Katherine Dashper and Rebecca Finkel
To introduce critical gender theory to events studies and set an agenda for research in this area. This paper focuses on various contexts, approaches and applications for “doing…
Abstract
Purpose
To introduce critical gender theory to events studies and set an agenda for research in this area. This paper focuses on various contexts, approaches and applications for “doing gender” in critical event studies. It draws upon interdisciplinary frameworks to develop robust theoretical ways of interrogating issues related to power and structural inequalities in events contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual discussion of “doing gender” and critical gender theory and review of relevant research in this area within event studies. Adopting feminist and intersectional perspectives and applying them to events environments has potential to inform current theoretical developments and wider sector practices, and, ultimately, change the dominant heteronormative patriarchal paradigm of the experiential landscape.
Findings
Event studies has been slow to engage with gender theory and gender-aware research, to the detriment of theoretical and practical development within the field.
Research limitations/implications
A call for more gender-aware research within event studies. The goal of this paper is to galvanise gender-aware events research to centralise the marginalised and amplify feminist voices in critical event studies. Feminist and gender-aware frameworks encourage researchers to be critical and to question the underlying power structures and discourses that shape practices, behaviours and interactions. This creates new pathways to find ways to overcome inequalities, which can improve overall events praxis.
Originality/value
The paper introduces critical gender theory as a fruitful framework for future events research. It is an under-researched area of study, representing a significant gap in ways of theorising and representing different aspects of events. We argue it is imperative that researchers take up the challenge of incorporating feminist and/or gender-aware frameworks within their research as a matter of routine.
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– The purpose of this paper is to report on the 2014 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Conference held at Technische Universitat Munchen, Munich.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the 2014 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Conference held at Technische Universitat Munchen, Munich.
Design/methodology/approach
The report is based on delegate observations, notes and audience reactions to papers presented on research conducted.
Findings
The papers presented new boundaries on diversity research. This included research on the importance of cultural diversity in the outcomes in the hotel industry by being led by foreign managers in Cyprus; how skilled Romanians construct and understand their identities as skilled professionals and members of stigmatised European migrants and how a diverse workforce experiences power utilising a Foucauladian understanding of power.
Originality/value
This report integrates a number of themes from diversity research across the world, highlighting progress and the suggested direction for future diversity research.
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Peter C. Young and Simon Grima
Ours is a complex world. On these five words will be built a foundation for an alternative way of framing our thinking about risk management. Complexity means many things, but a…
Abstract
Ours is a complex world. On these five words will be built a foundation for an alternative way of framing our thinking about risk management. Complexity means many things, but a key feature is that outcomes cannot be predicted with certainty. In the best cases, opportunities arise to analyse and develop some understanding of the uncertainty within a complex system, and in the most fortunate of such circumstances it is possible to anticipate specific outcomes with some degree of accuracy. The authors call such circumstances risks – that is, measurable uncertainties. Complexity, however, consists mainly of interconnected uncertainties and unknown/unknowable possible outcomes or effects. And, of course, complex systems can include humans whose (in)ability to perceive and interpret such environments makes things – well – more complex.
This book ultimately will focus on how the authors construct a way to lead and manage in this environment, but first it is critical that the terminology and description of this world be given some precision. Therefore, Chapter One begins with an introduction to the idea of complexity, including some mention of the principles and concepts that inform our understanding of it. In turn, this discussion introduces uncertainty. Risk, as a category of uncertainty is discussed and the implications of its measurability are presented, which leads to a discussion of human perception and behaviour under conditions of uncertainty. Attention is then drawn to the unknown and the unknowable, and to emergent phenomena. Since the focus of this book is on public sector risk management, the chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the idea of public risk.
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Jennifer Loh, Raechel Johns and Rebecca English
This study explored whether women could “have it all,” both at home and in the workplace. Using neoliberal feminism, mental load theory and intergenerational perspective as…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explored whether women could “have it all,” both at home and in the workplace. Using neoliberal feminism, mental load theory and intergenerational perspective as theoretical frameworks, this study explored how neoliberal ideologies which emphasized individual agency, economic empowerment and self-responsibility interact with persistent gendered expectations/norms to influence women’s experiences in navigating familial commitments and career aspirations.
Design/methodology/approach
Around 140 (N = 140) women living in Australia were recruited to participate in a qualitative, open-ended questionnaire that aimed to explore their: (1) perceptions and (2) expectations about (a) how gender roles evolved for them from youth to adulthood in various contexts, (b) how their family structures and dynamics, such as attitudes toward marriage, caregiving and/or household responsibilities, have changed and (c) what has/have influenced their career aspirations and family choices.
Findings
Results revealed a trend of women who worked hard at home and professionally. Unlike women who in the past lived more traditional lives, women in our cohort focused on their career as an important part of their identity and self-fulfillment. However, many women did report heightened mental load, stress and a lack of physical exercise in their daily lives.
Originality/value
This study revealed complex interplay between societal norms, intergenerational influences and the cognitive burdens associated with managing multiple roles. By examining these dynamics and using an integrated theoretical framework, the article aimed to holistically explain the challenges women in Australia encounter as they try to balance familial obligations with career ambitions within changing socioeconomic contexts.
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Sabre Cherkowski and Keith Walker
Building on findings from research designed to bring to description teachers’ own understandings of what it means to flourish in their work, the purpose of this paper is to show…
Abstract
Purpose
Building on findings from research designed to bring to description teachers’ own understandings of what it means to flourish in their work, the purpose of this paper is to show how principals and teacher–leaders in schools are agents capable of building developmental relationships and mentoring cultures that can orient and support teachers toward well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper is anchored with findings from a multi-year qualitative research project that was designed using perspectives from positive organizational studies and positive psychology scholarship. The research methods encompassed collaborative and generative use of appreciative inquiry and strength-based research activities in school districts in both British Columbia and Saskatchewan, Canada. Data used to build this conceptual paper are from appreciative focus group conversations with teachers and principals over the course of two years. Conversations were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were thematically analyzed using the research literature framing the study.
Findings
This paper offers four domains of inquiry and a model for flourishing schools that encourages principals and teacher–leaders to develop habits of mind and heart to build developmental relationships in ways that help both mentors and mentees to embody and enact positive, appreciative and generative ways of noticing, nurturing and sustaining the work of teaching and learning; all with aspiration to sustain and enhance the well-being of every member of the school community.
Practical implications
This paper offers conceptual models and storied descriptions that can aid mentors in noticing and nurturing more developmental relationship approaches to mentoring for well-being as opportunities to build mentoring relationships from appreciative and growth-based habits and approaches. As these relationships are built across the school, positive mentoring cultures may foster and grow in ways that promotes a flourishing-for-all approach to teaching and learning.
Originality/value
This paper contributes a different and complimentary perspective to research and practice on mentoring, offering a positive organizational perspective that highlights and promotes the perceived and evidenced benefits of deliberately focusing on what goes well and what provokes vitality in schools. The conceptual models in this paper offer tools for mentors and mentees to develop and foster in others appreciative and positive capacities for positive mentoring.
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Debra R. Comer, Janet A. Lenaghan, Andrea Pittarello and Daphna Motro
We explored whether (1) an informational intervention improves ratings of individuals on the autism spectrum (IotAS) in a job interview by curbing salience bias and whether…
Abstract
Purpose
We explored whether (1) an informational intervention improves ratings of individuals on the autism spectrum (IotAS) in a job interview by curbing salience bias and whether expert-based influence amplifies this effect (Study 1); (2) the effect of disclosure of autism on ratings depends on a candidate’s presentation as IotAS or neurotypical (Studies 1 and 2) and (3) social desirability bias affects ratings of and emotional responses to disclosers (Study 2).
Design/methodology/approach
In two studies, participants, randomly assigned to experimental conditions, watched a mock job interview of a candidate presenting as an IotAS or neurotypical and reported their perception of his job suitability and selection decision. Study 2 additionally measured participants’ traits associated with social desirability bias, self-reported emotions and involuntary emotions gauged via face-reading software.
Findings
In Study 1, the informational intervention improved ratings of the IotAS-presenting candidate; delivery by an expert made no difference. Disclosure increased ratings of both the IotAS-presenting and neurotypical-presenting candidates, especially the former, and information mattered more in the absence of disclosure. In Study 2, disclosure improved ratings of the IotAS-presenting candidate only; no evidence of social desirability bias emerged.
Originality/value
We explain that an informational intervention works by attenuating salience bias, focusing raters on IotAS' qualifications rather than on their unexpected behavior. We also show that disclosure is less helpful for IotAS who behave more neuronormatively and social desirability bias affects neither ratings of nor emotional responses to IotAS-presenting job candidates.