Although there is a strong body of existing research on women’s career-life development and on women’s entrepreneurship, there is a lack of understanding of the experiences of mother entrepreneurs specifically. This dissertation addresses the question how do self-employed women with children manage their multiple life roles. Context and the rationale for conducting the proposed study is discussed, followed by a literature review, which begins by describing the key career development terms, offering an overview of career theory with a focus on women’s career development and entrepreneurship, followed by a discussion of modes of inquiry considered appropriate for this study. An outline of the research methodology is presented, with further rationale for a qualitative approach, specifically Grounded Theory. This research includes a description of the basic social problem Being a Mother Entrepreneur, as well as proposing a substantive theory to explain how mother entrepreneurs manage their multiple life roles. This process is explained in the core category Keeping Going, which is recursively fueled and affected by seven key properties: feeling supported, making choices, adapting creatively, remembering the push, remembering the pull, envisioning the future, and living my values. The finding of Keeping Going as the basic social process of how mother entrepreneurs manage their multiple life roles, underscores the importance of understanding the role of values on the process of career-life development of self-employed women with children. Finally, implications for further research, including the extension of the proposed substantive theory to other groups, and implications for counselling practice are discussed. / Graduate / 0525 / 0519 / rehb@shaw.ca

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Everyday demands and hassles can elicit some form of stress upon the child rearing experience (Crnic & Lowe, 2002). Previous research using meta-analysis (Bos, van Balen & van den Boom, 2005) found that lesbian and heterosexual families are similar in nature with one important distinction, the stigmatization attached to their sexual orientation. Lesbian mothers are subjected to sexual stigma that other sexual minority individuals face, but in addition they experience stigma attached to the idealization of the nuclear family. As a consequence of this dual prejudice, moderators should be examined specifically for lesbian mothers to identify shared and possible unique factors for parenting stress. Based on the data collected for the present study, the current research supported the extensive literature documenting moderates of parenting stress in heterosexual mothers (social support, relationship satisfaction and life stressors). Moreover this study highlighted some of the unique and possible moderators of parental stress in the lesbian family dynamic (minority stress, and stigma perception). While doing this, the current research revealed some interesting inter-correlations that were not the primary area of investigation. In addition, the comparison of the respondents when designated into high and low scorers, gave the impression that the current study was heading in the right direction but needed additional participants to ensure that the hypotheses were correctly tested. Future research should aim to recruit a higher number of participants from various areas that may not have LGBT specific support. Moreover while utilizing an online questionnaire; steps should be taken to ensure that respondents do not become uninterested or fatigued while testing (e.g. shorten the survey).

This thesis reports comparative analyses of the work and family nexus for a group of working mothers in Adelaide, Australia and Harare, Zimbabwe.

Thesis (M. P. H.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1987. / Typescript. Title from title screen (viewed Nov. 15, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-147). Online version of the print original.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2007. / Prepared for: School of Social Work. Bibliography: leaves 178-202. Also available online via the Internet.

Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- The Institute for Clinical Social Work, 1995. / A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Institute of Clinical Social Work in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Technology, Sydney, 1999.

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-68).