Dissertationen zum Thema „Gender and women studies“

The nonprofit sector is the third largest employing industry in the United States and impacts almost 10% of the economy (Roeger, Blackwood, & Pettijohn, 2012; Salamon, Sokolowski, & Geller, 2012). Women comprise over 75% of the nonprofit workforce, yet men hold over 80% of leadership positions (Bronznick & Goldenhar, 2009; McInnes, 2008). The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to examine the work-life balance practices of women leaders in nonprofit organizations and determine experiences impacting their life course. The ultimate goal was to gain insight from women leaders in nonprofit organizations to identify strategies for more women to advance into leadership roles. The researcher utilized a qualitative methodology with the life course theory developed by Giele (2008).

The research questions were: 1. What demographic factors, if any, are related to work-life balance issues for women leaders in nonprofit organizations? 2. How is the life course for women leaders in nonprofit organizations impacted, if at all, by experiences, identity, motivation, adaptive and relational style? 3. What strategies, if any, are women leaders in nonprofit organizations utilizing for work-life balance?

20 women leaders in nonprofit organizations served as the study population. The women held positions of vice president or above or positions equivalent to vice president if the organization did not use such titles. Participants provided socio-demographic data and responses to 5 sets of questions regarding early adulthood, childhood and early adolescence, current adulthood, future adulthood and coping strategies.

The key findings and conclusions revealed challenges with work-life balance associated with diverse demographic factors. Experiences related to identity, relational style, drive and motivation and adaptive style influenced life courses and are anticipated to influence the future life courses of participants, specifically regarding decisions on educational attainment, partnerships, family, careers, and social involvement. Work-life balance strategies were discovered in 4 areas: self-care, partners, professional skills, and social support.

Overall, the research provided a composite of the participants as women leaders in nonprofit organizations, including their backgrounds and life stories. The research demonstrated that work-life balance continues to be an issue and an interest for women leaders in nonprofit organizations.

Since the women’s liberation movement in the 1970s, the number of women in the American workforce has increased dramatically; however, the percentage of women in the C-Suite—those who reach the status of chief officer—remains below 10 percent nationally (Soares et al., 2013). This disparity, sometimes called the “glass ceiling,” remains, even though many companies have adopted important initiatives to promote women’s advancement. Although research has identified a complex set of factors involved in women’s achievement of the highest levels of success in contemporary corporate settings, including measurable achievements, such as education, experience, and technical proficiency and intangibles, such as emotional intelligence, leadership styles, and communication skill, a significance difference in women’s ability to break through the glass ceiling has still not been made.

Aimed at bridging that gap, this qualitative study gathers, through personal interviews, the experiences and perspectives of seventeen individuals, both men and women, of different races, cultures, and backgrounds, all of whom have reached the level of chief officer. Respondents were queried about their perception of the factors necessary to reach the C-Suite, as well as any factors required especially for women to arrive at that destination. The data gathered in the interviews included the subjects’ experiences from the process of their own advancement to the C-Suite and their observations of others’ experiences. The data were coded and analyzed according to recurring themes and patterns in the interviewees’ answers. The results point to a complex, nuanced, dynamic set of factors in the life of an otherwise qualified individual. Namely, four (4) such factors play a primary role in propelling aspiring women into the C-Suite: 1) executive traits; 2) preparation; 3) networking; and 4) engaging organizational culture. The findings offer an empowering promise that women can not only identify and gain the tools they need to accomplish their C-Suite goals, but also actively pursue and cultivate these assets in a way that offers success in both life and career.

Purpose. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify barriers for women to advance into executive management positions in STEM professions, and to identify strategies deemed to be effective for women to advance into STEM executive management positions, by women currently in STEM executive management positions in the aerospace industry.

Conceptual Framework. The conceptual framework included 3 concepts: (a) cultural and societal factors; (b) mentorship, sponsorship, and networking; and (c) motivation and power levels. These concepts are connected to barriers women face when entering leadership and efforts to empower women entering leadership in the aerospace industry.

Methodology. This was a qualitative case study utilizing the transformative framework. The participants were 7 women in STEM executive management position in the aerospace industry. The participants responded to 8 open-ended questions designed to reveal barriers women in STEM executive management positions face and to highlight strategies deemed to be effective for women to advance into STEM executive management positions in the aerospace industry.

Findings. Through data collection and analysis, the data indicated major themes consisting of work performance, big picture, strong work ethic, underrepresentation, and trusted networks. Other themes emerged such as diversity of thought, advocacy, mentorship, credibility, no plan for executive management, and unfavorable perception.

Conclusions and Recommendations. The findings revealed that 5 major themes emerged from the data analysis pertaining to barriers women face to career advancement and effective strategies used by successful women in STEM executive management positions in the aerospace industry. It is recommended that this qualitative case study be replicated with a larger sample population. Additionally, future studies could explore other populations that would directly benefit from women in STEM executive management positions, such as men, millennials, aspiring women leaders, and other key stakeholders in the aerospace industry.

This dissertation examines how Jews in medieval Egypt negotiated marital disputes while maneuvering between individual desires, legal prescriptions and societal expectations. The main sources for this investigation are the documents of the Cairo Geniza, a rich cache of manuscripts discovered in the Ben Ezra synagogue in Old Cairo. The study of medieval Jewish communities is often dominated by a top-down approach that focuses on the elites and adopts the perspective of the communal leadership as it examines the 'Jewish community' as the fundamental manifestation of Jewish life. The present study complements this perspective by offering a 'view from below' of married life and communal institutions. Recovering the life-stories of non-elite individuals as they experience communal institutions and creatively negotiate the legal arena reveals a substantially different image of Jewish communal life. For example, I show how women experienced the legal arena differently than their husbands as communal officials tended to pressure women to compromise their monetary rights. This, in turn, led women to adopt certain characteristic practices and behaviors in their interactions with communal leaders so as to withstand these pressures. In this way, rather than seeing communal legal institutions as merely imposing religious law on deviant practice, I shift the focus to the litigants' point of view as "consumers" of legal resources whose navigation of the pluralistic legal arena depended on status and personal networks as much as on legal considerations. Gender and status are revealed to be crucial categories in our understanding of Geniza society and medieval patriarchy. The result of this analysis is a better understanding of the instability and flexibility of married life and of their implications for the pursuing of legal disputes in medieval Egypt. The study is accompanied by an edition of nineteen previously unpublished Geniza documents that demonstrate the various aspects of married life examined in the study.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a qualitative phenomenological study with the intention to explain, explore, and determine the factors that lead to the emergence of women as leaders in Egypt. Accomplishing this investigation required the assessment of how participants perceive a condition through experience and consciousness and how events appear from a first-person point of view. The purposefully selected participants were women in leadership roles in both the public and private sectors. Ten women were interviewed two times each over six months. The study attempts to shed light on the factors that contribute to women in Egypt obtaining leadership positions. This study investigated the factors that contribute to the lack of women acquiring positions of management, guidance, and leadership -- positions usually dominated by men in Egypt by asking: (a) What are the perceived factors that contribute to the lack of women acquiring positions of management, guidance, and leadership? and (b) What are the perceived positions of leadership women occupy the most? Information was collected from the interviewee using the guide approach to provide a focus for the researcher and participants. This approach permitted a certain amount of autonomy and flexibility to acquire the appropriate information from the interviewee. The interviews consisted of presenting open-ended questions allowing women to reflect on how they were successful in obtaining these leadership positions. The study revealed four pertinent themes: (a) family influence, (b) leadership position, (c) family obligations, and (d) level of education.

Purpose: This phenomenological qualitative multicase study explored leadership from the perspective and experiences of women leaders in law enforcement to increase comprehension of what women in law enforcement can achieve with proper motivation and support.

Methodology: Semi-structured interviews and field observations were utilized. Data was collected through in-person and telephonic interviews and field notes. Data was analyzed through multiple levels of coding. The researcher utilized purposeful convenience sampling to identify 10 total participants and obtained a sample size of nine participants.

Findings: Data analysis revealed 24 themes and three subthemes related to the study’s four research questions. Mentoring and having a mentor and a support network were found to be essential. The data also uncovered reasons for mentoring and being mentored; the usefulness of formal, informal, and reverse mentoring; and the impact of having too few women in the profession. Building trust revealed the importance of drawing the line, following through, communication, and inclusive leadership. The themes of organizational commitment, a shared vision, caring, ego, change, and characteristics of the profession were related to leadership styles. Observations supported three themes: preparation, active engagement, and social media presence. A total of three subthemes emerged: late in career, benefits, and succession and career development related to mentoring.

Conclusions: This study identified participants’ perceived barriers as women in a male-dominated profession. Participants identified mentoring as essential for organizational and individual success. The research findings indicated that work ethic, compassion, equity, and professionalism are essential to building trust. The study highlighted effective leadership qualities women contribute to male-dominated professions aligned with transformational and authentic leadership. These findings assisted the researcher with outlining a plan for women to positively impact male-dominated professions.

Recommendations: The following are recommendations for further study: (1) include a larger sample of participants below rank of chief or sheriff; (2) include male perceptions of women leaders; (3) conduct a cross-sectional study to expand research in other organizations; and (4) conduct a longitudinal follow up study to further expand research.

For decades, there has been a concern with the negative framing of black women in the media. Historically, black women are placed into four stereotypical frames: The Mammy, The Jezebel, The Sapphire and The Matriarch. However, in 2008, a new image of black women arose through Michelle Obama. She was well rounded — beautiful, intelligent, insightful, humorous, strong, yet soft all at the same time. This study seeks to understand the changes in the framing of black women since Michelle Obama’s time as First Lady.

More specifically, this study focuses on the medium of magazine journalism, which seems to be largely ignored in the realm of media studies. Thirty articles from a mainstream (Glamour) and a black women’s magazine (Essence) were analyzed for the presence of historical frames along with the emergence of new ones. The study employs the qualitative method of textual analysis as a way to determine frames and their meanings through a grounded theory approach.

The primary outcomes of this study are a greater understanding of how historical frames still affect how magazines, mainstream and black, frame black women, and the revealing of new frames that depart from those historical representations. Furthermore, this study will be used as a foundation for editors, writers, educators and students alike, to create more authentic and multifaceted stories about black women.

This dissertation examines how poor black South African women in rural areas organize themselves to address their poverty situations and meet their practical needs – those that pertain to their responsibilities as grandmothers, mothers, and community members – and assesses their organizations' effectiveness for meeting women's goals. My research is based on two groups that are members of the South African Rural Women's Movement. They are the Sisonke Women's Club Group (SSWCG) and the Siyabonga Women's Club Group (SBWCG). A majority of these women are illiterate and were de jure or de facto heads of households. Based on interviews and participant observation, I describe and analyze the strategies that these women employ in an attempt to alleviate poverty, better their lives, and assist in the survival of their families, each other, and the most vulnerable members of their community. Their strategies involve organizing in groups to support each other's income-generating activities and to help each other in times of emergency. Their activities include making floor mats, beading, sewing, baking, and providing caregiving for members who are sick and for orphans. I conclude that, although their organizing helps meet practical needs based on their traditional roles as women, it has not contributed to meeting strategic needs – to their empowerment as citizens or as heads of households.

For women of all ages, but specifically, for millennial-age women heading into the workforce, or already within it, equality is of critical importance for them to have successful careers and to move into leadership roles (Flood, 2015). Millennial-age women are entering the workforce in almost equal numbers to men. However, women remain highly underrepresented at leadership levels, and gender inequality is still a significant issue (Ely, Ibarra, & Kolb, 2011; Kelan, 2012; Twenge, 2010). The greater number of women in the workforce does not correlate with a shift in women in leadership roles. It is argued that the underrepresentation of women in senior positions is just a matter of time; it will even out over time due to larger numbers of millennial women with university degrees coming into the workforce (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2012). Gender equality, and diversity and inclusion programs have been in the workplace for a considerable amount of time, yet the pace of change toward equality in the workplace is very slow, especially at the senior leadership levels.

The purpose of this study is to explore the status of millennial-age women in relation to business leadership to understand the increases, decreases, or neutrality in the numbers within leadership since they entered the workforce. Additionally, this paper looks at a new program introduced by the United Nations (UN) Women, “HeForShe IMPACT 10×10×10,” designed to help drive men’s awareness of the issues of inequality of women in the workplace, and ultimately to help resolve these challenges. This body of work explores to what extent, if any, there were changes to the number of women leaders within an outlined 15-year period where millennial women entered the workforce, from the years 2001 to 2015 within the 10 companies participating as the UN’s IMPACT Champion corporations. This study sets a foundation for future studies to track the UN’s progress with this initiative how it may or may not impact millennial women.

This research looks at the production of Hamlet by Thomas Ostermeier, the director of the Schaubühne Berlin. The production presents two female characters with a single female performer, and persents the concept that coporeality is an impossible exteriority. This research uses the playscript of Ostermeier's production of Hamlet as reference, and Judith Butler's book Bodies that Matter for its theoretical method, as well as contemporary critics of feminist study on the gendered body, to interpret the role of female characters in Ostermeier's production of Hamlet. The focus will clarify how Ostermeier cultivates Butler's theory of body performativity as the source for portraying his understanding of the female identity, and as the decoder for the conventional sexgender culture. The research shows how Ostermeier's presentation of Gertrude and Ophelia reflects the contemporary concern for the deconstruction of the normative concept of woman.

Due to deeply held gender roles and cultural norms in organizations, women leaders struggle in their ability to lead authentically (Cook, 2012). Leading with authenticity encourages women to bring their whole self to work, providing them with the flexibility and freedom to exhibit their best qualities in the workplace. Authentic leadership serves to inspire women to believe in themselves and their abilities, enabling women to foster relationships and transparency that can transform work environments and corporate cultures to become more accepting of individual differences.

This study investigated the leadership experiences of professional women across multiple generations. Data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews with 15 women leaders. Leaders were asked 12 interview questions aligned to five research questions. The questions focused on the past and current leadership experiences. Key findings of the study revealed 64 themes. As a result of the study, authenticity was identified as a significant contributor toward the success of women in leadership roles. Being true to self and being genuine was the most important factor of authenticity in both a women’s professional and personal life. The barriers and challenges that women face include bridging the gap between the male stereotype of leadership and the socially accepted female gender role. These challenges present obstacles for women leaders who attempt to embrace and emulate their true selves at work. Sometimes at the risk of losing their job. Women depend upon their faith, prayer, and practice of reflection and meditation to help them lead with authenticity. These strategies along with self-awareness help women to develop the courage needed to continue moving forward in their leadership practice.

Success for authentic women leaders is defined by their career and the ability to perform personally fulfilling work. Success is also defined by the leader’s ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with family and friends while also helping others. Recommendations for aspiring women leaders include most significantly the ability to be a leader of self, possessing high self-awareness and building self-confidence. These recommendations are followed by a practice of facing fears and embracing authenticity early in life and career.

Transgender women have the highest HIV prevalence rates of all gender and sexual minorities, yet are less likely to enter and be retained in HIV care. As a result, they are at high risk for HIV-related morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to describe the illness career of transgender women living with HIV and to describe how interactions with health care providers and important others influenced their illness trajectory. The findings are a theoretical model that includes four stages: Having the world come crashing down, shutting out the world, living in a dark world, and reconstructing the world. Relationships within the social network (family, friends, and romantic partners) and the network of health care providers provided the context of the women’s illness careers. Pivotal moments marked movement from one phase to the next. Having the World Crashing Down was the first stage that occurred when the participants were diagnosed with HIV. They felt that their lives as they knew them had been destroyed. They indicated that the “whole world just shattered” the moment they found out they had HIV. Shutting Out the World occurred next. During this stage, many participants experienced withdrawal, denial, social isolation and loneliness. As they struggled with their diagnosis, they often avoided HIV care and avoided contact with important others. During the third stage, Living in a Dark World, participants descended into a dark phase of self-destructive life and health-threatening behaviors following their diagnosis. During the fourth stage, Reconstructing the World, participants began to reestablish themselves in the world and found new ways to reengage with important others and resume meaningful life activities. Findings confirm that the illness careers of HIV-positive transgender women are influenced by the social context of the health care setting and interactions with health care providers and important others.

Paulo Freire stated that there are two ways to be in this world: a "non-reflexive" one, which implies being an object of the history, and a "critical" one, which means being a historical subject. As part of his pedagogy, this Brazilian educator designed a transition methodology between one conscience and the other, in order to liberate the oppressed people. This proposal has been applied in a wide variety of contexts throughout the world, not only in populations with limited resources. However, there is little literature on these processes. This work is an ethnographic research that focuses on the experience of promoting indigenous women (factory workers, domestic workers, store sellers) with low schooling, who become teachers of high academic and human quality within a Freirean project of Popular Education and Local Development of INEPE (community-based organization from La Dolorosa de Chilibulo / Isoloma) in Quito - Ecuador. It is argued that the agency (conceived as the act of educating for freedom) is part of the development of critical awareness of these indigenous women; and also, that these are simultaneous, collective and spiral processes, driven by solidarity, participation and dialogue of knowledges.

This study hypothesized that differences in sex behaviors of men and women with sex addiction would mirror sex behaviors differences characteristic of men and women in general. A sample of 45 persons with sex addiction was obtained from social media websites. A validated sexual addiction questionnaire and gender-specific sex behavior questionnaire (GBQ) were administered. Results confirmed that all subjects had sex addiction. Sex addiction scores for men were universally higher than for women across all domains of sex addiction; all differences were statistically significant. Of 22 GBQ questions, 16 trended in the predicted direction; six did not. The proportion of endorsements in line with the hypothesis was significantly different from chance, suggesting that differences in sex behaviors of men and women with sex addiction mirror those of men and women in general. Four findings differed from the hypothesis, however. First, men with sex addiction had fewer relationships at one time than women. Second, men were less likely than women to seek escort or phone services, pay for sexually explicit phone calls, or use personal ads to find partners. Third, men and women equally endorsed being more likely to have sex with someone they know rather than anonymous sex partners. Fourth, women more often reported having one-night stands than men. These gender-specific behaviors deviate from past research, suggesting that men and women with sex addiction may choose some sexual behaviors atypical of their gender. Cultural and technological changes that may be impacting these novel sex behaviors were explored.

In this study gender stereotyping is defined as assigning a specific characteristic or trait to an individual based solely on gender. An individual is expected to exhibit behavior according to what is customarily expected of their gender. The perception of gender stereotypical beliefs was explored to determine if it is contributing to the underrepresentation of women in senior leadership within the securities brokerage industry in the United States. To examine the differences in stereotypical beliefs among men and women regarding women in leadership, participants were asked to complete the Women as Managers Scale (WAMS) consisting of 21 Likert-type survey statements. Statements 1-21 were intended to examine participants’ attitude towards women in leadership in support of Research Question 1: To what extent do male and female Financial Industry Regulatory Association (FINRA) registered representatives differ in perceived gender stereotypical beliefs regarding women in leadership? Survey statements 1-9 were considered ability constructs and were intended to examine participants’ perception of women’s ability to serve in leadership in support of Research Question 2: To what extent do male and female FINRA registered representatives differ in perceiving that women have the ability to serve in senior leadership in United States securities brokerage firms? Survey statements 10-15 were intended to examine participants’ perceived acceptance of women in leadership in support of Research Question 3: To what extent do male and female FINRA registered representatives differ in perceived acceptance of women serving in senior leadership roles in United States securities brokerage firms? The responses of female participants and the responses of male participants were analyzed for similarities and differences using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to support or deny the hypotheses for the research questions. The results from the analysis indicated that gender was a significant factor related to stereotypical beliefs regarding women in leadership. Males exhibited a more prominent existence of stereotypical beliefs, with the null hypothesis being rejected in all three research questions. The results of this study should benefit females in the financial services industry by providing insight into the reasons women are underrepresented in leadership so that initiatives can be established to explicitly address the problem of gender stereotyping and more effectively promote women in leadership in the U.S. securities brokerage industry. In addition, the study will contribute to the academic knowledge in the area of corporate leadership by providing the data necessary for a better understanding of the impact gender imbalance in leadership has on organizational success.