Quelle: American Sociological Review, 77 (2012) 4, S 625–647
Inhalt: Power is at the core of feminist theories of sexual harassment, though it has rarely been measured directly in terms of workplace authority. While popular characterizations portray male supervisors harassing female subordinates, power-threat theories suggest that women in authority may be more frequent targets. This article analyzes longitudinal survey data and qualitative interviews from the Youth Development Study (YDS) to test this idea and to delineate why and how supervisory authority, gender non-conformity, and workplace sex ratios affect harassment. Relative to non-supervisors, female supervisors are more likely to report harassing behaviors and to define their experiences as sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can serve as an "equalizer" against women in power, motivated more by control and domination than by sexual desire. The interviews point to social isolation as a mechanism linking harassment to gender non-conformity and women's authority, particularly in male-dominated work settings.
Schlagwörter:Arbeitsplatz; Macht; power; sexual harassment; sexuelle Belästigung
CEWS Kategorie:Arbeitswelt und Arbeitsmarkt, Geschlechterverhältnis, Sexuelle Belästigung und Gewalt
Ethos and symbolic violence among women of science: An empirical study
Autor/in:
Cerroni, Andrea; Simonella, Zenia
Quelle: Social Science Information, 51 (2012) 2, S 165–182
Inhalt: While scientific challenges raise relevant debates about the ethics of science, the scientific ethos, shattered by post-Mertonian studies, has received neither due attention nor further conceptualizations in view of the transition to knowledge society. On the contrary, in our investigation of Italian women scientists, it appears to have survived as a reference for scientists, even if the context has changed. Indeed, the ethos of scientists is no longer conceivable as exclusive, but is instead seen as open and dynamic in interaction with other symbolic references. Therefore, instead of scientific ethos, it is preferable to speak of scientific habit, including the individual symbolic universe and the social practices linked to the scientific role. In so doing, other habits come into focus and interact. In particular, we investigated the interaction between the scientific habit and the gender habit. We argue for a conflict between two such habits and for the existence of a symbolic violence suffered by women scientists. Lastly, a new dimension of the scientific ethos is defined which is not included in the Mertonian definition: a scientific responsibility among scientists in society. Such a picture could shape a new perspective of re-gendering science in society from the standpoint of women's experience as scientists in the knowledge society.
Schlagwörter:academic culture; female scientist; Frauen in der Wissenschaft; Frauen in Führungspositionen; Normen; norms; Wissenschaftlerin; Wissenschaftskultur; Wissenschaftsverständnis; women in science
CEWS Kategorie:Wissenschaft als Beruf, Sexuelle Belästigung und Gewalt
Still Stable After All These Years : Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in Academic Contexts
Autor/in:
Bursik, Krisanne; Gefter, Julia
Quelle: The Journal of Social Psychology, 151 (2011) 3, S 331–349
Inhalt: Two recently published measures of contemporary sexist attitudes were examined and compared with a sample of 106 Canadian college students. Swim, Aikin, Hall, and Hunter’s (1995) Modern Sexism scale was found to be an acceptable measure of sexist attitudes in terms of its internal reliability and its ability to predict other gender-related political attitudes. Although the Modern Sexism scale and the Neosexism scale (Tougas, Brown, Beaton, & Joly, 1995) were equally good at predicting support for the feminist movement and attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, the Neosexism scale had better internal reliability and exhibited stronger gender differences. Moreover, the Neosexism scale was superior at predicting value orientations relevant to modern prejudices.
Quelle: Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 19 (2010) 3, S 252–274
Inhalt: This study investigates gender differences in prevalence and effects of sexual harassment using three different estimation methods. In a representative sample of 2,349 Norwegian employees, 1.1%
self-labeled as targets of sexual harassment, whereas 18.4% reported exposure to sexually harassing behaviors during the last six months. When employing latent class cluster analysis as a
method for estimating prevalence of sexual harassment, 2.2% could be classified as targets of frequent harassment and 19.1% could be classified as targets of unwanted sexual attention.
Although more women than men self-labeled as targets of sexual harassment, men reported the same number of sexually harassing behaviors as women. Sexual harassment was found to be significantly
related to mental health problems and low job satisfaction
among men and women.
Schlagwörter:Arbeitsplatz; CLUSTER analysis (Statistics); Gewalt gegen Frauen; Messung; Methodenentwicklung; sexual harassment; sexuelle Belästigung; violence against women
Sexual harassment in the context of double male dominance
Autor/in:
Haas, Stans de; Timmerman, Greetje
Quelle: European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 19 (2010) 6, S 717–734
Inhalt: It has been suggested that numerically male-dominated workplaces propagate cultural norms that support sexual bravado, sexual posturing, and the denigration of feminine behaviour (Sbraga & O'Donohue, 2000). These cultural norms are features of normative male dominance, which have been shown to increase the risk of sexual harassment. This implies that the effect of numerical male dominance on sexual harassment may be mediated by the level of normative male dominance in the work environment. The aim of this study was to test this assumption. Our sample consisted of 1295 police women, who filled out an Internet questionnaire. The results suggest that normative male dominance indeed mediates the relation between numerical male dominance and sexual harassment. We add to the sexual harassment literature by building on Gruber's concept of double dominance. Our study helps to make clear why women are at greater risk of sexual harassment in work situations where men outnumber women than in more gender-balanced workplaces.
Gender inequalities in British and German universities : a quantitative study
Titelübersetzung:Geschlechterungleichheiten an britischen und deutschen Universitäten : eine quantitative Studie
Autor/in:
Pritchard, Rosalind
Quelle: Beiträge zur Hochschulforschung, Jg. 32 (2010) H. 1, S. 36-55
Inhalt: "The aim of this paper was to explore perceived similarities and differences between male and female academics in the higher education systems of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the United Kingdom (UK). It was based upon questionnaire responses from 387 respondents of whom 38 per cent were male and 62 per cent female. The contribution of female academics was much valued in the workplace, and very few employees had experienced gross forms of bullying and harassment at work. However, women were self-deprecating about their ability to network and strategise for career advancement. Men and women colleagues had mutually positive perceptions of each other in several important respects, and there was a certain convergence in their accepted norms and values which could indicate an erosion of binary gender structures and hierarchies in academe. A large majority believed that more needs to be done to remedy inequalities arising from maternity leave and child bearing and that their universities were still gendered organisations with few women at the top." (author's abstract)
Barriers to women leaders in academia : Tales from science and technology
Autor/in:
Howe-Walsh, Liza; Turnbull, Sarah
Quelle: Studies in Higher Education, 41 (2016, zuerst veröffentlicht online 2014) 3, S 415–428
Inhalt: There is growing concern regarding the lack of women in senior positions in science and technology (ST) in United Kingdom (UK) universities. Previous research has enhanced our understanding of the challenges women in academia face to progress their careers. In contrast, relatively little is known as to why so few women reach leadership positions in ST. This article reports on research to examine women’s experiences regarding the perceived barriers to leadership in ST faculties in UK universities. Using in-depth interviews the authors explore personal narratives to highlight the perceived barriers to career advancement. Findings report on the gendered nature of ST faculties and how women struggle to navigate their careers. The investigation illustrates the effect of organisational influences such as temporary work arrangements, maledominated networks, intimidation and harassment, as well as individual influences such as lack of confidence.