In contemporary society, work and home represent the two most significant domains in the life of working individuals. South Africa’s socioeconomic, political, and societal circumstances will influence employees’ experiences of work-life balance differently, compared to that of employees in other countries, suggesting that the construction of work-life balance amongst different race and cultural groups may differ. The present study used in-depth qualitative interviews with ten black women and men employed in a customer care environment, to explore their construction of work-life balance. A grounded theory approach was used to analyse the data and identify themes. This study suggests that work-life balance is a unique experience for individuals, which varies over time and in different situations. The study confirmed that attaining work-life balance is a process of balancing ever-changing experiences over time, and in different life stages. The results of this study are also discussed in relation to the relevant literature. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The theme of the thesis An Implementation of the Policy on Equal Opportunities in Lithuania is relevant and important, because the implementation of this policy in Lithuania is highly associated with adoption of Western democratic values, integration into Western international organizations and striving to achieve international communities set the standards in fields of human rights and equal opportunities.

In contemporary society, work and home represent the two most significant domains in the life of working individuals. South Africa’s socioeconomic, political, and societal circumstances will influence employees’ experiences of work-life balance differently, compared to that of employees in other countries, suggesting that the construction of work-life balance amongst different race and cultural groups may differ. The present study used in-depth qualitative interviews with ten black women and men employed in a customer care environment, to explore their construction of work-life balance. A grounded theory approach was used to analyse the data and identify themes. This study suggests that work-life balance is a unique experience for individuals, which varies over time and in different situations. The study confirmed that attaining work-life balance is a process of balancing ever-changing experiences over time, and in different life stages. The results of this study are also discussed in relation to the relevant literature. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

In light of recent surveys on gender equality and English proficiency in Sweden, this study examines the adjectives and adverbs which describe the women and men in two EFL-textbooks for English 6 in the upper secondary school, namely Blueprint: Version 2.0 B and WWE: World Wide English. Textbooks are often integral for language learning, and considering that students of Swedish upper secondary school are required to take English 6, the exposure of EFL-textbooks are significant. Thus, it becomes relevant to analyse how the language of EFL-textbooks depicts women and men. The actions, social roles and occupations of the female and male characters are analysed to find any discrepancies in how women and men are portrayed and whether these agree with the guidelines of the Swedish National Agency for Education. These guidelines require teaching to be carried out with consideration to fundamental democratic rights and should strive to promote equality between groups. In addition, the study builds upon previous research within the field of linguistics as well as social sciences carried out by Fairclough, Foucault, Lucy, Butler and others which concerns discourse, linguistic relativism, gender theory etc. The hypothesis of this study is that there is still a discrepancy in how women and men are depicted in EFL-textbooks. By employing a mixed method approach which includes quantitative data and statistics and qualitative discourse analysis which highlights indications of unequal description of gender, it can be concluded that women and men are described differently, and often in terms of dichotomies, with adjectives, adverbs and the social roles that they are assigned. These descriptions may consequently result in that students that use these textbooks as part of their learning process may adopt these values. Thus, some descriptions violates the goals and guidelines for gender equality, prescribed by the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket).

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The aim of this study was to investigate how conceptions of gender are expressed in the construction of women and men in judgments on the Care of Substance Abusers (Special Provisions) Act (LVM). According to Swedish law everyone must be treated equally, regardless of gender. In addition, the social services have an important responsibility to promote gender equality. At the same time there are conceptions of gender in our society that have been shown to influence the treatment of women and men. It is therefore important to examine, from a gender perspective, whether and how conceptions of gender are expressed in judgments. The empirical material consisted of 30 court cases, whereof 14 cases concerned women and 16 cases concerned men. The data has been analysed through the method “critical discourse analysis”, which focuses on the implicit rather than the explicit. The method allowed us to examine the language in judgments. The main results showed that, despite of a neutral law, women and men were described different. Through the descriptions, four discourses were found. Two on each gender, which acted as opposites. Women as passive victims versus men as active agents. Women as deviant versus men as the norm. The gender discourses showed conceptions of gender that expressed a separation and a hierarchy between women and men.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze differences between stock preferences of women and men in Sweden and analyze what portfolio characteristics and long-term effects that are revealed by investing in the stocks than men and women prefer. To fulfill the purpose of the thesis, two fictious portfolios have been created which are based on data from the reports “Aktieägandet i Sverige” by Euroclear. These reports present the favorite stocks of Swedish men and women by presenting stock top charts between the years 2017- 2021, and the data covers the total stock investing Swedish population. The fictious portfolios have been assigned to two fictious investors, Alice, and Adam, to enable analysis of the investment behavior and the portfolio’s performance on an aggregate level.   Alice’s and Adam’s portfolios are evaluated by using risk- and portfolio management measures, and the investment behavior is evaluated through measures previously presented in research within behavioral economics. The analysis is conducted by combining classic financial theory and previous research within behavioral economics to evaluate investment behavior from the perspective of portfolio theory.   The results show that the investment behavior differs between Swedish men and women, considering both stock preferences and investment strategy. Men tend to have a higher preference for risk than women and are more active when managing their portfolio. Women tend to invest more long-term and manages their portfolio in a more passive manner. Women also tend to invest in value stocks with dividends, while men invest in growth stocks. The investment strategy of men demonstrates a betting element which leads to a high total and non-systematic risk exposure. The consequences of the investment strategies long-term indicates that women obtain a more stable return due to lower volatility in their portfolio, while the higher non-systematic risk exposure and turn-over rate in men’s portfolio indicates that their return will be more volatile over time.   The results confirm, to a great extent, previous research on the differences between the investment behavior of women and men on an individual level. Based on new observations we conclude that a limited rational behavior does not always equal a higher risk exposure in the portfolio as it can also lower the level of risk. In addition, based on the analysis, we can conclude that men tend to invest more unethical than women. / Uppsatsens syfte är att identifiera och analysera skillnader i svenska kvinnor och mäns aktiepreferenser samt analysera vad för portföljegenskaper och långsiktiga effekter som följer av investering i de aktier som kvinnor och män föredrar. För att uppnå uppsatsens syfte har två fiktiva portföljer skapats som baseras på Euroclears rapporter ”Aktieägandet i Sverige”. Rapporterna presenterar svenska kvinnor och mäns favoritaktier i form av aktietopplistor mellan åren 2017–2021, varav datan omfattar hela den svenska aktieinvesterande populationen. De fiktiva portföljerna har tilldelats två fiktiva investerare, Alice och Adam, för att möjliggöra analys av investeringsbeteendet och portföljernas prestation på en aggregerad nivå.   Alices och Adams portföljer utvärderas med risk- och portföljutvärderingsmått, och investeringsbeteendet utvärderas genom mått som tidigare forskning inom beteendeekonomi lyft fram. Analysen genomförs genom att kombinera klassisk finansiell teori med tidigare forskning i beteendeekonomi för att utvärdera investeringsbeteendet ur ett portföljvalsperspektiv.   Resultaten påvisar att svenska kvinnor och mäns investeringsbeteende skiljer sig åt gällande både aktiepreferenser och förvaltningsstrategi. Män tenderar att ha en högre riskpreferens än kvinnor, samt är mer aktiva i förvaltningen av portföljen. Kvinnor tenderar att investera mer långsiktigt och passivt i familjära värdebolag med utdelning, medan män investerar i tillväxtbolag. Mäns investeringsstrategi har inslag av betting, vilket leder till en hög total- och icke-systematisk riskexponering. Konsekvenserna av investeringsstrategierna på lång sikt blir att kvinnor erhåller en stabilare avkastning till följd av lägre volatilitet, medan mäns exponering mot icke-systematisk risk samt höga omsättningshastighet leder till mer volatil avkastning över tid.  Resultaten bekräftar i stor utsträckning tidigare forskning om skillnader i kvinnor och mäns investeringsbeteende på individnivå. Genom nya observationer konstateras att ett begränsat rationellt beteende inte alltid leder till en högre riskexponering, utan även kan sänka risknivån i portföljen. Dessutom kan vi utifrån analysen konstatera att män tenderar att investera mer oetiskt än kvinnor.

The topic of this thesis is the support of Equal Opportunities for women and men in the labor market and to reconcile work and family life, funded by the European Social Fund. The thesis consists of an introduction, a theoretical part, a practical part, a conclusion and appendices. In the theoretical part there are the first introduced policies of the European Social Fund for the period 2007 - 2013 and then their application in the Czech Republic, made up mainly of the Operational Programme Human Resources and Employment and just his area of support 3.4 Equal opportunities for women and men in the labor market and to reconcile work and family life. The issue of equal opportunities for women and men is also used in the context of EU and in the context of labor market in the Czech Republic. Custom research is designed in order to analyze the implementation of the above- mentioned areas of support, specifically in the region Vysočina on the basis of already approved projects, using quantitative and qualitative content analysis. At the request Those projects are discussed both negative and positive gender lens. It is therefore a real form of project applications that are approved and draw on the financial resources of the European Social Fund.

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The dissertation Magical Realism in Persian and Saudi Narrative Writing views as essential the assumption that the phenomenon of magical realism is not restricted solely to the cultures with colonial legacy, but is transferable to literary works created under systematic and systemic violence anywhere in the world. Previous research of the dissertation's author proved the existence of parallels in the dynamics of sociopolitical development of Iran and Saudi Arabia in the 20th century, foremost in the power relation of the states to their citizens and in the status of women in the society, while there was a strong tendency towards institutionalization of the traditional patriarchal, androcentric and misogynic societal paradigms since the second half of the 20th century. In the last thirty years, women have countered this situation through increased literary activity that has turned out to be an important means of self-fulfillment and emancipation. The fact that some of the most significant Iranian and Saudi women writers use magical realism directed the research to examination of this concept's relevance for the Persian and Saudi narrative writing, inquiry into the reflection of the gender issues and their comparison in both literatures. A detailed case study of two works, each from one country, led...