A Framework for Addressing Gender Imbalance in the Game Industry through Outreach

Author(s):  
Monica M. McGill ◽  
Adrienne Decker ◽  
Amber Settle

Though the lack of diversity in the game industry workforce has received a great deal of attention recently, few initiatives have been implemented to address it. In particular, gender composition in the game industry workforce and among students studying games at post-secondary institutions is highly imbalanced, with an approximate 9 to 1 ratio of male to female students. This chapter considers three key aspects: 1) the current demographics of the game industry, 2) the effects of gender imbalance on the game industry and one of its current pipelines, and 3) a potential framework to address the imbalance. The proposed outreach strategy is informed by a discussion of established frameworks for initiating change in related fields. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research to address the gender imbalance in the game industry and its pipeline.

Author(s):  
Sadril Shajahan ◽  
Md. Faizul Islam ◽  
Afshana Choudhury ◽  
Faria Admad ◽  
Fahim Chowdhury

It has been widely acknowledged that female workers account for 80% of the Ready Made Garments (RMG) industry’s workforce in Bangladesh but a number of studies estimated different male to female workers’ ratios ranging from 35: 65 to 55:45. To contribute to such debate, this paper leverage the data of the ‘Mapped in Bangladesh’ (MiB) project. While the objective of the MiB project is to enable transparency and accountability in the RMG sector by providing the industry stakeholders accurate, updated and authentic factory data collected through the factory census method and published in a digital map; this paper aims to shed light on the male to female ratio of workers employed in the RMG factories of Bangladesh is not 20:80, but it is 42:58 according to the findings from MiB data. Presenting such data, the study seeks to discuss how factory issues can influence the gender composition of RMG Workers. These issues such as factory locations, factory type, factory size and production sections are important to understand the challenges of future research addressing the gender composition of RMG workers in Bangladesh.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amal Benkarim ◽  
Daniel Imbeau

The vast majority of works published on Lean focus on the evaluation of tools and/or the strategies needed for its implementation. Although many authors highlight the degree of employee commitment as one of the key aspects of Lean, what has gone largely unnoticed in the literature, is that few studies have examined in-depth the concept of organizational commitment in connection with Lean. With this narrative literature review article, our main objective is (1) to identify and analyze an extensive body of literature that addresses the Lean Manufacturing approach and how it relates to employee commitment, emphasizing affective commitment as the main type of organizational commitment positively associated with Lean, and (2) to highlight the management practices required to encourage this kind of commitment and promote the success and sustainability of Lean. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview that can help researchers and practitioners interested in Lean better understand the importance of employee commitment in this type of approach, and as well, to identify related research questions.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziming Liu

PurposeDigital distraction is a common phenomenon in e-reading contexts, and it is worth exploring in depth from the perspectives of information (digital content), users (readers) and technology (digital reading medium). Since screen reading has close links with multitasking and potential distraction, any investigation of reading in the digital environment must factor in this reality. This paper aims to investigate the extent and effects of digital distraction while reading on screens. Special emphases go to exploring multitasking while reading.Design/methodology/approachSurvey and analysis methods are employed.FindingsThe extent of digital distraction among college students it found is alarming. All the top four sources of distraction are communication-based activities. Female students tend to concentrate more than males when they read on screens. An overwhelming majority of participants choose to read in print to reduce distractions and to concentrate effectively. Screen reading is inherently distracting, primarily due to multitasking. It appears that repeated multitasking during academic endeavors carries substantial costs.Originality/valueImplications of digital distraction are discussed, and directions of future research are suggested.


Author(s):  
Marlin Steffi Marpaung ◽  
Deicy Silvia Wenas

The study sought to find out the significant relationship between self-esteem and the English learning achievement of students at SMU Advent Klabat Manado and to know whether it was high or low. Furthermore, this study was also to find out whether there is significant difference between males and females in their level of self-esteem. The subjects of this study were the second-year students of SMU Advent Klabat Manado. There were 50 students who were chosen randomly to become the sample. They were 26 female students and 24 male students. The data were obtained from a self-constructed questionnaire based on Coopersmith’s concept of self-esteem. To answer the main problem of this study, the Pearson r Product Moment Coefficient Correlation formula was used. The result indicated that there is significant relationship between self-esteem and the English learning achievement of students at SMU Advent Klabat Manado. Therefore, the null hypothesis which said there is no significant relationship between self-esteem and the English learning achievement of students at SMU Advent Klabat Manado, was rejected. Moreover, the results showed a significant difference between males and females in their level of self-esteem. It was recommended that English teachers at SMU Advent Klabat Manado should explore more possibilities of serving the students in learning English particularly by cultivating their self-esteem, for it will significantly contributed to their achievement in English. Moreover, English teachers of SMU Advent Klabat Manado should treat the male and female students differently. Since the female students have higher self-esteem than the male, so male, especially, should be encouraged to cultivate their self-esteem so they will gain higher achievement in English. On the other hand, students need to appreciate themselves, and their own ability as the gift of God, for the self-esteem they have contributed to or increase their ability to learn the English language. A study with a broader sample should be done for further study using a similar methodology and instrumentation. Furthermore, future research should replicate this study using other levels such as elementary, junior high school, and college.   Key words: Self-esteem, English learning, Achievement


10.28945/4268 ◽  
2019 ◽  

Aim/Purpose: To update a 2010 study that recommended “rules of thumb” for more effective use of PowerPoint in the post-secondary business classroom. The current study expanded the focus to include the business classroom in India as well as the US and examined possible shifts in student perception of the utility of PowerPoint among Generations Y and Z. Background: The study examined students’ perception of the learning utility of PowerPoint in post-secondary business classrooms in the US and India and the relationship of the use of PowerPoint to course ratings. Methodology: Surveys were distributed in post-secondary business classrooms in India and the US in 2018 and early 2019, resulting in 92 completions from India and 127 from the US. Separately 50 student course evaluations from the same US college were compared to the use of slides as well as to their conformance to the “rules of thumb” for effectiveness established earlier and other measures of quality. Contribution: These results show how PowerPoint is viewed by post-secondary business students in India and the US and its perceived utility as a learning tool for Generations Y and Z. Findings: Most post-secondary business students (80%) found PowerPoint an effective learning tool, but only 21% of the business classes examined used it. US students were more positive than Indian ones, who were more likely to say PowerPoint is overused. There was no difference in student course evaluations between those that had slides and those that did not. However, most of the slide decks examined did not follow the “rules of thumb,” exhibiting a much greater number of words per slide. Generations Y and Z gave high ratings to slides that incorporated audiovisuals, mixed media, and special effects and said they learned more when they were the ones who created the slides. However, most students did not rate themselves as competent in creation of PowerPoint slides. Recommendations for Practitioners: (1) Faculty should consider students’ positive reception of PowerPoint, their preference for adaptive, interactive learning that builds on strong multimedia elements while creating instructional materials. (2) Faculty should receive prescriptive design instruction for incorporating PowerPoint best practices to cut back on their self-reported high time spent on slide creation and student-reported low technical competency in faculty instruction. (3) Publishers should concentrate on slide design and innovativeness along with content coverage to serve faculty needs. (4) Business curricula should take into account generational as well as cultural differences in learning preferences. (5) To address the students’ conflation of personal social media prowess with superior technology or communication skills in the professional context, Business curricula should incorporate learning outcomes related to professional use of technology tools such as PowerPoint. Recommendations for Researchers: There is still utility in old-fashioned paper questionnaires to assess what impacts student learning. There is also merit in comparing student course evaluations with various in-classroom treatments. Impact on Society: PowerPoint may be underused in the post-secondary business classroom, but this paper raises questions about the value of unedited use of the very dense slides provided by publishers as effective learning tools in the post-secondary business classroom. Future Research: Future research can be focused on the use of PowerPoint slides in the business classroom in other countries and cultures, as only the US and India were examined. Further examination needs to be made of the relationship between extensive and unedited use of publisher-provided slides and the reporting of the staggering statistics that most students are not now buying textbooks. Finally, this study did not touch on gender or socio-economic differences in the student demographics, which might open further avenues for investigation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Linden ◽  
Randall Boyes ◽  
Heather Stuart

BACKGROUND: Canadian post-secondary students are considered to be at risk for chronic stress and languishing mental health, but there has been no longitudinal analysis of the available population-level data. The purpose of this study was to examine trends in the overall and sex-specific prevalence of self-reported stress, distress, mental illness, and help seeking behaviours among Canadian post-secondary students over the past several years. METHODS: Using the 2013, 2016, and 2019 iterations of the National College Health Assessment II Canadian Reference data, we conducted a trend analysis for each variable of interest, stratified by sex. The significance and magnitude of the changes were modelled using cumulative linked ordinal regression models and log binomial regression models.RESULTS: With few exceptions, we observed significant increases over time in the proportion of students reporting symptoms of psychological distress, mental illness diagnoses, and help seeking for mental health related challenges. Female students reported a higher level of stress than male students, with a statistically significant increase in the stress level reported by female students observed over time. In all cases, larger proportions of female students were observed compared to male students, with the proportion of female students who self-reported mental illness diagnoses nearly doubling that of males. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis indicated that the proportion of students self-reporting mental health related challenges, including stress, psychological distress, and diagnosed mental illnesses increased between the 2013, 2016 and 2019 iterations of the NCHA II conducted among Canadian post-secondary students.


Author(s):  
Lma Nezar Suliman, Moeen Nsrawen

  This study aimed to identify level of emotional stability and its relationship with constituting of friendships and family adjustment among students in the preparatory stage in Al- Buiena. The study sample consisted of (285) male and female students in the preparatory stage in Al- Buiena in Palestine in the second semester of the school year (2018/2019). To achieve the aim of the study, the researcher developed an Emotional Stability Scale, Constituting of Friendships Scale, and Family Adjustment Scale. Validity and reliability for the scales were obtained. The results showed that the levels of emotional stability and constituting of friendships and family adjustment among students in the preparatory stage were moderate. The results showed that there was a positive correlation between emotional stability and constituting of friendships and family adjustment among students in the preparatory stage. Several recommendations and suggestions were provided including the need for future research investigating the relationships between the emotional stability, and constituting of friendships, and family adjustment among other populations in the Palestinian society and using other student’s samples and to compare their results with the ones reported in the current study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Roy Douglas ◽  
Michael Landry

Because of the large number of post-secondary English for academic purposes (EAP) programs and the varying ways they are structured, it can be difficult to identify how a particular program fits within the overall landscape of university education.  To identify general trends across Canada, the webpages for 74 EAP programs at 50 public English-medium universities were examined for key information related to each program.  Data analysis included descriptive statistics as well as graphical representation.  The results pointed to typical EAP programs that are independent units that offer non-credit courses with some credit options, have international tuition fees around $9,000 per semester, provide approximately 22 hours of instruction per week, and generally require IELTS scores over 5.0 or TOEFL iBT scores over 59 for entry.  These results provide an avenue of comparison and indicate the need for future research to better understand how EAP programming is conceptualized in the Canadian context.


Author(s):  
Tracii Ryan ◽  
Kelly A. Allen ◽  
DeLeon L. Gray ◽  
Dennis M. McInerney

The use of social media is rapidly increasing, and one of the major discussions of the 21st century revolves around how the use of these applications will impact on the social relationships of users. To contribute to this discussion, we present a brief narrative review highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of social media use on three key aspects of social connectedness: social capital, sense of community, and loneliness. The results indicate that using social media can increase social capital, lead to the formation of friendships and communities, and reduce loneliness. However, some social media site users may experience weakening friendships, online ostracism, and heightened loneliness. Therefore, we argue that the use of social media has contradictory effects on social connectedness. Moreover, the direction of these outcomes is contingent upon who is using the site and how they are using it. Based on these arguments, possible directions for future research are discussed. It is recommended that discourse be continued relating to the association between online social behaviour and connectedness, as this will enable researchers to establish whether the positive outcomes of social media use outweigh the negative.


2001 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Kimi Kondo-Brown

The “intergenerational transmission” of heritage languages (HLs) is crucial to the vitality of heritage language communities (especially for indigenous communities, where immigration is not a source of new speakers). We know, however, that HLs in the United States often do NOT survive well from one generation to the next as the shift to English takes place. In conjunction with the Second National Conference on Heritage Languages in America, a small group of researchers met to discuss priorities for research on intergenerational transmission of languages. Each of the ten researchers who participated prepared a short paper, posing research questions with some commentary to guide future research. Those papers form the major part of this article, covering topics related to language ecological patterns (in communities, families, and institutions), language ideology, measurement issues, and literacy.


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