The trouble with ‘women in computing’: a critical examination of the deployment of research on the gender gap in computer science

The pessimistic scenario for ‘women in information communications technology’ and for ‘women in technology’ generally is even more paradoxical and insidious with respect to ‘women in computing’. Studies within this field not only report insignificant improvement in the proportion of women in Western countries’ computing fields but also alert us of a declining trend. Moreover, that decline has been accompanied – or even preceded – by years of research and programs that have specifically focused on increasing women’s participation in computing; however, they have not had the expected effect. More surprisingly, there has been a significant increase in the representation of women in all other science-related fields and professions. Our aim is to provide some clues to fight the feeling of inexorability that may be entailed by the research on women in computing. We will argue that part of the problem is related to the static nature of the research deployed around the problem of ‘women in computing’, primarily, the research constructed around the ‘leaky pipeline’ metaphor. We provide a synthesis of the critiques this research has received in recent decades and highlight research trends that render other landscapes visible when studying ‘women in computing’. These trends help us question how we are conducting research within this field and urge us to problematise assumptions about computing and gender that we may paradoxically continue to reproduce even while denouncing the paucity of women in computing and studying the reasons for this state of affairs. In short, we present the need for different researchers’ eyes that allow different landscapes of women and computing to be seen and produced.     

Carnal teachings: raunch aesthetics as queer feminist pedagogies in Yo! Majesty's hip hop practice

This essay puts forward a notion of “raunch aesthetics,” theorizing raunch as an aesthetic, performative, and vernacular practice: an explicit mode of sexual expression that transgresses norms of privacy and respectability. Raunch aesthetics describe creative practices that often blend humor and sexual explicitness to launch cultural critiques, generate pleasure for minority audiences, and affirm queer lives. The author activates her formulation of raunch in analyzing Yo! Majesty, a hip hop group comprised of black female emcees who openly describe their sexual desire for women, and explores how the queer youth of color she works with have responded to their music. Working beyond the unexamined moralisms that give critiques of raunch culture their legitimacy, the author argues that Yo! Majesty's raunch aesthetics transmit queer and feminist teachings. While celebrating carnal pleasures, these artists critique heterosexism, subvert narratives about the incompatibility of belief in Christ and queer sexualities, and trouble notions concerning the emancipation of coming out of the closet and declaring a stable homosexual identity. In demonstrating how raunch aesthetics generate consciousness raising, the author discusses how her youth participants critically read and consume hip hop while negotiating unwieldy meanings of sexuality and gender presentation.     

Ethyl Glucuronide Concentration in Hair of Detainees: A Preliminary Study

Through the measurement of ethyl glucuronide in hair (hETG), it is possible to assess chronic alcohol abuse over time. In this paper, we present a study on hETG in Italian prison inmates. Analyses were performed by LC-MS according to a previously published method. Results were evaluated using the cut-offs established by the Society of Hair Testing. Positives samples (ETG > 30 pg/mg) accounted for 6% of all subjects, with concentrations ranging from 42 pg/mg up to 270 pg/mg, abstinent subjects (ETG < 7 pg/mg) accounted for 88%, and moderate alcohol consumption (7 < ETG < 30 pg/mg) for 6% of the subjects. No females displayed ETG values above 30 pg/mg. Among positive samples, only two subjects did not declare heavy alcohol consumption and were found strongly positive at 210 and 270 pg/mg. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first study on ETG hair concentration on prison inmates.     

‘You Can't Always Get What You Want’: The effects of winning and losing in a referendum on citizens' referendum support

In Western democracies, many citizens support the use of referendums. However, as referendums create satisfying outcomes for citizens with majority views, they could generate ambivalent feelings among voters for the minority option. Little is known about the effects of winning or losing a referendum for citizens' referendum support. This article analyses multiple-wave survey data from five referendums in Bavaria (Germany), Finland and the Netherlands. The findings show that losers' referendum support decreases in nearly all cases, but there is very limited evidence for an increase of winners' referendum support. Nevertheless, the results clearly indicate a winner-loser gap, suggesting that referendums have relatively more positive effects for winners' than for losers' referendum support. As such, this article extends previous findings of the non-stability of referendum support. As the legitimacy of democratic institutions depends upon losers' consent, these findings have important implications for the democratic potential of referendums.     

促进共同富裕视角下完善工资分配政策研究 ——以坚持劳动力要素按贡献参与分配为前提

劳动力要素按贡献参与分配是初次分配中的重要内容。本研究在梳理分析我国工资分配制度政 策的现状及积极成效的基础上，探讨了当前工资分配领域仍待解决的 4 个突出问题，包括劳动报酬的比重在一 段时期出现下降，农村居民的工资性收入与城镇居民的相比依然不高，农村居民的工资性收入区域差距还比较大， 行业间工资收入差距需要进一步缩小。研究认为，完善劳动力要素按贡献参与分配制度机制，要坚持改革与发 展相结合，“做大蛋糕”与“分好蛋糕”并重。研究建议：推动经济增长与居民收入增长同步，实现劳动生产 率与劳动报酬同步提高；深化工资分配制度改革，健全工资决定和合理调整机制。     

西安城市发展带动农村发展战略问题探析

近年来,西安农村经济社会虽有了较大改善,但城乡发展之间的差距仍是一个不可回避的突出问题。要实施城市带动农村发展战略,必须从统筹城乡发展和城乡互动式良性协调发展上去考虑,按照城乡联动的社会系统工程规划,积极探索城市对农村建设的多种带动方式,以产业为纽带,实现城乡经济共同发展。     

消费观、意识形态与社会主义和谐文化建设

当前我国消费观正处于传统“节流”型向现代“开源”型转变过程中,已经进入了以消费为主导的经济社会的发展阶段,要抓住这一经济社会和价值观念转型的契机,通过社会主义消费观的建设工程,促进社会主义意识形态建设,提高人民群众的道德文化水平,改善人与人之间的交往关系,保持经济社会的可持续发展态势。为此,在社会主义和谐文化建设过程中,要扬弃消费主义文化的消极影响,构建中国特色的社会主义消费价值观。     

农村流动人口对城市医疗服务的使用与医疗消费分析——基于北京市丰台区农村流动人口的调查

农村流动人口群体是城乡二元社会结构中出现的一个特殊群体。进入到城市中的农村流动人口,收入成为影响其医疗消费支出的最主要因素,人口因素和社会经济因素与其对城市医疗服务使用和消费支出的相关关系都不显著,年龄和家庭的特殊结构以及广泛地缺乏社会医疗保障制度的保护是造成这种结果的主要原因。同时也反映出农村流动人口在医疗资源分配与社会权利享有上的不平等状态。     

转型时期的收入分配改革对策

改革开放以来我国居民收入水平迅速提高 ,收入差距明显扩大。影响收入分配变化的原因主要有经济增长或发展 ;经济改革或体制变迁 ;经济政策变化。值得严重关注的是体制变迁中的无序因素以及原有体制中的“政策惯性”的消极影响。改善收入分配应深化改革 ,从根本上解决转型期的无序状态 ;积极发挥政府的税收和转移支付功能 ;改进宏观经济政策 ,促进结构转换 ,鼓励中收入阶层的形成和壮大 ,从而逐步构建一个两头小、中间大的收入结构     

职工家庭消费需求行为及购买约束与科学消费

职工家庭收入由劳动收入、资本收入及转移收入三部分构成。职工家庭支出包括消费和投资支出,消费首先是物质消费,其次是精神文化消费。职工家庭消费是享用有偿提供的商品和服务,使人的需要得到满足的行为。职工家庭消费偏好是对特定的商品信任。职工家庭消费是生存必须基础,但是消费受职工家庭收入即实际购买力的约束,因此需要科学安排职工家庭消费支出。