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Based on the Demand-Control-Support (DCS) model, the present paper aims to investigate the influence of job characteristics such as job demands, job control, social support at work and self-directed learning orientation on the workrelated learning behaviour of workers. The present study was conducted in a centre for part-time vocational education in Flanders (Belgium). The students in the centre work for 3 days a week and attend school during the other two days. A questionnaire using scales adapted from validated instruments was used. Students were asked to complete the questionnaire with the job in mind they were doing at present. A total of 115 students from different sectors completed the questionnaire. It was assumed that high scores for self-directed learning orientation and high scores for the job characteristics job demands, job control and social support would be associated with more workrelated learning behaviour. All scales had acceptable Cronbach alpha values. The results of the linear regression analyses indicated that only the self-directed learning orientation scale predicted the work-related learning behaviour to a significant extent.

Purpose -A central issue in the field of workplace learning is how work-related learning can be stimulated so that a powerful learning work environment is created. This paper seeks to further enlarge understanding on this issue. Based on the demand-control-support the aim is to investigate the influence of job-characteristics on the work-related learning behaviour of the worker such as job demands, job control, social support at work on the one hand and self-directed learning orientation on the other. Design/methodology/approach -The study took place in the ICT-department of a large company in Flanders. By means of an online questionnaire, all employees of the ICT-department were asked to complete this questionnaire, which, apart from general information on the participants (age, gender, prior education, etc.), consisted of statements on five scales ( job demands, job control, social support, self-directed learning orientation, and work-related learning behaviour) adapted from validated instruments. There was a total of 73 participants (response rate of 52 per cent, 73 per cent men, 27 per cent women, age varying from 20-51 years old). In addition, all scales had Cronbach's alpha values above 0.79. Relations between the variables under study were tested using the Pearson correlation. The predictive value of the variables for the variance in work-related learning was tested using the enter method of a multiple regression analysis. Findings -The regression analyses show that job demands and job control were moderately positive and significantly linked with work-related learning behaviour. Social support did not show a significant positive correlation with work-related learning at all. Self-directed learning orientation on the contrary had a strong and positive relation with work-related learning. The results of the linear regression analyses indicated that only the self-directed learning orientation scale significantly predicted the work-related learning behaviour. Originality/value -The study is one of the few investigations that takes into account both the role of personal and workplace-related variables in order to better understand work-related learning. The results stress that personal related variables such as self-regulated learning orientation need to be taken into account in further research and in the daily practice of human resources development.

Recent studies from countries with grammatical gender languages (e.g., French) found both children and adults to more frequently think of female jobholders and to consider women’s success in male dominated occupations more likely when the jobs were described in pair forms (i.e., by explicit reference to male and female jobholders, e.g., inventeuses et inventeurs; French feminine and masculine plural forms for inventors), rather than masculine only forms (e.g., inventors). To gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, we systematically varied the gender connotation of occupations (males overrepresented, females overrepresented, equal share of males and females) and measured additional dependent variables, predicting that gender fair language would reduce the impact of the gender connotation on participants’ perceptions. In a sample of 222 adolescents (aged 12–17) from French speaking Switzerland, we found that pair forms attenuated the difference in the ascription of success to male and female jobholders in gendered occupations and attenuated the differential ascription of warmth to prototypical jobholders in male vs. female dominated jobs. However, no effect of language form on the ascription of competence was found. These findings suggest that language policies are an effective tool to impact gendered perceptions, however, they also hint at competence-related gender stereotypes being in decline.

Many countries face the problem of skill shortage in traditionally male occupations. Individuals’ development of vocational interests and employment goals starts as early as in middle childhood and is strongly influenced by perceptions of job accessibility (status and difficulty) and self-efficacy beliefs. In this study, we tested a linguistic intervention to strengthen children’s self-efficacy toward stereotypically male occupations. Two classroom experiments with 591 primary school students from two different linguistic backgrounds (Dutch or German) showed that the presentation of occupational titles in pair forms (e.g., Ingenieurinnen und Ingenieure, female and male engineers), rather than in generic masculine forms (Ingenieure, plural for engineers), boosted children’s self-efficacy with regard to traditionally male occupations, with the effect fully being mediated by perceptions that the jobs are not as difficult as gender stereotypes suggest. The discussion focuses on linguistic interventions as a means to increase children’s self-efficacy toward traditionally male occupations.

Although the use of gender fair language is strongly promoted in German‐speaking countries, the impact of its use on the way speakers are perceived by others is still unknown. Results of two experimental studies showed that irrespective of their sex, speakers using pair forms rather than generic masculines were perceived more competent by both men and women. Also, they were seen as less sexist by male and female listeners with positive attitudes towards linguistic equality. Findings with respect to the attribution of warmth were more complex: they were not only impacted by language use, but also dependent on speaker's sex and listener's attitude towards linguistic equality. Results are discussed in the context of language and stereotypes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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