bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The reconstruction of society’s gender culture through higher education in Armenia
Authors: Babayan Sofia
Published: June 2007

Outlines the transformation process in Armenia during the last decade with respect to gender issues. Covers, in turn, political and economic reforms before looking at the education system. Looks at the work of the Centre of Gender Studies at the Vanadzor State Pedagogical Institute including initial findings and the future direction of research.
Participation of East Asian women in higher education with particular emphasis on science based fields
Authors: Thulstrup Erik W. , Koswara Jajah
Published: June 2007

States that science and technology skills are the key to knowledge based, sustainable economic development, but the production of graduates is insufficient in many countries both in quality and quantity. Suggests that this may be improved by greater female participation. Investigates the recruitment issues in this area in Indonesia and China. Concludes that the number of women in further education today will influence recruitment of future academic staff and in China’s case, this could lead to a more male dominated environment.
Women’s experiences and visions in Nigeria’s education system
Authors: Williams Stella B.
Published: June 2007

Outlines the background of Nigeria, politically, citing particularly the British influence on the education system. Offers a framework that traces the historical background of inequality in education and shows how this is linked to the global internal workings of Nigeria’s education system. Argues that most women are aware of their right to equality, but there is a need for the state to acknowledge their obligation to encourage development in areas of educational inequality.
Ethiopia: from bottom to top in higher education – gender role problems
Authors: Worku Yelfign
Published: June 2007

Discusses the cultural differences which begin from birth in Ethiopia. Cites modern education as a new phenomenon stating that female education lags behind its counterpart. Shows how this has an impact on the participation and performance of women later in life, in their access to decision‐making positions and their participation in their country’s development. Outlines recent developments and highlights future needs.
Women in higher education in the United States: I. has there been progress?
Authors: Dugger Karen
Published: June 2007

Discusses the changing organization of higher education in the USA as the universities cope with mass education for all and provides statistics for the female population and their areas of preference. Covers Title X and affirmative action programmes before looking at recent anti‐affirmative campaigns. Concludes that substantial progress has been made but there is still disparity in salary, rank and promotion which can not be explained by any other argument.
“Gendered” styles of writing and the “inequality in assessment” hypothesis: an explanation for gender differentiation in first class academic achievement at university
Authors: Earl‐Novell Sarah
Published: June 2007

Focuses on the relative underachievement of First Class degrees by women in the UK compared to men. Cites problem areas as history, sociology, and english. Attempts to test a hypothesis that this is due to inequality in assessment with graduate writing styles labelled as “gendered”. Presents findings which suggest the above to be the case, with male academic styles tending to be bold, confident and risk‐taking and female styles perceived as cautious and conscientious. Argues that the effects are seen in “argument‐based” subjects rather than “fact based” subjects.
HIV/AIDS in West Africa: analysis of professional caregivers in Lomé, Togo
Authors: Moore Ami R.
Published: June 2007

Attempts to address the gap in literature on the experiences of HIV/AIDS care workers in Africa through studies of professional care givers in Lome, Togo. Uses a pilot study of 30 care givers and examines the roles, services and coping mechanisms of these individuals. Presents the demographics characteristics of the care givers and the type of services provided. Discusses how they cope with stress and their feeling regarding the prevention of HIV. Concludes they face enormous demands which may affect their own health and families. Suggests that a support network would be helpful.
To be or not to be – a lecturer in higher education in Sweden
Authors: Berg Elisabeth
Published: June 2007

Considers the changes which occurred during the 1990s in Swedish universities focusing on the way in which these have affected the work situation for lecturers from a gender, management and organization perspective. Uses in‐depth interviews with male and female lecturers in junior and middle‐management positions at one particular university. Explores the way in which women and men conform to the stereotype of “abstract worker” on which the new public management appears to rely. Suggests that this stereotype has loyalty to the employer as the most important priority with children and family commitments counting heavily against those with career aspirations.
Modernisation in Arab societies: the theoretical and analytical view
Authors: Ragab El‐Ghannam Ashraf
Published: June 2007

Examines the effects of demographic, mobility, economic, social and technology factors as independent variables upon industrialization, urbanization and modernization as dependent variables. Compares between results of the analysis of these factors related to both Cowgill’s and Kuznet’s models. Samples 22 different Arab societies. Suggests that results show a positive relationship between change rate in urban population, expenditure on education, energy consumption per capita, total exports, external debts and modernization. Shows a negative relationship between family size, illiteracy, total imports and modernization, and supports the Cowgill model.
Discrimination and harassment in the United States Postal Service
Authors: Hongchintakul Tavatchai , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: June 2007

Briefly discusses the definition of discrimination before covering sexual harassment in more detail separating it into two types, quid‐pro quo and hostile environment. Outlines the position of the United States Postal Services in relation to the huge number of lawsuits filed against it over the last decades. Looks at ways the company sought to improve the situation, in particular, the Redress programme. Profiles the models of mediation employed by the service.
Discrimination and harassment in the restaurant industry
Authors: Lu Chia‐Jeng , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: June 2007

Concentrates on gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the restaurant industry. Outlines the definition of sexual harassment in law and the types of sexual harassment which can occur. Covers the Ontario human rights code and the Disability Discrimination Act. Gives some statistics to reflect the current state of the problem. Provides some examples of current good practices within the industry. Concludes with recommendations of policies which employers should adopt if they wish to avoid litigation.
Sexual harassment in the business environment
Authors: Apodaca Edward , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: June 2007

Cites sexual harassment as one of the most complex and emotional issues facing the business community. Briefly defines sexual harassment and the circumstances in which it can occur. Looks at the evolution of sexual harassment politics and discusses some landmark case law. Outlines the obligations of employers and provides the guidelines of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Suggests that the best way to avoid potential litigation is to take the issue seriously.
How to investigate age discrimination complaints
Authors: Ray Rocky , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: June 2007

Briefly outlines the rise of Age discrimination as an issue before focusing on how to handle such a complaint. Discusses the Age Discrimination as an issue before focusing on how to handle such a complaint. Discusses the Age Discrimination Act 1967. Looks at the subtleties of age discrimination in practice. Provides a brief framework for documenting accusations and outlines the investigation process. Provides brief case law as examples. Concludes that this is a growing area for claims of discrimination.
New developments concerning discrimination against the American Indians
Authors: Avitabile Louis , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: June 2007

Cites discrimination against the American Indian as vastly disproportionate to other groups. Identifies three forms of discrimination, political, socio‐economic and cultural. Discusses each in turn with specific examples. Outlines the newest development in the last 10 years. Concludes that there is still a huge amount of work still to be done.
New developments concerning discrimination and harassment in universities
Authors: Kastl Melanie A. , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: June 2007

States that discrimination and harassment in universities take two primary forms, racial and sexual discrimination. Sexual harassment is found between faculty and student and between student and student whilst racial is often in the a dmission process or from student and professor once the individual has gained a place. Discusses both issues before looking at university liability. Outlines preventative and protective measures which may help avoid expensive litigation.
New developments concerning discrimination and sexual harassment in the transportation industry
Authors: Kau Sandy , Kleiner Brian H.
Published: June 2007

States that the transport industry has traditionally been male dominated. Focuses on recent studies and findings in the automotive and transportation/logistic professions that are historically most exposed to sexual discrimination. Covers wage differentials, advancement opportunities, and glass ceiling issues. Looks at efforts to fight such issues and provides some examples of case law. Concludes that the increasingly competitive business environment and the cost of litigation have led to much improvement in this industry.
“A part of the neighbourhood?”: negotiating race in American suburbs
Authors: Lacy Karyn R.
Published: June 2007

Compares race relations in two suburban communities in order to show that middle‐class blacks meet with some success when they temporarily exchange their racial identity for a class‐based identity. Collects data through ethnography and individual interview to examine the conditions under which middle‐class blacks construct and assert a sub‐urban identity. States that success varies with the racial composition of the suburban community and the white neighbours’ level of the satisfaction with the community.
Culture on the weekend: Maghrebin women’s adaptation in France
Authors: Killian Caitlin
Published: June 2007

Conducts in‐depth interviews with 45 female North African immigrants to France about what they preferred and disliked in each country and about their own cultural behaviours. Cites individuals were concerned at the cold and distant interactions of the French and their relationship to money together with the stress of living in France, and liked the opportunities for employment and education and the greater freedoms for women. Considers the adaptations these women make towards French cultural norm and the specific traditions they actively maintain.
Music, culture and social movements: song and southern textile worker mobilization, 1929‐1934
Authors: Roscigno Vincent J. , Danaher William F. , Summers‐Effler Erika
Published: June 2007

Highlights the importance of music in ritual and culture generally, extending the focus to collective action. Argues that music and its emotional and cognitive impacts can be fundamental to the construction of social movement culture. Analyses song lyrics from the southern textile strikes of 1929‐1934 in an attempt to show how music and song helped construct a collective identity across relatively dispersed mill villages, shifted accountability for mill workers problems towards the labour process and its beneficiaries and suggested to the listener a collective solution. Discusses the implications of the findings for understanding music, culture and their relation to subordinate group challenge.
The need for dialectical models as shown in the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic
Authors: Friedman Samuel R. , Reid Gary
Published: June 2007

Argues that strong social analysis can make a large contribution to understanding and fighting HIV/AIDS plus other infective diseases. Contends a global perspective is necessary to rethink our approach to infections as, globally, the virus seems to be strengthening, generally. Describes, through case studies, the transition of HIV outbreaks in South Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia, and Indonesia. Makes the case that HIV/AIDS is deeply tied up in fundamental structure and processes.
NGOs, HIV/AIDS control and reproductive health in East Africa
Authors: Labov Teresa G.
Published: June 2007

Catalogues how Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are meeting, individually, the AIDS epidemic with governmental and non‐governmental organizations (NGOs). Uses data from the United Nations and World Bank. Gives background of NGOs in East Africa and their field work. Concludes that the social dimensions of each country are very restrictive in slightly differing ways, with the various religious beliefs also having an effect which is deleterious in nature. States that, even so, there are more similarities than there are differences in the three countries.
Typologizing violence: a Blackian perspective
Authors: Jensen Gary
Published: June 2007

Although typologies of violence have become more common, relatively little attention has been given to Donald Black’s (1983) distinction between moralistic and predatory violence. Moralistic violence is rooted in conflict; predatory violence is rooted in exploitation. We elaborate Black’s typology and show how it is similar to, but distinct from, other typologies of violence. We also address the criteria by which typologies of any kind might be judged. Borrowing from the literatures on typologies and on standards of scientific theory, we argue that explanatory typologies should be evaluated according to four criteria: the degree to which they are powerful, theoretical, general, and parsimonious. Applying the criteria to Black’s typology, we argue that the distinction between moralistic and predatory violence is an important contribution to the arsenal of the student of violence.
Population policy in India
Authors: Aspalter Christian
Published: June 2007

Spotlights India and that by 2045 it may become a more populous country than China. Deplores the lack of social and economic development in India and looks at the reasons for these. Tries to explain why the population has shot up from 1971 and two‐thirds of the growth in India has taken place since then. Uses tables to aid in explanation of birth rates, literacy and literacy among females particularly. Concludes that the economic development and urbanization is to be commended but not the only key factor regarding fertility rates of single states.
Ethnozoology and the future of sociology
Authors: Arluke Arnold
Published: June 2007

Three questions are explored regarding ethnozoology’s place in sociology. First, why has sociology been slow to explore this subject or to give it much credibility? Resistance by sociologists to ethnozoology is strikingly ironic, given the discipline’s willingness in recent years to consider the plight of virtually every human minority. Although androcentric and conservative biases no doubt are part of this resistance, it is suggested that significant resistance comes from sociologists involved in the study of various oppressed groups. Second, what has sociology done to study ethnozoology so far? Acritique is made of prior attempts to categorize research in this area along topical lines. Instead, the value of theoretically organizing this literature is advocated. Finally, how should sociology proceed with ethnozoological research? An argument is made for increasing applied research. Two exemplars are provided, including the trend by police to racially profile urban pit‐bull owners and the growth of uneasiness among veterinary students who resist the traditional use of animals as educational tools.
Drawing the line between humans and animals: an examination of introductory sociology textbooks
Authors: Alger Janet M. , Alger Steven F.
Published: June 2007

Ever since Mead, sociology has maintained a deep divide between human and non human animals. In effect, Mead constructed humans as having capacities that he saw lacking in animals. Recent research on animals has challenged the traditional ideas of Mead and others by providing evidence of animal intelligence, adaptability, selfawareness, emotionality, communication and culture. This paper examines the human‐animal relationship as presented in Introductory Sociology Textbooks to see if this new research on animals has allowed us to move beyond Mead. We find outdated information and confused thinking on such topics as the relationship between language and culture, the development of the self in animals, and the role of instinct, socialization and culture in animal behavior. We conclude that, with few exceptions, the main function of the treatment of animals in these texts is to affirm the hard line that sociology has always drawn between humans and other species.
A rift in modernity? assessing the anthropogenic sources of global climate change with the STIRPAT model
Authors: York Richard , Rosa Eugene A. , Dietz Thomas
Published: June 2007

Ascientific consensus has emerged indicating that the global climate is changing due to anthropogenic (i.e., human induced) driving forces. Our previous research reformulated the well‐known I=PAT (environmental Impacts equal the multiplicative product of Population, Affluence, and Technology) model into stochastic form, named it the STIRPAT model, and used it to assess the effects of population and affluence on carbon dioxide loads. Here we extend those findings by examining the impacts of population, affluence and other factors on the emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), as well as the combined global warming potential of these two gases. We also assess the potential for “ecological modernization” or an “environmental Kuznets curve” (EKC) effect to curb GHG emissions. Our findings suggest that population is a consistent force behind GHG emissions, that affluence also drives emissions, that urbanization and industrialization increase emissions, and that tropical nations have lower emissions than non‐tropical nations, controlling for other factors. Contrary to what ecological modernization and EKC theorists predict, we find that to date there is no compelling evidence of a decline in emissions with modernization. These results support both the “treadmill of production” thesis and the “metabolic rift” thesis.
Warming winters and New Hampshire’s lost ski areas: an integrated case study
Authors: Hamilton Lawrence C. , Rohall David E. , Brown Benjamin C. , Hayward Gregg F. , Keim Barry D.
Published: June 2007

New Hampshire’s mountains and winter climate support a ski industry that contributes substantially to the state economy. Through more than 70 years of history, this industry has adapted and changed with its host society. The climate itself has changed during this period too, in ways that influenced the ski industry’s development. During the 20th century, New Hampshire’s mean winter temperature warmed about 2.1° C (3.8° F). Much of that change occurred since 1970. The mult‐decadal variations in New Hampshire winters follow global temperature trends. Snowfall exhibits a downward trend, strongest in southern New Hampshire, and also correlates with the North Atlantic Oscillation. Many small ski areas opened during the early years while winters were cold and snowy. As winters warmed, areas in southern or lowelevation locations faced a critical disadvantage. Under pressure from both climate and competition, the number of small ski areas leveled off and then fell steeply after 1970. The number of larger, chairliftoperating ski areas began falling too after 1980. Aprolonged warming period increased the importance of geographic advantages, and also of capital investment in snowmaking, grooming and economic diversification. The consolidation trend continues today. Most of the surviving ski areas are located in the northern mountains. Elsewhere around the state, one can find the remains of “lost” ski areas in places that now rarely have snow suitable for downhill skiing. This case study demonstrates a general approach for conducting integrated empirical research on the human dimensions of climate change.
Media’s social construction of environmental issues: focus on global warming – a comparative study
Authors: Marisa Dispensa Jaclyn , Brulle Robert J.
Published: June 2007

Global warming has been a well recognized environmental issue in the United States for the past ten years, even though scientists had identified it as a potential problem years before in 1896. We find debate about the issue in the United States media coverage while controversy among the majority of scientists is rare. The role that media plays in constructing the norms and ideas in society is researched to understand how they socially construct global warming and other environmental issues. To identify if the U.S. Media presents a biased view of global warming, the following are discussed (1) the theoretical perspective of media and the environment; (2) scientific overview and history of global warming; (3) media coverage of global warming, and (4) research findings from the content analysis of three countries’ newspaper articles and two international scientific journals produced in 2000 with comparison of these countries economies, industries, and environments. In conclusion, our research demonstrates that the U.S. with differing industries, predominantly dominated by the fossil fuel industry, in comparison to New Zealand and Finland has a significant impact on the media coverage of global warming. The U.S’s media states that global warming is controversial and theoretical, yet the other two countries portray the story that is commonly found in the international scientific journals. Therefore, media, acting as one driving force, is providing citizens with piecemeal information that is necessary to assess the social, environmental and political conditions of the country and world.
Girl fights: exploring females’ resistance to educational structures
Authors: Leitz Lisa
Published: June 2007

This article looks at girls who fight in order to evaluate theories of education for marginalized girls. As oppositional culture and educational resistance theories suggest for boys’ misconduct in school, girl fights are found to be a product of deindustrialization, family expectations, and peer culture. Within peer groups of marginalized students an oppositional culture develops such that girls gain respect from their peers by fighting because they demonstrate a necessary toughness. Girls who fight have a complicated relationship to education. Contrary to oppositional culture theory, these girls value educational achievement. However, the girls’ relationships with teachers are strained. Teachers do not appreciate “tough” girls. Race, class, and gender together construct a student culture that produces girls who fight in school.
The notional defined contribution approach to public pension reform: implications for women and low‐wage workers
Authors: Williamson John B. , Howling Stephanie A.
Published: June 2007

Most countries around the world base their old‐age pension programs largely on the pay‐as‐you‐go defined benefit (PAYGO DB) model. However, due to a number of factors including population aging, the maturing of these schemes, rapidly increasing old‐age pension costs, and the perceived need to become more competitive in international markets, many nations have become increasingly concerned about the present (or projected future) economic burden of paying for the pension benefits promised by these schemes. This concern has led policy makers to look for alternative models. One of the most innovative alternatives to emerge during the past ten years is the notional defined contribution (NDC) model. In this article we describe this model and discuss some of the implications of a shift to this model for women and low‐wage workers. We conclude that in the industrial nations women and low‐wage workers are likely to do less well with schemes based all or in part on the NDC model because such schemes are typically designed to be less redistributive (from higher to lower income groups) than the PAYGO DB schemes they will be replacing. However, in developing countries the reverse will often be true as the NDC schemes are likely to be replacing PAYGO DB schemes that tend to redistribute from low‐income groups to higher income groups. Relative to funded DC schemes a major advantage of the NDC model is that it does not subject individual pension benefits to the volatility of financial markets. This issue is relevant to workers in both developed and developing nations, but it is a particularly important consideration in developing nations.
Jihad in monotheistic religions: implications for business and management
Authors: Ali Abbas J. , Gibbs Manton , Camp Robert C.
Published: June 2007

The subject of Jihad has been a fiercly debated topic in the past few decades. Contradictory translations have been adopted by differing religious groups and political camps. In some quarters Jihad has been associated with violence and war. Other quarters perceive the Jihad to mean a striving within oneself and the struggle for self‐improvement. In this paper, the historical and contemporary perspectives of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam regarding Jihad are outlined. The evolution of the meaning of Jihad in each religion is clarified and similarities and dissimilarities among the three religions are highlighted. Various forms of Jihad are presented. The paper, however, argues that true Jihad means an active participation in social improvement and economic development. In addition, the paper provides implications of Jihad for business and organizations.
“Is it fun?” developing children centred research methods
Authors: Barker John , Weller Susie
Published: June 2007

Over the past ten years, geographers have contributed to the growing body of interdisciplinary research developing new ways of undertaking research with children. Traditional research methods which do not directly involve working with children, such as the large scale observation of children, have been criticised for carrying out research on rather than with children. Instead, drawing upon the increasingly important children’s rights movement, researchers have been developing inclusive and participatory children centred methodologies, which place the voices of children, as social actors, at the centre of the research process. In this paper, we draw upon two ongoing postgraduate geographical research projects with children to reflect upon our own experiences of adopting children centred research methodologies. We also critically evaluate our own use of different innovative children centred research techniques, such as photographs, diaries, in‐depth interviews and surveys.We also highlight the importance of considering the impact of the spaces in which we conduct our research.
Practitioners as gatekeepers and researchers: family support outcomes
Authors: Tidmarsh Jillian , Carpenter John , Slade John
Published: June 2007

This paper describes the problems and difficulties encountered in a current research project which is attempting to engage practitioners in the collection of data using standardized outcome measures. The aim of the research is to meet the demand for greater clarity about the services and, particularly, the therapeutic interventions delivered by family support practitioners, whilst maintaining a sensitivity to the family support services’ client group. The client group consists of children in need and vulnerable families who might often be described as “in crisis”. The paper explains the family support context and refers to the difficulties encountered by other researchers in this field. The methods and process of engaging practitioners in this research have not been widely used and are, perhaps without precedent. They are described in detail, as are both the reported and perceived problems which have become a research finding in their own right.
“How do you ge a PhD in that?!”: using feminist epistemologies to research the lives of working class women
Authors: Casey Emma
Published: June 2007

This article represents an attempt to uncover a suitable method of sociological enquiry, which can best understand and explore the experiences of the older, working class women of my research. Noting the historical, frustrating sense of absence of women in dominant knowledge claims (for example Beauvoir, 1997; Woolf, 1993; Rowbotham, 1973), the article seeks to complement post‐modern critiques of the autonomy of reason with feminist accounts of knowledge or “epistemologies”. The article documents the dislocation between my own epistemological assumptions and the women’s ways of knowing, and their attempts to defend themselves against my middle class interpretations of their working class lives. It offers a reflexive account of my own ethnographic research experiences, in order to help resolve some of the practical dilemmas faced by feminist researchers (Ribbens and Edwards, 1988). The article highlights some of the pains and pleasures of the feminist research experience.
Health professions, gender and society: introduction and outlook
Authors: Blättel‐Mink Birgit , Kuhlmann Ellen
Published: June 2007

Changing market conditions, new modes of labour and decreasing legitimisation of experts, as well as an increasing ratio of women, pose new challenges to the professions. These ongoing dynamics are especially visible in the health care system – a traditional professional field with strongly formalised rules governing entrance, initiation and career paths. In addition, this field is highly segregated according to sexes. How do the bove‐mentioned processes of change present themselves and what economic, social or structural factors cause them? What role does gender play within these processes? What potential lies in the re‐structuring processes of health care systems as far as a gender equal architecture and design of professions is concerned? These and other questions are addressed in this collection of papers. For the main part they grew out of a thematic focus event organised and coordinated by the editors for the 5th Conference of the European Sociological Association (ESA) Research Network Sociology of Professions that was held in 2001 in Helsinki. Inspired by the richness of the research results on professions and gender in health care systems in various European countries and new horizons which opened up from the comparative perspective in different countries, professions, and theoretical approaches, and finally motivated by very constructive ensuing discussions, we decided to continue the discussion with a publication.
The career and work of pathologists: a gender perspective
Authors: Riska Elianne
Published: June 2007

This paper describes how Finnish women and men pathologists account for their career choices. Finland has a gender‐balanced medical profession, but pathology has of all specialties the lowest proportion of women (28 per cent), except surgery. Nine men and nine women pathologists were interviewed in order to find out the reasons for having chosen a non‐patient specialty and if gender matters concerning performance and organisation of this occupation. In men’s accounts, the embedded character of gender rendered it invisible. The blindness of the male respondents to the related peer network and mentor system results in them supposing that their choice of specialty unfolds as though “by chance”. By contrast, the women whom we interviewed described their career choices as due to self‐selection. Women saw themselves as active agents, while men did not. A theoretical framework is presented for understanding women’s and men’s orientation to the gender division of labour and the gendered structures in medicine.
Gender differences, gender hierarchies and professions: an embedded approach to the German dental profession
Authors: Kuhlmann Ellen
Published: June 2007

What part does gender play in professionalism? How does gender translate into hierarchies in professions? This paper attempts to deal with these questions and to move towards an embedded approach that can account for paradoxes of gender and professions. It focuses on the notion of context and the hypothesis that gender is both stable and variable. Using empirical material from a multi‐method study of the German dental profession, three main issues are considered: the impact of different structuring modes and diverse actors on gender relations, the relation of gender difference and hierarchy, and differentiation between women as a group. Gender becomes manifest on the symbolic level as well as in structural arrangements. However, its impact on each of these levels varies. Most striking is the empirical proof that gender does not lead to the construction of hierarchies under all conditions. Female symbolism can also favour women. Professionalisation theories help to reconstruct these processes.
Professional and domestic work arrangements of women general practitioners in France
Authors: Lapeyre Nathalie
Published: June 2007

Parallel to the increase in the number of women taking up medical careers, the reform of the 3rd cycle of medical studies in France has brought about some changes in professional norms. The traditional model of general practitioner (GP) practice usually refers to a totally dedicated male doctor, with the domestic support of a female carer. For many women doctors this model of reference clashes head on with the traditional division of the roles between women and men. The current forms of the “social contract between the sexes” are questioned and women GPs introduce specific (time) strategies for managing medical practice and family life.
Interprofessional education in maternity care: shared learning for women‐centred care
Authors: Crozier Kenda
Published: June 2007

There is a general agreement that the potential of shared learning is great in terms of interprofessional working and client care. Despite the fact that interprofessional education has been a key area of professional education and practice policies for the last decade there is a dearth of evidence of its successful implementation in maternity care. Doctors and midwives are often educated in separate faculties within universities and rarely given the opportunity for shared learning activities, particularly at postgraduate level. Barriers to implementing interprofessional learning are identified within the literature and these include a difference in perception of the status each profession holds and different ways of working and learning which impedes the development of interprofessional relationships. It is argued that through interprofessional education, doctors and midwives should be enabled to develop skills of collaborative working, thus making referrals between professionals more effective. The exploration of the differences of professional cultures in a shared learning environment will enable professionals to formulate agreement on best practice in the clinical areas, based on current best evidence. Thus, interprofessional education aims to dispel the stereotypes and prejudice which often act as a barrier to effective collaborative working. The implications of interprofessional education on three main areas of practice are explored using a review of the literature: professional roles; conflict and collaboration between professions; and the sharing of knowledge and skills. Recommendations are made for the development of post‐registration shared learning that address these key areas.
Shifting boundaries and negotiations on knowledge: interprofessional conflicts between nurses and nursing assistants in Norway
Authors: Dahle Rannveig
Published: June 2007

This chapter deals with a long and intense conflict between nurses and nursing assistants within the context of the Norwegian health care system. Caring work is culturally coded as female. A major issue embedded in the conflict concerns the definition of knowledge. The issue, it is argued, is not so much what constitutes knowledge, but what counts as professional expertise and theoretical knowledge when it comes to women’s work, which is devalued. As a middle‐class women’s occupation, nurses have strong aspirations that their work be acknowledged as a full profession. Their knowledge base is a combination of practical and theoretical knowledge, profoundly different from medicine they themselves argue. Such a “professionalisation” of care work is, however, threatened by the mere presence of nursing assistants and the overlapping work they do. For various reasons – not least strategic – the concept of basic care was introduced more than ten years ago. The term was rather vaguely defined, but seems to comprise all personal care for the patient and the patient’s body, including intimate tasks such as washing, dealing with bodily waste products, feeding, etc. Making basic care the exclusive preserve of nurses and delegating the more “housewifely” tasks to nursing assistants effectively excludes the latter from caring work and, not surprisingly, they strongly oppose existing working boundaries and the redistribution of tasks. We investigate the power relationship between the two occupational groups and examine dual closure strategies. Interestingly, nurses have invested in a precarious strategy by reclaiming the hands‐on bodywork that is often labelled “dirty work”. In Western societies these tasks are commonly left to working‐class women. The conflict is thus about both gender and class in an androgynous professional world. The aim is to explore the occupational conflict and to trace some of its implications for theorising professions. Professional tasks, knowledge claims, and the concept of dirty work are addressed, and professional projects and strategies discussed from a gender perspective.
Policy as a collective venture: a symbolic interactionist approach to the study of organizational directives
Authors: Prus Robert
Published: June 2007

Although the particular policies that groups establish may serve to differentiate those groups from others in the broader community, policies are better envisioned as aspects of group life in the making than as structures or rules that define the character or operations of the groups under consideration. Addressing instances of policy as humanly engaged ventures, this statement attempts to demystify policy by (a) examining organizational directives in process terms, (b) explicitly incorporating people into the study of the policy‐making process. This paper also addresses policy in ways that (c) are more amenable to ethnographic research on actual instances of policy and (d) contribute to a sustained, comparative analysis of “policy in the making”.
The effects of hospital restructuring that included layoffs on individual nurses who remained employed: a systematic review of impact
Authors: Cummings Greta , Estabrooks Carole A.
Published: June 2007

The study purpose was to assess the evidence on the effects of hospital restructuring that included layoffs, on nurses who remained employed, using a systematic review of the research literature to contribute to policy formation. Papers addressing research, hospital restructuring resulting in layoffs, effects on nurses, and a stated relationship between the independent and dependent variables were included. Data were extracted and the quality of each study was assessed. The final group of included studies had 22 empirical papers. The main effects were significant decreases in job satisfaction, professional efficacy, ability to provide quality care, physical and emotional health, and increases in turnover, and disruption to healthcare team relationships. Nurses with fewer years of experience or who experienced multiple episodes of restructuring experienced greater effects. Other findings remain inconclusive. Further research is required to determine if these effects are temporal or can be mitigated by individual or organizational strategies.
Nurse absenteeism, stress and workplace injury: what are the contributing factors and what can/should be done about it?
Authors: Shamian Judith , O’Brien‐Pallas Linda , Thomson Donna , Alksnis Chris , Steven Kerr Michael
Published: June 2007

States Canadian governments have, after a decade of health care downsizing, started to focus on issues of health human resources. Posits that nurses in particular experience higher rates of absenteeism and injury than other types of Canadian workers. Advocates that this study’s findings offers numerous ideas to managers of the system, unions, nurses, government and other parties on how to manage the system better for all involved and the improvement of the health care system.
American farmers’ markets: two types of informality
Authors: Tiemann Thomas K.
Published: June 2007

Farmers’ markets in the United States are structured in various ways. Even those once‐or‐twice‐a‐week markets that remain outside of the mass production and distribution system by requiring that all goods sold be produced by the seller take two distinct forms. The varieties of produce sold, the number of choices offered customers, the prices charged, the age and income expectations of the sellers, the rules the sellers obey and the role of the sellers in writing and enforcing those rules are consistent within each type of informal, American farmers’ markets but are quite different between the two types.
Fostering community self‐help in deprived neighbourhoods
Authors: Williams Colin C.
Published: June 2007

Attempts to nurture community self‐help in deprived neighbourhoods presently tend to pursue the “third sector” route of developing community‐based groups. Reporting data from recent UK government surveys of community involvement, however, this article uncovers how such a third sector approach promotes a form of community self‐help more reflective of the culture of engagement in affluent than deprived populations. If community self‐help is to be harnessed in ways that build on the existing culture of engagement in deprived neighbourhoods, then this article shows that the current third sector route will need to be complemented with a “fourth sector” approach that seeks to further develop informal forms of community self‐help (i.e., acts of one‐to‐one reciprocity(. The article concludes by outlining some possible policy initiatives that might be used to implement this fourth sector approach.
US core values: a Chinese perspective
Authors: Peppas Spero C.
Published: June 2007

With globalisation and the opening of China’s borders, there has been increasing business and government interaction between China and the US. Given US interest in China’s market and the cultural distance between these two countries, it is imperative for US business persons not only to understand Chinese values, but also to examine how Chinese relate to US values. To this end, this study examines the attitudes of a sample of Chinese with regard to 10 US core values and compares their attitudes to those of a sample of US Americans. Despite some significant differences, the results of this study point out that the Chinese and US respondents exhibited many similarities in their attitudes.
Women doing and making time: reclaiming time
Authors: Wahidin Azrini , Moss Dot
Published: June 2007

This article discusses themes emerging from two independent research projects. In order to understand how women negotiate and transgress time frames, we critically explore and make visible the strategies used by two very different groups, who are placed in different locales and time orderings. The first group are women in later life and in prison and the second group, women students in higher education. It is by inserting the words of women into debates on time, agency and space that we are able to make visible the strategies that women harness in order to do, make and reclaim time. Within this article we discuss the different research strategies employed by the authors. First, we look at conceptualisations of time and gender. Then we discuss how these respectively inform our research. Azrini Wahidin discusses the role and meaning of time in relation to how female elders in prison come to understand and simultaneously negotiate coercive time use in prison and the passing of time on the outside. She focuses on how the strictures of disciplinary time and the lack of choice create innovative ways of negotiating and resisting the disciplining of institution time in prison. Dot Moss discusses the everyday practice and experience of women students, who, in contrast, have relative freedom to time‐structure their day. She focuses on the ways in which space and time to study are both socially and personally constructed out of other’s time and time for other things (Davies 1990). Common themes arising in relation to the analysis of gender and time are then discussed.
Pampered or enslaved? the moral dilemmas of pets
Authors: Irvine Leslie
Published: June 2007

This essay discusses whether the practice of keeping pets, defined as a class of animals existing for human purposes, is morally acceptable. Clouding the issue is the claim that humans have always had pets. Selected historical examples show that this is not the case. Instead, the doctrine of human supremacy has meant that close relationships with animals have often been ideologically impossible. Today, however, increasing knowledge about animals’ intellectual and emotional capacities blurs the once‐distinct boundary between humans and other animals. Given this knowledge, treatment of animals must also be reassessed. In particular, the essay argues that animals have the basic right not to be treated as the property of others. Although a world without pets is unpleasant to consider, the perpetuation of our pleasure is not sufficient reason to enslave other animals.
Consuming the surplus: expanding “meat” consumption and animal oppression
Authors: Winders Bill , Nibert David
Published: June 2007

The number of animals raised and slaughtered for food in the U.S. has increased dramatically since 1945. We examine how two factors have been fundamental in this expansion of “meat” consumption: the market and the state. U.S. agricultural policies that emerged form the New Deal centered on price supports and production controls. While these policies were aimed at controlling supply, they instead spurred intensive and industrial techniques that resulted in continuous overproduction, especially in corn, wheat and soybeans. As a result, farm organizations and the state promoted “meat” production and consumption as a way to alleviate the surplus. To handle this expansion, intensive and industrial methods reshaped “meat” production, resulting in more oppressive living conditions for animals raised as “meat”. We explore this connection between the market, state policy and animal oppression. We also briefly analyze how this relationship has likewise affected workers and peripheral nations in the world economy.