Marilyn Porter and Kristi Poerwandari
Purpose – To explore certain aspects of women's experience of their reproductive lives, in different cultural contexts, especially their views on sexuality and sexual practices…
Abstract
Purpose – To explore certain aspects of women's experience of their reproductive lives, in different cultural contexts, especially their views on sexuality and sexual practices. It is based on transnational comparative research, and compares the experiences and meanings about motherhood and mother/daughter relationships, especially referring to sexuality and reproductive health. The two contexts we have chosen for this chapter are drawn from our data on Indonesian and Canadian women. While these women come from culturally diverse situations, we find continuities between their experiences as well as contrasts in the contexts in which they live their reproductive lives.
Methodology – Our study was based on collecting participant driven narratives focused on their experience of their reproductive lives. We interviewed women from three generations in the same families to secure a longitudinal perspective and to examine the relationships between generations in the same family. Our overall purpose was to examine the role of local culture in the social reproduction of women's lives in the family.
Findings – The findings we discuss in this chapter focus on the continuities and contrasts we found in women's experience as lived in very different cultural, religious, and political contexts. Indonesian and Canadian women are struggling to live healthy and meaningful lives in a world that is changing ideologically, culturally, politically, and economically. We identify some key problems faced by women, especially as they negotiate the difficult terrain of sexuality, and suggest some points of entry in solving them.
Originality/value – The originality of the article lies in the close examination of in-depth, qualitative data on family relationships, especially in contrasting cultural situations. We also think that our approach, which focuses on generations of women in the same families, provides us with a unique perspective on how relationships and especially women's experience of their reproductive and sexual lives are closely related to the way in which culture is mediated in families.
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Bojan Srbinoski, Klime Poposki, Patricia Born and Karel Van Hulle
Solvency and market conduct regulations play a crucial role in supporting life insurance development by boosting consumer confidence and securing a stable environment for insurers…
Abstract
Purpose
Solvency and market conduct regulations play a crucial role in supporting life insurance development by boosting consumer confidence and securing a stable environment for insurers to write business. The regulation encapsulates not only the legal framework but also its enforcement. This study aims to focus on the latter and investigate the impact of solvency and market conduct examinations on life insurance development within a homogenous legal environment in the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the relationship between the regulatory examinations and life insurance development, this study uses annual data for 51 US states over the period 2013–2018 and uses fixed and random effects panel regressions controlling for the possible omitted variables bias and serial correlation. This study constructs two groups of indicators to measure the robustness and ability of regulators to prevent insolvencies and opportunistic market practices and estimate their effects on market development.
Findings
The results show that more stringent regulators with respect to solvency examinations deter life insurers from their markets and channel to those markets with lenient examiners, hurting the development of life insurance in the stringent states. Additionally, regulators boost consumer confidence by providing robust market conduct practices, which results in higher life insurance demand.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the debates about the pros and cons of the current state-led regulation in the USA and the general benefits/costs of regulation for insurance market development.
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Families who left their homes in Central America and Mexico searching for a better life in the United States often left their children behind until they were financially secure…
Abstract
Families who left their homes in Central America and Mexico searching for a better life in the United States often left their children behind until they were financially secure enough to send for them. The children usually waited years to reunite with their parents while many never made the voyage. The children’s emotional stories are conveyed in their own words detailing how vulnerable they felt when abandoned, confused, and at times, rejected after finally connecting with their long-lost families. The psychological trauma for the parents, and especially for their children, is documented via the children’s voices.
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Roopkiran Kohout and Parbudyal Singh
The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of marginalized women in achieving equal pay for work of equal value. The research focuses on Ontario, Canada, as this is a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of marginalized women in achieving equal pay for work of equal value. The research focuses on Ontario, Canada, as this is a leading jurisdiction globally in implementing legislation on pay equity. It provides an opportunity to understand the lived experiences of women whom scholars have identified as particularly vulnerable in workplaces.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative research study. Twenty-three interviews were conducted with women defined as marginalized. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.
Findings
Three themes resulted from the analysis: early employment experiences, cultural challenges at work and inequities in pay. The authors found that not only do structural and organizational barriers limit the ability of marginalized women to achieve parity in the workplace but there also is a hidden social element that requires further investigation.
Originality/value
The gender pay gap is wider for marginalized women, even after three decades since pay equity legislation was implemented in Ontario. There is a dearth of research on why this is the case. This study adds to the literature by focusing on a broader set of factors, in addition to legislation, that must be considered when focusing on solutions to the gender pay gap.
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From the 1960s onwards, students and members of the academic community on growing numbers of college and university campuses in the United States chose to confront the issue of…
Abstract
From the 1960s onwards, students and members of the academic community on growing numbers of college and university campuses in the United States chose to confront the issue of apartheid by advocating divestment from corporations or financial institutions with any sort of presence in or relationship with South Africa. Student divestment advocates faced serious opposition from university administrators as well as opponents of institutional divestiture both at home and abroad. Despite these challenges, the academic community in the United States was one of the first arenas where anti-apartheid activism coalesced. This chapter examines the campaigns of students and educators who participated in the debate over divestment – to engage with the South African government and apartheid through dialogue and communication or to disengage completely from the country through withdrawal of financial investments. The anti-apartheid efforts of the academic community at Michigan State University, one of the first large research universities in the United States to confront the issue of apartheid and divestment at the university level and beyond, serves as a window to view academic activism against apartheid. The Southern Africa Liberation Committee (SALC), a consortium of students, faculty, and community members dedicated to aiding the liberation struggle of Southern Africa, led the efforts at Michigan State and collaborated with allies across Michigan and the United States. SALC focused most of its efforts on South Africa, though the organization also confronted the issue of South Africa's controversial occupation of South West Africa and the ongoing civil war in Angola.
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In 1985, I was moving along a more or less definable disciplinary path, writing qualitative sociology guided by my understanding of leading symbolic interactionist texts…
Abstract
In 1985, I was moving along a more or less definable disciplinary path, writing qualitative sociology guided by my understanding of leading symbolic interactionist texts, productively disturbed by affection for Harold Garfinkel's ethnomethodology. Although there were prior lines of influence, my writing then was focused especially on various “social constructionist” projects, first with Peter Conrad (Conrad & Schneider, 1992 [1980]; Schneider & Conrad, 1983) and then with Malcolm Spector and John Kitsuse (Kitsuse & Schneider, 1984, 1989). I also read closely and had many conversations with Anselm Strauss about how to do what he and Barney Glaser called “grounded theory” and with Howard Becker about “doing sociology.” Not only did I feel that I was getting better at doing ethnography or field work and “writing it up,” as we put it in Sociology, I felt I was engaged in an epistemologically superior practice relative to the more quantitative and structurally oriented work that was then and still is defined as “mainstream” (a land from which I had emigrated, gradually, after the Ph.D.).
Erik S. Rasmussan, Tage Koed Madsen and Felicitas Evangelista
Attempts to consider how a founder has reduced equivocality in relation to support networks and reducing risks, especially in an international environment. Presents the case…
Abstract
Attempts to consider how a founder has reduced equivocality in relation to support networks and reducing risks, especially in an international environment. Presents the case studies of five Danish and Australian born global companies. Considers different global models and their limitations. Presents the findings of recent surveys in this area. Concludes that internationalization has not been the primary objective in the founding process and gives direction for further research.
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M. Amalia Pesantes and Patricia I. Documet
The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the limitations of strategies that mothers of undocumented Latino children use in an emerging community to address the health…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the limitations of strategies that mothers of undocumented Latino children use in an emerging community to address the health needs of their children.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth interviews with low-income immigrant mothers of undocumented Latino children (n=10) and social service providers (n=6). Interviews were transcribed, coded using Atlas-ti and analyzed to identify common perspectives on the strategies used to secure healthcare for uninsured undocumented children.
Findings
Mothers of undocumented Latino children struggle to secure healthcare for their children. Based on the principles of familismo and personalismo, they rely on social support networks such as friends, relatives and fellow churchgoers to secure information about available healthcare options. Despite the willingness of social and health service providers to help them access healthcare, options are limited and depend on the actions of individuals rather than organized solutions. Securing care for undocumented children using families, friends and sympathetic individual providers as the source of information and advice leads to fragile unsustainable solutions.
Research limitations/implications
This paper adds to the small yet growing literature of Latinos in emerging communities.
Practical implications
Emerging Latino communities are usually unprepared to welcome Latinos and address its various needs. Undocumented children are a particularly vulnerable group and any sustainable strategy to address their needs would require structural changes in existing health services to ensure that undocumented children’s lives are not affected by poor health.
Originality/value
Healthcare access problems for immigrant children are presented from the perspective of parents and offers a nuanced description of health systems unpreparedness to provide care for vulnerable groups whose immigrant status is poorly understood.
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Amy Paros, Patricia S. Kelly and Therese A. Sprinkle
This paper seeks to enhance team performance by intersecting two existing literature streams, generational influences and working teams. This paper aims to boost project objective…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to enhance team performance by intersecting two existing literature streams, generational influences and working teams. This paper aims to boost project objective achievement through the instrumental use of generational competencies despite temporary and provisional project team environments. This supports project team leaders in harnessing diverse generational competencies of contributors to maximize outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt the simultaneous use of social categorization and information processing to connect these diverse literature streams, highlighting the value system and skills of each generation to maximize working benefits.
Findings
Project team leader’s tactical deployment of generational competencies may positively contribute to execution and increased goal achievement. The increasingly provisional nature of workforce teams magnifies the need for intentional team management. Embracing generational competencies may elevate team members, increase productivity and decrease turnover.
Practical implications
This paper offers a pathway to couple team execution and generational differences by identifying generational traits which may benefit execution-focused, but provisional teams.
Social implications
Rather than managing team members to fit into a specific work process, this paper explores the benefits associated with team leader acceptance and strategic use of diverse generational behaviours.
Originality/value
The authors expand upon team diversity by intersecting execution-based and provisional project teams with the intentional use of generational influences to build trust and further positive outcomes.