The purpose of the present study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of mothers living in dual-career families. Using existential phenomenology as the guiding research methodology, I interviewed 10 mothers living in dual-career families. Analysis of the interview transcripts revealed four themes that stood out as figural for participants in the study: (a) "Free time isn't really free anymore": Timing is Everthing; (b) "It's because of the support I get": Supporting Me; (c) "I feel like I'm lacking in one area all the time, just a little bit": Struggling to Find a Balance; and (d) "I know how I would do things": Knowing Myself. Each theme stood out against the ground of world, specifically the two worlds of home and work and the struggle that existed in integrating the two. Study findings revealed that the two primary struggles faced by these mothers living in dual-career families were those associated with balancing and time. A limited amount of time necessitated a need to try to balance home and work, a balance that was not easily achieved. Mothers perceived support networks and certain personality characteristics as helpful in balancing the two worlds (although personality characteristics were perceived as disadvantageous at times). Although challenges existed for these mothers, they noted overwhelmingly that they desired to have a career. These mothers saw their careers as one of the primary benefits of the dual-career lifestyle, and it was a lifestyle they willingly chose. Two findings from the study warrant future research. First, supportive others in the community were an integral part of the support network for mothers in the present study, and little empirical literature is dedicated to the impact of this type of support on the dual-career family. Second, participants perceived certain personality characteristics as either advantageous or disadvantageous in helping them navigate the dual-career lifestyle, and little empirical literature is dedicated to denoting the impact of individual personality characteristics on managing the dual-career lifestyle. It would behoove family scholars to be aware of these two unique aspects of the study.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 326-338).

Career indecision is one of the key aspects that professionals in career guidance counselling are interested in assessing. Career indecision, in the context of university students has been defined as the “inability to select a university major or occupation” (Borgen & Hiebert, 2006, p. 58). Thus, with the purpose of addressing career indecision, the proposed study would examine the nature thereof amongst prospective university students. The prevalence of specific aspects of career maturity (namely, self-information, decision-making, career information, integration of self-information and career information, and career planning) underlying career indecision will be investigated, as well as the correlations between these aspects. In addition, the correlations between the aspects of career maturity and certain biographical variables such as gender, home language, declared career choice, differentiation of interests, and self-reported level of career indecision will be examined.

Protean career är en av de nya karriärerna och en ny syn på karriär. Den bygger på att individen själv i hög grad styr över sin karriär och dennes utveckling och baserar denna främst utifrån sina värderingar. För att undersöka förekomsten av Protean career orientation och dennes eventuella samband med kompetensutveckling genomfördes en enkätundersökning på en arbetsplats som resulterade i 134 deltagare. Korrelations- och regressionsberäkningar utfördes på insamlad data. Resultaten visade att det fanns ett samband mellan Protean career orientation och kompetensutveckling och att det förstnämnda var en stark prediktor för kompetensutveckling. Vidare erhölls resultat för att det fanns en måttligt hög grad av Protean career orientation och att det således finns en ny syn på karriär även i Sverige. Det banar väg för vidare forskning angående ämnet och att detta även belyses ur andra perspektiv.

In this paper, Friction Stir Welding(FSW) experiments are conducted using similar and dissimilar metals of 6061-T6 Aluminum alloy, AZ-31 Magnesium alloy, JISC-1100 pure copper as specimens. Thermalcouples of type D are used to measure temperature history at different postions of workpiece duing Fsw. Form the temperature history, the preheating temperature and the tool rotation and tool moving speed can be found for a successful welding process. The experimental results show that the temperature ranges for the tool starting to move after preheating are 250-2500C, 200-2500C and 300-3500C for silimar metals of Al alloy, Mg alloy and pure copper and that for of dissimilar of Al alloy and Mg alloy is 200-2500C. Vickers hardness test and tensile test of the welded products are also conducted. The hardness testing results show that the vickers hardness of similar Al alloy, Mg alloy and pure copper sheets beforing weldig are about, 102, 70 and 105HV, respectively. The hardness of the nugget region of similar Al alloy, Mg alloy and pure copper sheets after welding are about 60, 62 and 65 HV, respectively and that for dissimilar of Al alloy and Mg alloy sheets is 138HV. The tensile testing results shows that for similar of Al alloy, Mg alloy and pure copper sheets beforing weldig are about, 320, 300 and 280MPa, respectively. The tensile strenghts of similar Al alloy, Mg alloy and pure copper sheets after welding, are about 160, 250 and 200 MPa, respectively, and that for dissimilar Al and Mg alloys is 100 MPa. The above experimental results can provide information for Fsw of Al, Mg alloys and pure copper. Keywords¡GFriction Stir Welding¡Fthermalcouple¡Ftemperature career

This thesis investigated the choice of nursing among immigrant women from Nigeria in Canada. I sought to understand why increasing numbers of immigrant women from Nigeria with degrees and professional backgrounds are opting for careers in nursing. The study was conducted through an antiracist feminist lens and uncovered the many dimensions in which African immigrant women encounter marginalization and discrimination in the Canadian labour market, resulting from entrenched norms and values. I placed centre stage the voices of the Nigerian women, and through their narratives found that the decision to change careers was based on barriers they faced, the availability of jobs within nursing, as well as personal perceptions and interactions with other Nigerian women who had successfully changed careers. The conclusion reached is that despite the structural barriers faced, the choice of nursing had overall benefited the women, elevating their status and improving their economic situation.

This thesis investigated the choice of nursing among immigrant women from Nigeria in Canada. I sought to understand why increasing numbers of immigrant women from Nigeria with degrees and professional backgrounds are opting for careers in nursing. The study was conducted through an antiracist feminist lens and uncovered the many dimensions in which African immigrant women encounter marginalization and discrimination in the Canadian labour market, resulting from entrenched norms and values. I placed centre stage the voices of the Nigerian women, and through their narratives found that the decision to change careers was based on barriers they faced, the availability of jobs within nursing, as well as personal perceptions and interactions with other Nigerian women who had successfully changed careers. The conclusion reached is that despite the structural barriers faced, the choice of nursing had overall benefited the women, elevating their status and improving their economic situation.

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge about the nature of personal connections that board members on top corporate boards in Sweden hold with the contacts that have been of most importance for their board appointment. As a consequence this study explores similarities and differences in career background, skills, expertise and networking structure of women and men on board positions. Method - To fulfill the purpose we conduct an explorative quantitative study of qualitative nature using a survey to gather data. The survey concerns the relationship that is of self-perceived importance for the board member’s board appointment and address their experience and background. The population in our study is limited to board members from corporations that are traded on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, with a stock market value over 150 million Euros Results – We find that board members hold weak ties with contacts that have played the most important role for their board appointment and both women and men mainly choose men as these contacts. Women on average have a higher educational level than men, while a higher proportion of men come from a professional background as an executive.  Research Limitation - We limit our study to include self-perceived importance of contacts rather than the actual importance. Practical Implications – Our study contribute to the debate of the slow progress of gender equality on corporate boards by acknowledging that the preference among women and men to merely socialize with other men it can be a factor that increases the barriers for women to gain a position in the top corporate boards of Sweden. By acknowledging this underlying preference more board members may actively include women in their network. Additionally, successful board appointments are derived from contacts that are located outside the close personal network. This holds especially true for women who have made it into the boardroom despite the fact that they do not socialize for leisure activities.

A common practice in multi-national enterprises is to staff important managerial roles in overseas operations with personnel from the company’s country of origin: expatriate managers. Homecoming expatriates often experience that the competence they have acquired abroad is not recognized when returning home. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how expatriates experience that international assignments affect their careers. The theoretical framework used includes sociological theories from neo-Marxist theory, Bourdieuan career theory and expectancy theory. This thesis uses qualitative methodology and a phenomenological approach to investigate the purpose and the research questions. The empirical part of the thesis has been conducted in two phases where five international mobility managers have been interviewed in the first phase. In the second phase interviews where held at a multi-national Swedish headquartered company where five interviews were conducted. The results indicate that there is a discrepancy between how company representatives (managers) and employees consider international assignments and expatriation in relation to employee careers. There seems to be a lack of clear understanding of the impact of expatriation on employee careers and also of the career value of an international assignment for an employee.