Reconsidering gender and public administration: five steps beyond conventional research

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a needed reconceptualization of the study of gender and public administration that is sensitive to emerging issues of public-service renewal. Five central themes are examined and new research directions illustrated. The first theme is the nature of commitment. We argue in favour of the development of new social ecological models for the study of work and suggest ways in which personal projects analysis as a methodology can illuminate the nature of commitment and efficacy. Second, we challenge the utility of studying fixed job needs and motivations, arguing that examination of “free traits” and organizational niches may provide a deeper understanding of the pursuits of public servants. Third, we urge researchers to move beyond assumptions about chilly organizational climates. Our finding of a striking linkage for women between perceptions of climate and appraisals of work projects adds a new dimension to the study of organizational climate. Fourth, the paper suggests that, rather than focusing on different management styles, future research should concentrate on the nature of and organizational support for projects of “managing people.” Fifth, we address the question of whether things are getting better for women in the public service. We conclude that a sensitive answer to this question goes beyond numbers and beyond conventional research. Sommaire: Dans cet article, nous proposons une reformulation nécessaire de l'étude des questions concernant le sexe et l'administration publique, afin de mieux tenir compte de la nouvelle problématique du renouveau de la fonction publique. Nous examinons cinq grands thèmes et nous esquissons de nouvelles orientations de recherche. Le premier thèmes et nous esquissons de nouvelles orientations de recherche. Le premier thème est celui de la nature de l'engagement. Nous préconisons la mise au point de nouveaux modèles socioécologiques pour l'étude du travail, et proposons des moyent par lesquels la méthodologie de l'analyse individuelle des projets peut éclairer la nature de l'engagement et de l'efficacité. Deuxièmement, nous mettons en doute lutilité d'étudier les besoins et motivations fixes d'emploi, car l'emamen des «traits de personnalité non-permanents» et des créneaux organisationnels permerttrait peut-ětre de mieux comprendre les actions des fonctionnaires. Troisièmement, nous encourageons les chercheurs à aller au-delà d'assomptions concernant un climat organisationnel rébarbatif. Nous avons constaté un lien frappant, chez les femmes, entre la perception de ce climat et l'évaluartion des projets de travail, ce qui vient ajouter une nouvelle dimension à l'étude du climat organisationnel. Quatrièmement, plutǒt que de s'attarder sur les différents styles de gestion, la recherche future devrait proter sur la nature des projets de «gestion des personnes» et sur leur soutien organisationnel. Cinquièmement, nous essayons de concluons que, pour répondre à cette question, il faut aller au-delà des chiffres et des recherches traditionnelles.     

Public School Music: Notes on the Public Provision of a Quasi-Private Good

This paper uses a version of theBergstrom/Goodman median voter model toexamine whether there are aspects ofpublicness to public school music. It alsoexamines whether the provision of publicschool music is an example of the abilityof small groups to seek benefits forthemselves at the expense of larger groups. School music programs provide a uniquesetting in which it is possible to separatethe demand for school music programs by theconsumers of school music (the privatebeneficiaries) from the demand for schoolmusic programs by those who do not directlyconsume the product. If those who are notdirect consumers of music programs appearto value school music programs as a publicgood, their valuation cannot be confusedwith a jointly consumed private good, orconsumption of a private good with scaleeconomies, because they are not themselvesconsuming it as a private good. Using datafrom the 1987 Schools and Staffing Survey,the results from a logarithmic, normative,demand model show that (parents of)nonmusic students appear to value musicprograms as a public good. Once it isprovided for music students, additionalproportions of nonmusic students do notdemand additional music classes. In thatmodel, music students appear to value musicclasses as a private good. In thepositive, additive, demand model, moremusic students mean that more music classeswill be provided. Further, since music isvalued as a non-subtractable public goodwhose costs can easily be spread,increasing numbers of non-music studentsalso result in (slightly) more musicclasses. The method can be used to estimate thepublicness of publicly provided goodswhenever it is possible to separate thedirect beneficiaries of the good from thosewho could only value its externalities. The model seems particularly applicable tostudying the extent to which defense isvalued as a quasi-private good by theconcentrated defense industry; and whetherit is also valued as a public good bycitizen/voters with no connection to thedefense industry. It may also be usefulfor investigating still unsettled questionsregarding the publicness of publiclyprovided education.     

Different methodologies in the assessment of identity: Congruence between self-report and interview techniques?

Convergent-divergent validity and reliability estimates for clinical interview and self-report measures of ego identity were obtained. Twenty-three males and 25 females completed an extended version of the Ego Identity Interview [H. D. Grotevant, W. Thorebecke, and M. C. Meyer (1982) An Extension of Marcia's Identity Status Interview into the Interpersonal Domain,Journal of Youth and Adolescence 11: 33–48] and the extended version of the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status [H. D. Grotevant and G. R. Adams (1984) Development of an Objective Measure to Assess Ego-Identity in Adolescence: Validation and Replication,Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 13: 419–438]. While the two measures were expected to converge, little convergence was observed. The findings suggest that the two measures may be (a) assessing relatively distinct forms of ego identity, or (b) that the ego-identity construct as measured by the process (exploration) and outcome (commitment) dimensions needs further theoretical examination.Partial support for this project was provided through fundings to the second author from the Utah State Agricultural Experiment Station, Logan, Utah. This paper was presented earlier in a symposium titled Identity Development from Adolescence to Adulthood at the biennial meetings of the Society for Research on Child Development, Toronto, Canada, April 1985.Received M.S degree in Psychology from Utah State University. Research interests include identity development and social relations.Received Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University in 1975. Research interests include personality and social development in adolescence, family psychology, and research methodology.     

More, Less, or More of the Same? Trends in State Social Welfare Policy in the 1990s

Major reforms to cash assistance and other welfare programsin the 1990s raise questions about whether states gained newflexibility in setting social policies, and, if so, how theyexercised this flexibility. We extend prior research on statesocial policy by examining trends during the middle to late1990s in five areas of cash or near-cash policy affecting theeconomic security of low-income families. We find evidence ofsubstantial change in the generosity and the availability ofthese benefits between 1994 and 1999, along with evidence ofgreater divergence or cross-state variation in policy choices.By considering several forms of assistance simultaneously, wealso find evidence that states constricted traditional welfare-basedassistance while expanding some forms of non-welfare supportfor the working poor.     

Depressive styles in adolescence: Assessment,relation to social functioning,and developmental trends

Examined the relation of dependency and self-criticism to social functioning among adolescents. Subjects were 7th–11th graders from a suburban high school who completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire for Adolescents (DEQ-A) and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP). The results showed that self-criticism was strongly associated with reporting a greater number of interpersonal problems, particularly in the areas of sociability and control. Dependency was only marginally related to interpersonal difficulties. The results also showed that levels of self-criticism tended to decline steadily across the high-school years, whereas levels of dependency followed a U-shaped curvilinear pattern in which it was higher in the early and late high school years relative to the middle years. Finally, the present study provides initial evidence of a reliable, shortened 20-item version of the DEQ-A.This research was funded by a team grant to David Zuroff, Richard Koestner, and Debbie Moskowitz from the Fonds Pour La Formation De Chercheurs Et L'Aide A La Recherche (FCAR-Quebec). Richard Koestner was also funded by a McGill Faculty grant.Received B.A. from McGrill University. Research interests include personality development and psychosocial adjustment.Received Ph.D. from University of Rochester. Research interests include motivation, personality, and life-span development.Received Ph.D. degree from University of Connecticut. Research interests include dependency, self-criticism, and vulnerability to depression.     

Disentangling the Role of Psychopathic Traits and Externalizing Behaviour in Predicting Conduct Problems from Childhood to Adolescence

Child and youth conduct problems are known to be a heterogeneous category that implies different factors and processes. The current study aims to analyze whether the early manifestation of psychopathic traits designates a group of children with severe, pervasive and persistent conduct problems. To this end, cluster analysis was conducted in a sample of 138 children (27.6?% female), aged 6–11 at the first wave of the study (T1) and 12–17 in a follow-up carried out 6?years later (T2). Results allowed the identification of four distinctive clusters: Primarily externalizing, Externalizing-psychopathic, Primarily psychopathic and Non-problematic. As was expected, the Externalizing-psychopathic cluster showed the most severe and persistent pattern of behavioral, temperamental and social disruptions across the 6?years of the study. Early psychopathic traits seemed also to be relevant in predicting higher levels of conduct problems in T2, even when conduct disorders had not manifested in T1. These results highlight the role of psychopathic traits in predicting adolescent psychosocial disorders and the relevance to analyze them at early developmental stages.     

The Pleasure is Mine: The Changing Subject of Erotic Science

Pleasure, the defining object of kāmaśāstric scholarship, is harmonious sensory experience, the product of a “good fit” between the self and the world. It comes about when one moves in a world of fitting sense objects, and one has made oneself fit to enter that world. The bulk of kāmaśāstric literature is devoted to developing, enhancing, and enacting specific bodily and sensory capabilities in order to maximize one’s ability to affect and be affected by the world. This article examines the model of subjectivity implied by kāmaśāstra, tracking two sorts of changes to the self assumed by this body of texts. First, it presents and analyzes the ways in which the social actors described in this literature come into being in and through the cultivation and performance of particular bodily and social acts; the “artifactual” nature of the self is presumed. Second, it considers the changing set of acts that are described and prescribed over the course of kāmaśāstric history, noting the increasing place of physiognomy and of magico-medical alterations of the body, and the elision of the social sphere of sensual activity. Finally, this article situates the kāmaśāstric model of subjectivity in relation to the larger śāstric project, drawing out the model of empiricism that it presupposes, and speculating upon the epistemological/ontological implications of kāmaśāstra as a science.