In this Saturday Feb. 27, 2016, file photo, then-presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio holds rally in front of the Space Shuttle Pathfinder exhibit at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. In an announcement Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center said it will restore the world’s only full-sized mockup of the space shuttle along with its external fuel tank and twin rocket boosters. (Bob Gathany/The Huntsville Times via AP, File)
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Alabama announced plans Tuesday to restore the world’s only full-sized mockup of a space shuttle coupled with an external fuel tank and twin rocket boosters.
The shuttle test model, called Pathfinder, has been weathering outside the museum in Huntsville for more than three decades. The restoration work will be funded with a $500,000 federal grant and additional corporate donations, officials said.
The shuttle mockup was mated with a huge fuel tank and two prototype solid-rocket boosters for display at the state-owned museum in 1988. The multimillion refurbishment will take several years and involve removing the display, repairing it and returning it to its giant concrete stand.
Consisting of a shuttle-shaped metal frame covered with sheeting, Pathfinder was originally used to test ground handling, transportation and other procedures for the space shuttle. Once testing was completed and it wasn’t further needed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Pathfinder was outfitted with fiberglass, plywood panels and engines to more closely resemble an actual shuttle.
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Women applying to jobs in male-dominated fields often try to overcome sexism by altering their cover letters to sound less feminine. But that practice might actually be hurting their chances of landing a job, a new study out of U of T Mississauga reveals.
Examining real cover letters to a variety of actual jobs and analyzing applications to an MBA program, Joyce He, a Ph.D. candidate at U of T’s Rotman School of Management, found that women applying for jobs in male-dominated fields would respond to anticipated bias by using less feminine language to deliberately manage gender impressions. While they did not use more masculine language, they did try to conceal their femininity.
That would mean avoiding words that are stereotypically associated with women, which include sensitive, interpersonal, empathetic, helpful, warm and friendly. Examples of words that people associate with masculinity, meanwhile, include competitive, ambitious, confident, outspoken and entrepreneurial.
Notably, words identified as masculine hold higher value in the business world. That’s why associations are made with respect to gender and probability of success, says Sonia Kang, an associate professor at U of T Mississauga’s Department of Management and co-author of the study published in Academy of Management.
“When we see those kinds of words, it’s a cue not only to the fact that this is going to be a man, but also this person is going to be better suited to this particular position,” explains Kang. “That’s why language in all these application materials is so important. They cue to more than just identity.”
He adds that research suggests women’s identity is devalued when they apply for male-dominated jobs and they tend to anticipate discrimination or bias in the selection process.
“They need to hide the devalued part, the feminine side, which is why they use this strategy,” she says, adding that men do not engage in the same behavior when applying for female-dominated roles.
But these attempts by women applicants to manage gender impressions can actually backfire because they clash with deeply entrenched cultural stereotypes.
He explains that there’s an unspoken rule regarding how men and women should act. “Men should behave competitively and dominantly, and women should behave more friendly and communal,” she says. “When you go against the rules or expectations, women especially can receive this backlash or penalty.”
She notes that women who behave counter-stereotypically are seen as more competent but also less likable, which in turn means they are less likely to be hired or even promoted.
This is related to the double-bind women face, Kang continues. She explains that stereotypes suggest men should be in charge because they’re assertive and decisive and get things done. When women take on that role, they’re seen as competent but are less likely to be liked. At the same time, women contend with the stereotype that they should be more nurturing and communal. When women act in line with those gendered stereotypes, they end up being liked but are seen as less competent.
“You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” Kang says, adding men don’t have to navigate the same no-win situation. “If (men) are super confident, people don’t care if they’re likable.”
He says that the onus shouldn’t be on women (or minorities) to try to navigate the different biases in the labor market. The onus should be on organizations to reduce bias, which is the root of the problem.
He is now shifting her research focus to design interventions that help de-bias the selection process, saying there’s promising new work focused on systemic problems that target the environment, which is a more powerful way to change behavior. That can include anonymized evaluations or reviewing applications in sets instead of individually.
But systemic solutions take a long time to implement and job seekers can’t wait.
Kang suggests women forced to contend with existing biases in the labor market should approach job applications like an experiment and find what works for them and is successful. That might mean changing how different activities are presented or how a person writes about themself.
“The work really shows it doesn’t help to pretend to be something you’re not,” Kang says. “I know it sounds pithy but be yourself is the takeaway here.”
More information:
Joyce C. He et al. Covering in Cover Letters: Gender and Self-Presentation in Job Applications, Academy of Management Journal (2020). DOI: 10.5465/amj.2018.1280
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Dutch authorities have culled some 190,000 chickens after a highly-contagious strain of bird flu broke out at at least two poultry farms, the agriculture ministry said Sunday.
Health workers slaughtered around 100,000 hens at a poultry farm at Hekendorp outside Gouda while 90,000 chicks were culled at Witmarsum, in northern Friesland.
In both cases “a highly-contagious strain of the H5 variant” was suspected, the ministry said in a statement.
There were no other poultry farms within a one kilometre radius of the outbreaks, it added.
“Both farms were cleared to prevent further spread of the disease,” the ministry said.
Seasonal bird flu has been detected at various farms around the Netherlands since October, blamed mainly on migratory birds.
Dutch Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten on October 23 imposed preventative indoor containment on all commercial poultry farms after two dead swans were discovered carrying the highly contagious H5N8 variety of bird flu.
The new measures come as the Netherlands also battles a second wave of COVID-19 which continued to infect around 6,000 people a day.
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Dutch cull 190,000 chickens after bird flu outbreaks (2020, November 22)
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