No description available.

Women account for half of a country’s potential talent base and numerous studies have shown that women’s participation in the workplace provides the nation with considerable competitiveness. Yet, despite an increasing breadth of educational and work opportunities, research has shown that women are more unhappy than they were in the 1970s. Some women, however, have made the successful and determined effort to seek fulfillment by voluntarily leaving an organization, pursuing their personal vision, and transitioning to their desired reality. This qualitative case study explored how 24 college-educated women learned to recreate their careers and find personal fulfillment. The purpose of this study was to understand how some women voluntarily left secured positions and how they applied the concept of a personal vision to transition to what was for them, a new desired reality. Personal vision is defined by Boyatzis et al. (2019) as an expression of an individual’s ideal self, expressing someone’s aspirations, dreams, and ambitions. The sample was a purposeful one. The primary method of data collection was participant semi-structured interviews. The second source of data was a group of six women with a personal vision who had not yet made the transition to their desired reality. The third source of data was document review, including CVs, LinkedIn, and social media accounts for cross-reference checking. The data was initially coded by research questions and the findings were coded by behavioral categories derived from the Conceptual Framework. Four conclusions emerged from the analysis. These include confirmation that women need to be motivated in order to achieve personal fulfillment, personal issues must be reconciled before women can begin their transition from an established situation to their desired reality, informal learning methods are key in helping women make their transition, and transitioning to a desired reality is unlikely without the support from others. Several recommendations for future research as well as recommendations for individuals, coaches, HR Practitioners and women’s networks and organizations are offered.

Bibliography: pages 201-215. / This study provides a feminist perspective on aspects of change in white women's lives in South Africa between 1960 and 1990. Changing patterns of women's work, where work encompasses unpaid domestic labour as well as paid employment outside the home, are traced. The different ways in which women have combined their socially defined obligations as wives and mothers, as employees or employers, are considered. The primary sources used include open-ended interviews with women, magazines and the publications of women's organisations. The period 1960-1973 was one in which most white women left the paid labour force after marrying. Towards the end of the period, in the context of a booming economy and a perceived shortage of skilled white labour, more white wives were remaining in employment after marriage. The media, women's organisations, the state, big business and white male workers were addressing, in different ways, the conflict between white wives entering paid employment and the necessity to protect traditional values whereby 'good' wives stayed at home. 1974-1984 saw large and increasing numbers of white wives taking up paid work, both part-time and full-time. The period saw employed wives becoming increasingly commonplace, while the range of occupations open to them expanded. Observing that most remained in the lower levels of corporate hierarchies, women's organisations focused on eliminating the 'glass ceilings' said to block women's entry to higher paid positions. By 1985-1990, women were encouraged to be ambitious, assertive and to strive for self-fulfilment through their careers. The conflict of trying to achieve in the male dominated business world, combined with a sexual division of labour that persisted in defining the home and the family as women's work, saw many women leave the work place to start up home-based businesses.

Female labor and commuting behavior has been inappropriately approached by traditional economic and location theories. While labor economists assume that commuting is a "fixed" element of the cost-of-entrance, they ignore the spatial variation in wage rate or job opportunities. Urban economists, on the other hand, treat the variation in commuting distance as a function of household housing consumption, and a "fixed" amount of labor supply is assumed. Both assumptions are unrealistic, especially in the case of females. The major contention raised in this study is that labor supply and commuting behavior are interrelated decisions. This "simultaneity" relationship should be captured by any model studying either labor or commuting behavior. In the case of female household members, time as a scarce resource must be allocated more efficiently since women are traditionally assigned housework responsibility--be they housewives or working women. A simultaneous-equation model has been specified to simulate the household decision of appropriating its (economic and human) resources among female income-earning activities--i.e., market labor supply and commuting--and housework. Time is adopted as the measurement unit of the three endogenous variables. Demographic and environmental variables are included in order to obtain the most efficient estimation and to link the results of this research to other economic and sociological studies. A two-stage Tobit and OLS estimation procedure is employed, according to the characteristics of the data, to avoid the selection bias problem (Tobin, 1958; Killingsworth, 1983). The results derived give (empirical) support to the theoretical argument that the relationship between commuting and labor supply is not a single-direction one, suggesting that the estimation of the traditional single-equation model may well be subject to serious specification bias. The theoretical and empirical inferences provided by this study contribute to a better understanding of how a household perceives its female members' domestic service and income-earning activity. Also, theoretically, the estimation can be used to give a more precise measure of the local (potential) labor pool and a more precise prediction of the amount of (female) commuters using certain routes. All these contributions have significance with respect to the firm's location decision and production planning, and the planning for the provisions of other public services.

This study attempted to obtain evidence on the construct validity of the Women Workers Scale (WWS), an attitude scale developed to measure male supervisors' attitudes toward women workers. As women enter the work world in increasing numbers, they are usually supervised by men. However, few studies have examined the attitudes of male supervisors toward women workers. At least one author (Bass, 1972) reported that there were significant differences among male managers in their attitudes toward women. Specifically, those male managers who had not worked with women held more favorable attitudes than male managers who had worked with women.

This thesis examines the effect of women's labor force participation on marital instability. It is hypothesized that women's income-earning affects marriage in two ways: 1) the "independence effect" facilitates divorce by enabling women to be self-supporting; 2) the "parallel marriage effect" improves marital satisfaction and the quality of the marital relationship because women with higher incomes generally have more power in marriage. The "independence effect" is measured by whether or not women's income is sufficient, defined as income above the poverty line for the appropriate family size as established by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Parallel marriage" is measured by the wife-husband income ratio. Both women's own income level and wife-husband income ratio are taken two years prior to her divorce.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Refugee women face several health and well-being risks in conflict settings. Intimate partner violence (IPV), military violence, poor sexual and reproductive health (SRH), early marriage, and unemployment are some of the competing challenges that refugee women face globally. IPV has been associated with mental health problems,1–3 unwanted pregnancy, pregnancy complications, STIs, and unsafe abortion practices,4 HIV,5–8 long term disabilities, chronic pain, and increased mortality and morbidity in refugee settings.9–12 Likewise, low, inconsistent, and ineffective use of modern spacing methods (MSM) of contraceptive has been linked to unplanned pregnancies, risk of abortions and unsafe abortions, maternal, infant and child morbidity and mortality, human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV), sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and obstetric complications as well as high fertility and poverty. Similarly, low economic engagement and/or unemployment of refugee women has proven to cause significant social, economic and health cost.13 Refugee women’s health and well-being are associated with individual, interpersonal, and societal level factors such as their age, education, social norms around fertility, household size, and age at marriage, contraceptive use, decision-making agency, socio-economic conditions, access to and affordability of health services and care, and acculturation in host countries among other factors. This dissertation examines how some of these multi-level factors influence women’s IPV experiences, contraceptive use, and economic engagement in income-generating activities. The first dissertation paper examines the prevalence of lifetime IPV among a sample of 191 health-care seeking women refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia. Using Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological framework and integrated theory of gender and power, I examine multilevel factors associated with lifetime IPV. I also examine the relationship between contraceptive use and lifetime IPV. About one-third (28.30 %) of refugee women reported having experienced lifetime IPV. My hypotheses were partially supported in this study. There were significant associations between marital status, household size, contraceptive use, and food insecurity and lifetime IPV experiences in the bivariate analysis. Age, education, gender-based violence, time spent in Malaysia, and clinic were women were recruited from were not significant in the bivariate analysis. There were no associations between socio-demographic variables like age, education, household size, time spent in Malaysia and the clinic in the unadjusted as well as adjusted models. However, there were significant relationships found between marital status, contraceptive use, and food insecurity and lifetime IPV experiences in the adjusted model. Widowed, separated, and divorced refugee women were significantly more likely to report lifetime IPV experiences relative to women who reported themselves as married at time of survey [OR: 2.56, 95% CI: 1.09, 6.03] compared to women did not report lifetime IPV experience in the adjusted multivariable logistic model, rejecting my hypothesis. Also, in line with my hypothesis, women who reported using permanent methods of contraceptives were significantly more likely to report lifetime IPV experiences than no contraceptive use [0R: 8.70, 95% CI: 1.95, 38.64] compared to women who did not report lifetime IPV experiences in the adjusted multivariable logistic model. In line with my hypothesis, women who reported themselves as being food insecure were more likely to report lifetime IPV experiences than no food insecurity [OR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.18, 0.89] compared to women who did not report lifetime IPV experiences in the adjusted multivariable logistic model. The second dissertation paper examines the prevalence of types of MSM of contraceptive use (female controlled MSM of contraceptives such as intrauterine devices (IUDs), implants, injectables, oral contraceptives (OC); male involved MSM of contraceptives such as condoms; and no contraceptives) among a sample of 307 married Syrian refugee women in Jordan. Using Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological framework and integrated theory of gender and power, I examine multilevel factors associated with MSM of contraceptive use. I also examine the relationship between early marriage and contraceptive use and the relationship between past-year IPV and contraceptive use. About two-fifth (38.44%) of women reported using female controlled MSM (IUDs, injectables, pills, and implants), a little more than one-tenth (11.73%) reported using male involved contraceptives (male condoms), and half of them (49.84%) reported using no contraceptives (includes natural methods and no forms of contraceptive methods). My hypotheses were partially supported in this study. Socio-demographic variables such as age, head of household, and reproductive health care services received in the past six months were significant in the bivariate association between socio-demographic variables and types of MSM of contraceptive use. And early marriage, education, children under the age of five, past-year IPV experience, Syrian governorate, and time in Jordan (acculturation) were not significant in the bivariate analysis. Women who were married prior to the age of 18 years were significantly more likely to report female controlled MSM of contraceptive use than no MSM of contraceptive use at time of survey [RRR: 1.83, 95% CI: 1.07, 3.13] compared to women who were married past 18 years of age in the adjusted multinomial logistic model. Women with children under the age of five were less likely to report male involved MSM of contraceptive use than no MSM of contraceptive use [RRR: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.12, 0.84] compared to women with children older than five years of age in the adjusted multinomial logistic model. Women who reported reproductive health care services received in the past six months were significantly more likely to report female controlled MSM of contraceptive use than no MSM of contraceptive use [RRR: 2.21, 95% CI: 1.98, 3.80] compared to women who reported not receiving reproductive health care services in the past six months in the adjusted multinomial logistic model. Contrary to my hypothesis, women who reported themselves as head of household were less likely to report female controlled MSM of contraceptive use than no MSM of contraceptive use [RRR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.18, 0.89] compared to women who reported their husbands or family members as head of households in the adjusted multinomial logistic model. No associations between socio-demographic variables like age, education, past-year IPV, Syrian governorate, time spent in Jordan and MSM of contraceptive use in the adjusted multinomial logistic regression model were found. The third dissertation paper examines the prevalence of husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity among a sample of 344 married Syrian refugee women living in non-camp settings in Jordan. Using Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological framework and integrated theory of gender and power, I examine multilevel factors associated with husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity. I also examine the association between no lifetime IPV and husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity and the association between head of the households and husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity. I further examine if the relationship between no lifetime IPV and husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity is moderated by women’s agency measured by if they reported themselves as head of the household. About one-third (65.12 %) of women reported husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity. My hypothesis was partially supported in bivariate and multivariable logistical regression analysis. Age, education, previous work experience, head of the household, no lifetime IPV, and time in Jordan were significant in the bivariate analysis between multi-level/socio-demographic variables and husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity. Of the less than half (44.77%) of women who did not experience lifetime IPV, more than one-third (70.8 %) of women reported husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity relative to those who reported lifetime IPV experience (70.78 % versus 29.22 %; P=0.05). Of the more than one-fifth (22.97 %) of women who reported themselves as head of household, more than four-fifth (83.54 %) of women reported husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity relative to those who did not report themselves as head of the households (83.54 % versus 16.46 %; P=0.000). In line with my hypothesis, in unadjusted (OR=1.58 95% confidence interval, CI=1.00-2.48) and adjusted (aOR=1.60, 95% CI=0.98-2.563) models, not experiencing lifetime IPV were associated with increased odds of husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity. Similarly, in both the unadjusted (OR=3.44 95% confidence interval, CI=1.80-6.54) and adjusted (aOR=2.65, 95% CI=1.33-5.29) models, women who reported themselves as head of the households were associated with increased odds of husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity, supporting my hypothesis. Likewise, in both the unadjusted (OR=7.97 95% confidence interval, CI=2.40-26.40) and adjusted (aOR=5.82, 95% CI=1.66-20.40) models, women who reported no IPV experiences as well as who reported themselves as head of the households were associated with increased odds of husbands’ no opposition to wives’ economic activity relative to women who reported lifetime IPV experiences and who did not report themselves as the head of the households, supporting my hypothesis. Age and education were also significant in the adjusted model. These findings affirm that IPV, contraceptive use, and women’s economic engagement are serious health and well-being issues. Results fill in the literature gaps on multilevel factors associated with IPV, contraceptive use, and women’s economic engagement. The first study contributes to the literature on how contraceptive behavior, refugee women’s marital status, and food insecurity, measured as a proxy of poverty influences refugee women’s IPV experiences. The second study contributes to the literature on how marrying at an early age, having children in the households, and receiving reproductive health services influences refugee women’s contraceptive behavior. Third paper contributes to the literature on how refugee women’s lack of IPV experiences and their improved agency/household decision making power influences their economic engagement in the host country. These findings have potential to inform health, sexual and reproductive health, social norms, and economic empowerment interventions. The implications of these findings for social policy, practice, and future research for each paper are discussed in relevant sections as well as in the conclusion section.