In the start-up entrepreneurs face the Liability of Newness when problems and challenges often threaten business survival. Business advisory service, provided by public and private supplier contacts, can offer important knowledge and information, accompanied by various forms of assistance, and thereby decrease the entrepreneurs’ risk of failure and reduce their Liability of Newness. However, it is difficult to match the entrepreneurs’ need for such advice with the available advice. The support must meet the need. Most nations in the European Union have programs and projects that provide such support for entrepreneurs and SMEs. Special programs often support female entrepreneurs and/or immigrant entrepreneurs. This thesis examines the level and handling of the Liability of Newness with special focus on female entrepreneurs and immigrant entrepreneurs in Sweden. The four papers of this thesis take the perspective of these entrepreneurs. The research is based on a sample of 2 832 entrepreneurs who were interviewed (in a telephone survey) on their impressions and recollections on their need for and use of business advisory service in the start-up processes of their companies. Fulfilment of need is achieved when the need for business advisory service is matched with the right use of business advisory service. Heterogeneities as far as the level and handling of the Liability of Newness exist related to female entrepreneurs (vs. male entrepreneurs) and immigrant entrepreneurs (vs. non-immigrant entrepreneurs). Female entrepreneurs have a higher need for business advisory service than male entrepreneurs and also use more business advisory service than male entrepreneurs. As a result, female entrepreneurs can decrease the hazard rate for their companies and also reduce the Liability of Newness as their companies move toward the standard risk in their industry. Immigrant entrepreneurs also have a higher need for business advisory service than non-immigrant entrepreneurs. However, because immigrant entrepreneurs use business advisory service to the same extent that non-immigrant entrepreneurs do, immigrant entrepreneurs are unable to decrease the hazard rate for their companies or to reduce the Liability of Newness.The thesis makes both theoretical, methodological and practical contributions. The thesis may be of interest to government policy makers with its attention to the need and use of business advisory service by female entrepreneurs and immigrant entrepreneurs.

In the start-up entrepreneurs face the Liability of Newness when problems and challenges often threaten business survival. Business advisory service, provided by public and private supplier contacts, can offer important knowledge and information, accompanied by various forms of assistance, and thereby decrease the entrepreneurs’ risk of failure and reduce their Liability of Newness. However, it is difficult to match the entrepreneurs’ need for such advice with the available advice. The support must meet the need. Most nations in the European Union have programs and projects that provide such support for entrepreneurs and SMEs. Special programs often support female entrepreneurs and/or immigrant entrepreneurs. This thesis examines the level and handling of the Liability of Newness with special focus on female entrepreneurs and immigrant entrepreneurs in Sweden. The four papers of this thesis take the perspective of these entrepreneurs. The research is based on a sample of 2 832 entrepreneurs who were interviewed (in a telephone survey) on their impressions and recollections on their need for and use of business advisory service in the start-up processes of their companies. Fulfilment of need is achieved when the need for business advisory service is matched with the right use of business advisory service. Heterogeneities as far as the level and handling of the Liability of Newness exist related to female entrepreneurs (vs. male entrepreneurs) and immigrant entrepreneurs (vs. non-immigrant entrepreneurs). Female entrepreneurs have a higher need for business advisory service than male entrepreneurs and also use more business advisory service than male entrepreneurs. As a result, female entrepreneurs can decrease the hazard rate for their companies and also reduce the Liability of Newness as their companies move toward the standard risk in their industry. Immigrant entrepreneurs also have a higher need for business advisory service than non-immigrant entrepreneurs. However, because immigrant entrepreneurs use business advisory service to the same extent that non-immigrant entrepreneurs do, immigrant entrepreneurs are unable to decrease the hazard rate for their companies or to reduce the Liability of Newness.The thesis makes both theoretical, methodological and practical contributions. The thesis may be of interest to government policy makers with its attention to the need and use of business advisory service by female entrepreneurs and immigrant entrepreneurs.

Sex is a biologically based classification, determining whether an individual is male or female. Comparatively, gender is a socially designed construct, which varies between cultures and prescribes what it means to be a man or a woman. Western culture suggests all individuals fall neatly into one of these two groups. Females are expected to display feminine characteristics such as being nurturers, while males are expected to display masculine characteristics such as being providers. There exists, however, a population of individuals who identify themselves as "transgender," meaning, they feel inconsistency between their internal sense of gender identity and their birth-assigned biological sex and/or assigned gender role. These individuals wish to separate from their birth-assigned gender role and express through physical modification their true gender identity. In the context of romantic relationships, it was once thought that disclosure of one partner's transgender identity meant inevitable demise of the relationship. Clinical guidelines offered advice to the transgender partner, suggesting they abandon their family, change their identity, and begin a new life elsewhere (Lev, 2004). More recently, however, clinical experiences suggest the possibility that many transgender people can maintain healthy and sustainable relationships. This study sought to understand the impact of gender transition on the sexual relationship and sexual orientation of female-to-male (FTM) transgender individuals and their cisgender female partners. / Master of Science

Results of the three studies on the speech production of female-to-male transgender individuals (transmen) present phonetic evidence that speech produces the transmen by what I termed triple decoupling. Transmen successfully decouple gender from biological sex. The results of the longitudinal studies exemplified that speakers born and raised female do not necessarily need to have a female voicing source or filter function. Both qualitative changes can he achieved (to different degree) by bringing exogenous testosterone into the system that virilizes both source and filter over time. Moreover, the cross-sectional study showed that articulatory gestures can be modified to move the acoustic targets towards a gendered target one is striving to present. The acoustic manifestations of transmen with different partner attraction offers the next type of decoupling, that between sexual orientation and gender identity. The results of the cross-sectional study imply that female-born individuals attracted to men do not necessarily have to identify as women. They can opt out of this self-identification by selectively adopting features associated with the gay cismale speaking style. This is suggested by the fact that sexual orientation was found to have a significant effect on the durational and spectral quality of fricatives /s/ and /s/, formant values and sentential pitch range. Finally, the longitudinal studies provide evidence for the third type of decoupling, which comes in the form of gender breaking free from physiology. The recurring "reverse J-pattern" of both the transitioning source and filter, as well as the mean fundamental frequency raising above the pitch floor illustrate the fact that transmen do not feel obliged to sound as masculine (as low-pitched and "low-formanted") as testosterone enables them to. This final type of decoupling also serves to demonstrate that many transmen decidedly do not opt in to the binary system of sex / gender even though they are physiologically able to do so. Although LGB speaking styles have been investigated before, this dissertation is the first to discuss a number of acoustic descriptors specifically in transmen's speech and place them into the context of hormone treatment, sexual orientation and disclosure status.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2007 / Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Social Work. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-90).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisors: Maxwell B. Stinchcombe and R. Preston McAfee. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:38:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6816.pdf: 1042759 bytes, checksum: 041e15d1fc4925f0384f9b039a98fb2c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-11 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / This study examines the career of Federal Police special agents in São Paulo, in order to observe how concepts like masculinity, gender and difference are articulated to professionalism by them. This study conceives gender as something that is constructed, and often reproduced when such agents experiences the profession. Thus, it is necessary to explore the existence of an institutional hegemonic masculinity, as female and male, gender are made and how the pattern of heteronormativity are experienced in every day pratice in this career. The field research was conducted in the city of São Paulo. The methodology is based on qualitative interviews and analysis of documents from the Federal Police, as well as statistical data of the gender composition of the group, these empirical evidences are focused by the approaches of sociology of professions. / O presente estudo analisa a carreira de delegado da Polícia Federal no estado de São Paulo, com o intuito de observar como masculinidades, gênero e diferença são articulados com profissionalismo pelos pares. O gênero é concebido pelo estudo como algo que é construído, e, muitas vezes, reproduzido, quando se vivencia a profissão. Assim, faz-se necessário explorar a existência ou não de uma masculinidade hegemônica institucional, como se faz feminino e masculino, e de que forma o padrão da heteronormatividade é vivenciado ao se trabalhar nesta carreira. O recorte espacial utilizado para a presente pesquisa é a cidade de São Paulo. A metodologia adotada é a de entrevistas qualitativas e análises de documentos da Polícia Federal, bem como o levantamento estatístico da composição por gênero da carreira, esses dados são tratados a partir das vertentes teóricas da sociologia das profissões em interface com masculinidades, gênero e diferença.

This paper aimed to examine the use of emojis and emoticons in Twitter data. Therefore, the study utilized Twitter data on how emojis and emoticons were used in English in the Curators of Sweden project by Swedish individuals. Moreover, considering the fast and technology-filled world humans live in, new terms and concepts have emerged, such as CMC, a computer-mediated communication, namely, a form of communication or information conveyed through a digital and virtual mechanism, known in the postmodern world today as social media. Furthermore, the study showcased how individuals of both sexes use emojis and emoticons provided on Twitter to express themselves as a new form of virtual emotional language while also considering gender differences. The results of the study indicate that emojis and emoticons have been used extensively in Twitter data and play a huge role in expressing feelings and emotions in Twitter communication. While emojis and emoticons were used more frequently by females than males. The findings of this paper indicated the importance of ample space that social media, namely Twitter and its set of provided emojis and emoticons, occupy in lives. Thus, modern communication tools manifested in the virtual language emojis and emoticons, which in their role supported emotional communication. / nej

Transsexuality remains grounded in pathologizing discourses. Mental health professionals largely classify transgender experiences as disorders, and transgender people seeking to alter their bodies typically must obtain authenticating letters from therapists verifying such diagnoses. Physicians usually require these letters to perform transition-related services, and sometimes require additional legitimization. In these ways, psychomedical professionals impose gatekeeping measures that withhold and confer services to transsexuals who desire medical transition. Using qualitative interview data and grounded theory methods with 20 female-to-male transsexuals, this study demonstrates that transmen typically represent informed consumers whom carefully research psychomedical protocol and anticipate providers’ adherence to professional standards. When they encounter gatekeeping, this preparedness informs their dialectical struggles within the psychomedical institutions wherein transmen must negotiate bodies within the confines of pathology. Ultimately, this dialectical process is managed and maintained by the larger regime of truth—the gender binary system.

Theories are tools with which we critically analyze society‟s structure and understand experiences that are not our own. When theories no longer describe the narratives that they claim, we must update them. This thesis proposes to do just that. The trans theories of J. Halberstam and Jay Prosser will be analyzed using ten autobiographies written by self-identified FTM transsexuals and transmen. Prosser and Halberstam are two well-known theorists in the field of trans theory. J. Halberstam approaches FTM transsexuality from the perspective of a lesbian feminist, who has an understanding of transgender butch individuals. Jay Prosser writes from the perspective of being a FTM transsexual himself. I chose publications by these theorists because they had sections that focused specifically on FTM narratives, and they both used at least two of the autobiographies I use and they were published the same year. Therefore, I found them to be two theoretical frameworks that could be compared on several different levels. The publication dates of the ten narratives range from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Applicability of the theories will be measured by comparing them to what the autobiographers say about their lives. The tool of analysis will be five focus areas that are represented, to some degree, in each narrative. They are: Trying to fit into female roll/body/world; Discovering one is Trans/Coming Out; Acquiring Hormones and Sexual Reassignment Surgery; Trying to Establish/Re-establish a Confident Identity; and Romantic/Sexual Relationships.. I will discuss how helpful each theory is in accordance with these narratives. The aim of this thesis is to assess how well each theorist addresses the issue of transsexual identity. The field of transsexual research is still new and developing, there are many interesting parts of these narratives that can be delved into further. I will conclude by proposing a new trans theoretical view point that would better help one to understand the process of female-to-male transition. What one should take away from this thesis is that despite differences in sex and gender formation, these people are, like the rest of the world, trying to create an identity that they not only feel comfortable with as a representation of themselves, but also one that they can be proud of.