Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-211). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-211). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (doctoral)--Technische Universität, Aachen, 2000.

I dagens informationssamhälle blir konkurrensen allt hårdare och servicen gentemot kunden ett allt viktigare konkurrensmedel. Servicen som frontpersonal levererar gentemot kunderna blir extra viktig inom tjänsteföretag då det är en central del av verksamheten. För att frontpersonalen ska vilja göra ett så bra arbete som möjligt och agera serviceinriktat i interaktionen med kunderna är det då viktigt att de är motiverade. Handlingsfrihet är ett verktyg för att motivera sina anställda och innebär, ”Att ge anställda befogenhet att själva fatta beslut och agera efter eget huvud i problematiska situationer”. Det finns många studier som tyder på att handlingsfrihet hos frontpersonalen kan leda till ökad arbetstillfredsställelse som i sin tur kan leda till ökad motivation och bättre arbetsprestation.   Handlingsfrihet behöver dock inte nödvändigtvis leda till en mer motiverad frontpersonal som levererar en bättre service gentemot kunderna. Det är inte passande att ge alla i personalen handlingsfrihet eftersom inte alla vill axla det ansvar som följer med handlingsfriheten. En väl fungerande handlingsfrihet kan leda till ökad servicekvalitet gentemot kunden samtidigt som frontpersonalen upplever ett ökat förtroenden, välmående och motivation. Detta skulle då utgöra en yttre autonomt motiverande faktor vilket är när yttre motivationsfaktorer stämmer överens med individens egna värderingar och denne finner en inneboende glädje samt vilja i att utföra uppgifterna. Samtidigt kan en misslyckad handlingsfrihet även leda till stress och osäkerhet som i sin tur kan resultera i felaktiga beslut, försämrad servicekvalitet och en minskad motivation. Människor är olika och reagerar på olika sätt i olika situationer, vissa kanske stimuleras av ansvarstagande, ökat förtroende och utrymme för kreativitet och frihet i sitt handlingsutrymme samtidigt som andra kan vara intresserade av att ha tydliga riktlinjer för vad som ska göras oavsett situation. Utifrån ovanstående bakgrund har studien följande problemformulering:   Hur påverkar handlingsfrihet frontpersonalens upplevda yttre autonoma motivation inom tjänsteföretag?   Syftet med denna studie är att skapa en fördjupad kunskap om hur handlingsfrihet påverkar frontpersonalens yttre autonoma motivation samt att resultatet ska kunna användas av ledare inom främst tjänstesektorn.   Studien använder sig av en kvalitativ metod med en induktiv ansats som grund. För insamlandet av data har elva semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts och transkriberat där respondenterna utgörs av kundtjänstpersonal på de fem största bankerna.   Slutsatserna visar att handlingsfrihet kan leda till en ökad yttre autonom motivation. Om det ger en ökad yttre autonom motivation eller inte beror dock till stor del på individens egen inställning till handlingsfrihet. För att kunna avgöra om handlingsfrihet passar för individen kan ledaren identifiera det genom att analysera individernas personlighetsdrag. Detta då det finns ett tydligt samband där de respondenter med högre grad av personlighetsdragen tenderar att skapa en ökad yttre autonom motivation vid mycket handlingsfrihet medan de personer som med en lägre grad av personlighetsdragen istället tenderar att få en minskad motivation av handlingsfrihet.

Objective: To study midwives management, practice and reasoning regarding contraceptive counseling for women who are experiencing "mild" side effects of the pill Methods: Four focus groups, made up of three to five midwives per group, participated in focus group discussions. Qualitative design with the method “Think-Aloud” has been used to collect data and the material was analyzed using content analysis. Results: The study identified three categories, the first "How midwives practice regarding the side effects of the pill," shows that midwives have a systematic approach when meeting with women who are experiencing side effects of the pill. The next category "Using a holistic and professional approach for women" highlights that the midwives take women's side effects seriously and that midwives respect individual woman’s autonomy. Finally in the third category "Lack of evidence about side effects becomes a women's dilemma" here midwives describe varying ways of interpreting side effects as well as attitudes and socio-economic conditions in society that affect women's choice of contraception. Conclusion: The midwives express that side effects such as loss of libido, depression and weight gain are complex and often difficult to attribute solely to the pill. The midwives' work is characterized by a holistic approach. We see the benefits of sharing information in groups, therefor we suggest that midwives create mediums where they can learn from each other by sharing their valuable experience and knowledge.

The purpose of this research was to investigate what can be learned from the professional voices of secondary novice science teachers in rural schools during their first one to three years of their teaching assignment. The results of this research were viewed through the lens of empowerment as defined by Melenyzer (1990) and the six dimensions as defined by Short (1994): autonomy, self-efficacy, professional growth, status, impact, and decision making. This study examined what caused teachers’ empowerment to change in the context of their work environment with a focus on key events or experiences that caused empowerment to change. Data were collected that provided insight into what can be done to strengthen empowerment and improve retention so that rural novice science teachers can reach their full potential. In addition, patterns were examined to determine what strengthened or weakened teacher empowerment so that schools, professors, or science specialists can provide appropriate professional development opportunities for their new teachers and help teachers move along the professional continuum. This research can be utilized to determine what secondary novice science teachers bring to the classroom as well as what they need to become empowered effective teachers. The data revealed some important findings that fill in the gaps from Hobbs; (2004) and (Barufaldi, Hobbs, Moreland, & Schumacker, 2010) empowerment work with veteran (9+years) science teachers and Moreland’s (2011) empowerment research with mid-career (4-8 years) science teachers. Autonomy and decision making were not viewed as distinct dimensions but had significant effects on empowerment, self-efficacy was influenced by student successes, classroom management, and inadequate pre-service training, professional growth closely resembled empowerment, impact was weak but it did exist for many of the teachers, status was higher than expected for all teachers, overall empowerment was higher than expected, attending conferences such as the Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST) was a major positive force for empowerment, positive reinforcement played a large role in empowerment and leadership was found to either drive empowerment upward or break down empowerment depending on the situation. The results of this study can be used to inform decisions on how to differentiate professional development for science teachers as well as how they can be professionally sustained, empowered, and retained over time. / text

This thesis describes and explores the development of forms of cultural participation, using photography and digital imaging, with young people in informal contexts. The process has been one of action research, within which groups of young people have developed distinct forms of cultural participation with the researcher over a sustained period. Workshops have been conducted over a three year period with young people in the indoor markets at Birmingham's Bull Ring and with a group of young people based at a lesbian, gay and bisexual youth group. The later group directed the construction of, and made images for, a web site entitled Young, Queer and Safe? This work, along with pilot studies, has informed the development of the research and the focus of this thesis. As such this thesis seeks to represent the experiences of young people who have been overlooked in previous research in the field. Previous research in this field has focussed on the experiences of young people with privileged access to digital technology at home or through formal education. Such research has informed the prevalent vision of young people as engaged with, and by, new media and posits the idea that all young people are competent users of digital technology. This ignores the experiences of many young people. This thesis is not a critique of the ideology which clusters around young people, digital technology and education, but an attempt to undercut it through research with young people who have not necessarily had such access as would enable them to identify skills in digital technology informally. This research has shown that: 1 Young people's priorities in cultural participation should not be assumed. 2 Young people's different agendas are significant, and can be made explicit in spaces where traditional social, age, and cultural hierarchies are less pervasive. 3 The representation of different agendas through cultural production is significant to wider cultural understandings of young people's diverse contemporary experiences. 4 Different ways of making, as well as differences in focus for production, are significant to the pursuit of democratic cultural practice. 5 When outcomes are diverse and transient, as has been the case within this research, traditional forms of classification collapse, problematising the way we consider those outcomes. The research has developed an inclusive pedagogic practice which is significant to formal education, community arts practice, and, contemporary research methodologies.

Over the past three decades microfinance has become one of the most important policy interventions used by international development practitioners, offering loan opportunities to those who lack access to basic financial services. Women have been the primary targets of this poverty alleviation strategy as it was presumed that they would be empowered through increased control over their incomes. In Cambodia, these strategies are guided by a business-approach to development and enforce regulatory measures encouraging competition, marketization and commercialization, and in so doing, put more economic pressure on women borrowers. Through the concepts of debt and trust, the following thesis will argue against the motive of empowerment through microfinance programs. Since microfinance was not designed to address social inequalities, it will also argue that deeply embedded patriarchal power relations go unchallenged and the status of women within the household goes unchanged. In stark contradiction to the empowerment discourses lauded internationally, usurious moneylenders and unregistered microfinance institutions practicing predatory lending are actually encroaching upon Cambodian women’s domestic and work space. A feminist ethnography was employed in seeking to unearth participants’ understandings of their circumstances and giving them a voice, where the specific methodological tools included semi-structured interviews with Cambodian women who have taken loans. The analysis was guided by examining discourse in microfinance policy reports as well as interviews with employees of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The resulting research is positioned within the critical literature in human geography on neoliberalization by examining whether or not the integration of the poor into the “market” benefits them or places them in highly exploitative circumstances. / Graduate / 0453 / 0366 / 0733 / elaurin@uvic.ca

Economic emancipation is considered to be a critical pre-requisite to female empowerment. Using data collected through semi-structured interviews with six (6) women from the Mohajir community in the port city of Karachi, Pakistan, the present study examines whether in the wake of economic emancipation, Mohajir women were able to achieve holistic female empowerment. The findings indicate that while Mohajir women did achieve economic emancipation, it did not result in holistic female empowerment as decisionmaking power ultimately rested with the patriarch because of religious, social, cultural and psychological reasons. The findings also reveal that the study participants believed that ideally a man is ultimately responsible for providing for his family since he is naturally endowed to be the breadwinner. Moreover, the findings further indicate that the need for security of life was considered to be the most crucial and basic of all needs and human needs followed a hierarchical pattern. In light of the findings, it is suggested that changes within the security, legal, academic and religious spheres be initiated so that Mohajir and Pakistani women are able to achieve holistic empowerment. / October 2015

This thesis investigates the understanding of health needs of women in rural Nepal using a participatory action research (PAR) framework. This framework was evaluated using a multiple case study design. The cases were women's groups being observed and researched by the researcher. The thesis is concerned with developing and evaluating the PAR methodology and is thus second order research i.e. it considers the process of researching research and the issue of multiple perspectives is an important feature. The justification of the use of a PAR framework is to be found in the forms of research that takes place 'with' people. The distinction between PAR methods and other qualitative methods is a philosophical one (Tolley and Bentley, 1996) between the roles played by the researcher and researched. The researcher "outsider" and participants "informants" are partners, sharing and learning together. The work is divided into two stages. The first is to determine the usefulness of the PAR framework in helping participants make assessments of their health needs, analyse their situation, develop strategies for solving problems themselves, and implement their own action plans. The second is to reflect on the research process itself, which allows for generation and testing of the methodology. This thesis has enhanced the contribution to the literature in this field. A development of the PAR framework emerged called the Health Analysis and Action Cycle (HAAC), via evaluating the PAR framework. The HAAC was found to be useful in allowing women's groups to assess their health needs, plan and take action to improve their health situation. For example, five of the six groups considered the importance of diarrhoea and developed strategies to reduce the incidence of diarrhoea in their communities. The sixth group's work centred on reducing the incidence of respiratory illness in their community. All the groups were able to assess, plan and implement projects to improve their environmental and hence health situation. The research stimulated collective action and empowerment of women participating in the research as it was the first time women had worked together to identify issues of diarrhoeal disease and respiratory illness and introduced preventative measures within their community. The HAAC approach, an additional innovation in this field, has relevance to the current theory and practice debate within the development sector. The model developed has possible implications for t~e concept of developing 'partnership' within the health and development sector and the development of emergent evaluation through developmental decision science.