Proflexion

Proflexion is opposite to reflexion and implies the handling of specific material with the future in focus rather than concentrating only on what has already happened.  Our understanding and possible retrieval of past experience for use in future situations is the essence of the importance of reflexion. If we are to be truly innovative and creative in our future dealings we must replace the "re" process with a "pro" process; a proflexion. A conscious action in the present where we cast ourselves into the unknown and discover what happens. We test several possibilities simultaneously and in different ways. It's about using curiosity and experimenting with the limitations and possibilities of paradoxes. No real strategy exists and we have to see what appears and what works in the real "here and now" situation.

Developing the concept of "proflexion" into a practical integration tool for Mixed Methods Research, the term is tested on a Gender & Career issue. The subsequent basic research on "Gender & Career" revealed that masculine and feminine values are mutually complementary and that we can greatly benefit from them in the work environment. However, we cannot do so artificially through government regulations and quotas, but only by seeking genuine equality based on realistic nuances and the fragmentation of gender-based performance.  Because men and women are not exactly equal it is not feasible to ignore and neglect gender and simply assimilate them into a unisex concept.

The Mixed Methods Research Project incorporating the pro-reflexion phenomenon is tested through the integration of Mixed Methods Research as a prototype for a new integrated Mixed Methods Research paradigm within the context of Gender & Career.