Parenthood,risk attitudes and risky behavior

This study analyzes how risk attitudes change when individuals experience the major life event of becoming a parent by using longitudinal data for a large and representative sample of individuals from Germany. The analysis uses a survey-based measure of risk aversion. The estimation is based on an individual fixed effects model similar to an event study. On average, men and women experience a considerable increase in risk aversion around the time of first childbirth. This increase already starts as early as two years before they become parents, it is largest shortly after childbirth and it disappears when the child becomes older. When analyzing risky choices, the results indicate that risky labor market behavior remains unaffected by parenthood.     

“It’s a great benefit to have gray hair!”: The intersection of gender,aging, and visibility in midlife professional women’s narratives

Midlife professional women’s aging experiences, especially the experiences of changing physical appearance, are examined in this study. A discursive-narrative approach is used to analyze interviews of women working in senior professional and managerial jobs in Finland. The decline narrative is not enough to capture the experiences of these women; noticeable signs of aging can indeed have a positive connotation. After looking older and less attractive (in a stereotypical sense), women are no longer being subjected to a sexualized gaze and are taken more seriously. Aging opens up possibilities for “doing” gender differently and transcending rigid gender dichotomies and relationships.     

Comment on “Why do women interact with their parents more often than men? The demonstration effect vs. the biological effect”

This Comment takes issue with the inference that Taiwanese data refute the applicability of the demonstration effect in intergenerational transfers. The Comment points to proper and discriminating tests of the demonstration effect.     

Work absence as a function of a national traumatic event: The case of Prime Minister Rabin's assassination

Most research on absenteeism has focused on the effects of individual and work-related factors, to the exclusion of the effects of societal and political events external to the individual and his/her specific work conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the emotional reaction to the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin in Israel and work absenteeism during the period following the assassination. It was hypothesized that: (1) emotional reaction is positively related to absenteeism; (2) this relationship is stronger among female employees than among male employees; and (3) this relationship is stronger for individuals who are pessimistic about the future as opposed to those who are optimistic. These hypotheses were supported by data collected from a random sample of 199 working adults.     

How Dresses Can Make You Mentally Ill: Examining Gender Identity Disorder in Children

This paper examines the diagnostic category of Gender Identity Disorder in Children (GIDC) and its evolution. It also critiques the continued use of GIDC on conceptual, psychometric, and ethical grounds. Gender atypicality is a social construction that varies over time according to culture and social class and therefore should not be pathologized.     

生育性别偏好研究的范式：反观与重构

分析以往学界在生育性别偏好研究上的四种主要范式可以发现,传统范式对生育性别偏好问题的解释和分析要么偏重社会,要么偏重个人,忽视了将行为者和社会结构(文化)紧密联系的可能。因此,以布迪厄实践社会学理论作为研究的理论基础,提出了建构一种结构与能动、系统与行动者、集合体与个人联系起来的“场域—惯习”研究范式的设想。     

A cross-national study of the effects of family migration on women's labour market status: some difficulties with integrating microdata from two censuses

Summary. Previously we have demonstrated that long-distance family migration has a negative effect on the employment status of partnered women in both Great Britain (GB) and the USA; in fact the results for GB and the USA were remarkably similar. Here we investigate three issues that might have masked potential differences in the results between GB and the USA. First, a decision needed to be made about the most appropriate cut-off to distinguish between short- and long-distance migration. Given the different size of the landmasses in GB and the USA it is questionable whether a similar distance cut-off should be adopted in both places. Second, a 1-year interval is used to define migrants in the GB census and a 5-year interval is used in the USA. The longer post-migration period, during which employment may be found, in the USA may have influenced our findings. Third, most 'tied migration' studies compare those in full- or part-time employment with the economically inactive and unemployed. However, individuals are economically inactive or unemployed for very different reasons and we therefore distinguish between these groups in the analysis.     

Under the microscope: Gender and mentor–protégé relationships

Forty (40) depth interviews were conducted among Florida-based public relations practitioners to examine mentor–protégé relationship dynamics according to gender. Two factors, compatibility and structural features, are offered to explain successful mentoring in public relations and to suggest a strategy for maximizing its benefits. Moreover, mentoring facilitates career enhancement in five important ways (supplement to college training, validation and empowerment, deportment, networking, reciprocity) – and gender composition of vertical dyads seems to matter a great deal.     

Gender differences in the effects of coping assistance on the reduction of burnout in academic staff

This study examined gender differences in the effectiveness of five sources of coping assistance to reduce dissatisfaction and emotional exhaustion among 403 female and 664 male academic staff of a Dutch university. It was hypothesized that support at work ((1) socio-emotional aid from the supervisor and colleagues, (2) a supportive climate in the department, and (3) practical assistance in the department) and support at home ((4) socio-emotional aid from the spouse, and (5) practical assistance from the spouse) would reduce dissatisfaction and burnout, and that women especially would benefit from these coping assistance measures. Using moderated regression analyses, the results showed that coping assistance from a supervisor and colleagues is an important measure to reduce both dissatisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Further, a supportive departmental climate and practical assistance in the department reduced emotional exhaustion and especially female academic staff benefited from these types of coping assistance at the aggregate level. However, contrary to expectations, such beneficial effects were not found for both socio-emotional aid and practical assistance from the spouse.     

Information Technology, Gender Segmentation and the Relocation of Back Office Employment: The Growth of the Teleservices Sector in Ireland

The movement of routine back office activities from the central business districts of metropolitan regions in advanced economies to remote locations is leading to a distinctive global division of labour in office employment. While facilitated by the development of information and communication technologies, this process of relocation is primarily driven by the desire to reduce operating costs, mainly by moving to sources of cheap female workers. This reflects a classic gender segmentation process in patriarchal societies whereby back office work is mainly done by women and, accordingly, involves relatively low levels of remuneration. This provides direct parallels with the offshoring of routine manufacturing work associated with the new international division of labour. Ireland has been to the forefront in acting as a host for internationally-mobile routine office work, initially involving mainly data processing and, more recently, teleservices. As elsewhere, teleservices employment in Ireland is characterized by a combination of female predominance, low pay, difficult working conditions and high turnover rates. However, the Irish teleservices sector is unusual in its foreign language requirement, the high education levels of workers and its concentration in a prosperous metropolitan location. The resultant labour shortages, combined with growing use of Internet-based business-to-consumer transactions, are likely to place the sustainability of the sector under increasing pressure. Plans to upgrade the types of back office functions being located in Ireland may pose further challenges for women workers due to male dominance of the higher-level jobs involved.