In this thesis, a folio comprising a major dissertation and three elective tasks, issues including masculinity(ies), identities, leadership and academics’ work practices are considered against a backdrop of change in the higher education sector. Narrative research methods are applied throughout the folio. The first elective, a discussion and commentary arising from an interview with an experienced practitioner in gender education, amounts to a feasibility study for the dissertation, whereas the second elective experiments with the use of computer mediated communication as a means of interviewing a small number of male academics about their inclusive teaching practices. Primarily curiosity-driven research, the conclusion is drawn that computer mediated communication, if used at all, ought provide a complementary, not primary means of data collection. The third elective conveys the life story of an Asian-Australian academic who expresses different masculinities according to the social settings in which he finds himself. The conclusion is made that there is neither a single colored masculinity nor a single working class masculinity. The milieux of race and class need to be considered together. The research described in the major dissertation was undertaken with a group of eleven male academics from a number of rural and metropolitan universities – men who were thought by their colleagues and peers to practice collaborative approaches to leadership. Whereas the majority of the men practised what could be described as transformational approaches to leadership, a small number exploited the process of collaboration mainly for their own protection. Very few of the men engaged in discourses of gender. One of the principal conclusions reached in the paper is that there are ramifications for future leadership training that universities offer so that it becomes more relevant and socially inclusive. Another main conclusion relates to the intimidation reported by some of the men in the study, and that there are implications for universities in the way they protect their employees from such incidents. A third significant conclusion is that there is some way to go before gender is integrated into the discourse of male academics. Until this can occur, limited opportunities exist for alliances to be formed between most male academics and feminist academics for the advancement of socially just workplaces.

This study examines sex-differences in expressed attitudes of parents and students towards primary school mathematics before and after involvement in a Family Maths Program. The study involved the families of Year 3 and 4 students at a Catholic primary school in the ACT, and used an illuminative evaluation methodology. Results suggest that: the effects of running a Family Maths Program were not confined to the parents and children who attended the formal sessions; at this primary school, mothers have a more active involvement than fathers in the development of attitudes to maths; and there is need for a more integrated approach to the use of calculators and computers in the mathematics curriculum at this school.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-163). / vi, 166 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Concerns the development of high-order finite-difference methods on a uniform rectangular grid for advection and diffuse problems with smooth variable coefficients. This technique has been successfully applied to variable-coefficient advection and diffusion problems. Demonstrates that the new schemes may readily be incorporated into multi-dimensional problems by using locally one-dimensional techniques, or that they may be used in process splitting algorithms to solve complicatef time-dependent partial differential equations. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Applied Mathematics, 2001

No description available.

<p>Gender differences favoring women have been found in face recognition, and in addition to this, it has been shown that women remember more female than male faces. This own-gender effect may be a result of women directing more attention towards female faces, resulting in a better memory. The aim of this study was to assess the role of attention for gender differences in face recognition and women’s own-gender bias by dividing attention at encoding of faces. Thirty-two participants completed two recognition conditions: one where faces at presentation were fully attended and one where a second task was performed simultaneously. Women remembered more female faces than men did when encoded under full attention. This difference disappeared when attention was divided. Less attentional resources might have hindered women from using their assumed expertise processing of faces.</p>

<p>Två experiment undersökte empati och empatiträning. I Experiment 1 fick 130 deltagare läsa en berättelse där ett barn, en bebis eller en hundvalp for illa. Därefter skattade deltagarna sina känslor. Resultatet visade att kvinnor hade mer empati än män oavsett offer. Föräldrar hade mer empati än andra för barn/bebis. Hundägare hade mer empati än andra för hund. I Experiment 2, som gick vidare och undersökte empatiträning, deltog 38 elever i årskurs 3 och 4. Pojkar som fått empatiträning i form av REDE-projektet visade en tendens till mer empati än pojkar som inte använt projektet. Ingen effekt påvisades hos flickorna. Flickor verkar utveckla sin empati på egen hand medan pojkar verkar behöva lite hjälp.</p> / <p> </p><p>Two experiments investigated empathy and empathy training. In Experiment 1, 130 participants read a story where either a child, an infant or a puppy had been abused. The result showed that women had more empathy for all the victims than men. Parents had more empathy for a child/an infant than those who weren´t parents. Dog owners also showed more empathy for the puppy than those who didn´t own a dog. In Experiment 2, which consisted of 38 students in grades 3 and 4, boys who had used the REDE-project had a tendency to more empathy than boys who hadn´t used the project. No effect was demonstrated with the girls. Girls seem to develop their empathy on their own while boys seem to need some help.</p>

No description available.

<p>Denna systematiska litteraturstudie var inriktad på att studera ätstörningar ur ett kulturellt perspektiv. Syftet var att kartlägga forskningsläget kring hur ätstörningar betraktas i olika kulturella kontexter. Studien har gjorts genom att systematiskt söka vetenskapliga artiklar och forskning. Detta har sedan sammanställts och diskuterats utifrån det givna syftet. Resultaten var motsägelsefulla detta mycket på grund av problematiken kring begreppet kultur som anses skapa ett ”vi” och ”dem” synsätt. Diagnostiseringskriterier som har använts ansågs som otillräckliga vid ätstörningar. Västvärldens skönhetsideal och kultur har beskrivits som den påverkande variabeln som också gjort att den övriga världen även drabbats av ätstörningar men denna studie har visat på att det fanns många fler faktorer som spelar in. Minoritetsgrupper som inte assimilerats till majoritetskulturen har även visat på högre utveckling av ätstörningar. Det som framkommit var att det behövs mer forskning på området och en större förståelse för den kulturella aspekten i forskning samt i det praktiska arbetet vid behandling.</p>

<p>The famous Black-Scholes (BS) model used in the option pricing theory</p><p>contains two parameters - a volatility and an interest rate. Both</p><p>parameters should be determined before the price evaluation procedure</p><p>starts. Usually one use the historical data to guess the value of these</p><p>parameters. For short lifetime options the interest rate can be estimated</p><p>in proper way, but the volatility estimation is, as well in this case,</p><p>more demanding. It turns out that the volatility should be considered</p><p>as a function of the asset prices and time to make the valuation self</p><p>consistent. One of the approaches to this problem is the method of</p><p>uncertain volatility and the static hedging. In this case the envelopes</p><p>for the maximal and minimal estimated option price will be introduced.</p><p>The envelopes will be described by the Black - Scholes - Barenblatt</p><p>(BSB) equations. The existence of the upper and lower bounds for the</p><p>option price makes it possible to develop the worse and the best cases</p><p>scenario for the given portfolio. These estimations will be financially</p><p>relevant if the upper and lower envelopes lie relatively narrow to each</p><p>other. One of the ideas to converge envelopes to an unknown solution</p><p>is the possibility to introduce an optimal static hedged portfolio.</p>

<p>I denna uppsats studeras hur förändrade incitament i form av hårdare aktiveringskrav för arbetslösa socialbidragstagare i Sveriges kommuner inverkar på andelen socialbidragstagare och socialbidragskostnaderna i kommunerna. Studien möjliggörs av att de svenska kommunerna i varierande utsträckning har infört hårdare aktiveringskrav för arbetslösa socialbidragstagare, varför en difference in differences-analys som renodlar effekten av hårdare krav kan genomföras. Kommunerna klassificeras utifrån graden av aktivitet vad gäller att få socialbidragstagare i aktivering. Väldigt aktiva kommuner jämförs med icke alls aktiva, och en betydande uppsättning kontrollvariabler som kontrollerar för andra skillnader mellan kommungrupperna inkluderas. Resultaten visar att ett införande av hårda aktiveringskrav för arbetslösa socialbidragstagare ger tydliga negativa effekter på andelen socialbidragstagare i kommunerna, i synnerhet för unga socialbidragstagare, men mer begränsade effekter på kommunernas socialbidragskostnader.</p>