When the Baltic States declared their independence in 1991, they did not become equal members of the international community in one day. Although the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union declared the end to the Cold War, ideas, beliefs, prejudices and discourses were much harder to trigger. The study addresses the issues of newly independent states, establishing themselves in the international community, analysing the processes of learning in the interaction with the other international actors. By combining Role theory and Constructivism the author develops a framework to understand the development and change of Baltic States role conceptions. How have Baltic states perceived their role in the Baltic Sea region during the period 1993-2002? How has the western discourse treated them? What role did the application for the EU membership play in the process? What have been the individual and group features of the Baltic States? The study attempts to answer these and other questions through thediscourse analysis of public speeches.

With the transformation of economic development and change of social structure, Taiwan is now facing the problem of M-social trend, the gap between the rich and poor. Disadvantaged minorities hence rely on social welfare polity to maintain basic needs for daily life. Village secretary¡¦s duty includes various tasks. The study, from the perspective of social assistance, explores the role function of village secretary on social assistance. Village secretary¡¦s role as social assistance has received much attention for that they should not only passively serve public, but also proactively uncover assist-required cases. In this study, Cijin District of Kaohsiung City is taken as subject for exploration. Cijin District has specific geography and environmental condition, such as inconvenient traffic and residents¡¦ living rely on ocean. It is also the district with the lowest income and highest rate of foreign spouse in Kaohsiung, hence require more social welfare then any other districts. The purpose of the study is to investigate the administrative behavior that promote social assistance from policy and implement perspectives. Issues such as factors that affect village secretary¡¦s qualification examination procedures and discovery of social assistance examination systems are also discussed as reference for further policy implementation. The research method of the study includes system research, literature review and focus group. At the end, it is suggested that secretary function to be strengthened and concrete solution to be proposed as the reference for government to examine social assistance welfare policy, so that disadvantage minorities¡¦ actual need could be fulfilled.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Christy D. Craft / The purpose of this study was to explore how one woman negotiated an educational and professional path that led to leadership within the advertising industry’s creative departments, where most of the leadership positions are held by men. This qualitative study was conducted using purposeful sampling, as the single participant represented a truly unique situation in that she held the title of Executive Creative Director at a top advertising agency by the age of 33. Through The 3% Movement, it was identified that less than 12% of advertising’s creative directors are women (2017), and it was this stark gender gap that served as the impetus for exploring this woman’s experiences. A case study design was used to explore her experiences throughout childhood, higher education, professional school, and finally as a professional, in order to understand her path in a deep and meaningful manner. The theoretical framework for this study was based on a feminist perspective using social role theory (Eagly, 1997). A participant-created childhood timeline, three in-depth interviews, two writing responses, and a photo and object elicitation session served as the primary sources of data. The data were analyzed and coded using in-vivo and descriptive coding, as well as pattern-finding, over two cycles of coding and analysis (Saldaña, 2016). The data were used to answer the study’s two overarching research questions, and the following three themes were identified: 1) the power of a woman’s influence; 2) developing passion for leadership and creativity; and 3) promoting a strong work-life balance. The findings indicate that women must have support systems in place in order to successfully manage life as mothers and creative directors. Recognizing one’s own leadership and creative skills, and constantly working to provide the best team environment, were also recognized as key to moving forward in leadership positions within advertising’s creative departments. Agencies must establish policies and procedures to support both men and women as they manage a work-life balance, and it is even more important for leaders to set a positive example for those working around them. Finally, educating everyone holding authority within creative departments about the gender gap can increase awareness and provide the knowledge needed to support women. The findings of this study have implications for a variety of entities impacting women and their creative careers, from faculty and those involved with co-curricular activities in both high school and in higher education, those pursuing post-graduate advertising portfolio school, and those creative directors and agencies that do not reflect the goals of The 3% Movement in reducing the gender gap. Recommendations for future research include additional case studies exploring women creative directors and their paths to leadership, analyses of agencies’ policies and procedures impacting women, promotional processes of advertising’s creative departments, and further cross-case analyses of both women creative directors and various agencies representing different stages of diversity within the creative departments.

No description available.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology / Fred O. Bradley / Statistics published in 2003 indicate that over 67% of community college students are first-generation students, students from families where neither parent has graduated from college. First-generation students are disproportionately represented among those who terminate college prior to graduation. This study explores role theory as a model for understanding and addressing the problems of first-generation students. Survey questions linked to role commitment involving intentions to work, commute and participate in campus activities were administered to 257 first-time full-time students: 182 students were first-generation and 75 were non-first-generation. Analysis using the Mann-Whitney U Test indicated first-generation students had significantly less commitment to the role of student. Later, first-generation students were divided into "successful" and "unsuccessful" groups based on their two semester grade point average. The Mann-Whitney U Test failed to demonstrate a significant difference between "successful" and "unsuccessful" first-generation students. The ordinal score responses of first-generation students to the three survey questions were then used as categories and grade point averages of the students in those categories were compared using ANOVA procedures. The results were mixed but suggested further investigation was warranted. The study was concluded with interviews of ten "successful" first-generation students. The interview results were supportive of conclusions drawn from role theory underscoring the value of further studies with larger sample sizes and modifications in methodology suggested by this study.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / BACKGROUND: Global female workforce participation has increased rapidly over the past few decades, and the majority of marriages are now dual-earning. Marriages were therefore expected to shift from traditional to egalitarian, where household tasks are shared equally between spouses. However, decades later, the majority of marriages are still found to be in a transitional phase, where women are employed outside of the home, but maintain responsibility for the majority of domestic tasks and childcare. The transitional marriage holds a number of complications for spouses, as gender roles are no longer clearly defined and more difficult to negotiate. Married women are under particular strain as they now have to balance both the work and family roles. OBJECT: The aim of the present study is to gain a better understanding of how women in transitional marriages experience and make meaning of the roles that they fulfil. Minimal research has been devoted to this issue, and the literature largely focuses on marriages at the traditional or egalitarian ends of the gender role spectrum. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight women in transitional marriages, with children living at home. The data were examined using thematic analysis. RESULTS: The results indicated that the majority of participants worked out of economic necessity as opposed to choice, and that half of the participants earned more than their spouses. Most participants still harboured traditional gender beliefs even though their external circumstances had changed. This discrepancy seemed to cause significant internal and marital conflict, yet the attainment of more egalitarian beliefs seemed difficult to attain owing to feelings of guilt and a perceived threat of identity loss. Consequently, the majority of participants had difficulty relinquishing control over several household tasks. Furthermore, demanding work hours, the lack of family-friendly policies at work, and cultural factors also played a role in the maintenance of traditional beliefs by participants CONCLUSIONS: Much research still needs to be conducted to gain a more thorough understanding of changing gender roles in society, as well as to inform new workforce legislation that could enhance the lives of families. Lastly, as most studies focus on the experiences of women regarding the division of labour (probably because of the significant adaptations that have occurred in women’s roles), it becomes necessary to gain an understanding of the experiences of men as well, particularly if research is going to be utilised for the benefit of the whole family. As became evident, unequal division of tasks is often maintained by women for several reasons, and is no longer necessarily the result of oppression by men, as much of the literature suggests.

This study investigated how followers' personality and self-identity moderated their leader's ability to influence organizational outcomes through management of role stressors experienced by the follower. Data was obtained through large group testing, sample size equaled 232, with performance measures being provided by supervisors (43% return rate). Results demonstrated that while Leader Member Exchange (LMX) had a linear relationship with role ambiguity and role conflict, it had a curvilinear relationship with role overload. Thus providing evidence that under certain conditions leadership can lead to negative outcomes. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that LMX indirectly influences both affective and cognitive variables through role stressors. No evidence was found to suggest that personality moderates the relationship between LMX and role stressors. This study demonstrates the need for further research into the complexities of LMX. Practical recommendations were put forth emphasizing the importance of developing high quality LMX relationships.

Background: In family firms, succession is a critical and complex issue and may determine the business continuity. The succession process often involves a transfer of leadership from one generation to another. Despite acknowledging that gender may affect succession, there is little available research investigating the role of gender in family business succession.  Purpose: This study aims to understand and explore the role of gender in the succession process and the successor selection. Furthermore, the study aims to contribute to the extant research on gender within the succession process by providing an in-depth study on succession and gender issues in small to medium sized family firms.  Method: This study is guided by a relativist and constructivist research philosophy. The qualitative study utilises an interview study strategy and is influenced by an inductive approach. Empirical data was gathered through eight in-depth semi-structured interviews with both successors and predecessors. The empirical findings were analysed using a thematic analysis approach.  Conclusion: The findings show that gender shapes and influences perceptions and ideas regarding successors and succession. Thus, gender and gender stereotypes may affect successors assumptions of succession. The study finds that not just predecessors or the family affect perceptions of gender in succession. It is found that gender and gender stereotypes in the society and within the industries may also affect assumptions of succession and successor selection. Despite this, these stereotypes and perceptions do not seem to manifest in the choices or decisions one make regarding successor selection or the succession process in general.

Sexism är en form av diskriminering av en individ baserat på individens kön. Teorin om ambivalent sexism beskriver de två beståndsdelarna fientlig och välvillig sexism. Tidigare kvantitativa metoder och designer har begränsat individers möjligheter att utförligt beskriva attityder och uppfattningar av välvillig sexism. Syftet med denna studie var att belysa individers attityd och uppfattningar av välvillig sexistiskt tankesätt. Totalt 10 deltagare intervjuades om deras uppfattningar och inställning till 2 profiler varav en porträtterar välvillig sexism. Genom en kvalitativ tematisk analys med hermeneutisk ansats utformades 4 teman och 1 underteman. Resultatet visade att välvilligt sexistiskt tankesätt uppfattades som kontrollerande, emotionellt instabilt, dysfunktionellt och med gömda avsikter. Studiens resultat stödjer inte tidigare forskning när det kommer till positiva attityder och förhållningsätt till välvillig sexism. Däremot kompletterar resultatet tidigare kvantitativ forskning med nya data om individers negativa syn på välvillig sexism. Framtida studier inom ämnet skulle kunna utformas med mer fokus på enskilda grupper med andra sexuella läggningar.

This thesis contends that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine served as a turning point, signifying a critical juncture in geopolitical dynamics, heightening the pressure on the Central Asian states Kazakhstan's and Kyrgyzstan's relationship with Russia. It investigates how the dynamics in the relationship since this critical juncture have evolved. As such, this thesis is an illustrative case of Russia's relationship and claims on former Soviet republics. This thesis builds on the discourse of the interplay between structure and agency in foreign policy analysis. However, this thesis moves beyond conventional static theories on states' foreign policy by employing role theory as a conduit between agency and structure. By incorporating Opperman's (2024) understanding of altercasting mechanisms combined with theories on the behaviour of small states, this thesis presents a contextualised perspective on different patterns in the role-play between different types of states following a critical juncture. The findings reveal an intensified Russian determination to maintain its leadership position vis-à-vis Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Furthermore, the results support Guimarães and Maitino's (2019) proposition that secondary states primarily engage in re-altercasting using cues related to their status. However, the divergent outcomes in Kazakhstan's and Kyrgyzstan's role-play with Russia suggest that agency efforts are contingent on the actors' perceived position in the regional structure and the strength of their status position's interconnection with the regional leaders. This underscores the need for further research to understand and identify the critical points at which post-Soviet states can enact agency to change Russian-imposed role expectations.