As leadership theory continues to develop and change, so do the attempts to enhance experiences for women in higher education. Women face many obstacles, which include lack of role models in student and institutional leaders (Astin & Leland, 1991). Traditionally, institutions offer no specific leadership programs or curricula and pay minimal attention to the leadership development of their students (Cress, Astin, Zimmerman-Oster, & Burkhardt, 2001). This study was a case study with an in-depth analysis of the establishment of a women's leadership education and training program at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. Six students, four administrators, and one intern were interviewed to illustrate the process of the planning of the program, its implementation and current operations, and the complexities involved. Document analysis and observations were utilized as well. The study was focused on the impact of the program on the students and administrators involved in the development of the program during this period. The researcher also described how the Batten Leadership Institute has evolved over the past five years with a focus on how it came into being, what it was like, then and now, and changes that have occurred. The findings are organized by three phases: 1) conceptualization, 2) implementation, and 3) refinement and expansion. The phases are based on a chronological framework and resulting categories and themes emerged. Results indicate the participants' described their leadership skills improved because of their participation and experience in the BLI. The Communication Skills Group and its interpersonal component as well the presence of positive female role-models created the most personal transformation for the student participants. The students' previous ideas and definitions of leadership became more comprehensive. As a result of their personal transformation, their perceptions of the BLI changed from initial uncertainty and hesitation to admiration and support. The program expanded significantly over the first five years. Programmatic challenges have been addressed and many positive changes have occurred. Hollins administrators embraced the BLI and fully supported future expansions within Hollins University and in the Roanoke community. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this research is to examine the ways in which mentoring affects black graduate students' completion of programs of study. Performance is measured by completion of their graduate program, length of time taken to complete the program, grade point average (GPA), and overall attitude about their graduate school experience. On average, over half of all black graduate students leave their programs of study before completion compared to 25% attrition (non-completion of program of study) of white students. A review of the literature suggests that any form of mentoring improves completion rates among black graduate students. Existing research further suggests that when paired with like mentors, such as same race or gender, black graduate students complete their programs at even higher rates. The existing research is, however, limited due to the age of the research and factors such as attrition by discipline. Updated research is needed to determine why, despite being admitted to graduate programs of study at the highest rates in United States history, black students are leaving without graduate degrees more than any other race. Vincent Tinto's theory of social adjustment states that students who are not socially adjusted are less likely to persist (complete their program of study). Because black students are attending Predominately White Institutions (PWFs) at the highest rates since Reconstruction, this research will examine ways in which black graduate students become socially adjusted and how it affects their persistence. The anticipated results of the study are that black graduate students who had mentors completed their programs more often than those who did not have mentors. Additionally, those who had mentors of the same race, gender, or socio-economic backgrounds may report even higher percentages of completion. In contrast, those who did not have mentors may report lower percentages of completion.

Southern Africa must confront a myriad of challenges as it attempts to address effectively the needs and aspirations of its hundred million people, 40 percent of whom live in extreme poverty with per capita incomes ranging from $256 per annum in Zimbabwe to $5099 in Mauritius. The greatest challenge of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) continues to be the need to build a life for its people free from poverty, diseases, human rights abuses, gender inequality and environmental degradation. Gender activists played a lead role in innuencing the development and adoption, on the 17 August 2008. of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. In 2005, they undertook comprehensive regional research on sector-specific gender equality issues and gaps. Following the adoption of the SADC Gender and Development Protocol, gender activists came together between 2005 and 2008 to form cross-border and national alliances to undertake a campaign to inl1uence the content of the Protocol, as well as lobby for its adoption. The adoption of the Gender and Development Protocol is one of the fastest in SADC Protocol history. This study is an evaluation of the SADC Gender and Development Protocol. focusing on gender eq uality, women's empowerment and the reduction of gender based violence in South Africa. The protocol has a direct bearing on all its signatories in both the "developed" and ''developing'' countries within the SADC region. Furthermore, this research focused only on South Africa, one SADC country, in order to evaluate the progress made since the adoption of the Protocol in 2008. The most salient progress has been made with regards to women's representation and participation in state and political governance. Target-setting within the structures of the Protocol greatly contributed to appointment and promotion of women into leadership and decision-making positions. The target of 50% representation of women has already been achieved in Cabinet, the National Assembly, Provincial Premiers, Provincial Council of Provinces and Provincial Legislatures. Policies. strategies and plans have been put in place to address gender based violence. Despite legislative reform, trends continue to indicate that in South Africa there is still a gender division of labour. Fear of gender-based violence on the one hand. and real life experiences of gender-based violence continue to be deterring factors that keep women from progressing and advancing in the workplace, in schools and institutions of learning in business and in governance. / Thesis (M. Soc Sc (International relations) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2013

In the past, rural women were looked upon as being physically weak and were assigned the main role of child-bearing and child-rearing. In recent times, however, there has been recognition that women's roles go beyond the immediate household domestic and reproductive spheres into economically productive public spheres. Women are therefore recognized as agents of development as they play a vital role in society and contribute to socio-economic development. The main aim of this research was to focus on this sphere of life and examine the contribution of women through the case study of the EPWP project in Modimola village, North-West Province of South Africa. A qualitative research approach was used in this study in the form of in-depth interviews with a sample of the women who participated in the project. This was done to establish the role, benefits, and challenges women encountered in the fore-mentioned EPWP project. It was found that women had a very productive and active toile in the project, and contributed positively towards its effectiveness and success. This was however not sustainable largely due to failure by the Department of Public Works' officials to provide continuous leadership, as well as monitoring and evaluation of the project to ensure continuous improvement and sustainability. / Thesis (M.A.(Sociology) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2013

<p> Since the women&rsquo;s liberation movement in the 1970s, the number of women in the American workforce has increased dramatically; however, the percentage of women in the C-Suite&mdash;those who reach the status of chief officer&mdash;remains below 10 percent nationally (Soares et al., 2013). This disparity, sometimes called the &ldquo;glass ceiling,&rdquo; remains, even though many companies have adopted important initiatives to promote women&rsquo;s advancement. Although research has identified a complex set of factors involved in women&rsquo;s achievement of the highest levels of success in contemporary corporate settings, including measurable achievements, such as education, experience, and technical proficiency and intangibles, such as emotional intelligence, leadership styles, and communication skill, a significance difference in women&rsquo;s ability to break through the glass ceiling has still not been made. </p><p> Aimed at bridging that gap, this qualitative study gathers, through personal interviews, the experiences and perspectives of seventeen individuals, both men and women, of different races, cultures, and backgrounds, all of whom have reached the level of chief officer. Respondents were queried about their perception of the factors necessary to reach the C-Suite, as well as any factors required especially for women to arrive at that destination. The data gathered in the interviews included the subjects&rsquo; experiences from the process of their own advancement to the C-Suite and their observations of others&rsquo; experiences. The data were coded and analyzed according to recurring themes and patterns in the interviewees&rsquo; answers. The results point to a complex, nuanced, dynamic set of factors in the life of an otherwise qualified individual. Namely, four (4) such factors play a primary role in propelling aspiring women into the C-Suite: 1) executive traits; 2) preparation; 3) networking; and 4) engaging organizational culture. The findings offer an empowering promise that women can not only identify and gain the tools they need to accomplish their C-Suite goals, but also actively pursue and cultivate these assets in a way that offers success in both life and career. </p>

<p> Current scholarship in food studies generally, and literary food studies in particular, has overlooked important assumptions about the act of eating and its implications for subjectivity, embodiment, and agency. The field has taken up the idea of &ldquo;eating&rdquo; as a natural and universal physical process, immune to discourse. I argue that in so doing, the field has missed important opportunities to examine how our beliefs about what eating is and why are discursively informed. And, further, I argue that the discourses of eating play a role in regulating subjectivity, the material body, and its access to agency. Chapter 1 explores two well-known texts within literary food studies, <i>The Edible Woman</i> and <i>Like Water for Chocolate,</i> and is critical of aspects of each text that have been thus far neglected in the food studies critical conversation. By examining these overlooked pieces, I discuss how the eating discourses in both texts inform the characters&rsquo; subjectivities, their embodiment, and their agency within the novels. Chapter 2 examines two texts infrequently discussed in literary food studies, <i>My Year of Meats</i> and <i>Xenogenesis, </i> in order to illustrate the limits of the field&rsquo;s scholarship so far and to explore how a discursive analysis of eating can provide new insight into how the subject, the body, and its agency can be conceptualized. Chapter 3 looks to contemporary cookery texts for clues about how we talk about eating outside a strictly academic purview and ways that a discursive analysis of the genre can demonstrate how eating shapes our everyday perceptions of subjectivity, embodiment, and agency.</p>

<p> All women, including Christian women, are susceptible to the diet industry&rsquo;s selling of thin bodies as a commodity and media portrayals of thin women as desirable and successful. Overall, diet books are the most popular category of nonfiction, worth over $1.2&nbsp;billion annually as of 2005. Evangelical Christian women believe they are obeying God&rsquo;s will when they follow a Christian diet, but in reality they are subscribing to and perpetuating the prevailing American culture of thinness. The popularity of Christian diet books began in post-World War II America and continues today. They propose to solve the problem of women&rsquo;s dissatisfaction with their bodies by offering diets based on Biblical teachings and Christian beliefs. This paper examines five Christian diet books published between 1957 and 2013: <i> Pray Your Weight Away; First Place; The Weigh Down Diet; What Would Jesus Eat? The Ultimate Program for Eating Well, Feeling Great, and Living Longer; </i> and <i>The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life.</i> As long as the culture of thinness is an integral part of American society, there will be a market for diet books, and among evangelical Christian women for Christian diet books. This phenomenon is pernicious because it damages women&rsquo;s self-assurance and alters their beliefs about the way they appear to the world.</p>

<p> Stories are a form of identification and connection for human beings&mdash;connection to each other, nature, animals, landscapes (both internal and external), and the spiritual world. Whether through oral storytelling, song, the use of art, or the formal writing of literature, stories create a third space, that in-between space, where voice, identity, and place can be discovered. Stories create that third space where women, nature, and those affected by patriarchy, colonization, oppression, discrimination, can find connection and discover a path to a voice and a place. This is an important conversation in literature and this paper pushes the conversation further and explores the in-between, third spaces, found in the literature by diverse women authors. In addition, this thesis includes discussions on third spaces found in the critical, transformative pedagogy and the learning environments in higher education courses that feature diverse women&rsquo;s literature. I argue that educators can embrace a critical, transformative pedagogy that allows students to move beyond sole textual and literary analysis, into third spaces of reader-listeners and reader-storytellers. This pedagogy challenges the boundaries of the western canon meta-narrative and traditional literary analysis methods and moves towards creating a third space that collectively encompasses a multitude of lenses of approaching literature by diverse women authors. I show how this third space in the classroom can prepare students to explore personal narrative, identity, and place as a parallel examination to the study of literature by diverse women authors. My research participants explore ways that educators and students move beyond the traditional textual and literary analysis methods and into a third space of connection and discovering solidarity through differences. Similar to the taproot of a dandelion&mdash;small fibrous roots that branch out laterally seeking connections&mdash;I present taproot thinking as a method of thought that metaphorically illustrates a student&rsquo;s singular focus and willingness to understand situatedness&mdash;place, identity, class, race&mdash;within the study of literature by diverse women authors.</p>

<p> Berthe Morisot was one of the founders of the French Impressionist movement in the nineteenth century. However, she is not researched with the same level of respect as her male Impressionist counterparts. Scholars often rely on her biography to analyze her artwork, compare her to other women artists, or briefly mention her ac-complishments in a generalized history of the French Impressionist movement. I ana-lyzed nine of Morisot&rsquo;s paintings and applied feminist theory, including third-wave feminism (post-1960&rsquo;s). My research was angled to approach and understand Morisot&rsquo;s artwork as a contemporary woman would at an exhibition.</p>

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work