Women in the U.K. are four times less likely than men to be among the top 1% of earners in financial and professional services, according to analysis by the London School of Economics. And despite decades of efforts to narrow the gender gap in pay and career progression, it’s gotten slightly bigger since before the pandemic.
In brief
Women occupy 19.4% of the top 1% highest finance and professional services roles, down slightly from the three year pre-Covid average of 19.7%.
However, while still far from equal, women’s share of the top 10% of positions was higher, at 28.3%, and has shown signs of progress, increasing by 2.5 percentage points over the period.
The LSE analysis, which drew on the U.K.’s main survey of economic activity, the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), from January 2017 to June 2023, also found some rebalancing in terms of seniority. Women now comprise 37% of senior managers and directors in professional services and finance, roughly the same as the percentage of female full-time employees.
Why hasn’t gender equality improved more?
The persistent gender seniority gap, which widens as you get closer to the top of the career ladder, suggests corporate efforts to narrow it—with all the well-documented benefits it brings of access to talent and more diverse thinking—have been insufficient.
The reasons behind it are complex, including a significantcareer penalty for mothers but not for fathers, bias—whether blatant or unconscious—and wider societal factors that disadvantage women’s careers, such as ahigher average burden of household chores, and child and elder care responsibilities.
These factors have proven stubborn over many years, so in a way the question to ask is why would they have improved, in the absence of major changes in attitudes or behaviours?
Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic may have set back gender equality, as layoffs disproportionately affected women, while businesses have a tendency to defund diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs when trading conditions are tough. In the U.S., this has been compounded by a conservative backlash against affirmative action, often through legal means.
“We are going backwards, but I am not surprised. For progress to be made there needs to be a bigger shift towards recognizing that diversity is good for business. There also needs to be significant investment in upskilling managers to become inclusive leaders recognizing that leading diverse teams is a skill. Without it, I will be giving the same quote 10 years from now,” said Dr Grace Lordan, founding director of The Inclusion Initiative at LSE and associate professor in its Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science.
The trend towards more equal gender representation in mid-senior roles and among the top 10% of earners is encouraging, particularly coming in relatively male-dominated sectors like finance and professional services.
It would be reasonable to expect knock-on effects on the most senior and well-paid roles in the coming decade, simply because more women will have had the experience necessary to be considered.
However, the trend persists that women’s chances of progression decrease with every level of seniority. Until that dynamic changes, the gap will remain considerable.
Money talks. That’s what Thomas DiNapoli, comptroller of the state of New York, is counting on when it comes to LGBTQ+ protections in the workplace.
In what seem to be the first ever moves of their kind, DiNapoli’s New York State Common Retirement Fund, which manages $260 billion in assets, is pushing for more details about companies’ human capital management strategy work related to LGBTQ+ employees.
In proxy statements published this month, $45 billion Lennar Corp. and $13.5 billion International Paper disclosed matching shareholder proposals from the retirement fund. The proposals are backed by a supporting statement explaining that demographic shifts show that 20.8% of Gen Z identifies as LGBTQ+, which is twice that of the 10.5% of millennials who identify that way. Furthermore, a third of people who identify as LGBTQ+ report experiencing harassment or discrimination in recent years and, nearly half, 45.5%, report facing discrimination at some point in their lives.
Lennar and International Paper have recommended that investors vote against both proposals.
Expanding focus
The proposal is a new front in some investors’ quest to get more expansive data on diversity from companies, and similar efforts have been fruitful in obtaining more granularity on policies related to gender, race, and ethnicity. Now, investors are expanding their focus to include LGBTQ+ employees. Investors have used the more detailed reporting in recent years to hold boards and C-suite teams to account for public diversity pledges on investments, promotion among senior executive ranks and recruitment of new employees.
Accordingly, companies should tell investors whether they have equitable employee benefits, non-discrimination policies and employee support groups, the New York fund wrote in the statement. In the proposals at both Lennar and International Paper, New York referred to the companies’ own disclosures about inclusivity in the workforce, respect for diverse backgrounds and their general statements about fostering high-performing workplace cultures via their diversity efforts. New York holds about $15.8 million in International Paper stock and $33 million in Lennar stock, according to the fund’s 2023 asset listing.
Both proposals quoted a 2019 report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Business Success and Growth Through LGBT-Inclusive Culture.“Companies that adopt LGBT-inclusive practices tend to improve their financial standing and do better than companies that do not adopt them. Additionally, employees, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, express greater job satisfaction at companies where these practices are in place.”
Miami-headquartered homebuilder Lennar’s board wrote that the company was “built on a culture of inclusivity” and brings together the best talent to drive the success of the “Lennar family.” The board said its “Everyone’s Included” initiative represents an evolution of that focus, including an advisory council that brings together diverse cross-representation. Its code of ethics and business conduct already specifically prohibit discrimination and harassment on the basis of “color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information or any other legally protected status,” the board said. “Producing the proposed report is unnecessary and inefficient.”
International Paper board members said its annual report discussed diversity and inclusion initiatives, including its long-term goals. “Among the Company’s primary Vision 2030 Goals, the Company aims to promote employee well-being by providing safe, caring, and inclusive workplaces and strengthening the resilience of its communities,” the board said (emphasis in original).
The company also has a global diversity and inclusion council and employee networking groups. “Requiring the Company to produce an additional report limited to a subset of its overall diversity, equity and inclusion efforts would prove unduly burdensome for the Company, divert time and attention of Company management, and give rise to undue expenses, all while providing little to no additional value considering the Company’s robust diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, culture and disclosure practices, including with respect to LGBTQ+ matters,” the IP board said.
The proposals are an escalation from the fund’s efforts last year that involved writing letters to 55 portfolio companies that signed the Human Rights Campaign and Freedom for All American Business Statement on Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation. The campaign prompted new discussions about workplace policies, the state said in an annual report.
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Newswise — Certain populations of mosquitoes are more heat tolerant and better equipped to survive heat waves than others, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis.
This is bad news in a world where vector-borne diseases are an increasingly global health concern. Most models that scientists use to estimate vector-borne disease risk currently assume that mosquito heat tolerances do not vary. As a result, these models may underestimate mosquitoes’ ability to spread diseases in a warming world.
Researchers led by Katie M. Westby, a senior scientist at Tyson Research Center, Washington University’s environmental field station, conducted a new study that measured the critical thermal maximum (CTmax), an organism’s upper thermal tolerance limit, of eight populations of the globally invasive tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus. The tiger mosquito is a known vector for many viruses including West Nile, chikungunya and dengue.
“We found significant differences across populations for both adults and larvae, and these differences were more pronounced for adults,” Westby said. The new study is published Jan. 8 in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
Westby’s team sampled mosquitoes from eight different populations spanning four climate zones across the eastern United States, including mosquitoes from locations in New Orleans; St. Augustine, Fla.; Huntsville, Ala.; Stillwater, Okla.; St. Louis; Urbana, Ill.; College Park, Md.; and Allegheny County, Pa.
The scientists collected eggs in the wild and raised larvae from the different geographic locations to adult stages in the lab, tending the mosquito populations separately as they continued to breed and grow. The scientists then used adults and larvae from subsequent generations of these captive-raised mosquitoes in trials to determine CTmax values, ramping up air and water temperatures at a rate of 1 degree Celsius per minute using established research protocols.
The team then tested the relationship between climatic variables measured near each population source and the CTmax of adults and larvae. The scientists found significant differences among the mosquito populations.
The differences did not appear to follow a simple latitudinal or temperature-dependent pattern, but there were some important trends. Mosquito populations from locations with higher precipitation had higher CTmax values. Overall, the results reveal that mean and maximum seasonal temperatures, relative humidity and annual precipitation may all be important climatic factors in determining CTmax.
“Larvae had significantly higher thermal limits than adults, and this likely results from different selection pressures for terrestrial adults and aquatic larvae,” said Benjamin Orlinick, first author of the paper and a former undergraduate research fellow at Tyson Research Center. “It appears that adult Ae. albopictus are experiencing temperatures closer to their CTmax than larvae, possibly explaining why there are more differences among adult populations.”
“The overall trend is for increased heat tolerance with increasing precipitation,” Westby said. “It could be that wetter climates allow mosquitoes to endure hotter temperatures due to decreases in desiccation, as humidity and temperature are known to interact and influence mosquito survival.”
Little is known about how different vector populations, like those of this kind of mosquito, are adapted to their local climate, nor the potential for vectors to adapt to a rapidly changing climate. This study is one of the few to consider the upper limits of survivability in high temperatures — akin to heat waves — as opposed to the limits imposed by cold winters.
“Standing genetic variation in heat tolerance is necessary for organisms to adapt to higher temperatures,” Westby said. “That’s why it was important for us to experimentally determine if this mosquito exhibits variation before we can begin to test how, or if, it will adapt to a warmer world.”
Future research in the lab aims to determine the upper limits that mosquitoes will seek out hosts for blood meals in the field, where they spend the hottest parts of the day when temperatures get above those thresholds, and if they are already adapting to higher temperatures. “Determining this is key to understanding how climate change will impact disease transmission in the real world,” Westby said. “Mosquitoes in the wild experience fluctuating daily temperatures and humidity that we cannot fully replicate in the lab.”
Saundra Gumerove was a successful New York-based lawyer with a booming career in the banking industry when her daughter was born and everything changed.
But not in the way babies gently rock the world of every new parent.
Her birth was more of a life-altering earthquake—one that shook Gumerove’s personal life and sent shockwaves through her career.
Lauren was born with Sturge-Weber Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder with symptoms that include a large purple-red birthmark on the face, in addition to intellectual disability, migraines, and a host of other conditions.
It was the beginning of “a very tough life”—a whirlwind of hospital visits for seizures and surgeries for glaucoma. The new normal meant late nights at home attempting to catch up on work, and precious little rest.
“I didn’t sleep for many years,” Gumerove recalls. “If Lauren turned over, I was up, worried she was seizing.”
Her anxiety, while warranted, only complicated her career: “When Lauren was in crisis, I was not a good person to be around. I was always terrified she was going to die.” She began therapy to process her new life, which seemed to be in shambles.
Fortunately, Gumerove’s boss saw her struggle and created a job for her close to home in Long Island, N.Y. Still, client meetings were sometimes far away, and she occasionally found herself exiting abruptly to rendezvous with Lauren in the emergency room. Many colleagues didn’t understand. They thought she was receiving special treatment—and resented her for it.
For nearly a decade, Gumerove did what felt like the impossible: juggling work and the added demands of special-needs parenting—as a single mom, no less. At times she was ready to quit, but she had no choice but to soldier on: The two needed the income and the health insurance.
She felt trapped.
Eventually, Gumerove reached her breaking point. She left her job as a corporate lawyer and began working for herself, as an attorney for special-needs clients. Eventually, she was appointed as the president of The Arc New York, a nonprofit that advocates for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Finally, she had found her bliss—and her purpose. Gumerove was able to work from home, take cases she was passionate about, and make her own schedule—around Lauren’s needs.
Courtesy photo
‘Work is a wonderful escape’
For many parents of kids with special needs, success just won’t look the same—not for their children, and not for themselves.
Due to the severity of their child’s disability, some parents are unable to work outside the home. Others, however, manage to—and refuse to abandon personal ambition at the altar of parenthood.
But it’s far from easy.
“The school is calling because of bad behavior. The babysitter doesn’t show. How are you going to work?” Gumerove says, speaking of the plight of special-needs parents who attempt to maintain a professional life.
Some hold down a job in spite of it all but find themselves hampered from moving ahead in their career, their child’s needs a veritable albatross around their neck.
Sally Hiraldo was working as a manager at a rental furniture store in the Bronx when her daughter, Delilah, was born with a cleft palate. The condition required countless doctor’s appointments and seven surgeries.
Thirteen years later, Hiraldo completed her master’s degree—in human resources. She serves as a cleft community advisory council member for Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft-focused nonprofit. And she’s still working at the same furniture store, in the same position. The reason, she tells Fortune: “I feel like I can’t take my [daughter’s] medical problems to another job.”
Courtesy photo
Success looks different for each special-needs family, says Lisa Nowinski—clinical director at the Lurie Center for Autism at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School.
“For some parents, this might look like finding a new, more flexible job, working part-time, or deciding to stay home,” she says. “In families with more than one parent or caregiver, continually re-evaluating and renegotiating the distribution of work, life, and child care responsibilities is critically important.”
Nearly 20% of U.S. children—approximately 14.1 million—have one or more chronic health conditions, be they physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Behind each child is a parent or parents, many of whom are employed—or used to be. A 2021 study published in the journal Pediatrics found that among U.S. special needs families, 15% had at least one adult caregiver who stopped work or cut hours because of their child’s condition.
Unsurprisingly, more than 75% of caregivers are women.
Each American household with a special needs child suffers an annual income loss of around $18,000, the study found. And the aggregate impact is stark. Lost wages from caregiving special-needs parents who’ve forfeited their careers range between $14.4 billion and $19.2 billion a year among those who worked full time, and between $9 billion and $13.9 billion for those who worked part time.
Parents of special-needs children “face tremendous challenges, not only caring and advocating for their child, but also juggling work and life demands, relationships, and their own mental health needs,” Nowinski says.
But for those who can, “work is a wonderful escape,” Gumerove maintains. “It’s a distraction that can take you out of the immediate environment you’re in.”
“Having a life apart from your child is something really difficult for parents to consider,” she says. “But I think you need it to be healthy.”
Some find the flexibility they require in a new career inspired by their child, Nowinski says: “Many parents find new purpose and expertise in the very areas they have worked hard to manage with their own child.”
‘Moonshots for Unicorns’
Geri Landman knows the financial impact of special-needs parenthood all too well. A successful San Francisco Bay Area pediatrician, she cut her work week from five days to two and a half after her daughter, Lucy, was diagnosed with PGAP3—a rare genetic disorder that causes weak muscles, unsteady gait, intellectual disability, and epilepsy.
Her employer has been understanding about the family’s plight. Still, Landman says she’s found that there are “hard and fast rules that even when you pull the ‘special needs mom card,’” you can’t break.
Case in point: On Wednesdays, Landman needs to get Lucy to physical therapy and her other kids to school, meaning that she can’t make it to work until 8:15 a.m. But she’s required to show up at 8 a.m.
“I can’t physically be in two places at once,” she says. “Luckily, it takes a few minutes to room a patient,” she explains, so Landman can arrive a few minutes after 8 a.m. without inconveniencing anyone.
Working part-time has “definitely put a financial stress on our family,” the pediatrician says. There are Lucy’s medical costs to shoulder and California’s sky-high cost of living.
But less time in the clinic gives Landman more time to tend to Moonshots for Unicorns, a nonprofit she and her husband founded after Lucy was diagnosed. The foundation seeks to identify a cure or treatment for Lucy’s disorder and others like it.
And at her “day job,” Lucy’s plight has provided her with ample inspiration. Landman now focuses her efforts on treating children with special needs.
Being the mother of a child with special needs “has certainly changed my career goals and focus,” she admits.
“Is it holding me back from having the career I previously envisioned? Yes. But I now have a career I’m even more passionate about.”
How employers can help
Employers can make a difference in the lives—and careers—of special-needs parents.
First and foremost: “Access to comprehensive and high quality medical insurance and paid parental or family leave are absolutely critical.” In an ideal world, paid family-leave policies would be expanded to include chronic health conditions, Nowinski says.
Other helpful possibilities, according to experts Fortune talked to:
Flexible working hours
Option to work remote
Access to mental health and well-being support
Employee support groups for parents of special-needs children
Company events that are inclusive and accessible to all
A point person, perhaps in HR, who can direct special-needs families to company and community benefits and resources
Newswise — A new study from Carnegie Mellon University, Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), and Bocconi University has found that men are less eager and likely to share negative information than women, while there was little difference when it comes to positive news.
Published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, the authors suggest that this may be due to a greater concern among men over how other people will see them, resulting in a tendency to self-promote by sharing positive information about themselves and not revealing their negative experiences to others.
Dr Erin Carbone, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University and first author of the study, said: “The results from our studies revealed a consistent, and to the best of our knowledge not previously identified, nuanced pattern, wherein the tendency for women to disclose more than men depends crucially on the nature of the information shared. These findings can help make sense of the existing literature, as well as clarify some existing stereotypes, around gender differences in disclosure.”
Sharing in the digital age
Most of the existing research on gender differences and information sharing predates the internet. Given that we live in a world where people readily post information on a variety of platforms on a daily basis, this new study offers insights into the way we share, as well as the consequences of sharing, in the digital age.
To explore gender differences in the sharing of different types of information, the researchers carried out three different experiments with over 1,000 people. In the first study, people self-reported times when they felt like they were “dying” to disclose information to others, then indicated whether they actually had shared the information. Although men and women generated similar numbers of instances of wanting to share positive information (e.g., about a promotion), men were far less likely to report wanting to share negative information (e.g., a failure to receive a promotion). Two further studies enabled the team to quantify the desire to disclose and aggregate participants’ desire as well as their propensity to disclose positive or negative information about different topics and experiences.
Disclosure patterns
The study also found that women reported greater satisfaction than men with their own level of disclosure, whereas most male participants reported a greater propensity to withhold information about their thoughts and feelings even when it might have been better to share it with others.
Professor Irene Scopelliti, Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) and one of the authors of the study, said:
“Disclosure is increasingly prevalent and permanent in the digital age. The advent of social media and digital communication channels has enabled unprecedented levels of information sharing, which is accompanied by an array of social and psychological consequences. Our results show that gender remains an important fault line when it comes to the desire and propensity to disclose negative information, and men may be differentially advantaged by, or vulnerable to, the consequences of information sharing compared to women.”
Newswise — Women faculty are more likely to leave academia than men faculty throughout all career stages in U.S. universities, University of Colorado Boulder researchers revealed in the most comprehensive analysis of retention in academia to date.
The team published the findings Oct. 20 in the journal “Science Advances.” The researchers found that a harsh workplace climate, which can include harassment and feelings of not belonging, was the most common reason women left academia. This attrition affects not only early-career professionals, but also those who have achieved the highest ranks in universities, the study found.
This finding helps to explain, in part, why women remain underrepresented among faculty in nearly all academic fields in the U.S., said Katie Spoon, the paper’s first author and a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science. For example, only 28% of professors in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields are women in the U.S., despite women receiving 40% of STEM PhDs for the past 10 to 15 years.
“If you look back at the literature from 20 or 30 years ago, it painted a much bleaker picture than many of the newer studies today,” said Aaron Clauset, the paper’s corresponding author and a professor of computer science. “Things are changing, but there is still a lot of work left to do.”
Previous research on gendered attrition in academia tended to have a limited scope.
Many studies investigated faculty retention only among assistant professors, in STEM fields, or at high-prestige institutions, due to the difficulties in finding and reaching faculty who left academia.
Spoon and her team analyzed a census of employment records of all 245,270 tenure-track and tenured professors from 391 PhD-granting universities and institutions in the U.S. They came from STEM fields, but also disciplines like social sciences and business. The tenure track is a professor’s pathway to promotion. Faculty members usually start as assistant professors without tenure. If they get promoted, they become tenured associate professors, and eventually they can be promoted to full professors, an indefinite appointment that tends to come with more academic freedom and job security.
The researchers found women are leaving academia at a higher rate than men at every career stage, especially after they receive full professorship. During their appointment as assistant professors, women are 6% more likely to leave their jobs than men each year. The attrition rate is higher among full professors, where women professors are 19% more likely to leave academia than men each year.
“We were surprised to see the gender gap actually grow after faculty received tenure, given how important the title is,” Spoon said. “This result suggests that perhaps the field has neglected thinking about tenured women and their experiences.”
The team also surveyed more than 10,000 current and former faculty members for factors that led or could lead to their decision to leave a faculty job. The result showed women are more likely to feel pushed by a variety of factors out of their faculty positions, while men are more likely to be pulled toward more attractive jobs elsewhere. The most common reasons women, especially tenured women, reported for leaving academia were harsh workplace climates, which can include dysfunctional leadership, harassment, discrimination and feelings of not belonging.
While previous research has suggested that women are more likely to leave academia in pursuit of better work-life balance, the new paper found that male faculty were about as likely to leave for this reason.
“We see an emphasis on work-life balance among early career faculty members,” said Clauset. “But the issue with workplace climate is the dominating factor among the women tenured professors, a position that lasts the majority of one’s academic career.”
The researchers hope their paper will inspire administrators nationwide to take action.
“It can start with asking faculty, particularly women, what needs to be done, listening, and taking specific, concrete steps to address their concerns,” Spoon said.
Newswise — ITHACA, N.Y. – Researchers are more likely to pen scientific papers with co-authors of the same gender, a pattern that cannot be simply explained by the varying gender representation across scientific disciplines and time, according to joint research from Cornell University and the University of Washington.
Mining a digital corpus of 560,000 published research articles over a 50-year period, the research team observed consistent gender homophily – the tendency of authors to collaborate with others who share their gender. While this observation by itself is not new, the researchers went further, using novel methods to rule out seemingly logical explanations – like a field’s gender balance, say, or a field’s authorship norms for writing research papers.
The team’s findings suggest a behavioral component is in play when scientists seek out collaborators.
“One might posit that the gender homophily observed when considering a broad scientific landscape may be due to varying levels of gender representation,” said Y. Samuel Wang, assistant professor of statistics and data science and author of “Gender-Based Homophily in Collaborations Across a Heterogeneous Scholarly Landscape,” which was published in PLOS One. “However, our findings suggest that something beyond that is going on.”
Comprising scholars in statistics, information science, biology and philosophy, the team mined a massive corpus of articles published between 1960 and 2011 from the online repository JSTOR. To help link genders to more than 800,000 author names, the team relied on social security records and crowdsourced data. Because of the limitations in the data set, this research was limited to men and women authors and didn’t factor in nonbinary identities, researchers said.
From there, the team grouped authors from the same fields and eras, creating 50,000 hypothetical reconfigurations of authors.
“We re-simulated hypothetical datasets. Our thinking was: How different is what we actually observed versus these hypothetical scenarios that we constructed?” said Wang, also an assistant professor of social statistics in the ILR School. “Very different, it turns out. This suggests that some other source of homophily is occurring in the data we observed.”
As to why researchers tend to collaborate with those of the same gender, Wang and his team can’t say definitively. Data science methods can’t measure intent – why collaborators choose who they choose, but the team’s findings suggest that consideration of gender may be a factor, Wang said.
Wang’s University of Washington co-authors are: Carole J. Lee, associate professor of philosophy; Jevin D. West, associate professor in the Information School; Carl T. Bergstrom, professor of biology, and Elena A. Erosheva, professor of statistics and social work.
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the University of Washington’s Royalty Research Fund.
This Thursday, the United States Supreme Court rejected affirmative action at colleges and universities around the nation, declaring that the race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina were unlawful. Now on Friday, the Supreme Court decided to block the Biden administration’s student debt relief program and sided with a Christian web designer in Colorado who refuses to create websites to celebrate same-sex weddings out of religious objections. Despite their limited federal elected power, Conservatives have racked up more huge wins in the great political battles of the early 21st century.
Newswise is your source for expert commentary. Below is a roundup of recent expert pitches concerning the United States Supreme Court.
Newswise — WASHINGTON—Today, AACC—in collaboration with the National Kidney Foundation (NKF)—released guidance to reduce racial and gender disparities in the care of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The document gives members of the healthcare team actionable, evidence-based tools to improve equity in kidney health, including recommendations for using an updated algorithm that does not disproportionately affect any one group of individuals.
In the United States, 37 million adults—or 1 in 7 people—are affected by kidney disease. The AACC/NKF guidance builds on the progress of a joint task force of the NKF and the American Society of Nephrology, which in 2021 recommended new equations for determining estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a gauge of kidney function. Previously, eGFR was calculated using a variable for Black race because study participants who described themselves as African American were found to have higher blood levels of creatinine, a marker for kidney disease, than other groups. The new equations don’t include this variable.
As the guidance explains, factoring race into clinical algorithms can lead to unintentional biases because race and ethnicity are social, rather than biological, constructs. While genetic variants may influence kidney disease risk in some Black individuals, definitions of race vary widely and have changed over time. Moreover, Black and Hispanic people are more likely to experience lower quality of care and poorer outcomes due to inequitable access to health and social resources.
The guidance includes recommendations for integrating race-free equations into laboratory information systems and communicating the change to providers. It also calls on clinical laboratory professionals to help reduce racial and ethnic disparities in CKD by participating in multidisciplinary teams to improve disease detection, particularly in high-risk populations, and working to standardize biomarker testing and reporting.
“Race and ethnicity are imprecise, nebulously defined systems of classification as they pertain to genetic ancestry, physiological characteristics, and socioeconomic status, and therefore should not be used to classify individuals into distinct biological categories,” said the guidance lead authors Drs. Christina C. Pierre and Mark A. Marzinke.
The AACC/NKF document also recommends incorporating a marker called cystatin C into eGFR equations in addition to creatinine, because equations that use both markers show superior performance over those that use one or the other.
In addition, the guidance provides recommendations to improve the management of CKD in gender-diverse patients. Because biological sex impacts creatinine levels, the eGFR equations include a variable to account for sex. But applying a binary sex variable is problematic for transgender people because gender-affirming hormones can cause changes in muscle mass and fat distribution that affect creatinine. For gender-diverse patients, the authors of the guidance suggest calculating eGFR using male and female variables, and taking an inclusive, holistic approach to disease management.
About AACC
Dedicated to achieving better health through laboratory medicine, AACC brings together more than 70,000 clinical laboratory professionals, physicians, research scientists, and business leaders from around the world focused on clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, mass spectrometry, translational medicine, lab management, and other areas of progressing laboratory science. Since 1948, AACC has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing programs that advance scientific collaboration, knowledge, expertise, and innovation. For more information, visit www.aacc.org.
American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC)
Drawing on both a problem-solving group exercise and measurements of brain activity, their findings, now published by the journal Small Group Research, illustrate ways stereotypes and attitudes can stifle the benefits of diversity efforts. At the same time, the study also offers hope for solutions.
While women are often urged to fight for status, a key takeaway Emich and his colleagues highlighted from their research was that the onus should actually be placed on high-status men to respect and accept women’s expertise.
At the root of their research is the concept of diversity. It’s often touted not just as basic fairness, but a way to benefit companies or other organizations. People with different backgrounds and experiences, the reasoning goes, can offer fresh perspectives and a more complete view of the world that makes a team stronger.
It only works, though, if they not only share those fresh perspectives with the team, but the team listens.
Previous research shows that this is often not the case — people in minority positions, like a woman on an all-male team, are reluctant to go against the group by sharing knowledge that contradicts the narrative.
Emich and his collaborators looked for evidence of differing levels of respect for men and women, how that affects the group, and how attitudes shape respect for women.
Attitudes, diversity and their effects on a group can be hard to measure. But the researchers developed a novel way to do it, by measuring team members’ brain activity as they collaborated on solving a problem with a clear answer: a murder mystery.
How the study worked
The researchers divided student volunteers into teams of three, always with a gender minority. Some teams were made up of two men and one woman, and some had two women and one man. In each case, the minority group member had clues key to solving the case, so to be effective the group had to draw on all its members’ knowledge and work together.
In a twist, the experimenters also hooked up participants to an EEG monitor so they could see how their brains were functioning as they participated in the group activity. The researchers had a theory: that men who were approach-oriented (focused on a positive goal like solving the murder), would be more inclusive than men who were avoidance-oriented (focused on a negative goal like staying away from risk).
“We just thought it would be a good application, because most (EEG) studies are either at the individual level or with only two people,” Emich said. “They’re not in actual interacting teams.”
With this approach, they didn’t have to rely on asking subjects to imagine being in the minority — they could put them in that position directly.
What they found
Even though all the groups were diverse, it turned out that the teams made up of two men and one woman were less effective.
These women faced a double burden. First, women often struggle to speak up when they are in the minority. Emich and his fellow researchers also found that the more the minority women on these teams shared their unique information, key to solving the case, the less respect they got from their team.
“They kind of liked her better if she just sat there and was quiet, as opposed to trying to get into the discussion,” Emich said.
On teams with majority women, the man’s input was more valued, so these teams were more effective as they shared information to solve the problem.
Assessing the EEG readings gave more insight into men’s mental states. The men who did better at including women’s input were, in fact, those whose brain activity indicated their mindset was more approach-oriented, set on solving the problem rather than avoiding risk.
On the flip side, whether the women in the majority on their teams were more approach- or avoidance-oriented, as measured by the EEG, “they were sort of accepting the man’s information into their team,” Emich said. “And then the team ended up doing better.”
What does this mean?
The findings, Emich and his team said, confirm the idea that a lack of respect for minorities undermines the benefit of diversity. They also argue that while the burden is often put on women to make sure they have a voice, men in power should also bear this responsibility.
Women are told, “You need to lean in, or you need to break the glass ceiling,” Emich said. “… And what we’re saying here is the onus is really on the men, because they have the power, right? So it’s difficult for the women in these teams to come out and kind of take over the team conversation, because they don’t have the power or status to do that.”
He’s not arguing that women shouldn’t assert their rights or “lean in,” but that to make real change, men (or people in power, generally) also have a responsibility to make space for minority perspectives.
The “approach” or “avoidance” mindsets they studied, Emich said, can be altered. That is, they aren’t an unavoidable part of someone’s personality. It’s not a matter of finding all the avoidance-oriented men in your office and banning them from teams. Rather, these terms describe a person’s motivation in a given moment, and that motivation can change.
In an avoidance mindset, Emich explained, people are worried about protecting themselves and staying away from things that might be dangerous. In business oriented, decision-making groups, unique information is seen as being risky. Adding to that, women are generally seen as lower status, he said, so men see the unique information they offer as being extra risky.
This is an outlook that can be changed with training and experience, Emich said. Responsibility falls on the group leader to “make the environment feel a little bit safer for people.” That comes both through the words leaders say and the actions they model.
Overall, “I think what this [research] does is it helps to highlight why we see this broad effect that lots of people have observed about women’s information not being listened to,” Emich said.
Newswise — Receiving rapid access to testosterone therapy reduced feelings of gender dysphoria and led to a clinically significant reduction in depression as well as a 50% reduction in suicidality among transgender and gender diverse adults, according to research being presented Sunday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago.
“This is the world-first randomized clinical trial supporting the significant benefits of testosterone in reducing gender dysphoria, depression and suicidality in trans individuals desiring commencement of testosterone,” said Brendan Nolan, M.B.B.S., F.R.A.C.P., a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Melbourne (Austin Health) in Melbourne, Australia.
Gender dysphoria occurs when a person feels distressed that their gender identity does not align with the sex assigned at birth. When an individual’s gender identity is not respected and the individual cannot access medical care, it can result in higher psychological problem scores and can raise the person’s risk of committing suicide or other acts of self-harm.
Nolan and colleagues sought to understand the impact of testosterone therapy compared with no treatment on gender dysphoria, depression, and suicidality in trans adults seeking masculinization.
The three-month open-label randomized controlled trial included 64 transgender adults who were able to start testosterone therapy immediately (intervention group) compared with those who were on a standard waiting list of three months prior to beginning testosterone. The purpose of this segmentation was to ensure no person would have to prolong waiting to begin treatment beyond standard care practices.
People who were able to begin treatment immediately showed decreased gender dysphoria and a clinically significant decrease in depression and suicidal ideation compared with study participants on the wait list.
Suicidal ideation resolved in 11 (52%) people with immediate testosterone therapy, compared with 1 (5%) given standard care, according to results from the Patient Health Questionnaire-9.
“Our findings illustrate the significant mental health benefits of early access to testosterone treatment and should provide an impetus for clinicians to ensure timely access to gender-affirming hormone therapy,” Nolan said.
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Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.
The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.
Newswise — Transgender people who come to the emergency room for care tend to be sicker than cisgender people who are otherwise similar to them and are much more likely to be admitted to the hospital once they visit the ER, according to a study being presented Saturday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill.
“Our findings suggest that decreasing discrimination against transgender people in society and in health care, and improving the outpatient care they are able to access in the community, may keep them healthier and help them avoid visits to the ER,” said lead researcher Daphna Stroumsa, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. “Improving access to transgender-friendly health care can improve the health of this population, and help decrease the burden on emergency rooms and hospitals.”
More than 1.6 million people over the age of 13 in the United States are transgender and gender diverse. Because of social discrimination, they face many difficulties getting the health care they need, Stroumsa said. Fearing discrimination from some medical providers—a common experience among transgender people—they often avoid getting care until they are very sick. Transgender people may need to use emergency room services for basic services, or because their chronic conditions were not treated. The study examined ER visits unrelated to gender-affirming medical care.
In the new study, the researchers analyzed data from a group of databases known as the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample. A total of 66,382 visits were made by people identified as transgender between 2006 and 2018.
The researchers found a rapid increase in the proportion of visits by people who identified as transgender, from 0.001% of visits in 2006 to 0.016% in 2018. There were significant demographic differences between transgender and cisgender patients. Transgender and gender-diverse people were significantly more likely to be admitted, adjusting for payment, age group, region, income and mental health condition (overall 52.4% vs. 17.3%). A large proportion of ED visits by transgender and gender-diverse individuals was associated with a chronic condition (58.2% vs. 19.2%) and/or with a mental health diagnosis (28.7%, compared with 3.9% for others). Hospital admission among transgender and gender-diverse people was much more likely to be linked to a chronic condition (67.3% vs 41.3%) or a mental health condition (37.2% vs. 5.3%).
“The high admission rates, and the high proportion of transgender and gender-diverse people with a chronic condition or with mental health condition, may represent worse overall health due lack of primary care, or a delay in seeking emergency care among transgender and gender-diverse people,” Stroumsa said. “Discrimination and transphobia have direct consequences, worsen the health of transgender people, and lead to poor use of health care resources. There is a need for increasing access to affirming primary and mental health care among transgender and gender-diverse people.”
# # #
Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.
The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.
Newswise — The enduring gender disparity in voting preferences between Democrats and Republicans stems, in part, from a greater percentage of female voters being Black and the historical trend of Black voters favoring the Democratic Party, as indicated by a recent study conducted by a group of sociologists.
“The connection between gender and racial disparities in voting has been recognized for some time, but the exact interplay between the two has remained uncertain,” states Paula England, the Dean of Social Science at NYU Abu Dhabi and the primary author of the research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “These discoveries highlight that approximately one-fourth of the gender gap in favoring the Democratic Party can be attributed to the fact that a larger proportion of female voters are Black compared to their male counterparts.”
In every U.S. presidential election since 1980, women have consistently demonstrated a greater tendency to vote for the Democratic candidate compared to men. Importantly, prior studies have revealed that Black men face disproportionately higher rates of mortality, incarceration, and disenfranchisement resulting from criminal convictions. These disparities contribute to a reduced representation of Black men among the voting population, leading to a higher proportion of Black voters being women in relation to other racial groups.
The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) aimed to enhance our understanding of the relationship between gender, race, and partisan voting disparities. The research team, comprising Michael Hout, a sociology professor at NYU, as well as NYU doctoral students Karyn Vilbig and Kevin Wells, conducted the study in order to shed light on the dynamics between gender and race as contributing factors to differences in voting preferences between political parties.
To accomplish this, the authors of the study analyzed data from the General Social Survey (GSS) spanning the period from the 1980 to the 2016 presidential elections. Additionally, they replicated their analysis using data from the American National Election Surveys to ensure the robustness and consistency of their findings across different datasets. By utilizing these sources, the researchers aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between gender, race, and partisan voting gaps over several decades.
The findings of their analysis revealed that the discrepancy in racial composition between genders accounted for 24% of the gender gap observed in favoring the Democratic Party. In simpler terms, since around 90% of Black voters tend to support Democrats, which is a considerably higher proportion compared to other demographic groups, the fact that a larger percentage of female voters are Black influences women’s voting preferences in favor of the Democratic Party.
According to Paula England, a professor of sociology at NYU and the lead author of the study, while a gender gap in voting exists among White voters as well, approximately 25% of the total gender gap can be attributed solely to the variation in racial composition between male and female voters. This statement highlights the significant impact of racial demographics on the observed gender disparity in voting preferences.
In order to eliminate the influence of another potential factor contributing to the gender gap, the researchers examined the role of income. Specifically, they focused on unmarried voters and investigated whether the higher likelihood of single women being economically disadvantaged compared to single men could explain why women tend to vote more Democratic.
Interestingly, the study revealed that the gender gap in favoring the Democratic Party was particularly pronounced among unmarried individuals. It was observed that unmarried women, despite experiencing a higher poverty rate compared to unmarried men, displayed a stronger tendency to vote Democratic. However, the researchers also noted that although lower-income voters do exhibit a slightly higher inclination towards voting Democratic, the difference in voting preferences between lower-income and more affluent voters was not substantial. These findings suggest that while income disparities may contribute to the gender gap in voting, they do not fully account for the magnitude of the difference observed.
The study’s authors reached the conclusion that no matter how they examined income and accounted for its influence, it had no mitigating effect on the gender gap in voting preferences. They highlighted the importance of the racial makeup of the voting population as a key factor contributing to this gap. These findings imply that although income disparities do contribute to the gap, they are not the exclusive explanation for the observed differences in voting preferences. The racial composition of the population significantly influences voting disparities as well.
Newswise — Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people are more than twice as likely than their straight peers to experience suicidal thoughts or self-harming behaviours, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.
The study, published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, is the first ever to analyse nationally representative data on sexual orientation and suicidality in England whilst being able to compare individual sexual minority groups. The researchers analysed data combined from two household surveys of 10,443 English adults (aged 16 and over), representative of the population, sampled in 2007 and 2014.
As well as finding an increased probability of past-year suicidal thoughts among lesbian or gay adults when compared with heterosexuals, and of lifetime non-suicidal self-harm among bisexual, lesbian or gay people, they also found that depression, anxiety, and experiences of discrimination or bullying may contribute in part to these increased risks.
Concerningly, the researchers found no improvement in these inequalities in suicidal thoughts and self-harm between the two time points.
Lead author Dr Alexandra Pitman (UCL Psychiatry) said: “While national surveys of British attitudes towards same-sex relationships suggest that society has become more tolerant of people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual, there is clearly a long way to go, as the mental health outcomes we were studying did not improve across our study period.
“People with sexual minority identities continue to face more discrimination and bullying than heterosexual people and are also more likely to experience common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Our study suggests that these experiences of discrimination and bullying may have some role to play in increasing the risk of suicidality and this requires further research.
“Clinicians should be aware of these issues, so that we can best support the mental health of LGB patients, while society as a whole also has a role to play in helping to reduce discrimination. Government bodies, schools, workplaces and individuals should all consider their own cultures and attitudes towards people from sexual minority groups and challenge discriminatory behaviour.”
The researchers had previously found, when analysing the same dataset (see note*), an increased probability of depression, anxiety, alcohol misuse and drug misuse among LGB adults compared with their heterosexual peers**. In the current study they found that half of lesbian or gay adults had experienced bullying and one in five had experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation within the past year. For bisexual adults, almost half had experienced bullying and one in ten had experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation within the past year.
The researchers found that even after accounting for the increased risk of common mental health problems (depression and anxiety), lesbian and gay adults were still more than twice as likely as heterosexuals to report past-year suicidal thoughts, and lesbian, gay and bisexual adults were more than three times as likely to report lifetime non-suicidal self-harm than heterosexuals. The findings were similar for both men and women, and these inequalities had not changed between 2007 and 2014.
When investigating the comparative likelihood of past-year suicide attempt, the researchers found an increased risk for bisexual adults when compared with heterosexuals, but this was no longer apparent when taking into account the increased risk of common mental health problems. The researchers caution that as the proportions with past-year suicide attempt were relatively low, their findings do not necessarily rule out an elevated suicide attempt risk among the sexual minority group as a whole.
Further analysis suggested that experiences of bullying may contribute to the increased probability of suicidal thoughts among lesbian or gay adults, and that experiences of discrimination and bullying (both categorised as minority stress factors) may each contribute to the increased risk of self-harm among lesbian, gay and bisexual adults.
First author Garrett Kidd, who worked on the study as his dissertation for a Clinical Mental Health Sciences MSc in UCL Psychiatry, said: “Our findings add to a concerning picture of health inequalities experienced by lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
“Our health services need to be improved to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ people, as some people may not feel comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation, which can hamper an understanding of their health and social needs. We also need to offer more mental health services specifically catered to LGBTQ+ people, ideally alongside community-based support.”
The researchers say that further research is needed to fully understand the reasons why sexual minority groups are more likely to experience suicidal thoughts or self-harm, such as how victimisation, family environment or stigma might be contributing factors, and in order to develop public health interventions that could reduce suicidality and potentially save lives.
* The dataset, the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) for England, included questions on sexual orientation but not gender identity. The next survey in the APMS series will include questions about gender identity, so that future analyses will be able to look at both gender and sexual identity, and therefore investigate mental health in LGB groups as well as transgender and gender diverse groups.
Garrett Kidd, Louise Marston, Irwin Nazareth, David Osborn, Alexandra Pitman, ‘Suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt and non-suicidal self-harm amongst lesbian, gay and bisexual adults compared with heterosexual adults: analysis of data from two nationally representative English household surveys’ will be published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology on Friday 9 June 2023, 00:01 UK time and is under a strict embargo until this time.
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Title 42, the United States pandemic rule that had been used to immediately deport hundreds of thousands of migrants who crossed the border illegally over the last three years, has expired. Those migrants will have the opportunity to apply for asylum. President Biden’s new rules to replace Title 42 are facing legal challenges. The US Homeland Security Department announced a rule to make it extremely difficult for anyone who travels through another country, like Mexico, to qualify for asylum. Border crossings have already risen sharply, as many migrants attempted to cross before the measure expired on Thursday night. Some have said they worry about tighter controls and uncertainty ahead. Immigration is once again a major focus of the media as we examine the humanitarian, political, and public health issues migrants must face.
Below are some of the latest headlines in the Immigration channel on Newswise.
The announcement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that it has finalized risk-based guidelines for blood donation related to sexual activity is being welcomed by the longtime director of the Blood Bank at Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan’s academic medical center.
“The FDA guidance on individualized risk assessment of blood donors is an important step forward in assuring availability of blood for our patients while maintaining the highest level of safety,” said Robertson Davenport, M.D., director of transfusion medicine and professor of pathology.
“The FDA is making changes to how blood donors are screened based on high quality scientific evidence. Since the first implementation of indefinite deferral of men who have sex with men (MSM) there have been great strides made in donor testing and in the understanding of epidemiology of HIV. We now know that there are many MSM who are very low risk. Alternatively, we know that there are other donors who are at increased risk of HIV who were no covered under the previous deferral, such as heterosexuals with a new sexual partner and those who engage is certain sexual activities. The new individualized risk assessment more clearly focuses on potential donor who are at risk and allow for donation by low risk individuals regardless of sexual orientation. This is an important step forward in increasing blood donations.”
Davenport encourages all would-be blood donors who previously had been ineligible to donate under the former guidelines to monitor sites such as the American Red Cross page for the LGBTQ community for updates on when they may begin donating under the new guidelines.
Newswise — [KAMPALA] Uganda’s anti-homosexuality bill, if signed into law, could lead to the withdrawal of foreign aid and threaten goals to end HIV/AIDS by 2030, advocates warn.
Uganda’s parliament passed the revised Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), which criminalises homosexual conduct, with minimal amendments this week (2 May).
The legislation was first passed at the end of March but revised in April after President Yoweri Museveni returned it to parliament for amendments.
“If it becomes law, it will increase stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ people and men who have sex with men, further limiting prevention and treatment services.” – Richard Lusimbo, director-general, Uganda Key Populations Consortium
The bill includes a punishment of life imprisonment for same-sex sexual conduct and up to ten years behind bars for attempted same-sex sexual acts. It also imposes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” and criminalises the “promotion” of homosexuality, which many people fear will encourage homophobia.
UNAIDS had warned that passing the bill into law would jeopardise progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS and undermine fundamental human rights including the right to health and the right to life.
“Uganda’s new Anti-Homosexuality bill is an outrage,” said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS.
“Access to timely and quality health care is a human right – sexual orientation should not determine one’s rights.”
Anne Githuku-Shongwe, director of the UNAIDS support team for eastern and southern Africa, said Uganda had made “excellent progress” in tackling the AIDS pandemic. “This new bill, if passed into law, would undercut that progress,” she warned.
Human rights ‘disaster’
According to a study published in The Lancet, HIV prevalence is significantly higher among men who have sex with men (MSM) and in African countries with laws that criminalise same sex relationships.
“If it becomes law, it will increase stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer] people and men who have sex with men, further limiting prevention and treatment services,” said Richard Lusimbo, director-general of Uganda Key Populations Consortium, a human rights organisation.
Lusimbo explained that the bill, if passed into law, would be a disaster to the human rights of LGBTQ people, to public health and the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The US government has threatened to withdraw funding for Uganda through its President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) if the law is passed.
“At this time, we are reviewing the possibility that the AHA, if signed, might prevent us from providing lifesaving prevention, care and treatment services equitably to all Ugandans receiving PEPFAR support,” said a US State Department spokesperson.
PEPFAR’s annual HIV/AIDS response investment in Uganda is about US$400 million.
Despite the pressure from the US and other governments, there is speculation that President Museveni will most likely sign the bill into law. However, the power of ascension of a bill does not lay primarily with the president.
The Ugandan parliament can also pass the bill into law if the president does not assent to or veto a bill after it is passed by parliament within 30 days or if the bill is returned to parliament twice.
In his speech on April 22, at conference themed ‘Protecting African culture and family values’, President Museveni thanked members of the Ugandan parliament for passing the bill.
“It is good that you rejected the pressure from the imperialists,” he said, reflecting his support for what has been described by activists and advocates as a draconian law.
The bill is setting the pace for other African nations as countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and others indicate readiness to introduce similar bills in solidarity with Uganda.
Charles Brown, executive director of Preventive Care International (PCI), a Ugandan non-governmental organisation that focuses on HIV, says the bill is harsh and not well thought through. He fears it will further entrench inaccessibility of health services for people in same sex relationships.
“Already, the landlady of one of my offices in western Uganda called me saying that she was told that our organisation promotes homosexuality and she is scared of being arrested,” Brown told SciDev.Net, fearing eviction.
“We hope that the president doesn’t sign it into law,” he added.
This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.
Newswise — EL PASO, Texas — Steve Ortega’s maternal and paternal grandmothers didn’t graduate from college. Both grew up in an era with limited career opportunities for women. However, they made sure their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren knew they could achieve anything with hard work and an education.
TTUHSC El Paso announces a gift of $50,000 from Ortega, an El Paso attorney and former El Paso City Council member. The university matched the donation, bringing the total fund to $100,000. Funds will go toward scholarships for women pursuing their degrees at the Foster School of Medicine and Hunt School of Dental Medicine.
The Aurora Red Medical Scholarship and Maria Olivina Ortega Dental Scholarship – named in honor of Ortega’s grandmothers – aim to support residents of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez.
“Finances shouldn’t be a barrier to education,” Ortega said. “My grandmothers were constrained by finances and gender, which limited their career choices. Today, women represent the next generation of health care professionals for our community. TTUHSC El Paso represents the resurgence of our city as well as the new face of health care. Even though I’m not a graduate of Texas Tech, I’m proud of this institution.”
TTUHSC El Paso is addressing the region’s provider shortage by recognizing the importance of educating local students committed to serving their communities and improving access to health care in their hometown. Currently, 52% of TTUHSC El Paso students are from our Borderplex region.
“We’re grateful to Steve Ortega for his gift, which will have a transformative impact on the lives of our students,” said Richard Lange, M.D., M.B.A, president of TTUHSC El Paso and dean of the Foster School of Medicine. “His generosity will help us as we ‘grow our own’ and the legacies of his grandmothers will live on in scholarship recipients, setting an example and empowering other young women in our community who will follow in their footsteps.”
Fostering growth through community support
Contributions from community leaders like Ortega have played a crucial role in TTUHSC El Paso’s ability to meet health care challenges along the U.S.-Mexico border by training future practitioners who will remain in the region. With financial assistance, students can focus on their studies without taking on additional jobs, important as Foster School of Medicine and Hunt School of Dental Medicine students experience clinical training within the first semester of their education. The early interaction with patients prepares them to become skilled, compassionate providers ready to enter the workforce.
First-year dental student and native El Pasoan, Angelica Quinones, is a scholarship recipient who takes inspiration from her own late grandmother who battled breast cancer. Quinones follows the advice she was given when it comes to education: “echale ganas,” Spanish for “give it your all.”
“As a first-generation college student, I always thought dental school was only for those who came from generations of dentists,” Quinones said. “I’m thankful for my scholarship, which allows me to pursue my dream of becoming a dentist, enjoy the experience and not worry about the financial aspect.”
Nationally, women have made significant progress in diversifying the fields of medicine and dental medicine. According to data from the AAMC and ADEA, in 2020, women made up just over 50% of all medical students in the U.S. At TTUHSC El Paso, women made up 53% of the incoming enrollment in the Foster School of Medicine in 2021. As for the Hunt School of Dental Medicine, female enrollment is 65%. Although these are great strides, there is still work to be done.
A legacy of service and dedication to El Paso
A fifth-generation El Pasoan, Ortega graduated from Cathedral High School and attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he received bachelor’s degrees in government and sociology. After obtaining his law degree from the George Washington University Law Center, he returned to the Sun City where he served the community on the El Paso City Council from 2005 to 2013.
Collaborating with neighborhood groups, business leaders and fellow elected officials, Ortega helped restore San Jacinto Plaza and successfully advocated for a $500 million quality of life bond. He also worked to expand the Medical Center of the Americas with a vision of making the area an appealing destination for investment and high-income careers. Throughout his tenure, Ortega championed various initiatives, including vital neighborhood infrastructure improvements, such as the Crime Victims’ Reading Memorial Garden, the Knight’s Street Project and the Carolina Street Art initiative. He also sponsored more efficient cross-border trade systems.
In addition to his legal practice, Ortega serves on the board of several public service organizations. His belief in the transformative power of TTUHSC El Paso symbolizes the community’s resurgence and immense potential for future growth.
About Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso
TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It’s a designated Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care heroes, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation students.
TTUHSC El Paso was established to focus on the unique health care and educational needs of our Borderplex community. In 2023, TTUHSC El Paso celebrates its 10th anniversary as an independent university within the Texas Tech University System. In a decade, the university has graduated over 2,000 doctors, nurses and researchers, and will soon add dentists to its alumni.
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso
Newswise — Toronto, ON – A new national study, published in LGBT Health, finds that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth are twice as likely to report trouble falling or staying asleep than their straight peers. Greater depression, stress, and family conflict contribute to the sleep problems of LGB youth.
“Young people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual may face discrimination and negative attitudes because of their sexual orientation. These experiences can make it harder for them to get a good night’s sleep,” says lead author, Jason Nagata, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. “Difficulties getting along with family, feeling sad and hopeless, and being under a lot of pressure could all make it hard for lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth to sleep well.”
The researchers analyzed data from 8563 youth ages 10-14 years old who are part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States. Data were collected from 2018-2020. The youth and their parents answered questions about their sleep habits and youth were asked about their sexual orientation. Youth who were questioning their sexuality (e.g., who replied “maybe” to being gay, lesbian, or bisexual) also had greater risk for sleep problems compared to their straight peers.
“Families should provide support by being present and encouraging young people’s exploration of their identity and development of a sense of self,” said co-author, Kyle T. Ganson, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. “Adolescent development is a challenging time for many given the social pressures and physical, psychological, and emotional changes that occur. Understanding this process and being present to support it is crucial for positive health outcomes.”
“Getting enough sleep is crucial for teenagers because it helps their body and mind grow and develop properly,” Nagata says. “To sleep well, teenagers should follow a consistent sleep routine, make sure their sleeping environment is comfortable, and avoid using electronic devices before going to bed.”
Newswise — New research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) highlights some of the challenges that transgender and non-binary staff can face at work.
The study also shows how their experiences can help us to see ways in which the working context might be changed to create a more inclusive environment that is receptive to more diverse gender identities.
For example, through the provision of non-gendered changing and bathroom spaces, and processes that enable people to complete forms and choose pronouns in line with their identity.
While there are various examples of good practice and initiatives to make workplaces more inclusive, there is little research that tells the story of employees being trans at work.
Trans workers are often subject to discrimination, harassment and violence, despite gender identity being a protected characteristic in many contexts.
This new study, published today in the journal Work, Employment & Society, looks at how individual experiences combine with organisational culture, processes and working relationships to produce moments where diverse gender identities can be accepted or denied, which can be very damaging for trans workers.
Lead author Dr David Watson, associate professor in organisational behaviour at UEA’s Norwich Business School, said: “Our findings are important because trans and non-binary people do not have a strong voice in all workplaces, and where they are not inclusive or welcoming this can lead to significant harms.”
The research team, from UEA and the University of Valle d’Aosta in Italy, met with 11 Italian trans workers to hear their stories, which were then analysed to understand how their experiences challenged binary gender norms and how they could inform the transformation of workplaces so they become more inclusive, such as providing awareness training for staff that embeds an understanding of gender identity as fluid and constructed.
“Our encounters convey some of the stigma and harms that trans workers can experience, however, we also heard about positive experiences,” said co-author associate professor Angelo Benozzo, from the University of Valle d’Aosta.
“Departing from expected gender norms exposes individuals to vulnerabilities, although it may also prompt reflection on the nature of gender, thereby encouraging acceptance in the workplace and reducing vulnerability for others.”
The study is based on an understanding of gender that sees gender identity as a something which is performative and potentially fluid rather than fixed and given. Where cultural expectations of what constitute ‘acceptable’ gender identities shape how people ‘do’ gender, for example through the way they dress.
When the heterosexual model of gender is considered the default gender identity, this concept of heteronormativity reinforces gender binarism – the idea that society only has two genders, male and female – that heterosexuality is expected, and other gender identities are regarded as less intelligible or even acceptable.
Dr Watson added: “The desirability of subverting gender norms depends on what those gender norms are, how they constrain or harm individuals and the potential consequences for those who challenge them.
“Therefore, our research does not point to the need for trans workers themselves to subvert gender norms, but rather we need to challenge binary gender norms in the workplace to enable all individuals to freely express their gender identity.”
‘Trans people in the workplace: possibilities for subverting heteronormativity’ by David Watson, Angelo Benozzo and Roberta Fida, is published in Work, Employment & Society on March 17.
