Digital Commons Network^™

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Postpartum Care In The Greater Boston Area During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Tianyue Mi, Peiyin Hung, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Alecia Mcgregor, Jinggui He, Jie Zhou

Faculty Publications

IMPORTANCE Racial and ethnic disparities in postpartum care access have been well identified in the United States. Such disparities could be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic because of amplified economic distress and compromised social capital among pregnant women who belong to racial or ethnic minority groups.

OBJECTIVE To examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with an increase in the existing racial and ethnic disparity in postpartum care access.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This was a retrospective cohort study using electronic health records data. Multinomial logistic regressions in an interrupted time series approach were used to assess monthly changes in …

Community Health Worker Program - Substance Use Disorder In Pregnancy, Alicia Claire Kletter Dnp

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background Substance use disorder (SUD) in pregnancy is a concern for mother, baby and community. Healthcare policies are increasingly calling for diversification of the workforce to meet healthcare needs. Community health workers (CHWs) are understood from the literature to be effective at bridging the gap between patient and healthcare provider, especially for vulnerable populations. Local Problem California’s Central Valley is majority Latinx and faces challenges from poverty, lack of medical resources, unemployment and SUD at rates which are higher than other communities. Combine SUD with pregnancy and the need for robust social connections, psychological support, and physical healthcare become even …

Women's Response To Spousal Pornography Use: A Grounded Theory, Misha Duncan Crawford

Theses and Dissertations

Empirical research suggests that married women may more commonly experience spousal pornography use as a relational attachment threat and are more likely to experience negatively associated relational outcomes such as distress and loss of trust. The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory of women’s response to concealed spousal pornography use. This study included the experiences of 30 women who reported spousal pornography use as a threat to relational attachment and demonstrated evidence of individual and relational healing thereafter. The research question, “How do women describe the experience of learning of their spouse’s pornography use and the …

Is Active Voice Enough? Community Discussions On Passive Voice, Mmiwg2s, And Violence Against Urban Indigenous Women In San José, California, Soma De Bourbon, Ketzal Gomez, Beatriz San Juan

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Men commit violence against Native American women at higher rates than other racial or ethnic groups. When violence against Indigenous women is discussed and written about, it is often in passive voice. Several scholars note the problem of using passive voice to talk about violence against women, but there is little research on how women themselves understand passive voice as connected to the violence perpetrated against them, and we found no literature on how Native women understand passive voice. This research asks how urban Native and Indigenous women understand passive language in relationship to violence. The authors, who are all …

The Feminine Harp As Feminist Tool: Early Professional Footing For Women In Mid-Twentieth-Century America, Chelsea Lane

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In 1930s North America, women—for the first time—were accorded permanent principal positions in significant American orchestras. Edna Phillips, Alice Chalifoux, and Sylvia Meyer, all students of the legendary harp pedagogue Carlos Salzedo, have been celebrated as pioneers for the prestigious employment they obtained in the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra, respectively, between 1930 and 1933. Despite the impressiveness of these accomplishments, however, the narrative of their “firstness” is not wholly accurate. In actuality, female harpists have occupied orchestral posts as acting principals, substitutes, and second harpists since the very inception of orchestras. The cause for their early …

Girls Build Summer Academy Leadership Summit, Itzell Ruiz

Construction Management

This paper highlights the activities and presentations that will take place during the women in construction leadership summit prior to the Girls Build Summer Academy for high school girls. The leadership summit is a two-day event that will consist of presentations on important leadership and construction topics. The presentations will cover topics such as confidence, safety, leadership assessment activity, tool shop training, emerging trends, career paths, jobsite visit, and a women’s panel. This leadership summit will be implemented in the summer of 2023 and will take place at Cal Poly’s campus in the Construction Innovations Center. The scope of this …

Transitioning To The Top: Learnings From Success Stories Of Indian Women Leaders In Academia, Hemlata Vivek Gaikwad, Suruchi Pandey

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women leaders in Indian organizations experience several challenges and obstacles that affect their career progression as well as performance. The study was premised on the under-representation of women in leadership positions across organizations. The challenges and barriers faced by Indian women leaders have been well documented, but very little research has been conducted on the experiences of women who aspired and achieved the top positions. The study intended to explore and develop a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of women leaders so as to define pathways for future leaders to come. The study through the prism of intersectionality theory …

The Road To Femvertising: Stereotypes And Empowerment Analysis In Turkish Television Advertisements, Emel Yarimoglu

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women have been represented by stereotypes and gender roles in the advertising industry for years. A new era of strong women representations has begun with female empowerment activities in advertising. Female empowerment in advertising is called femvertising. Femvertising activities aim to destroy stereotypes in advertisements, ignore sexuality, give pro-female messages, and represent women in an authentic way. The purpose of the study is to investigate women’s representations in television advertising by analyzing stereotypes and female empowerment in Turkey. For this purpose, television advertisements, broadcasting on Turkish television channels between September 2020 and November 2020, were examined by content analysis. In …

Women’S Empowerment And The Well-Being Of The Unemployed Women In Yakurr, Nigeria, Achoda Thomas Omang, John Thompson Okpa, Ofem Nnana Okoi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Issues on women’s deprivation, marginalization and empowerment are well documented in literature. The impact of women’s empowerment on the well-being of unemployed women in Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria, is yet to receive sufficient investigation from scholars. Thus, this study explores the relationship between women’s empowerment and the well-being of the unemployed women, aged 18-45 years in Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. It specifically examines the types and access to available women’s empowerment programmes, the nature of empowerment programmes that women have benefitted from, as well as areas of positive impact in …

The Transformation Of The Social Imaginary On Women’S Sexuality In Indonesian Literature From The New Order To Reformasi Eras, Wening Udasmoro, Nur Saktiningrum

Journal of International Women's Studies

In this research, we explored the social imaginary that relates to women’s sexuality based on the writings of several prominent Indonesian female authors. We argue that the social imaginary is not only a social construction but also a construct created through an individual’s active participation. Historically, the social imaginary in Indonesia has been tied to nationalism; however, it has gradually shifted toward the individual perspective. In particular, this study examined the construction of the social imaginary in Indonesia by comparing and differentiating literary works created under two political regimes: the authoritarian New Order regime (1968–1998) and the more democratic Reformasi …

Inheritance, Katherin Machalek

Theses and Dissertations

Inheritance is a feature documentary that investigates the concept of spiritual inheritance, that which is passed from parent to child. More precisely, it examines how the experiences and struggles of an individual may be transferred and reprocessed by their children. Life experience is studied not as personal, but rather a continuous process that transcends the parent and projects onto the children. The film is a hybrid composed of experimental sequences and false starts, which all bring attention to the nuances of a not-so-straightforward story. The film begins as an essay focusing on an investigation into my parents’ divorce with the …

Examining Resilience In Women Living With Hiv/Aids Through A Photo Narrative Lens, Mary Bell

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Women living with HIV/AIDS (WLH) and poverty face numerous challenges to survival. Typically, WLH in the United States have been exposed to more than just a deadly virus; they have often experienced or witnessed drug addiction, poverty, abuse, mental health disorders, homelessness, abandonment, involvement in the sex industry, racism, sexism, prejudice, social injustice, chronic hunger, generational trauma, and violence – community, domestic, cultural, police enforced, etc. The literature reviewed suggests that treating HIV/AIDS requires a holistic approach that pays close attention to the biopsychosocial needs of the individual. In addition to the physical and economic toll the disease takes on …

A Comparative Approach Of The Development And Impact Of Victims’ Rights On Violence Against Women In The United States, Portugal, And Pakistan, Brianna Williams

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

In recent years, victims’ rights have received worldwide attention in regards to women’s rights and opportunities-or lack thereof. However, what are victims’ rights, how are women’s issues addressed under these rights, have they had their intended effect, are they adequately addressing modern issues, how have similar rights been implemented in other counties and are they working better? This article is a comparative law project between the United States, Portugal, and Pakistan evaluating victims’ rights in each country and any correlation between the presence and enforcement of victims’ rights and the impact they have had on violent crimes against women. By …

Effect Of Provider Education On Urinary Incontinence Knowledge And Assessment, Kendra L. Roloff, Patricia Parker, Rhonda Schafer-Mclean, Robert West

Cooper Rowan Medical Journal

Nearly 50% of women in the United States will experience urinary incontinence at some point during their lives. Urinary incontinence impacts multiple aspects of a woman’s life, yet remains underdiagnosed by primary care providers. The Women’s Preventative Service Initiative released a recommendation in 2018 to screen all women annually for urinary incontinence. The recommendation was in response to the lack of women who seek care for urinary incontinence.

The purpose of this project was to implement education and reminders for primary care providers, in order to improve urinary incontinence knowledge and assessment of women 18 years of age or older. …

Towards Safer Recruitment Of Ethiopian Women Into Domestic Work Abroad: Early Findings From The Meneshachin ‘Our Departure’ Qualitative Study, Joanna Busza, Zewdneh Shewamene, Cathy Zimmerman

Gender Equality and Equity

This report presents preliminary findings from the first phase of data collection of the Meneshachin ‘Our Departure’ qualitative study conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in collaboration with the Population Council in Ethiopia and the Freedom Fund, with support and funding from the U.S. Department of State. The study aims to inform the development of feasible, responsible recruitment measures that could reduce the risk of labor exploitation and trafficking experienced by Ethiopian migrant women seeking domestic work abroad. The research focuses on the role of different actors in arranging Ethiopian women’s migration to the Middle East …

An Exploration Of Self-Identity Experiences Within The Lives Of Afro-Caribbean Women Undergraduate College Students: A Feminist Phenomenological Study, Shana J. Gelin

Dissertations - ALL

The purpose of this feminist phenomenological dissertation was to explore the self-identity experiences of Afro-Caribbean women undergraduate college students. In doing so, self-identity experiences, ethnic marginalization, and counseling experiences were explored for six participants. Data was collected and analyzed using Simone De Beauvoir's feminist framework of self-discovery/ rediscovery where two semi-structured interviews were conducted for each participant. This study resulted in six individual profiles illuminating the voices of each participant as well as collective themes. Findings from this study show that Afro-Caribbean women undergraduate college students filter their self-identity experiences through their ethnicity; meaning that participants understand other pieces of …

Promoting Women Police Officers: Does Exam Format Matter?, Jessica Huff, Natalie Todak

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Despite decades of calls to diversify policing, women continue to be underrepresented in the field, and this problem compounds when looking up the ranks. One explanation is that police organizations are “gendered” in that their structures, processes, and cultures support men’s career advancement over women’s. To investigate this possibility, we analyzed survey results from 685 women police officers to examine whether career advancement is influenced by the composition of an agency’s promotional process. Most agencies used a combination of testing components, with written exams being the most common, but also a heavy reliance on interviews, assessment centers, and career portfolios. …

Maria: A Game Concept On The Perception Of The Filipino Voting Youth Towards Women In Politics, Mehriell Ellice S. Ang

DLSU Senior High School Research Congress

Over the years, the Philippines prides itself on being one of the most gender-equal countries in the world. Despite this, female participation within the realm of politics remain below the critical mass of representation—often attributed to androcentric biases and the patriarchal structure of society. In this modern age, with the proliferation of feminist ideologies as well as the rise of publicly misogynistic sentiments, the general stance of the young Gen Zs towards women’s participation in politics remains a mystery, as many of them continue to become part of the eligible voter population of the country. This paper then aims to …

The Meaning Of And Space For Women Empowerment In The World Of Male-Dominated Sports: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Cayenne Gabrielle B. David, Amie Provido, Jose Mari Luis T. Palileo, Jackie G. Galo, Liezl Rillera Astudillo

DLSU Senior High School Research Congress

Women empowerment among athletes has been one of the significant factors in female sports engagement. The objective of this research is to uncover how female athletes who participate in male-dominated sports experience empowerment. The researchers utilized the Snowball technique to interview eight women university athletes with at least one year of experience in the sports of basketball or football for this qualitative study. Topics such as how athletes interpret empowerment and how they experience empowerment on a personal level were covered in semi-structured interviews. To assess the data, they analyzed through IPA techniques. According to the findings, women athletes define …

Heroines And Murderers The World Of Sophoclean Women, Nathan Debar

Honors Theses

This thesis will examine the female characters of the extant and fragmentary plays of the 5th-century BC Athenian poet Sophocles. These plays’ composition date ranges from the second half of the 5th century BC. Not every play will be considered for this study, as some do not contain female characters or female characters cannot be ascribed to a fragmentary play. Only plays that feature female characters or plays in which female characters and their actions can be reasonably estimated will be used in this study. For the fragments and their information, I shall default to Hugh Lloyd-Jones’ 1996 Sophocles: Fragments. …

Women's Struggles In The Kashmir Militancy War, Devina Neogi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Kashmir is located in the northern part of India in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir has been a hotbed of violence since India’s independence. For the past 51 years, there has been an intense conflict between the locals of Kashmir and India’s Military Force, which has directly or indirectly affected the lives of millions of people. One of the most affected communities is the women in Kashmir. History provides us with the scare chronicle of gendered experiences in political violence. Women's experiences bring to light the heterogeneity of the experiences of subgroups caught in a conflict situation. Over …

[F]Ree-[Dom] Space: Trauma-Informed Planning And Place Making Within Women And Children's Rehabilitation Centers, Rodolfo Alcaraz-Navarrete

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis researches and understands the struggles of domestic violence survivors and implements design strategies to provide a safe and stable shelter for those affected by domestic violence in Georgia. The design methodology and research will include literature reviews and precedent studies to observe and better understand the challenges that need to be met in order to provide a safe haven for victims of domestic violence to grow and succeed when the time comes to return to the world. The goal is to, through architecture and design, provide an opportunity to engage and bring awareness to the public of the …

Positioning Women's Inclusion In Peace Negotiations: The Landmark Case Of The Philippines, Josephine P. Perez, Mira Alexis P. Ofreneo

Peace and Conflict Studies

Women have historically been excluded in formal peace processes. While structural changes have pushed for women’s participation in peace negotiations, we locate the shift from women’s exclusion to women’s inclusion as enacted in the discursive patterns of talk. Using positioning theory as a discursive lens, we looked at how women’s inclusion was facilitated in the peace negotiations between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that reached the landmark Philippine peace accord of 2014. Positioning theory argues that every utterance is a speech act that ascribes rights and duties, in this case, the right …

Women Without Bodies: Autonomy, Empowerment, And Embodiment In Southern Women, Martha Peyton Ford

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between rural, upper-class, Southern, white women and their bodies. In my attempts to understand this relationship, I analyze sources from the fields of gender studies, philosophy, and psychology, utilizing concepts such as the Cult of True Womanhood, the newly-emerging field of body memoirs, and the long-lasting but elusive idea of Southern ladyhood to make sense of cultural expectations of Southern women and their bodies. This research, alongside my use of autoethnography and oral history, serve as an anchor for my analysis of women’s relationships to their bodies, in which I use myself, my mother, and …

The Role Of Prenatal Anxiety Sensitivity On Postpartum Anxiety And Depression, Ryann Holman

Honors Theses

Pregnancy is a vulnerable period for women, with roughly 15% of women experiencing psychopathology during pregnancy and postpartum. The most common mental health concerns during this period are anxiety and depression, which have been linked to adverse outcomes on both mother and baby, such as low birth weight and preterm birth. In understanding their onset, anxiety sensitivity has been found to be a potential mechanism for the development of both anxiety and depressive disorders. The goal of the current study was to examine the association between prenatal anxiety sensitivity and postpartum anxiety and depression. Pregnant women were given a battery …

Calling Out Street Harassment Of Women And Lgbtq People: A Review Of Kolysh’S Everyday Violence, Alexandra Nowakowski

The Qualitative Report

Street harassment often impacts people whose identities and presentations of self-intersect with femininity in any way. Yet, despite this frequent unwelcome scrutiny of our bodies and selves, few scholars have turned their own appraising gazes on street harassment in kind. Fewer still have centered queer and trans people in their inquiry. In Everyday Violence: The Public Harassment of Women & LGBTQ People, Dr. Simone Kolysh (2021) critically investigates street harassment from intersectional queer and nonbinary feminist perspectives. Their research both amplifies voices from survivors of harassment and directly explores perspectives from perpetrators of harassment. Per Kolysh’s own reflections, this …

Utilizing Community Health Workers To Support Latinx Women With Substance Use Disorder During Pregnancy, Alicia Claire Kletter

DNP Qualifying Manuscripts

Community health workers in the Latinx community, sometimes called promotores de salud, are employed in a variety of medical settings to help increase access to health promoting services such as awareness, education, and screening. Given their deep understanding of the culture and community in which they work, community health workers in Latinx communities are increasingly included in the healthcare team for their cultural sensitivity and versatility with hard- to-reach populations, including the support of pregnant women and children. An integrative review of the literature seeks to understand if community health workers can improve outcomes for pregnant women who also suffer …

The Generational Impacts Of Sexual Violence: In The Context Of The Rwandan Genocide, Chloe Nicole Wesson

Honors Projects

This study analyzes the Rwandan Genocide as a main case study to examine the generational impacts of the sexual violence perpetrated. The research will also examine the history of sexual violence against women in periods of conflict. These generational impacts can be seen in the public health sector, the Rwandan economy, psychological and spiritual effects on future generations, and cultural significance in Rwanda. Mothers struggling to parent their children conceived out of rape and trying to work through trauma while also working to heal their daughters. The generational impacts will be observed specifically from the female perspective (i.e. girl, young …

Breaking The Cycle: An Analysis Of The Reduction Of Single Women In The Homeless Community, Luisa J. Lamagra

Honors Projects

An analysis of homelessness with particular attention to King County and a focus on single women. This paper aims to address gender disparities in housing prioritization and homeless reduction solutions while suggesting gender-conscious policies and programs. The current system of housing prioritization is aiming to be neutral; yet it falls to the side of white, cisgender, heterosexual men. Single women without children have specific needs that are not met because the absence of children in their lives makes them insignificant, which feeds into the cyclical nature of chronic homelessness. By analyzing the specific pathways that women take into homelessness, this …

Documenting & Describing Experiences Of Marginalized Gender Identities In Healthcare, Laura Stepnowski

Gettysburg Social Sciences Review

Despite its importance to quality and length of life, health varies widely among the U.S. population depending on various sociodemographic factors, such as age, race, gender, and income. This research focuses on the perception of treatment for those with marginalized gender identities. There is a long history of discrepancies in healthcare, but no time such as the present seems to be filled with such a nuanced perspective of quality of treatment for those with marginalized gender identities. This became evident through the focus groups conducted for this study. Findings show that participants used more collaborative language when discussing their positive …