Reducing health disparities requires intervention on the social determinants of health, as well as a means to monitor and evaluate these actions. Indicators are powerful evaluation tools that can support these efforts, but they are often developed without the input of those being measured and invariably reflect the value judgments of those who create them. This is particularly evident in the measurement of subjective social constructs such as gender equity, and the participation and collaboration of the intended beneficiaries are critical to the creation of relevant and useful indicators. These issues are examined in the context of a study to develop indicators to measure gender equity in the Nicaraguan Fair Trade coffee cooperative PROCOCER. Recent studies report that Fair Trade cooperatives are not adequately addressing the needs of its women members. Indicators can provide cooperatives with a consistent means to plan, implement, and sustain actions to improve gender equity. This study used participatory and feminist research methods to develop indicators based on focus groups and interviews with women members of PROCOCER, the cooperative staff, and external experts. The findings suggest that the cooperative has a role in promoting gender equity not only at the organizational level, but in the member families as well. Moreover, gender equity requires the empowerment of women in four broad dimensions of measurement: economic, political, sociocultural, and wellbeing. The indicator set proposes 22 objective and subjective indicators for immediate use by the cooperative and 7 indicators for future integration, mirroring its evolving gender strategy. The results also highlight salient lessons from the participatory process of indicator development, where the selected indicators were inherently shaped by the organizational context, the emerging research partnership, and the unique study constraints. These findings speak to the need for continued efforts to develop a critical awareness and organizational response to gender inequities, as well as the importance of providing spaces for women to define their own tools of evaluation.

Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / Women’s football is one of the fastest growing sports around the world, however, equity is lacking as women have to negotiate for training equipment, financial sponsorship, media coverage and safe transportation. The study represents an investigation of the lived experiences of female footballers and administrators in the Western Cape: A critical perspective of gender equity. The study further assessed the lack of development and support for women involved in football which displays the inequalities experienced by females within the football arena. The proposed study investigated female footballers’ lived experiences with regard to gender equity in football in the Western Cape. The study used a phenomenological approach which focused specifically on the lived experiences of humans with regards to a particular phenomenon which in this study is gender equity.

While the field technical and professional communication (TPC) has long been concerned with workplace writing and policy writing, few studies have addressed the process of policy writing within an academic context. Using antenarrative and apparent feminism methodologies, this dissertation explores the policy writing process and feminist leadership practices of the DESIGN Committee, a group of women academics who worked to propose new policy to address gender inequity in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields for faculty working in their statewide educational system (SES). Employing methods of observation, participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and artifact collection over a period of three years, the researcher sought to answer two research questions: What does the process of policy writing look like for the DESIGN Committee? In what ways do feminist leadership practices, as performed by the committee leader and other committee members, influence the work of the DESIGN Committee? Through the creation of an antenarrative of the DESIGN Committee?s policy work, three important threads stand out: proximity, transparency, and accountability. These threads provide an alternative to the dominant narrative of the committee?s work. In addition, the committee leader?s use of feminist leadership practices, such as creating community, encouraging self-empowerment, and fostering collaboration, impacted the efficiency of the policy writing process. These results point to important factors for future policy writers to consider when composing policy to address diversity, equity, and inclusion or when employing feminist leadership practices.

La equidad de género y la inclusión de la mujer en los puestos de toma de decisiones son temas cada vez más comunes en las agendas mundiales de entidades públicas y privadas, en donde a pesar de existir avances en el tema de igualdad, equidad y diversidad, las mujeres se enfrentan diariamente a diversas formas de discriminación. Actualmente, los viejos estereotipos han ido cambiando y ha aumentado el número de mujeres que ocupan puestos de alta dirección, pero, en su mayoría, perciben menos ingresos que sus pares masculinos. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la situación de la mujer en el ámbito empresarial, específicamente en el directorio, abordando el gobierno corporativo desde la perspectiva de la equidad de género. En las últimas décadas, tanto el buen gobierno corporativo como los temas referidos a la igualdad y equidad para la mujer han ido cobrando mayor relevancia en las investigaciones académicas; de hecho se decidió centrar la atención en el gobierno corporativo porque permite lograr mercados más eficientes al ser un motor importante en el ámbito empresarial. Bajo esta perspectiva, es interesante notar que la presencia de mujeres en el directorio contribuye a generar resultados empresariales sostenibles. Es por ello que son claves tanto mujeres como hombres en la gestión de la empresa, y solo potenciando la diversidad y equidad de talentos en ella se incrementará la calidad y efectividad de la gobernanza. / Gender equity and the inclusion of women in decision-making positions are increasingly common issues on the global agendas of public and private entities, where despite progress in equality, equity and diversity, women face various forms of discrimination on a daily basis. Currently, old stereotypes have been changing, giving way to a greater number of women in senior management positions, but mostly earning less than their male peers. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to analyze the situation of women in the business world, specifically in the Board of Directors, addressing corporate governance from a gender equity perspective. In the last decades, both good corporate governance and issues related to equality and equity in women have been gaining more relevance in academic research; in fact, it was decided to focus on corporate governance because it allows for more efficient markets as it is an important engine in the business environment. Within this perspective, it’s interesting to find that the presence of women in the Board of Directors contributes to generate sustainable business results, that is why both women and men are key in the management of the company, and only by promoting the diversity and equity of talents in the company will the quality and effectiveness of governance be increased. / Trabajo de Suficiencia Profesional

Title IX’s legislation has been in place since 1972 and has affected female participation in a positive form towards gender equity. However many institution sill have difficulty complying with the standards mandated by Title IX. Gender equity is established by meeting substantial proportionality, continued expansion, or full accommodations prongs mandated by Title IX for an institution to be in compliance. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of the athletic directors of the 15 public community and junior colleges in Mississippi regarding Title IX compliance and determine if their respective institutions are in compliance with the substantial proportionality (SP) prong of Title IX. The study identified the perceptions of the athletic directors regarding their institutions’ Title IX compliance, as well as the effective strategies and barriers toward meeting the requirements to comply with Title IX within their programs. In addition, the study revealed whether or not the institutions complied with the SP prong of Title IX. Athletic directors (N=15; 53% response rate) from the public community and junior colleges from Mississippi completed the Two-Year College Title IX Survey. Results revealed that overall the athletic directors perceived that their institutions were in compliance with Title IX. However, the athletic directors perceived that the listed strategies were not effective and the barriers listed were not perceived barriers to Title IX compliance. However, the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act data revealed that none of the institutions complied with the SP prong of Title IX. From a practical perspective, the study revealed that while the athletic directors perceived that their institutions met the SP prong, EADA data revealed that none of the institutions in the state met that prong. Consequently, this finding indicates that there is a need for more education regarding Title IX compliance at the institutions. This information could serve as a starting point for an in-depth institutional study on Title IX. From a theoretical perspective, the study provided information that gives leaders at the public community and junior colleges in Mississippi a unique look at diversity within their athletic departments.

No description available.

No description available.

This study seeks to investigate factors influencing gender representation patterns in educational leadership positions in high schools around Phokeng. In South Africa and some other countries, teaching in schools remains a profession where women are highly represented, but women continue to be under-represented in educational leadership p9sitions. Male over-representation in the leadership and management of educational institutions is internationally known and documented and persists despite the availability and implementation of gender equity acts and policies. The study used the case study approach, underpinned by feminist theory to investigate factors that influence gender representation patterns in high schools around Phokeng. Semi-structured interviews and open-ended, qualitative questionnaires were used to collect data. A total of 12 purposefully selected participants were included in the study: four principals, four deputy principals and four heads of departments. Data was collected on the following areas: The nature and extent of gender representation patterns in educational leadership positions; possible reasons for the current gender representation patterns in educational leadership positions in high schools in areas around Phokeng; strategies that can be applied to address the current gender representation patterns in order to suit gender equity concerns in education. The findings reveal that women represent a high percentage of employees of the education system, but women continue to be under-represented in educational leadership positions. Furthermore, the study found that gender stereotypes, family responsibilities, low self-image and self-esteem as well as lack of confidence are some of the reasons for under-representation of women in educational leadership positions. The investigation also established that the implementation of the Employment Equity Act and similar policies should be intensified in all educational institutions as one of the strategies to close the gap of under-representation of women in educational leadership positions. The main recommendations emanating from the study are that women teachers need training to equip them with appropriate knowledge and skills; therefore they should be capacitated to improve their self-image, self-esteem and should acquire strategies to balance their family responsibilities with their work life. In that case, society can improve its perception about women, practical affirmative action strategies could be employed to improve the representation of women in educational leadership and to promote non-discriminatory working relationships and respect for diversity in a job situation. / Thesis (M.Ed) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2013

Title IX was enacted over 40 years ago, and although there have been marked increases in the number of girls and women participating in athletics at every level, gender equity in athletics continues to be a concern. This is especially evident at the community college level. Title IX requires equity in the areas of opportunities for participation, opportunities for financial aid, and equity in benefits and services. This study sought to ascertain perceptions of equity held by community college coaches of women’s teams. A cross-sectional design was used to survey coaches from all regions of the NJCAA who were listed in the National Directory of in regard to their perceptions of equity in opportunities for participation, opportunities for scholarships, awareness and understanding of Title IX and related compliance issues, including whistleblower protection, and their level of comfort in discussing gender equity issues with supervisors. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences in perceptions regarding gender equity in terms of opportunities for participation, opportunities for financial aid by means of athletic scholarships, benefits and services, awareness and understanding and level of comfort in discussing perceptions regarding gender equity issues or Title IX non-compliance based on gender, years’ experience coaching, sport coached and region, although effect sizes for each analysis were determined to be small. Without question, women are in a better position to recognize gender inequities in athletics on college campuses. It is essential that women are recruited and hired into leadership positions in athletic departments and into executive positions in educational administrations at community colleges. Without a voice at the decision-making levels, the pace at which community colleges move toward equity will continue to lag.

Research has focused on adolescent white females indicating self-injury may be more prevalent among female Caucasian individuals. This presentation will present data from a current study that indicates males and other ethnic groups are engaged in self-injury, in differing ways than are being studied. Future research, clinical practice, and supervision needs to understand the importance of a broader holistic approach to conceptualize and treat self-injury.