The purpose of this study was to develop a questionnaire designed to obtain valid and reliable information which might contribute to an explanation as to why some Re-entry women make successful transitions from home to work while others do not. The questionnaire development entailed three phases, each building on the results of the previous phase. In the first phase, Re-entry project coordinators in British Columbia were surveyed to determine what variables gleaned from the literature they felt were most important to the transition process. The second phase involved generating questionnaire items for the variables resulting from the literature and validating the items by a panel of expert judges. The questionnaire was constructed of the resulting items. In the third phase empirical validation of the questionnaire was determined by the responses of 106 Re-entry women who were administered the questionnaire in the last quarter of their training program. Item and factor analyses were conducted on the responses and discriminant function analysis was employed to determine which variables distinguished between those women who made successful transitions and those who did not. Five main factors - a) attitude regarding appropriate job in the current labour market; b) marital status; c) self-esteem; d) educational attainment and e) support from mate were found to distinguish with a 7 6.4% accuracy rate, between women who made a transition within 56 days of completing their training program and those who did not. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

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In this research practicum we were concerned with the measurement and implications of factors which influence the meaning of work for white American women. The present study was a pilot study for the second part of a research project proposed by the Human Interaction Research Institute (H.I.R.I.). John Marks, Ph.D., was co-director of the first part of the project and is the director of this study. Part I of the "Meaning of Work" project examined alternative life styles and corresponding career choices made by young men. This study identified values, aspirations, backgrounds, and characteristics of men who were grouped as "hippies", "surfers", "bikers", and "straights". Part II of the project will investigate the factors which influence the choices women make in working outside or inside the home, or in not working. The second part of the research plan will closely parallel the procedures and plans of the first part, "The Meaning of Work for Men". Included in the second part will be the personal and situational factors which determine women's choices of employment or homemaking careers or of non-employment. There were three objectives for this pilot study: (1) to develop instruments (an appropriate interview form and a corresponding data sheet for analysis purposes), (2) to generate hypotheses in relation to the unique meanings which work holds for American women, and (3) to develop instructions and standards for the persons employing the interview and data forms. It was anticipated that products of this pilot study would be utilized in the formal study. This report will include the following areas: (1) the review of pertinent literature, (2) the method, including the development of instruments, the trial interviews, and their analyses, (3) the results of the coding of the interviewed responses, (4) the proposed hypotheses, and (5) the discussion of our analysis of the instruments and process.

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The problem under investigation within this thesis is to determine whether dilemmas and contradictions of status exist for females in male dominated occupations, and to some extent, for males in female dominated occupations. Everett C. Hughes first conceptualized the problem in "Dilemmas and Contradictions of Status". (1945) Professor Hughes maintained that statuses tend to develop auxiliary characteristics which come to be expected of it's incumbents. When these auxiliary characteristics are not exhibited, dilemmas and contradictions of status may occur. The review of the literature explored the implications of Hughes' article. In reviewing the historical development of status dilemmas and contradictions such authors as Georg Simmel, Robert E. Park, Robert Merton and Elinor Barber are perused. In reviewing the contemporary supportive literature, key authors include Jessie Bernard, Cynthia F. Epstein, Gerhard Lenski and David Knoke. In operationalizing status dilemmas, the symbolic interactionist approach and the cultural soliloquy technique are utilized. Male and female professors at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University expressed dilemmas that they encounter in interacting with colleagues of the opposite sex. In operationalizing status contradictions, the structural functionalist approach and the survey technique are utilized. Students in introductory sociology classes are surveyed. It is found that status contradictions exist for females in male dominated occupations and for males in female dominated occupations. It is concluded that status contradictions exist in the status structure. When individuals, in interaction situations, internalize the contradiction and act with uncertainty, then status dilemmas occur. / Master of Science

This thesis examines the effects of marriage and childbirth on industrial sector location of women in a longitudinal analysis, using the National Longitudinal survey of Labor Market Experience, Young Women File for years 1968 to 1975. Contrary to theoretical assumptions, women, regardless of marital or parental status are found in the same proportions in the monopoly and competitive sectors. Although marriage and childbirth appear not to have any effects on the labor market segmentation of women, the labor markets are remarkably stable. Suggestions for future research and an assessment of labor market segmentation theory are given. / Master of Science