Irene E. De Pater, Annelies E.M. Van Vianen, Agneta H. Fischer and Wendy P. Van Ginkel
The purpose of this paper is to examine: gender differences in the choice to perform challenging tasks, gender differences in the actual performance of challenging tasks, and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine: gender differences in the choice to perform challenging tasks, gender differences in the actual performance of challenging tasks, and the impact of challenging experiences on supervisors' evaluations of individuals' potential for career advancement.
Design/methodology/approach
In study 1, a sample of 158 students participated in a laboratory study that examined gender differences in choosing to perform challenging tasks in a situation that stressed individual performance. In study 2, a sample of 93 interns completed questionnaires in which the authors measured their challenging job experiences. Interns' supervisors evaluated interns' potential for career advancement.
Findings
In an achievement situation, women chose to perform fewer challenging tasks than men (study 1). During their internships, females had fewer challenging job experiences than males (study 2). Having challenging experiences was positively related to supervisors' evaluations of interns' potential for career advancement (study 2).
Research limitations/implications
The use of student samples may be considered a limitation of these studies. However, the nature of the research questions justifies an initial examination among students. Moreover, small gender differences in experiences at the start of individuals' careers may ultimately lead to increasing discrepancies between men's and women's careers.
Originality/value
The study is the first to examine individuals' own impact on the extent to which they experience job challenge. Moreover, it is the first that empirically examines the relationship between job challenge and evaluations of career potential.
Details
Keywords
Janet B. Kellett, Ronald H. Humphrey and Randall G. Sleeth
The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that perceived collective efficacy would mediate the effects of self‐efficacy on individual task performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that perceived collective efficacy would mediate the effects of self‐efficacy on individual task performance.
Design/methodology/approach
An assessment center design with 147 participants in 49 three‐person groups was used.
Findings
It is found that for individuals working on an assigned group goal, perception of the group's collective efficacy, rather than self‐efficacy, has a direct influence on task performance.
Research limitations/implications
Future researchers should examine the extent to which cognitive intelligence influences collective efficacy effects.
Practical implications
The research suggests that perceptions of collective efficacy and team support may influence early career developmental task performance.
Originality/value
This paper found that collective efficacy might be more important than individual efficacy in predicting individual task performance in some circumstances.
Details
Keywords
Anne Krogstad and Kirsten Gomard
Political communication is not first and foremost about truth; it is a struggle for power and influence between different interests. In this struggle, it is critical for…
Abstract
Political communication is not first and foremost about truth; it is a struggle for power and influence between different interests. In this struggle, it is critical for politicians to persuade voters, and not just by the power of their argument, but also, and increasingly, through creating trust by means of their personality. In this study we will focus on how politicians attend to these concerns in televised election campaign debates in the Nordic countries. Ideally, political debates provide politicians with equal opportunities for airing their positions. This linguistic ideal of fairness has more elaborate equivalents in established theories of discourse, such as the theory of the ideal speech situation proposed by Habermas (1975a, b), Paul Grice’s maxims for efficient and logical communication (Grice, 1975), and the face-saving traffic rules of social interaction analyzed by Goffman (1967). However, this rudimentary standard of fairness is rarely satisfied in practice (Gastil, 1992). Rather than granting all participants equality, debates often become events in which prior inequalities, such as gender, age, class and status, are re-enacted (Edelsky & Adams, 1990). The question we are pursuing in this article is whether and how such “brought along” features are made relevant, or “brought about” in actual debate situations.
The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive literature review on the utilisation of intelligent agent technology in the library environment.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive literature review on the utilisation of intelligent agent technology in the library environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Research papers since 1990 on the use of various intelligent agent technologies in libraries are divided into two main application areas: digital library (DL), including agent‐based DL projects, multi‐agent architecture for DLs, intelligent agents for distributed heterogeneous information retrieval and agent support to information search process in DLs; and services in traditional libraries, including user interface for library information systems, automatic reference services and multi‐agent architecture for library services. For each paper on the topic, its new ideas or models, referred work, analyses, experiments, findings and conclusions are addressed.
Findings
The majority of the literature covers DLs and there have been fewer studies about services in traditional libraries. A variety of architecture, framework and models integrating agent technology in library systems or services are proposed, but only a few have been implemented in the practical environment. The application of agent technology is still at the research and experimentation stage. Agent technology has great potential in many areas in the library context; however it presents challenges to libraries that want to be involved in its adoption.
Practical implications
The survey has practical implications for libraries, librarians and computer professionals in developing projects that employ intelligent agent technology to meet end‐users' expectations as well as to improve information services within limited resources in library settings.
Originality/value
The paper provides a comprehensive survey on the development and research of intelligent agents in libraries in literature.