While it is known that social policies influence the organization of employment and family life, this knowledge is rarely used to understand women's health. The current study uses feminist welfare state theory to examine socioeconomic inequalities in women's health dynamics in countries differing by the extent to which their social policies encourage male breadwinning and female caring/homemaking. The pathways underlying these inequalities are also investigated. Socioeconomic inequalities in health are hypothesized to be largest in strong male-breadwinner states (Britain/Germany), smallest in weak male-breadwinner welfare states (Denmark), and intermediate in modified male-breadwinner states (France). Further, family and income will explain more of health inequalities in strong and modified versus weak male-breadwinner regimes. The analysis uses longitudinal data from the European Community Household Panel (1994-2001) for working-aged women from Britain (n=2,193), Germany (n=2,421), France (n=2,400) and Denmark (n=1,412). The effects of socioeconomic position (measured by education) on self-rated health trajectories are examined using Latent Growth Curve Models; model estimates iii are compared cross-nationally using z-scores. Pathways linking education to health are identified by determining how much employment status, family roles and household income attenuate health inequalities in each country. The analyses are repeated for a sub-sample of mothers of young children—a group for whom policies surrounding the integration of employment and family are critical. Low education predicts worse initial health in all countries, but not faster health decline. Against expectations, education-based inequalities in health are largest in weak male-breadwinner states, but income explains virtually none of that inequality. By contrast, income has a larger explanatory role in regimes where women's unpaid caregiving is encouraged. Employment status is a relatively important mediator of the education-health relationship in all policy contexts, while family roles are not. Restricting the analysis to mothers reveals a much smaller education gradient in health in Denmark, providing evidence that weak male-breadwinner states are most effective at reducing health inequalities among mothers, relative to all women. Feminist welfare state theory better predicts cross-national differences in pathways underlying socioeconomic inequalities in health than the magnitude of inequalities, and may be most useful for understanding the health of mothers with young children.

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in self-perceived abilities of supported employment specialists to perform supported employment processes in relation to their educational backgrounds in South Korea. In order to identify this subject, a research performed survey to 100 supported employment specialist. All supported employment specialists identified were surveyed regarding their self-perceived abilities to perform supported employment processes, along with their demographic characteristics. Two independent variables, education level and academic major, were used in this study. The dependent variable was self-perceived abilities of supported employment specialists to perform seven supported employment processes, such as Job development, Job analysis, Vocational evaluation, Client to job matching, On the job training, Ongoing assessment, and Follow up. The results of this study indicated supported employment specialists who had completed undergraduate degrees perceived their abilities to be significantly higher than supported employment specialists who had completed graduate degree in performing the competencies of each supported employment process, except vocational assessment. However, the significant results in this research hypothesis indicated the opposite outcome to the proposed research hypothesis 2. Next, there is no differences of self-perceived ability relation to performing supported employment between supported employment specialists who had majored (vocational) rehabilitation and supported employment specialists who had majored social work, psychology, and others. Finally, there are no differences of self-perceived ability relation to performing supported employment processes, except job analysis and on-going assessment according to the interaction effect between the education level and major. The findings of this study are discussed in implication for rehabilitation practice and education, and future research.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Abby Franchitti / The role of first language (L1) has been controversial in foreign language (FL) learning and teaching. This study examines the relationship between L1 use and gender and level of education of EFL teachers as well as gender and EFL proficiency level of learners in an Afghan university setting. It also investigates the relationship between FL use and learner anxiety by learner gender and EFL proficiency level. The study hypothesized that female FL teachers use the L1 more than male teachers in FL classrooms. Second, low FL proficiency learners consider L1 use as necessary in FL classrooms. Third, low FL proficiency students experience more anxiety with the exclusive use of FL than higher level learners. Fourth, female learners experience more anxiety than male students with the exclusive use of FL by learners and teachers. Twenty EFL teachers participated in the study by completing a 19-item questionnaire and sixty EFL learners by completing a 27-item questionnaire about their views towards L1/FL use and learner anxiety. The data, analyzed through SPSS software, included calculating frequencies and percentages, computing correlations, and conducting independent-samples t-tests to compare the mean difference between the variables. The first hypothesis was not supported as male teachers reported using the L1 more than female teachers. The study also revealed that male teachers with BA and MA degrees used the L1 more than female teachers with BA degrees. In contrast, female teachers with MA degrees used the L1 more than male teachers with BA and MA degrees and also more than female teachers with BA degrees. The results supported hypothesis two. More elementary learners considered the use of L1 as necessary than intermediate and advanced students. The findings also supported hypotheses three and four. Elementary learners as well as female students experienced more anxiety with the exclusive use of FL than intermediate and advanced level students and male learners. The principal conclusion indicated a significant positive correlation between the exclusive use of FL and learner anxiety.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / While several interventions have been implemented over the past decade to combat child mortality, under-five mortality remains a challenge especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Global-ly, child mortality has decreased to half from 12.7 million in 1990 to 5.9 million per year in 2015. Despite these remarkable gains, more than 16,000 children are dying daily in the world (World Health Organisation, 2015). Previous studies on child survival have examined the contributing factors of child deaths and HIV/AIDS epidemic and socio-economic differentials such as the level of education, type of place of residence,and mother’s occupational status were identified as the contributing factor towards the high rate of under-five mortality. How-ever, there is a paucity of studies focusing on the impact of socio-economic and demographic factors on under-five mortality. Hence this study aims to explore the impact of socio-economic and demographic factors on under-five mortality in South Africa. There are underlying factors or background determinants (including direct and indirect) of under-five mortality. These factors influence under-five mortality in South Africa, and the direct causes are called proximate determinants or demographic factors. The conceptual framework of Mosley and Chen (1984) was adopted to explore the ways of influence of the underlying factors on under-five mortality in their study of determinants of child survival.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:53:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Zita Pires de Andrade.pdf: 1823662 bytes, checksum: 31a5fdd92f2e20ac69cdf64ad74e1776 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-09-15 / This dissertation is about a superior level study Cooperative of Rubiataba CESUR and the Faculty of Education and Sciences of Rubiataba FACER maintained by the latter. It also deals, otherwise, with the analysis of its trajectory and contributions to the democratization of the third degree studies. We present this work as a case study of a cooperative that became a limited society soon after, once it could not be registered in the Brazil Cooperative Organization OCB. The work showed that the studied theme was moved by the involvement of the researcher with all the cooperatives of the city of Rubiataba, mainly the CESUR FACER. First, we show a synthesis of the history of the cooperativism, his precursors, the systematization of the fact and the creation of the first cooperative, Rochdale, the traditional cooperative and its possibilities of contribution to the democratization of the third degree study in Brazil, the emerging of a new cooperativist way, the solidary one and the cooperative movement seen as possible economic alternatives to be implemented as a model to super the capitalism. The dissertation aligns the evolution of the third degree study level and the existence of the brazilian tendency to private schools, limiting so, by means of economical questions, the access of young people to the university. We make reference to Mondragon Corporacion Cooperativa indicating the possibility of cooperative study proposal. The studies were finalized by an analysis of the CESUR/FACER case and the associative-cooperative ideas inspirators of the implementation attempt of a third degree level of study in the region. The research realized for this work construction points to valorous contributions of CESUR/FACER in its real proposal, otherwise, shows that those ones would be more significant if the CESUR had had stayed as it was originally thought and conceived. The construction of cooperation networks, the intercooperation practice, the Mondragon example for the strengthening of the cooperative proposal, would be a way. This real work was built under the optic of a qualitative research methodology, with a participatory observation, for the CESUR/FACER case study where were also used interviews, documental study for data collection e final analysis. / Esta dissertação contém o estudo de caso da Cooperativa de Ensino Superior de Rubiataba CESUR e da Faculdade de Ciências e Educação de Rubiataba FACER, por ela mantida. Fala, também, entre outros aspectos, da análise de sua trajetória e de suas contribuições à democratização do ensino superior. Apresenta-o como o caso de uma instituição cooperativa pontuando sua posterior mudança de cooperativa para sociedade por quotas de responsabilidade limitada, uma vez que não pôde ser registrada junto à Organização das Cooperativas do Brasil OCB. O trabalho mostra que o tema em estudo foi motivado pela convivência da pesquisadora com as organizações cooperativas do município de Rubiataba, notadamente com a CESUR/FACER. Apresenta, inicialmente, uma síntese do histórico do cooperativismo, seus precursores, a sistematização do cooperativismo, com a criação da primeira cooperativa, a de Rochdale, o cooperativismo tradicional e suas possibilidades de contribuição à democratização do ensino superior, o surgimento da vertente solidária do cooperativismo e o movimento cooperativo visto como alternativa econômica possível de ser implementada como um modelo a superar o capitalismo. A dissertação delineia a evolução do ensino superior e a existência, no Brasil, de um ensino superior com tendências privatistas, limitando, por questões econômicas, o acesso dos jovens ao ensino superior. Faz referência a Mondragon Corporacion Cooperativa , indicando a possibilidade de uma proposta de ensino superior cooperativo. Os estudos são finalizados por uma análise do caso CESUR/FACER e das idéias associativas/cooperativas inspiradoras da tentativa de implantação de um ensino superior cooperativo na região. A pesquisa realizada para a construção desse trabalho aponta para valiosas contribuições da CESUR/FACER em sua proposta atual, porém constata que estas teriam sido mais significativas se o CESUR tivesse permanecido no seu formato original. A construção de redes de cooperação, a prática da intercooperação, a exemplo de Mondragon, para o fortalecimento da proposta cooperativa, seria um caminho. O trabalho foi construído sob a ótica da metodologia de pesquisa qualitativa, com observação participante para o estudo do caso CESUR/FACER e utilizaram-se as ações de entrevistas, estudo documental para a coleta e análise final dos dados.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between home environment and school readiness of children entering kindergarten in a rural East Tennessee county. Family and home environment variables included family income, family structure, parents' education, participation in literacy activities, availability of home learning tools, and amount of children's television viewing. A self-reported parent survey was used to gather information about the family environment; the Brigance K Screen was used to determine entering kindergartner's readiness for school. Three hundred and thirty eight children and parents participated. An initial analysis of data incorporated simple descriptive statistics in the form of frequency tables. To examine the relationships between the dependent variable (Brigance scores) and independent variables (family characteristics/environment), Kendall's tau-b and Cramer's V were used. Independent sample t-tests and analyses of variance (ANOVAs) analyzed differences in Brigance scores between groups. Finally, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis determined if kindergarten readiness could be predicted by specific variables: socioeconomic status, literary resources, and literacy activities. The analysis of relationships in this study indicated that family income was more closely related to success on the Brigance K Screen than any other variable; next in importance were the levels of fathers' education and mothers' education. Significant positive correlations also indicated the value of parents reading to their children, educational outings, availability of educational tools--specifically, a home computer, family structure, mealtime conversation, and the number of children's books in the home. A significant negative correlation was found between the duration of television viewing and Brigance scores; increased television viewing time was significantly related to lower test scores. ANOVAs and t-tests indicated significant differences in total Brigance scores of prekindergarten students from different socioeconomic status groups based on family structure, family income, and parents' education levels. Children from two-parent homes scored significantly higher than those from other family situations as did children from higher income homes. In addition, parents' education level was reflected in the Brigance scores; more educated parents had children who scored higher than children with less educated parents. The multiple regression analysis reinforced the statistical significance and magnitude of the relationship between socioeconomic factors and school readiness, but literacy resources and literacy activities also accounted for variance in the scores.

Previous literature leaves us unanswered questions about whether teaching behaviors mediate the relationship between teacher education level and experience with student science achievement. This study examined this question with 655 students from sixth to eighth grade and their 12 science teachers. Student science achievements were measured at the beginning and end of 2006-2007 school year. Given the cluster sampling of students nested in classrooms, which are nested in teachers, a two-level multilevel model was employed to disentangle the effects from teacher-level and student-level factors. Several findings were discovered in this study. Science teachers possessing of advanced degrees in science or education significantly and positively influenced student science achievement. However, years of teaching experience in science did not directly influence student science achievement. A significant interaction was detected between teachers possessing an advanced degree in science or education and years of teaching science, which was inversely associated to student science achievement. Better teaching behaviors were also positively related to student achievement in science directly, as well as mediated the relationship between student science achievement and both teacher education and experience. Additionally, when examined separately, each teaching behavior variable (teacher engagement, classroom management, and teaching strategies) served as a significant intermediary between both teacher education and experience and student science achievement. The findings of this study are intended to provide insights into the importance of hiring and developing qualified teachers who are better able to help students achieve in science, as well as to direct the emphases of ongoing teacher inservice training.

In Sweden and elsewhere there is evidence of poorer cancer survival for patients of low socioeconomic status (SES), and in some settings differences in treatment by SES have been shown. The aim of this thesis was to explore factors which influence cancer treatment decisions, such as knowledge reaped from clinical trials, patient-related factors, and physician-related factors. In a register study of colorectal cancer, all stages, patients were stratified for SES-factors. Differences were seen with regards to clinical investigation, surgical and oncological treatment and survival, with the highly educated group being favored. Survival was better for highly educated patients in stages I, II and III but not in stage IV. In a Scandinavian cohort of newly metastasized colorectal cancer patients, recruitment to clinical trials was studied. Patients entering clinical trials had better performance status and fewer cancer symptoms than those who were treated with chemotherapy outside of a clinical trial. Median survival was 21.3 months for trial-patients and 15.2 months for those treated with chemotherapy outside a  trial. Those not treated with chemotherapy had a median survival of just 2.1 months. Patients in clinical trials are highly selected and conclusions drawn from studies cannot be applied to all patients. In the same cohort, treatment and survival were stratified for education, smoking and indicators of social structure. Highly educated patients did not have a survival advantage. Patients who lived alone were offered less combination chemotherapy and surgery of metastases than other patients and had 4 months shorter survival than those who lived with a spouse or child. In a fourth study, 20 Swedish gastrointestinal oncologists were interviewed on which factors they considered when deciding on oncological treatment. Oncologists feared chemotherapy complications due to lack of social support, and ordered less combination chemotherapy for patients living alone. Highly educated patients were seen as well-read and demanding, and giving in to these patients’ requests for treatment was regarded as a way of pleasing patients and relatives and of avoiding conflict.

Title: Theoretical knowledge of first aid of pupils with hearing impairment educated by different communicational approach. Objectives: The purpose of this diploma thesis is to compare the level of theoretical knowledge concerning the first aid at schools for pupils with hearing impairment depending on main communicational approach. The partial goal is to determine if there is a connection between subjective evaluation of first aid knowledge, the ability to provide the first aid and the theoretical knowledge itself. Methods: Questionnaire containing 14 questions was used to determine pupils' knowledge. It was distributed in three elementary schools for hearing impaired children. The aiming group were pupils from the 9th and 10th grade of elementary school. Altogether 18 respondents from 3 elementary schools (X, Y and Z) participated in the research. There were 5 pupils in each class at schools X and Y, and both schools used bilingual communication as the education method, the questionnaire was translated into sign language there. At school Z there were 8 pupils and they were educated by the oral method. Data were converted into electronic form and graphically processed in the program Numbers. Results: Pupils educated at school favoring an oral communication approach achieved 12% better results in...

Purpose/aim The aim is to explore which price policy of the Chinese wind power is the most suitable for the market. Design/methodology/approach Data has been collected through questionnaires. The analysis includes the statistical test in form of chi-square. Additionally the whole thesis followed the onion process put forward by Saunders. Findings The analysis showed that the price policy which is based on the local price of coal is more suitable for the market than the price policy decided by concession projects. Originality/value An original idea is given the relationship between ages, education levels and two policies. Further, the empirical data is collected from a comprehensive online-forum, so that the samples are randomly selected. The data shows that the businesses which want to enter the Chinese wind power market should choose the price policy which is based on the local price of coal. This choice should be useful in the real life.