<p> Since the women&rsquo;s liberation movement in the 1970s, the number of women in the American workforce has increased dramatically; however, the percentage of women in the C-Suite&mdash;those who reach the status of chief officer&mdash;remains below 10 percent nationally (Soares et al., 2013). This disparity, sometimes called the &ldquo;glass ceiling,&rdquo; remains, even though many companies have adopted important initiatives to promote women&rsquo;s advancement. Although research has identified a complex set of factors involved in women&rsquo;s achievement of the highest levels of success in contemporary corporate settings, including measurable achievements, such as education, experience, and technical proficiency and intangibles, such as emotional intelligence, leadership styles, and communication skill, a significance difference in women&rsquo;s ability to break through the glass ceiling has still not been made. </p><p> Aimed at bridging that gap, this qualitative study gathers, through personal interviews, the experiences and perspectives of seventeen individuals, both men and women, of different races, cultures, and backgrounds, all of whom have reached the level of chief officer. Respondents were queried about their perception of the factors necessary to reach the C-Suite, as well as any factors required especially for women to arrive at that destination. The data gathered in the interviews included the subjects&rsquo; experiences from the process of their own advancement to the C-Suite and their observations of others&rsquo; experiences. The data were coded and analyzed according to recurring themes and patterns in the interviewees&rsquo; answers. The results point to a complex, nuanced, dynamic set of factors in the life of an otherwise qualified individual. Namely, four (4) such factors play a primary role in propelling aspiring women into the C-Suite: 1) executive traits; 2) preparation; 3) networking; and 4) engaging organizational culture. The findings offer an empowering promise that women can not only identify and gain the tools they need to accomplish their C-Suite goals, but also actively pursue and cultivate these assets in a way that offers success in both life and career. </p>

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<p> In Oklahoma, a young state where the built environment is not as old as in many regions of the country, there is not the long tradition of respecting historic resources often seen in areas with properties dating from the beginning of our country. This, coupled with the demands of contemporary life, makes it all too easy to destroy or compromise the integrity of historic buildings still in existence to provide services for current societal needs. However, there continue to be those who seek out historic properties for both personal and professional reasons. The purpose of this study is to gather information from property owners in nationally registered historic districts across the state about the experience of owning this type of property so that appropriate resources can be developed and supported to facilitate the survival of the state's historic resources. The exploratory nature of this study lends itself to a phenomenological approach to data collection combined with an interpretivist approach to data analysis to investigate the meaning behind the experience of owning property in Oklahoma historic districts. </p><p> A sample of 13 historic districts was selected; this sample included residential and commercial districts in both rural and urban areas. For the first phase of data collection, a short demographic survey was mailed to each property owner in the selected districts; the survey provided the opportunity for respondents to participate in a second phase of data collection&mdash;focus groups held within each district. The researcher conducted 18 focus groups with 51 participants; data analysis included line-by-line coding of each transcript, with individual comments applied within 30 identified themes. </p><p> Seven key findings resulted from analysis and interpretation, and were further organized according to the study's research questions: (a) potential return on investment, (b) place attachment to community and state, (c) appreciation of architectural features, (d) appreciation of historic character, (e) participation in community's history, (f) impact of maintenance and repair, and (g) difficulties with the preservation system. Recommendations address the resulting implications for educators, the interior design and architecture professions, preservation partners, and for community governance.</p>

<p>In spite of a host of early twenty-first century claims regarding the dawn of a "post-racial" or "anti-racial" era, race remains an important problem for understanding contemporary power. This dissertation provides a genealogical examination of the multiple forms and functions that comprise white raciality in the twenty-first century United States. Situating whiteness in relation to the social and financial circuitry of neoliberal globalization, I contend that it is an inextricable component of an emergent mode of governmentality. A critique of scholarly work in and around Whiteness Studies conditions the theoretical interventions of the project as a whole and grounds my argument for a new framework of analysis. </p><p>Following the work of Michel Foucault, I investigate the development of a novel form of whiteness whose undergirding logic functions not by differentiation but by way of similitude. Instead of emphasizing and enforcing exclusions upon difference, this `sympathetic' form of raciality works to neutralize and recuperate it. Finally, via Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, I discuss the necessity of reimagining race ontologically as well as epistemologically, and confronting its collusion with other forms of power in order to analyze the risks that the flexibilization of whiteness poses--to subjects living under its rule and to its own conditions of existence.</p> / Dissertation

<p> This project argues that the National Park Service (NPS) functions as an agent of the state in perpetuating American imperialism throughout the Pacific World through presenting WWII narratives of sacrifice as worthy of inclusion into the nation. These narratives, I argue, reinforce American occupation in islands and regions that have contested relations to the nation. This project is informed by scholarship in rhetorical criticism of public memory and in American Studies analyses of the nation as an empire. Methodologically, I have combined fieldwork at each park site and official public interpretive materials, with historical archives related to the formation, design, and management of the parks to understand the relationship between past and present. Part I of this project examines War in the Pacific National Historical Park in the American territory of Guam and American Memorial Park in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. I focus my argument here on how NPS narratives of WWII cannot be separated from historical and contemporary American military interests in the Mariana Islands and the Pacific World. Part II approaches the three units of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument in Hawai&rsquo;i, Alaska, and California, with each state&rsquo;s focus, development, and accessibility being appreciably different. I argue that all are concerned with the legacies of militarized land use and narratives of sacrifice for and belonging to the nation.</p>

abstract: Historically, colonizers, immigrants, and enslaved Africans served as carriers of Islamic culture to Puerto Rico, and today, that Islamic element is often unassumingly intertwined with the Puerto Rican culture. Using Bourdieu's concept of habitus as the framework, this dissertation engages customs and mannerisms of Puerto Ricans to reveal the imprint and legacy of Muslim Spain and the Islamic heritage of West Africa in Puerto Rico. It makes a study of the Spanish language to include vocabulary, proverbs, songs, and games that carry vestiges of Arabic language and culture. Most importantly, it also addresses an inherited religious and cultural tradition rooted in the history and legacy of Islam and Christianity and the human experience of cultural and religious phenomena of conflicts within Medieval Spain. Of particular focus, Fiestas de Santiago Apóstol in Loíza, Puerto Rico (a Moor and Christian celebration in honor of St. James, the Moor Slayer) offer a uniquely different expression. The celebration not only displays remnants of cultural and religious practices influenced by several world traditions such as folk Catholicism, Santería, Espiritismo, and Islam, but embraces the Vejigantes character which symbolizes the Muslim. The implications of these celebrations attest to a historically covert Muslim presence or at least a less biased conceptualization by the Puerto Rican people regarding Muslims. Unlike Medieval Spain, where Muslims were deemed invaders from 711-1600's, the religious, cultural, and political history of Puerto Rico does not suggest a deeper legacy of conflict that includes Islam as an adverse religious and cultural tradition. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Religious Studies 2017

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Midwifery is a word that, for many in this country, conjures up an image of superstitious old women delivering babies in primitive conditions of filth and ignorance. This strongly rooted and uniquely American idea owes its tenacious existence to the well-orchestrated campaign of the medical profession and state health officials, whose aim it was to eliminate the "midwife menace" within this century. Their goal was to make inroads for the more scientific and relatively new field of obstetrics. Through the mechanisms of the state, midwifery was successfully eradicated in three rational stages: education, regulation, and elimination. In phasing out midwifery, the state made incursions into a cultural tradition and permanently altered an ethnic institution. An important segment of women's (as well as southern and ethnic) history was forcibly ended, and one of the few long-respected, exclusively female roles of leadership was lost to American life. The existing literature on midwifery is predominantly statistical and anti-midwife (propaganda would not be too strong a word), gathered and publicized by the medical establishment in the early part of the century. Because of the underlying economic motives and the middle- and upper-class "professional" bias, the accuracy of this material is questionable. Neither does it address, in any depth, the role and personality of the old midwife from a cultural, historical perspective. This is the emphasis of this document, which includes a look at the process of state licensing and its effect on cultural institutions, original interviews with the few remaining Florida midwives or their daughters and granddaughters, and specific models from the licensing process in Florida, both past history and its present struggle to implement new midwifery legislation. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-03, Section: A, page: 0816. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

<p> Conversations about racism and sexism have a history of volatility, and within America&rsquo;s current social and political climate it is no different. Both of these institutions are part of the social makeup of American culture and are based on the premise of one group holding a superior position over another. White individuals may not purposefully set out to behave in racist or sexist ways, but the fact is, white values, manners, and habits take precedence and priority in American culture. Evidence abounds. One example is the commercials that run in the media. The products, actors, and messages are focused on white priorities. Another is in the history of our country, which was written by Anglo-American men and therefore contains a preponderance of detail on the nation&rsquo;s incredible growth through their viewpoints. It is also seen in literature and conversation. If a male or female is referenced, it is assumed they are white; if not, the speaker will place a descriptor of color before the gendered term. Within the institutions of race and sex, the ranking of superiority begins with white men and ends with Black women. The Black male and white female change places depending on the agenda of the white male. For example, if his attention is on male issues, the Black male will rank higher than the white female; the reverse is true if race is the focus. This patriarchal culture began with predominately Anglo-Saxon men making themselves at home in a country that was new to them. For centuries, they were able to keep their position as the dominant presence by force and will. The point is not to create a hatefest on white patriarchy but rather to recognize and understand it for what it has been and how it has formed our culture. </p><p>

No description available.