Effects of weather

Effects of Weather on Commuting Habits among Students According to Gender

Mattias Orre March 15, 2011

Effects of weather

Effects of Weather on Commuting Habits among Students According to Gender We have all heard the phrase the weaker sex used about women. In the last couple of decades, we have also sometimes heard the term turned around to denote males, in part as a result of the womens liberation debate, but sometimes also as a handy excuse for men when it serves their argument well. While it may be a stretch to attempt to verify this old stereotype by way of measuring commuting preferences among males and females, perhaps a gender-pattern can nonetheless be observed that may support or weaken this notion. Male and female students commute to Malm University from various suburbs and towns around Malm, as well as from within the city of Malm. For some, public transport is the preferable method; for others, it may be to walk, to cycle, to travel by car or by other means. But what determines these preferences? Does weather play a role in influencing students commuting habits, and if so, does it affect the genders differently? It might be easy to succumb to stereotypical suppositions, such as, male students are more likely to brave harsher weather conditions, while others may host opposite assumptions; for example, that females are more interested in physical activities that bring health benefits. Would these be stereotypical assumptions or is there any truth to these generalisations, and if so, which of them is correct? This studys ambition, therefore, is to compare and correlate preferred methods of transport among students with two aspects: weather conditions and gender, and investigate whether more physical methods of transport among students at Malm University, such as walking or cycling are, when related to various weather conditions, subject to variations between male and female students. Initially, my hypothesis was uncertain, though I tended slightly more strongly towards male pedestrian and bicycle commuters being somewhat more the norm than their female

Effects of weather

counterparts. I was uncertain because, on the one hand, it seemed as though I saw female students parking bicycles in the bicycle lot more often than I saw male students, which would refute this hypothesis; but, on the other hand, I realized this did not measure pedestrian commuting, nor was it more than a vague indication of a possible statistic. However, my main hypothetical inclination was that it would be somewhat more likely for male students to care less about harsher weather conditions and cycle or walk irrespective of favourable or unfavourable weather conditions (within reason). Method A sample group with a numerically equal distribution of male and female students were presented with a survey. Ten male and ten female students were randomly selected in the main entrance to Malm University and were asked to reply to the questionnaire (see figure 1). The only criterion used in selecting the students was their gender. The questionnaire asked three questions, which were, 1) were they male or female, 2) whether they commuted to University by bus, train, bicycle, by foot, or by other means, and 3) if they usually commuted by bicycle or by foot, how strongly did bad weather influence them to pick one of the other commuting options. The survey data was collected, quantified and presented in individual pie charts, which are included in the results section of this study.

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Figure 1. Questionnaire on transport method, weather effects and gender

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Results The results showed that 30% of female students travelled by bicycle and 0% travelled by foot, while 70% favored other methods of transport, as shown in figure 2. This compares to 40% male students who commute by bicycle and 10% by foot, (figure 3), and 50% by other means. Thus, 10% more male respondents commuted by bicycle than female respondents, while 10% more male respondents also commuted by foot than female respondents (who did not commute by foot at all). Furthermore, when asked if weather conditions affected their commuting decisions, 10% of female respondents answered Often, 50% answered Sometimes, while 40% replied Never (figure 4). Among male respondents, the figures were slightly higher for often at 20%, equal for Sometimes at 50% and lower for Never at 30% (figure 5).

Figure 2. Method of transport, female respondents

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Figure 3. Methods of transport, male respondents.

Figure 4. Decisions based on weather, female respondents.

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Figure 5. Decisions based on weather, male respondents. Discussion While I initially had no clear hypothesis to prove, I did suspect that male respondents would possibly prove to be more prone to travel by foot or bicycle, and thus, less sensitive to weather conditions. This is borne out, in part, by the statistics, which show that 20% more males travelled by foot or bicycle than females. However, it also reveals that male commuters, although generally more likely to travel by methods that expose them to weather conditions, are more sensitive to decision-making based on the weather conditions, than female commuters, though this sensitivity probably indicates a higher degree to chance it in male students than in female. This is demonstrated by the figures that show that twice as many male (20%) as female respondents (10%) replied that weather conditions often affected their commuting method and also by fewer male respondents (30%) than female respondents (40%) replying that they never changed their commuting behavior according to the weather. These results could suggest that male students have a more outdoorsy approach to their means of travel and are more likely

Effects of weather

to brave harsher weather than female respondents are. There are likely no other studies on this subject to compare to, at least, not from the same sample group; therefore, this study will not compare its findings with other studies, rather, it should be viewed as an independent study on the subject that uses internal comparisons. Nonetheless, in a study by Kandice K. Fults et al. (2009) at KTH, several hypotheses were put forward on the subject of commuting differences between genders. For example, the study suggests that women may have less time to commute due to childcare duties and thus opt more often for speedier methods of transport. Although this is an idea that should be considered, it probably applies less to female students than the professional women Fults et al. studied, simply because rates of motherhood are likely to be lower among students than professionals; thus, this is probably not a significant indicator. Another suggestion made by Fults et al. was that difference in income, which usually favors males, may play a role in commuting differences between males and females. Once again, this is an interesting argument, but one that is not likely to play as large a role among students as among the working force. Also, this argument would favor diametrically opposite results, that males with a higher income would favor more expensive commuting methods than cycling or walking. Yet another factor could be that the survey took place in early spring when the weather is still chilly, which may have influenced the respondents preferences only temporarily, or seasonally. Of course, a study such as this has its limitations, and there are many more variables that could be surveyed from a much larger sample, and thus, any conclusions from these results should be made with caution. What, then, do we dare to conclude from these figures? Firstly, the statistical results are that more males than females within this sample segment commute by methods that expose them to weather conditions, and secondly, they are more likely to base and improvise their commuting

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behavior on current weather conditions. While this increased sensitivity to impromptu weather variations among males may seem contradictory, it indicates that the male students were more inclined to opt for either cycling or walking based on current weather conditions, whereas female students were less likely to switch to walking or cycling, irrespective of harsher or more lenient weather. References Kandice K. Fults, Gunnar Isacsson, & Anders Karlstrom (2009, September 1). Gender dierences in the value of commuting time - evidence from a household model of subjective life satisfaction in Sweden. kth.se. Retrieved from http://www.kth.se/polopoly_fs/1.57626!Finalpaper_Lic2_KKF.pdf/