Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MA (Practical Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

The research seeks to evaluate how the South African government has conceptualised gender through the use of the concepts of WID and GAD. This research has been conducted through the analysis of the Draft Strategic Framework on Gender and Women's Empowerment a document of the Department of Trade and Industry that was formulated to address and redress the issues of gender equality. It has some sound suggestions that seek to identify strategies to improve women empowerment through financial independence. As a result they have used various approaches in order to provide strategies that are mindful of the „needs‟ of the women. Accordingly they have formulated a policy that understands who these women are and have made recommendations of strategies that different groups of women can identify with. They have included the marginalised rural and disabled women and even gone as far as catering for younger women still at school. However there has been concern at the impact that the exclusion of men has contributed, therefore it is important to find ways in which to make men more involved.

Gender equality is one of the important phenomena in development, in that uneven development results in gender inequality. In the process of development, some groups of people, especially men, benefit more than others because the structures allow them to participate more. The poor are thought of as men mainly, whereas the majority of the poor are women. There can be no sustainable development when decisions about changing the lives of people are taken without the participation of half of the very lives that have to be changed, i.e. women. In an attempt to address gender inequality, feminist theories emphasize the need for equal treatment of men and women. The main concern is how women are encouraged to participate in development. Thus, gender approaches were introduced so as to mainstream women into development. Again, there is increasing recognition among politicians and researchers of the importance of considering gender issues in local government policy to reduce political inequalities, and to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the local government. It is extremely necessary that women should also participate in decision-making at this level of governance. This case study was conducted at the Krugersdorp Local Council. The main objective of the study was to evaluate factors that inhibit or promote the participation of women in political decision-making. Focus group interviews were conducted, and twenty respondents participated in the study. Some of the major findings of this study were that the community around Krugersdop is still patriarchal and that the Krugersdorp Local Council is not yet gender sensitive. Also, the triple roles, lack of safety and not knowing the role of being a councillor inhibit women councillors from political decision-making. On the other hand, the proportional representation encourages women to participate in political decision-making. / Dr. Maria Motebang

Afrikaans: Bemagtiging is tans in die Republiek van Suid-Afrika 'n essensiële en aktuele onderwerp veral in die ontwikkeling van vroue, gemeenskapsorganisering, sowel as in die progressiewe strewe na vrede en sosiale geregtigheid. In die samelewing is groot getalle persone, veral vroue, magteloos en is dit dus noodsaaklik om hierdie belewenis van magteloosheid te beklemtoon in die hantering en verbetering van maatskaplike probleme. Die doel van hierdie studie is om 'n maatskaplikewerkprogram te ontwikkel wat afgestem is op die bemagtiging van die gedepriveerde vrou ten einde haar maatskaplike funksionering te verbeter. Gedepriveerde vroue is vasgevang in 'n siklus van probleme wat hulle maatskaplike funksionering beïnvloed. Maatskaplike werkers pas beperkte intervensiestrategieë toe om verandering by die vroue te weeg te bring. Ten einde intervensiestrategieë te kan selekteer wat sinvolle verandering teweeg bring, moet kennis geneem word van hoe gedepriveerdheid die vrou se maatskaplike funksionering belnvloed. Hierdie aspekte of faktore moet aangespreek word deur gedepriveerde vroue te bemagtig om verandering te inisieer en instand te hou. Die studie is gebaseer op 'n literatuuroorsig oor die maatskaplike wanfunksionering van die gedepriveerde vrou, asook die benutting van selfdirektiewe groepwerk as bemagtigingstrategie. 'n Maatskaplikewerkprogram is ontwikkel ten einde die gedepriveerde vrou te bemagtig, en haar instaat te stel om maatskaplik optimaal te kan funksioneer in die samelewing. Die aanname van die studie is soos volg: Indien gedepriveerde vroue deur middel van selfdirektiewe groepwerk, deelneem aan 'n maatskaplikewerkprogram wat afgestem is op haar behoeftes, kennis en vaardighede, sal sy bemagtig wees om maatskaplik beter te kan funksioneer. Die gevolgtrekking van die studie is dat 'n maatskaplikewerkprogram wat gebaseer is op selfdirektiewe groepwerk, 'n effektiewe hulpmiddel kan wees om: • bemagtiging by gedepriveerde vroue te bewerkstellig • haar instaat te stel om meer effektief in die samelewing te kan funksioneer en • sin en betekenis in haar lewe te ervaar Uit hierdie studie word die afleiding gemaak dat die maatskaplikewerkprogram, wat ontwikkel is met die oog op bemagtiging van die gedepriveerde vrou wat maatskaplik wanfunksioneer, as maatskaplikewerkintervensie in die praktyk toegepas kan word ten einde die impak van die program vir die bemagtiging van die gedepriveerde vrou te evalueer. English: Empowerment in the Republic of South Africa is currently an essential and topical discussion subject, particularly in the fields of upliftment and development of women, community organising, as well in the progressive striving towards peace and social justice. In the present social environment there are large numbers of people, especially women, who are powerless and it is thus of paramount importance that this socio-political reality of powerlessness, be highlighted in the management and betterment of social problems. The purpose of this research is to develop a social work program specifically aimed at the empowerment of the currently a typical deprived woman so as to improve her social functionality. Deprived women are caught in a vicious cycle of obstacles, which directly impact on her social standing. Social workers apply a limited range of intervention strategies to enable a change in circumstances relative to such women to evolve. However, to be able to select such intervention strategies which will result in meaningful change, there must be real understanding of how such a deprived state of being influences the woman's social functionality. Empowering currently deprived women must address these factors and their nuances so that they themselves initiate change and maintain the new status quo. This research is based on a written and recorded overview of the social malfunctioning of the deprived woman as well as the employment of self-directed group work and interaction as an empowerment strategy. A social workers program is developed to achieve the empowerment of deprived women and to allow her to operate at an optimal level in the social environment. The assumption of the research is as follows: Provided deprived women partake through the medium of self-directed group work and intervention, which is solely directed at their particular requirements, knowledge and skills levels, will they become empowered and better enable to function socially. The findings of this research is that a social management program which is based on self directed group work and intervention can be an effective tool to: (1) achieve empowerment of the deprived women, (2) allows her to function more effectively in the social environment on a sustainable basis and (3) allows her to experience sense and purpose in her life. From the results of this research, it can be concluded that the social management program IS developed specifically for the empowerment of deprived women. The social work intervention is applied in practice to allow for the impact of the program on the deprived women to be evaluated. / Dissertation (MA (Social Work))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

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Wealth has been found to be associated with financial wellbeing in ways not captured by income as well as increased social connections, improved physical and mental health, and increased emotional, cognitive, and behavioral development among children. Preliminary research indicates that a gender disparity in net worth exists in the U.S. However, research in the U.S. thus far has been limited to unmarried households. Research conducted in Germany finds that the gender wealth gap is substantially larger among married households as compared to unmarried households. Using the 2008 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, this dissertation is the first to examine whether the same is true in the U.S. This dissertation is comprised of three papers: Paper 1 descriptively examines the individual wealth holdings of men and women among married, widowed, divorced, and never married individuals. Results further consider the intersectionality of gender and race in relation to asset ownership and liabilities. Paper 2 provides the first examination of the determinants of the gender wealth gap in the U.S. among the married as well as the unmarried. Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions are conducted in order to examine how much of the gender wealth gap can be explained by labor market characteristics, education, demographic characteristics, and receipt of benefits. DiNardo, Fortin, and Lemieux decompositions are additionally conducted to determine if determinates differ across the wealth distribution. Paper 3 is the first attempt to merge the gender earnings and net worth disparities literature. Weisbrod & Hansen (1968)’s augmented earnings measure is utilized to combine net worth and earnings into one annual measure. Annual earnings, net worth, and augmented earnings are descriptively compared. Paper 1 multivariate results indicate that divorced and never married women own less than $0.30 of wealth for each dollar owned by comparable men while married women own $0.92 for each dollar owned by married men. Black women experience a substantially larger gender wealth gap. Paper 2 finds that the gender wealth gap among divorced and unmarried individuals is not explained by the characteristics listed above and is instead primarily attributable to differences in the rewards or penalties men and women receive for characteristics. Among married individuals, the gender gap can be explained largely by differences in characteristics, particularly labor market characteristics. Paper 3 finds that the gender gap in augmented earnings very slightly increases the disparity as compared to earnings alone. Results indicate that the gender wealth gap among married individuals in the United States is substantially smaller than among unmarried individuals. Paper 2 indicates that for the most part, married couples share assets and debts. The remaining differences in wealth may then be a direct result of the division of labor as determined by the labor market characteristics. Racial differences in the gender wealth gap are stark and particularly concerning. Lastly, Paper 3 indicates that although the augmented earnings measure increased gender disparities only slightly, it suggests that the gender wealth gap captures additional aspects of disparities not captured by earnings. Future research is needed to determine the impact this disparity has on wellbeing.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / While gender equality in the workplace is slowly improving, discrimination still exists. Past research has shown that women are underrepresented in both high status jobs, as well as stereotypically masculine careers. Two theories which explain gender discrimination –Lack of Fit Theory and Status Incongruence Hypothesis—have been widely supported but are rarely researched simultaneously. In this study participants rated hypothetical male and female job candidates applying to a hypothetical job that was either high status or low status, and in masculine domain or a feminine domain. Neither Lack of Fit nor Status Incongruence Hypothesis were fully supported. However, participants rated candidates applying for jobs in the feminine domain as less competent, hireable, and likeable. Participants also found high status candidates less hireable than low status candidates. These results suggest that within this study gender discrimination was more specific than robust, meaning research design should allow for detection of such nuanced discrimination.

No description available.

No description available.

An in-basket exercise was used to investigate the effects of sex-role stereotypes on selection evaluations of applicants for a management position. The independent variables consisted of (a) sex of the applicant (e.g. Janet N. Davis, James N. Davis) (b) the raters attitude toward women in management positions as measured by a questionnaire, and finally (c) the quality of information (e.g. biographical or behavioral). On the basis of information provided, 28 male and female subjects evaluated the applicants performance potential and suitability for a particular management position. The results confirmed the hypothesis that attitude toward women in management creates a discriminatory impact toward women on certain management dimensions when the evaluator is forced to predict behavior based on biographical information. However, when actual behavioral data about job performance is made available, discriminatory effects appear to be eliminated. Implications of these results are discussed.