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Ua68/18/1 Perspectives, Vol. 8, No. 2, Wku Women's Studies & Support Program

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by the Women's Studies & Support Program for students and alumni.

Institutionalization Of Women's Studies Programs: The Relationship Of Program Structure To Long-Term Viability, Ann Froines

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the institutional viability of three interdisciplinary women's studies programs in public universities to determine whether interdisciplinary programs are marginal or fragile. The research question has three related parts: (a) What factors influence assessments of institutional viability? (b) do assessments of institutional viability vary significantly according to differences in program structure? and (c) what strategies have emerged to maintain program viability over the next ten or 20 years?

A conceptual framework of three domains was utilized in this qualitative case study: (a) program history, (b) organizational effectiveness of program, and (c) alliances built by program leaders. Organizational effectiveness …

Challenges And Coping Strategies Of Women Food Crops Entrepreneurs In Fako Division, Cameroon, Lotsmart Fonjong

Journal of International Women's Studies

Ensuring food security today in Cameroon is a key but not an easy task for government. This is because the country is experiencing high rural exodus and urban growth rates. The result is a continual reduction of the agricultural labour force in the face of an increasing demand for food. Women food crop entrepreneurs can play an important role in filling the gap created by this phenomenon. The activities of these female entrepreneurs have given rise to a booming food crop enterprise within the informal sector of the Fako Division, Cameroon. The informal sector is accommodating lots of women whose …

Politics Of/And Backlash, Ann Braithwaite

Journal of International Women's Studies

Since the publication of Susan Faludi’s book in 1991, the terms “backlash” and “postfeminism” have come to be widely used in many feminist analyses to critique—and then usually dismiss—representations of both women and feminism throughout media and popular culture. This paper revisits both of these concepts, exploring some of the debates about the definition, meaning, and scope of feminism that both of these terms (often unwittingly) raise and then shut down. It argues that while seemingly useful ways to talk about popular representations, these concepts also replay many of the central (and often contentious) debates in feminist thinking, especially around …

Single Professional Women: A Global Phenomenon Challenges And Opportunities, Linda Berg-Cross, Anne-Marie Scholz, Joanne Long, Ewa Grzeszcyk, Anjali Roy

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper presents the globalization of elite single professional women (SPW) as the first new global sociological phenomenon of the twenty-first century. We trace the economic roots of the phenomenon and how female empowerment interacts with the psychological prerequisites for mating. We then trace how the phenomenon is being expressed outside of the United States, in India, Poland, and Germany. We conclude by putting these observations into a historical perspective and briefly listing possible strategies for responding, adapting, and maximizing one’s options.

Self-Perception Of Female Educational Administrators In Nigeria: Reflections On A Sociological Study, Chika Josephine A. Ifedili

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study investigated the self-perception of female educational administrators in public post-primary schools in Edo State, Nigeria. It examined the appointment of public post-primary educational administrators, determined by qualifications to the position and considered factors such as the future career aspirations of female administrators, resistance of men to women advancing to the field, and stereotypes or discrimination. The researcher constructed the instrument used in this study, titled Personnel Management Inventory (PMI). It was validated using expert opinion approach. Major findings indicated that:

1. Women were highly discriminated against in appointment and promotion, and
2. Women were required to stay longer in service …

The Shortfall Of Female Mathematics Lecturers In Nigerian Universities: Strategies For Promotion And Retention Of Prospective Female Mathematics Lecturers, A. N. G. Alutu, L. Eraikhuemen

Journal of International Women's Studies

Mathematics is the bedrock of national development. It is a subject without which a nation cannot move forward scientifically or technologically. It has been observed that the level of female participation in Mathematics studies in the Universities is very low and over the years there has been a steady decline. The study involved focus group discussions with the lecturers in Mathematics Department from these Universities from 1995-2000. This paper has established the low level of female undergraduates and female lecturers in Mathematics Departments in the Universities in Edo and Delta States. The major strategies identified in this paper for the …

An Epidemiological Survey On The Presence Of Toxic Chemicals In Soaps And Cosmetics Used By Adolescent Female Students From A Nigerian University, Ifeyinwa Flossy Obuekwe, Uche Mabel Ochei

Journal of International Women's Studies

An epidemiological survey was conducted into the presence of toxic chemicals in soaps and cosmetics used by 200 adolescent female students between 17 and 26 years of age from a Nigerian university, The University of Benin, Benin City. Most of these cosmetics, which included creams, lotions and soaps, were imported from Europe. 20% of these young girls had used cosmetics to lighten their skin for between two months to two years and claimed that they had some irritations. Another 40% used a mixture of cosmetics and soaps in combination and their skins were burnt during the period. Over 66% used …

Feminism, Feminist Scholarship, And Social Integration Of Women: The Struggle For African-American Women, Jilly M. Ngwainmbi

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper focuses on the intellectual and scholarly basis of the struggle for social integration of African-American women into American society. Feminism is viewed as the broad context within which this struggle must be conceived, understood, and sustained. Because the struggle is conceptualized as intellectually driven, the paper begins by critically examining feminist scholarship and the contention that feminist scholarship provides the basis for social integration of African-American women into male-dominated American society.

A distinct contribution of this paper to the current scholarship is a proposed framework for a process of social integration of African-American women, one which draws on …

Taking Her Name: On Queer Male “Woman-Identification” And Feminist Theory, A. Loudermilk

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Upside Down/Inside Out: Critical Debates On Gender And Women’S Studies, Ozlem Ezer

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Upside Down/Inside Out: Critical Debates on Gender and Women’s Studies, edited by Heike Flessner and Lydia Potts

Ghetto Feminism: Neo-Black Feminism For The Black Hip-Hop Generation(S), Chyann L. Oliver

Senior Scholar Papers

"Ghetto Feminism: Neo-Black Feminism for the Black Hip-Hop Generation (s)" is a feminism that addresses the simultaneity of race, sex, and class oppressions that subjugate black people of the hip-hop generation who reside in the urban ghetto or ghetto like conditions. It is a feminism that deconstructs the hypersexualized, racialized and classist representations of black people in hip-hop culture. The goal of this feminism or feminist thought is to raise the black hip-hop generationer's critical consciousness in order to encourage resistance to distorted images of themselves. Continuing with the tradition of multivocality or heteroglossia, Ghetto Feminism uses poetry, scholarly essays, …

Introduction: Crossing Boundaries, Sue Jackson

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Heresy And Orthodoxy: Challenging Established Paradigms And Disciplines, Marion Hersch, Gloria Moss

Journal of International Women's Studies

A brief survey of the literature on interdisciplinary work and a discussion of issues relating to orthodoxy and heresy are presented to introduce a questionnaire on current interdisciplinary practice and the effects of engaging in research of this kind. Preliminary results of the survey are presented and it is suggested that women may have a greater tendency than men to engage in interdisciplinary research. They may also encounter more obstacles in their research than men. A number of hypotheses, including the relationship of interdisciplinary work and heresy, are proposed and a plan of further work to investigate them put forward.

Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Viva, Amanda Loumansky, Sue Jackson

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women today are making clear inroads into the academy and, at undergraduate level at least, are engaging in greater numbers than men. However, at postgraduate level the picture changes, especially at doctoral level, and fewer women than men undertake research degrees. However, little is known about women’s experiences of doctoral research, including the viva. The authors seek to address the lack of research about women’s experience of the PhD viva. The research carried out by the authors emphasises both the lack of power felt by women in the current examination process and the lack of consistency in practice across universities. …

Perverse Pleasures – Identity Work And The Paradoxes Of Greedy Institutions, Valerie Hey

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women’s studies struggle for a location in the academy has always involved feelings of deep ambiguity. The outsider/insider relation is a peculiarly vexed one in times when the demands on professional identity appear to erase the more political claims on our identity such as being a feminist.

This paper considers aspects of these complex navigations across the personal, private, public and professional aspects of identity through the concept of pleasure. It explores the discrepancy as well as the interrelations between the moral climate of higher education and the more elusive, secret or at least unspoken nature of our persistent (over?) …

Crossing The Border: Locating Heterosexuality As A Boundary For Lesbian And Disabled Women, Clare Beckett

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article draws on my personal experience, and on the separate experiences of ‘leaving heterosexuality’ and of ‘being disabled.’ I have attempted to find common ground for action between these two groups by interrogating the experience of being sexual. I argue that heterosexuality functions as a social matrix, with exclusionary practices that operate in similar ways towards both groups. Mechanisms may be different, but the experience of exclusion is similar, and is based on similar practices. This article focuses on specific points in the exclusionary process, and illustrates similarities.

Women’S Constructions Of Women: On Entering The Front Door, Myria Vassiliadou

Journal of International Women's Studies

Despite the vast volume of scholarly work on Mediterranean and the Near East the region, issues of marginalisation, discrimination, racism, and ethnic-gender groups as well as the implications of these within the context of various wider forces and structures are only lately receiving any attention at all and this paper is part of an effort to explore and expose them. The aim of this paper is to explore this otherwise forgotten area through the example of Cypriot women and their interpretations of internal ‘Others’ in Cyprus. It is thus an attempt to analyze the discourses and images adopted by women …

Crossing Borders: The Extent To Which The Voices Of Exiled And Refugee Women Have Adapted To Their New Western Diasporic Space, Jennifer Langer

Journal of International Women's Studies

In this article I will consider the extent to which the voices of exiled and refugee women have adapted to their new Western diasporic space. I will examine whether women writers consider exile to be a safe place in which to describe the horrific experiences of gender specific persecution and of being a victim of violence in conflict or whether taboos restrict the women’s voice. Is exile providing a cathartic space to write openly? Do the exiled writers as reflected in their literary work, relate to their British physical space and interact with British people and society? What is the …

Ain’T I A Woman? Revisiting Intersectionality, Avtar Brah, Ann Phoenix

Journal of International Women's Studies

In the context of the second Gulf war and US and the British occupation of Iraq, many ‘old’ debates about the category ‘woman’ have assumed a new critical urgency. This paper revisits debates on intersectionality in order to show that they can shed new light on how we might approach some current issues. It first discusses the 19th century contestations among feminists involved in anti-slavery struggles and campaigns for women’s suffrage. The second part of the paper uses autobiography and empirical studies to demonstrate that social class (and its intersections with gender and ‘race’ or sexuality) are simultaneously subjective, structural …

Empowering Women? Engaging A Technology Grant For Social Change, Erica Meiners, Laurie Fuller

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper examines and exposes the writing and implementation of a project, funded by a federal government grant that worked to increase the technological literacy levels of women at an urban working-class university in the Midwest. This three-year study/intervention clearly reveals that disrupting the ‘digital divide’ for working-class women at our university, particularly women of color, requires engagements with the material and practical realities of their everyday lives. In addition to findings in relation to gender, race, low-income communities and technology, participation in this study/intervention illuminated for the authors—anti-racist, feminist academics and organizers—the consequences and costs of moving epistemological frameworks …

Gender, Context, And Physics Assessment, Laura Mccullough

Journal of International Women's Studies

A persistent gender gap exists on one of the most commonly-used physics conceptual tests, the Force Concept Inventory. The test includes many stereotypically male contexts such as hockey, rockets, and cannonballs. A revised version of the test was created using stereotypically female contexts and both versions were randomly administered to 300 college students. While the total correct score did not change for men and women, significant results were discovered when test questions were examined individually. Results suggest that context can affect performance on a physics assessment for both men and women. One implication for instructors is that they should be …

Judith Merril And Rachel Carson: Reflections On Their “Potent Fictions” Of Science, Dianne Newell

Journal of International Women's Studies

Donna Haraway has argued that women’s engagement with the masculine domain of science and modern culture usually occurs at the peripheries and from the depths, not from the platform of the powerful. This paper considers the popular culture fields of science fiction and nature writing, exploring the contributions of two American women writers who both operated at the peripheries of science and landed on the ‘platform of the powerful’: Judith Merril and Rachel Carson. Their domestic Cold War envisioning and conflation of literature and science and their insights into the inherently political nature of science anticipated the foundational feminist discussions …

Re-Visioning Science Education, Ingrid Bartsch

Journal of International Women's Studies

Science education is crucial for shaping the culture of science and its practitioners. Boundaries currently limit ties between natural and social science education structures, exposing the public to a one-dimensional science and its possible ramifications. Believing this to be a “crisis,” I explore a variety of approaches to re-visioning science education and the ensuing forms of resistance that these face. In addition, a more personal accounting of my experience with trying to integrate social and cultural issues into the education of scientists allows me to explore the forms of resistance I faced; bridge the gap between theory and practice; and …

Poems, Catherine Daly

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Mom Or Manager?: How Social Factors And Personal Choice Affect The Work/Family Balance In The United States, Japan And Germany, Christine E. Mueller

Honors Theses

This report investigates the work/family balance based on two factors: social influence and personal choice. The first factor is significant because society dictates and enforces the prescribed roles for women. The degree of career progression a woman can achieve is partly bound by restrictions of society. The other factor, personal choice, is the factor that only each woman can determine for herself. A woman can only progress as far as her personal goals determine. In addition to the relationship between society and personal choice, this report examines the barriers to pursuit of a management career inherent in these factors.

An Exploration Into Gender Role Conflict, Attitudes Toward Females, And Relationship Beliefs, Julia M. Wood

Doctoral Dissertations

Gender role conflict and negative attitudes toward females have been areas of increasing concern since the early 1970s. Research has shown that both gender role conflict and negative attitudes toward females cause complications for the person with such perspectives. Relationships are an area that has been impacted by gender role conflict and attitudes toward females. Determining the impact that gender role conflict and attitudes toward females have upon each other and upon relationship beliefs will increase awareness of the seriousness of these complications allowing clinicians to focus therapeutic interventions on methods that will increase relationship quality.

Using the Gender Role …

Lawrence V. Texas: Does This Mean Increased Privacy Rights For Gay And Lesbian Teacher?, Suzanne Eckes, Martha Mccarthy

Journal of Women in Educational Leadership

This article addresses the Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas and its implications for the rights of gay and lesbian public school teachers. The authors provide a context by reviewing the teacher role-model theory, traditional standards used in dismissals for immoral conduct, and pre-Lawrence cases regarding public employees' privacy rights. Then they analyze Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down a Texas law imposing criminal penalties for persons of the same sex engaging in certain sexual conduct. The final section explores implications of the expanded liberty right announced in Lawrence for public school teachers and their lifestyle choices.

We Are Our Mothers' Daughters?, Marilyn L. Grady, Barbara Lacost

Journal of Women in Educational Leadership

Writing that makes us think, writing that enriches our understanding of the past and present, that's what Cokie Roberts' book, We Are Our Mothers' Daughters provides, and that, too, is what the authors of this issue of the Journal of Women in Educational Leadership provide. Roberts' background as a news analyst covering politics, Congress and public policy, as well as her heritage as the daughter of Lindy Boggs, Congresswoman and Ambassador to the Vatican, inform her perspectives on women of the past and present.

Journal Of Women In Educational Leadership, Vol. 2, No.2-April 2004

Journal of Women in Educational Leadership

No abstract provided.