Perceptions and misperceptions of computing careers

Two issues were addressed. 1. Women are underrepresented in computing courses and in the computing workplace. Despite almost two decades of recognition of the issue and of intervention to correct it, the proportion of women in computing continues to decline. 2. There is a shortage of people with appropriate skills and qualifications in computing, and, more specifically, a need for people with particular personality attributes. There is an increasing demand for computing personnel to have good communication and interpersonal skills, but the predominant personality types of computing people do not include these characteristics. The research relating to the underrepresentation of women was conducted as a series of interviews with university students, female computing professionals and secondary school girls. The main findings of these studies were: 1) schoolgirls are interested in careers that are interesting and varied and provide opportunities for interaction with others; 2) schoolgirls perceive computing as involving working alone; 3) women working in computing describe careers that are interesting, varied, and people-oriented; 4) tertiary computing students equated 'computing' with 'programming'; and 5) single interventions are unlikely to result in individuals in the targeted group deciding to study computing. The perception of schoolgirls that computing involves working alone, which is reinforced by many tertiary computing courses, suggested that the type of person who is likely to be attracted to computing is one who would prefer to work alone. It was predicted that schoolboys would have similar perceptions of computing. Thus, computing is likely to attract students who would prefer to work alone. For various social and stereotypical reasons addressed by previous research, these students will be predominantly male. In the final study, preferred Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory personality types were suggested for computer programmers, systems designers and systems analysts. The existing literature and the 'types' of 72 study participants tended to confirm that 1) certain personality types are overrepresented in computing; 2) these types are well suited to programming and design tasks; and 3) there is an underrepresentation of individuals who have the combination of analytical, communication and people skills that are required particularly of analysts but also of many others working in computing today. Interviews with participants supported the earlier findings that computing careers are perceived by students to be technical and involve working in isolation, but for many computing people this is not the reality.

Intellectual disability and sexuality : attitudes of disability support staff and leisure industry employees

Background: The attitudes of support staff and others in the community towards the sexuality of individuals with an intellectual disability (ID) have the potential to influence opportunities for normalised life experiences in the area of sexuality. ----- Method: A sample of 169 disability support staff and 50 employees from leisure and services industries completed the Attitudes to Sexuality Questionnaires (Individuals with an Intellectual Disability [ASQ–ID], and Individuals from the General Population [ASQ–GP]). ----- Results: Support staff and leisure workers reported generally positive attitudes towards the sexuality of individuals with an ID, but men were seen as having less self-control than women. Support staff were more cautious in their views about parenting, and both groups considered a lower level of sexual freedom to be desirable for women with an ID compared to women who are developing typically. Conclusions Attitudes of both groups are generally quite positive in relation to ID and sexuality.

Is a single item stress measure independently associated with subsequent severe injury: a prospective cohort study of 16,385 forest industry employees

Background: A previous review showed that high stress increases the risk of occupational injury by three- to five-fold. However, most of the prior studies have relied on short follow-ups. In this prospective cohort study we examined the effect of stress on recorded hospitalised injuries in an 8-year follow-up.
Methods: A total of 16,385 employees of a Finnish forest company responded to the questionnaire. Perceived stress was measured with a validated single-item measure, and analysed in relation recorded hospitalised injuries from 1986 to 2008. We used Cox proportional hazard regression models to examine the prospective associations between work stress, injuries and confounding factors.
Results: Highly stressed participants were approximately 40% more likely to be hospitalised due to injury over the follow-up period than participants with low stress. This association remained significant after adjustment for age, gender, marital status, occupational status, educational level, and physical work environment.
Conclusions: High stress is associated with an increased risk of severe injury.

Women in industry: a study in American economic history

by Edith Abbott.

Italian women in industry: a study of conditions in New York City

by Louise C. Odencrantz.

A new day for the colored woman worker: a study of colored women in industry in New York City

Joint Committee to Study the Employment of Colored Women in New York City and Brooklyn.

Women in industry /

Mode of access: Internet.

Women in industry, by C. E. Knoeppel; an address based on answers to 1,000 questionnaires on women in industry, delivered before the national conference on "labor problems under war conditions," under joint auspices of the Society of industrial engineers and the Western efficiency society, Chicago, Ill., March, 1918.

Mode of access: Internet.

Women in industry : a study in American economic history /

Partly reprinted from various periodicals.

Industrial new product planning:a study of the sources of new product ideas and the development of new product proposals in the UK computer industry

This thesis presents a study of the sources of new product ideas and the development of new product proposals in an organisation in the UK Computer Industry. The thesis extends the work of von Hippel by showing how the phenomenon which he describes as "the Customer Active Paradigm for new product idea generation" can be observed to operate in this Industry. Furthermore, this thesis contrasts his Customer Active Paradigm with the more usually encountered Manufacturer Active Paradigm. In a second area, the thesis draws a number of conclusions relating to methods of market research, confirming existing observations and demonstrating the suitability of flexible interview strategies in certain circumstances. The thesis goes on to demonstrate the importance of free information flow within the organisation, making it more likely that sought and unsought opportunities can be exploited. It is shown that formal information flows and documents are a necessary but not sufficient means of influencing the formation of the organisation's dominant ideas on new product areas. The findings also link the work of Tushman and Katz on the role of "Gatekeepers" with the work of von Hippel by showing that the role of gatekeeper is particularly appropriate and useful to an organisation changing from Customer Active to Manufacturer Active methods of idea generation. Finally, the thesis provides conclusions relating to the exploitation of specific new product opportunities facing the sponsoring organisation.

Equal employment opportunity and its links to the participation of women in the construction industry : the case of Australia

Australia is currently experiencing a resources boom and jobs in the male dominated fields of construction and engineering are at a premium. Employment in the construction industry, historically and today, is overwhelmingly male and, with an ageing population this predominately older male workforce will be retiring in greater numbers in the coming decade. Despite more that 25 years of anti- discrimination legislation and equal opportunity legislation these industries still employ few women in operational roles. This paper investigates the issue of the low representation of women in the construction industry. Our investigation involves the analysis of 95 organisation progress reports on the equal opportunity strategic programs in the construction industry. Findings indicate that this industry is not engaging with equal employment opportunity programs and further that equity outcomes for women in the industry are not evident.

Report of the Industrial Commissioner to the Confectionery Minimum Wage Board relating to wages and other conditions of employment of women and minors in the confectionery industry, New York State.

Mode of access: Internet.

The role of the health surveillance program in the Queensland coal mining industry

The Queensland Coal Industry Employees Health Scheme was implemented in 1993 to provide health surveillance for all Queensland coal industry workers. Tt1e government, mining employers and mining unions agreed that the scheme should operate for seven years. At the expiry of the scheme, an assessment of the contribution of health surveillance to meet coal industry needs would be an essential part of determining a future health surveillance program. This research project has analysed the data made available between 1993 and 1998. All current coal industry employees have had at least one health assessment. The project examined how the centralised nature of the Health Scheme benefits industry by identi~)jng key health issues and exploring their dimensions on a scale not possible by corporate based health surveillance programs. There is a body of evidence that indicates that health awareness - on the scale of the individual, the work group and the industry is not a part of the mining industry culture. There is also growing evidence that there is a need for this culture to change and that some change is in progress. One element of this changing culture is a growth in the interest by the individual and the community in information on health status and benchmarks that are reasonably attainable. This interest opens the way for health education which contains personal, community and occupational elements. An important element of such education is the data on mine site health status. This project examined the role of health surveillance in the coal mining industry as a tool for generating the necessary information to promote an interest in health awareness. The Health Scheme Database provides the material for the bulk of the analysis of this project. After a preliminary scan of the data set, more detailed analysis was undertaken on key health and related safety issues that include respiratory disorders, hearing loss and high blood pressure. The data set facilitates control for confounding factors such as age and smoking status. Mines can be benchmarked to identify those mines with effective health management and those with particular challenges. While the study has confirmed the very low prevalence of restrictive airway disease such as pneu"moconiosis, it has demonstrated a need to examine in detail the emergence of obstructive airway disease such as bronchitis and emphysema which may be a consequence of the increasing use of high dust longwall technology. The power of the Health Database's electronic data management is demonstrated by linking the health data to other data sets such as injury data that is collected by the Department of l\1mes and Energy. The analysis examines serious strain -sprain injuries and has identified a marked difference between the underground and open cut sectors of the industry. The analysis also considers productivity and OHS data to examine the extent to which there is correlation between any pairs ofJpese and previously analysed health parameters. This project has demonstrated that the current structure of the Coal Industry Employees Health Scheme has largely delivered to mines and effective health screening process. At the same time, the centralised nature of data collection and analysis has provided to the mines, the unions and the government substantial statistical cross-sectional data upon which strategies to more effectively manage health and relates safety issues can be based.