The trend towards family care of children with developmental disabilities has lead us to examine ways to support families. One source of help primary caregivers have available to them is informal social support. Ninety mothers of children with severe developmental disabilities, residing in four Michigan counties (two urban and two rural) were interviewed face-to-face to determine the nature and extent of their informal social support systems. The types of support investigated were perceived, instrumental, emotional, informational and network. Data were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate techniques. The findings indicate that mothers are primarily responsible for the day-to-day care of their children. However, the help they do receive is important to them. Assistance proffered to mothers comes mostly from immediate family members. Although married and working women perceive greater support from some family members, when help with daily tasks was measured, these women did not actually receive any greater assistance. Multivariate analysis revealed that perceived informal social support was associated with better ability to cope and lower levels of stress. The influence of informal social support on life satisfaction was less certain. Ability to cope was significantly correlated with decreased stress and increased life satisfaction. None of the various types of informal support explained coping, stress or life satisfaction. However, emotional support turned out to be a proxy for emotional problems, and so it was associated with higher stress, and lower coping and life satisfaction. None of the other independent variables included in the model (severity of handicap, formal support or life stress) explained the variance in the dependent variables. When actual regression coefficients were examined, it was concluded that increasing the amount of social support to mothers is not a very efficacious approach to helping them reduce their stress and improve their copin

It is no surprise that there is a shortage of women engineers. The reasons for the shortage have been researched and discussed in myriad papers, and suggestions for improvement continue to evolve. However, there are few studies that have specifically identified the positive aspects that attract women to engineering and keep them actively engaged in the field. This paper examines how women engineers view their education, their work, and their motivation to remain in the field. A qualitative research design was used to understand the motivation and adaptability factors women use to support their decision to major in engineering and stay in the engineering profession. Women engineers were interviewed using broad questions about motivation and adaptability. Interviews were transcribed and coded, looking for common threads of factors that suggest not only why women engineers persist in the field, but also how they thrive. Findings focus on the experiences, insights, and meaning of women interviewed. A grounded theory approach was used to describe the success factors found in practicing women engineers. The study found categories of attraction to the field, learning environment, motivation and adaptability. Sub-categories of motivation are intrinsic motivational factors such as the desire to make a difference, as well as extrinsic factors such as having an income that allows the kind of lifestyle that supports the family. Women engineers are comfortable with and enjoy working with male peers and when barriers arise, women learn to adapt in the male dominated field. Adaptability was indicated in areas of gender, culture, and communication. Women found strength in the ability to ‘read’ their clients, and provide insight to their teams. Sufficient knowledge from the field advances theory and offers strategies to programs for administrators and faculty of schools of engineering as well as engineering firms, who have interest in recruitment, and retention of female students. Future research includes expanding the research to other areas of the United States, and improving engineering education pedagogy with more active and experiential learning.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-47). Issued in print and online. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2007. / Thesis directed by Cindy S. Bergeman for the Department of Psychology. "April 2007." "Graduate Program in Developmental Psychology"--T.p. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-55).

Employed and non-employed stepmothers were compared on four psychological dimensions: stress, adjustment, needs, and values. Employed stepmothers were hypothesized to experience greater stress, lower adjustment, different needs, and different values. Racial and race by employment status differences along these four dimensions were also addressed.