Are experiences with migration affecting culturally specific gendered practices, roles, attitudes, and ideologies of Mexican women and men? Which experiences reinforce patriarchy? Which experiences transform patriarchy? This thesis proposes that Mexican immigrant women will subscribe to and enact different gendered behaviors depending upon their perception of gendered gains. Various factors, such as time of arrival, previous experiences with negative machismos, and workforce participation affect how they construct gendered identities. The context where bargaining occurs-whether itwas the home, the community, or the workplace - inform women of what strategies they need implement in order to negotiate with patriarchy. This study employs two models, Deniz Kandiyoti's concept of the patriarchal bargain and Sylvya Walby' s theoretical position of patriarchy fomenting unique gender inequalities within different contexts, to process the different ways Mexican immigrant women perceive and perform gender. The author analyzed data collected from participant observation activities, focus groups, and interviews with women of Mexican descent living in new immigrant destinations. Mexican immigrant women's narratives of negotiations and transformations with male partners indicated equal adherence of traditional and nontraditional gendered behaviors in order to build satisfactory patriarchal bargains. In addition, data suggested that identity formation was the outcome of migratory influences; it also indicated that progressive ideas about gender were salient before migrating to the U.S .. Findings also suggested that reassured masculine identities, due to the stable work options open to Mexican immigrant males in this area, became a factor in the emergence and adherence of distinct gendered attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions by women in this study.

Purpose: Prenatal care (PNC) is the healthcare service most often provided to women of childbearing age throughout the world. Poorly understood and defined, based on culture, and expensive for any healthcare system, PNC remains a target for change and improvement. The purpose of this cross-national qualitative research study using narrative inquiry methods was to explore consumer perspectives of individual health and routine PNC in the USA and Iceland. Methods: A purposive sampling technique was used to identify study participants (n = 32) from the United States (n = 16) and Iceland (n = 16). Data were collected via a semi structured interview which included demographic questions. Results: Content analysis processes were used to analyze the transcribed narratives to identify common conceptual themes. Subsequently, the narratives of the women from the two nations were compared to identify cultural variations about PNC. In respect to the findings, demographically the two groups were similar. Respondents from both nations preferred a more supportive role from PNC providers with adequate time to explore important personal concerns and less emphasis on monitoring weight gain during the pregnancy. Variations between the two groups related to the health care delivery system iv of the nation in which respondents resided. These findings have the potential for expanding the definition of PNC to include consumer perspectives. Discussion/Implication: Additional research is needed with other groups of women to validate, clarify and expand identified themes, as they may improve PNC, and ultimately, perinatal outcomes. Improving PNC holds the promise of improving infant mortality while at the same time reducing healthcare expenditures for countries around the world.

Abused women are frequent users of health care services. Yet, battered women often do not identify the health care delivery system as a resource. The present study surveyed 155 female associate and baccalaureate degree nursing students from three mid-Atlantic universities in order to examine how selected personal and relationship variables affected their attitudes toward battered women. It was hypothesized that those students who had an early exposure to family violence combined with high levels of egalitarianism and perceived control over life events would be more sympathetic toward battered women than those who did not. Instruments used to measure the chosen variables included the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale, the Conflict Tactics Scale, the Family Violence Scale, the Perceived Control Scale, and the Inventory of Beliefs about Wife-Beating. Data were collected via anonymous self-report questionnaires and analyzed through the use of correlation and hierarchical regression procedures. Nursing students with more egalitarian sex role beliefs and perception of control over their life events were more sympathetic to battered wives than those students with more traditional sex role attitudes and less perceived control over their life. Sex role egalitarianism was found to be the best predictor of attitudes toward victims of domestic violence. Contrary to expectations, there appeared to be little relationship between the level of violence experienced by students in their families of origin or in their current relationships and sympathy for battered wives. Findings from this study will add to the current nursing knowledge base regarding attitudes of one group of health care professionals toward victims of domestic violence by exploring those attitudes and by identifying which of the chosen variables was most predictive of those attitudes. Implications for nursing education include an examination of the impact of gender issues on personal and professional behavior as well as the importance of empowering nursing students through the use of a competency based practice model. / Ed. D.

No description available.

This study developed and tested a model of midlife women's attainments, commitments and satisfactions under differing conditions of marriage and parenthood. The model proposed that life satisfaction for women is a function of three sets of influences: (1) adult status attainments, (2) home and work commitments, and (3) home and work satisfactions. These three sets of influences, in turn, are a function of three predetermined and correlated conditions: (1) health, (2) early childhood status and (3) educational attainment. The model was developed using data from a cohort of midlife women drawn from the National Survey of Families and Households. The model was then tested on subsamples from that cohort using LISREL 7. Tests of the model revealed both similarities and differences in the processes of attainment of life satisfaction for all midlife women, for those with and without husbands, and for those with and without children. In tests of the individual models, health and satisfaction with one's role at home were the primary factors influencing life satisfaction for women. Work commitment was also a significant, and negative, predictor. Tests of the model across stacked groups, however, failed to clarify specific structural differences due to marital or parental status. For women with and without husbands, differences in both the measurement and structural models across the groups were found to be statistically insignificant. For women with and without children, however, cross-group comparisons revealed significant differences in the measurement and structural models. Because of measurement differences, however, even statistically significant structural differences could not be considered meaningful estimates of variance in patterns of influence across the groups. This study provides only a beginning toward understanding the complex relations among midlife women's attainments, commitments and satisfactions. The proposed model fits the data better for women with husbands and for women without children than for other individually or jointly tested samples. Family formation appears to influence the process of attainments, commitments and satisfactions, but additional research is needed to continue to unravel the complexities of interrelationship. Yet, preliminary conclusions remind counselors and policymakers that traditional conceptions of status attainments are not the only considerations for career or life planning for women. / Ph. D.

This study investigated the economic returns from higher education for re-entry women. Re-entry women are continually concerned with whether or not returning to college and acquiring a degree will result in increased earnings. While sufficient evidence exists to show that earnings increase as years of education increase, this study concluded that this may not hold true for re-entry women. As a result of prior work experience, these women may have relatively high earnings among the occupations that do not require college degrees only to acquire entry-level positions upon completion of the college degree. There may be little or no difference between the salaries of these two work levels. This study was directed by the major research question -- "Does the age at the time females obtain four-year degrees affect their subsequent earnings?" and used path analysis to test a model of the direct and indirect effects of age at the time the degree is received on earnings while holding constant the effects of other variables. These analyses included and accounted for labor market, human capital and socioeconomic variables, prior earnings, race, prior work experience, college major and occupation, all of which may affect earnings. The findings did not support the null hypothesis that earnings for re-entry women will increase after the receipt of the college degree. The findings also indicated that earnings before the degree had a significant effect on earnings after the degree. / Ph. D.

Female camp followers throughout history have followed troops into the field fulfilling supply and labor needs which the military structure could not. This pattern began to change during the American Revolution as governments and military commanders tightened their control on the military. Emerging army patterns and new attitudes concerning women acted to discourage the informal reliance on women and to encourage a more formal and controllable reliance on military units. By examining women with regular army groups, a stronger understanding of these women's lives and choices becomes possible. This study examines the number of women involved, the reasons they chose to follow military troops, the life they found with the military, and military commanders' attempts to control women and their behavior. Between five thousand and twenty thousand women traveled with military forces during the Revolution for reasons of economic need, a sense of duty, and love. They cleaned, cooked, nursed, and helped in gun crews for occasional pay, rations, and the chance to stay with their husbands, sons, and male friends. Disease, childbirth complications, and violence within and outside camp claimed their lives. Meanwhile, military leaders issued orders against straggling, riding the wagons, looting, and the illegal sale of alcohol in an effort to control the women's behavior. Such efforts only achieved intermittent success. / Master of Arts

A quantitative study that examines American Muslim women's level of exposure to domestic violence, resources available to them, and the effect of domestic violence on their psychological well-being. Data was collected from 128 Muslim women from the Islamic Center of Riverside in Southern California. The key finding of the study was a significant positive relationship between depression and the use of verbal aggression. In addition, a positive relationship was found to exist between anxiety, depression and the use of violence.

In the present project racial differences in female achievement motivation and motivation to work were examined, and related this information to the theory that African American females, when compared to White females, are less likely to marry someone equal to themselves in the areas of education, employment, and earning potential because of an assumed shortage of suitable African-American males. It was hypothesized that African-American females would score higher on assessments of achievement motivation and motivation to work, and rate lower the likelihood of meeting and marrying a partner equal in education level, employment level, and earning potential than would White females. Data analysis supported all hypotheses. The results were discussed in the context of the female achievement motivation literature as well as the literature concerning female motivation to work.

This study first summarizes extant empirical research concerning role depiction of women in television. Analysis of these studies show television's portrayal of women as discriminatory. Second, this study reports results of an original survey of women's organizations to determine what stands and actions had been taken concerning (1) role depiction and (2) employment of women by the television industry. Out of ninety-two organizations surveyed, fifty-one (55 percent) returned useable questionnaires. Responding groups fell into nine categories, with political and educational organizations most active. National Organization for Women was particularly active. Responding groups most often used "citizen action" and "informational actions" to achieve goals.