Maria Gardiner

Gender differences in leadership style, job stress and mental health in male ‐ and female ‐ dominated industries

A number of writers have suggested that when men dominate numerically in an industry, women in that industry experience pressure to alter their leadership style, which in turn impacts on their mental health. These assertions, based largely on limited research findings and anecdotal evidence, were tested empirically. Specifically, the study investigated the impact of working in either a male- or female-dominated industry on the leadership style, stress levels and mental health of 60 women and 60 men managers. As hypothesized, women and men in male-dominated industries did not differ in interpersonal orientation, whereas in female-dominated industries women were more interpersonally oriented than men. Consistent with predictions, women did report more pressure from their jobs than men, with women in male-dominated industries reporting the highest level of pressure from discrimination. Although there was no overall difference between women and mens mental health, there was a difference in the pattern of relationships between leadership style and mental health. Women in male-dominated industries reported worse mental health when they utilized an interpersonally oriented leadership style, whereas men in male-dominated industries reported better mental health when they utilized such a leadership style. These findings suggest that both gender and the gender ratio of the industry influence leadership style, stress and mental health, and as such contribute to our understanding of the barriers to women working in senior management roles in male-dominated industries.

Show Me the Money! An Empirical Analysis of Mentoring Outcomes for Women in Academia.

This paper discusses and comprehensively evaluates a mentoring scheme for junior female academics. The program aimed to address the under‐representation of women in senior positions by increasing participation in networks and improving women’s research performance. A multifaceted, longitudinal design, including a control group, was used to evaluate the success of mentoring in terms of the benefits for the women and for the university. The results indicate mentoring was very beneficial, showing that mentees were more likely to stay in the university, received more grant income and higher level of promotion, and had better perceptions of themselves as academics compared with non‐mentored female academics. This indicates that not only do women themselves benefit from mentoring but that universities can confidently implement well‐designed initiatives, knowing that they will receive a significant return on investment.

Innovation in PhD completion: the hardy shall succeed (and be happy!)

What is it that makes a PhD such a difficult process, and prevents candidates from completing on time? In this paper, we propose that self‐sabotaging behaviours, including overcommitting, procrastination and perfectionism, have a role to play. At Flinders University, we have developed a program in which we work with PhD students to help to reduce these behaviours and give them the strategies and attitudes they need to successfully (and happily!) complete their thesis. The program utilises cognitive–behavioural coaching, an evidence‐based strategy that we claim leads to significant and long‐term behavioural change. An evaluation of the program indicates that it is very successful, improving students’ ability to manage their time, set specific times for writing, and show work to their supervisor regularly, and that these behaviours were associated with lower levels of stress and improved ability to complete.

Is It Time Well Spent? The Relationship between Time Management Behaviours, Perceived Effectiveness and Work-Related Morale and Distress in a University Context.

Despite the high ‘guru‐factor’ in time management, few claims have been subjected to empirical investigation. This study tests the claims that people who manage their time well perceive themselves to be more effective and feel less stressed. University staff and students were utilized to investigate the relationship between time management related behaviours, perceived effectiveness, and work‐related morale and distress. Results suggested a hierarchy of time management behaviours. Having a clear sense of career purpose was most important for perceived effectiveness at work, followed by planning and prioritizing. This study has significant practical implications for staff and students. If the aim of using time management strategies is to improve performance and reduce stress, people need to learn to identify the purpose in their career, then plan their time accordingly, rather than tidying desks and hanging ‘do not disturb’ signs on doors.

The manipulation and measurement of task-specific memory self-efficacy in younger and older adults

Task-specific memory self-efficacy (TSMSE) was experimentally manipulated through provision of information about task difficulty, to determine its effect on free recall for 56 older (age 63-86) and 56 younger (age 16-25) adults. The implications of using prediction-based measures of TSMSE were addressed. After completing one recall trial of a list of 20 words, half the participants were told a second list comprised more difficult words; the others were told the second list would be similar to the first they had received. Free recall and TSMSE were measured before and after this manipulation. The manipulation reduced TSMSE for participants expecting a harder list of words, but not differently for younger compared with older adults. Younger and older adults’ recall declined at the second recall trial, but there was no difference between those expecting a harder list and those expecting a similar list. Recall was predicted by domain-specific memory self-efficacy as well as a traditional measure of TSMSE. The study demonstrated the malleability of memory self-efficacy, but called into question assertions about its salience as a mediator of older adults’ poorer memory performance.

Effectiveness of cognitive behavioural coaching in improving the well-being and retention of rural general practitioners.

Objective To determine the relationship between cognitive behavioural coaching, the well-being of rural general practitioners (GPs), their intentions to leave and actual leaving of rural general practice. Design Quasi-experimental study utilising an intervention group of rural GPs and deidentified data for a baseline group and a control group consisting of the remaining population of rural GPs in South Australia. Setting Rural general practice. Participants Rural GPs in South Australia: intervention group (n = 69), baseline group (n = 205) and control group (n = 312). Interventions A 9-hour cognitive behavioural coaching program. Main outcome measure(s) Rural doctor distress, intention to leave rural general practice and actual retention rate of rural GPs. Results GPs who underwent cognitive behavioural coaching had lower rural doctor distress scores (mean = 24.50; confidence interval, 21.71–27.29) than the baseline group (mean = 28.63; confidence interval, 27.08–30.17). Before coaching, 81% of rural GPs in the intervention group had considered leaving general practice, which reduced to 40% after coaching (χ2(2) = 16.31, P < .001). Over a 3-year period, 94% of the coaching group remained in general practice compared with 80% of the control group (χ2(1) = 4.89, P = 0.027). Conclusions Cognitive behavioural coaching reduced the stress levels of rural GPs who self-identified the need for managing stress and reduced their intention to leave rural general practice. Further, despite initially being more stressed compared with the general population of rural GPs, more GPs from the coaching group remained in rural general practice.OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between cognitive behavioural coaching, the well-being of rural general practitioners (GPs), their intentions to leave and actual leaving of rural general practice. DESIGN Quasi-experimental study utilising an intervention group of rural GPs and deidentified data for a baseline group and a control group consisting of the remaining population of rural GPs in South Australia. SETTING Rural general practice. PARTICIPANTS Rural GPs in South Australia: intervention group (n = 69), baseline group (n = 205) and control group (n = 312). INTERVENTIONS A 9-hour cognitive behavioural coaching program. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Rural doctor distress, intention to leave rural general practice and actual retention rate of rural GPs. RESULTS GPs who underwent cognitive behavioural coaching had lower rural doctor distress scores (mean = 24.50; confidence interval, 21.71-27.29) than the baseline group (mean = 28.63; confidence interval, 27.08-30.17). Before coaching, 81% of rural GPs in the intervention group had considered leaving general practice, which reduced to 40% after coaching (χ(2) (2) = 16.31, P < .001). Over a 3-year period, 94% of the coaching group remained in general practice compared with 80% of the control group (χ(2) (1) = 4.89, P = 0.027). CONCLUSIONS Cognitive behavioural coaching reduced the stress levels of rural GPs who self-identified the need for managing stress and reduced their intention to leave rural general practice. Further, despite initially being more stressed compared with the general population of rural GPs, more GPs from the coaching group remained in rural general practice.