Gender,Equality and the Culture of Organizational Assessment

In spite of years of equal opportunities legislation and guidelines, a marked gender imbalance at the apex of organizational career structures persists (Carrier 1995). The predominant liberal model of equal opportunities (EO) seeks to alleviate sex-discrimination through advocating gender-neutral or ‘same’ treatment (Meehan and Sevenhuisjen 1991; Gatens 1991; Bock and James 1992). However, the present study suggests that ostensibly gender-neutral organizational practices may exclude characteristics, values and concerns more typically associated with women. This paper draws on a study of gender in selection to corporate management and raises questions about whether and how characteristics, values, goals and concerns which have been perceived as ‘female’ or ‘feminine’ may be excluded from ostensibly gender-neutral equality practices. Findings suggest that EO theory and practice need to move beyond limited either/or debates around ‘equality’ and ‘difference’. In order to do so, it may also be necessary to challenge dichotomous thinking about gender which currently informs much of that debate. In order to facilitate the development and progress of women in organizations it is not enough for EO initiatives to treat gender as a category of difference that can be overcome through superficial changes, for example in interview procedures, which merely seek to exclude issues perceived as gendered. Instead, a longer agenda for equality must move beyond the debate about women’s ‘sameness’ or ‘difference’ from men to include a deeper understanding of the gendered nature of organizational positions, structures and practices.     

Generating random points in a polytope

An algorithm is presented for generating pseudorandom variates distributed uniformly over an arbitrary convex polytope in a Euclidean space of arbitrary dimension. Many commonly used methods for generating uniform variates require that the polytope be expressed as the solution set of a system of linear inequalities; the algorithm presented here requires instead that the polytope be presented in terms of a finite generating set, typically the set of its vertices. Included in the algorithm are procedures for identifying all faces of the polytope and for decomposing the polytope into simplices.     

Predicting Social Wariness in Middle Childhood: The Moderating Roles of Childcare History, Maternal Personality and Maternal Behavior

Children with behavioral inhibition, a temperamental style characterized by infant distress to novelty and childhood social reticence, exhibit both continuity and discontinuity of this behavioral trait over the course of development. However, few researchers have identified factors that might be responsible for these different patterns. In the current study, childcare history, maternal personality, and maternal behavior were examined as moderators of the relations between infant temperament, preschool social reticence, and childhood social wariness. Seventy-seven children participated in this longitudinal study that began in infancy and continued into middle childhood. Maternal negative personality moderated the relation between infant temperament and childhood social wariness. In addition, maternal behavior moderated the relation between preschool social reticence and childhood social wariness. The findings suggest that a complex interplay of within-child and maternal factors affect the development of internalizing behavior in the early school years.     

Outcomes of sexually open marriages

This study follows up a 1978 matched sample of 82 couples to find out if there were differences in marital stability between the sexually open and the sexually exclusive couples. In 1983 no statistically significant difference in marital stability was found. Of couples providing follow‐up data, 23 (68%) of the 34 sexually open couples and 32 (82%) of the 39 sexually exclusive couples were still together. Of the 23 couples who were sexually open in 1978, two couples had changed from a contract of sexual openness to one of sexual exclusivity; of the 32 couples originally exclusive, one couple changed in the interim to a sexually open marriage. In addition, data on marital happiness, extramarital sex, jealousy, changeableness, job change, and additional education are reported and a comparison between the two groups made. Differences between the two groups were found in number of people living in the household, job change, and additional education. Couples in the sexually open group were more likely to have either additional people or fewer people in their households. Both higher education for women and outside work for women were associated with marital instability, irrespective of group.     

Practitioners’ Personal and Professional Attitudes and Behaviors Toward Religion and Spirituality

This article presents findings from a study that examined the attitudes and behaviors toward religion and spirituality held by 328 randomly selected Virginia licensed clinical social workers, psychologists, and professional counselors. Significant differences were found among the three groups, with social workers generally holding a middle position in comparison with psychologists and professional counselors. As a whole, respondents were found to value the religious or spiritual dimension in their own lives, to respect the function it serves for people in general, and to address, to some extent, religious and spiritual issues in practice. Limited professional training in this area was reported, however, with 79% (n = 259) of the respondents stating that religious or spiritual issues were rarely or never addressed during the course of their graduate education and training. Implications for social work education and practice are discussed.     

Contrasting Extremes in Research Requirements for the MSW Curriculum

A comparative analysis is presented that contrasts accredited schools of social work with both the “highest” and “lowest” levels of formal research requirements in the MSW curriculum. Associated characteristics are identified—notably size of school—that appear to be inversely related to level of research requirement. Interpretations and implications of these relationships, and of the wide extremes in research expectations are explored.