GENDER AND CLASS MOBILITY - EVIDENCE FROM THE REPUBLIC-OF-IRELAND

Gender has frequently been identified as the most controversial issue confronting class analysis. In this paper we make use of data from the Republic of Ireland to assess the extent to which the incorporation of women in class mobility analysis alters our understanding of the central processes of social mobility. We find that for married women their husband's class is a more powerful predictor of household poverty and life-style than their own 'class' as indicated by current or previous occupation. With regard to employment mobility we find that the sole source of gender variation in mobility chances relates to differences in the objective opportunity structures faced by men and women. Applying a measured variable model to 'men only' and 'complete' mobility tables reveals only modest differences in the patterns of social fluidity. The inclusion of women in class mobility tables requires little in the way of substantial modification of our understanding of the pattern of class relationships underlying the observed pattern of mobility.

Collaboration in academic medicine:Reflections on gender and advancement

Purpose: Collaboration in academic medicine is encouraged, yet no one has studied the environment in which faculty collaborate. The authors investigated how faculty experienced collaboration and the institutional atmosphere for collaboration. Method: In 2007, as part of a qualitative study of faculty in five disparate U.S. medical schools, the authors interviewed 96 medical faculty at different career stages and in diverse specialties, with an oversampling of women, minorities, and generalists, regarding their perceptions and experiences of collaboration in academic medicine. Data analysis was inductive and driven by the grounded theory tradition. Results: Female faculty expressed enthusiasm about the potential and process of collaboration; male faculty were more likely to focus on outcomes. Senior faculty experienced a more collaborative environment than early career faculty, who faced numerous barriers to collaboration: the hierarchy of medical academe, advancement criteria, and the lack of infrastructure supportive of collaboration. Research faculty appreciated shared ideas, knowledge, resources, and the increased productivity that could result from collaboration, but they were acutely aware that advancement requires an independent body of work, which was a major deterrent to collaboration among early career faculty. Conclusions: Academic medicine faculty have differing views on the impact and benefits of collaboration. Early career faculty face concerning obstacles to collaboration. Female faculty seemed more appreciative of the process of collaboration, which may be of importance for transitioning to a more collaborative academic environment. A reevaluation of effective benchmarks for promotion of faculty is warranted to address the often exclusive reliance on individualistic achievement. © 2009 The Association of American Medical Colleges.

Money matters: using qualitative research for policy influencing on gender and welfare reform

The UK government has been considering the design and delivery of the proposed “universal credit”, the centerpiece of its welfare reforms. The authors draw on findings from their own research, about how low/moderate-income couples manage money and negotiate gender roles, to demonstrate their relevance to exploring the gender implications of the proposals for universal credit. Findings from this and other similar studies are used to explore the value of qualitative research to policy design and debates – in particular to supplement economic modeling, which has been highly influential in driving the current UK government's thinking on welfare reform. The authors discuss the reasons why insights about gender relations within the household revealed by such qualitative research appear to have been resisted in the reform.

Employment patterns in contemporary retailing:gender and work in five supermarkets

This article examines trends in patterns of employment within contemporary retailing. It focuses upon five supermarkets in the Lancaster area. In each store the proportion of part-timers had increased during the 1980s. There were marked differences in the proportions of female full-time and part-time employees who were married. Management reported similar perceptions of the relative advantages and disadvantages of employing married women within their stores. These belief systems coexisted with radically divergent recruitment strategies by these managements. These variations were embedded witnin typical recruitment strategies in each of the firms examined. -from Authors

Serum lipoproteins in the diabetes control and complications trial/epidemiology of diabetes intervention and complications cohort:associations with gender and glycemia

To relate the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-determined lipoprotein profile, conventional lipid and apolipoprotein measures, and in vitro oxidizibility of LDL with gender and glycemia in type 1 diabetes.

Coordinated Design of Phase Measurement Unit and Power System Stabilisers in Large Scale Power System

This paper presents a case-study of a PMU application with PSS support in a real large scale Chinese power system to suppress inter-area oscillations. The paper uses PMU measured feedback signals from a PSS input signal for dynamic torque analysis (DTA). In the paper, a mathematical model of multi-machine power system is described, followed by formation of the residue and DTA indices. Simulations of the model are used with a large-scale power system model to demonstrate the role of PSS and the equivalence of DTA residue indices.

Voltage and power quality improvement strategy for a DFIG wind turbine during variable wind conditions

This paper presents a voltage and power quality enhancement scheme for a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind farm during variable wind conditions. The wind profiles were derived considering the measured data at a DFIG wind farm located in Northern Ireland (NI). The aggregated DFIG wind farm model was validated using measured data at a wind farm during variable generation. The voltage control strategy was developed considering the X/R ratio of the wind farm feeder which connects the wind farm and the grid. The performance of the proposed strategy was evaluated for different X/R ratios, and wind profiles with different characteristics. The impact of flicker propagation along the wind farm feeder and effectiveness of the proposed strategy is also evaluated with consumer loads connected to the wind farm feeder. It is shown that voltage variability and short-term flicker severity is significantly reduced following implementation of the novel strategy described.

Impact of nitrogen seeding on confinement and power load control of a high-triangularity JET ELMy H-mode plasma with a metal wall

This paper reports the impact on confinement and power load of the high-shape 2.5 MA ELMy H-mode scenario at JET of a change from all carbon plasma-facing components to an all metal wall. In preparation to this change, systematic studies of power load reduction and impact on confinement as a result of fuelling in combination with nitrogen seeding were carried out in JET-C and are compared with their counterpart in JET with a metallic wall. An unexpected and significant change is reported on the decrease in the pedestal confinement but is partially recovered with the injection of nitrogen.

Women (Re)Negotiating Care across Family Generations: Intersections of Gender and Socioeconomic Status

Changing Generations, a study of intergenerational relations in Ireland undertaken between 2011 and 2013 by the Social Policy and Ageing Research Centre (SPARC), Trinity College, Dublin, and the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (ICSG), NUI Galway, used the Constructivist Grounded Theory method to interrogate support and care provision between generations. This article draws on interviews with 52 women ages 18 to 102, allowing for simultaneous analysis of older and younger women’s perspectives. The intersectionality of gender and class emerged as central to the analysis. Socioeconomic positions shape contrasting forms of interdependency among family generations, ranging from “enmeshed” lives among lower socioeconomic groups to “freed” lives among higher socioeconomic groups. Women are initiating changes in how care and support flow across generations. Older women in higher socioeconomic groups are attuned to how emotional capital women expend across family generations can constrain (young) women’s lives. In an expression of solidarity, older women are renegotiating the place of care labor in their own lives and in the lives of younger women. A new reciprocity emerges that amounts to women “undoing gender.” This process is, however, deeply classed as it is women in higher socioeconomic groups whose resources best place them to renegotiate care.