Representations of work and worker in the three generations of knowledge management. Critical Discourse Analysis of selected texts.

The thesis studies the representations of different elements of contemporary work as present in Knowledge Management (KM). KM is approached as management discourse that is seen to affect and influence managerial practices in organizations. As representatives of KM discourse four journal articles are analyzed, using the methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis and the framework of Critical Management Studies, with a special emphasis on the question of structure and agency. The results of the analysis reveal that structural elements such as information technology and organizational structures are strongly present in the most influential KM representations, making their improvement also a desirable course of action for managers. In contrast agentic properties are not in a central role, they are subjugated to structural constraints of varying kind and degree. The thesis claims that one such constraint is KM discourse itself, influencing managerial and organizational choices and decision making. The thesis concludes that the way human beings are represented, studied and treated in management studies such as KM needs to be re-examined. Pro gradu-tutkielmassa analysoidaan työhön ja sen tekijään liittyviä representaatioita Tietojohtamisen kirjallisuudessa. Tietojohtamista tarkastellaan liikkeenjohdollisena diskurssina, jolla nähdään olevan vaikutus organisaatioiden päätöksentekoon ja toimintaan. Tutkielmassa analysoidaan neljä Tietojohtamisen tieteellistä artikkelia, käyttäen metodina kriittistä diskurssianalyysiä. Tutkielman viitekehyksenä on kriittinen liikkeenjohdon tutkimus. Lisäksi työssä pohditaan kysymystä rakenteen ja toimijan välisestä vuorovaikutuksesta. Tutkielman analyysi paljastaa, että tietojohtamisen vaikutusvaltaisimmat representaatiot painottavat rakenteellisia tekijöitä, kuten informaatioteknologiaa ja organisaatiorakenteita. Tämän seurauksena mm. panostukset em. tekijöihin nähdään organisaatioissa toivottavana toimintana. Vastaavasti representaatiot jotka painottavat yksilöitä ja toimintaa ovat em. tekijöille alisteisessa asemassa. Tapaa, jolla yksilöitä kuvataan ja käsitellään Tietojohtamisen diskurssissa, tulisikin laajentaa ja monipuolistaa.

Age and gender variations of sleep in subjects without sleep disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Although sleep is a biomarker for general health and pathological conditions, its changes across age and gender are poorly understood. METHODS: Subjective evaluation of sleep was assessed by questionnaires in 5,064 subjects, and 2,966 were considered without sleep disorders. Objective evaluation was performed by polysomnography in 2,160 subjects, and 1,147 were considered without sleep disorders. Only subjects without sleep disorders were included (aged 40-80 years). RESULTS: Aging was strongly associated with morning preference. Older subjects, especially women, complained less about sleepiness, and pathological sleepiness was significantly lower than in younger subjects. Self-reported sleep quality and daytime functioning improved with aging. Sleep latency increased with age in women, while sleep efficiency decreased with age in both genders. Deep slow-wave sleep decreased with age, but men were more affected. Spectral power densities within slow waves (< 5 Hz) and fast spindles (14-14.75 Hz) decreased, while theta-alpha (5-1 Hz) and beta (16.75-25 Hz) power in non-rapid eye movement sleep increased with aging. In REM sleep, aging was associated with a progressive decrease in delta (1.25-4.5 Hz) and increase in higher frequencies. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that sleep complaints should not be viewed as part of normal aging but should prompt the identification of underlying causes.

Une délicate rencontre entre savoirs autochtones "experts" : enjeux politiques interculturelles dans le domaine de la prévention de la violence à l'égard des femmes kichwa en Amazonie équatorienne

Cette thèse porte sur l'élaboration et la mise en pratique de politiques interculturelles dans le champ de la santé internationale, en se basant sur une ethnographie d'un programme de préven¬tion de la violence de genre dans le canton de Loreto, en Amazonie équatorienne, mis en place par la Croix-Rouge suisse et aujourd'hui géré de concert avec l'Etat équatorien et une organisation kichwa locale. Suivant une approche qui fait varier les échelles d'analyses pour articuler le niveau local, national et international, elle met en évidence les lieux d'intersection et les hiatus entre l'idéal d'interculturalité tel qu'il est conçu «par le haut» et les pratiques qui sont mises en oeuvre au quotidien par des professionnels de la santé et du développement métis équatoriens. Elle révèle ainsi qu'au-delà de l'idéal du respect des « différences culturelles autochtones » et de la symétrie entre les « cultures », les discours et les pratiques de ces professionnels consistent en une entreprise de normalisation et de moralisation des comportements des destinataires kichwa en matière de rapports de genre. Pour affiner ces analyses et dépasser une approche critique de la santé publique, cette thèse explore également les représentations et les pratiques des destinataires - femmes agents de santé et « bénéficiaires » kichwa du programme - en matière de violence et de rapports de genre. Elle montre ainsi que le transfert de normes et de valeurs via la santé publique fait l'objet de mul¬tiples processus d'appropriations, et explore les différentes d'interprétations, de négociations et d'instrumentalisations de la part des destinataires, tant au niveau individuel que collectif. -- Intercultural politics and the prevention of violence against kichwa women in the Ecuadorian Amazon This PhD thesis focuses on the development and application of intercultural policies in the field of international health. It is drawn on an ethnographic fieldwork conducted in canton Loreto, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, about a gender violence prevention program which was set up by the Swiss Red Cross and which is now managed in cooperation with the Ecuadorian State and a local kichwa organization. Following a multiple-scale analysis in order to articulate the local, national and international dynamics, it highlights the intersections and the gaps between, on the one hand, the the institutional prescriptions about the ideal of interculturality and on the other hand, the daily practices of Ecuadorian mestizo health and development profesionals. It reveals that beyond the ideal of respect for «indigenous cultural differences» and of symmetry between «cultures», the discourses and practices of these professionals consist of a normalizing and moralizing enter¬prise concerning the gendered and, more broadly, social behaviors of kichwa «beneficiaries». In order to refine the analysis and to go beyond a critical approach of public health, this thesis also explores the violence and gender relations representations and practices of kichwa women health workers and «beneficiaries», men and women. Thus it shows that the transfer of norms via public health is the subject of multiple processes of appropriation, interpretation, negotiation and instru¬mentalisation both on individual and collective levels by the «beneficiaries».

Dietary intake according to gender and education : a twenty-year trend in a Swiss adult population

We assessed trends in dietary intake according to gender and education using repeated cross-sectional, population-based surveys conducted between 1993 and 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland (17,263 participants, 52.0 ± 10.6 years, 48% male). In 1993-1999, higher educated men had higher monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), carotene and vitamin D intakes than lower educated men, and the differences decreased in 2006-2012. In 1993-1999, higher educated women had higher fiber, iron, carotene, vitamin D and alcohol intakes than lower educated women, and the differences decreased in 2006-2012. Total energy, polyunsaturated fatty acids, retinol and alcohol intakes decreased, while mono/disaccharides, MUFA and carotene intake increased in both genders. Lower educated men had stronger decreases in saturated fatty acid (SFA) and calcium intakes than higher educated men: multivariate-adjusted slope and 95% confidence interval -0.11 (-0.15; -0.06) vs. -0.03 (-0.08; 0.02) g/day/year for SFA and -5.2 (-7.8; -2.7) vs. -1.03 (-3.8; 1.8) mg/day/year for calcium, p for interaction <0.05. Higher educated women had a greater decrease in iron intake than lower educated women: -0.03 (-0.04; -0.02) vs. -0.01 (-0.02; 0.00) mg/day/year, p for interaction = 0.002. We conclude that, in Switzerland, dietary intake evolved similarly between 1993 and 2012 in both educational groups. Educational differences present in 1993 persisted in 2012.

National and Gender Measurement Invariance of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS) : A 10-Nation Study With University Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS), a self-report measure aimed at assessing identity processes of commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment. We tested its factor structure in university students from a large array of cultural contexts, including 10 nations located in Europe (i.e., Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland), Middle East (i.e., Turkey), and Asia (i.e., China, Japan, and Taiwan). Furthermore, we tested national and gender measurement invariance. Participants were 6,118 (63.2% females) university students aged from 18 to 25 years (Mage = 20.91 years). Results indicated that the three-factor structure of the U-MICS fitted well in the total sample, in each national group, and in gender groups. Furthermore, national and gender measurement invariance were established. Thus, the U-MICS can be fruitfully applied to study identity in university students from various Western and non-Western contexts.

How women and men project their gender prototypes on leader prototypes.

Both role incongruency theory (Eagly & Karau, 2002) and the lack of fit model by Heilman (1983) suggest that the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions can be explained by the male-typedness of leader prototypes. We examine how women and men project their gender prototypes onto leader prototypes. We found initially that men more so than women projected their gender prototypes on leader prototypes. For men there is more of an overlap between a prototypical men and a prototypical leader than there is an overlap between a prototypical woman and a prototypical leader. Women, however, do not engage in so called relative ingroup projection. In the current study, we further decompose this finding asking whether the gender difference in relative ingroup projection on leadership prototypes is driven by female prototypes, male prototypes, and/or leader prototypes. We further examine to what extent this gender difference is more manifested on positively valenced or negatively valenced attributes of prototypes. Our findings show that, while women and men have similar prototypes of leaders and men on both positively and negatively valenced attributes, men relative to women have less favorable prototypes of women but only on positively valenced attributes. An interesting implication is that efforts to address gender differences in the projection of gender prototypes onto leader prototypes should focus less on leader prototypes and more on the female prototypes. Theoretically, our findings allude to the importance of distinguishing between more subtle (evaluating the outgroup less positively on positive properties) and less subtle forms (evaluating the outgroup more negatively on negative properties) of outgroup derogation.

A model of gender prejudice, power, and discrimination: How hierarchy-enhancing factors predominate over hierarchy-attenuating factors

Gender inequalities remain an issue in our society and particularly in the workplace. Several factors can explain this gender difference in top-level managerial positions such as career ambitions but also biases against women. In our chapter, we propose a model explaining why gender inequalities and particularly discrimination against women is still present in our societies despite social norms and existing legislation on gender equality. To this purpose, we review research on discrimination through two different approaches, (a) a prejudice approach through the justification-suppression model developed by Crandall and Eshleman (2003) and (b) a power approach through the social dominance theory (Pratto, Sidanius, Stallworth, & Malle, 1994; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). In our work, we integrate these two approaches and propose a model of gender prejudice, power and discrimination. The integration of these two approaches contributes to a better understanding of how discrimination against women is formed and maintained over time.

Why Women Rarely Rise to the Top: A Social Identity Model of Leader Prototypes.

Purpose We propose a social identity model of leader prototypes to address why the maleness of leader prototypes is more pronounced among men than among women (e.g., Schein, 2001). Specifically, we argue that individuals project their ingroup prototype (e.g., a male prototype) onto a valued other category (e.g., leaders) (e.g., Wenzel, Mummendey, Weber, & Waldzus, 2003) in order to maintain a positive ingroup (e.g., gender) identity. We hypothesized that both women and men engage in ingroup projection of their gender prototype on their leader prototype, and we expected this effect to be stronger for men than women. We also investigated intelligence as a moderator of ingroup projection. Methodology Participants (276 students, University of Lausanne) assessed to what extent attributes on a list of gender traits were characteristic of a successful leader. We computed relative ingroup similarity scores (e.g., Waldzus & Mummendey, 2004) representing the difference between how characteristic ingroup traits are for a successful leader, and how characteristic outgroup traits are for a successful leader. Results Results showed that men engaged in ingroup projection while women engaged in outgroup projection, and that men engaged in ingroup projection to a greater extent. We also found a small, but positive effect of intelligence on ingroup projection among men. Limitations The use of a student sample might limit the external validity of our findings. Implications Our findings contribute to research on the under-representation of women in managerial roles, and introduce intelligence as a predictor of ingroup projection. Value Our study allows for a more fine-grained understanding of the cognitive representations of leaders of men and women.

The Figure of Radha in Miniature Paintings: From the Pastoral to the Courtly, from Text to Visuality, from Polyphony to Normativity

This article analyses how Radha was depicted in miniature paintings between the 16th and 19th century in North India. Interrogating the link between text and image, contrasting poetry, style and historical settings with the visual representations of this central figure, my reflections focus on the changing nature of Radha. Through various examples from miniature paintings of different periods and schools, this article analyses the way the rich personality of Radha was transposed into images. In order to stress the changes brought to this female figure, I compare her to Krishna, the masculine figure who is always at her side. The main goal of the article is to show the normative power of images on the figure of Radha, with normativity being understood as the simplification, iconisation, aestheticisation and stereotypification of a figure with polysemous references.

Gender ingroup projection and the evaluative connotation of leader prototypes

The underrepresentation of women in top corporate ranks is a topic of ongoing discussion. Manager prototypes are proposed to be more male-typed than female-typed because historically men more often than women have held leadership roles. Why then is the maleness of manager prototypes even more pronounced among men than among women? Given that most personnel decision makers in organizations are men this phenomenon is problematic for women's advancement to top management positions. We address this question by investigating peoples' use of ingroup projection and their endorsement of evaluative attributes in constructing gender and leader prototypes.

Genre et disparités: l'exemple du tabagisme [Gender and disparities: the example of tobacco smoking].

La prévalence mondiale du tabagisme est environ cinq fois plus importante chez les hommes que chez les femmes, toutefois cet écart tend à s'égaliser. En ce qui concerne les conséquences sur la santé du tabagisme, les femmes semblent plus susceptibles que les hommes. Elles sont notamment plus à risque de présenter certains cancers pulmonaires ou de décéder de maladies cardiovasculaires. Si les hommes sont moins enclins à demander de l'aide pour arrêter de fumer, les femmes quant à elles ont moins de succès dans leurs tentatives d'arrêt et les traitements semblent moins efficaces chez ces dernières. Des interventions d'aide à l'arrêt et des mesures de prévention du tabagisme adaptées aux spécificités de genre ont le potentiel d'améliorer la prise en charge des fumeurs et de diminuer les disparités de genre en santé. Smoking prevalence is globally five times higher among men compared to women but this gap tends to decrease. Regarding health consequences of smoking, women tend to be more vulnerable than men. They are namely more at risk to present certain lung cancers and die of cardiovascular disease. While men are less prone to seek help for smoking cessation, women are less successful in their quit attempts and smoking cessation treatments are less effective among them. Interventions for smoking cessation and preventive measures tailored to gender specificities have the potential to improve management of smokers and decrease gender disparities in healthcare.