India's huge financial power and recent economic expansion have been supported by multi-level marketing (MLM) initiatives over the last decade. This type of business structure is notorious for having shady ethics and for enforcing traditional stereotypes, and as MLMs enter the Indian market, they find themselves navigating even more gender and race-based stereotypes. In India-a country where women have one of the lowest labor participation rates in the world and where advertisements have historically portrayed women as submissive-multi-level marketing companies' posts on social media can have large influences on how the public sees gender roles in business. To better understand the gender stereotypes present in Indian MLM social media posts, this study aimed to study trends and stereotypes in Facebook images posted by India's 5 largest MLM companies. The content analysis sample consisted of photos posted on the India-specific Facebook pages of the five largest MLM companies in India. The content analysis measured 733 images for gender roles by analyzing body language, interpersonal interactions, career roles, and other indications of sexist portrayals. The results showed that in some ways, stereotypical gender roles are still very present in Indian MLM Facebook posts. For example, men are still pictured in leadership roles far more than women. However, in other ways, these posts show men and women as equals. In this sample, men and women had equal representation in posts where they were using technology, being pictured with their family, and other traditionally gendered situations. This denotes social progress and a change in MLM marketing strategy, both of which are significant for this USD$1.9 billion industry.

Syfte: Vi vill undersöka hur media framställer Magdalena Andersson som statsminister kontra hur media framställt tidigare statsminister Stefan Löfven. Metod: Insamlingen av empirin har skett genom en kvantitativ innehållsanalys av reportage hämtade från sex olika webbtidningar, där totalt 140 reportage och bilder har analyserats. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet av vår studie visar att det finns en skillnad i hur media väljer att porträttera Magdalena Andersson jämfört med hur de porträtterat Stefan Löfven. Vår studie visar därmed hur media via sin porträttering låter samhällets könsstereotyper finnas kvar. Detta genom att göra skillnad i vilka frågor som ställs, vad som väljs ut och vad som inte tas upp. Exempelvis hur Andersson i flertalet reportage benämns som ”kvinnliga statsministern” medan Löfven endast benämns som ”statsministern”. Fortsättningsvis väljer journalisterna att fråga Andersson om familjen och hennes make, medan i Löfvens reportage väljer journalisterna att inte lyfta liknande frågor om familj.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar till att ge bild av hur medias porträttering skiljer sig gällande de två ministrarna. Eftersom Magdalena Andersson är Sveriges första kvinnliga statsminister samt relativt nyss tillsatt, finns vid vår vetskap ingen tidigare studie på denna porträttering.    Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Att undersöka om journalisterna är medvetna om dessa skillnader som porträtteras? Har journalisterna riktlinjer via deras arbetsgivare kring dessa stereotypiska särskiljningar? En liknande undersökning hade även varit intressant att göra när Magdalena Andersson varit statsminister under en längre period. / Aim: We want to investigate how the media portray Magdalena Andersson as Prime Minister versus how the media portrayed former Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. Method: The collection of empirical material as taken place through a quantitative content analysis of reports taken from six different web magazines, where a total of 140 reports and images have been analysed. Result and conclusions: The result of our study shows that there is a difference in how the media chooses to portray Magdalena Andersson compared to how they portrayed Stefan Löfven. Our study thus shows how the media, through its portrayal, allows society's gender stereotypes to remain. This is by making a difference in which questions are asked, what is selected and what is not addressed. For example, how Andersson is referred to in the majority of reports as the "female prime minister" while Löfven is only referred to as the "prime minister". Continuing, the journalists choose to ask Andersson about the family and her husband, while in Löfven's report the journalists choose not to raise similar questions about family. Contribution of the thesis: The study helps to provide a picture of how the media's portrayal differs regarding the two prime ministers. Since Magdalena Andersson is Sweden's first female prime minister and relatively recently appointed, to our knowledge there is no previous study on this portrayal. Suggestions for future research: To investigate whether journalists are aware of these differences that are portrayed? Do journalists have guidelines through their employers about these stereotypical distinctions? A similar survey would also have been interesting to do when Magdalena Andersson has been Prime Minister for a longer period.

A modified grounded theory approach was used to analyze 200 parenting blog posts for instances of conforming to or deviating from gender stereotypes. A plethora of research recognizes the negative effects of perpetuating stereotypes on such aspects of life and culture as self-concepts, concepts of others, opportunities, obstacles, and occupations. Social cognitive theory informs how these gender stereotypes can affect parents even through blogs and how parents can then affect their children. Thus, research question one asked: Are there gendered instances in parenting blogs that deviate from or conform to a gender stereotype? and research question two asked: What categories and themes of gendered instances that deviate from or conform to a gender stereotype are present in the blogs? What categories and themes are most prevalent in the blogs? Findings indicated that there were gendered instance in the parenting blogs. Although only 30% of the analyzed blog posts contained gendered instances of deviating from or conforming to stereotypes, 75.6% of those instances were found to conform to a gender stereotype rather than deviate. Moreover, the categories that were present in the blog were as follows: Unrealistic Domestic Goddess, Perceived Gender Conformity of Children, Part-time Domestic Father, Realistic Domestic Mother, Normalizing Feminine Characteristics and Interests in Sons, Full-time Domestic Father, Negative Stereotypes Against Women, and Perceived Gender Nonconformity of Children. The category that was by far the most prevalent was the Unrealistic Domestic Goddess as 75.6% of the gendered instances fell under this category. / Master of Arts

Background: Marketing communication often uses gender-stereotyped messages to reach their target groups more effectively. Activities like this can have harmful consequences, especially when aimed towards children. Those effects have been found to also contribute to gender inequalities, among other aspects. Therefore, such practices have generated criticism and as a consequence the search for possible solutions. One of them being gender neutral marketing. Purpose: This thesis aimed to investigate gender-neutral marketing with a focus on the children’s toy industry. While taking into account customers’ acceptance, as well as companies’ economic interests, a potential solution for gender neutral marketing initiatives is presented as a result.  Methodology: To get an insight into the requirements of customers’ acceptance for GNM, their thoughts, opinions, and experiences where of high interest. For this reason, an inductive, qualitative approach has been chosen. An exploratory research design, with a sample consisting of German parents, teachers, and psychologist, have been used to answer the research question.  Main Findings: The color pink has been found as a particularly high barrier towards equal playing behavior amongst children and towards gender neutral marketing. Regarding the area of children’s toys, boys have been found to be more restricted than girls. Conducting small steps, while not moving away too far from socially accepted behavior, is the key to a successful implementation of GNM. Delimitations: This study is limited to only German participants. As the sample size is relatively small, different cultural backgrounds would have added further demographic differences and consequently would have complicated the analysis. Therefore the researcher decided to focus solely on respondents of one origin, in this case German. Due to time restraints, the sample size was limited to only 9 Interviews. The lack of willingness from other psychologists to collaborate in the research also limited the sample size. Not chosen as one of the focal points in this study is a differentiation based on educational background. As the area of marketing is too broad, and unreliable for the sample, the researcher furthermore narrowed the topic of this thesis down on the child’s toy industry. As the sample size is relatively small, the respondents were meant to be as similar as possible, in order to analyse and compare their answers. Therefore, divorced or same-sex couples have been excluded from the sample. Please turn to the author if you want access to the transcripts of the interviews (alina.steindl@yahoo.de).

Recently, there has been a big surge of research and public interest in increasing the math capabilities and skills of American children. This paper serves as a literature review examining how the home environment, specifically parents, can help with that. This meta-analysis delves into the factors of maternal math talk, a parent’s own math anxiety, and the relationship between a parent and child in the context of a parent’s gender stereotypes and a parent’s perception on his or her child’s math abilities. Interventions, suggestions, and future implications are also discussed. This paper will hopefully bring needed awareness to parents about their roles in their child’s math development, abilities, and achievement.

Girls grow up in a culture of ubiquitous female sexualization, and this culture propagates stereotypes that could interfere with their academic outcomes. The current study examined the academic correlates of these sexualized gender stereotypes (SGS) among early adolescent girls. Girls (N = 99) aged 11 to 14 (Mage = 12.4 years, SD = .57 years) completed a survey assessing their academic performance, attitudes, and beliefs. The survey also assessed the degree to which girls believed that boys and girls should act in accordance with these sexualized gender stereotypes. Results indicated that higher endorsement of sexualized gender stereotypes was associated with lower academic performance, more negative academic attitudes, and less adaptive approaches to learning. Implications for girls’ academic trajectories are discussed.

Purpose: To research how conceptions of gender are mirrored in the preschool’s practices and how the preschool teachers treat the children in relation to the conception of gender and age. Questions at issue: How do preschool teachers treat children in preschool from a gender perspective? How are values and conceptions about gender expressed in the preschools’ practice? Method: Qualitative methods; observation and interview, discourse analysis, hermeneutics Main theoretical connections: Social constructivism, feminist poststructuralism, gender system We have concluded that preschool teachers treat children in preschool based on the expectations they put on the children. These expectations position children into different categories of “masculine” and “feminine”. Gender is expressed in the practice and affect how children relate to one another as well as how the preschool teachers relate to the children depending on their age. We have also been able to see a difference in how children are treated in relation to age. What has been made visible through our observations is that preschool teachers’ treat younger children according to concepts that strengthens the categorization of children. This was accomplished through the emphasis on gender descriptions of people and objects, which positioned children in these categories. This can be interpreted as preschool teachers’ gender categorizations was consolidated through language which is of importance regarding current expectations and values within these groups. Children thus learn to adapt to the different roles they are in preschool, which will later be interpreted as a part of that person's individual character. Teachers in the older children’s group focused rarely or not at all on consolidating concepts but confirmed and thus strengthened the standards that children were already aware of and practiced. This was done by the teachers that among other things tended to keep the children’s groups, which was based on notions that the children are acting by character and not by gender.

This thesis The Portrayal of women in Slovak print media advertising 1992-2012 addresses the way women are depicted in advertising in three selected Slovak magazines, at three points in time; 1992, 2002 and 2012. The work aims to discover in what direction the portrayal of women in magazine advertisements has evolved during this period when advertising occupies more and more space in the media. This work deals with gender issues and focuses mainly on the roles in which women are represented in advertising. Their passivity or activity and sexual objectification are examined through content and semiotic analysis. The dual mode of analysis will allow us to better understand the mechanisms of the depiction of women in advertising and compare the different ways women are portrayed in the media depending on the target audience.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att skapa en djupare förståelse för hur stereotypiska hotet mot kvinnors karriärambitioner uppfattas påverka deras framgång i organisationen. Metod: I studien används en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med en hermeneutisk forskningsansats. I studien genomfördes tio semi-strukturerade intervjuer som analyserats enligt en tematisk analys. Slutsats: Studiens slutsats överensstämmer med tidigare forskning vad gäller de tre huvudkonsekvenserna från stereotypiska hot. Kvinnor upplever låga karriärmöjligheter, separerad identitet och ökad oro. Studien påvisar även stress som en konsekvens av en längre tids upplevelse av separerad identitet, vilket tidigare forskning inte funnit. Konsekvenserna gav oss en djupare förståelse av hur kvinnornas framgång iorganisationen påverkas av stereotypiska hoten. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: För att få en ännu djupare förståelse föreslår vi till fortsatt forskning att undersöka hur stereotypiska hot påverkar en organisation under en längre tid, genom att använda longitudinell metod. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien bidrar till en djupare förståelse hur stereotypiska hotet mot kvinnors karriärambitioner påverkar deras framgång i organisationens. / Aim: The aim of the study is to create a deeper understanding of how stereotypical threats for women's career ambitions perceived influence their success in the organization. To understand the women and the organization we designed research questions for this purpose; How does gender stereotypes in leadership impact women's idea of leadership? How does the stereotypical threat impact women's career aspirations to climb in the organization? How do women experience that their success is influenced by stereotypical threat in leadership? Method: The study used a qualitative research with a hermeneutic research approach. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted, analyzed with a thematic analysis. Conclusions: The study's conclusion is consistent with previous research regarding the three main consequences of stereotypical threat. Women experience low career prospects, separate identity and increased anxiety. The study also found stress as a consequence of a longer experience of separate identity, which previous research has not found. Consequences gave us a deeper understanding of how women's success in the organization is influenced by stereotypical threats. Suggestions for future research: To get an even deeper understanding, we suggest further research to investigate how stereotypical threat affects an organization for a long time, using the longitudinal method. Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes to a deeper understanding of how the stereotypical threat to women's career ambitions affect their success in the organization.

In this thesis, gender in children's literature is the focus. The purpose is to analyze the gender balance and how the characters affecting the storyline are portrayed. Are the characters portrayed with gender stereotyped characteristics? This study also aims to investigate what educators think of the study's selected books. The books selected for this study are popular children’s books in Sweden that are often used while teaching. The text provides information as to whether educators show awareness of the gender perspective in the study’s chosen books. Do they make conscious decisions and are they aware of what the literature contains? To obtain this, both a questionnaire and a literature analysis will be conducted. The literature analysis creates a deeper picture of which values ​​the literature conveys while the questionnaire is to expand the knowledge of the teachers' views on the books that the study process. The result shows factors that educators have taken into consideration when choosing children's literature and general opinions on specific literature. The result of the literature analysis shows a stereotypical gender distribution among all the children's books, but the main characters was not stereotypically portrayed. / I detta examensarbete är genus i barnlitteratur i fokus. Syftet är att analysera genusbalansen och hur huvudkaraktär och deras motspelare framställts. Har karaktärerna könsstereotypa egenskaper? Studien syftar också till att undersöka vad pedagoger tycker om studiens utvalda böcker. Böckerna som blir utvalda för studien är populära böcker i Sverige som ofta används i undervisning. Texten ger information huruvida om pedagoger visar medvetenhet om genus i dessa populära böcker. Gör de medvetna val och vet de vad litteraturen innehåller? För att få dessa resultat genomförs både en enkät och en litteraturanalys. Litteraturanalysen skapar en djupare bild av de värderingar litteraturen förmedlar medan enkäten är för att utöka kunskapen om pedagogernas syn på böckerna som studien behandlar. I resultatet framkommer faktorer som pedagoger har tagit hänsyn till när de väljer barnlitteratur och överskådliga åsikter gällande specifik litteratur. Resultatet av litteraturanalysen visar en stereotyp könsfördelning i barnböckerna men huvudsakligen ingen stereotyp framställning av litteraturens huvudkaraktärer.