Women comprise half of the world's population but less than half of the paid workforce, less than half of organized workers, and far less than half of union leadership positions. Women benefit from union membership by enjoying a smaller gender wage gap than women without union representation. Unionized teachers enjoy higher salaries and better working conditions than those who are not union members. Despite the advantages of being in a union, women are under-represented in union membership and, more importantly, leadership positions. Considering these disparities, I conceptualized this critical study to describe and better understand how women's participation in union activities is meaningful to them. My ultimate goal was to find ways in which more union women could be encouraged to take leadership roles in the workers' rights movement. The primary purpose of this research is to identify factors that explain the dearth of women's participation in their labor union. Gender disparity in union leadership is, in part, a reflection of gender disparity in the workforce. Women make up less than half of the paid workforce but occupy the majority of the contingent workforce, which enterprise-based unions in Japan have been reluctant to organize (Weathers, 2012). Furthermore, a lack of female role models in union leadership might also contribute to gender disparity in unions' leaderships. From this, I suggest changes that potentially allow more women to participate and eventually lead in their unions. The theoretical justification of the methodology used in this study is to show the utility of communities of practice theory and intersectionality in this type of research. Because I examined participation, I used communities of practice as the primary theoretical framework, and because the participants were all women, intersectional feminism served as the secondary theoretical framework. Furthermore, I review conceptual research on communities of practice, women, and labor and review empirical research on labor, communities of practice, and women in the labor movement. For the methodology, I applied a qualitative critical case study approach to this investigation of a labor union in western Japan that primarily organizes foreign language teachers. This study is a collection of case studies of female non-Japanese English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers from inner circle countries. I investigated how these women participated in their labor union in western Japan and how their participation was meaningful to them. I was a participant observer, and the three core participants were all American. I am Canadian. At the time of this study, all four of us were union leaders. Data sources included interviews, a focus group discussion, artifacts, and the research journals that I kept over the years. The findings echoed aspects of communities of practice theory as well as intersectionality. Communities of practice theory highlighted the transformational nature of participating in a community. Furthermore, the importance of trust in the community was made clear. I considered the participants’ identities from the perspective of intersectionality. Considering differing emphases on these aspects of identity led me to realize that increasing solidarity between women working for workers’ rights and women working for women’s rights might lead to the growth of both movements. I drew the main conclusion from considering differing emphases on aspects of research participants’ identities. As has been well documented in research literature, women in the workers’ rights movement and women in the women’s rights movement place an emphasis on different aspects of their identities (Dye, 1975; hooks, 2012; Milkman, 2016). Therefore, what is lacking is a sense of solidarity, the fundamental principle of the workers’ rights movement, between these two groups of women. The original contribution to knowledge of this dissertation is an enhanced understanding of how both the workers’ rights movement and the women’s rights movement are held back by this lack of solidarity among women. / Teaching & Learning

In this qualitative study, I interviewed 13 women from two separate conservative Baptist congregations in Central Florida, one English-speaking and the other Hispanic. The purpose of this research was to explore the ways in which conservative Baptist women develop their identity as women, the gender ideologies they espouse, their experiences in ministry, and the possibility that they can achieve gender consciousness without aligning with feminist principles. In addition, my research employs an intersectional perspective to demonstrate differences in the experiences of white women and women of color in the church. This study consisted of semi-structured interviews with women from both the Hispanic and the predominantly white congregations over the course of a month. According to my findings, strict complementarianism, the belief that men and women have entirely separate but complementary roles, was only observed among a small number of women. The majority demonstrated egalitarian tendencies with a combination of complementarian and evangelical pragmatist ideology. The latter was especially observable in spiritual practices and decision-making in marriage. For most of the women, their ideations of gender, marital, and parental expectations were not reflected in their actual practices. In terms of intersectionality and the experiences of women of color, the majority of women from the Hispanic congregation and white women from the English-speaking congregation determined that racial conflict did not take place within their church. On the other hand, Black women within the predominantly white congregation and two women who belonged to ethnic minorities within the Hispanic church did report friction, lack of community support, and discriminatory behavior towards them. These were not aspects of white women's experiences in ministry. This study is significant because, in addition to highlighting the gender ideologies upheld by conservative Baptist women, it also describes the ways in which they negotiate the scriptures to perform womanhood and expounds on the idea that conservative women can also find gender consciousness despite rejecting feminism. However, solidarity and inclusion were not found by women of all races and ethnicities. This research views these experiences and ideas of womanhood through an intersectional lens. As a result, it explains how race, ethnicity, and nationality can also frame ideas of womanhood and affect gender consciousness among women in conservative Baptist congregations where one race or ethnic group predominates.

Background: Uganda is one the leading countries around the world which account for 60% of the total number of maternal deaths globally. Following the unsuccessful trajectory of MDG 5, no comprehensive research was conducted to determine why targets were not achieved, and maternal health priorities were reorganized under SDG 3. However, the efficacy of this approach remains uncertain. Methods: A meta-narrative review (MNR) provided insight into maternal health trajectories within Uganda prior to and during MDG 5, and informed the development of questions for key informant interviews. Interviews were conducted with 7 key informants to explore the development and implementation of maternal health policy in relation to MDG 5 and SDG 3. Thematic coding analysis was conducted using NVivo 12, in accordance with the criteria of constructivist grounded theory, to identify recurring themes. Findings: Four major themes were identified: i) the current narrative surrounding maternal health is deterring investment in SDG 3, ii) Uganda’s fragmented health care system impedes access to maternal health care, iii) empowerment issues among women, and iv) increased collaboration efforts are needed from Uganda’s government to improve maternal health outcomes. Implications & Contributions: Uganda has failed to advance women’s rights, as the government focusses on infrastructure development to drive economic development. However, Uganda will not progress if women continue to be oppressed and die as a result of its multifaceted maternal mortality crisis. Implications for maternal health policy: MDG 5 and SDG 3 were imposed on Uganda and do not necessarily reflect its best interests or its collective needs related to improving its maternal health outcomes. Striving to achieve SDG 3 would likely further oppress women and disadvantage the country overall. Thus, Uganda’s government must increase multisector collaboration to develop realistic and sustainable goals towards improving maternal health outcomes to better counteract its maternal mortality crisis. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Under the lens of intersectional theory, this study aspired to determine what lessons can be learned from Uganda’s attempt to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5, related to maternal health, from 2000-2015, and also how these lessons will inform its transition to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 between 2016-2030. The barriers and challenges surrounding Uganda’s maternal health outcomes were also investigated, and four themes were found. This study demonstrates how various aspects of women’s social identities intersect and form the basis for much of the oppression they encounter surrounding their maternal health, with implications for policy-makers, health care workers, and women. Attainment of SDG 3 seems unlikely for Uganda, and also not in its best interests. Rather than attempting to meet globally developed targets to improve its maternal outcomes, Uganda should engage in multisector collaboration to enable realistic and sustainable progress in its quest to counteract its maternal mortality crisis.

Stockholm is a vibrant and attractive city. Surveys show that the residents in Stockholm are happy with their lives. It has also been proved that Stockholm is a highly socio-economic segregated city.Suburbs that are well known as segregated precarious residential areas in Stockholm, are Botkyrka, Tensta, Husby, Skärholmen, Rinkeby, and others. These suburbs were built during the 1960s-1970s as a part of Sweden’s Million Programme housing. Most of the residents are immigrants, and these areas are stigmatized as dangerous locations, it has been proved that non-European migrants face higher segregation than the European ones. These peripheries have mutual characteristics: they suffer from segregation, bad reputation, stigmatization, criminality, mistrust, and a high unemployment rate.Unfortunately when immigrant women; who used to live under patriarchal-male dominant oppressing societies, moved to democratic multicultural societies, found themselves in a stage of transition.

Thesis advisor: Celeste Wells / This thesis explores the ways in which physical and ideological spaces influence the experiences of women of color in law school and their subsequent perception of those spaces. Participants were interviewed and asked questions about their holistic experience in law school. The researcher applied Oyserman’s racial-ethnic self-schemas theory and Crenshaw’s intersectionality approach to analyze and interpret the findings of the data. Ultimately, it was concluded that women of color recognized their law school’s ability to prepare them to be lawyers but felt less so about their ability to navigate the professional legal industry as a woman of color. In addition, the thesis argues that the negative experiences of women of color go beyond imposter syndrome and other identity-based elements. Instead, it is more directly rooted in the spaces in law school, specifically related to the pedagogical model of the institution that clashes with identity-based experiences. Thus, the thesis suggests ways that law schools can better support women of color and a direction for future areas of study. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Communication.

In their review, Remedios and Snyder (2015) articulated how models of stigma fall short of explaining stigmatization of women of color, because they do not consider intersectionality of multiple stigmatized identities. Using the example of the intersection of race and gender, they reviewed literature on how targets of stigma detect and respond to prejudice (making prejudice attributions, the role of identity processes such as centrality), highlighting the complexity of these processes once multiple identities (namely non-prototypical categories of race and gender) are considered. In response, we provide more in depth discussion of the challenges to inclusion and intersectionality including current and traditional psychological science approaches and the perceived politicization of intersectional research, as well as the complexity of integrating multiple identities (social class, sexual orientation and gender diversity) into stigma research, including recruitment, measurement, and analysis. We offer practical suggestions in the areas of recruitment, measurement, and analysis, to facilitate more inclusive and intersectional research, given that such work would provide a more complete understanding of the experience of stigma.

This thesis, titled A for Effort, examines how three organizations that are granted state funding by the Swedish Gender Equality Agency understand the concept of intersectionality. The understandings are put in relation to previous understandings of the concept, for example the feminist debate of its advantages and disadvantages. In addition, the analysis is conducted through discourse theory and Carol Bacchi's WPR-approach that together are applied as a critical eye to how intersectionality is represented in the texts of the organizations. The study finds that while intersectionality is understood as a way to inclusion, the understandings are also constructing divisions.

The aim of this study is to critically examine how the theoretical concepts of gender arrangement, gender regime and masculinity become visible on a historical museum's website and how an analysis of gender arrangement, gender regime and masculinity can be understood with an intersectional perspective on gender, class, and religion. The study is guided by a social constructivist approach. The museum Livrustkammaren's digital web exhibition 500 Years of Royal History is analyzed using a thematic analysis method. As a complement, a multimodal analysis method is used to understand and analyze the relationship between image and text in the exhibition. The exhibition consists of six rooms linked to different eras where royals are represented, and events associated to them are described. The analysis finds that the museum has and use a gender perspective but that it needs to be highlighted and more widely used in the exhibition. Women are often represented as passive and submissive, while the representation of men presents them as active and dominant. Though there are other representations where women are highlighted and men’s struggle with gender roles are made visible, the gender perspective can be clearer. Sometimes there is a normalization of traditional gender roles in history that can be highlighted and problematized instead of being normalized. / <p>2022-06-02</p>

Thesis advisor: Janet E. Helms / Due to the intersection of their race and gender categories, with one (race) being marginalized and the other (gender) being privileged, men of color have unique experiences of gendered racism, defined as the ways in which racist incidents are focused specifically on their race-gender categorization. Research has shown that gendered racist experiences are related to worse mental health outcomes in men of color. However, it is not known how men of color’s understanding of themselves, as both people of color and men, interacts with the relationships between their gendered racist experiences and mental health. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to explore men of color’s racial and maleness identities in relation to their mental health and gendered racist experiences.Adult men of color (N = 195) were invited to complete measures that assessed gendered racist experiences (Everyday Discrimination Scale), racial identity (People of color Racial Identity Attitudes Scale), maleness identity (Maleness Identity Attitudes Scale), and psychological distress and wellbeing as mental health outcomes (Mental Health Inventory). Multivariate regression analyses revealed that more experiences of gendered racism were related to higher levels of psychological distress, but were not related to psychological wellbeing. Simple linear moderation analyses indicated that racial identity moderated the relationship between gendered racist experiences and psychological distress, while maleness identity moderated the relationship between gendered racist experiences and psychological wellbeing, in some instances. Moderated moderation analyses indicated that the interaction between racial and maleness identities did not moderate the relationship between experiences with gendered racism and mental health in most instances. Collectively, the results indicate that the ways in which men of color make sense of themselves as people of color and men, independently, have implications for how gendered racist experiences relate to their mental health. However, results did not paint a clear picture of how men of color’s conceptualizations of themselves as both people of color and men relates to their experiences of gendered racism and mental health. Limitations, including the availability of measures for assessing men of color’s identities holistically rather than independently, are addressed. Implications of the results for intersectionality theory and research, practice, and lay men are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Alzheimer's disease impacts many older adults within the United States and African Americans are at a higher risk for developing Alzheimer's disease. Most of their care is provided by their adult daughters, who are often tasked with managing multiple care responsibilities within their families. Prior research has examined one aspect of the caregiving experience for African American caregivers but not how their intersecting identities impact their experiences. As such, this study served to contextualize and highlight the nuances of their caregiving experiences. Using Intersectionality Theory as a guiding theoretical framework, this qualitative study explored how African American adult daughter caregivers navigated their family relationships while caring for a parent with Alzheimer's disease. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-six African American adult daughters caring for a parent with Alzheimer's disease. Findings revealed that 1) families came together by collaborating on decisions, connecting as a family and speaking regularly, and directly assisting and helping the caregiver, 2) family ideology about African American women and care influenced what the family expected of caregivers and what caregivers expected of themselves, and 3) caregivers are under compounding amounts of stress related to general caregiving strain, time, and racism/discrimination. These findings provide a more contextualized and holistic depiction of African American caregivers and their families. Future research and practical implications are discussed. / Doctor of Philosophy / There are high rates of Alzheimer's disease among older adults within the United States and African Americans are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease impacts the individual, their main caregivers, and their families. Adult daughters provide most of the care to individuals with Alzheimer's disease while also having other responsibilities within their families. The goal of this study was to get a better understanding of changes in caregivers' family relationships as they care for their parents with Alzheimer's disease. I interviewed 26 African American adult daughter caregivers. The caregivers shared important information about changes in their family relationships and explained how they had been impacted by caregiving. Findings revealed that African American families came together to support the caregiver, families have unspoken rules about how care should be provided, and caregivers experience high amounts of stress because of caregiving. The results can help clinicians, medical professionals, and policymakers be better able to support African American families of individuals with Alzheimer's disease. Future research studies and best practices for clinicians are discussed.