetric treatment of men and women correlated with socio-economic indices of gender inequality (Prewitt-Freilino, Caswell, & Laakso, 2012). In a set of four studies we examine whether the availability of feminine forms as indicated by the most recent dictionaries (1) predicts the actual percentage of women and gender wage gap for all professions registered in Poland; (2) predicts the longitudinal pattern of use of the occupational job-titles; (3) relates to social perception of the sample of 150 professions.

Standard Errors for the Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition

The decomposition technique introduced by Blinder (1973) and Oaxaca (1973) is widely used to study outcome differences between groups. For example, the technique is commonly applied to the analysis of the gender wage gap. However, despite the procedure's frequent use, very little attention has been paid to the issue of estimating the sampling variances of the decomposition components. We therefore suggest an approach that introduces consistent variance estimators for several variants of the decomposition. The accuracy of the new estimators under ideal conditions is illustrated with the results of a Monte Carlo simulation. As a second check, the estimators are compared to bootstrap results obtained using real data. In contrast to previously proposed statistics, the new method takes into account the extra variation imposed by stochastic regressors.

SMITHWELCH: Stata module to compute trend decomposition of outcome differentials

smithwelch computes decompositions of differences in mean outcome differentials. Smith and Welch (1989) used such decomposition techniques in their analysis of the change in the black-white wage differential over time. An alternative application would be the decomposition of country differences in the male-female wage gap.

JMPIERCE2: Stata module to compute trend decomposition of outcome differentials

jmpierce2 computes the decomposition of differences in mean outcome differentials proposed by Juhn, Murphy and Pierce (1991). An example is the decomposition of the change of the black-white or the male-female wage differential over time or the decomposition of differences in the male-female wage differential between countries. This routine was previously circulated as jmp2.

Gender differences in survival among adult patients starting antiretroviral therapy in South Africa: a multicentre cohort study

Background Increased mortality among men on antiretroviral therapy (ART) has been documented but remains poorly understood. We examined the magnitude of and risk factors for gender differences in mortality on ART. Methods and Findings Analyses included 46,201 ART-naïve adults starting ART between January 2002 and December 2009 in eight ART programmes across South Africa (SA). Patients were followed from initiation of ART to outcome or analysis closure. The primary outcome was mortality; secondary outcomes were loss to follow-up (LTF), virologic suppression, and CD4+ cell count responses. Survival analyses were used to examine the hazard of death on ART by gender. Sensitivity analyses were limited to patients who were virologically suppressed and patients whose CD4+ cell count reached >200 cells/µl. We compared gender differences in mortality among HIV+ patients on ART with mortality in an age-standardised HIV-negative population. Among 46,201 adults (65% female, median age 35 years), during 77,578 person-years of follow-up, men had lower median CD4+ cell counts than women (85 versus 110 cells/µl, p<0.001), were more likely to be classified WHO stage III/IV (86 versus 77%, p<0.001), and had higher mortality in crude (8.5 versus 5.7 deaths/100 person-years, p<0.001) and adjusted analyses (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] 1.31, 95% CI 1.22–1.41). After 36 months on ART, men were more likely than women to be truly LTF (AHR 1.20, 95% CI 1.12–1.28) but not to die after LTF (AHR 1.04, 95% CI 0.86–1.25). Findings were consistent across all eight programmes. Virologic suppression was similar by gender; women had slightly better immunologic responses than men. Notably, the observed gender differences in mortality on ART were smaller than gender differences in age-standardised death rates in the HIV-negative South African population. Over time, non-HIV mortality appeared to account for an increasing proportion of observed mortality. The analysis was limited by missing data on baseline HIV disease characteristics, and we did not observe directly mortality in HIV-negative populations where the participating cohorts were located. Conclusions HIV-infected men have higher mortality on ART than women in South African programmes, but these differences are only partly explained by more advanced HIV disease at the time of ART initiation, differential LTF and subsequent mortality, and differences in responses to treatment. The observed differences in mortality on ART may be best explained by background differences in mortality between men and women in the South African population unrelated to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Gender modulates the expression of calcium-regulating proteins in pediatric atrial myocardium

A differential expression of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium-ATPase (SERCA2a) and phospholamban (PLB) characterizes the remodeling process in heart failure and atrial arrhythmias in adult patients. Gender is known to modulate the course and prognosis of different forms of heart disease. We hypothesized that gender plays a role in molecular changes of myocardial calcium regulating components already in childhood. Moreover, we studied the influence of volume overloaded (VO) on SERCA2a and PLB in pediatric patients. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to measure mRNA expression of SERCA2a and PLB in atrial myocardium from 30 pediatric patients (12 girls, 18 boys). Eighteen patients had VO right atria, and 12 patients had not-overloaded atria (NO). Protein expression was studied by Western blot. In the entire population, SERCA2a and PLB expression was not different between girls and boys. If hemodynamic overload was taken into account, SERCA2a mRNA expression was significantly reduced in the VO group compared with the NO group (P = 0.021). The VO versus NO difference was restricted to boys, which corresponds to a highly significant interaction of gender versus VO status (P = 0.002). The PLB to SERCA2a protein ratio was significantly lower in girls (P = 0.028). The decrease in SERCA2a mRNA expression in VO atrial myocardium and the PLB to SERCA2a ratio of protein expression was modulated by gender in this pediatric population. To our knowledge, this study is the first to show the impact of gender on the differential expression of calcium-regulating components in pediatric cardiac patients.

Differential aspects of memory self-evaluation in old and very old people

The aim of this paper was to examine age-related changes and gender differences in memory self-evaluation in old people and to examine the predictive power of objective memory performance and of personality variables (neuroticism and extraversion) on memory self-evaluation. In a cross-sectional study, 301 not institutionalized people aged 65± 94, 207 male and 94 female, were tested on three parameters. Subjective memory evaluation was operationalized with three one-item ratings: temporal comparison, social comparison, situation-speci® c memory self-evaluation just after performing a memory test. Objective memory assessment (free recall) used a computerized test. Personality assessment included the two main sub-scales `extraversion’ and `neuroticism’ from the Freiburger PersoÈ nlichkeits-Inventar.The results shaved that persons of all age groups have a realistic appraisal of their age-related memory decline.No gender effects were found for any of the three forms of memory self-evaluation. The relationship between objective memory performance, personality variables and memory self-evaluation however depends on age and gender. Our results show that objective memory performance is predictive for memory self-evaluation in men aged >75 years, whereas in men <75 neuroticism is the only signi® cant predictor.Men of the older cohort seem to have adapted to the age-related memory decline whereas the young old are still coping with the ongoing changes. In women of both age groups the objective memory performance is the only and strong predictor of memory self-evaluation. Our results suggest that gender-speci® c educational socialization might be the reason for these differences.

New ruralities – old gender dynamics?: A reflection on high-value crop agriculture in the light of the feminisation debates

While a remarkable continuity in smallholder agricultural production has been identified, the shift from subsistence orientation towards more wage dependence appears in a different light when analysed under a gender perspective. "Feminisation" has been a catchphrase to characterise some of these processes; however, the debate has been subject to overgeneralisation, and can only inadequately grasp the gender dynamics in what has been referred to as "new ruralities". Illustrated for high-value crop production as an expression of agricultural transition in the Global South, this contribution offers a critical account of the feminisation thesis. Instead of discarding the notion of feminisation, it advocates a reassessment of its potential as a comprehensive framework against which empirical findings can be reflected. While conventional uses of the feminisation thesis have, in their great majority, come up with the conclusion that for women it can always only get worse, I propose a perspective which reveals gains and risks and how they are shared between men and women as they engage in new agricultural labour markets. This perspective rests on a methodology for case-based, comparative studies developed in this paper as a contribution for assessing the nature of agricultural transition and to investigate the qualitative change associated with new ruralities. A distinctive appreciation of the substance of agricultural change for different members of the rural society – namely men and women, but also different men, and different women – is the premise for overcoming barriers to shared development, and for framing effective governance in the context of global development.

Demographic model of the Swiss cattle population for the years 2009-2011 stratified by gender, age and production type

Demographic composition and dynamics of animal and human populations are important determinants for the transmission dynamics of infectious disease and for the effect of infectious disease or environmental disasters on productivity. In many circumstances, demographic data are not available or of poor quality. Since 1999 Switzerland has been recording cattle movements, births, deaths and slaughter in an animal movement database (AMD). The data present in the AMD offers the opportunity for analysing and understanding the dynamic of the Swiss cattle population. A dynamic population model can serve as a building block for future disease transmission models and help policy makers in developing strategies regarding animal health, animal welfare, livestock management and productivity. The Swiss cattle population was therefore modelled using a system of ordinary differential equations. The model was stratified by production type (dairy or beef), age and gender (male and female calves: 0-1 year, heifers and young bulls: 1-2 years, cows and bulls: older than 2 years). The simulation of the Swiss cattle population reflects the observed pattern accurately. Parameters were optimized on the basis of the goodness-of-fit (using the Powell algorithm). The fitted rates were compared with calculated rates from the AMD and differed only marginally. This gives confidence in the fitted rates of parameters that are not directly deductible from the AMD (e.g. the proportion of calves that are moved from the dairy system to fattening plants).

DECOMPOSE: Stata module to compute decompositions of wage differentials

Given the results from two regressions (one for each of two groups), decompose computes several decompositions of the outcome variable differential. The decompositions shows how much of the gap is due to differing endowments between the two groups, and how much is due to discrimination. Usually this is applied to wage differentials using Mincer type earnings equations.