Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 22-25).

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology (Discipline: Information Technology) in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / Women in South Africa are under-represented in senior management positions in the Information technology (IT) sector — even with available incentives and directives to rectify the situation. The purpose of this research is to explore and understand the reasons for the imbalance in representation of women in senior management positions in the IT sector in South Africa. Seventeen women in middle to senior management positions from two of South Africa’s nine provinces — Western Cape and Gauteng — were interviewed for this study. The women were asked to relate their personal experiences and perceptions around organizational culture in IT environments and factors influencing their career advancements. A qualitative content analysis method was used to analyse the responses from the interviews. The findings of this study confirm the imbalanced representation of women in senior management positions. It was found that organizations are open and welcoming and provide opportunities to women, but women in the IT sector do not necessarily desire to advance to senior management positions. Factors such as the legacy in the IT industry where men held senior positions, career interruptions due to child bearing, and the absence of female mentor’s impact on the career advancement of women. The informal recruitment process for senior manager positions and the lack of emphasis on the need for women in IT when advertising senior management positions worsen the situation. Women lack self-confidence and are of the opinion that their skills set must be an exact match to the job requirements before applying for senior positions. Work life balance is not supported in the IT environment and no development programs aimed specifically at women are available. The paucity of women taking up technical careers — such as IT — limits the number of women available to develop and appoint in senior management positions. Guidelines for women to advance to senior positions and for companies to recruit and hire women are proposed. These guidelines will assist to correct the imbalance representation of women in senior management positions and promote IT as a career for women. A suggestion for future studies is to compare career advancement of women working in the software development environments, compared to women in the infrastructure and technical environments of IT, as well as those who have left the IT industry.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T19:07:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Eloiza Dal Pozzo Chibiaqui2.pdf: 5259162 bytes, checksum: e431627d9d8631bd7d1fa45ce32d66ef (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-21 / The Internationalization of Higher Education is an established phenomenon in different countries and institutions, due to its importance for the development of nations, in the formation of human resources and the generation of knowledge. In Brazil, the creation and implementation of the Federal University of Latin American Integration (UNILA), had in its design principles of respect for cultural diversity and the integration of Latin America. In 2014, UNILA had 1356 students enrolled from eleven different nationalities. This study aimed to analyze the adjustment of the students of the Federal University of Latin American Integration (UNILA) in Foz do Iguaçu and the social interactions among Brazilian and foreign students, and between them and the local population. It is an exploratory and transversal research, with quantitative and qualitative nature. As methodology, a semi-structured questionnaire containing objective questions (scored according to a Likert scale) and open ones were used. The objective questions were analyzed quantitatively (percentage and mean calculation) and qualitative responses were analyzed using content analysis method and identification of categories. In this study, 425 students were surveyed, between Brazilian and foreign, representing a probabilistic sample of the student population of UNILA. In addition, an intentional sample of 50 residents of Foz do Iguaçu was also selected to answer the questionnaire, seeking to obtain the perception of the population regarding the UNILA students. As overall results, the survey of the population of Foz do Iguaçu highlighted vulnerabilities in the relationship between city population and students of UNILA and validate some of the assumptions about the positive opinion of the population ranging from the economic benefits generated by installation of a university in the city until the aspects of integration and interaction between people of different nationalities. However, these social relations could also be subject to the categorizations that relate students of UNILA to deviant behavior, indicating possible manifestation of a stigmatization process of the population in relation to these students. A survey of foreign and Brazilians students highlights generally prejudice reports by the population of Foz do Iguaçu, and for the two groups of students, the most cited stress factors were tensions with the police, xenophobia and hostility of the population. Regarding factors that facilitated the adaptation of foreign students in the city, friendships and other categories related to interpersonal relationships and structural factors of support, and Brazilian students cited mainly the classes and daily living as facilitating factors of integration with foreign students. It stands out in the research, the prevalence of the median satisfaction of students with the life in general in Foz do Iguaçu, but a lot of satisfaction with academic life at UNILA, and as noted, the difficulties of coexistence with the local population. / A Internacionalização da Educação Superior constitui um fenômeno consolidado em diferentes países e instituições, tendo em vista a sua importância para o desenvolvimento das nações, na formação de recursos humanos e na geração de conhecimento. No Brasil, a criação e implantação da Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-americana (UNILA), teve na sua concepção os princípios do respeito à diversidade cultural e a integração dos países da América Latina. No ano de 2014, a UNILA apresentava 1356 alunos matriculados de onze diferentes nacionalidades. Este trabalho teve como principal objetivo analisar a adaptação dos alunos da Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-americana (UNILA) em Foz do Iguaçu e as interações sociais entre os alunos brasileiros e estrangeiros, e destes com a população do município. Constitui pesquisa exploratória e transversal, de natureza quantitativa e qualitativa. Quanto à metodologia, foi utilizado um questionário semi-estruturado contendo questões objetivas (pontuadas de acordo com a escala de Likert) e outras abertas. As questões objetivas foram analisadas quantitativamente (percentual e média) e as respostas qualitativas foram analisadas por meio de análise de conteúdo e identificação de categorias. Neste estudo, foram pesquisados 425 alunos, entre brasileiros e estrangeiros, representando amostra probabilística da população de alunos da UNILA. Além destes, uma amostra intencional de 50 moradores de Foz do Iguaçu também foi selecionada para responder ao questionário, buscando obter a percepção da população a respeito dos alunos da UNILA. Como resultados gerais, a pesquisa com a população de Foz do Iguaçu destacou as vulnerabilidades na relação entre os moradores da cidade e os alunos da UNILA e valida algumas das hipóteses acerca da opinião positiva da população em opiniões que vão desde os benefícios econômicos gerados com a instalação de uma universidade na cidade até os aspectos de integração e interação entre pessoas de diferentes nacionalidades. Contudo, nestas relações sociais, também puderam ser observadas as categorizações que relacionam os alunos da UNILA ao comportamento desviante, indicando manifestação de um possível processo de estigmatização da população em relação a esses alunos. A pesquisa realizada com os estudantes estrangeiros e brasileiros destaca, de modo geral, relatos de preconceito por parte da população de Foz do Iguaçu, sendo que para os dois grupos de estudantes, as naturezas de tensão mais citadas foram tensão com a polícia, xenofobia e hostilidade da população. Em relação aos fatores que mais facilitaram a adaptação dos estudantes estrangeiros na cidade, foram citadas as amizades e outras categorias relacionadas com relações interpessoais e fatores estruturais de apoio e para os alunos brasileiros, as aulas e a convivência diária facilitaram a integração com os alunos estrangeiros. Destaca-se na pesquisa a constatação da predominância da satisfação mediana dos alunos quanto à vida em geral em Foz do Iguaçu, mas muita satisfação quanto à vida acadêmica na UNILA, e como destacado, as dificuldades de convivência com a população local. PALAVRAS-

The matched-guise test, which was originally developed by Lambert et al. (1960), has been useful in determining covert attitudes towards accents, dialects, or languages. In this paper, the author presents a fresh take on matched-guise tests in sociolinguistics utilizing modern technology to digitally manipulate a female voice into a male voice. This makes it possible to create recordings in which the tone, intonation, stress, and personality traits are the same, yet the apparent guise is different, thus allowing us to ascertain attitudes towards the sexes as well. Using this method on 169  respondents of mixed sex, the author has shown that there are statistical differences between how the male and female guises are interpreted. When all collaborative and competitive aspects are combined, the female guise is considered more collaborative, while the male is considered more competitive. Contradictory to old stereotypes it would also seem as though men are considered less knowledgeable than women. Less sexist people also rate the male and the female guise more unevenly than more sexist people do. A less sexist person favours the female guise on collaborative variables, while a more sexist person favours neither guise.

Cette thèse étudie des œuvres littéraires arabo-américaines contemporaines écrites par des femmes, plus spécifiquement les écrits d’Evelyn Shakir tels que Bint Arab, ainsi que plusieurs autres romans dont Arabian Jazz et Crescent de Diana Abu Jaber, The Inheritance of Exile de Susan Muaddi Darraj, The Night Counter d’Alia Yunis, et Once in a Promised Land de Laila Halaby. Elle montre comment ces œuvres construisent des univers où peuvent être interrogées les notions d’identité, de culture, d’ethnicité, et de genre. Les conflits quotidiens autour de l’identité sont traités en se fondant à la fois sur les œuvres critiques des femmes arabo-américaines et sur les études psycho-sociales du biculturalisme. De plus, ce travail met l’accent sur la formation de solidarités entre les femmes de couleur, en élargissant le concept de « conscience des zones frontalières » d’Anzaldua pour inclure les œuvres des écrivaines arabo-américaines. Les théories développées après la colonisation, particulièrement les études sur l’orientalisme à la suite d’Edward Said, sont également invoquées pour remettre en question le modèle oriental de la féminité. Enfin, cette thèse analyse la narration et son rôle dans la création d’un point d’ancrage pour les identités « exilées », insistant plus particulièrement sur la figure de Shéhérazade. Ce travail montre ainsi la façon dont les productions littéraires peuvent créer de nouveaux espaces pour comprendre les problèmes sociaux, politiques, culturels, ou ethniques. / This dissertation analyses contemporary Arab-American literary productions by female writers, specifically, Shakir’s collection of memoirs Bint Arab and her two short stories “Oh Lebanon” and “Name Calling,” as well as a selection of novels, Abu Jaber’s Arabian Jazz and Crescent, Darraj’s The Inheritance of Exile, Alia Yunis’s The Night Counter, and Laila Halaby’s Once in a Promised Land. It shows how these works construct a space which enables them to investigate questions of identity, culture, ethnicity and gender. Identity conflicts around everyday matters like physical appearance, color, dress codes, veiling, chastity, and marriage are addressed by drawing upon critical works by Arab-American female writers and psycho-social studies on biculturalism. Moreover, this work emphasizes coalition-building with women of color by extending Anzaldua’s concept of the “consciousness of the borderlands” to encompass works by Arab-American female writers. Theories by post-colonial thinkers, particularly Said’s studies on Orientalism, also contribute to the dissertation’s questioning of the Oriental model of womanhood. Finally, this dissertation envisages critical works that study storytelling and its role in creating a surrogate home for “exilic” identities, with special emphasis on the Scheherazadian narrative. This project views literary productions as an appropriate way to investigate social, political, cultural and ethnic issues. It shows how writings by Arab-American women contribute to exploring inner identity conflicts, how they connect with other minority groups, and how they create a new sense of home.

The subject of my thesis is to analyze the impact of gender-homogeneous teams, both female and male, on the formation of labor relations and working environment in general. In the theoretical section, I focus on three main themes: Men and women in society, Influence of gender on the organization and Gender and the labor market. The research is based on the results of my two surveys, one was conducted in predominantly female work team and the second in a predominantly male work team. In my thesis, I discovered that the reality versus theory differ in some areas, especially in a positive sense. Slowly disappears trend when women returning from maternity leave have been disadvantaged by this fact. My thesis also refuted the assumption that men are more preferred as a superiors, than women. Women in managerial positions are able stand up and play as good as men. My thesis also did not confirmed that women are in fulfilling of work assignments less independent. Employees representing the minority in homogeneous work team in terms of gender, are not exposed to negative influences, as described in the theoretical part of my thesis.

Caribbean immigrants' challenges with acculturation following immigration to the United States, could result in acculturative stress, discrimination, stereotyping, and mental health issues. This study examined the relationship between cultural levels of interaction (LCI), acculturation orientation levels (AOLs), and acculturation levels (ALs) as well as examined the relationship between acculturative stress levels (ASLs), mental health problems, and discrimination/ stereotyping among Caribbean immigrants, age 25-54, in a northeast U.S. metro. Bourhis' interactive acculturation model was the theoretical foundation for this study. It was hypothesized that (a) there would be a relationship between LCI measured in language, food, religion, and education and AOL or AL and (b) there would be a relationship between ASL and mental health problems (negative coping, depression, anxiety, and general life stress) or discrimination/ stereotyping. This research used a survey design, with 138 participants; analyses included Pearson correlations and multivariate multiple linear regression. Results revealed that the LCI group was significantly associated with Caribbean immigrants' AOLs, but food was not significant to their ALs. Additionally, ASL was significantly related to discrimination/ stereotyping, depression, anxiety, general life stress, and negative coping. This research may facilitate social change by urging clinicians to more effectively address preventive care for mental health problems in Caribbean immigrants. Educating society about the economic and other contributions of this population could also decrease discrimination/ stereotyping. Further, the study's findings may lead to initiatives for transitioning new arriving Caribbean immigrants.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neuro-developmental diagnosis that occurs around four times more often in males compared to females. Most of what is known about ASD, as well as diagnostic criteria and screening tools are therefore based on male expressions. Little is known if females differ from males and how female specific expressions of ASD looks like. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate the explanations of the male bias and increase the understanding of these sex differences and female expressions of ASD. My research provides a systematic review of 35 articles that has examined these areas. By conducting a thematic analysis I found that females and males diagnosed with ASD in general show similar expressions but that there is small evidence for female specific expressions. By using the theory of gender stereotyping I am discussing these results and argue that research in the area is caught in a looping effect. The reviewed articles use predominantly male samples while researching sex differences and are therefore reproducing the male bias. Because the stereotypical male expressions persist, females need to express more severe symptoms in order to be detected and correctly diagnosed. I suggest that by increasing the number of female participants in research, the female expression of ASD will be better understood which can aid social workers to detect and provide adequate support and interventions for females. / Autismspektrumtillstånd (AST) är en utvecklingsrelaterad neuro-diagnos som förekommer fyra gånger så ofta hos män som hos kvinnor. Det mesta av den nuvarande kunskapen om ASD samt diagnoskriterier och screening-verktyg är därför baserade på manliga uttryck. Huruvida kvinnor skiljer sig från män och hur kvinnliga uttryck ser ut är fortfarande relativt outforskat. Min studies syfte är att undersöka den manliga snedfördelningen som finns i diagnosen för att öka förståelsen för könsskillnader och kvinnliga ASD uttryck. Detta sker genom en systematisk forskningsöversikt av 35 artiklar som avhandlar nämnda områden. Genom att genomföra en tematisk analys fann jag att kvinnor och män överlag uppvisar liknande uttryck men att det trots det finns bevis för vissa kvinnospecifika uttryck. Jag belyser dessa resultat vidare genom en teori om könsstereotyper och argumenterar för att forskningen på området är fast i en looping-effekt. Då de granskade artiklarna använder övervägande manliga forskningsobjekt när de utforskar könsskillnader så återskapas den manliga snedfördelningen. På grund av detta så fortlever den stereotypiska manliga bilden vilket gör att kvinnor behöver uppvisa starkare symptom för att bli upptäckta och få en korrekt diagnos. Jag föreslår därför att forskningen ökar antalet kvinnliga deltagare så att kvinnliga ASD-uttryck kan bli bättre förstådda vilket kan hjälpa professionella i socialt arbete and enklare upptäcka och bistå med adekvata interventioner och stödprogram för dessa kvinnor.

Even with the rise of racial diversity in the workplace, African American women remain underrepresented in upper management and organizational leadership positions, making up only 1% of U.S. corporate officers. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry study was to explore the daily experiences of African American women middle managers in regard to stereotype threat and the effect of these experiences on their engagement with leadership aspirations. The narrative inquiry method was used to address this gap and answer the research question, through storytelling from African American women in middle-management positions. This study was framed by 2 key concepts that focus on minority group workplace experiences with stereotype threat and the implications of these experiences on minority group members for their engagement with leadership aspirations: Inzlicht and Kang’s concept of stereotype threat spillover and Major, Spencer, Schmader, Wolfe, and Crocker’s concept of psychological disengagement. The data-gathering process involved semistructured telephone interviews with 7 college-educated African American women, in U.S.-based organizations, in which participants told the story of their stereotype threat experiences in middle management roles. Two of the 5 key themes uncovered were impact of stereotype threat spillover and disengagement from leadership and career aspirations. The information gathered from the narrative study will help drive social change by bringing awareness to the issue and reducing threat experiences of disadvantaged groups across organizations.

In view of the fact that David Lodge’s campus novels are renowned for their ability to make light of traditional gender stereotypes as well as for their purportedly liberal, pro-feminist, intertexual, dialogical and metatextual dimensions, this article seeks to explore more precisely the strategic and unavowedly political functions humour and the comic fulfil in Changing Places, Small World and Nice Work. What will be demonstrated is that Lodge’s light-hearted, tolerant and at times even progressive liberalism is little more than an effect produced by the textual surface structure. In the case of Nice Work, this discrepancy between the surface and the deep structure leads to the paradox that while voyeuristic structures and male bonding are overtly ridiculed, on a deep structural level they are effectively reaffirmed. Though Lodge’s novels are at the level of their surface structure sustained by a logic which uses the “comic mode” as a more or less subtle form to critique traditional gender stereotypes, literary conventions, the British university system and British industry, ultimately his ‘Rummidge trilogy’ reinforces an aesthetically, morally and politically conservative subtext.