title: The impact of styling on a woman’s perceived competency, warmth and likelihood of gaining leadership

authors: Watt, Marika

subjects: Organisational Psychology

abstract: Women make up almost half of the workforce and are gaining more and higher qualifications than men yet are still vastly underrepresented at higher levels of management. Constitutional and multidimensional frameworks of gender stereotyping, such as the think-manager-think-male phenomenon suggest that leadership is associated with masculine rather than feminine attributes. If women behave and present themselves in masculine way they run the risk of being disliked and harshly judged for not conforming to their gendered expectations. Women have to walk a fine line between behaving and appearing somewhat masculine but not too masculine and somewhat feminine but not too feminine. 
What women wear and how they present themselves can and will impact how they are perceived. Previous research has found that masculine styling can have a positive impact on perceived leadership abilities for women. There is still limited research around the effects of single, isolated styling elements. Therefore, this study aims to build upon Klatt, Eimler & Kramer’s research regarding the influence of styling elements and the evaluations on a woman's competence, warmth and likelihood of getting hired for a leadership position. In a 2x2x2x2 between-subject design, the effects of the styling elements pants/skirt, hair up/hair down, flats/heels, visible tattoo/no tattoo on leadership perceptions were tested. 
One hundred thirty-nine first-year psychology students completed an online survey evaluating a woman in a photograph. Participants were presented with one of the 16 possible photographs that exhibited the different styling combinations. Participants were asked to rate the woman in the picture with regards to their perceptions of that person's competence, warmth and likelihood they would hire them for a leadership position. Perceptions of masculinity and femininity were also recorded.
A multivariate analysis revealed that women who wear their hair down or have a visible tattoo were rated the highest in warmth. While the combinations of wearing pants and having hair tied up increased the perceiver's ratings of competence. None of the styling elements influenced the person's likelihood of getting hired for a leadership position. Unexpectedly, photographs of the stimuli wearing pants were rated more feminine, and skirts were rated more masculine. These results contradict findings from previous research. A possible cause of these peculiar results could be due to the lack of diversity and the young age of participants within the sample population. 
This research highlights the need for further exploration to clarify the impacts that individual styling elements can have on women's perceived leadership ability. Outcomes from further research could provide a more definitive guideline for women to refer to when they are looking to attain a leadership role.

text: The impact of styling on a woman’s perceived competency, warmth and likelihood of gaining leadership Women make up almost half of the workforce and are gaining more and higher qualifications than men yet are still vastly underrepresented at higher levels of management. Constitutional and multidimensional frameworks of gender stereotyping, such as the think-manager-think-male phenomenon suggest that leadership is associated with masculine rather than feminine attributes. If women behave and present themselves in masculine way they run the risk of being disliked and harshly judged for not conforming to their gendered expectations. Women have to walk a fine line between behaving and appearing somewhat masculine but not too masculine and somewhat feminine but not too feminine. 
What women wear and how they present themselves can and will impact how they are perceived. Previous research has found that masculine styling can have a positive impact on perceived leadership abilities for women. There is still limited research around the effects of single, isolated styling elements. Therefore, this study aims to build upon Klatt, Eimler & Kramer’s research regarding the influence of styling elements and the evaluations on a woman's competence, warmth and likelihood of getting hired for a leadership position. In a 2x2x2x2 between-subject design, the effects of the styling elements pants/skirt, hair up/hair down, flats/heels, visible tattoo/no tattoo on leadership perceptions were tested. 
One hundred thirty-nine first-year psychology students completed an online survey evaluating a woman in a photograph. Participants were presented with one of the 16 possible photographs that exhibited the different styling combinations. Participants were asked to rate the woman in the picture with regards to their perceptions of that person's competence, warmth and likelihood they would hire them for a leadership position. Perceptions of masculinity and femininity were also recorded.
A multivariate analysis revealed that women who wear their hair down or have a visible tattoo were rated the highest in warmth. While the combinations of wearing pants and having hair tied up increased the perceiver's ratings of competence. None of the styling elements influenced the person's likelihood of getting hired for a leadership position. Unexpectedly, photographs of the stimuli wearing pants were rated more feminine, and skirts were rated more masculine. These results contradict findings from previous research. A possible cause of these peculiar results could be due to the lack of diversity and the young age of participants within the sample population. 
This research highlights the need for further exploration to clarify the impacts that individual styling elements can have on women's perceived leadership ability. Outcomes from further research could provide a more definitive guideline for women to refer to when they are looking to attain a leadership role.

year: 2020

title: Critically assessing energy hardship in Aotearoa New Zealand for strategising its eradication

authors: Fernandes Brabo, Luiza

subjects: Energy hardship

abstract: Energy hardship is a condition relating to the lack of energy access and affordability, with the latter being the most relevant aspect to New Zealand. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Kiwis are struggling with the condition, causing financial and health issues.

This doctoral thesis, with publications, uses transition management as the framework to guide the study towards answering the main research question: What are the best interventions needed to eradicate energy hardship in Aotearoa? The first step, (known as the strategic one, according to the transition management framework) was a systematic literature review conducted to understand the recent and relevant international literature on fuel poverty, energy poverty, and energy hardship, all terms that get used in the literature Additionally, semi-structured interviews were carried out with five energy experts in New Zealand to find patterns in their perspectives on the meaning of fuel poverty and energy hardship.

For the second step, tactical, sixteen people employed by sixteen organisations in Aotearoa participated in semi-structured interviews about their current interventions against energy hardship. The themes found in their responses were compared to the energy hardship framework proposed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in 2021 to see if the interventions from the interviewed organisations were effective.

In the operational step, a quantitative study was divided into two parts: one survey with 773 customers from a low-cost electricity retailer (OurPower) in the Waikato region and another survey with 505 respondents in a nationally representative sample. Seventeen energy hardship indicators proposed by MBIE were used and correlated to household and dwelling characteristics and energy behaviours to understand better the causes and consequences of energy hardship in Aotearoa.

In the last step, reflexive, three follow-up surveys were conducted: one with organisations seeking feedback from their operations and plans, another with the nationally representative sample and the OurPower customers, which sought their opinions on survey rewards and other energy interventions they engaged in recently. All the follow-up surveys asked respondents about the role of each type of organisation (such as local government, national government, non-governmental organisations, and energy sector) in reducing energy hardship.

It was found that the best practices mostly related to reducing the energy bills of households. When linking the respondents’ suggestions to the concept of energy democracy, it became clear that more democratic and decentralised decision-making in the energy sector (e.g. community-owned infrastructure) can reduce energy costs, which is a priority for households. Increasing dwelling standards for insulation and overall energy efficiency and ensuring construction companies and landlords follow them is also of essential need. For Aotearoa to achieve energy wellbeing, we need to focus more on collaboration at the community level, not only the household level.

text: Critically assessing energy hardship in Aotearoa New Zealand for strategising its eradication Energy hardship is a condition relating to the lack of energy access and affordability, with the latter being the most relevant aspect to New Zealand. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Kiwis are struggling with the condition, causing financial and health issues.

This doctoral thesis, with publications, uses transition management as the framework to guide the study towards answering the main research question: What are the best interventions needed to eradicate energy hardship in Aotearoa? The first step, (known as the strategic one, according to the transition management framework) was a systematic literature review conducted to understand the recent and relevant international literature on fuel poverty, energy poverty, and energy hardship, all terms that get used in the literature Additionally, semi-structured interviews were carried out with five energy experts in New Zealand to find patterns in their perspectives on the meaning of fuel poverty and energy hardship.

For the second step, tactical, sixteen people employed by sixteen organisations in Aotearoa participated in semi-structured interviews about their current interventions against energy hardship. The themes found in their responses were compared to the energy hardship framework proposed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in 2021 to see if the interventions from the interviewed organisations were effective.

In the operational step, a quantitative study was divided into two parts: one survey with 773 customers from a low-cost electricity retailer (OurPower) in the Waikato region and another survey with 505 respondents in a nationally representative sample. Seventeen energy hardship indicators proposed by MBIE were used and correlated to household and dwelling characteristics and energy behaviours to understand better the causes and consequences of energy hardship in Aotearoa.

In the last step, reflexive, three follow-up surveys were conducted: one with organisations seeking feedback from their operations and plans, another with the nationally representative sample and the OurPower customers, which sought their opinions on survey rewards and other energy interventions they engaged in recently. All the follow-up surveys asked respondents about the role of each type of organisation (such as local government, national government, non-governmental organisations, and energy sector) in reducing energy hardship.

It was found that the best practices mostly related to reducing the energy bills of households. When linking the respondents’ suggestions to the concept of energy democracy, it became clear that more democratic and decentralised decision-making in the energy sector (e.g. community-owned infrastructure) can reduce energy costs, which is a priority for households. Increasing dwelling standards for insulation and overall energy efficiency and ensuring construction companies and landlords follow them is also of essential need. For Aotearoa to achieve energy wellbeing, we need to focus more on collaboration at the community level, not only the household level.

year: 2023

title: Voices of the land: Richard Nunns in conversation with Martin Lodge

authors: Nunns, Richard

abstract: Richard Nunns in conversation with Martin Lodge

text: Voices of the land: Richard Nunns in conversation with Martin Lodge Richard Nunns in conversation with Martin Lodge

year: 2008