This study examines whether children in rural Zimbabwe have differing representations of their HIV/ AIDS-affected peers based on the gender of those peers. A group of 128 children (58 boys, 70 girls) aged 10–14 partic... more abstractThis study examines whether children in rural Zimbabwe have differing representations of their HIV/ AIDS-affected peers based on the gender of those peers. A group of 128 children (58 boys, 70 girls) aged 10–14 participated in a draw-and-write exercise, in which they were asked to tell the story of either an HIV/AIDS-affected girl child, or an HIV/AIDS-affected boy child. Stories were inductively thematically coded, and then a post hoc statistical analysis was conducted to see if there were differences in the themes that emerged in stories about girls versus stories about boys. The results showed that boys were more often depicted as materially deprived, without adult and teacher support, and heavily burdened with household duties. Further research is needed to determine whether the perceptions of the children in this study point to a series of overlooked challenges facing HIV/AIDS-affected boys, or to a culture of gender inequality facing HIV/AIDS- affected girls – which pays more attention to male suffering than to female suffering.

African Studies, Gender Studies, Coping Strategies, Africa, HIV/AIDS, and 2 more

In Chapter 4 of "Positive Organizing in a Global Society: Understanding and Engaging Differences for Capacity Building and Inclusion," Lakshmi Ramarajan, Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School, and Emily LeRou... more abstractIn Chapter 4 of "Positive Organizing in a Global Society: Understanding and Engaging Differences for Capacity Building and Inclusion," Lakshmi Ramarajan, Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School, and Emily LeRoux-Rutledge, PhD candidate at LSE, illustrate that when people resist discrimination by embracing their marginalized identities, it can spur them to become successful global entrepreneurs. A summary of the chapter can be found here: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/psychologylse/2015/11/09/resisting-discrimination-and-embracing-marginalized-identities-a-catalyst-for-global-entrepreneurship/.

Positive Organizational Scholarship and Diversity

This chapter presents a theoretical framework for the creative decision-making processes of drama producers making drama for development, or entertainment-education, in cultures which are not their own. Drawing on int... more abstractThis chapter presents a theoretical framework for the creative decision-making processes of drama producers making drama for development, or entertainment-education, in cultures which are not their own. Drawing on interviews with creators of six different BBC Media Action radio and television dramas, in Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, India, Nigeria and Pakistan, the chapter highlights why the creators of drama sometimes choose to reinforce and sometimes choose to challenge local cultural norms.

Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, International Development, Development communication, Edutainment, and 2 more

More Info: Emily LeRoux-Rutledge, Gerry Power and Carol Morgan

Publisher: SAGE

Publication Date: 2011

Publication Name: Drama for Development: Cultural Translation and Social Change

This chapter explores the benefits and challenges of doing comparative qualitative audience research, using the case study ‘Africa Talks Climate’ – a ten-country study on audience understandings of climate change in s... more abstractThis chapter explores the benefits and challenges of doing comparative qualitative audience research, using the case study ‘Africa Talks Climate’ – a ten-country study on audience understandings of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa, designed to inform climate change communication. The chapter explains why the decision was made to compare audience understandings across countries, what was compared, and how it was compared. Key findings from the study are also presented.

Climate Change, Qualitative methodology, Development communication, Africa, and Audience and Reception Studies

More Info: Anna Godfrey, Miriam Burton and Emily LeRoux-Rutledge

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Publication Date: 2012

Publication Name: The Handbook of Global Media Research

This paper looks at the impact of community radio on its female listeners in four remote South Sudanese communities, specifically examining how narratives about women on community radio are re-told by women who listen... more abstractThis paper looks at the impact of community radio on its female listeners in four remote South Sudanese communities, specifically examining how narratives about women on community radio are re-told by women who listen to community radio.

Location: International Association for Media and Communication Research Conference, Dublin, Ireland

Event Date: Jun 28, 2013

In recent years ‘women’s empowerment’ has climbed to the top of the international development agenda. Communication is central to many development projects which try to facilitate women’s empowerment through interpers... more abstractIn recent years ‘women’s empowerment’ has climbed to the top of the international development agenda. Communication is central to many development projects which try to facilitate women’s empowerment through interpersonal communication, ICTs, and mass media. Not surprisingly, given the emphasis in international development on value-for-money, donors want to measure the impact of such programs quantitatively. The issue of contention for feminist communication scholars is: can empowerment be measured? This session of ‘Provoke’ presented two competing perspectives on the question in a 5-minute staged debate.

Location: International Communication Association Conference, London, UK

More Info: Emily LeRoux-Rutledge, Jenevieve Mannell

Event Date: Jun 20, 2013

This paper presents a theoretical framework for the creative decision-making processes of drama producers making drama for development, or entertainment-education, in cultures which are not their own. Drawing on inte... more abstractThis paper presents a theoretical framework for the creative decision-making processes of drama producers making drama for development, or entertainment-education, in cultures which are not their own. Drawing on interviews with creators of BBC Media Action radio and television dramas, it highlights why the creators of drama sometimes choose to reinforce and sometimes choose to challenge local cultural norms.

Location: International Communication Association Conference, Chicago, IL

More Info: Emily LeRoux-Rutledge, Gerry Power and Carol Morgan

Event Date: May 2009

This study investigates the ways in which to evaluate the impact of radio programs, designed with empowerment goals, on the psychological empowerment of listeners in a development context. Psychological empowerment is... more abstractThis study investigates the ways in which to evaluate the impact of radio programs, designed with empowerment goals, on the psychological empowerment of listeners in a development context. Psychological empowerment is situated in the wider theoretical context of Narayan'’s empowerment framework (2005). A specific framework is then developed for psychological empowerment in a development context, which builds on Zimmerman’s nomological network for psychological empowerment (1995). The framework is used to analyze the levels of psychological empowerment among listeners of Afghan Women’s Hour. Findings indicate that Afghan Women's Hour is able to enhance listeners’ capacity to aspire, by giving them ideas about specific goals. It is also able to enhance their perceived ability to influence, and perceived efficacy.

International Development, Development communication, Afghanistan, Radio, Psychological Empowerment, and 2 more

Location: International Communication Association Conference, Montreal, Canada

More Info: Top paper award in the Global Communication and Social Change Division

Event Date: Jun 2008

This paper examines how the audience of the BBC Media Action drama 'Wetin Dey' perceived and engaged with three key female characters, and how this influenced their identification and retention of HIV/AIDS messages.

Location: International Communication Association Conference, Montreal, Canada

More Info: Emily LeRoux-Rutledge, Linda Nwoke, Anna Godfrey and Timothy Cooper

Event Date: Jun 2008

This report summarizes research conducted on the public understanding of climate change in Africa. Interviews and focus groups were convened with over 1000 citizens and nearly 200 opinion leaders in ten sub-Saharan Af... more abstractThis report summarizes research conducted on the public understanding of climate change in Africa. Interviews and focus groups were convened with over 1000 citizens and nearly 200 opinion leaders in ten sub-Saharan African countries. The research sought to assess current attitudes and understanding, and identify how media and communication could best support Africans’ response to climate change.

Climate Change, Africa, and Public Understanding Of Science

More Info: Anna Godfrey, Emily LeRoux-Rutledge, Susan Cooke and Miriam Burton with contributions from Lucy Neville and Ed Pauker

Publisher: BBC Media Action (formerly BBC World Service Trust) & British Council

Publication Date: 2010

This report summarizes research conducted on the public understanding of climate change in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The research sought to identify how media and communication could best support DRC's respons... more abstractThis report summarizes research conducted on the public understanding of climate change in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The research sought to identify how media and communication could best support DRC's response to climate change.

Climate Change, Africa, Public Understanding Of Science, and Democratic Republic of Congo

More Info: Miriam Burton, Emily LeRoux-Rutledge and Anna Godfrey

Publisher: BBC Media Action (formerly BBC World Service Trust) & British Council

Publication Date: 2010

This report summarizes research conducted on the public understanding of climate change in Senegal. The research sought to identify how media and communication could best support Senegal's response to climate change.

Climate Change, Africa, Public Understanding Of Science, and Senegal

More Info: Emily LeRoux-Rutledge, Miriam Burton, Patrick McCurdy and Anna Godfrey with contributions from Aida Diallo, Fode Sagna and Abou B. Ly

Publisher: BBC Media Action (formerly BBC World Service Trust) & British Council

Publication Date: 2010

LSE’s Emily LeRoux-Rutledge shares insights from a recently published article on children affected by HIV/AIDS in Eastern Zimbabwe.

African Studies, Gender Studies, Coping Strategies, Africa, HIV/AIDS, and 2 more

Blog available here: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/psychologylse/2015/11/09/resisting-discrimination-and-embracing-marginalized-identities-a-catalyst-for-global-entrepreneurship/

Positive Organizational Scholarship and Diversity

Gender Studies, Gender, Gender and Development, and Gender and Media