Examining potential gender bias in automated-job alerts in the Spanish market

Numerous field experiments based on the correspondence testing procedure have documented that gender bias influences personnel selection processes. Nowadays, algorithms and job platforms are used for personnel selection processes because of their supposed neutrality, efficiency, and costs savings. However, previous research has shown that algorithms can exhibit and even amplify gender bias. The present research aimed to explore a possible gender bias in automated-job alerts generated in InfoJobs, a popular job platform in Spain. Based on the correspondence testing procedure, we designed eight matched resumes in which we manipulated the gender of the candidate for two different professional sectors (female-dominated vs. male-dominated) and two different levels of age (24 vs. 38). We examined the 3,438 offers received. No significant differences were observed in the automated-job alerts received by female and male candidates as a function of occupation category, salary, and the number of long-term contracts included in the alerts. However, we found significant differences between the female-dominated and the male-dominated sectors in all the mentioned variables. Some limitations and implications of the study are discussed. The data and materials for this research are available at the Open Science Framework, https://osf.io/kptca/.

Seroprevalence of COVID-19 among health workers in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal (SEVID-KaV): a longitudinal cohort study

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) burden is often underestimated when relying on case-based incidence reports. Seroprevalence studies accurately estimate infectious disease burden by estimating the population that has developed antibodies following an infection. Sero-Epidemiology of COVID-19 in the Kathmandu valley (SEVID-KaV) is a longitudinal survey of hospital-based health workers in the Kathmandu valley. Between December 3-25, we sampled 800 health workers from 20 hospitals and administered a questionnaire eliciting COVID-19 related history and tested for COVID-19 IgG antibodies. We then used a probabilistic multilevel regression model with post-stratification to correct for test accuracy, the effect of hospital-based clustering, and to establish representativeness. 522 (65.2%) of the participants were female, 372 (46%) were between ages 18-29, and 7 (0.9%) were 60 or above. 287 (36%) of the participants were nurses. About 23% of the participants previously had a PCR positive infection. 321 (40.13%) individuals tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies. Adjusted for test accuracy and weighted by age, gender and occupation category, the seroprevalence was 38.17% (95% Credible Interval (CrI) 29.26%–47.82%). Posterior predictive hospital-wise seroprevalence ranged between 38.1% (95% CrI 30.7.0%– 44.1%) and 40.5% (95% CrI 34.7%–47.0%).

Direct Care Workforce: Where the Boys Really Are

Purpose: This study describes the continued growth of male direct care workers (DCWs) and identifies the occupations with the greatest concentrations of male DCWs by utilizing the expanded information available in the 2018 American Community Survey (ACS). Design and Methods: Data were taken from the 1% Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) from the 2018 ACS. Beginning in 2018, the ACS separated the single occupation category nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides into three categories: home health aides, nursing assistants, and orderlies and psychiatric aides. Results: Between 2000 and 2018, the total number of male DCWs in the U.S. increased 118% to 474,925, with more than half (52.6%) in 2018 employed as nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides. Among these 250,139 aides, 62% (154,557) were employed as nursing assistants, 23% (57,126) worked as home health aides, and 15% (38,456) were employed as orderlies and psychiatric aides. However, 60% of all orderlies and psychiatric aides were male; this was the only occupation in the direct care workforce in which men were in the majority. Implications: The majority of male DCWs work as nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides and the new occupation classifications in the ACS reveal that while most work as nursing assistants and home health aides, the one occupation with a majority male workforce was orderlies and psychiatric aides. These findings suggest that the greatest need for male DCWs may be as orderlies and psychiatric aides, occupations in which size and physical strength are important factors.

Statistical Investigation of Determining Factors of Rural Households’ Income: Evidence from South Eastern Ethiopia

This study pinpointed determining factors of rural households’ income with reference to Sinana district, South Eastern Ethiopia using Micro econometric analysis. To conduct this investigation, household level data is gathered from 267 randomly selected rural household heads from four kebeles of the district. Descriptive statistics and econometric model were used for the analysis of primary data. The result of descriptive statistics showed that 71.5% of the sampled household heads were involved in farming occupation category whereas the rest 12% and 16.5% were involved in government job and trading occupation categories, respectively. The result confirmed that farming occupation category is the prominent source of income for the rural households in the study district. The result of classical linear regression depicted that age of household head, land holding size, annual expenditure and total livestock holding were significant determining factors of annual total income. Square root transformation was made on annual income to decrease the variance and the result further revealed that square root of annual total income increases with the increase in land holding size, annual expenditure and total livestock holding whereas decreases with the increase in age of household head. In order to accelerate the diversification of the annual income of rural communities, those significant variables could get special focus by policy makers and development agents.

Socio-economic position and lower dietary moderation among Chinese immigrant women in the USA

ObjectiveTo examine associations of education and occupation, as indicators of socio-economic position (SEP), with dietary intake and diet quality in a sample of Chinese immigrant women.DesignCross-sectional. Data collection included four days of dietary recalls and information on education and current occupation for participants and their spouses.SettingPhiladelphia, PA, USA.SubjectsChinese immigrant women (n 423) recruited from October 2005 to April 2008.ResultsIn multivariate models, both higher education level and occupation category were significantly associated with higher energy density and intake of energy and sugar. Education was additionally associated with intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (P = 0·01) and lower dietary moderation (P = 0·01). With joint categorization based on both education and occupation, we observed significant trends indicating higher energy density (P = 0·004) and higher intake of energy (P = 0·001) and sugar (P = 0·04), but less dietary moderation (P = 0·02) with higher SEP.ConclusionsIn this sample of US Chinese immigrants, higher SEP as indicated by education level and occupation category was associated with differences in dietary intake and with less dietary moderation. While higher SEP is typically linked to healthier diet in higher-income nations, in these immigrants the association of SEP with diet follows the pattern of their country of origin – a lower-income country undergoing the nutrition transition.

Put Yourself in My Work Shoes

Level and type of spousal shared work has been oversimplified in past research. This research proposes that being similar to a spouse, in the case of paidwork, differs depending on whether spouses shareworkplace, occupation, or both. And this level and type of similarity can influence the level and qualitative characteristics of work-related spousal support as an indicator of marital satisfaction. The results of this study are based on 52 individual semistructured interviews with each member of 26 professional married couples for whom work is shared in terms of occupation, workplace, both, or neither. The level and characteristics of spousal support vary to some extent by occupation pattern. Most strikingly, people who share both occupation and workplace feel that they work closely with their spouses and that working together has been beneficial to their marriages. However, the components of working together qualitatively vary by occupation category.