University‐Industry Relationships in Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences: The Role of Women Faculty*

Abstract An increasing amount of research has been dedicated to studying university‐industry relationships (UIRs). Researchers have studied the impacts of UIRs on the integrity of university research. However, while studies have examined the attitudes and actions of university administration and industry leaders with respect to UIRs, limited attention has been devoted to the attitudes and actions of women faculty. Drawing on feminist epistemology and academic capitalism research, we develop and test four hypotheses about gender and UIRs. We use Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) and data from a nationwide survey of land‐grant agricultural and life scientists to examine perceptions of UIRs and individual‐level ties to private industry among male and female faculty in different academic disciplines. Although we find no significant gender differences in perceptions of UIRs, our results indicate women have fewer ties to industry compared to men when controlling for individual‐and discipline‐level characteristics. In particular, industry funding of scientific research and consulting for private firms appear to disproportionately favor men over women. We also find that discipline‐level industry ties influence scientists' attitudes and industry linkages, suggesting the existence of different disciplinary cultures with respect to UIRs. We recommend researchers, policymakers, and others interested in understanding the growth of academic capitalism, as well as the gender gap in science, pursue more in‐depth investigation of the interaction between gender, academic discipline, and UIRs.     

Research Orientations and Sources of Influence: Agricultural Scientists in the U.S. Land‐Grant System*

Abstract This research builds on the work of Busch and Lacy, who have written extensively about the sources of influence on the choice of research problems in the agricultural sciences at land‐grant universities. Employing data from a 1995–1996 nationwide survey of land‐grant agricultural scientists, I use multiple regression techniques to investigate the relative importance of 19 sources of influence on agricultural scientists engaged in six research areas: productionist‐oriented, sustainable agriculture, environmental, basic, consumer‐oriented, and rural community‐oriented. The first objective of this paper is to revisit and assess many of Busch and Lacy's findings about the influences on land‐grant agricultural scientists. I find that different types of land‐grant research are influenced by distinct combinations of factors. The second major objective is to extend Busch and Lacy's work by spotlighting the significant influences on sustainable agriculture research. My multivariate findings show that this research appears to exhibit influences that reflect its dual productionist and environmental character.     

Intellectual Property,Scientific Independence,and the Efficacy and Environmental Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops

Neoliberalism is the political ideology behind efforts to commercialize university science. The development of genetically engineered (GE) crops has facilitated the commercialization process because GE crops generally have more restrictive intellectual property protections than conventional crops. Those restrictions have led some to question whether long‐term university research and innovations are being compromised to protect short‐term intellectual property interests. This concern is evident in two letters submitted by public‐sector entomologists in February 2009 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The letters asserted that scientists are prohibited from conducting fully independent research on the efficacy and environmental impact of GE crops. In response to the letter, the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) negotiated an agreement between university scientists and seed companies to protect industry property rights while enabling university scientists to conduct research with more independence. Through a survey of public‐ and private‐sector entomologists who are members of two regional entomologist research groups, we document scientists' perspectives on the adequacy of the ASTA agreement and whether those scientists have experienced limitations on their research projects involving efficacy and environmental impacts. Our findings show that limitations exist and that certain forms of public knowledge about crops are likely being compromised. These findings have implications for the legitimacy of current risk management institutions, as well as for future technological breakthroughs and innovations.     

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN EXPERIMENTAL WAGE NEGOTIATIONS

We examine behavioral gender differences and gender pairing effects in a laboratory experiment with face‐to‐face alternating‐offers wage bargaining. Our results suggest that gender differences in bargaining behavior are role‐dependent. We find that women obtain worse bargaining outcomes than men when they take on the role of employees, but not when they act as employers. Differences in bargaining outcomes can be explained by the bargaining parties' initial offers and counteroffers. We do not find evidence for behavioral differences between men and women in the process of alternating offers after first offers and counteroffers are made.(JEL J16, C78, C91)     

Do values explain the low employment levels of Muslim women around the world? A within‐ and between‐country analysis

Using worldwide data from the World Values Survey (WVS) gathered in 2010–2014, we examine two distinct ways in which Islam may be associated with women's employment. We show that, within their countries, Muslim women are less likely to be employed than women of other religions. We also examine between‐country differences and find that, net of education and family statuses, the employment levels of women living in countries that are 90–100 per cent Muslim are not significantly different than those living in countries that are only 0–20 per cent Muslim. Then we test a prevailing view: that Islam discourages gender egalitarian values, and that these values – held by women themselves or people around them – explain why Muslim women are less likely to be employed than women of other religions within their own countries. Despite the rich measures of values in the WVS and a large sample, we find no evidence that values explain any of the lower employment of Muslim women, mainly because values have little or no effect on women's employment. Thus, we conclude that most of the world's gap in employment between Muslim women and other women is within‐country and is not explained by gender ideology. Future research should examine alternative hypotheses, including ethno‐religious discrimination.     

Changes in Public and Private Environmentally Responsible Behaviors by Gender: Findings from the 1994 and 2010 General Social Survey

We examine gender differences in public and private environmentally responsible behaviors (ERBs) and whether and how these differences changed between 1994 and 2010. We consider how political attitudes and environmental concern influence the relationship between gender and ERBs. Ordinary least squares regression models were estimated using the 1994 and 2010 General Social Survey. The study results indicate that women had higher levels of private ERBs than men in 1994 and 2010. Political ideology and environmental concern partially explain gender differences in private ERBs in 1994 and fully explain them in 2010. Men and women have similar levels of public ERBs in 1994; in 2010, men's level of public ERBs is significantly higher than women's, after controlling for political ideology and environmental concern. In addition, there are some gender differences in the effects of political orientation and environmental concern on ERBs. Our study indicates that the relationship between gender and environmentalism is complex and that concern and political orientation should be considered when designing strategies to enhance ERBs.     

Work ties beget community? Assessing interactions among transnational private governance organizations in sustainable agriculture

Transnational private governance organizations (TPGOs) set standards for various sustainability issues and industries. TPGOs individually address only facets of larger problems such as land conversion, and competition among TPGOs also affects TPGO governance, meaning coordination across their activities can be required. Studies have shown that ties between TPGOs and other organizations facilitate information sharing, coordination and socialization. A systematic analysis of the structure of such ties, however, is lacking. Using the employment ties of staff and governors, we analyse the inter‐organizational communities of TPGOs that focus on agriculture. Our findings cast doubt on the existence of a coherent community of sustainable agricultural TPGOs: very few communities involve multiple TPGOs. While TPGOs with a similar product focus may form links with similar organizations, there are few direct and indirect ties among TPGOs. Researchers should therefore be cautious about assuming that a TPGO policy community crossing organizational and policy divides currently exists.     

Buying a Voice: Gendered Contribution Careers among Affluent Political Donors to Federal Elections, 1980–2008

Early work in feminist theory hypothesized that differences in women and men's social and institutional roles might be reflected in the ways they participate in the political sphere. However, past empirical research has found scant evidence of a gender gap in the participatory strategies or motivations of women and men who become active in politics. But significantly less is known about the gender gap among a more select and increasingly significant player in American politics—political donors. In this article, we utilize a novel big data set—called the Longitudinal Elite Contributor Database (LECD)—that contains the population of all itemized donations made in federal elections between 1980 and 2008. Using this novel big data set supplemented with Social Security Administration (SSA) data on the gender of first names, we provide original estimates of the long‐term evolution of gender representation in the donor pool, vis‐à‐vis when, how often, and to whom affluent men and women have made political contributions over nearly 30 years. We find that large and persistent gendered inequalities of political voice continue to characterize this significant form of political influence. We theorize the potential implications of these findings for the representation of women's interests in the political sphere.     

Explaining Gender Inequalities That Follow Couple Migration

By exploiting the unique social and economic differences between East and West Germany, the authors investigated how macro‐level opportunities interact with couple‐level decision making to explain gender differences in the determinants and economic outcomes of household migration. By incorporating regional socioeconomic conditions into household bargaining theory, 4 hypotheses for each region were derived. The hypotheses were tested using cross‐classified multilevel regressions and the German Socio‐Economic Panel (1992–2012) combined with regional economic indicators. First, gender‐specific determinants of couples' West–West (i.e., within West Germany) and East‐to‐West migration were analyzed; second, subsequent economic consequences were investigated by comparing couples with singles. The results confirm that gender differences in macro‐conditions can impose decision logics that seemingly contradict the initial power relation within couples. Despite more traditional gender arrangements in West Germany, well‐educated partnered women earn significant absolute and relative income gains from migration; their egalitarian East German counterparts suffer significant losses compared with single women and East German men.     

Whatever Happened to Drama? A Configurational–Comparative Analysis of Genre Trajectory in American Cinema, 1946–2013

Although usually conceived of and studied as individual types, genres are frequently combined in practice. This research examines how genres are combined in popular American films, and how the popularity of particular combinations changed between 1946 and 2013. Distinguishing between “contextual genres” (which identify a film's subject matter) and “affective genres” (which identify a film's intent), we find marked differences between the postwar and blockbuster eras of the Hollywood film industry. The blockbuster era exhibits less generic diversity than the earlier postwar era. Furthermore, the popular postwar‐era films dealt with serious subjects and were set in realistic settings. The blockbuster era replaced these with intense, nonrealistic films. We also find that the relationship between contextual and affective genres changes within industry eras, with affective genres dominating at the beginning of new periods and the popularity of contextual genres growing as the period progresses.     

Decomposing Gender Beliefs: Cross‐National Differences in Attitudes Toward Maternal Employment and Gender Equality at Home

Few cross‐national studies distinguish between different aspects of gender egalitarianism and compare them systematically. In this study, we examine cross‐national differences in attitudes toward mothers' participation in the labor market and toward gender equality within the household, using a multilevel analysis of individual data from 33 nations. The results indicate greater support for employed mothers, but a lower level of approval of gender equality at home, among residents of countries that offer women more educational and economic opportunities. We argue that macrolevel gender equality increases individuals', particularly women's, incentives to support female labor force participation. Because of a persistent belief in gender differentiation, however, macrolevel gender equality has the opposite relationship with attitudes toward altering gendered practices beyond enabling women's public sphere participation. The fewer explicit barriers to women's achievement in society, the more likely individuals will feel a need to defend gendered roles in the private sphere. That the potential harm of advocating gendered practices in the private sphere is smaller in societies with fewer impediments for women is also likely to account for the negative association between macrolevel gender equality and support for egalitarian gender roles at home.     

The Nature and Correlates of Sibling Influence in Two‐Parent African American Families

Guided by research and theory on sibling similarities and differences, this study explored the nature and correlates of 2 processes of sibling influence—social learning and sibling differentiation—during adolescence. Participants included 2 adolescent‐age siblings (M = 16.29 years for older siblings and M = 12.59 years for younger siblings, respectively) from 166 two‐parent African American families. Significant nonlinear associations between these two influence dynamics and some sibling relationship qualities were discovered. For sibling differentiation, but not social learning, these links were further moderated by gender composition of the sibling dyad. Additional analyses revealed that youths' reports of social learning were generally linked to smaller differences between siblings, whereas differentiation processes were linked to greater differences in siblings' individual characteristics.     

Gender Quotas for Agricultural Boards: Changing Constructions of Gender?

This article explores the processes by which gender is given meaning through social interaction in boardrooms. In Norway, alongside mandatory quotas regulating the composition of Public Limited Company boards, voluntary quotas were designed to increase women's membership on the boards of agricultural co‐operatives. This radical step to secure a minimum of 40 per cent women makes these boards an interesting site for investigating the construction of gender in a traditionally male‐dominated organization. In the debate, arguments in favour of a quota accentuated diversity and differences between women's and men's competences, opinions and values. The analysis of interview data from the boards of four agricultural co‐operatives suggests that equal representation is a muted, taken‐for‐granted value. Equality and diversity are not understood as incompatible ideas, and gender is produced dynamically through practice rather than constituted as an inherent, fixed attribute. Gender as difference is less pervasive than expected as women tend to be recognized as belonging to the gender‐neutral category of a board representative despite any recognized differences. The study demonstrates that voluntary quotas may change the context and both challenge old assumptions and promote new understandings of gender in local situations.     

Scientists,the Media,and the Public Communication of Science

The relationship between scientists and journalists has evolved in recent years with the advent of numerous sociocultural changes and drastic shifts within the media ecosystem. Media professionals have traditionally been the gatekeepers of scientific information, but new media technologies grant scientists more power than ever before to be proactive about their public communication. In this article, I provide an overview of the science–media relationship and scientists as public communicators. Specifically, I recount the relationship that has traditionally existed between scientists and media professionals, explain how this relationship has evolved over recent years, and highlight what I believe are some of the most salient and exciting areas for future research examining scientists' efforts to engage with the public.     

Racial Discrimination as a Moderator of the Links Among Stress,Maternal Psychological Functioning,and Family Relationships

This study focuses on the links between social contexts and normative family patterns to identify factors at the societal, community, family, and individual levels that enhance African Americans' ability to overcome stressful life events and foster positive family relationships. The Mundane Extreme Environmental Stress Model was used to explore these links. From urban and rural areas in Iowa and Georgia, 383 families with 10‐ or 11‐year‐old children were recruited. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. Maternal psychological distress was linked with parent‐child relationship quality both directly and indirectly through its association with intimate partnership quality. When racial discrimination was greater, stronger links emerged between stressor pileup and psychological distress, as well as between psychological distress and the quality of both intimate partnerships and parent‐child relationships. Future research on African American family processes should include the effects of racial discrimination.     

Parents' Involvement in Adolescents' Peer Relationships: A Comparison of Mothers' and Fathers' Roles

The goals of this study were to compare mothers' and fathers' direct involvement in adolescent girls' versus boys' peer relationships and to examine the links between parents' involvement and the qualities of adolescents' friendship and peer experiences. Participants were mothers, fathers, and firstborn adolescents (mean age = 15 years) in 187 working‐ and middle‐class families. Data were collected during home visits and a series of seven nightly telephone interviews. Parents' direct involvement was measured by parents' reports of their peer‐oriented activities, parents' knowledge about adolescents' peer experiences, and parents' time spent with adolescents and their peers. Findings revealed that mothers were more knowledgeable about adolescents' peer relationships than were fathers, that mothers with daughters reported the most peer‐oriented activities, and that both mothers and fathers spent more time with same‐sex adolescents and their peers. Parents' direct involvement was differentially related to girls' versus boys' peer experiences. Discussion highlights the role of parents' and adolescents' gender in shaping this dimension of family life in adolescence.     

Gendering the Eye of the Norm: Exploring Gendered Concertive Control Processes in Two Self‐Managing Teams

This article is the result of an ethnographic research project exploring the workplace interactions of two self‐managed teams of recruitment consultants. I use data from participant observation and recorded interviews to show the gendered nature of what Barker terms concertive control: the social processes by which team members regulate each others' conduct in line with negotiated team values. My analysis examines how team members negotiate core team values, translate these into specific actions and regulate these actions through concertive control interactions. I then set out three ways in which gender acts as a resource for these concertive control processes. These are: team members' assumptions about men's and women's relative skills and capacities, the ‘tough’ masculinity of the haulage industry in which one of the teams operates and the regulation of performances of heterosexuality during customer interactions. Building on research by others, I show gender to be not only embedded in the values and managerial style associated with teamwork but also integrated into the collaborative process of team‐working itself. I emphasize that social categories like gender become resources in the regulation of conduct at work and can reify hierarchies even in so‐called participative practices like self‐managed teamwork.     

Reputation spillover effects from grant‐providing institutions

There is a broad academic discussion about the impact of funding grants from a foundation or a government department on individual support intentions toward the nonprofit organization receiving the grant. However, the role of the grant provider's reputation has frequently been overlooked. In this study, we experimentally tested whether there is a reputation spillover effect of a grant‐providing organization. Based on a real‐life example, we asked citizens to rate their willingness to donate to a nonprofit organization, and we experimentally manipulated the available information on funding sources. We test this for both a government department and a foundation as a grant provider. Our results suggest that not the act of receiving a grant, but the citizens' awareness about the funding organization—at least in the case of a foundation—has an impact on support intentions. In contrast, for a prominent government department as a grant provider, we did not find support for a reputation spillover effect.     

Standards for Development: Food Safety and Sustainability in Wal‐Mart's Honduran Produce Supply Chains

Public‐private partnerships between supermarket retailers and development agencies help small‐scale producers reach growing domestic markets in developing countries. Drawing on qualitative data that focuses on relationships between producers, development agencies, and Wal‐Mart‐owned supermarkets in Honduras, the research presented here demonstrates how, by introducing food safety standards to development agencies' outreach efforts, but without necessarily certifying producers or offering a price premium, Wal‐Mart uses these standards to simultaneously differentiate production practices by promoting quality, while maintaining a standardized market. As a result, the responsibility and costs for incentivizing growers to change their practices is shifted to nongovernmental organizations. Therefore, although an extensive body of literature describes standards and third‐party certification systems as the means for corporations to control production practices, this research indicates that public‐private partnerships are a new vehicle by which corporations can influence agricultural production practices. In addition, this article argues that the inclusion of food safety standards in development projects leads to the conflation of food safety and sustainability, without adequately interrogating which agroecological processes food safety standards include and exclude. Therefore, retailers' private food safety standards dominate how sustainability is perceived and practiced in the development context.