Patricia Todd

Effect of Contact on intercultural Acceptance: A Field Study

Abstract A field study was conducted to assess the effect of an intervention designed to promote contact between international and Australian students in an Australian university residential hall on their subsequent intercultural contact with, and acceptance of, unfamiliar outgroup members. In addition, the research was designed to assess the extent to which three variables (i.e. cultural stereotypes, cultural knowledge, and cultural openness) mediated the effect of intercultural contact. Seventy-six Australian and international students in one residential hall (vs 71 Australian and international students in a control residential hall) experienced an intervention designed to promote intercultural contact over a 7 month period. The results revealed considerable support for the intercultural contact hypothesis — the pattern of residential hall contact tended to impact directly upon the dependent measures. However, the results also indicated that the intervention impacted differentially upon the responses of the Australian and international students and that the most plausible explanation for this effect related to the students’ intercultural knowledge and openness.

Internationalising Australian universities: the intercultural contact issue

An important assumption underlying the recent movement towards internationalising education in Australian universities is that the recruitment of international students will facilitate contact with Australian students which, in turn, will enhance intercultural awareness, understanding, and acceptance. The present study surveyed samples of international (n = 357) and Australian students (n = 359) concerning their perceptions of the others friendliness, the extent of their current contact (in coursework, accommodation, and leisure activities), and their preferred level of contact. The results indicated that there were some notable differences, as well as similarities, in the perceptions and preferences of the two students groups. Moreover, the findings indicated that the differences were frequently interactively associated with the degree programs in which the students were enrolled, that the differences between Australian and international students appeared to be greater than between international student...

Promoting Intercultural Contact Between Australian and International University Students

Abstract In view of the equivocal findings relating to the intercultural contact hypothesis and the practical issue of the lack of contact between Australian and international university students, a study was conducted to assess the efficacy of an intervention designed to promote contact between members of the two groups in one setting (a residential college) on their contact on the wider university campus, as well as their intercultural knowledge and acceptance. The subjects were 147 international (mainly ethnic Chinese) and Anglo‐Australian first year students living in four student residential colleges, each of which had approximately equal numbers of the two student groups. An intervention was developed which focused on the orientation program, college floor group recreational activities and college tutorial system of one of the residential colleges, the aim being to promote contact between international and Australian students. The program was evaluated after six months, the results for students in t...

Gender and promotion in Academia

Studies and analyses changes to the promotion policies and practices at the University of Western Australia (UWA) and identifies outcomes by gender. Suggests that there are quite a few factors to be addressed before gender equity in academia at UWA is obtained. Discusses, in depth, how to try to deal with lack of networks, socialization, the dual‐role burden, masculine organizational culture and gendered power imbalance in the workplace. States that, although great inroads have been made at UWA, statistics show that there are still very fundamental barriers to be addressed to aid further improvement for women academics.

Otherwise you're on your own: Unions and bargaining in Malaysian banking

Bank unionism illustrates some of the diverse experiences of Malaysian unions in a seemingly hostile legislative environment. The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) is a powerful union that contrasts with in‐house unions in several banks and which shows that it is not impossible for Malaysian unions to organise and secure gains for members. Its experience illustrates the importance for union prosperity of: workplace union activity; the capacity to protect members from insecurity and arbitrary treatment; workplace reform strategies; internal discourse; education and training; union culture; creative and strategic approaches to industrial action; and the role of politics in industrial relations.

Employer and Employer Association Matters in 2009

For employers 2009 was a year of major regulatory change in industrial relations, requiring them to position themselves in response to these changes. The first part of the Fair Work Act commenced on 1 July and details of the modern awards continued to be released throughout the year. The drive towards a unified national industrial relations system was consolidated legislatively; amendments to the building industry inspectorate’s powers were debated but not concluded; a promise to introduce paid parental leave was put on the table; and regulatory changes occurred in relation to the 457 visa programme, employee share schemes and executive remuneration. These changes were occurring in the context of the global financial crisis, which itself required employers to determine appropriate strategic actions to reduce labour costs and yet retain their workforce for the future. Not surprisingly, concerns about labour shortages abated although there was ongoing recognition that long term labour supply issues were still very real.

Employers' Choices in Workplace Regulation: Individual Agreements

In Western Australia (WA) the state IR regulatory framework has been changed substantially in recent times, firstly, by the former Coalition Government facilitating individualism and subsequently by the Labor Government attempting to reverse this trend by reinstating a greater emphasis on collective bargaining. The WA Coalition Government introduced the option for employers to negotiate and register individual agreements based on a very limited set of minimum employment standards, as a critical part of their change package. Subsequently these were abolished by the Gallop Labor Government and replaced by the less flexible Employer Employee Agreements based on awards, as part of a package of changes to encourage employers to return to collective bargaining. This article considers the response of employers in WA to these changes, focusing in particular on those who chose to utilize the individual agreements option during the 1990s and how they later responded to the Labor Governments regime favouring collective agreements.

Introduction: Australian industrial relations in 2014

The annual reviews edition of the Journal of Industrial Relations provides an important opportunity to analyse recent developments in Australian industrial relations and to identify indicators of likely trends in the immediate future. This introductory article commences with a brief commentary on contemporary Australian industrial relations, noting first, the diversity of outcomes and second, the ongoing conflict between workers/unions and employers which continues to ensure a critical role for the state. This is followed by brief summaries of the review articles included in this edition. Most of the articles are focused on developments in Australian industrial relations in terms of legislation, the labour market, tribunal decisions, the position of women, and activities of employer associations and unions. In addition, two internationally focused review articles are included, one of which considers the right to strike in China and the other canvasses the literature on Global Union Federations.

Teaching Comparative Industrial Relations: Continuity and Change

This paper examines the objectives, content and methods of Comparative Industrial Relations courses in Australian and New Zealand universities. It identifies changes in the approaches to teaching the subject since a 1990 survey. Using twenty- five course outlines at both undergraduate and postgraduate level from fifteen univer sities, the paper examines some of the cboices lecturers face—selection of countries and themes, the use of theory and the application of effective and innovative teaching strategies. Some new themes have emerged in the past decade, developing Asian countries are increasingly being included in courses, and the theoretical base is broaden ing. Overall, however, comparative industrial relations courses are bigbly diverse in content, reflecting the explicit and implicit objectives of those wbo teach them.

The Gender Pay Gap in Western Australia: Gross Inequity, Women Still ‘Counting for Nothing’?

ABSTRACT Western Australia (WA) has the largest gender pay gap (GPG) of any Australian state, standing at 26.9 per cent in August 2007. In recent years two WA governments have expressed their concern by commissioning reports. This article details the findings and recommendations of the most recent 2004 review and outlines the governments response subsequent to the review. The article analyses the barriers to implementing the changes needed to improve gender pay equity in WA, including the lack of awareness and understanding of gender pay equity, the complexity of the causes of the GPG, the expected opposition from employers to many of the recommended changes, and the factors impeding union and government commitment to the changes needed. The article concludes by considering to what extent and in what ways the GPG is perceived as ‘a problem’ by employers, unions and the majority of the population. It suggests that prioritising achievable goals to improve the position of women in the workplace may require refocusing ‘the problem’ away from the GPG itself.