scholarly journals Why do women more often intend to study abroad than men?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fine Cordua ◽  
Nicolai Netz

AbstractIn many Western countries, women are more likely to study abroad than men. At present, there is a lack of theory-guided empirical studies searching explanations for this pattern. We address this research gap by examining gender differences in study abroad intent among first-semester students in Germany. To derive a comprehensive theoretical framework, we draw on social role theory of sex differences, cognitive development theory, new home economics and statistical discrimination theory. Using data from the nationally representative 2010 DZHW School Leavers Survey, we test our hypotheses by estimating logistic regressions and non-linear effect decompositions. We find that women more often intend to study abroad primarily because of the gender-specific interest profiles they develop throughout their early life course: Related to their subject choice at school, women tend to acquire competences (e.g., language skills) that ease later stays abroad. To some extent, women’s better educational performance during school also explains their better chances to study abroad. Once in higher education, women tend to choose fields of study in which studying abroad is considered more valuable for competence acquisition. Losing time due to studying abroad is less of an obstacle for women but—against theoretical expectations—not because of a lower labour market orientation. Finally, the expectation to interrupt the professional career for taking care of the family deters women—especially those from a low social background—from studying abroad, but not men. We do not find evidence that women understand studying abroad as a strategy to counteract this anticipated discrimination. Overall, our results underscore the particular importance of social role and cognitive development theory for explaining gender differences in the spatial mobility of students.

Author(s):  
Kathrin J. Hanek

Drawing primarily on the literature in experimental economics and social psychology, this article reviews key findings on gender differences for two aspects of competitiveness and competition: entry preferences and performance. Although women, relative to men, have been shown to shy away from competition and underperform in competitive environments, this article also discusses boundary conditions for these effects, such as the nature of the task or gender composition of the group, and highlights manifestations of these effects in applied domains, including in negotiations, the labor market, educational settings, and sports. Adopting social psychological frameworks of prescriptive norms and stereotypes, particularly social role theory, this article examines ways in which gender-incongruencies may underpin gender gaps in competition and gender-congruencies may alleviate them. Finally, this article considers implications for individuals and institutions as well as future directions in the field to continue finding ways to close gaps.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
Kirstin Hallmann ◽  
Anita Zehrer ◽  
Sheranne Fairley ◽  
Lea Rossi

This research uses social role theory to investigate gender differences in volunteers at the Special Olympics and interrelationships among motivations, commitment, and social capital. Volunteers at the 2014 National Summer Special Olympics in Germany were surveyed (n = 891). Multigroup structural equation modeling has revealed gender differences among motivations, commitment, and social capital. Volunteers primarily volunteered for personal growth. Further, motivations had a significant association with commitment and social capital. The impact of motivation on social capital was significantly mediated by commitment. Event organizers should market opportunities to volunteer by emphasizing opportunities for personal growth and appealing to specific values.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (18) ◽  
pp. 3599-3617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeev Winstok ◽  
Murray A. Straus

This study addresses the intended escalatory tendency in eight hypothetical situations in which the provocator’s identity (partner or stranger, male or female) and the provocation form (verbal or physical aggression) were manipulated. The research question is “how does the identity of the provocator and the form of his or her provocation affect the participant’s intended escalation level, and does the gender of the participant affect differences in intended escalation level?” The research sample consisted of 208 Israeli couples. The main finding is that women’s intended response to their male partner is more escalatory than men’s intended response to their female partner. Results also show that women’s escalation is the most severe to partner provocation and the least severe to male strangers’ provocation. Men’s escalation is the most severe to provocation by male strangers and the least severe to their partner’s provocation. Findings indicate that men’s intention to escalate decreases as their partner’s provocation becomes more severe. The severity of provocation has little effect on women’s inten–tion to escalate. Such results are consistent with social role theory and sexual selection theory that maintain that status enhancement is more important for men than for women, and is more important for men than risk reduction is, whereas the opposite is true for women.


Businesses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-213
Author(s):  
Katrin Zulauf ◽  
Ralf Wagner

This study focuses on the intersection of power and gender in negotiations, which is seldom challenged in previous research. In an experiment with 72 negotiators, we consider issue authority as a proxy of power in negotiations and investigate how different power allocations affect the negotiation success. We learn that an increase in issue authority for one of the two parties does not necessarily lead to an increase in success. Especially, female negotiators rely on their negotiation power, rather than systematically improving mutual utilities. This article contributes to Emerson’s power-dependence theory, social role theory, role congruity theory, and gender role conflict theory by combining analyzing the impact of gender differences and power on the success. This study attempts to close the gap in the literature by focusing on the prospective function of gender role orientation in explaining gender differences in negotiation. The theoretical contribution is that females are not per se inferior in negotiations, but their performance decreases in scenarios of power asymmetries. On the contrary, unbalanced power decreases the likelihood of success. Negotiators cannot rely on a power advantage to increase their success.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingying Hu ◽  
Ling Zhao ◽  
Sumeet Gupta ◽  
Xiuhong He

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore the negative consequences of ubiquitous connectivity enabled by personal IT ensembles (PITEs) usage; and second, to investigate the gender differences in the adverse effects of ubiquitous connectivity.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a socio-technical approach to identify the technical and interpersonal dimensions of PITE-enabled ubiquitous connectivity and develops a theoretical model to investigate their stress-inducing effects based on the framework of technostress. Furthermore, the moderating role of gender is examined based on the social role theory. The authors test the model on a sample of 439 Chinese netizens.FindingsUbiquitous technical and interpersonal connectivity induce four stressors: information overload, communication overload, life invasion and privacy invasion. These stressors further lead to psychological exhaustion and reluctance to try new ITs. The ubiquitous technical connectivity exerts stronger effects on stressors for female users than male users, and interpersonal connectivity exerts a stronger effect for male users than female users.Originality/valueThis study primarily contributes to the small amount of research on PITE-enabled ubiquitous connectivity by considering ubiquitous connectivity from a socio-technical perspective and examining the stress-related effects and outcomes of both technical and interpersonal dimensions of ubiquitous connectivity. This study also provides valuable insights into the gender differences in the stress-inducing effects of the two dimensions of ubiquitous connectivity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 148-156
Author(s):  
Mary Hogue ◽  
Lee Fox-Cardamone ◽  
Deborah Erdos Knapp

Abstract. Applicant job pursuit intentions impact the composition of an organization’s applicant pool, thereby influencing selection outcomes. An example is the self-selection of women and men into gender-congruent jobs. Such self-selection contributes to a lack of gender diversity across a variety of occupations. We use person-job fit and the role congruity perspective of social role theory to explore job pursuit intentions. We present research from two cross-sectional survey studies (520 students, 174 working adults) indicating that at different points in their careers women and men choose to pursue gender-congruent jobs. For students, the choice was mediated by value placed on the job’s associated gender-congruent outcomes, but for working adults it was not. We offer suggestions for practitioners and researchers.


1993 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 589-589
Author(s):  
Albert Ellis

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