Search results

Poor mental health in men and women is attributable to disparities in physical traits, social roles, power and health-seeking behaviours. This study aims to examine the gender differences in mental health among Pakistan and German university students and focuses on their right to seek mental health care.

Data on depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, as well as positive mental health (PMH), resilience, social support and life satisfaction, were gathered from Pakistani and German students.

In contrast to the Pakistani group, where no such gender differences were seen, women in Germany reported higher degrees of stress, anxiety and depression, as well as a lower level of overall good mental health. In comparison to German men and women, Pakistani women scored equally high on resilience. While gender had no bearing on life happiness in either Pakistan or Germany, women in both countries perceived more social support than men did.

The study’s strengths include its large sample size and battery of mental health measures. The results of partial weak measurement Invariance (MI) on the stress subscale underlined the importance of using MI in cross-cultural studies. The validity of a direct comparisons on sum score between different language versions or country samples shall be cautious. Still, there are limitations. Firstly, the authors did not differentiate gender and biological sex, and there was no group of non-binary gender. Pakistani (N = 1,840) and German (N = 7,890) students were in unequal numbers. Again, only university students were sampled, so the results cannot be generalised to older (probably less educated) populations. Self-reported data that mainly obtained via online survey were the third limitation. This design is cost-effective and easy to administer for cross-cultural survey research. However, social desirability and memory bias are common in self-report inventories. Fourthly, although English is an official language in Pakistan and the medium of instruction in education, the authors recommend future study to use questionnaires that have been translated and validated into Urdu (Pakistan’s national language) and investigate gender differences in a general population. Fifthly, this is a cross-sectional survey; the authors were not able to explore the causality or risk factors that contribute to the poor mental well-being in Pakistan students in general or the relatively worse mental health in German women. Future studies may investigate the mechanism behind the phenomena observed in this study with longitudinal or experimental design. Last but not least, Germany and Pakistan differ in so many different aspects from culture, religions and history to social structure and economic status, which make it hard to claim whether the observed differences were due to national differences, cultural differences, economic differences, gender inequality differences or other effects. It would be helpful for future studies to include more country samples with clear definitions of different “culture” aspects for a better understanding of gender differences in other countries and in different mental well-being constructs.

The current study is the first attempt to compare the gender difference patterns in positive and negative mental health between European and South Asian counties and focuses on gender-specific approaches. Although Pakistani university students reported in general worse mental well-being, the differences between the two genders in mental health (e.g. depression, anxiety, general PMH) were not as pronounced as in the German student sample. Gender comparisons in these mental health constructs would help to improve protective factors against mental illness and to develop appropriate management programmes based on cultural differences. The results suggest that the gender differences found in western countries cannot always be directly translated into the South Asian cultural framework. Our results also highlight the importance of improving the general situation of Pakistan (students) instead of focusing on one gender. At the same time, in Germany, prevention and intervention plans are more warranted for women. It could be that once the general situation in Pakistan is improved, the gender-related differences in mental health will be clearly observed.

These findings imply the significance of cultural context when inferring gender variations in mental health. Moreover, it supports the advancement of comprehensive policies to reduce gender-related mental health inequalities and focuses on the equal rights of men and women to get mental health care.

The purpose of this paper is to understand gender differences in entrepreneurial intentions as measured by perceived feasibility and perceived desirability, and to explore gender differences in perceptions of entrepreneurship education needs – in terms of programmes, activities or projects – to succeed in an entrepreneurial career from the university student's point of view.

Using data gathered from 3,420 university students in more than ten countries, and applying the Mann‐Whitney non‐parametric test, differences between genders and different intention groups were examined. To reduce the items regarding educational needs, factor analysis was used. Gender differences in educational needs were also examined via Mann‐Whitney Test.

The results confirm that compared to males, female students are less willing to start their own businesses. There are significant gender differences in terms of perceived feasibility and perceived desirability such that although they feel more supported by their families, females are less self‐confident, more tense, reluctant and concerned about entrepreneurship. In terms of entrepreneurial intention, there are fewer gender differences among students; however, differences relating to self‐confidence and family support still exist. Furthermore, students cited establishing entrepreneurial mentoring and an appropriate tutoring structure as the most needed entrepreneurial educational activity/program/project at an academic institution; this was rated higher by females compared to males.

The findings of this paper could help guide educators and policy makers in designing effective entrepreneurship programmes that are customized to respond to gender specific needs to increase entrepreneurial participation.

This study reveals the gender differences in perceived desirability and perceived feasibility which impact entrepreneurial intentions. Gender differences in the entrepreneurial programmes/activities/projects required at an academic institution to promote entrepreneurial participation among university students is also explored.

Prior research shows that a board of directors' gender diversity positively influences organizations. However, little is known about how and why gender diversity influences the board of directors' functioning and decisions. The objective of this paper is to investigate the differences between women and men when fulfilling their role as directors.

This research uses a qualitative approach based on 29 in-depth semi-structured interviews with female and male board members.

The authors’ findings reveal that women are as involved as men in the board tasks and responsibilities. Also, women have the same understanding as men of their role and of the skills needed to be board members. However, women fulfil their role differently than men. Women come to board meetings more prepared, take more notes and do more follow-up, and they also dare to ask tough questions to top management. Women directors bring a different point of view — representing different interests — to board discussions, have a different communication style, are not a part of the boys' club and have a social upbringing that might explain gender differences in the boardroom.

This study could help boards and policymakers introduce diversity measures and provide ways to better integrate women into top decision-making groups such as board of directors.

This study's findings can help organizations include females in key decision-making groups such as board of directors.

This study reveals that in the same social setting, with the same role and expectations, and the same understanding of their role, both genders continue to perform differently.

Based on direct evidence from board members, this study highlights how and why women do their role in the boardroom differently.

Re‐analyses of data from Canadian samples of management undergraduates in three independent studies of ethical dilemmas, as presented in vignettes, were conducted to test the hypothesis that women are more ethical than men. Several statistically significant gender differences were found when t‐tests for mean differences were used; however, the effect sizes were all small as measured by Cohen’s d. Three existing frameworks were used to explain these gender differences: gender socialization, underlying ethical frameworks, and situational specificity. When the Bonferroni adjustment was applied to control for Type I error rate, only three of the 76 t‐tests for gender differences across the three studies were significant. It is suggested that these findings of very few gender differences in ethical beliefs, when conservative statistical tests are used, reflect the effects of changing gender socialization and sex roles in contemporary Canadian society among other factors that de‐emphasize gender differences

The economics literature on gender has expanded considerably in recent years, fueled in part by new sources of data, including from experimental studies of gender differences in preferences and other traits. At the same time, economists have been developing more realistic models of psychological and social influences on individual choices and the evolution of culture and social norms. Despite these innovations, much of the economics of gender has been left behind, and still employs a reductive framing in which gender gaps in economic outcomes are either due to discrimination or to “choice.” I suggest here that the persistence of this approach is due to several distinctive economic habits of mind – strong priors driven by market bias and gender essentialism, a perspective that views the default economic agent as male, and an oft-noted tendency to avoid complex problems in favor of those that can be modeled simply. I also suggest some paths forward.

Purpose: The study elaborates the contextual conditions of the academic workplace in which gender, age, and nationality considerably influence the likelihood of self-categorization as being affected by workplace bullying. Furthermore, the intersectionality of these sociodemographic characteristics is examined.

Basic Design: The hypotheses underlying the study were mainly derived from the social role, social identity, and cultural distance theory, as well as from role congruity and relative deprivation theory. A survey data set of a large German research organization, the Max Planck Society, was used. A total of 3,272 cases of researchers and 2,995 cases of non-scientific employees were included in the analyses performed. For both groups of employees, binary logistic regression equations were constructed. the outcome of each equation is the estimated percentage of individuals who reported themselves as having experienced bullying at work occasionally or more frequently in the 12 months prior to the survey. The predictors are the demographic and organization-specific characteristics (hierarchical position, scientific field, administrative unit) of the respondents and selected interaction terms. Using regression equations, hypothetically relevant conditional marginal means and differences in regression parameters were calculated and compared by means of t-tests.

Results: In particular, the gender-related hypotheses of the study could be completely or conditionally verified. Accordingly, female scientific and non-scientific employees showed a higher bullying vulnerability in (almost) all contexts of the academic workplace. An increased bullying vulnerability was also found for foreign researchers. However, the patterns found here contradicted those that were hypothesized. Concerning the effect of age analyzed for non-scientific personnel, especially the age group 45–59 years showed a higher bullying probability, with the gender gap in bullying vulnerability being greatest for the youngest and oldest age groups in the sample.

Interpre4tation and Relevance: The results of the study especially support the social identity theory regarding gender. In the sample studied, women in minority positions have a higher vulnerability to bullying in their work fields, which is not the case for men. However, the influence of nationality on bullying vulnerability is more complex. The study points to the further development of cultural distance theory, whose hypotheses are only partly able to explain the results. The evidence for social role theory is primarily seen in the interaction of gender with age and hierarchical level. Accordingly, female early career researchers and young women (and women in the oldest age group) on the non-scientific staff presumably experience a masculine workplace. Thus, the results of the study contradict the role congruity theory.

Do women exhibit greater financial risk aversion than men? We answer this question using attitudinal and behavioral specifications of risk aversion drawn from the 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). To approximate attitudinal specification of risk aversion, we use individuals’ self-reported financial risk tolerance. We use individuals’ relative risk aversion, that is, the effect of wealth on the proportion of assets categorized as risky as behavioral specification of risk aversion. We find that while women display greater attitudinal risk aversion, gender difference in behavioral risk aversion depends upon individuals’ marital status and role in household finances. Single women exhibit greater behavioral risk aversion compared to single men. However, this gender difference does not exist when we compare behavioral risk aversion of married women and men in charge of household finances.

Examines gender and ethnic occupational segregation in Israel, focusing on the interaction between gender and ethnicity. Uses data from the 1983 and 1961 Population and Housing Census, and two different indices to examine three issues: ethnic versus gender segregation; gender differences in ethnic occupational segregation; and ethnicity differences in gender occupational segregation. Finds that gender segregation is much higher than ethnic segregation; that, overall, women are not more ethnically segregated than men, and that there are ethnic differences in the overall gender dissimilarity indices. Focusing on the sex composition effect, finds that there is no difference in gender segregation within various ethnic groups. Suggests that only in the kibbutz are Eastern women more sexually segregated than Western women. Also investigates and presents long‐term trends between 1961 and 1983 and comparisons with the US. Explores the linkage between educational dispersion and occupational dispersion to explain the study findings. Concludes that educational disparities are responsible for differences in ethnic occupational segregation but not in gender occupational segregation. Offers demand‐side explanations.

Providing equal opportunities in class as well as at home does not ensure equal promotion of leisure reading among girls and boys. Gender differences have wider impacts on their reading development. The purpose of this paper is to find out gender differences in leisure reading habits among children.

The search process was conducted during Aug.–Sept. 2019 using Scopus database. A total of 41 studies were selected for the review. The systematic review used Cochrane Methodologies reported as per preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines for identification, evaluation and selection of studies. The studies that dealt with leisure reading, reported gender difference of reading, had age group of 4–18-year children, were in English language and were accessible to the researchers were selected for review.

The results were presented in terms of identified reading factors including reading frequency, reading choice, reading time, reading media, reading influence, reading value and library use. The girls were more frequent readers than boys. The girls were in favor of fiction, while boys were interested in reading nonfiction. Girls preferred online materials but boys were in favor of printed materials. The boys were influenced by their fathers and peer groups’ reading, while girls were influenced by their mothers’ reading habits.

The study provided better understanding of boys’ and girls’ reading differences and required the librarians, teachers and academic policymakers to deal with them accordingly.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first kind of systematic review reporting difference of reading on the basis of gender and inferred reading factors. It will be helpful for librarians, teachers and academic policymakers to consider these differences while dealing with boys’ and girls’ reading choices and interests.

The literature is divided upon whether a gender difference occurs with respect to ethical decisions. Notable researchers Tannen and Gilligan demonstrated gender difference while subsequent researchers indicate that gender differences are becoming more neutralized. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper analyzes the gender demographic and intercultural influences on ethical decision-making by undergraduate students from New Zealand and the USA through four scenarios.

Overall for the USA and New Zealand, this research demonstrates this split as well, since two scenarios showed significance while two did not. The two that demonstrated a significance dealt with personnel issues and a past client relationship. These two scenarios suggested that a relationship orientation and relativistic nature among women may influence their decision making. The two scenarios without significance were less relationship oriented, involving dealing with a customer (a stranger) and a subordinate (implying a professional supervisory responsibility). In addition, the neutrality exhibited in the latter two scenarios may reflect Tannen's illustration that there is a cross-gender influence on decision making. With respect to the geographic location, the USA, when compared with New Zealand, and the gender demographics, only the USA reported significant differences for two scenarios.

Undergraduate students in the USA provided situations and discussions that resulted in the development of a number of scenarios. Additional research and evaluation of current events, led to a total of ten scenarios with four scenarios yielding business related situations.