The purpose of this study was to determine the value of the Non Cognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in predicting the academic achievement of first year female engineering students. Ancis and Sedlacek (1997) studied non-cognitive variables with a general population of undergraduate women. Their study validated the NCQ as a predictor of academic success for women students. The present study extends the work of Ancis and Sedlacek to examine female engineering students, a group for which no similar study has yet been published.Participants included 100 female first-year engineering students at a large, public Doctoral Research â Extensive institution located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. By race or ethnicity, the participants were White, Non-Hispanic (81%), Black Non-Hispanic (9%), Asian or Pacific Islander (4%), Hispanic or Latino (1%), Non-Resident Alien (1%), and Unknown Race or Ethnicity (6%). This study defined academic achievement as first semester Grade Point Average, which was used as the dependent variable. Participants completed the NCQ during summer orientation. NCQ scale scores and SAT Verbal and Math scores were used as independent variables in a step-wise regression analysis.The major finding of this study was that the NCQ scale scores did not add to the predictive value of the SAT scores in determining the first semester GPA of female engineering students. This was an unexpected finding in light of previous research that had documented the value of using non-cognitive variables, and specifically the NCQ, to predict the academic success of groups that are a minority in their educational settings.Because the major finding of this study is at odds with a large body of similar studies, the most important implications of this study relate to understanding this difference. Included in the discussion are questions about the methodology used in previous NCQ studies and about the influence of the single institution that has been the site of almost all previous NCQ research. / Master of Arts

Previous research has found that users' interactions with others in online environments are often guided by the same rules and stereotypes we apply in our everyday lives. However, fewer studies have used virtual worlds as an experimental setting for the systematic examination of how avatar appearance and offline identity affect the outcome of users' actual interactions. This online field experiment measured the effect of avatar attractiveness, avatar gender, purported user gender, and favor size on the rate at which users received help across 2,300 separate user interactions. In addition, the main study's avatar gender, purported user gender, and favor size manipulations were replicated with a human avatar condition with 761 participants to examine whether trends for these factors' effects were similar with human avatars. In the main study, attractive avatars generally received more help than less attractive avatars. However, purported female users were helped less frequently than purported male users when represented by avatars that were either male or less attractive. Trends in the human avatar condition were similar to those observed in the main study. Implications for avatar-mediated communication and the persistence of sex roles in virtual environments are discussed. / Master of Arts

Thesis advisor: Christopher S. Lee / Background: Genital hair removal is a popular practice in Westernized cultures and has been associated with the belief that removal is necessary for hygiene. A body of literature exists that has found that genital hair removal is associated with adverse health outcomes, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This dissertation aims to detail the history of the practice, why the hygiene belief exists, and to systematically review the existing literature that assesses genital hair removal and STIs. Methods: Historical, socio-cultural analysis from the feminist perspective was performed on the literature to outline why genital hair removal was adopted at a population level. The STI/genital hair removal literature was systematically reviewed and analyzed utilizing PRISMA guidelines. The data generated did not support meta-analysis. Results: Genital hygiene removal has been normalized in Westernized culture as a compulsory component of genital hygiene, particularly for women. Genital hair removal decreases pubic lice infestations. Genital hair removal increases the incidence of gonorrhea and chlamydia infections in women. The data does not support that genital hair removal is necessary for genital hygiene and may be harmful to genital health. Conclusions: Healthcare providers should ask about genital hair and genital hygiene practices when taking a sexual health or preventative care history. Health care providers can educate patients that genital hair removal is not necessary for genital health. New research inquiries on this topic must account for the normalization of the genital hygiene belief. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

Vår studie undersöker hur huvudkaraktärerna i filmerna Adrift och Arctic gestaltas utifrån könsstereotyper och om de faller in i en genusordning. Med utgångspunkt i hur könsroller representeras i media är studiens syfte att undersöka hur en kvinnlig protagonist porträtteras jämfört med en manlig i en överlevnadsfilm där karaktärerna är utelämnade i svåra överlevnadssituationer. Hur skildras kvinnor och män i förhållande till överlevnadssituationer där de måste rädda sitt eget och någon annans liv? Genom en multimodal kritisk diskursanalys har vi undersökt filmerna Adrift och Arctic för att uppnå studiens syfte. Adrift är baserad på en sann händelse om hur en kvinna och en man kämpar för sin överlevnad till havs. Arctic är berättelsen om en man som är strandsatt på Arktis efter en flygkrasch. Resultaten visar på att huvudkaraktärerna i filmerna både följer och bryter med könsstereotyper och könsnormer. Utifrån situation och relation har vi sett hur karaktärerna avviker eller följer könsstereotyper. I båda filmerna upprätthålls en genusordning oavsett vilka egenskaper karaktärerna uppvisar. / Our study examines how the main characters in the films Adrift and Arctic are portrayed based on gender stereotypes and whether they conform to gender norms. Drawing on representations of gender roles in media, the study investigates how a female protagonist is portrayed compared to a male in survival films where characters are faced with challenging situations. How are women and men depicted in relation to survival situations where they must save their own and someone else’s life? Through a multimodal critical discourse analysis, we have examined the films Adrift and Arctic to achieve the study’s objective. Adrift is based on a true story of a woman and a man fighting for survival at sea. Arctic tells the story of a man stranded in the Arctic after a plane crash. The results indicate that the main characters in the films both conform to and break gender stereotypes and norms. Based on the situation and relationship, we have observed how the characters deviate from or adhere to gender stereotypes. In both films, a gender hierarchy is maintained regardless of the characters’ attributes.

This paper presents a quantitative study of the gendered division of labor in three nordic and three southern european countries. Using data from the European social survey round 5 about Family and Wellbeing, containing our target countries. The aim of this study is to increase knowledge about which factors affect gender equality in unpaid work at home with breadwinning women as our core focus. Previous research has found that women do the majority of work at home regardless if they have children living at home or working full time. The theoretical framework in this study is based on Hochschild. Hochschild writes about how the traditional gender code for women is to be caring, while also describing the change towards an egalitarian view of household labor and what to expect from each other as men and women.

This essay analyses and compares gender construction in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. The focus is on the construction of the female and male gender of selected female and male characters. Using the knowledge that gender is highly dependent on the social and cultural environment and that family relations often impact gender, the aim of the essay is to examine if the two authors use similar methods to construct gender. Additionally, the aim is to analyse if the novels are critical towards Victorian gender norms. As feminist criticism specializes in gender analysis, this literary critical approach is used. Furthermore, additional information about the historical context was used to analyse and compare the novels. The comparison demonstrates that Emily Brontë and Charlotte Brontë mainly use the same methods to construct the female and male gender in their novels. It also illustrates that both novels are critical towards Victorian gender norms.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Joyce Baptist / The purpose of this study is to expand our understanding of alcohol dependency and its recovery in Northeast Brazil by exploring the lived experience of this disorder and its recovery process among couples whose husbands are seeking treatment for alcohol dependency. Culturally specific values such as patriarchy and gender roles were explored to gain insight into the recovery process. Findings from in-depth interviews conducted with couples and mental health professionals indicated that wives had a major role in the recovery process but were not included in the treatment process. Wives are expected to wait and temporarily “wear the pants” while husbands attend to their personal problems in treatment. Wives were viewed as a major support to husbands in treatment as well as the “stone in the middle of the road” that obstructed progress. The cultural values and gender norms appear to play a major role in how alcohol dependency is managed within the couple system and by mental health professionals. The use of metaphors to externalize problems and religious scripts helped couples cope. Clinical implications for systemic treatment and research implications are discussed.

This essay concerns Purple Hibiscus and Kambili's emotional development, and explores how violence, submission and emotional dependence along with a traditional feminine gender role can hinder acknowledgement of trauma. I propose that Kambili is encouraged to take on a culturally expected feminine gender role, and her submissive disposition is discussed and connected to her constant search for a father figure. The notion of personal and collective postcolonial trauma is explained and applied to contextualise her inability to question either her father or the political situation in Nigeria. I read Kambili's change as negative and aim to show that she has internalised patriarchal structures. Her change is contrasted to the change in her brother Jaja, to show how and why they develop in different directions. Traditional gender roles are discussed from a rather general perspective, but also in a context that concern masculinity, violence and power relations.

Bakgrund: Sjuksköterskeprofessionen är en kvinnodominerad arena och antalet manliga sjuksköterskor är lågt. Detta är ett resultat av samhällets normer och attityder kring genus. Normer kring genus är inget statiskt utan förändras över tid. Andelen manliga sjuksköterskor ökar men det går trögt. Syfte: Syftet men denna litteraturstudie var att undersöka upplevelsen av att vara man inom sjuksköterskeprofessionen. Metod: Litteraturstudien baserades på tio kvalitativa artiklar. Artiklarna analyserades med induktiv ansats.  Analysen resulterade i två huvudkategorier som mynnade ut i fem subkategorier. Huvudkategorierna var frustration och välbefinnande. Resultat: Resultatet visade på att männen upplevde att deras yrkesval blev ifrågasatt av familj, vänner, patienter och kollegor samt att de kände ett utanförskap på arbetsplatsen. De manliga sjuksköterskorna kände sårbarhet och rädsla inför risken att bli falskt anklagade för sexuellt ofredande samt att vara homosexuella. Risken att bli falskt anklagad för sexuellt ofredande berodde på att männens beröring sexualiserades. Männen upplevde en yrkesstolthet då arbetet kändes meningsfullt. Hos de manliga sjuksköterskorna fanns en vilja att göra gott samt att vårda människor. Slutsats: Det behövs mer forskning om genus utifrån ett manligt perspektiv inom sjuksköterskeprofessionen i Sverige för att bättre förstå problematiken kring varför så få män väljer att bli sjuksköterska. Det behövs även fler studier i genus i förhållande till andra faktorer såsom etnicitet, ålder, klass och sexuell läggning för att få en breddare och djupare bild av manliga sjuksköterskors upplevelse av sin arbetsmiljö.

The aim of this essay is to discuss the double graves existence, content and meaning during the Swedish Iron Age. Being buried in pairs seems to have been relatively rare. Is the double grave a family grave or was one of the individuals a human sacrifice? The focus of this essay will be to discuss the possible relationship the people in the double graves may have had, but also to see how rare the grave type is with the help and inspiration of theories by Sarah M. Nelson. Are the graves family style graves such as husband and wife or parent and child? Are there any other possibilities for the existence of double graves? The most common interpretation of the double graves is that they are family graves. I will try to answer these questions by examining four Iron Age burial grounds in Sweden. I do not rule out that double graves may be family graves, however, if they were family graves, why are they so uncommon and where is the rest of the family? Why is it only two people in the grave? This makes me question if the double graves are something else but pure family graves. It is more likely that the double graves have been the results of accidents or disease where two people lost their lives at the same time.