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Girls' lack of self-belief has frequently been cited as a major barrier to advancement in both empirical research and in the popular imagination. With girls now outcompeting boys at almost every educational level, this paper considers if girls still have lower self-concept than boys, if this changes when controlling for academic ability, and what mechanisms explain gender differences. We compare and contrast rational choice, contrast, and assimilation approaches to self-concept and juxtapose historical trajectories in gender differences in self-concept and achievement to distinguish between them. We do this in five age cohorts born between 1981 and 1993 (N ¼ 66, 522) for math, literacy, and general academic domains. Results suggest that there are still significant differences in self-concept between equally able boys and girls and that a mix of assimilation and contrast mechanisms likely explains the size and direction of these effects.

ObjectivesTo improve the experiences of people from diverse cultural backgrounds, there has been an increased emphasis on strengthening cultural awareness and competence in healthcare contexts. The aim of this focus-group based study was to explore how professionals in cancer care experience their encounters with migrant cancer patients with a focus on how they work with cultural diversity in their everyday practice, and the personal, interpersonal and institutional dimensions therein.DesignThis paper draws on qualitative data from eight focus groups held in three local health districts in major metropolitan areas of Australia. Participants were health professionals (n=57) working with migrants in cancer care, including multicultural community workers, allied health workers, doctors and nurses. Focus group discussions were audio recorded and transcribed in full. Data were analysed using the framework approach and supported by NVivo V.11 qualitative data analysis software.ResultsFour findings were derived from the analysis: (1) culture as merely one aspect of complex personhood; (2) managing culture at the intersection of institutional, professional and personal values; (3) balancing professional values with patient values and beliefs, and building trust and respect; and (4) the importance of time and everyday relations for generating understanding and intimacy, and for achieving culturally competent care.ConclusionsThe findings reveal: how culture is often misconstrued as manageable in isolation; the importance of a renewed emphasis on culture as interpersonalandinstitutional in character; and the importance of prioritising the development of quality relationships requiring additional time and resource investments in migrant patients for enacting effective intercultural care.

Medical education curricula have the potential to impact the gender attitudes of future healthcare providers. This study investigated whether gender-biased imagery from anatomy textbooks had an effect on the implicit and explicit gender attitudes of students. We used an online experimental design in which students (N = 456; 55% female) studying anatomy were randomly assigned to a visual priming task using either gender-neutral or gender-biased images. The impact of this priming task on implicit attitudes was assessed using the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and the impact on explicit attitudes was measured using the Gender Bias in Medical Education Scale. Viewing biased images was significantly positively associated with implicit gender bias as indicated by higher IAT scores in the treatment compared to the control condition (mean IAT difference = 43 milliseconds; Cohen's d = .33). In contrast, there was no significant effect of gender-biased images on explicit gender attitudes.

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