Dataset Information

The UK Online Gender Audit 2018: A comprehensive audit of gender within the UK's online environment.

ABSTRACT: Gender inequality has exploded as a recent issue within mainstream media across US and UK cultural commentary. High-profile scandals of sexual harassment and gender pay differences have focused attention on the on-going disparity between sexes and political status. This paper presents a novel experiment in the application of so-called "big data" to analyse gender inequality. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques in the form of Natural Language Processing, a web crawler is used to audit the whole.uk online domain, and to measure the United Kingdom's (UK's) online economic presence for gender representation in terms of: prominence, job roles, and leadership within and across economic sectors. The procedure scans over 200 million web pages, and harvests 157,032 organisations and over 2.3 million people. The results reveal material bias (60%+) towards the representation of men over the majority of economic sectors, and across representation of power and status within job roles and professional titles. The experiment highlights not only new levels of gender bias but also the use of the Internet as a valuable source of plentiful data for social and economic analysis.

SUBMITTER: Huluba AM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6288449 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The UK Online Gender Audit 2018: A comprehensive audit of gender within the UK's online environment.

Huluba Ana-Maria AM Kingdon Jason J McLaren Iain I

Heliyon 20181208 12

Gender inequality has exploded as a recent issue within mainstream media across US and UK cultural commentary. High-profile scandals of sexual harassment and gender pay differences have focused attention on the on-going disparity between sexes and political status. This paper presents a novel experiment in the application of so-called "big data" to analyse gender inequality. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques in the form of Natural Language Processing, a web crawler is used to audit t ...[more]

PMID: 30560209

Similar Datasets

Project description:IntroductionMassive open online courses (MOOCs) offer a flexible approach to online and distance learning, and are growing in popularity. Several MOOCs are now available, to help learners build on their knowledge in a number of healthcare topics. More research is needed to determine the effectiveness of MOOCs as an online education tool, and explore their long-term impact on learners' professional practice. We present a protocol describing the design of comprehensive, mixed-methods evaluation of a MOOC, 'Q uality I mprovement ( QI ) in H ealthcare : the Case for Change', which aims to improve learner's knowledge and understanding of QI approaches in healthcare, and to increase their confidence in participating, and possibly leading QI projects.Methods and analysisA pre-post study design using quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to evaluate the QI MOOC. Different elements of the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness and maintenance) and Kirkpatrick (reaction, learning and behaviour) models will be used to guide the evaluation. All learners who register for the course will be invited to participate in the QI MOOC evaluation study. Those who consent will be asked to complete a presurvey to assess baseline QI knowledge (self-report and objective) and perceived confidence in engaging in QI activities. On completion of the course, participants will complete a postsurvey measuring again knowledge and perceived confidence. Feedback on the course content and how it can be improved. A subset of participants will be invited to take part in a follow-up qualitative interview, 3 months after taking the course, to explore in depth how the MOOC impacted their behaviour in practice.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the University of Bath Human Research Ethics Committee (reference: 2958). Study findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals, and disseminated at conference and departmental presentations, and more widely using social media, microblogging sites and periodicals aimed at healthcare professionals.

Project description:BackgroundUse of e-cigarettes (inhalable vapour producing battery powered devices that aim to simulate tobacco cigarettes), is rising in a number of countries, but as yet none of these products are regulated as medicinal devices or available as smoking cessation treatments. Smokers seeking support from health professionals to stop smoking are interested in e-cigarettes and may be buying them to aid a quit attempt. Determining what smokers are asking, and what health professionals think about these products may have implications for smoking treatment services in a number of countries.MethodsStop smoking service advisors, managers and commissioners in the United Kingdom were asked to take part in two surveys on e-cigarettes. Data was analysed from 587 practitioners who completed a survey in 2011 and 705 practitioners who completed a repeat survey in 2013. Responses to multiple choice questions and free text comments were analysed.ResultsResponding practitioners reported that interest in, and use of, e-cigarettes is growing among adults seeking help to stop smoking in the UK. In 2013 91% of respondents reported that interest in e-cigarettes had grown in the past year and whilst in 2011, 2% of respondents reported a 'quarter to a half' of their clients saying that they were regularly using e-cigarettes, by 2013 this had increased to 23.5% (p < .001). Responding practitioners' views towards e-cigarettes became more positive between the first and second surveys (15% strongly agreed/agreed in 2011 that 'e-cigarettes are a good thing' rising to 26% in 2013). However, they continued to have concerns about the products. In particular, analysis of free text responses suggested practitioners were unsure about safety or efficacy for smoking cessation, and were worried that smokers may become dependent on the products. Practitioners were also aware of the potential of e-cigarettes to undermine smokers' willingness to use evidence-based methods to stop, and to challenge policies aiming to denormalise tobacco smoking.ConclusionsHealth professionals are asking for reliable and accurate information on e-cigarettes to convey to smokers who want to quit. Randomized controlled trials and ongoing surveillance of e-cigarette use and its consequences for smoking cessation rates and smoking treatment services are required.

Dataset Information

The UK Online Gender Audit 2018: A comprehensive audit of gender within the UK's online environment.

Publications

The UK Online Gender Audit 2018: A comprehensive audit of gender within the UK's online environment.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure