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Over recent decades, there has been a substantial increase in the proportion of women in the workforce with dependent children. However, this trend is not evident for mothers of children with disabilities. Their employment levels are greatly reduced. The present paper examines the nature of the restrictions which affect the employment participation of these mothers and explores the meaning work has for them. The data presented in this paper were derived from qualitative interviews with 18 mothers of children with disabilities aged between 5 and 15 years. These mothers found employment difficult. They encountered unusual time demands, and a lack of adequate and affordable child care. Furthermore, they felt that their employment opportunities were restricted by attitudes prevalent in society concerning appropriate roles for women, especially mothers of children with disabilities. The lack of opportunities to engage in employment led, in varying degrees, to feelings of isolation, a lack of fulfilment and low self-esteem. The mothers felt that they were on the periphery of society with little release from the pressures of caring. Mothers who had part-time jobs often did poorly paid work of low status, thereby encountering few opportunities to use their skills and abilities to the full. Those who attempted a full-time job experienced stress from the dual demands of home and work, and from a fear that they were failing as mothers. The present paper highlights areas which require attention to improve the employment experience of these mothers.

Recent studies of men have shown that job stress is important in understanding the occupational gradient in coronary heart disease (CHD), but these relationships have rarely been studied in women. With increasing numbers of women in the workforce it is important to have a more complete understanding of how CHD risk may be mediated by job stress as well as other biological and behavioural risk factors. The objective of this study was to examine the occupational gradient in CHD risk in relation to job stress and other traditional risk factors in currently employed women. We used data from the Stockholm Female Coronary Risk Study, a population based case-control study, comprising 292 women with CHD aged 65 years or younger and 292 age-matched healthy women (controls). An inversely graded association was observed between occupational class and CHD risk. Compared with the highest (executive/professional), women in the lowest occupational class (semi/unskilled) had a four-fold (95% CI 1.75-8.83) increased age-adjusted risk for CHD. Simultaneous adjustment for traditional risk factors and job stress attenuated this risk to 2.45 (95% CI 1.01-6.14). Neither job control nor the Karasek demand-control model of job stress substantially explained the increased CHD risk of women in the lowest occupational classes. It is likely that lower occupational class working women face multiple and sometimes interacting sources of work and non-work stress that are mediated by behavioural and biological factors that increase their CHD risk.

Understanding the relationship between formal and informal support is becoming increasingly important for those involved in caring for the elderly (Bass et al., 1996; McAuley et al., 1990). As the elderly become more dependent on formal services and changes in demographics result in more women in the workforce and fewer available informal caregivers, there is a need for organized and efficient formal support networks that work well with, rather than replace, family helpers (Aneshensel et al., 1995; Scott & Roberto, 1985). Several models of the interface of formal-informal support have been proposed in the literature (e.g. Cantor, 1975; Edelman, 1986; Greene, 1983; Litwak, 1985). A sample of 305 primary family caregivers were interviewed at three points in time regarding their use of formal services and assistance from additional family members. It was possible to classify the sample initially into three types of family/formal interface: isolates who receive no help from family or formal services, family d...

This paper explores the economic and social impact of the growing participation of young urban women in the workforce in Amman, Jordan. The writer argues that there is a new 'stage' in women's life-course in Jordan: single, employed adulthood. This is expanding young women's horizons, and challenging relationships between women and men, and between different generations, at all levels of society, including within the household. However, traditional values concerning family honour are challenged by this, and are sometimes being reinforced through new forms of control over young women.

The number of women in the workforce is continuing to increase and surveys suggest that one-fourth of employed women with a child less than 1 year of age will be concurrently breastfeeding and working for at least 1 month. Combining breastfeeding and employment is a complex process in American society. Women will be seeking practical, sound advice on how to be successful in this combination. This article offers suggestions for promoting its success, describes the pre-planning that needs to occur, and provides current lactation recommendations and resources. It also offers information about working with employers, the importance of a support network, decisions that each family must make, the use of breast pumps, milk storage, lactation enhancement including the use of herbs, and practical tips for the mother’s working day.

金沢大学大学院医学系研究科, This paper presents a sociocultural and historical literature review of gender related issues associated with family-centered caregiving for frail, elderly relatives in modern Japan. Issues addressed from a Japanese perspective are (a) women and social norms of caregiving, (b) feminine identity and caregiving, (c) women in the workforce, and (d) women and caregiving. Implications for research are also discussed.

Organizations are increasingly relying on informal leaders within teams to positively affect team outcomes. Also, as the percentage of women in the workforce grows, women are likely to shoulder more of the informal leadership responsibility within teams. This study explores the relationship of team performance and team cohesion to informal leadership dispersion and the gender composition of the informal leadership core within 21 intact manufacturing teams. The results indicate that informal leadership dispersion (the number of perceived informal leaders divided by team size) is positively related to team cohesion. In addition, when females compose a larger portion of the informal leadership core, supervisors’ratings of team performance are higher.

An aging population is changing the nature of the workplace. When combined with age discrimination legislation, employers now face the fact that they can no longer ignore and then quietly retire their older workers. One outcome of this is that the proportion of older workers is increasing. Further, they intend to stay at work longer and resist being an easy target for organizations when they restructure. Because of the magnitude of this workplace phenomenon, human resource managers need to be aware of issues related to older workers. This article provides an insight into the unique nature of older workers, their expectations and some consequent implications for organizations. Together with strategy and policy considerations for managing older workers, the role of older women in the workforce is also reviewed. Where possible, Australian research is cited but this article is not intentionally nation specific.

This paper uses retrospective data from the SCELI surveys to make a detailed investigation of changing career patterns and gender differences in occupational status over the period 1946–86. A summary variable is developed and used to examine the relationships between changing employment trends and respondents' occupational status. Occupational status, as the Hope-Goldthorpe scale value, is measured throughout the life-course and changes over time are examined. The main findings of the study are that despite the increase in women's qualifications and the proportion of women in the workforce, their human capital has not greatly increased although their careers have become increasingly variable. Men and childless women experience occupational status increasing over life-course and time but part-time employed women do not. Class of origin is more important to status for men than for women, while qualifications are important for both. Women's careers are increasingly affected by discontinuity and part-time employment.

This paper puts the case that “Employment levels are culturally determined”. Changing employment patterns including shrinking work years, increased participation of women in the workforce, overall increases in workforce participation, a decline in blue collar work, increasing differentiation and individualisation to work undertaken by knowledge workers, regional differences in employment and unemployment, and the loss of work security are cited as examples. The outcome of these shifting cultural patterns challenges individual ‘s ability to achieve a satisfying life by changing time use values and undermining personal identities derived from work roles. Discussion of the resultant economic and social issues which acknowledges the historical and human context is called for. Rebalancing society will require involvement of all groups in society, not just government.

In France, there is widespread agreement that adolescence is not a good time to become a parent, a state the French believe is reserved for adults (i.e., individuals who have acquired their residential, economic, and emotional independence from their family). Motherhood at a young age is thus seen as a hindrance to the personal development of adolescent girls. While teen pregnancy was first considered to be a “medical risk” in the 1970s–1980s, adolescent pregnancy today is considered “a psycho-social risk.” Yet, the demographic indicators show a marked decrease in pregnancies since the 1970s among French adolescents. Births to adolescents 18 years of age and younger decreased by 60 % between 1980 and 1997, and represented about 0.6 % of all live births in 1997 compared with 1.3 % in 1980. In 2011, the births to adolescents 18 years of age or younger accounted for only 0.3 % of total live births in France. The prevalence of pregnancies among adolescent girls is in the order of 30 per 1,000, holding steady since the mid-1990s. The sudden drop in the fertility rate of young people since the 1970s in France seems to be explained by a combination of several factors: the democratization of higher education and the presence of women in the workforce. Employment provides young women the opportunity to acquire a new social status. France is evolving through a phase of high social mobility, a phase that started with the “May 1968” formation of the Mouvement de liberation des femmes (Women’s Liberation Movement, or MLF). The approval of laws legalizing contraception and abortion was victory of this movement, which enabled women to plan their maternity and families.

Human Capital in History brings together contributions from leading researchers in economic history, labor economics, the economics of education, and related fields. Building on Claudia Goldin's landmark research on the labor history of the United States, the contributors consider the roles of education and technology in contributing to American economic growth and well-being, the experience of women in the workforce, and how trends in marriage and family affected broader economic outcomes.

Abstract Global general perception of leadership roles Worldwide leadership roles are traditionally held by men. While the share of women in the workforce is increasing, it remains difficult for them to reach senior positions, which are mostly held by men. The Qatar National Development Strategy 2011–2016 seeks to increase the number of women in leadership roles by 30 per cent. Perceptions in the GCC that have traditionally limited career advancements for women A number of cultural, organisational and personal challenges hamper women from reaching senior positions. Women are perceived to work responsibilities. In addition, traditional views on what constitutes appropriate spheres for women's employment influence education choices for education and promote occupational discrimination. How to promote women to leadership positions Research and evidence indicate that the appointment of women as top managers can positively improve the performance of a company. Global corporations, conscious of the value of gender balance at all levels, are more eager to hire and promote women. Developing professional women's skills in decision-making and leadership help them realise their full potential. Examples of development opportunities include providing training, instituting career development initiatives and mentoring programs, and ensuring networking opportunities. Sustaining continuous growth for women in leadership roles Today, some professional women in Qatar are already in challenging leadership roles. We need to ensure that we sustain these current positions while encouraging continuous growth. [Actual paper will review statistics and demographics for GCC, and in particular State of Qatar, and how they align with the Qatar National Vision 2030 for Qatarization].

The introduction of new technologies has made enormous changes to family life. During the second half of the Twentieth century, the introduction of labour-saving devices into the family home led to huge social changes. By creating more free time, these devices set off a cascade of flow-on side effects, including increases in married women in the workforce, increased affluence, growth of the fast food industry, and increases in the numbers of child day-care centres, in divorce rates and in the incidence of single parent families. Decreases in social involvement in local neighbourhoods were offset by increased social contact through the workplace.

This article reviews the history and definitions of sexual harassment, its various forms and levels, and the impact of recent legal cases on women in the workforce and in academia. The future of sexual harassmant as a legal concept and practice is discussed in the context of economic trends and the political reality of women in the workplace and elsewhere. Possible ramifications for sexual harassment in the twenty‐first century are presented and discussed. In particular, it is noted that the legal response to sexual harassment has been limited to defining it as an event that occurs either in the workplace or academia. In reality, sexual harassment occurs in a variety of enviroments and the legal code must be adapted to recognize this.

Foodborne illness of microbial origin is the most serious food safety problem in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 79% of outbreaks between 1987 and 1992 were bacterial; improper holding temperature and poor personal hygiene of food handlers contributed most to disease incidence. Some microbes have demonstrated resistance to standard methods of preparation and storage of foods. Nonetheless, food safety and public health officials attribute a rise in incidence of foodborne illness to changes in demographics and consumer lifestyles that affect the way food is prepared and stored. Food editors report that fewer than 50% of consumers are concerned about food safety. An American Meat Institute (1996) study details lifestyle changes affecting food behavior, including an increasing number of women in the workforce, limited commitment to food preparation, and a greater number of single heads of households. Consumers appear to be more interested in convenience and saving time than in proper food handling and preparation.

Over the past twenty years, increasing attention has been given by researchers and organizations to the interface between people's work and their family lives. In 1977 Rosabeth Kanter argued that the notion that work and life off the job are separate worlds is a 'myth'. Since then there has been a growing volume of research on the interaction between job or work demands and experiences and family life. The burgeoning literature on this topic can be attributed to a variety of reasons, including: changing family structures, with a significant increase in the number of dual-earner families and single-parent families; changing family orientations, with many couples now delaying the onset of children and also reducing the overall number of children; increasing participation of women in the workforce, to the point where in many Western countries in particular, employed women now outnumber their male colleagues; and finally, a greater desire to achieve some kind of 'balance' between work and family responsibilities, to enhance both individual and family well-being.

Romance fiction is the most popular and the most profitable mass market genre in the United States. The romance novel owes its success to three events: the successful establishment of the mass market publishing industry; the evolution of The Paperback Culture; and the emergence of women in the workforce and their resulting buying power.

Reports on a study, the specific aims of which were to look at the career progression of women in the internal audit profession, compare their experiences with those of their male counterparts and of women in the general management field, and to identify the level of support for specific remedies and actions aimed at overcoming the barriers faced by women in the workforce today.

This article studies the role of reliability on the wage rate. Reliability is defined in the sense of showing up for scheduled work over an extended period. Just as reliability is an important determinant of product prices, a worker's reliability ought to be an important determinant of his or her wage. Moreover, while workers are not conveniently packaged by brand name, firms form expectations about reliability across identifiable groups of workers and thus effectively attach brand names to workers based on their observable characteristics. A worker's wage depends on his own track record and the reputation for reliability of his identifiable group. Using robust measures of reliability, I find that observed reliability and expected reliability substantially affect the wage rate and that about half of the gender wage gap can be explained by differences in expected reliability between men and women in the workforce.

The relationship between work and family seeks attention within the last 20 years in relation to the significant changes that occur in the workforce resulting in changes in family structure and the nature of the work. Professionally aspiring women, on the other hand, were much less likely to choose a family accommodated pattern; they were more likely to choose one of the career-centered life styles. Changes to the family and the working environment are caused by both the increasing participation of women in the workforce, as well as the growing number of married couples having dual income. The pattern of dual earning families began to replace the traditional family pattern as the dominant family model, thereby causing a shift in family models. This literature study aims at exploring this in Indian context. This paper attempts to address the challenges for career women in teaching profession and the family dynamics that act as performance constraints.

Active participation of women in the workforce and associated the economic benefits has been debated over many decades. While the benefits are evident, the workforce participation level is far from equal representation which every country is striving to improve. In many developing and under developed counties women still struggle for their basic rights. When they elevate to next level and find meaningful careers often times motherhood becomes one of the prime factors for women to quit career to become the primary care giver. This article is an attempt to look at the ways motherhood impacts the career of women working in IT sector in India and to explore the best practices that IT organizations are implementing to retain the women talent when they enter the motherhood phase.

D URING THE PAST DECADE, THERE HAS BEEN AN interest in resurrecting formal culinary skills education for youths (ie, school-aged children). These pursuits have been provoked by what policy makers, scientists, and food and nutrition practitioners suggest is a societal decline in culinary skills. Some stakeholders believe that this “de-skilling” represents a transition caused by sociodemographic shifts, such as nontraditional family structures, women in the workforce, and time constraints. Current consumers have new value equations for making food decisions. Although health, taste, cost, and convenience predict food choices, cost and convenience are weighted with more value than ever before. Cooking from scratch is no longer the norm in consumers’ kitchens. Dramatic changes in domestic cooking practices have led to decreased transference of essential cooking skills from parents to youths. Family cooking has become a means to an end, rather than a process for social connectedness, cultural expression, and life enhancement. As youths gain autonomy in their transition to young adulthood, they often lack the skills necessary to complete basic food-related tasks. Some believe that an emerging inability to prepare meals at home is predictive of poor dietary habits, contributing to childhood obesity. This commentary serves as an update on the call to incorporate culinary skills education in childhood obesityprevention interventions. Food, nutrition, and dietetics practitioners should evaluate investments in culinary skills education approaches. This commentary addresses the question of why culinary skills education is important within the childhood obesity epidemic context, how effective culinary skills education interventions have been at modifying obesity-related risk behaviors, and how to design more effective culinary skills education programs in the future by drawing upon peer influences.

Many believe the “woman problem” has been solved, since women are now represented in powerful positions in government, academia, business, and the law. It is true that women today occupy more positions of power than ever; however, these numbers are quite small at the top level, especially for women of color. This article begins with an overview of women in the workforce and their presence in education; and then goes on to review the current data on women in three settings — higher education faculty, the law, and corporate boards. Next, it examines the barriers women encounter in reaching the top positions in their respective fields. Common obstacles women face include: gender stereotypes, the struggles of balancing work and family life, a lack of mentors and mobility. The article concludes with potential solutions to the impediments faced by women.

A number of studies have shown a correlational relationship between measures of terrorism and the standing of women in the workforce as measured by female labor force participation. Various studies have proposed theories to explain these associations. Some have concluded that women’s participation in the labor force could be the driver that moves terrorism; others have proposed theories where terrorism and conflict motivate the deviations in the labor force. No study has adequately explored causality and the direction of this association. Using a panel data set of 165 countries and terrorism data from 1980-2007, this paper finds that terrorist attacks decrease female labor force participation and increase the gap between male and female labor force participation. By exploiting variation across countries and time, it is able to identify the effects of terrorism on female labor force participation and the labor gender gap. Furthermore, by using two novel instrumental variable approaches, it identifies a causal link and address endogeneity concerns related to the possibility of transitional development and shifting gender relations inciting terrorism. It finds that, on average, terrorist attacks decrease female labor force participation, ultimately widening the labor gender gap. The results are statistically significant and robust across a multitude of model specifications.

This study takes a cross-cultural approach to the examination of gender-based pay differentials and career paths, particularly comparing Europe, the USA and Japan. Results indicate that despite increased participation of women in the workforce and their substantial inroads into managerial and professional jobs, gender-based pay gaps persist across borders. However, patterns of the work—family relationship and the impact of gender on earnings differ considerably among industrial societies. Data show that the magnitude of gender-based pay differentials is unrelated to a country’s degree of economic development among the Western industrial societies. Factors that influence pay equity and career paths range from contextual and organizational variables such as cultural norms, types of welfare state regimes and corporate practices related to individual differences in gender, family, education and career choices. The “business case” argument for gender equity and family-friendly policies is linked to the national context. Cultural norms about gender roles and types of welfare state regimes pertaining to the role of the state in statutory provisions help explain trends and developments in gender-based pay adjustments and variations at the firm level. Gender pay gaps are likely to be larger — and to be narrowed more slowly — in masculinity-oriented societies than in femininity-oriented societies.

In Malaysia, the ready availability of low-cost female workers from Indonesia combined with the increased presence of women in the workforce has led to a situation in which domestic workers are ubiquitous in middle-class households. However, in 2009, responding to domestic outrage over the treatment of Indonesian migrant domestic workers, the Indonesian government placed an embargo on its citizens taking up employment as domestic workers in Malaysia. At the time of writing, the issues between Malaysia and Indonesia have only partially been resolved and domestic workers are still not arriving in large numbers to work in Malaysia through formal state-sanctioned recruitment channels. Significantly, migrant domestic work has emerged as a major foreign policy concern between these two states — exposing a relationship between foreign policy making/diplomatic practice and the webs of transnationalized social relations of reproduction that underpin the development prospects of middle-to low-income states.

This essay argues that current symbols can be attitudinally united with historical symbols despite seeming dissimilarities in their construction. This thesis is illustrated by a comparative analysis of the historical dispute over protective legislation for women and the current controversy over fetal protection policies. “Protection” historically meant the protection of “woman” as mother of future generations by the state. Today, “protection” means protection of the “unborn child” by corpora‐lions. Despite seeming dissimilarities, these symbols are attitudinally united because both reduce the interests of all women to motherhood and thereby limit women's autonomy in the workplace. Though contemporary symbols representing women may appear to be more egalitarian, this analysis indicates that the historical inequality of women in the workforce haunts contemporary corporate policy.

This paper examines the vulnerability of low-income urban women in the context of their most valuable asset, their labour. The prevalence of matrifocal households in Jamaica, particularly amongst the urban working class, has important implications for the role of women in the urban workforce. The restructuring of the Jamaican labour market under structural adjustment has been predicated to a large extent on the increased participation of urban women in the workforce. The need for women to increase their economic activity has been prompted by price inflation and cuts in government spending. Their increased participation has been achieved by their willingness to enter into poorly remunerated sales and service activity in the informal sector. Women in their productive role have been integrated into a labour market that has become defined as a supplier of cheap, low-skilled labour. This paper argues that the integration process neither addresses at a strategic level women's position in the labour market nor provides at a practical level for the sustained elimination of poverty through reduction of vulnerability. Instead, women are being forced into employment by a set of demands that places necessary limits on their market capacity and thus a ceiling on their human resource potential.

Scholarly interest in media portrayals of female scientists has emerged as a focus of media studies research because such portrayals (1) reflect cultural views and trends related to the status and roles of women in the workforce and society, and (2) are potential sources of information and influence about future professional roles for children and young adults. This chapter traces the historical underrepresentation and gender stereotyping found in portrayals of women scientists in the mass media and describes the role these media portrayals play as factors that can limit the representation and status of women in the science, engineering, and technology (SET) workforce. This chapter also explores contemporary portrayals of female scientists that challenge gender-stereotyped claims of science as a masculine domain and examines the potential of these more progressive portrayals to broaden the participation of women in SET. Keywords: Media images; female scientists; television; magazines; newspapers; websites; film; gender stereotypes

The ideology of the male breadwinner in economic crisis The arrival of global pressure represented by the International Monetary Fund (IMF ) bail out has shown more explicitly how gender inequality is reproduced in the period of “economic crisis.” If agrarian patriarchy included women in the workforce during the development era, the interests of mobile global capital has tended to utilize local patriarchy to exclude women from the workforce. Under the IMF guidelines of maintaining a low-growth economy, transparency in financial management and so forth, layoffs spread throughout all sectors. Women workers were more quickly dismissed though all workers were dismissed, making popular the expression “IMF ” to stand for “I Am Fired.” From computer operators to hospital and research staff, women of all occupations were asked to leave the workplace for one reason or another. Pregnant women were highest on the priority list of workers to be laid off, followed by married women with spouse. Some women tried to maintain the appearance of being single or postpone official reporting of their marriage registration. The term “IMF cheonyeo” (IMF maiden) was coined to describe this predicament. As the “ideology of the male breadwinner,” works alongside the interests of global capital, the IMF crisis had immediate effects on women’s employment, as well as on gender relationships in Korean society (Cho 2002; Jo Sun-gyeong 1998). In almost all industries, rates of female layoffs were higher than males’, as shown in Table 2.1. Furthermore, larger companies tended to lay off females more than males. In large firms with over 500 employees, the layoff rate for females was almost 1.5 times higher than males (PCWS 1999).

Mature aged women have greatly increased their participation in paid employment over the past three decades. This report looks at the causes and impact of this continuing trend. The contribution to total hours worked by people of working age of women aged 45 to 64 years has increased from just over 6 per cent in 1979 to almost 15 per cent in 2009. Moreover, their contribution increased relative to other age groups, with their share of total hours worked by women of working age rising from 21 per cent to 38 per cent. These trends reflect greater societal acceptance of women in the workforce, increased education levels of women and greater diversity of household living arrangements. Increasing involvement of mature aged women in the workforce is also related to greater diversity in working arrangements, including growth in part time employment and increased workplace flexibility. In summary, the survey evidence of mature aged women’s reasons for retiring and the international evidence of participation rates and eligibility ages for pensions suggest that changing age pension eligibility requirements will be factors for consideration by some mature aged women when deciding to retire. But the extent to which such changes will increase the overall participation rate of mature aged women is uncertain. Many other factors also affect the decision of mature aged women to retire. They include sufficient workplace flexibility to allow working hours to be tailored to individual preferences, whether their partner is working, whether they have caring responsibilities and their own health status.

Nowadays more women are entering workforce compared to the past. However they face many problems when building their careers. The aim of the thesis was to describe this topic in a complex way, explain problems that are related to women's career and also name reasons for companies why they should pay attention to it. The thesis includes a case study of an international employer in Slovak republic that describes the company's attitude to the topic.

In the 1990s, a number of emerging issues are posing serious challenges to the staffing function in both public and private sector organizations. Discusses these issues and their implications on career trends and staffing strategies. In particular, examines and discusses the various staffing and career challenges posed by workforce diversity, the increasing entry of women in the workforce, the increasing demand on education and training, the increasing importance of equal opportunity and age discrimination legislation and the changing pattern in employee aspirations and attitudes. Also presents the way in which organizations in the 1990s are responding to the above challenges. Also outlines and discusses a number of suggestions relating to more effective career and staffing strategies to deal with the above challenges.

An increase in the number of preschool children cared for within groups in child care centres has been associated with increasing numbers of women in the workforce. Children at this age are at high risk for gastrointestinal diseases caused by a large number of enteric pathogens, and the risk is increased by the greater potential for person-to-person transmission within group care. This report considers the pathogens that may cause diarrhoeal illness in children, with particular reference to those that have been reported in formal day care settings. The major risk factors for transmission of these agents and a high rate of diarrhoeal illness in the child care setting include attendance of non-toilet-trained children, staff combining nappy changing and food preparation duties, large enrollment, low staff-to-child ratio, and poor hygiene and child handling practices. Investigations undertaken during an outbreak of diarrhoea have frequently used limited diagnostic testing, often suitable for identifying only bacterial and protozoal agents. Such limited investigations have tended to incriminate agents that have prolonged carriage and are easily identifiable in standard microbiology laboratories. Finding a pathogen in these circumstances needs to be interpreted with caution. Prevention and control measures include training and education in good personal hygiene, emphasis on the need for frequent handwashing, separation of change areas from food handling and eating areas, routine cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces and personal items, and exclusion of any child or child care worker with diarrhoea.

Women in the Workforce, Alternative Choices for Women from Coalmin‐ing Areas is a European project which evolved in 1992 from a partnership link between the DOVE (Dulais Opportunity for Voluntary Enterprise) Workshop, a Community Education and Training Centre in Banwen, West Glamorgan, South Wales and IFOLD (Istituto Formazione Orientamento Lavoro Donne) a women's only training organisation in Sardinia, Italy. Italy is one of three European trans‐national partners, the others are Belgium and Spain. The Guidance Unit of University College Swansea became involved in the project because of the guidance aspect of IFOLD's work.

Realising the potential of both males and females should be an important objective of every nation. Analysis of the status of women in the workforce provides support for the argument that many women are functioning as underachievers, a loss not only to themselves as they fail to realise their full potential, but also to society which is deprived of their full contribution. In this paper the special challenges for gifted girls are highlighted in a gender issues unit offered to students attending a Primary Extension and Challenge program. A single-sex setting for gifted girls is explored and evaluated. The realization of potential through the breaking with tradition and keeping options and choices open is an important issue for the girls.

Rap music written and performed by men has generally either ignored the existence of women or defined them as commodities, objects of male pleasure, or ornaments.(1) The mere presence of female rappers helps to combat the intensity of this sexism, but too often these women have confronted barriers both within and without the industry which was discouraging, if not preventing altogether, the fullest expression of their social and political, as well as emotional and sexual, concerns. By exhibiting their verbal virtuosity as well as social and political conscience, pioneering female rappers, such as MC Lyte and Salt'N Pepa, have secured and steadily broadened the place of women in the industry. Though women always had a presence, albeit unacknowledged, female rap is now as deeply entrenched in the industry as, for instance, comedic rap (as expressed by Biz Markie, D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince). Consequently, we have witnessed a growing sexual freedom in female rap. This freedom includes an evolution of the concepts and acceptability of female sexuality and an increasing willingness on the part of female rappers to display and address issues of their own bodies and sexuality. Out of this history has emerged a particularly unconventional and sexually aggressive trio known as T.L.C.(2) T.L.C.'s debut album, Ooooooohhh . . . On the TLC Tip represents a major breakthrough in the expression of black female sexuality. A product of the sexual (r)evolution in female rap, it serves as a powerful, liberating assertion of black women's economic (Depend on Myself), psychological (Shock Dat Monkey), emotional (Baby-Baby-Baby), and sexual (Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg) independence and their ability to dictate and take responsibility for the terms, the process, and the outcome of their own experiences. It is not only an admission of self as sexual as well as an intellectual being, but more importantly pride in that fact. These women take charge of their own sexuality and make a conscious choice not to be victims of either men or sex. Women, particularly African-American women, have long been characterized as loose, immoral, and hypersexual. The threat of sexual harassment, already a major problem for all women in the workforce, increases dramatically when women dare to enter nontraditional fields. The hiphop community is no exception, with men attempting to deter women's entrance and subsequent rise in the field by, typically, subjecting these women to attacks on their personal, ie., sexual, reputations and/or placing them before their male peers for judgment? Perhaps in an effort to combat this tendency, pioneering female rappers tended to keep their sexuality well hidden. Their lyrics were predominantly asexual but rarely, if ever, gender-coded (They typically addressed questions of legitimacy and virtuosity as an MC). In personal and stage appearances, these women cultivated images as 'one of the guys.' MC Lyte, for instance, began her career wearing sweatsuits, sneakers, and dookey chains (large gold rope chains), and toting a gat (a small handgun).(4) Similarly, Roxanne Shante wore "no make-up and everyday clothes."(5) While Nancy Guevara might argue that this was a refusal on the part of women in rap to have their femininity dictated by their male peers and audiences, I would suggest that this was in actuality a concession to the limitations inherent in many sexist notions of success. That is, these women chose to adopt a style which was traditionally male in order to succeed in a male-dominated industry. The apparent message was that the projection of a more masculine image leads to success and that, in fact, success as a rapper could come only after sacrificing femininity.(6) This inability to reconcile the "feminine" and, we are led to assume, the sexually desirable is glaringly apparent on the cover of MC Lyte's debut album, Lyte as a Rock. The diminutive Lyte is posed to the left of and slightly behind her producer, the King of Chill, while her disc jockey, K-Rock, reaches an outstretched hand toward a "traditional" female, complete with long straight hair, tight miniskirt, and red spiked heels - a woman whose face, significantly, runs off the page. …

Within a few years, predicted to be between 2017 and 2022, the majority of the medical workforce will be female. 2 Already in 2010 there were 46% more female foundation year one (F1) doctors than male. 2 The age distribution of the current workforce has also altered significantly, with the recent rise in output from medical schools, with many of today’s workforce yet to start their families. Thus, in future, even traditionally male-dominated intensive hospital specialities with unpredictable out-ofhours work will have to adapt to ensure they can attract and retain enough of the future predominantly female workforce to maintain their out-of-hours cover at a safe and sustainable level in European Working Time Directive (EWTD) compliant rotas. Of course, the need for flexible and variable ways of working at different career stages is equally important for men and women, with family commitments or childless – we are all striving for a manageable work-life balance which enables us to keep ourselves fit and care for children or elderly relatives. Many of us have already experienced great changes in our working patterns, from the old days of working one night in every two on call to current EWTD limited rotas. We are all acutely aware of the need for improved working patterns that are more family friendly – essential if the National Health Service (NHS) is to retain doctors with family commitments, and ensure that future generations are able to contribute to the NHS, often at variable levels at different stages, throughout their whole career. In order to make certain that the UK medical school intake, currently about 60% women, translates into a motivated workforce who have a free choice of flexible, variable and individualised career pathways, we need to ensure that such career options are more easily and widely available than at present – while operating within the increasing financial constraints that are already in place. We have seen these workforce changes coming for some time and several reports have addressed possible solutions: The 2008 Medical Women’s Federation Making part time work report 3 recommended that ‘employers and Royal Colleges should work together to ensure that rota design can routinely incorporate part-time workers, and medical directors should support and promote innovative job design’. Baroness Deech in 2009 recommended that the medical workforce planning apparatus took account of the increasing number of women in the medical profession; her report stated that ‘NHS Medical Education England and the Centre for Workforce Intelligence should ensure that workforce models for the future clearly delineate the effect of a rising number of women in the workforce so that appropriate advice for the workforce planning apparatus can be given.’ 4

Este trabalho analisa o comportamento das mulheres cônjuges como participantes no mercado de trabalho metropolitano. Procurou-se mostrar que o entorno familiar em que a mulher se encontra influi sobre a sua decisão de fazer parte da força de trabalho e também afeta a importância relativa dos determinantes tradicionais. As evidências levantadas indicam que, de fato, famílias consideradas potencialmente pobres têm uma probabilidade mais alta de ter a mulher na força de trabalho. Esse diferencial, contudo, é substancialmente reduzido, e mesmo revertido, quando elas possuem filhos em idade pré-escolar. Daí a importância de política públicas que facilitem o acesso dessas mulheres ao mercado de trabalho, como a oferta de creches, de modo a possibilitar o resgate de suas famílias da pobreza.This study has analyzed the participation of married women in Brazilian metropolitan labor force. Specifically, we tried to show that the family environment in which the woman is has influence on their decision to join the workforce and affects the relative importance of traditional determinants. The evidence raised indicates that handicapped families have a higher probability to have women in the workforce, but the gap is substantially reduced, and even reversed, if they have children of preschool age. Thus the implementation of public policies that make it easier for these women to join the labor force, such as access to childcare, will prove useful to help to rescue their families from poverty.

Objectives There is a global trend of increasing numbers of older women in the workforce. However, limited information is available regarding the relationship between the menopause transition and work, especially in developing countries. The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between experience of the menopause transition and work and to examine the factors affecting how women cope, including the extent to which women disclosed their menopausal status. Methods Using a cross-sectional single group design, 131 middle-aged female medical teaching staff working in Zagazig Faculty of Medicine completed questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Results Participants, particularly those who were postmenopausal, reported high average scores on depressed mood, memory/concentration, sleep problems, vasomotor symptoms, and sexual behavior subscales of the Women's Health Questionnaire (WHQ). Women reported that poor working environment and work policies and conditions, functioning as sources of work stress, aggravated their menopausal symptoms. Disclosure of their menopausal status was uncommon; limited time and socio-cultural barriers were the most commonly reported reasons for non-disclosure. Conclusion It could be concluded that the menopause transition is an important occupational health issue especially for women in developing countries. Implementing health promotion programs, improving working environment and work policies, and raising awareness of menopause are recommended to help women to cope with the menopause transition and to maintain well-being and productivity at work.

Pesticides are used in agriculture and public health to control insects, weeds, animals, and vectors of disease. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) defined a pesticide as 'any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying or controlling any pest, including vectors of human or animal disease, unwanted species of plants or animals causing harm or otherwise interfering with the production, processing, storage, transport, or marketing of food, agricultural commodities, wood, wood products or animal feedstuffs, or which may be administered to animals for the control of insects, mites/spider mites or other pests in or on their bodies' (Bretveld et al., 2006). Occupationally exposure to pesticides can occur in industry (manufacturing or formulation workers), agriculture (distribution on open fields or in closed premises, from crops), and in public health (disinfection, rodent elimination, etc.). Then, of course, some active principles are used in veterinary medicine. In particular, for agricultural workers, we must remember that the work environment is often also the worker’s home environment, since agricultural work is often done on a family or craftsman scale. How workers are exposed may vary widely from one sector to another. An agricultural worker is likely to be exposed to numerous chemicals for short periods, and the level of exposure may vary depending on the type of crop involved, the climate or microclimate, what work is being done, the means used for distributing the chemical, and so forth. Agricultural work in closed premises such as glasshouses or industrial plant-growing tunnels, and the formulation of commercial products (mixing the active principles with coformulants) fall mid-way between agricultural and industrial work. Greenhouse work is done under cover with a constantly controlled microclimate, whereas industrial workers come into contact with various different products in different formulation cycles. The integration of women into non traditional occupations raises questions concerning the impact of such jobs on women’ reproductive health, moreover the number of women in the workforce is also increasing worldwide and a considerable proportion of them are of reproductive age; therefore attention is required to note reproductive dysfunction if any, due to occupational exposure (Kumar, 2004). In literature occupational exposure to pesticides mainly could have repercussions on the reproductive system, in men and women, and on the thyroid gland. The epidemiological studies presented refer to the association between exposure in occupation of parents and the

Within the same week that McKinsey Quarterly published an article addressing how private-sector companies can enjoy sizable benefits by empowering women in the workforce, particularly in developing countries, The New York Times reported on the remarkable gender gap in the high-tech world of Silicon Valley. See Irina A. Nikolic & Lynn Taliento, How Helping Women Helps Business 24 (McKinsey Quarterly No. 2, 2010); Claire Cain Miller, Out of the Loop in Silicon Valley, at BU1 (N.Y. Times, April 18, 2010). The McKinsey piece raises salient points that any global enterprise should consider. Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley, it would appear that female entrepreneurs - and thus the business landscape as a whole - would benefit from similar prescriptions.

In the Netherlands, the rate of female labor-market participation has risen sharply in the past few decades. This increase is almost entirely due to married women in the workforce (SCP, 1992). It reflects shifting attitudes toward the roles appropriate to men and women. The standpoint that household tasks should be shared equally by both sexes has gained ground, as has the preference for a division of roles within a conjugal relationship whereby both partners are employed (SCP, 1988). A growing number of women feel they can combine outside employment with raising a family (Van de Giessen, 1987). Concurrently, there is a rising number of households with more than one breadwinner, socalled 'two-earner households'. When both partners have jobs outside the home, the consequences for the household embrace more than the family income alone. One effect that is pertinent to our research is the influence of the dual income situation on the place of residence, particularly on the choice of the type of residential environment. It is obvious that such an influence does indeed exist. Naturally, a household with two earners has to consider the location of the home in reference to two places of employment. Moreover, if the household includes young children, the location of substitute supervision, the school, and other children's activities have to be taken into account as well. The nature and number of two-earner households and their spatial dispersal is relevant to various aspects of physical planning policy, such as where to locate new residential construction, employment, and facilities like childcare centers. The aim of Dutch government to cut back, or at least stabilize, home-work commuting traffic is an important issue in this regard.

Quietly, many women in the world face an uphill battle at home, at work and on college campuses. The battle is sexual harassment. The numbers are staggering. Every day, hundreds of thousands of women are sexually harassed. In the developing nations, because of customs and traditions, women are afraid to speak out. In addition, they feel ashamed and are fearful of losing their jobs if they bring sexual harassment to the attention of authorities. Also, Sexual harassment is clearly an example of the challenges faced by the Human Resource function in the new global market. This study examines the subject of varied interpretations of sexual harassment in the global arena with emphasis on Nigerian experience. A model is suggested based on legal and cultural differences and data are presented regarding the perceptions of various types of various sexual harassment. The paper concludes by analyzing data collected of 34 Nigerian women interviewed, and finally, suggestions are made on how to improve conditions of Nigerian women in the workforce.

To examine the impact of mothers’ perception of the roles of pre‐primary institutions and what motivates them to choose a particular child care service, 138 working mothers and 20 proprietors of nursery schools and day care centers were interviewed. The facilities available to children in the centers studied was also assessed. The results suggested that these mothers’ expected these institutions to play custodial functions as well as to provide early childhood education. This knowledge could guide proprietors and other interested organizations in the provision of appropriate child care programmes to meet the needs of mothers and their children. The demand for nursery/day care services in Nigeria has become very high due to the increasing number of women in the workforce.

Background Little is known about combining work with caring for a person with advanced illness. This is important given the increasing number of women in the workforce and current policy seeking to increase care in the community. The aim of this paper was to explore the meaning of work for women caring for a husband with an advanced illness and the consequences of combining these two roles. Methods A purposive sample of 15 carers was recruited from a hospital and from the community, via the patients they cared for. Their illnesses included chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer, motor neurone disease, and heart failure. Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews that were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A Grounded Theory approach was used and case studies were developed. NVivo software facilitated the management and analysis of the data. Results Caring presented challenges to carers' work life. It diminished productivity or the quality of work, and led to missed opportunities for promotion. Work had an effect on the quality of care and the relationship with the patient, which eventually led to work being given up for caring. Three carers resisted the pressures to give up work and used it as a coping strategy. Conclusion A positive choice to remain in employment does not necessarily signal reluctance to care. Caring arrangements need to be understood from the common and separate interests of carers and the people they support.

Women have entered the workplace in increasing numbers during the past two decades in all developed and developing countries. This trend has paralleled women's pursuit of education, particularly education in the professions such as business management, engineering, computer science and technology. Women have made great strides in entering professional and entry-level managerial jobs (Adler and Izraeli, 1988, 1994). The International Labour Organization (ILO) (2004b) reported recent information in 2004. They concluded the following. The proportion of women in the labor force continues to increase. These participation rates, however, are uneven (e.g., East Asia, eighty-three women in the workforce for every 100 men, Middle East, forty women in the workforce for every 100 men). Female unemployment rates worldwide were slightly higher than those of males, but again there was considerable regional variability. Females were less likely to be in regular wage and salaried employment than men. Women who worked were more likely to work in agriculture and services. Women earned less income than men, a gap that has decreased only marginally and slowly. Countries having higher rates of female participation in the workforce also had lower birth rates Women in management research is now increasingly being conducted in a greater number of countries reflecting both the globalization of business and the international competition for talent and the increasing numbers of women pursuing professional and managerial careers (davidson and Burke, 2000; Burke and Nelson, 2001). Cross-cultural research on women in management issues, however, still remains an under-researched and under-developed area of study (Cahoon and Rowney, 2000). What do the numbers show ? Although some had predicted that women would achieve the ranks of senior executive leadership by now, the reality is that few women had reached senior management.