Perceptual Facilitators for and Barriers to Career Progression: A Qualitative Study With Female Early Stage Investigators in Health Sciences.

PURPOSE: Despite efforts to increase the representation of women in the national scientific workforce, results still lag. While women's representation in health-related sciences has increased substantially, women remain underrepresented in senior leadership roles. This study was conducted to elucidate influences at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and societal levels that present as barriers to and facilitators for advancement in research careers for women, with the goal of promoting and retaining a more diverse leadership. METHOD: The authors conducted individual, 1-hour, in-depth, semistructured interviews with 15 female early stage investigators pursuing careers in health sciences research at a large minority-serving institution in Florida in 2018. Interview guides were designed by using a social ecological framework to understand the influence of multilevel systems. Employing a qualitative approach, drawing from a phenomenological orientation, 2 researchers independently coded transcripts and synthesized codes into broad themes. RESULTS: Barriers and facilitators were reported at all ecological levels explored. Illustrative quotations reflect the unequal distribution of familial responsibilities that compete with career advancement, family members' lack of understanding of the demands of a research career, the importance of female mentors, perceived differences in the roles and expectations of female and male faculty at institutions, and normative upheld values that influence early career progression. CONCLUSIONS: Achieving pervasive and sustained changes that move toward gender equity in research requires solutions that address multilevel, explicit and implicit influences on women's advancement in science. Suggestions include shifting familial and institutional norms, creating support systems for women with female mentors, and enforcing consistent policies regarding the roles and expectations of faculty. Findings shed light on the influence of gender on career progression by providing context for the experiences of women and underscore the importance of addressing pervasive societal and structural systems that maintain inequities hindering women's progress in the scientific workforce.

Gender and Ethnicity in Dating, Hanging Out, and Hooking Up: Sexual Scripts Among Hispanic and White Young Adults.

We examined the scripts associated with heterosexual Hispanic and White young adults' most recent initial sexual or romantic encounter using two samples of heterosexual undergraduates: 224 Hispanic students (49% female) and 316 White students (51% female). Scripts were identified for three types of encounters: dating, hanging out, and hooking up. The three scripts had more than half of their actions in common. Items such as get to know one another, feel aroused, and engage in physical contact were present across all scripts for all participant groups. As expected, traditional gender roles were present within all scripts, but more so for dates than for hangouts and hookups. Men reported a higher presence of traditional gender roles than women across scripts and put a higher priority on the goal of physical intimacy across all scripts. Dating was the most prevalent script for all young adults, contradicting contemporary claims that "dating is dead." In terms of ethnicity, a higher proportion of Hispanic than White young adults went on dates, and a higher proportion of White students went on hookups, implying that social and contextual variables are important in understanding young adults' intimate relationships.

Feminism and psychology: analysis of a half-century of research on women and gender.

Starting in the 1960s, feminists argued that the discipline of psychology had neglected the study of women and gender and misrepresented women in its research and theories. Feminists also posed many questions worthy of being addressed by psychological science. This call for research preceded the emergence of a new and influential body of research on gender and women that grew especially rapidly during the period of greatest feminist activism. The descriptions of this research presented in this article derive from searches of the journal articles cataloged by PsycINFO for 1960-2009. These explorations revealed (a) a concentration of studies in basic research areas investigating social behavior and individual dispositions and in many applied areas, (b) differing trajectories of research on prototypical topics, and (c) diverse theoretical orientations that authors have not typically labeled as feminist. The considerable dissemination of this research is evident in its dispersion beyond gender-specialty journals into a wide range of other journals, including psychology's core review and theory journals, as well as in its coverage in introductory psychology textbooks. In this formidable body of research, psychological science has reflected the profound changes in the status of women during the last half-century and addressed numerous questions that these changes have posed. Feminism served to catalyze this research area, which grew beyond the bounds of feminist psychology to incorporate a very large array of theories, methods, and topics.

Community interventions concerning homophobic violence and partner violence against lesbians.

SUMMARY Homophobic violence and same-sex domestic violence against lesbians are described in this paper based on survey research and hotline calls conducted by a community anti-violence project. A community survey of 229 lesbians indicated that during a one-year period, about fifteen percent had been the target of homophobic violence and twelve percent had been the victim of same-sex partner violence. Violence was defined as including assault with a weapon, physical assault, sexual assault, stalking, and property destruction. The prevalence study was contrasted with actual hotline calls from lesbians during a five-year period. Examples illustrate how interventions based on these findings were used to influence police response, victim services, and legislation.

The impact of group membership on lesbians' physical appearance.

Abstract The impact of lesbian group membership upon physical appearance was examined among 81 young lesbians (ages 18-30) who participated in a questionnaire study. Most participants indicated making distinct but modest changes in their physical appearance after coming out as lesbians. These changes were in the direction of their pre-coming out conceptions of lesbians as being butch or androgynous in appearance. A majority reported cutting their hair shorter, wearing more comfortable shoes, or adopting a less traditionally feminine appearance after coming out. Participants also said they significantly less often wore dresses, used makeup, and shaved their legs and underarms. A significant decrease in body weight concern also occurred after coming out. Other changes in physical appearance are discussed. Participants believed that the changes were influenced by the opinions of other lesbians, their desire to signal prospective partners, and by becoming more comfortable with themselves. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of peer group norms, group identity, and sexual signaling.

Lesbian dating and courtship from young adulthood to midlife.

Abstract Lesbian dating and courtship were explored based on interviews with 38 predominantly white lesbians (ages 22-63) representing young adult, adult, and midlife age groups. Friendship was found to be the most widely used courtship script across all age groups, followed by the sexually explicit and romance scripts, with friendship and romance scripts being preferred. Unique aspects of lesbian dating cited by participants included freedom from gender roles, heightened intimacy/friendship, the rapid pace of lesbian relationship development, and the effects of prejudice. Friendship was found to be differentiated from romance by two main criteria: emotional intensity and sexual energy or contact. Verbal declarations of interest and nonverbal behaviors were the primary means of communicating sexual attraction. Few lesbians adhered to traditional gender roles in dating, and those who reported assuming the feminine reactive role nevertheless rejected the traditional notion that women should limit sexual contact. Overall, midlife lesbians were more purposive in their dating and more free from gender roles. Specifically, they were more concerned about the "attachment-worthiness" of a prospective partner and were significantly more likely than young adults to view dating as having a serious goal, to proceed at a rapid pace, to ask for a date, and to initiate physical intimacy.