Bridging Feminist Psychology and Open Science: Feminist Tools and Shared Values Inform Best Practices for Science Reform

Feminist researchers have long embraced the challenging, dismantling, and reimagining of psychology, though their contributions to transforming psychological science remain largely overlooked in the mainstream open science movement. In this article, we reconcile feminist psychology and open science. We propose that feminist theory can be leveraged to address central questions of the open science movement, and the potential for methodological synergy is promising. We signal the availability of feminist scholarship that can augment aspects of open science discourse. We also review the most compelling strategies for open science that can be harnessed by academic feminist psychologists. Drawing upon best practices in feminist psychology and open science, we address the following: generalizability (what are the contextual boundaries of results?), representation (who is included in research?), reflexivity (how can researchers reflect on who they are?), collaboration (are collaborative goals met within feminist psychology?), and dissemination (how should we give science away?). Throughout each section, we recommend using feminist tools when engaging with open science, and we recommend some open science practices for conducting research with feminist goals.

Knowledge management: does gender matter? A systematic review of literature

Purpose

This paper aims to review for the first time existing research literature about the role of gender in creating, sharing and using knowledge in organizations and proposes a conceptual framework to guide future research directions.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the systematic literature review method this study collects, synthesizes and analyses articles related to knowledge management (KM) and gender published in online databases by following a pre-defined review protocol. The paper analyses 41 papers published in peer-reviewed journals.

Findings

The role of gender in KM has been rarely addressed in KM journals and journals with specific emphasis on gender. The existing literature is fragmented, but existing research suggests that knowledge sharing might be influenced by gender. Based on the analysis and synthesis, a conceptual framework is proposed to guide further research on determining if gender matters in KM.

Research limitations/implications

Academic researchers should aim to include gender-related variables into their KM research to further explore if gender matters in KM.

Practical implications

The practical implication suggests that managers and knowledge managers should raise awareness about how stereotypes and gendered expectations about role behaviour affect how knowledge and experiences are created and shared within the organization.

Social implications

The authors believe that a better understanding of knowledge handling and gendered role expectations at the workplace could also have an impact beyond organizational boundaries.

Originality/value

The paper presents the first comprehensive systematic literature review of the article published on knowledge creation, sharing and usage and gender and provides a conceptual framework for future research.

Optimal Sample Sizes for Testing the Equivalence of Two Means

Abstract. Equivalence tests (also known as similarity or parity tests) have become more and more popular in addition to equality tests. However, in testing the equivalence of two population means, approximate sample sizes developed using conventional techniques found in the literature on this topic have usually been under-valued as having less statistical power than is required. In this paper, the authors first address the reason for this problem and then provide a solution using an exhaustive local search algorithm to find the optimal sample size. The proposed method is not only accurate but is also flexible so that unequal variances or sampling unit costs for different groups can be considered using different sample size allocations. Figures and a numerical example are presented to demonstrate various configurations. An R Shiny App is also available for easy use ( https://optimal-sample-size.shinyapps.io/equivalence-of-means/ ).

Why Time Constraints Increase the Gender Gap in Measured Numerical Intelligence in Academically High Achieving Samples

Abstract. Gender differences in the numerical domain vary greatly according to the assessment method used. We suggest that strict time constraints, as employed on most numerical intelligence tests but not on mathematical competency tests, unduly increase the gender gap in measured numerical intelligence if the test focuses reasoning. Two studies were conducted. First, 666 11th and 12th graders were randomly assigned to speeded or nonspeeded versions of verbal, figural, and numerical reasoning tests. Extending the test time reduced gender differences in numerical but not in verbal and figural reasoning. To rule out ceiling effects and to test for potential motivational and emotional effects on test performance, a second sample of 542 students completed both a speeded and a nonspeeded numerical reasoning test as well as several motivational and emotional questionnaires. In the nonspeeded condition, girls increased their performance more than boys. This effect was especially strong for female students with medium and high performances and was largely but not fully explained by emotional and motivational factors. We conclude that girls are prevented from showing their actual potential on speeded numerical reasoning tests.

Gender similarities in the brain during mathematics development

Some scientists and public figures have hypothesized that women and men differ in their pursuit of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) owing to biological differences in mathematics aptitude. However, little evidence supports such claims. Some studies of children and adults show gender differences in mathematics performance but in those studies it is impossible to disentangle intrinsic, biological differences from sociocultural influences. To investigate the early biology of mathematics and gender, we tested for gender differences in the neural processes of mathematics in young children. We measured 3-10-year-old children's neural development with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during naturalistic viewing of mathematics education videos. We implemented both frequentist and Bayesian analyses that quantify gender similarities and differences in neural processes. Across all analyses girls and boys showed significant gender similarities in neural functioning, indicating that boys and girls engage the same neural system during mathematics development.

No intrinsic gender differences in children's earliest numerical abilities

Recent public discussions have suggested that the under-representation of women in science and mathematics careers can be traced back to intrinsic differences in aptitude. However, true gender differences are difficult to assess because sociocultural influences enter at an early point in childhood. If these claims of intrinsic differences are true, then gender differences in quantitative and mathematical abilities should emerge early in human development. We examined cross-sectional gender differences in mathematical cognition from over 500 children aged 6 months to 8 years by compiling data from five published studies with unpublished data from longitudinal records. We targeted three key milestones of numerical development: numerosity perception, culturally trained counting, and formal and informal elementary mathematics concepts. In addition to testing for statistical differences between boys' and girls' mean performance and variability, we also tested for statistical equivalence between boys' and girls' performance. Across all stages of numerical development, analyses consistently revealed that boys and girls do not differ in early quantitative and mathematical ability. These findings indicate that boys and girls are equally equipped to reason about mathematics during early childhood.

Intersectionality in Quantitative Psychological Research

Intersectionality has become something of a buzzword in psychology and is well-known in feminist writings throughout the social sciences. Across diverse definitions of intersectionality, we find three common assumptions: (1) There is a recognition that all people are characterized simultaneously by multiple social categories and that these categories are interconnected or intertwined. (2) Embedded within each of these categories is a dimension of inequality or power. (3) These categories are properties of the individual as well as characteristics of the social context inhabited by those individuals; as such, categories and their significance may be fluid and dynamic. Understanding intersectionality as an approach and critical theory, rather than as a falsifiable theory, we consider its potential within research using quantitative methods. We discuss positivism, social constructionism, and standpoint epistemology in order to examine the implications of these epistemologies for research methods and to explore how compatible an intersectional approach may be with each. With an eye toward expanding the incorporation of intersectional approaches in the psychology of women, we discuss both the challenges and the potential of combining quantitative methods and intersectionality. We contend that quantitative methods can be used within an intersectional approach and that doing so will expand and develop the study of intersectionality, insofar as more research tools will be available to intersectionality researchers. We also contend that quantitative researchers should incorporate an intersectional approach into their work and that doing so will enrich and deepen our understanding of psychological constructs and processes.

Gender and Emotion

I draw on research on emotion and gender to illustrate how an essentialized view of gender as difference persists through the circulation of beliefs about gender from popular culture to scientific writing and back again. I begin by describing the paradoxical nature of beliefs about emotion and then show that emotion’s representations in beliefs and stereotypes have a powerful effect on how we interpret our own and others’ emotional behavior. I consider how the differences paradigm, the study of gender in terms of identification of difference(s) between girls/women and boys/men, aids the circulation of essentialized beliefs about gender from popular culture to psychological science. Specifically, essentializing discourses from popular culture are absorbed into scientific discourse and gain scientific authorization via research undertaken within a differences paradigm. These results circulate back again to popular culture and the cycle continues. I conclude with a discussion of how the differences paradigm can be disrupted by a research approach informed by contextual factors that moderate gender effects, the intersectionality of social identities, and attentiveness to gender fault lines, giving examples from our work on the “negotiability” of emotion’s meaning and emotion’s representation in language. My article has implications for counselors and therapists whose clients struggle with the expression of emotions, instructors who want to encourage their students to explore how they think about gender as essentialized, and researchers concerned with interpersonal interactions, especially workplace interactions where understanding of others’ emotions often has a gendered cast.