Gender Stereotyping of Robotic Systems in Eldercare: An Exploratory Analysis of Ethical Problems and Possible Solutions

Socio psychological studies show that gender stereotypes play an important role in human-robot interaction. However, they may have various morally problematic implications and consequences that need ethical consideration, especially in a sensitive field like eldercare. Against this backdrop, we conduct an exploratory ethical analysis of moral issues of gender stereotyping in robotics for eldercare. The leading question is what moral problems and conflicts can arise from gender stereotypes in care robots for older people and how we should deal with them. We first provide an overview on the state of empirical research regarding gender stereotyping in human-robot interaction and the special field of care robotics for older people. Starting from a principlist approach, we then map possible moral problems and conflicts with regard to common ethical principles of autonomy, care, and justice. We subsequently consider possible solutions for the development and implementation of morally acceptable robots for eldercare, focusing on three different strategies: explanation, neutralization, and queering of care robots. Finally, we discuss potentials and problems associated with these three strategies and conclude that especially the queering of robotics and the idea of a gender-fluid robot offers an innovative outlook that deserves closer ethical, social, and technological examination.

Barriers to Career Advancement in the Hotel Industry in Timor-Leste: Study of Gender Stereotyping, Old Boys’ Network and Gender Differences

The hotel industry in Timor-Leste is female-dominated. However, women are under-represented in managerial and senior executive positions. This study examines the relative importance of gender stereotyping and old boys’ network variables as barriers that impact women’s and men’s career advancement in the hotel industry in Dili, Timor-Leste. A survey questionnaire was distributed at 20 hotels in Dili, Timor-Leste, and 16 hotels granted approval, represented by 385 individuals (226 women and 159 men). These data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results from this study indicated that gender stereotyping had a significant influence as a barrier to career advancement. Old boy’s network had no significant barrier to the career advancement for both in women versus men comparison. Furthermore, the male group scores higher than the female group in the variables of stereotyping in gender differences analysis as the higher scores represent the biases against women. This study is the first study to examine barriers for individuals’ career advancement in the hotel industry of Dili, Timor-Leste. This study suggests theoretical and practical implications on barriers for men’s and women’s career advancement and mitigates gender inequality in the organization.

Gothic Noir Filmic Male Gaze: Gender Stereotyping in Margaret Atwood’s “The Freeze-Dried Groom”

Stereotyping has been crucial in artistic representations, especially cinema, in the construction of gender paradigms. Males and females have been portrayed by means of simplified unrealistic clichés with the purpose of controlling and constraining them into patriarchal roles and conventions, promoting societal normative ideologies. Noir women are projections of male anxieties about female sexuality and female independence. In “The Freeze-Dried Groom,” Atwood unveils gender stereotyping through a typically film noir male gaze in three of its stock characters: the femme attrapée, the “detective” and the femme fatale. Hence, Atwood depicts a femme fatale to reflect not just on this character in film noir, but also on female identity, gender dynamics and feminism. She exposes and questions the marriage-family institution, and the patriarchal society as a whole.

Cognitive-Based Interventions Break Gender Stereotypes in Kindergarten Children

Despite the growing recognition of gender equality worldwide, plausible strategies that reduce young children’s gender stereotypes remain limited. Cognitive-based interventions have been widely used in school settings and have been suggested to play important roles in children’s gender stereotyping and in their processing of counter-stereotypic information. We aimed to determine whether exposure to counter-stereotypical information could break gender stereotypes in kindergarten children. Fifty-four children (61–79 months old) from two public kindergarten classes in northern Taiwan participated in this study. One of the two classes was randomly selected as the experimental group (n = 28), and the other was the control group (n = 26). The experimental group consisted of a gender equality curriculum including script relationship training for two months, while the control group continued their regular curriculum. The picture classification task (PCT) was measured before and after the intervention to assess gender stereotypes. Before interventions, 87.50% of the children chose a gender stereotypic relationship, while 12.50% chose script/other relationships in PCT. After the interventions, the gender stereotypic relationship dropped to 73.22% in the experimental group. Children in the control group were more likely to maintain their gender stereotypic relationship choices in PCTs. Our findings suggest that cognitive-based interventions, such as a gender equality curriculum, have the potential to break gender stereotypes in kindergarten children.

Gender Stereotyping and Inequality Behind the Slogans: A Case Study in Chinese Tertiary Education

The increasing number of female students in China has contributed to reducing the gender gaps in tertiary education over the past decades; however, the debate about gender inequality in tertiary education is ongoing. This study examines how the slogans on the banners for Girls’ Day celebrations from 2018–2020 on university campuses in mainland China convey male students’ willingness to provide help and support for the perceived academic issues faced by female college students, while surreptitiously conveying gender stereotyping and intelligence quotient (IQ) prejudice in the current university campus culture. These slogans occupy a prominent position on campus and help to evaluate the perceptions of both male and female college students regarding these issues. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with 16 undergraduate students at two universities. The analysis revealed that female IQ bias based on gender stereotyping is an enduring issue, which has been unintentionally inherited from previous generations of Chinese college students. The article reveals that despite the increased number of female college students, “benevolent discrimination” against women still exists in various forms in the campus culture and gender roles have not transformed much. The findings of this study can inform future gender education, orienting its effort towards a clearly identified niche of users.

Women, Gender and Violent Extremism: The Relevance of a Gender-Sensitive Approach in Responses to Female Supporters of Daesh

This paper lays out the complexity of why and how women have supported ISIS. It identifies gendered specifics in women’s pathways towards the group and argues that prevent-, deradicalization- and rehabilitation programmes need to be gender-sensitive in order to adequately respond to these wide-ranging motivations, drivers and gender-specific catalysing factors. It explores women’s different roles in ISIS and points to challenges in law-enforcement and judicial responses to women in ISIS, arguing that a gender-sensitive, case-by-case approach is crucial in order to avoid (subconscious) gender-stereotyping of women and to ensure gendered factors including issues around agency and criminal liability as well as women’s experiences while in the Islamic State are taken into account.

Representation of Gender Stereotyping Resistance Through Instagram Social Media (Critical Discourse Analysis on Instagram @Joviadhiguna)

Androgynous groups are a minority group still considered deviant in Indonesia as a person's gender is identified based on appearance. The study was conducted to see how one androgynous individual, Jovi Adhiguna, represented his resistance to gender stereotypes through his Instagram. This qualitative study applies the critical discourse analysis from S.Jager and F.Maier in analyzing the content on @joviadhiguna Instagram account as the data. This study uses Stuart Hall's representation theory. The results showed that Jovi visualized his androgynous style and expressed a resistance form to gender stereotypes in criticism conveyed through Instagram content.