Ahmad Etemadi; Javad Ebrahimi
Volume 8, Issue 4 , February 2011
Abstract
Family is the most fundamental social unit which can undergo a trauma
when a new member joins it, leading to changes in its structure and function, thus inevitably altering the roles, duties and expectation of the members. Therefore, conformity and nonconformity of family members and the subsequent ...
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Family is the most fundamental social unit which can undergo a trauma
when a new member joins it, leading to changes in its structure and function, thus inevitably altering the roles, duties and expectation of the members. Therefore, conformity and nonconformity of family members and the subsequent effects on the family gains significance. Other than the addition of a newborn baby and adoption, such change may occur following the marriage of one of the members; especially the remarriage of the father and addition of a step-mother to the family, with the first wife still living with the family. If the new addition fails to even out the relationship of this new member – who is considered as the rival of the first wife–with those of the others, it gives rise to negative emotional and psychological damages, which may in turn affect the psychological and mental health of the existing family members. The available literature on this issue shows that upon the addition of the second wife to such families, the existing members encounter many challenges including social and economic changes and conflicts as well as the transformation of their internal and external interactions, thus their subsequent effects on the members are significant. This research is a comparative study on the mental health of children living in monogamy & bigamy families in the Iranian city of Khaf. Population of the study consists of all girls and boys studying literature, science and mathematic at public high schools during 2007-2008 school year. Using random sampling 30 boys and 38 girls of bigamy families are selected for the purpose of the study. In the same manner, the same number of boys and girls are selected from monogamy families. The research takes advantage of casual-comparative method. Data analysis of the two independent groups covers a wide range of methods including descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics such as t-test and assessment of the data includes SCL-90_R checklist. The results show that there is a meaningful difference between the mental health of children living in polygamy and those living in bigamy families. Moreover, the findings of the study reveal that children of monogamy families enjoy a greater level of mental health than bigamy families in terms of aspects such as stress, physical complaints, compulsion, aggression, psychosis, interpersonal relations sensitivity. The findings also prove that there is not any meaningful difference between their paranoid ideas, depression and phobia.
Mohammed Tavakol; Mohammad-Reza Javadi-Yeganeh; Seyyed Mohammad Hani Sadati
Volume 8, Issue 4 , February 2011
Abstract
Sociology of medical education is an area of sociology that could well
link the two fields of Medical Sciences and Social Sciences together. Sociologists believe that the scope of Medical Science deals with problems and realities much graeter than medical techniques and practices, of which sociology ...
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Sociology of medical education is an area of sociology that could well
link the two fields of Medical Sciences and Social Sciences together. Sociologists believe that the scope of Medical Science deals with problems and realities much graeter than medical techniques and practices, of which sociology of medical education, described as one of the effective institutions of society as well as medicine, is the most important one. Thus, this institution has its own features that can function properly or improperly depending on social realities within the medical sphere. In the light of this, the present study aims to probe into some aspects of Iran's medical education system. The review of literature and statistics reveals that women do not enjoy an equal status in the medical system as men naturally do. The available data consists of two sets of trends. The first one shows that females score a higher rate in university enrolment of medical sciences, however, another quite contradictory trend shows a declining trend where females have a lower rate in obtaining high ranking positions within the system. In other words, more girls enter the universities but less continue their studies and attain high ranking scientific and managerial positions in medical universities and higher education centers. This issue gains significance from the perspective of comprehensive development which tends to eliminate all kinds of discrimination and decrease inequalities in all spheres within the society. In this view, the main goal of development is to promote human development opportunities, and therefore the equality between men and women is one of its principles. The theoretical framework within which this study explains women's status in medical education system includes a combination of gender socialization and gender stereotype theories, such as Sandra Bem’s Gender Schema Theory, and Janet Saltzman Chafetz's Gender Equity Theory. Two main methods are available to study the inconsistency in the behavior of Iranian female students, one is either to study the concentration factor, and the other one is to study the voluntary factor. However, the latter is selected for the purpose of this study. The research has taken advantage of quantitative method. The statistical population of this research consists of 6146 female students, out of which 301, from the medical universities of Iran, Shahid Beheshti and Tehran, are selected as the population by multiple step cluster sampling. Moreover, some 107 male medical students are also selected to be used as the control group, making the total size of the population 408. Data collection makes use of survey technique and questionnaire. The findings show that gender stereotypes has a negative effect on girls tendency to continue their study, achieve managerial position, and finally obtain high ranking positions in medical education system. The findings of this research related to gender stereotypes in the society, higher education, senior managerial posts and also high ranking positions in the medical education system, support all the related studies conducted previously in this field.
Marzieh Mousavi Khamaneh; AbouAli Vedadhir; Nasrin Barzgar
Volume 8, Issue 4 , February 2011
Abstract
This article aims to conduct a comparative cross-cultural study of the
educational status of women in terms of different aspects of human and gender development, and its relationship with the health, economic, and political indices. The research covers countries with different degrees of development ...
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This article aims to conduct a comparative cross-cultural study of the
educational status of women in terms of different aspects of human and gender development, and its relationship with the health, economic, and political indices. The research covers countries with different degrees of development in educational indices. The study makes use of quantitative methodological approach, and secondary data analysis (SDA) to draw on the cross-national data of the World Bank and the Human Development Reports. Data analysis, that examines relationship between variables, includes bi-variate and multivariate data analysis methods of Pearson's Correlation Coefficient and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. This study also enjoys an integrated theoretical approach, bringing together the theory of women empowerment in development, and the theories of liberal feminists. The findings indicate that women’s education not only plays a central role in human development, but also improves gender development especially in the educational and health-related aspects. Despite narrowing down the gender gap between men and women, women’s status has not significantly changed in terms of economic and political participation across different countries or more generally at the international level during 1996-2006 period. Moreover, in all the cases studied, women’s educational indices show higher correlations with health-related indices. The results also demonstrate a considerable improvement in the equal status of men and women in health-related indices and life quality in all the continents, except Africa. However, advancement in educational indices does not necessarily lead to economic and political participation of women. Moreover, weaker correlation between economic and political indices, particularly in less developed countries, is observed.
H. Shabanali Fami; N. Fallah Haghighi; Ali Asadi
Volume 8, Issue 4 , February 2011
Abstract
In recent decades, empowerment has been used as a mechanism to improve
the quality of women’s personal life and career. In this respect, information technology can be used as an effective instrument to meet that end. The purpose of this study is to examine gender roles in inclination of men and women ...
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In recent decades, empowerment has been used as a mechanism to improve
the quality of women’s personal life and career. In this respect, information technology can be used as an effective instrument to meet that end. The purpose of this study is to examine gender roles in inclination of men and women towards using Information Technology in Agricultural Extension. The study is conducted in Gilan province and it gains significance as it reveals the existing gap between men and women in terms of knowledge and skills of using information technologies. The statistical population covers 472 agricultural extension workers of Gilan province that are studied in two groups of men and women. Using Cochran formula and stratified random sampling method, some 203 people are randomly selected, of which 160 are men and 43 are women. Data is collected through a questionnaire and its reliability stands at 0.76 using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The independent variables include the amount of using information technology in agricultural extension, extension worker's level of knowledge about information technologies and their attitude towards using information and communication technologies. The dependent variables consist of gender, age, marital status, level of education, the field of study, the years of services, the organizational status, the employing status, the place of access to computer and the place of access to internet, the level of extension activities, the level of knowledge of English language, contributing in IT courses and the hours of using computer and internet in a week. The results of analysis indicate that women have less knowledge about IT and the level of using it stands at a lower level than as compared with men. Moreover, in terms of variables such as age, the years of services, the skills of using internet and computer in extension activities, there is a significant difference between men and women; namely that in each case men demonstrate higher level of skills in comparison with women. The results of diagnostic analysis reveal that the level of using internet, the level of internet knowledge, the skills of using computer to do extension tasks, have the highest importance in differentiating men and women respectively. In addition, in all cases men have higher level of skills in using IT in extension affaire in comparison with women. The results also confirm that skills of using computer in extension tasks have the highest correlation with diagnostic score and play the most important role in explaining total variance. Group mean for men is 2.121 and for women it stands at -0.908.
M.R. Hamzaei; A.H. Papzan; M.A. Sharifi
Volume 8, Issue 4 , February 2011
Abstract
The term reference group can refer to any group that influences the attitude
and behavior of individuals. The theory is often used to describe two major types of relationships between individuals and groups which are known as "normative" reference group behavior and "comparative" reference group behavior. ...
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The term reference group can refer to any group that influences the attitude
and behavior of individuals. The theory is often used to describe two major types of relationships between individuals and groups which are known as "normative" reference group behavior and "comparative" reference group behavior. "Normative" reference group theory is also known as a guide for individuals' behavior, since it provides a guideline for people's behavior. Moreover, "comparative" reference groups give individuals a basis for comparing themselves or their group with other individuals or groups and yet influence individuals' feelings and behavior. When objective standards for behavior, opinions, or emotions are unavailable, people look up to others for reference or comparison. Therefore, reference/comparison groups serve two functions; firstly they provide normative guidance and secondly they offer standards for self-evaluation and comparison. Sociologists tend to apply the notions of reference/ comparison group when they are useful or seem appropriate, often in post hoc studies. Most of the research, which specifies to which groups an individual will refer, the directions in which comparisons are made and the conditions under which comparisons occur, has been conducted in the field of psychology, partly because selective comparisons are considered as important coping strategies. The purpose of this article is to analyze the attitude of the youth towards reference groups, to indicate the effective factors and to determine gender differences in Sanandaj city of Kurdistan Province. The study is conducted during the year 2009 and the research method consists of descriptive survey. Interviews with young people in the form of 267 questionnaires (including 309 boys and 318 girls) are conducted by multistage cluster sampling proportionate to size. A panel of experts assess the validity of the research and thus determine its reliability by Cronbach's Alpha (0.82) and Test- retest. The statistical methods utilized in the research include correlation analysis, factor analysis and regression analysis. Having specified details of the nature of reference groups, attitude towards reference group (including Professors, Peer group, Parents, Religious figures, Artists, Actors, Teachers, Professors, sportsmen, Policy makers) is examined between boys and girls. Results of the study show that girls demonstrate higher tendency and a more positive attitude towards professors, parents and students and thus there's a significant difference in this aspect as compared with boys. However, while boys opt for professors, peer group and university students as their source of reference, they show lower attitude towards them. Percentage frequency distribution and comparison of mean indicate that girls have a more positive attitude towards membership reference groups (MRG) while boys have significantly greater level of positive attitude towards non-membership reference groups than girls. The results of the statistical method indicate that four factors (including performance assessment of socialization agents (MTM1), social participation characteristics, subjective norms and subjective esteem acquiring) explain 73% of the total variation of attitude towards MRG, with respect to their relative significance.
Aryan Gholipour; Neda Mohammadesmaeeli; Fattane Gholipour
Volume 8, Issue 4 , February 2011
Abstract
International competition for having a greater contribution in the world is
ever increasing, thus human resource management plays an important role. In a knowledge-based economy, an all-out participation of women in different social arenas promises optimal utilization of all human resource potentials. ...
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International competition for having a greater contribution in the world is
ever increasing, thus human resource management plays an important role. In a knowledge-based economy, an all-out participation of women in different social arenas promises optimal utilization of all human resource potentials. In this respect, Iran has experienced an extensive presence of women in its higher education. Generally, the stronger the social identities of women, the better will the national objectives, as depicted in the country's development plan, be realized. Therefore one of the essential challenges of Iranian managers is to reinforce the social identity in higher education institutions which train future human resource of the country. In order to identify the strategies of reinforcing social identity, the University of Tehran and Qazvin Azad University are chosen as research sample and data is collected through interviews and questionnaires. Twenty people are interviewed from each university and another 419 fill out a questionnaire. This research takes advantage of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The research findings indicate that the mean of the sense of national identity equals 3.61 for University of Tehran whereas this figure stands at 3.87 for Qazvin Azad University. Qualitative analysis of data suggest that physical, spatial and symbolic separation of girls’ and boys’ identities leads to a feeling of disappointment and frustration in girls and is detrimental to their self confidence, while destroying it. The lack of ability to link different identities is considered as one of the main causes of failure in balancing different social roles. Consequently, this gives rise to unidimensionality of girls and a poor self-esteem. In the light of this, presenting women who have succeeded in positively relating different identities is a way to reinforce and strengthen identity in women. Accordingly, the priorities of identity management strategies in universities are as follows: 1. Aggregation, 2. Combination, 3. Division, 4. Omission. Human being has a folded character, it doesn't only possess one identity but rather it is made up of numerous complex identities. This is further complicated as humans can simultaneously hold social identity, corporate identity and individual identity. These identities are relative and are subject to change over time. This paper aims to identify and analyze dynamics of women in organizations, especially educational institutions, thus offering solutions for identity management.
Tayyebeh Ferdowsi; Gholamreza Sarami; Alireza Rostami
Volume 8, Issue 4 , February 2011
Abstract
Traffic events account for about 1,200,000 deaths and more than 50
million injuries annually across the world. Research shows that male drivers make up the majority of those who sustain injuries in car accidents. The present research aims to compare psychological factors affecting driving-related crashes ...
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Traffic events account for about 1,200,000 deaths and more than 50
million injuries annually across the world. Research shows that male drivers make up the majority of those who sustain injuries in car accidents. The present research aims to compare psychological factors affecting driving-related crashes of male and female drivers. Accordingly, the sample data is collected from 208 crash-involved drivers (18 female drivers i.e. 8.7% and 185 male drivers i.e. 88.9%) and 201 non-crash-involved drivers (20 female drivers i.e. 10% and 180 male drivers i.e. 89.6%). The respondents consist of clients who have either come to an insurance company to receive their insurance payment (crash-involved drivers) or renew their car insurance (non-crash-involved drivers). The subjects are randomly selected for the following tests: accuracy, aggression, personality and reaction time. Accuracy Test is, however, used in 5 situations, 3 of which include normal situation, a double-job situation and a distraction situation. Personality Test has 4 subscales, including affective constancy, social responsibility, self-control and emotion seeking. Reaction Time Test covers three levels, including simple, selective and complex. Using independent T-test, the comparison results indicate that there is no significant difference between female crash-involved and non-crash-involved drivers, this is also true for male and female crash-involved drivers (with over 4 crashes) in terms of all the related psychological factors. In other words, there is no difference between female crash-involved and non-crash-involved drivers in such factors as accuracy, reaction time, aggression and personality. It may also be concluded that female crash-involved drivers don’t have any specific traits which distinguishes them from the non-crash-involved ones. However, the comparison between male and female non-crash-involved drivers (over a period of over 3 years) shows that there is a significant difference between the two groups regarding first and third condition of accuracy and the sub-scale of personality i.e. self-control. The comparison of other psychological factors among the two groups does not reveal any significant difference. The comparison of the means related to the 3 significant factors in male and female non-crash-involved drivers indicate that women score higher in the first and third situations. In other words, this group enjoys a greater accuracy (31.57 and 13.02 in women vs.25.35 and 22.93 in men). However, in terms of the self-control subscale of personality questionnaire the male non-crash-involved drivers have gained higher scores (3.056 in women vs. 3.957 in men). In other words, male non-crash-involved drivers show more self-control in driving than female drivers.
Zahra Nasrollahi; Haniye Poushdouz
Volume 8, Issue 4 , February 2011
Abstract
Globalization is a complex and complicated concept that can be defined from various dimensions including political, cultural and economical. Economically speaking, globalization is defined as a process in which the mobility of capital, organizations, ideas, discourses, and people has taken on an increasingly ...
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Globalization is a complex and complicated concept that can be defined from various dimensions including political, cultural and economical. Economically speaking, globalization is defined as a process in which the mobility of capital, organizations, ideas, discourses, and people has taken on an increasingly global or transnational form. Many economists believe that globalization is an engine of growth because it can stimulate economic development through an increase in exports; reducing the isolation of many developing countries, and facilitating their access to new technologies and information. On the other hand, other economists argue that free trade can give rise to high levels of unemployment in the affected sectors. In terms of the effects of globalization on women, the same controversy exists. Opponents of globalization accuse the new free zones of gender discrimination and exploitation of women. Moreover, spread of poverty and prostitution among women are frequently cited as byproducts of globalization. Meanwhile, proponents of globalization, explain that worldwide competition makes discrimination too expensive to sustain. Thus, it seems that Globalization is an unavoidable and accelerating process that affects the national economies in all aspects. Although in an integrated world, there is not any difference between man and woman, it seams that, women are greatly affected by world trade and globalization. Trade liberalization has had a particularly striking effect on the number of women working in developing countries’ manufacturing sectors. It seams that export-oriented industrialization is associated with a rising share of women’s manufacturing employment. Considering the fact that female make up about half of the population in Islamic Republic of Iran and play an important role in economic activities and sustainable development, it is essential to know how trade liberalization affects women’s job opportunities. Bearing in mind that legally speaking there is no difference and discrimination between men and women in terms of employment, this study investigates the effects of trade liberalization indices on women’s manufacturing employment (as an important sector in the industry development process) between the Period of 1996-2005. The research uses export, import and sum of export and import to the value added ratio in 2 digit industry level as trade liberalization indices. Panel data method is used for the purpose of the research. The results of this study show that trade liberalization has a significant negative impact on women’s manufacturing employment and also there is a positive relationship between women’s wage and ratio of Construction payments to total payments. It seems that one of the reasons of the negative relationship between trade liberalization and women’s manufacturing employment is women's low initial human capital endowments. To break the vicious circle of women's low initial human capital endowments and inferior labor market outcomes, the paper proposes greater access of girls to education and of women to training, enforceable equal pay, taxation and benefit structure that treats reproduction as an economic activity and women as equal partners within households, and a better accounting of women's work to include invisible production.
Mohammad Mirzaei; Ali Yar Ahmadi
Volume 8, Issue 4 , February 2011
Abstract
During the past decade there has been an unceasing trend to reduce child
and maternal mortality rate, and thus a demand to examine and address the existing challenges. Despite the importance of consistent healthcare during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum period, some Iranian women are not currently ...
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During the past decade there has been an unceasing trend to reduce child
and maternal mortality rate, and thus a demand to examine and address the existing challenges. Despite the importance of consistent healthcare during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum period, some Iranian women are not currently using these types of services. Therefore, the study on the important parameters that can lead to lack of enthusiasm and inclination to use healthcare services is significant. The Data for the study is drawn from Iran DHS-type survey conducted in 2000 by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. A total of 114,000 households with a total population of about 537,000 are representatively selected from rural and urban areas of 28 provinces, plus an additional sample from the capital city of Tehran. Data analysis involves a use of logistic Regression to predict the probability of healthcare use based on independent variables. The conceptual framework of the study is based on Anderson’s social model of healthcare use. Independent variables are demographic variables including age, birth, residence, experience of abortion and stillbirth as well as socio-economic variables including education, employment, economic indicator and health condition in household. The study indicates that around 8.6 percent of the total pregnant women of the study do not use any healthcare services. The proportion of not using healthcare services is 6% and 12% in urban and rural areas respectively. In terms of frequency of referral and quality of cares, there exist large differences between urban and rural centers as well. Considering the economic index, the difference is however much greater. In the group with low economic status, 30% of women have not referred to any healthcare center to get reproductive healthcares. This figure decreases to 4.5% for those with high economic status. In terms of education, 25% of illiterate people have not referred to any healthcare center. The ratio of not using healthcare among literate women with elementary and high school education decreases to 6.5% and 2% respectively. The study indicates that the economic index has a significant influence on healthcare use. Meanwhile, the odds ratio for those with medium and high economic status is 3.1 and 9.25 respectively as compared to 1 in low economic status. Thus, education is more influential among independent variables. As the illiterate women are considered as reference group, the odds ratio for women with elementary, high school and university education is 4.8, 27 and 56 respectively. In terms of demographic variables the birth order is a very effective variable. With more children, the probability of using healthcare services becomes less. It is also found that the maternal healthcare use is related inversely to age. The higher the age of respondents is, the lower the probability of healthcare use will be. Considering the population of pregnant women in Iran, this percentage includes a high number of women who do not use reproductive healthcare services. However, for the number of women interested in using such healthcares, a significant proportion complain about the poor quality and quantity of the offered services. As the study indicates, education and knowledge about contraception has the most stable effect in the models which indicate the significance of Ideational factors in reproductive healthcare use. The economic status is of second importance in predicting the use of healthcares.
Bahman Khosravipour; Mohammad Reza Soleimanpour
Volume 8, Issue 4 , February 2011
Abstract
Human resources play a crucial role in Iran’s economic growth. Men make
up the majority of the economically active population; however, there has been a surge in female employment since 1995, with a higher pace in the past recent decades. In the early current century, women in more privileged education ...
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Human resources play a crucial role in Iran’s economic growth. Men make
up the majority of the economically active population; however, there has been a surge in female employment since 1995, with a higher pace in the past recent decades. In the early current century, women in more privileged education groups were more likely to work for pay. Education and employment experience increased women’s potential earnings, making the opportunity cost of staying home greater. They may also be indicators of more interest in and commitment to paid work, as well as access to more interesting jobs. Probably for all these reasons, studies have long found a positive effect of education on employment. On the other hand, nowadays employment status of higher educated women is considered to be a major issue through developing countries in the world. In addition, Iran’s agriculture sector is faced with the shortage of qualified and powerful workforce, since there is not a self-employment sprit, and thus most of the agriculture female graduates are unemployed. The current study aims to explain the role of personal characteristics affecting female graduates’ employment in agriculture and natural resources university of Ramin. Some specific objectives of this study are as follows: 1) Identification of the personal, occupational, and educational characteristics of female graduates in agriculture and natural resources university of Ramin; 2) Prioritizing barriers of female graduates’ employment in agriculture sector; 3) Comparing female graduates with each other based on occupational status and graduation time; 4) Regression analysis of effectiveness of psychological and sociological variables on employment of female graduates in agriculture sector. The study uses a descriptive-correlative method. The independent variables include personal characteristics which are categorized as psychological and sociological characteristics, and dependent variable constitutes graduates’ employment measured on an interval scale. Data collection is carried out through questionnaires and the reliability of which is calculated by Cronbach Alpha coefficient to stand at 83%. The population is female graduates of agriculture and natural resources university of Ramin who graduated within the period of 2005 to 2008, out of which 140 are selected through stratified sampling. The data is analyzed using the computer software 'Statistical Package for the Social Science' (SPSS) program. The responses are coded before being transferred into the SPSS format. The research results show that 41% of female graduates in the studied university are unemployed. Meanwhile 68% of female graduates, who are employed, state that their field of study is proportionate with their occupations. Based on the results 58.6% of graduates are employed and more than half of them are working in public sector and the remaining are in private sector or self-employed. According to the results of the study, limited job opportunities for women in agriculture, lack of governmental support for agricultural graduates, and lack of communication between agricultural faculties and agricultural sector are considered as important barriers to employment of female graduates in agricultural sector. Also based on regression analysis, self confidence is the most effective variable affecting the employment of female graduates. So that by increasing self confidence in female graduates, their employment is influenced positively and significantly. According to step by step regression, this variable along with seven other variables named financial possibilities, independence demanding and free hand, occupational experience, risk-taking, age, education, and initiating could specify 56.5% of changes of dependent variable of the research.
