A study on the measurement of job-related stress among women academics in research universities of China

This study intends to gain an understanding of the sources of stress among women academics in research universities of China. Studies have shown that, compared with their male counterparts, women report higher level of stress in work/family conflicts, gender barriers and career development. Based on the results of this study, the following conclusions can be drawn about their particular stress experiences. Firstly, women academics perceived the demands for career development as highly stressful. The main career challenges for them include the need for renewing knowledge, lack of research productivity, and slow career progress. Secondly, gender related barriers increased pressure on women academics. These barriers are difficulties in getting into male-dominated networks, social stereotypes of women, and gender discrimination in promotion. Finally, women academics experienced more difficulties in fulfilling both academic work and family roles. The main conflict situations pertained to “performing both work and family roles very well,” “children’s education and future” and “lack of time to satisfy personal interests and hobbies.”     

The field trial of a new computer-assisted career guidance system in South Africa

This paper describes the field test of a newly developed computerized career counselling system in South Africa. A randomly selected sample of black high school students (n=80) evaluated the system after completing the program at the University of the Western Cape. Evaluation data were collected through interviews and the Program Evaluation Questionnaire. This questionnaire consisted of a number of subscales measuring 1) user satisfaction with the experience, 2) the extent to which the system helped them acquire self and occupational knowledge and identified potential career alternatives, 3) whether they found interaction with the computer rewarding, and 4) the ease with which the system can be used. The Program Evaluation Questionnaire was found to be a reliable instrument (coefficients ranging from 0.54 to 0.84) and indicated that subjects evaluated the system positively in terms of these subscales. The interviews also indicated that subjects would recommend use of the program to others, that they would prefer the computer rather than the counsellor and that they felt that the program had an impact on their career plans.     

Mid-career academic women and the prestige economy

Drawing on 30 semi-structured interviews with women academics based in London higher education institutions in the UK, this paper investigates the gendered nature of the prestige economy in academia. We explore how mid-career academic women strategise their career development and the opportunities and barriers they perceive, particularly in relation to the accrual of academic esteem. Concept maps were used to facilitate dialogue about career plans and provided an artefact from the interviewee’s own perspective. The analysis draws on the concept of prestige, or the indicators of esteem that help advance academic careers, against the backdrop of a higher education context which increasingly relies on quantitative data to make judgements about academic excellence. The interviews indicated that women generally feel that men access status and indicators of esteem more easily than they do. Many women also had ambivalent feelings about gaining recognition through prestige: they understood the importance of status and knew the ‘rules of the game’, but were critical of these rules and sometimes reluctant to overtly pursue prestige. The findings are valuable for understanding how women’s slow access to the highest levels of higher education institutions is shaped by the value that organisations place on individual status.     

Why the scientific pipeline is still leaking? Women scientists and their work–life balance in Poland

In the contemporary scholarly discourse, the under-representation of women in science is often explained by the phenomenon of women ‘in the pipeline’. The pipeline carries a flow from one stage to another, and the flow of women diminishes between the stages. Based on the literature and qualitative studies, it can be inferred that one of the main causes of leaking in the pipeline is the difficulty in reconciling professional and family life by female scientists. Scientific work that requires mobility and competition forces numerous women to abandon their career or take a career break for the period of assuming different family roles. The results of a number of studies demonstrate that there are some differences between Polish women and their peers from other countries in achieving the work–family connection. It appears that after fulfilling a set of necessary conditions, the reconciliation of professional and family life is sometimes possible.     

Gendered perspectives: A focus-group study of how undergraduate women negotiate their career aspirations

This paper presents results from a study of the career decision making of undergraduate women. Drawing on focus-group interviews with women (N 85) in their first year of full-time study at a large Canadian university, the discussion focuses on how ideas about balancing family and career commitments and interpretations of the university environment influence career choices. Two important observations are supported by the data. The first is that the educational and career options of female undergraduates are still constrained by traditional conceptions of women's responsibilities for household management and child rearing- elements of domestic ideology that they often find difficult to acknowledge. Second, women continue to encounter the university as a gendered site of learning; they are confronted by an informal culture that both marginalizes them and reinforces their perceptions that seeking vocational equality entails high risks.     

Women's Career and Professional Development: Experiences and challenges

ABSTRACT Little research has focused on women's career and professional development in developing countries. In this study, six overseas women doctorate students from a range of developing countries were interviewed in order to ascertain their experiences and the challenges they face as a result of undertaking higher academic studies. The study demonstrated that despite their cultural diversity, the women had many characteristics in common. They had the intrinsic motivation to succeed in their career and professional development as independent persons. However, due to the traditional values and cultural expectations of their societies, they felt that starting and maintaining a family was imperative. Success in both needed a combination of hard work, diligence, and determination. The study called for gender sensitisation, especially in developing countries where the analysis of gender issues is still in its infancy. Both men and women need to be aware that women as well as men have career aspirations and that it is possible to share family and other responsibilities.     

Work values in relation to gender and forecasted career patterns for women

This study examined the problem of life-style and career patterns for women. College students (367 males, 332 females) expressed their preferences for one of three career patterns for women combining work and family involvement and also answered a work values questionnaire. Results showed that 70.5% of the subjects expected women to attend school and/or work outside the home first and to have their child(ren) only after they have established themselves in a career. Forecasting of career patterns for women was significantly related to subjects' work values. Results confirmed previous findings and also indicated new trends in work values that differentiate between male and female college students.Université de MontréalUniversité du Québec à Trois-Rivières     

Gendered Career Choice: is sex‐stereotyping the cause or the consequence?

The interaction between school pupils’ schematic representations of ‘social’ and ‘technical’ roles and the impact that the ‘sex‐typing’ of careers has on occupational choice were investigated using stimulus vignettes. Questionnaire data pertaining to occupational choice were collected from first‐year university students enrolled on courses designated as either ‘social’ or ‘technical’. The prototypical in‐group positions for the two occupational areas were calculated and used as the basis of vignettes depicting either a male or female school pupil experiencing difficulty in deciding whether to pursue a technical or socially oriented career. The vignettes were presented to 107 school pupils aged 16‐18 who were asked which career area they thought the target pupil was likely to choose. Results indicate that subjects were able to identify correctly the prototypical characteristics utilised in the vignettes and that these were of greater importance in their expectation of course choice than the ‘sex’ of the target pupil.     

女性双重角色的困惑与统一

当代职业妇女普遍面临社会角色和家庭角色的冲突,她们既要事业(社会角色),又要生活(家庭角色),然而事业与生活有时是矛盾的,于是职业女性就出现了多重角色的困惑。本文探讨了双重角色困惑的个人及社会原因,企图寻找一条使双重角色统一的路子。     

职业女性工作与家庭的冲突及平衡

员工工作与家庭冲突及其平衡策略研究成为研究的新话题,尤其是职业女性工作与家庭冲突与平衡策略研究得到越来越多人的关注。职业女性多重角色的特殊性,工作和生活上承受着巨大的压力。通过对赣州市职业女性的问卷调查,可以理清职业女性的工作家庭冲突现状及平衡策略。     

酒店女性管理者职业生涯规划的影响因素分析——以广州市高星级酒店为例

现代女性越来越多投身于个人职业发展中,其职业生涯规划意义重大。国内外有关女性职业发展的研究已有丰富的理论基础,但理论分析较多,实证研究成果相对匮乏。高星级酒店的女性管理者职业生涯规划的影响因素分析具有较为重要的理论意义和实践价值。首先,通过文献研究和问卷调查确定女性职业生涯规划的影响因素,并选取某高星级酒店作为案例,通过深度访谈具体分析各影响因子的具体表现。结果显示：影响酒店女性管理者职业生涯规划的因素主要有社会因素、个人因素、家庭因素和组织因素。社会因素是一种宏观背景;个人因素贯穿女性管理者职业生涯规划的始终,是职业生涯规划的基础;家庭因素对酒店女性管理者婚后和生育后的职业生涯规划产生重要影响,其中家庭责任的影响具有两面性,而来自长辈和丈夫的家庭支持能促进其职业生涯规划的可持续发展;组织因素属于外部客观的影响因素,酒店和谐的工作环境和完善的福利制度,对其职业生涯规划起到积极的推动作用。     

对我国社会转型时期职业女性角色冲突问题的几点思考

在我国社会转型时期，职业女性所面临的双重角色压力增强，首先表现在社会角色方面，其次表现在家庭角色方面。其原因有：传统的家庭制度、价值观念的影响；社会中普遍存在的性别意识薄弱现象；职业女性中存在着的完美主义倾向。而现阶段，家庭、事业兼顾已是多数职业女性的选择。缓解她们面临的双重角色冲突，需要政府、社会、每个家庭共同努力。     

Responsibility for career transition preparation

Summary The continuing need and desire for assistance in planning for, entering, and progressing in a career is well-documented over the past decade. Although assistance with finding and securing a job is a part of this need, it is but one aspect of the competencies needed by students to be aware of the world of work and how this world differs from the educational world they are leaving. The ability of students to adjust and contribute to many roles in their post-high school world is crucial for a successful and lasting transition.The competencies needed by students as they prepare for and implement their transition to the occupational world can serve as the focal point of the career guidance program in the high school. Such competencies must go beyond the acquisition of occupational information and job search and interview skills. Competencies expected of students must be those that will allow them to adjust, mature, and succeed in the world of work and allow them to satisfy the multiple roles they will have throughout their careers.School counselors must become an integral part of the program to assist students to acquire and use competencies that will ensure their successful adjustment and development in the occupational world. Career guidance programs must be expanded and maintained to meet the continuing needs of students and counselors must revive or renew the competencies and the skills necessary to serve students during their transition to the world of work.Edwin A. Whitfield is Associate Director, Division of Educational Services, Ohio Department of Education, Columbus, Ohio     

Heading for the Top — the career experiences of a group of women deputies in one LEA

This paper focuses upon the career attitudes and experiences of a group of women deputies in one LEA. It sets out to explore their construct of ‘career’ and asks, in particular, whether this matches that of the ‘career ambitious’ teacher sketched out in the research literature. The findings, based on in‐depth interviews, suggest that this is not the case. Few of the women deputies, for instance, claimed to have followed specific career plans or consciously participated in ‘career games’. A number of possible explanations are explored, and some interesting tensions noted. Does it perhaps hinge on the external circumstances that impact on women's careers? Is it an expression of women's allegiance to a value system which defines ‘career success’ in quite different ways? Is it a consequence of the nature of the role itself and the separate career track followed by senior women teachers in this authority? The biographical accounts of these deputies provide no easy answers, but rather serve to illustrate the complexity of women's career experiences.     

Strength and Motivation: What College Athletes Bring to Social Work

College athletes develop many strengths and skills during their athletic career, such as dedication, ability to work across cultures, leadership, and community building. Social workers need many of these same skills. This study explores the potential transfer of skills from athletics to social work among 15 former college athlete MSW students. Qualitative interviews asked about transferability of skills developed as college athletes to social work practice. Participants identified both interpersonal and intrapersonal skills gained in their athletic career that were of use in social work practice. Implications for both athletic career development and social work recruitment and education are discussed.     

Senior high students’ career plans for the future: outcomes of the comprehensive career needs survey in Southern Alberta, Canada

The Comprehensive Career Needs Survey was used to assess the career plans of senior high students in Southern Alberta, Canada. This article examines senior high student perceptions regarding (a) their future plans; (b) confidence in attaining their career goals, (c) importance of remaining in their community; and (d) where they anticipate working. The majority of respondents planned to combine full time education with part time work, were confident in achieving their career plans, and anticipated finding work in their country. Results indicate a need for programs addressing career decision making and combining education and work experience.     

Vocational Interests and Career Efficacy Expectations in Relation to Occupational Sex-Typing Beliefs for Eighth Grade Students

Following the recommendations of Lent, Brown and Hackett's Social Cognitive Career Theory (2000), we measured eighth grade boys' and girls' perception of the proportion of men and women employed in occupations and their level of interest and self-efficacy for those occupations. Results indicated that eighth grade boys and girls expressed stronger career interest in and higher self-efficacy for those occupations that they rated as employing more of their own gender. The study highlights how career practitioners can work with adolescents to widen their perceived range of occupational choices.     

Science Career-Related Possible Selves of Adolescent Girls: A Longitudinal Study

This paper uses a possible selves theoretical framework to examine whether and how adolescent girls' images of themselves as future scientists change during their transition from high school to college. Forty-one female high school graduates from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, who had enrolled in an intensive math and science program while in high school, participated in interviews focused on their perceptions of factors that influenced their career plans over time. Participants suggested that career-related internships and intensive academic programs, especially those that yielded important mentoring relationships, were contexts in which they negotiated career-related possible selves and subsequent career plans.     

Male and female academics' gendered perceptions of academic work and career progression in China

This article explores the experiences of male and female academics in China's higher education system concerning career progression and examines how they perceive the challenges faced by the opposite gender. Our analysis of interviews with 40 academics from a research university revealed that academics' experience of career progression is informed by gendered divisions of labour at home and work and by gendered role expectations that are prevalent in Chinese culture. Female academics reported performing a disproportionate amount of household work: some felt satisfied with having moderately successful academic careers, whereas others aspired to do more but grappled with the difficulties of doing so. In contrast, male academics mentioned great pressure to pursue promotion and career progression: they reported feeling less work–family stress but were fearful of failing in their role as breadwinners. Male and female academics showed mixed comprehension of each other's plight, but in general, female academics recognised that male academics faced higher career expectations but lower household burdens, and male academics felt that female academics had lower career expectations and many more burdens and constraints. Male academics tended to stress biological and societal reasons for gender differences in Chinese academia, whereas female academics highlighted the power of cultural and social beliefs. We argue that the challenges faced by Chinese academics can only be mitigated if gender-specific promotion paths that recognise men's and women's social roles and obligations are made available.     

Barriers to career progress for women in education: the perceptions of female headteachers

The number of women who achieve senior posts in educational management is disproportionate to the number of women employed. This is particularly true for women in secondary education, where only about 20 per cent of headships are held by women. All the female headteachers of one English shire county were interviewed about their own experiences and views on barriers to women's progress. The interview schedule was based on the author's classification of the theories of Shakeshaft and Schmuck. The data are analysed under the headings of: overt and covert discrimination; constraints experienced within the work situation; and constraints experienced through roles outside the work situation and early career influences. The headteachers had experienced both overt discrimination and more subtle sexism and tended to meet both with pragmatism, rather than confrontation. They had avoided gender‐stereotyped roles within the work situation, and were generally free of the major responsibility for domestic affairs. As children, they had been aware of high educational expectations held of them by their parents. Supportive partnerships and minimal career breaks had been important in their progress.