Abstract
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This paper aims to describe the findings of interviews based on a questionnaire and a focus group discussion (conducted in 2011) with three Black women employees who were part of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the findings of interviews based on a questionnaire and a focus group discussion (conducted in 2011) with three Black women employees who were part of a 2006 study, which canvassed 176 employees and employers, in which carpentry was found to be considered the most accessible and appropriate skills area for women, and chronicles their development and assessment of current employment for women in construction.
Design/methodology/approach
The focus group was made up of the women from the 2006 study still in the same employment or better positions in the same company Neil Muller Construction (NMC) after five years. Women from NMC, in particular, were selected because the company has been considered a best practice example and therefore would provide an interesting context in terms of the issues around retention of women and potentially a model for the industry. Foci are female representation, barriers, conditions, skills acquisition and employers’ attitudes to family responsibilities. In particular, measures to support women and the impact of role models and mentoring programmes are discussed.
Findings
The results of the 2011 focus group study show that positive measures for women to work in construction are developing, both through legislation (e.g. the Construction Charter) and company efforts such as those of NMC. Both the 2006 and 2011 studies highlighted that female attributes such as being peacekeepers on site were considered favourable, indicating a positive shift in attitude regarding women working in construction.
Research limitations/implications
There has been and remains a paucity of research into and literature on the topic of women in the construction industry, particularly working at the skills level.
Practical implications
The paper has practical implications for employers wanting to increase employment and retention of women on site by providing a best practice example.
Social implications
Increased employment of women is a statuary requirement of South African employment law. Women are, on average, the lowest wage earners.
Originality/value
The paper reviews challenges for women in construction and ways these can be circumvented through interaction between industry and companies. The challenges are entry and retention because of the practices and attitudes typical in a male-dominated work environment. As a follow-up to previous research of 2006 into barriers to entry for women, this paper adds value by considering retention and a best practice example. As women’s lack of knowledge of the sector is also a barrier, this paper contributes to building knowledge. Further research should determine developing trends in terms of women’s representation in the construction industry.
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Anthony J. O’Tierney, Donncha Kavanagh and Kevin Scally
In this chapter, the authors explore the concept of actorial identity through analysing the construction of legal persons as actors, centred on the argument that there is an…
Abstract
In this chapter, the authors explore the concept of actorial identity through analysing the construction of legal persons as actors, centred on the argument that there is an ontological separation between living men and women and their legal representations. The authors propose an analytical frame based in part on the games studies literature, wherein actorial identities known as ‘Avatars’ are created by performative declarations that articulate Avatars with Players (living persons). The Avatars act within a bounded ‘Matrix’ while being controlled by Players who are outside the Matrix. In applying the frame to the legal Matrix, the authors distinguish between living persons, natural persons and artificial persons, and introduce the concepts of first-order and second-order Avatars. The authors then employ the analytical frame to model the use of legal Avatars by Apple Inc. and illustrate how cryptocurrency technology enables the creation of Avatars that can transact outside legal systems. The frame also helps explain how autonomous systems could acquire actorial identity and then functionally participate in the legal Matrix.
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Wessel Strydom, Karen Puren and Ernst Drewes
While placemaking is a multi-disciplinary concern, it is a key focus within the discipline of spatial planning. This paper aims to explore the development of theoretical trends…
Abstract
Purpose
While placemaking is a multi-disciplinary concern, it is a key focus within the discipline of spatial planning. This paper aims to explore the development of theoretical trends with regard to placemaking in spatial planning since 1975 to identify current emerging theoretical perspectives. Special attention is given to differences in perspectives between the Global North and the Global South.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used an integrative literature review (ILR) to analyse placemaking literature over a period of 41 years and five months. The ILR followed the basic review stages: scoping; planning and review protocol; identification/availability; searching; and screening. ILR differs from other reviews as quality appraisal, data gathering, analysis and synthesis rely on coding, thematic content analysis and synthesis.
Findings
Initially, the planning/review protocol resulted in 59 contributions on placemaking in various disciplines (excluding publications in other languages that English). Contributions included spatial and design disciplines (29 contributions), social sciences (14 contributions) and other disciplines (16 contributions). The literature review proceeded with a selection of 23 spatial planning contributions (20 from the Global North and three from the Global South). Theoretical trends include placemaking theorised as a physical construct, a social construct, an economic construct (absent in literature from the Global South), a tool for empowerment, a psychological dimension and an environmental management tool.
Practical implications
The most recent theoretical perspectives in literature suggest placemaking as an enabling tool in which people share knowledge and learn new skills to transform their own environment. This empowering process creates a linkage between planning theory and practice.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the current theories of placemaking in spatial planning. It provides a simplified view of an exhaustive list of existing literature. This paper reports on the current trends and the development of placemaking theory.
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Jamie Cleland and Connor MacDonald
This chapter outlines the extent to which the traditional characteristics of masculinity in sport – initially played out in sports stadia and the traditional media in the late…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter outlines the extent to which the traditional characteristics of masculinity in sport – initially played out in sports stadia and the traditional media in the late nineteenth and throughout most of the twentieth century – are now also a feature of social media and digital technology platforms in the twenty-first century. At the outset, this chapter discusses the historical association between masculinity and sporting competition and how this has played an important role in presenting a normative heterosexual identity among players, fans, and the traditional media. The chapter then discusses the introduction of social media and digital technology platforms and the impact this history is having in these rapidly consumed spaces, with a particular focus on language, such as hate speech.
Design/methodology/approach
This chapter examines and discusses a myriad of literature from inside and outside of academia that explores masculinity, sport, and the internet. These discussions are backgrounded within a historical context and connected to contemporary examples.
Findings
Social media and digital technology platforms have provided opportunities for athletes, the media, and fans, to engage in more of an active debate on masculinity in sport than existed in the twentieth century. However, the chapter also addresses the traditional characteristics of masculinity that remain in the culture of sport and in online environments, especially surrounding hate speech.
Originality/value
This chapter, while engaging in an emerging topic of discussion, offers important recommendations for future research and the ways in which this can be methodologically carried out on the internet on a variety of topic areas surrounding masculinity in sport from a sociological perspective.
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This study builds on previous survey research by the investigators (Benford, 2008), as well as anecdotal reports, which imply that, despite having social interaction and…
Abstract
This study builds on previous survey research by the investigators (Benford, 2008), as well as anecdotal reports, which imply that, despite having social interaction and communication difficulties, internet communication (via email, chat rooms, newsgroups and bulletin boards) is welcomed by some people with high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger syndrome (AS). Qualitative data about individual experiences, perceptions, and motivations regarding internet‐based communication was obtained from 23 adults with HFA or AS, mainly via email interviewing, but also by conventional mail. Analysis based on grounded theory revealed how the sample were able to use the internet to lessen the emotional, social and time pressures experienced in offline situations. Aspects that contributed to the perception of the internet as a potentially more comfortable communication medium included visual anonymity, a different and more flexible pace of communication, and the permanence of text. Overall, the complexity of communication was lessened, and a greater sense of control could be achieved.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of social network comments to give a broad overview to serve as a baseline for future research.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of social network comments to give a broad overview to serve as a baseline for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
English comments from a representative sample of public MySpace profiles were examined with a collection of exploratory analyses, using automatic data processing, quantitative techniques and content analyses.
Findings
Comments were normally for general friendship maintenance and were typically short, with 95 per cent having 57 or fewer words. They contained a combination of standard spelling, apparently accidental mistakes, slang, sentence fragments, “typographic slang” and interjections. Several new creative spelling variants derived from previous forms of computer‐mediated communication have become extremely common, including u, ur, :), haha and lol. The vast majority of comments (97 per cent) contained at least one non‐standard language feature, suggesting that members almost universally recognise the informal nature of this kind of messaging.
Research limitations/implications
The investigation only covered MySpace and only analysed English comments.
Practical implications
MySpace comments should not be written in, or judged by, standard linguistic norms and may cause special problems for information retrieval.
Originality/value
This is the first large‐scale study of language in social network comments.