LEWISBURG, Pa. — These are Bucknell University story ideas that may interest you in November.
THE PINK TAX — As Nov. 11 Veterans Day approaches, military women are in the news for being forced to pay more to keep their uniforms up to date — in some cases paying almost twice as much for the same uniform item as their male counterparts. Two U.S. senators — Maggie Hassan (D) of New Hampshire, and Joni Ernst (R) of Iowa — are trying to change that through a bipartisan bill. Bucknell Professor Courtney Burns, political science, says introducing a bill to address the “pink tax” on military uniforms is an important change for the U.S. military as it deals with a need to recruit from a broad base of people in the country. “Generally women have shied away from the military for fear of the culture; however, making moves like this is pretty important as a recruitment tool,” Burns says. “It also signals to current service women that they understand inequities that affect them.” Burns cited the significance of having female veterans in Congress. “Senator Ernst is a veteran of the Iowa National Guard and was called to active duty during Iraq,” she says. “This gives her important insight into how these types of issues affect service women specifically.”This semester, Burns teaches classes “Military and Politics” and “Gender and International Relations,” showing her knowledge on the military and gender within politics and present day issues. CONTACT: Burns, 570-577-2128, c.burns@bucknell.edu
TOUPEE OR NOT TOUPEE? IT DEPENDS — With baldness cures dating back to 4000 BC, today’s men are faced with an entire market dedicated to treating and preventing male pattern baldness — maybe for good reason when it comes to attracting the opposite sex. That’s according to a new study led by Bucknell Professor T. Joel Wade, psychology, which examines women’s perceptions of bald men’s attractiveness, personality, career success and fitness. In the study of 120 college students (Study 1: 37 men, 33 women, ages 18-22, Study 2: 50 women, ages 19-21), Wade and co-authors Rebecca Burch of SUNY-Oswego and Maryanne Fisher of St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia found that White men are considered less attractive if they are bald, Black men have no perceived differences. On the other hand, when it comes to perceived career success and fitness, White men with hair and Black men without hair come out on top. CONTACT: Wade, 570-577-1693, jwade@bucknell.edu
THE GREAT RESIGNATION — “The Great Resignation” — a term first coined to predict a mass, voluntary exodus from the workforce — is real in the U.S. and it’s impacting the supply chain and economy. The U.S. Labor Department said that workers quitting their jobs jumped to 4.3 million in August, the highest on records dating back to December 2000, and up from 4 million in July. That’s equivalent to nearly 3% of the workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic sent people home to work and may have some deciding to stay there according to Freeman College of Management Professor Melissa Intindola, management & organizations. “The Great Resignation wasn’t caused by COVID — it was sort of the fulcrum point — but it’s been coming as people recognize that work-life integration and company culture are more important to them,” says Intindola, who conducts work-life balance research. “They [workers] watched how their organizations responded to those things when COVID hit and they made decisions accordingly — for the betterment of their lives.” So she contends it wasn’t so much that COVID caused the resignation,“it was that it pushed people over the edge who had been contemplating a job change, or weren’t happy with the way their organizations were handling this new scenario.” CONTACT: Intindola, 570-577-1371, m.intindola@bucknell.edu
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CONTACT: Mike Ferlazzo, 570-577-3212, 570-238-6266 (c), mike.ferlazzo@bucknell.edu