“Goldilocks” gender mix for maximal innovation likelihood at Indian firms

PurposeGender diversity is known to trigger creative and relationship conflicts alike, the former a boon for innovation and the latter a bane. This study aims to explore the possibility of a gender mix that is “just right” for balancing the intensities of varied forms of conflict to boost innovation in firms in India. Specifically, this paper investigated the presence of an optimal level of women as a percentage of the firm’s full-time permanent employees (Percent-Women) that maximized the firm’s likelihood of product innovation (Product–Innovation–Likelihood).Design/methodology/approachLogistic regression analyses of firm-level data of Indian establishments of varied sizes and industries from World Bank Enterprise Surveys 2014 was performed. Instrumental variable addressed the potential endogeneity of Percent-Women.FindingsThe analysis demonstrated an inverted U-shaped relationship between Product–Innovation–Likelihood and Percent-Women. Product–Innovation–Likelihood peaked when Percent-Women lay between 35% and 58%, i.e. when the firm was gender-balanced or close to it.Practical implicationsThe finding of an optimal level of female inclusion presents to firms a defined target of gender mix to be achieved, failing to which they may be limiting their innovation potential. It compels firms to view gender diversity as a business imperative with definite implications for their long-term performance.Social implicationsFor India, the demonstrated relationship between workplace gender diversity and innovation brings additional reason and urgency to public initiatives, such as female literacy, for boosting female economic engagement. Innovation can power the next stage of the Indian growth story by engaging the heretofore insufficiently tapped female worker.Originality/valueBy demonstrating an optimal degree of female inclusion at which innovation potential peaks, the study reconciled opposing theories of diversity-driven conflicts and went beyond the commonly observed simple linear relationship between female inclusion and innovation. Further, the paper focused on India, a major developing economy with a vast female populace and growing innovation ambitions but scarcely researched for gender diversity’s role in innovation.

Gendered impacts of climate-smart agriculture on household food security and labor migration: insights from Bihar, India

Purpose Increasing trends of climatic risk pose challenges to the food security and livelihoods of smallholders in vulnerable regions, where farmers often face loss of the entire crop, pushing farmers (mostly men) out of agriculture in destitution, creating a situation of agricultural making agriculture highly feminization and compelling male farmers to out-migrate. Climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs) are promoted to cope with climatic risks. This study aims to assess how knowledge related to CSAPs, male out-migration, education and income contribute to the determinants of male out-migration and CSAPs adoption and how they respond to household food security. Design/methodology/approach Sex-disaggregated primary data were collected from adopter and non-adopter farm families. STATA 13.1 was used to perform principle component analysis to construct knowledge, yield and income indices. Findings Yield and income index of adopters was higher for men than women. The probability of out-migration reduced by 21% with adoption of CSAPs. An increase in female literacy by 1 unit reduces log of odds to migrate by 0.37. With every unit increase in knowledge index, increase in log-odds of CSAPs adoption was 1.57. Male:female knowledge gap was less among adopters. Non-adopters tended to reduce food consumption when faced with climatic risks significantly, and the probability of migration increased by 50% with a one-unit fall in the nutrition level, thus compelling women to work more in agriculture. Gender-equitable enhancement of CSAP knowledge is, therefore, key to safeguarding sustainable farming systems and improving livelihoods. Social implications The enhancement of gender equitable knowledge on CSAPs is key to safeguard sustainable farming systems and improved livelihoods. Originality/value This study is based on the robust data sets of 100 each of male and female from 100 households (n = 200) using well-designed and validated survey instrument. From 10 randomly selected climate-smart villages in Samastipur and Vaishali districts of Bihar, India, together with focus group discussions, the primary data were collected by interviewing both men and women from the same household.

A Mirror of Society: Feminist Advocacy in Emilia Pardo Bazán's Short Stories

<p>This thesis is concerned with the manner in which the fin de siècle Spanish writer Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851–1921) disseminated her feminist views through her short stories published in popular newspapers and journals. As a female writer, she incurred the ire of many of her male contemporaries, challenging them both personally with her feminist views, and professionally, with her erudition and immense literary output. In this thesis I offer firstly an overview of Spanish society during Pardo Bazán’s lifetime with particular reference to the situation of women and go on to outline her life and most significant achievements, literary and otherwise, with a view to contextualising the narrative analysis which follows. Twelve of Pardo Bazán’s selected short stories are analysed in the light of the feminist topics which she addressed in several of her essays and, where possible, I correlate these stories with the relevant essays. In particular, I examine issues of female literacy, legal rights and prostitution, as well as the gendered double standards of the time in the area of religious observance and, in particular, the double moral standard. I also examine stories where women did exercise a degree of agency and act in ways that went against patriarchal standards of behaviour, making life-changing decisions. I argue that in these twelve stories, it is evident that not only is each one able to be read as seemingly conforming with the mores of the patriarchal society, but that each one also has a veiled subtext where the injustices suffered by the female protagonists are made evident. Thus, I show that these stories align with Pardo Bazán’s essays and promote her broader feminist views to the reader willing to consider them.</p>

A Mirror of Society: Feminist Advocacy in Emilia Pardo Bazán's Short Stories

<p>This thesis is concerned with the manner in which the fin de siècle Spanish writer Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851–1921) disseminated her feminist views through her short stories published in popular newspapers and journals. As a female writer, she incurred the ire of many of her male contemporaries, challenging them both personally with her feminist views, and professionally, with her erudition and immense literary output. In this thesis I offer firstly an overview of Spanish society during Pardo Bazán’s lifetime with particular reference to the situation of women and go on to outline her life and most significant achievements, literary and otherwise, with a view to contextualising the narrative analysis which follows. Twelve of Pardo Bazán’s selected short stories are analysed in the light of the feminist topics which she addressed in several of her essays and, where possible, I correlate these stories with the relevant essays. In particular, I examine issues of female literacy, legal rights and prostitution, as well as the gendered double standards of the time in the area of religious observance and, in particular, the double moral standard. I also examine stories where women did exercise a degree of agency and act in ways that went against patriarchal standards of behaviour, making life-changing decisions. I argue that in these twelve stories, it is evident that not only is each one able to be read as seemingly conforming with the mores of the patriarchal society, but that each one also has a veiled subtext where the injustices suffered by the female protagonists are made evident. Thus, I show that these stories align with Pardo Bazán’s essays and promote her broader feminist views to the reader willing to consider them.</p>

Evaluating Community Factors Associated With Individually Held Intimate Partner Violence Beliefs Across 51 Countries

Globally, one in three women will experience intimate partner violence (IPV) within her lifetime. IPV attitudes are highly predictive of IPV. While a wealth of literature on risk factors related to IPV exist, an overarching critique in the field is the lack of studies examining risk factors across the socioecological framework. Using data from multiple administrative and individual surveys, this study fills a gap in the literature by evaluating the effect of meso-influences on physical IPV attitudes (i.e., permissibility of a man beating his wife) while accounting for known micro- and macro-risk factors in 64,466 individuals across 51 low-, middle- and high-income countries. Mixed-effects modeling was used to evaluate factors and identify comparative contributions of each factor representing the socio-ecological levels. We tested five multivariate logistic models. The final model indicated that greater perceived neighborhood disorder and less perceived neighborhood security were associated with physical IPV attitudes, while individual endorsement of interpersonal violence, belief in corporal punishment of children, holding greater patriarchal beliefs, being male, being separated from a significant partner, reporting greater household hunger and nationally lower levels of female literacy were associated with beliefs that IPV is acceptable. Overall, the findings of this study support that IPV is a complex behavior, influenced by factors across socio-ecological domains. However, data on neighborhood structural factors (i.e., exosystem) would help unpack the mechanisms between macro-, meso- and micro-level factors and may be important for protecting women from violence.

Association between Mother’s Literacy and INFANT & Young Child Feeding (IYCF) Practices and Nutritional Status of Urban under 5 Year Children

Aim: To assess the association of mother’s literacy status with infant & young child feeding (IYCF) practices and nutritional status of urban under 5 year children. Methods: A community based cross- sectional study was carried out among 356 urban children under 5 years from 30 randomly selected Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) in Hyderabad, during 2017-18. The information regarding infant & young child feeding (IYCF) practices was obtained from the mothers of under 5 year children. Anthropometric measurements such as height and weight of all the children were measured adopting standard procedures and using standard anthropometric equipment. Results: About half of the mothers reportedly initiated breast feeding to their newborns within one hour of birth. The proportion of mothers fed pre-lacteals and colostrum to newborn was 35% and 96% respectively. A higher proportion of literate mothers (45.1%) exclusively breast fed their infants for the first 6 months as compared to their illiterate counterparts (32.9%). Significantly a higher proportion (63.3%) of literate mothers initiated complementary feeding to their infants soon after completion of 6 months as against 50% in illiterate mothers (p<0.05). The proportion of children with undernutrition i.e. underweight, stunting and wasting was 38.5%, 40.6% and 16.8%, respectively. The prevalence of underweight and stunting was significantly (p<0.05) higher among the children of illiterate mothers as compared to literate mothers. Conclusion: In general, mother’s literacy was significantly associated with the IYCF practices as well as nutritional status of their children. Therefore, respective Governments should initiate appropriate measures to increase female literacy levels in India.

The black box of delegated writing: Early Modern scribes and female literacy in The Netherlands

Apart from literacy rates and reading and writing acquisition, the actual writing practices of the past, which include the phenomenon of delegated writing, belong to a history of literacy. Delegated writing occurred when illiterate or partly literate individuals wanted to keep in contact with relatives at a distance and had to rely on the assistance of professional or social scribes. The details of this process and the role played by the sender of a letter and its actual, usually unknown, scribe often remain unclear, although different scenarios may be assumed. Cultural historian Lyons explored scenarios for delegated writing in France, Italy and Spain in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focusing on the writing of ordinary people during the First World War and in the age of mass migration. For the Dutch language area, we have the opportunity to delve further back in time by exploring the late-seventeenth-century part of the Letters as Loot (LAL) corpus. This corpus previously allowed us to establish linguistic differences between autographs and non-autographs. For a detailed view of the delegated writing process, however, the LAL corpus also provides us with instances of two types of letters written by the same, identified, female scribes: their own letters and the letters they wrote for others. A comparative analysis of these different letters will be shown to contribute to opening the black box of Early Modern delegated writing.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) about Sexual Harassment at Workplace: A Roadmap for Sustainable Workplaces

Globalization, its corollaries -increased female literacy levels and rapid urbanization, has brought a radical change in women worldwide. However, with the more significant influx of women in India's mainstream workforce, sexual harassment at the workplace has assumed more critical dimensions. Assessment of the awareness, attitudes, and perception of colleagues towards the victim, victimization, and the wrongdoer through a KAP research methodology which is meant to be a representative survey of a target population, forms the central focus of the study. The sample size was 512 respondents from public and private sector undertakings. The structured questionnaire consisted of four core sections ranging from including respondent’s socio-demographic characteristics to including questions regarding the assessment of respondents' knowledge of sexual harassment at the workplace and committee to address the issue, their attitudes towards sexual harassment at the workplace, and inquiries about practice towards sexual harassment at workplace. The study affirms, firstly, both public and private sector organizations lack in their rehabilitative approach towards the victim. Secondly, the co-workers' approach both in the private and public sector lacks sensitivity and includes victim-blaming. Thirdly, there is a need for sensitization training of ICC members. Building Safe workplaces is a prerequisite to building sustainable workplaces.

Acceptance of birth spacing methods and it’s determinants among postnatal women in a tertiary care setting from Kerala

Background: According to VISION FP2020 healthy birth spacing is defined as delaying the first birth by two years and maintaining the birth interval of at least three years between the two children with the help of various contraceptives.Methods: This was a hospital based cross sectional study conducted among primiparous postnatal women in the department of obstetrics and gynecology SAT hospital, Trivandrum for one year duration. 134 women who had their first delivery were included in this study. A semi structured questionnaire was used to study the sociodemographic variables, reproductive history, contraceptive knowledge, attitude towards contraception and intention to use birth spacing methods by interview technique.Results: The acceptance of birth spacing methods among the study population was 56.8%. 59.1% opted to use family planning methods 6 weeks after delivery while 40.9% planned to use after 6 months. Determinants which were significantly associated with acceptance of family planning methods were education of wife (p<0.01), husbands’ education, socioeconomic status, religion and contraceptive awareness (p<0.01). 47.1% of women preferred DMPA injections, 39.1% opted for intrauterine devices. 13.8% of women opted for condom. Convenience, long term protection, and ease of use were the important reasons cited. The reasons for non-acceptance included fear of side effects, spouse not staying together, opposition from husbands, lack of awareness and religious restrictions.Conclusions: Female literacy, accessibility, cafeteria approach, and counselling contributed to acceptance. If the availability and awareness of injectable contraceptives is made at all the points of health delivery system, the acceptance of birth spacing can further be increased and unplanned pregnancies avoided.

Factors Affecting Food Accessibility of Rural Households:A Study in Birbhum, West Bengal

In view of the goal of achieving ‘Zero Hunger’ by 2030 set in the United Nations Summit, 2015, the present study makes an attempt to identify the determinants of food accessibility of rural households in six selected villages of two blocks of the district of Birbhum, West Bengal. Food accessibility implies ability to acquire food through various means. The study is based on primary data collected from field survey in a few sample villages. The total sample size is 500. Food accessibility of the households is analysed in terms of their monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) on food. This calculated MPCE has been compared with the MPCE on food as per the minimum food basket for rural India set by the Planning Commission in 2014. The households have been classified into two groups, viz, households lying above the specified threshold of food accessibility are considered to be those having food accessibility and households below that cut off of food accessibility are taken to be those not having that accessibility. Logit regression, applied for finding out the determinants, reveals that number of years of education of the heads of the households, female literacy rate, monthly income of the households, work force participation rate positively influences food accessibility, while monthly expenses on intoxicants have a deterring effect on food accessibility of the households. The study suggests that access to sustainable employment opportunities for the poor can be the most important solution for achieving ‘Zero Hunger’.