Browsing by Subject "Girls"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Conceptualizing empowerment in international development education
    (2013-08) Hegeman-Davis, Raya G.
    Empowerment, especially of women and girls, has become a central focus of development efforts over the past decade. There are a wide variety of ways in which the construct of empowerment is defined and conceptualized across development efforts. This plethora of meanings has allowed for a multitude of development programs to be labeled as empowerment programs, but has also led to confusion as to what is meant by the term empowerment and what it is that empowerment programs are attempting to accomplish. This study aimed to provide greater specificity about the definition and conceptualization of empowerment within international development education programs, specifically within programs which intend to empower women and girls. By asking professionals in the field of international development education about their experience with empowerment programs, this study helps to clarify the meanings of empowerment for these individuals and to identify the most salient aspects of the empowerment programs with which they work. Twenty one interviews were completed and 32 questionnaires were collected from professionals working in 12 different organizations including non-government organizations, multi-lateral aid organizations, bi-lateral aid agencies (such as USAID) and private consulting firms. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses showed that these development organization professionals conceptualized empowerment along three main themes Agency, with a focus on decision-making; Power relations/negotiations in family relations; and Laws and structures to empowerment. The sub-theme of involving men in empowerment also came out as a critical theme to empowerment. These four themes indicate what the participants feel are the most salient issues in empowerment programming. In general, participants defined empowerment in individual-agency-based terms indicating that their empowerment programs are focusing on a linear progression of individual progress. These four themes indicate a conceptual framework for empowerment which places agency at the forefront with other domains of empowerment being addressed separately or at a later time. The focus on agency may, in the short term, allow empowerment programs to address larger numbers of individuals and may indeed provide a building block for empowerment, but may also limit organizations' conceptualizations of empowerment as well as reduce the possibility for transformative change in the lives of women and girls. The theme on power relations and negotiations in the family highlights the complex nature of family hierarchies and the shifting nature of women's roles within them. The findings indicate that these participants view empowerment programs addressing the constraints women face from other women as important and in some situations more important than the constraints from men. Future research into this area may allow for these complex power dynamics to be addressed in a manner that reduces any possible negative effects on women while increasing their status and bargaining power within both the male - female hierarchies as well as the female-female hierarchies.
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    The gender dichotomy and its impact on the attitude and satisfaction levels of first-year female college students towards their high school physical education experience
    (2014-03) Reimann, Bonnie Joan
    Current research (Fisette, 2011; Hills & Croston, 2012; Slater & Tiggemann, 2011) indicates a significant lack of participation among adolescent girls in physical education. This behavior, the research suggests, may be explained by the possibility that physical education inadvertently foster a gender dichotomy by deploying learned ideologies of femininity. According to research (Azzarito, 2010; Fisette, 2011; Hills & Croston, 2012; Jeanes, 2011), young women are more explicitly affected by the gender dichotomy in the physical education classroom. This mixed method study sought a dynamic answer to the question of women’s avoidance and apparent dissatisfaction with physical education by exploring the attitude and satisfaction levels of first–year female college students toward their high school physical education classes. Questionnaires were used to examine the attitude and satisfaction levels that first–year female college students (N=51) exhibited towards their high school physical education experiences and to gauge their perception of the presence of a gender dichotomy in the physical education classroom. The quantitative data criteria narrowed the potential interview participants to nine girls. To give voice to their experiences, and to gain a better understanding of the gender dichotomy associated with participation in physical education, a feminist perspective guided the qualitative interviews. A basic qualitative approach with a feminist perspective guided the analysis of the interview data. The results of this study offer further and more complete evidence to explain young women’s lack of involvement in physical education classes. It also offers curricular and pedagogical suggestions for achieving a more inclusive physical education environment.
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    Mothers' and adolescent daughters' perceptions of communication about sex.
    (2008-06) Kody, Carli Alanna Braun
    Drawing upon Consensual Qualitative Research methods (CQR; Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997), this qualitative study examined mothers' and adolescent daughters' perceptions of their communication about sex. Fifteen Mother and daughter dyads ( n = 15 mothers, n = 15 daughters) from a major Midwestern metropolitan area participated in individual, semi-structured interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded and later transcribed. Transcriptions were manually analyzed using CQR techniques to extract major domains and categories. Domains and categories were compared between mother-daughter dyads and across mothers and daughters using cross-case analysis procedures. Data analysis and consensus procedures yielded 17 domains and 55 categories for mothers and 15 domains and 44 categories for daughters. Findings revealed that mothers and daughters perceived mother-daughter communication about sex as more complex than their communication about other topics. Mothers and daughters described little or no discussion about intimacy and/or pleasure as it relates to sex and sexuality. Furthermore, they described discomfort (e.g., vulnerability, awkwardness, uncertainty) related to discussing sex, feelings that are unique to this topic (at least with respect to their frequency and intensity). Mother and daughters struggled with self-disclosure boundaries. They worried about each other's reactions and the consequences of what they expressed during discussions about sex-related topics. Mothers expressed ambivalence, for instance, wishing to talk with their daughters about sex, but not wanting them to actually know about sex. Overall, mothers and daughters wished to improve their communication about sex. Although mothers and daughters seemed to share similar perspectives on the process of their mother-daughter communication about sex, they appeared to disagree on the content of their communication. Consistent with prior research, overall level of dyadic agreement was low. Major findings are discussed and practice implications and research recommendations are presented.
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    Window panes and mirror frames: social constructions of American girlhood in children's pages and periodicals (1865-1952)
    (2011-05) Edenborg, Katherine Erin Roberts
    Window Panes & Mirror Frames: Social Constructions of American Girlhood in Children's Pages and Periodicals (1865-1952) Representations of girlhood have been socially constructed via media content and popular culture. This can be done by providing a society with a certain way of talking about girls, creating, in essence, a discourse. Content from 177 articles in children's periodicals and 757 articles in children's sections and girls' pages from 1865 through 1952 were examined to discern what girls were reading about: a) Who or what girls could be (roles), and b) How girls could be (traits, learned or inculcated). The purpose was to get a better understanding of what the girls' choices were (range of roles and traits seen in texts) and what messages girls were most exposed to (frequency of constructions and messages in texts). At least 21 roles and more than five dozen traits were identified—dominant, enduring and/or consistent—across the 87-year period. The Socializer role became more mentioned while the Nurturer roles became less mentioned, and the Keeper-of-the-Hearth roles remained strong. A proper-sphere discourse dominated throughout the 87 years.