Performance Evaluations as Gender Barriers in Professional Organizations: A Study of Auditing Firms

Gendering processes often take the form of organizational subtexts, that is, seemingly gender‐neutral practices that have gender implications. The purpose of this article is to study performance evaluations, which, based on management by objectives systems, may appear neutral, but tend to be based on male norms of what is regarded as good performance. We analysed the careers and performance evaluations of 391 newly licenced Swedish auditors, using an open‐ended question survey. In this industry 50 per cent of new employees and 92 per cent of partners are men. Even in the early stages of their careers, there are notable differences between women and men. The women achieved less and show lower career ambitions and expectations as well as greater intentions to leave the auditing industry. Performance evaluations are also perceived differently, men focusing on what is evaluated (reflecting the perceptions of those at higher hierarchical levels) and women focusing on who does the evaluating and how.     

A Couple-Based Approach to the Reduction of PTSD Avoidance Symptoms: Preliminary Findings

This study reports preliminary findings regarding the feasibility and efficacy of a novel couple-based treatment, named Strategic Approach Therapy (SAT), for reducing avoidance symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Six male Vietnam combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD and their cohabitating marital partners participated in 10 weeks of SAT treatment. Self-report, clinician ratings, and partner ratings of PTSD symptoms were obtained before the first session and after the tenth session of treatment. Veterans reported statistically significant reductions in self-reported, clinician-rated, and partner-rated effortful avoidance, emotional numbing, and overall PTSD severity. These data indicate that SAT offers promise as an effective treatment for PTSD avoidance symptoms.     

Leg-extension strength and chair-rise performance in elderly women with Parkinson's disease

The lower extremity performance in elderly female patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease (PD; n = 12) and controls (n = 16) was compared. Isometric dynamometry and force-plate measurements were used. PD patients had lower (p < .05) bilateral (BL) maximal isometric leg-extension force (MF), BL isometric MF relative to body mass, and maximal rate of isometric force development than control participants. BL strength deficit was greater (p < .05) in PD patients than in controls. A significantly longer chair-rise time and lower maximal rate of vertical-ground-reaction-force development while rising from a chair was found in PD patients than in controls. These findings suggest that elderly women with PD have lowered voluntary isometric force-generation capacity of the leg-extensor muscles. Reduced BL leg-extension strength might contribute to the difficulty of individuals with PD to rise from a chair.     

Globalisierung und die Veränderung sozialer Ungleichheiten in modernen Gesellschaften

This article deals with the effects of globalization on individual life courses and employment careers and the resulting changes in patterns of social inequality in modern societies. Empirically, we draw back to results from the international research project GLOBALIFE which studied the effects of globalization on modern life courses for the first time. The results show that the effects of globalization on individual life courses show marked differentiation with regards to specific life course phases: while especially the employment of mid-career men remained considerably stable under globalization, the careers of young adults, mid-career women as well as late-career workers underwent significant alterations. At the same time, results from the GLOABLIFE study indicate that the changes induced by globalization have not yet led to identical results at the national level. Globalization appears to be differentially filtered by deeply embedded and path-dependent national institutions. These “institutional packages” entail variable forms of labour market “flexibilisation” which themselves differentially shape patterns of social inequality in modern societies: While Scandinavian countries have largely succeeded in limiting an increase in social inequality under globalization through active public welfare engagement, globalization has led to a significant amplification of social inequalities in other regime types, either between labour market insiders and outsiders (in conservative and Southern European countries) or between individuals with different human capital resources (in liberal countries).     

Perspectives on Social Care Practice in Romania: Supporting the Development of Professional Learning and Practice

This paper examines the authors’ experiences of developingand delivering training for workers in social care servicesin Romania, through a European Union PHARE¹ funded project.The authors use their experiences to draw on the past and currentpractices of those social workers who were participants in thetraining and to explore their understanding of the emergingissues and themes for social work in Romania. There is alsoan exploration of the potential opportunities for the furtherdevelopment of professional social work learning and practicewithin Romania. The case is made that learning and developmentof social workers could be supported through the encouragementof participatory networks and ‘communities of practice’.     

TRANSFORMING DISCOURSE INTO PRACTICE: COMPUTERHYSTORIES AND DIGITAL CULTURES AROUND 1984

This paper discusses some theoretical approaches to the question of how culture, technologies and the social interact. These considerations result from the author' research in the genesis of digital cultures in the 1980s. The paper begins by outlining the author' research project, and then continues with a discussion of some of the most influential approaches in the cultural studies of technology.This article then presents a small sample of the author' analysis, which combines narratological and discourse analytical methods with practice-oriented cultural theories, such as those of Pierre Bourdieu, Régis Debray and Bruno Latour.