Gender Equality Pols 234 paper Essays - Human Behavior, Gender

Gender Equality: Reduction of the Wage Gap Policy for British Columbia Submitted to the Honorable Bill Morneau Minister of Finance Toronto, Ontario Sarah Dunn Executive Summary In every city within the G7, the gender wage gap is evident. Thus, the repercussions of this economic issue are felt throughout the nation. The issue of gender discrimination has created substantial consequences in society for women: it has caused wage disparity to increase, we can conclude that public policy is required. The gender gap is a relevant issue today because women are paid unequally for equal work. For instance, in 2011, the gap was at 26% for full time work and in 1987 the gap was at 36%. Though the gender gap is slowly decreasing over the decades the issue is still evident and represents the discrimination that is still present. In 2016, Statistics Canada found that women who held a bachelor degree had a median income of $68,342 while men with the same level of education were earning around $82,082. Sheila Block who is a senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives claimed that the gap is a result of "direct sexism in the labour market." It is necessary to implement policies to establish equality, in 2015 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau established the importance of gender equality by assembling a cabinet that included equal number of male and female ministers. When asked about the reason for his decision he stated, "Because its 2015." In 2015, women were only earning $0.87 for every dollar a man had earned. The wage gap presents an issue of equality in Canada. Gender discrimination has slowly improved but managerial positions are still dominated by men, representing the lack of representation of women. The gender wage gap is complex and needs to be understood in the context the economy. In regard to the economic context of the gender gap, part time workers must be a focus; 76% of Canadian part-time workers in 2015 were women. Women typically take part-time jobs instead of full time jobs because of the exorbitant prices of child care. This has to do with the trade-off between family and career that is prevalent in our society for women; a trade-off men usually do not have to face. It should be noted that between 10% and 15% of the wage gap is attributed to gender based wage discrimination and out of 34 countries in the OECD, Canada had the 7th highest gender wage gap in 2014. The wage gap is detrimental to women and it has created a cycle within itself that only worsens the wage gap; public policy needs to be implemented immediately. Options for Change This report presents two alternative options for combatting the gender wage gap. The first option is to improve education for women to ensure that they are sufficiently prepared to hold managerial positions. Businesses can provide industry promotions and recruitment which would motivate and empower the female demographic. It is imperative to provide opportunities for women to feel like they are sought after to establish incentive and drive. The government should partner with businesses to establish alternatives to address the stereotypes that are located in the workplace to combat discrimination that females may face. It is important to put forth positive role models to inspire women to attain an education and pursue their passion. The cost of this policy is going to be monetary, ensuring education in managerial positions, high-skill STEM, and entrepreneurship is going to be at least $150 billion dollars but without this cost the gap will increase. If the gender gap closed, the bene fit would almost triple by producing an extra $420 billion dollars in the next nine years. The final policy would be to instate legislation along with public services. The legislation would entail things such as transparency wages and fines for wage inequality. In regard to public services, they are essential to reduce gender inequality for their security. Unfortunately, childcare is not necessarily affordable, since the childcare crisis has created a drag in economic growth; the result is that parents are spending a third of their income on childcare. The childcare crisis attributes to the wage gap, women have to either stop working

When to Use Palate, Palette, and Pallet

When to Use Palate, Palette, and Pallet The nouns palate, palette, and pallet are homophones: they are pronounced similarly but have different meanings. The noun palate refers to the roof of the mouth or the sense of taste.The noun palette refers to an artists paint board or a range of colors.The noun pallet is a straw-filled mattress or a hard bed. Examples Egypts senior archaeologist recently discovered that King Tutankhamen was born with a cleft palate and a clubfoot.Walt Disneys Pinocchio paraded the studios early perfection of the cartoon form: subtle character delineation, a rich color palette, and an inside knowledge of boyhood traumas.In one of the more lurid fairy tales, ogres chop off the legs and arms of a woman to make her body fit a pallet.Percy Painter, a promising but penniless portraitist, might possibly profit were he to pick up, perhaps procure, (1) a plentiful patron with a palate for portraiture, (2) a palette with pigments properly primed, and (3) a pretty person pleasingly prepared to pose pleasantly on his paltry pallet. (Robert Oliver Shipman, A Pun My Word: A Humorously Enlightened Path to English Usage. Rowman Littlefield, 1991)

Environment 110 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Environment 110 - Essay Example If the environmental service for gas and oil stopped, assuming that the oil wells run dry, the state would suffer from adverse effects, both social and economic. These may be worse if the scarcity of crude oil is a global problem. One of the effects of the change would be increased unemployment rate as people who worked in the mining fields and processing firms would lose their jobs. People who trade in the commodities would also lose income through lost jobs or lost profits. While importation could ease the burden, this would take time and would not be a complete remedy to lost jobs and reduced profitability. Importation would also increase cost of energy in domestic and industrial set ups, leading to macroeconomic burden. Induced economic strain from lost jobs, reduced income, and possible rise in commodity prices due to increased fuel cost would spill to people disposable income. This could have adverse effects on ability to afford services such as health care and education servic es. The state would also suffer negative effects on its import expenditures. Services pertaining to oil and gas are therefore significant to the economy and should be sustained. Ball State University. â€Å"Key economic sectors in Indiana: State overview.† Ball State University. July, 2014. Web. October 24, 2014. . The Indiana Department of Natural Resources. â€Å"Oil and gas in Indiana.† The Indiana Department of Natural Resources. N.d. Web. October 24, 2014. < http://www.in.gov/dnr/dnroil/files/og-OilGas_in_Indiana.pdf

Motivation Plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Motivation Plan - Research Paper Example These efforts will then set the stage for the Job enrichment program. It is hoped that these efforts will generate the targeted measures. However, beyond those figures, it is hoped that these motivation plan will bring back the confidence of the GM employees to the company and help bring General Motors back to its pre-crisis stature as one of the most admired companies in the U.S. and one of the foremost automobile manufacturer in the world. Organization: General Motors Corporation (GM) General Motors Corporation (GM) was among the biggest casualties during the â€Å"Great Recession† that rocked the entire global economy. It is the biggest automobile manufacturer in the United States and one of the highest employers of the nation. GM manufactures Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and many other brands of cars and trucks sold to over 30 countries worldwide. Last June 2009, GM filed for bankruptcy wiping out jobs and share value in drastically affecting employees and investors alike. A lso, retirees have been affected with some cuts in their health care benefits and pensions have been threatened (Isidore). Prior to the credit crunch of 2008, the historic surrender of one of the biggest and oldest companies was practically unthinkable. In fact, people have generally held the â€Å"General† in high regard. ... Need for a Motivational Plan, Benefits & Selection Process There are three important goals for employees namely equity, achievement and camaraderie. As such, employees need to feel that there is equal treatment which must apply to all the basics aspects of their job such as the compensation, the benefits accorded to them and of course the way they are treated. Also, they must feel secure about the job and this must be a general feeling within the whole organization. Likewise, employees ought to be able to take pride in what they are doing, what they have done and of course who they are doing these things for. At the same time, employees are able to be more motivated if they have a mutually beneficial working condition with their colleagues (Sirota, Mischkind, Meltzer). These have been practically decimated when General Motors Corporation (GM) succumbed to the recession. In fact, there remains an underlying uncertainty as to what the future will hold for these employees. Thus, this mo tivational plan is prepared to help improve the morale of the employees by designing a program that will help line leaders be motivated as well as their employees through a spill over effect. The motivation plan will be integrated on the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) so that it can be measured easily. This is a very important aspect to ensure that the motivational plan is followed through since having the capability to measure work affects employee behavior. Likewise, the BSC will enable the policymakers to have a quick clear view of what is going on in the organization. This is possible since the BSC not only focuses on the traditional measure of finance but considers other key perspectives as well such as the customer perspective, internal business

Social De-alignment in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Social De-alignment in UK - Essay Example It has become popular through the recent years to view the voting patterns in the UK as less dependent on social attitudes and positions, rather than dependent on political factors. However, it is still under argument, whether social issues still play major role in defining voters' behaviours, as the present-day society has become more polarized. The electorate may be described as well-educated and informed mass of people, and it is often that its rational choice is based on the party's position, leadership, strategy and policy, not taking into account to which class the exact part of electorate belongs. This is the basis of the so called 'supermarket' model of voting, when the rational choice is based on the perceptions, which party will improve the life of the society while in Government. Thus the theory becomes active, when the leadership and personality of the candidate become increasingly significant for voters, and the political issues leave for the background. However, such th eories don't take into account the influence, which the media may make on the personality of each leader, and this influence may be both positive and negative, thus causing the electorate to make wrong choice. This work is to be concentrated on the social theories in voters' behaviour which take into account age, gender and class to which the voters belong, and assuming that these factors dictate the way the voter makes his choice. De-alignment 'Class is undoubtedly a significant factor when considering voting behaviour; traditionally two thirds of all voters chose their 'natural' class party, the working class favoring Labour and the middle class Conservative. However, since the1970s class de-alignment has begun, and the proportions of classes voting for particular parties have become more even, caused by embourgeoisement and the consequent decrease of in size of the working class'. (Curtice, 2002) This theory may be easily linked to the suggestion, that the voter's choice is becoming more tied to the place of his residence (the theories of voters' behaviour and the influence of neighbourhood will be discussed in this work), however, it is easily explained by the fact that the working class mainly occupies the northern part of the country, while the southern part belongs to the middle class. Simultaneously, it is interesting to note, that during the election campaign of the year 2001 the Conservatives lost most of their southern votes, which says there are some other factors except for class, which influence voters' choice. Another important social factor in defining voting preferences is gender. However, the proofs, which support this theory, are very inaccurate, as they don't account the gender equilibrium in the workforce and the attempts of different parties to concentrate their campaigns on childcare and health issues. It may be surprising not to note the influential role of the social factors in electorate behaviour, as Britain cannot be described as less class aligned. People still reflect their class preferences in their voting, though less attention has been paid to these factors, while they are still important and should be taken into account. To realize the importance of the social re-alignment and de-alignment in relation to the voting behaviours, it is necessary to provide the reliable argument as for the increasing social polarization in the society. According to Dorling (2006), 'housing wealth per child rose 20 times more in the best-off tenth as compared to worse-off tenth of areas in Britain 1993-2003; the majority of extra higher education places

Human Error and Perceptual Control Theory

Human Error and Perceptual Control Theory Overview In this paper, I will explore and advocate the importance of both Human Error and Perceptual Control Theory for design of complex human-machine systems, enhanced user experience and better human performance and safety. Human Error Errors are the result of actions that fail to generate the intended outcomes (SKYbrary). Human operators are one of the biggest sources of errors in any complex system (Shelton, 1999). According to Sanders McCormick (1976), Human error is an inappropriate or undesirable human decision or behavior that reduces, or has the potential for reducing effectiveness, safety and performance of a system and/or human (Kurniawan). Error Types Researchers have differentiated between two types of error:1) slipsand lapses 2) mistakes. Slips and lapses According to SKYbrary, a person intends to carry out an action, the action is appropriate, carries it out incorrectly, and the desired goal is not achieved an execution failure has occurred. Execution errors result from failures in the execution and/or storage stage of an action sequence. Slips relate to observable actions and are commonly associated with attentiveness or perceptual failures. Lapses are more internal events and generally involve failures of memory (SKYbrary). Mistakes As mentioned in UKEssays.com, Mistakes occur when an intended outcome is not achieved even though there was adherence to the steps in the plan. This is usually a case in which the original plan was wrong, was followed, and resulted in an unintended outcome (UKEssays.com). Error mechanisms The following three error mechanisms are widely accepted, which correlate with human performance levels. Skill-based errors Errors of execution Occur during highly routine activities or automated tasks with occasional checks Action chosen by the operator but not in accordance with the operator’s intentions Done by highly experienced individuals due to inattention or distraction Rule-based errors Applies to familiar situations Incorrect application of a good rule, correct application of a bad rule or failure to apply a good rule Knowledge-based errors Occur in unique and unfamiliar situations Result from inadequate analysis or decision making (trial and error) Done by operators with insufficient knowledge Applications of Human error theory Human error is inevitable. However, human error mitigation strategies could be devised by understanding various error mechanisms and triggers, as depicted in the human error theory. Superior system design, better recruitment and selection of operators, training, stress and fatigue prevention measures, better equipment procedures and improved work environment can reduce error consequences and likelihood. By understanding human error, system designers can plan for likely error scenarios, and implement barriers to prevent or mitigate the occurrence of potential errors. Some approaches to build a better human machine interaction system are explained below. Identification of error environment First step in human error mitigation approach is to understand the work environment, recognize capacity of the users, identify possible loopholes n the system and be familiar with potential user error occurrence and consequences. Likelihood of an error and severity of potential harm should also be examined. For example, FDA (Food and Drug Administration) requires manufacturers to submit a failure analysis report FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) while launching any new medical device. Design solutions to address errors Error elimination First and foremost design strategy is to eliminate design features, which are sources of user errors. Design weaknesses identified during observation and task analysis should be removed or revised. Removal of excessive and irrelevant information, inclusion of validity checks and task automations are some design aspects that support error elimination approach. Additionally, carrying out periodical test runs of the system might be helpful in eliminating some of the rules based errors. Error reduction Designers should try to reduce error occurrences for features that cannot be removed completely. Building consistent designs and providing alerts, warnings, confirmations and other necessary feedback to users may prevent users to make errors of execution (skill-based errors). Consequence elimination Consequence elimination is an approach to prevent potential harm after the occurrence of error. Designers can devise features that provide information about potential harm and ways to correct the situation (e.g. undo) and/or prevent onset of side effects (e.g. automatic locking or shutdown, process delays) in order to prevent error consequences. Consequence reduction This is a last design alternative a designer can look into if above mentioned options are not feasible to incorporate. Decreasing the effect of error is helpful especially in catastrophic situations. Design of supplementary features is usually necessary to achieve this purpose. Backup and restore features, automatic reporting to stakeholders/police/medical teams and automated substitute drug delivery are some of the techniques for reducing effects of consequences. Error elimination and error reduction are often the most cost effective methods to avert user errors. Trainings Knowledge-based errors can be eliminated to some extent by providing system-oriented trainings, especially to novice users. On the other hand, a different training program could be devised for experienced users. Periodical trainings could keep experts up-to-date with latest developments in their field and assess their knowledge of system procedural checks. Essentially, this may help minimizing skill-based errors. Perceptual Control Theory (PCT) Perceptual control theory (PCT) is a theory of human and animal behavior. It is based on the principles of control theory (Powers, 1973). As cited by Lulham (2005), at the core of PCT is the idea that many of the processes involved in how human functions are most appropriately conceptualized and modelled as dynamic control processes (Powers, 1999b). Control processes are proposed to be fundamental to many functions including those related to physiological (e.g. temperature regulation), neural (e.g. attention), motor control (e.g. driving a car), psychological (e.g. maintenance of a criminal identity) and social (e.g. staff-detainee relationship) functions (Lulham, 2005). According to Cherry Farrel (1998), PCT exploits the concept of a purpose behind the behaviour. A perception (which is a transformation of stimuli from the world) is then compared to its reference signal, and a perceptual error is generated. A person acts on the world in such a manner to minimise this error. The stabilisation of this control loop is the essence of PCT (Chery Farrell , 1998). Applications of PCT Using perceptions for building complex systems System environments are becoming increasingly complex. Traditional cause and effect methods of understanding system operations and user interactions may not work well in order to employ personalization and user experience in these complex systems. According to pctweb.org, the person compares a ‘standard’ (what they want) with what they are experiencing right now (their perception). The difference between the two – the discrepancy or error is being measured. The bigger the error the more the effort the person makes to reduce it, until the error is zero – this means they get what they want (pctweb.org). The basic premise of PCT is that human behavior is not about the behavior itself, but about reinforcing desired perception (O’Neal, 2012). Understanding and applying this concept of individually preferred perceptions through PCT will help in designing effective personal information management for complex systems and enhancing the overall user experience. User research and analysis PCT is particularly helpful in understanding users’ behaviors and motives behind their actions. Often system designers evaluate possible system states and static change in control values needed to achieve those states. Tasks are carried out on the controls to attain the new state and user is though of as a controller of these tasks. Designers use task analysis method to perform user research and concentrate on physical tasks a user performs. However, instead of system oriented or designer oriented view, PCT goes much deeper and offers user’s standpoint. PCT provides framework to realize dynamic nature of user interactions. System designers can use PCT to understand how users constantly perceive and compare system states and take dissimilar actions to reinstate appropriate system state every time. Furthermore, Powers (1973) proposed behavior as a control of perceptions. Instead of focusing on a physical activity during the task analysis, PCT suggests focusing on users’ behaviors that lead them to perform actions to achieve desired perception (system state). Thus, using the PCT framework, designers can integrate physical, cognitive and behavioral sides of a user’s interaction with the system. Moreover, PCT analysis of intentions from different user groups exposes their shared narrative, which in turn, helps in finding system requirements for hidden, absent user (O’Neal, 2012). For example, a customer service representative might use call center software while working to resolve an issue with a customer. While the customer is not a direct user of the software system, he is affected indirectly. The customer here is a hidden user. His perceptions should be analyzed to understand his requirements and objectives while developing the call center system. Empowered designs PCT offers a design framework toward the satisfaction of the users desired percepts. Human-machine system performance is enhanced when the displays and controls are designed to allow the operator to perceive and transmit information in order to minimize the perceptual error (Chery Farrell , 1998). According to PCT, when a user interacts with the system, he is constantly trying to bring equilibrium, changing his perception to the reference point, which is his new perception. Keeping this in mind, a designer should build the system that transforms from an old state to the new state seamlessly, provides estimate of gap between old and new state, furnish necessary feedback to keep the user aware of the environment variables and helps the user to manage disturbances. These functionalities will help users to gain accurate information regarding their perceptions, empower them to undertake correct amount of action to reach to new perception, ultimately helping them achieve self-regulation and stability. For example, the windshield of the car let the user scan his environment and gather information necessary to their perception, the car dashboard continuously displays speed and other important elements to help user assess different system states, and the gear stick helps user achieve n ew state from the old one smoothly. Other features like wiper, headlights, turn signals etc. facilitate users to manage disturbances as much as possible. Thus, human-machine designs should be compatible with user’s interpretations of information in order to improve their decision making process and overall system performance. Conclusion Both human error and PCT frameworks are valuable in building complex system designs to facilitate information management, enhance security and improve both system and human performance. By understanding fundamentals of human errors, designers can build a system that is more usable, provides meaningful feedbacks and include training, procedural checks and incentive programs. However, according to Shelton (1999), there is a trade-off between making the HCI relatively easy and intuitive and ensuring that system safety is not compromised by lulling the operator into a state of complacency. In PCT, the error is continuously measured to achieve equilibrium. Per Lulham (2005), those involved in developing the theory believe PCT has significant potential to change the way human functioning is understood. However, further research is required for advancement of PCT framework. References Component-based usability testing. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component-Based_Usability_Testing Embrey, D. Understanding Human Behaviour and Error. Human Reliability Associates. Latino, R. J. (2007, Nov). Defining and reducing human error. Briefings Page on Patient Safety . O’Neal, A. (2012, July). Intention-Focused Design: Applying Perceptual Control Theory to Discover User Intent. Retrieved 2013, from UXmatters.com: http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/07/intention-focused-design-applying-perceptual-control-theory-to-discover-user-intent.php PCTweb. (n.d.). What is PCT? Retrieved from PCTweb: http://www.pctweb.org/whatis/whatispct_03.html Powers, W. T. (n.d.). A brief introduction to Perceptual Control Theory . Retrieved from Frontier: http://www.frontier.net/~powers_w/whatpct.html Shelton, C. P. Human Interface/Human Error. Carnegie Mellon University. SKYbrary. (n.d.). Human Error Types. Retrieved from SKYbrary: http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Human_Error_Types 1 Lajja Mehta

The Spiritual and Physical Dimensions in The Birthmark Essay -- miscel

The Spiritual and Physical Dimensions in The Birthmark Fred Allen Wolf notes in Taking the Quantum Leap that it was not until the 20th century that scientists realized that â€Å"to observe is to disturb, for observation breaks the wholeness of nature.† If observing disturbs, then when a scientist tampers and tries to perfect nature the result can only be disastrous. The goal of most scientists is to observe and understand the mysteries of nature. Nathaniel Hawthorne realized that the scientists of the 19th century were beginning to challenge the traditional views of science and man. The traditional view of man holds that man is both material and spiritual. Advancements in science led some scientists to begin to think that man was only material and therefore with enough enlightenment science could control all of nature including man himself. Hawthorne, however, objected to the idea of man’s ability to totally control all aspects of human life. Hawthorne, in his short story â€Å"The Birthmark,† uses the imagery and c haracter to show that man has both a spiritual and material dimension that are deeply interwoven and unable to be completely controlled. Hawthorne presents the prevailing thinking of the man of science with the introduction of Aylmer who typifies the man of science who thinks that he is able to â€Å"ascend from one step of powerful intelligence to another, until the philosopher should lay his hand on the secret of creative force† (Hawthorne 1). Hawthorne hints that Aylmer believes he can posses â€Å"ultimate and total control of Nature† (1). Hawthorne uses the birthmark on Georgiana’s cheek to represent the spiritual or non-material aspects of man. Initially, when Hawthorne describes the birthmark, he views it as merely a physical defect. He refers to it as being â€Å"the visible mark of earthly imperfection,† (1). As Aylmer continues to dwell on the imperfection, it begins to take on a deeper meaning. He begins to see it as â€Å"the fatal flaw of humanity† which comes from the hand of Nature (1). Later, he sees it as â€Å"the symbol of his wife’s liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death,† (1). Hawthorne uses Georgiana as a representative of all mankind by telling that Nature places a flaw on â€Å"all her productions,† (1). As Aylmer begins to recognize the defect in connection with her immortality, he begins to acknowledge that there is something deeper than the mater... ...ever understood the reality he denied, it is not certain, but the final commentary by the narrator suggests that Georgiana’s death settles the question of the reality of the natural and spiritual world and the intertwining of the two. He explains that â€Å"the fatal hand had grappled with the mystery of life and was the bond by which an angelic spirit kept itself in union with a mortal frame,† (7). The angelic spirit and the mortal frame were inseparable and one could not exist without the other. It was this that Aylmer could not believe, for he was a man of science, fact, and one whom could not grasp the idea of a spiritual dimension of an individual. Through the birthmark and Aylmer, Hawthorne illustrates that an individual has both a physical body seen by all and a spirit that is unseen. Aylmer first believes, like other scientists, that all things are merely physical. But Georgiana’s birthmark is used to symbolize the spirit that grasps all humans. Georgiana’s death comes when her spirit is removed from her physical body. Hawthorne uses the birthmark’s intertwining with the body to reveal that man has a spiritual dimension and a physical dimension, both of which are intertwined.