scholarly journals Why Gender Matters: Fostering Diversity in the American National Biography with Lessons Learned from Notable American Women

2019 ◽  
pp. 101-117
Author(s):  
Susan Ware
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
American Women ◽  
National Biography

Long-Term Breastfeeding in African American Mothers

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyra Toston Gross ◽  
Marsha Davis ◽  
Alex K. Anderson ◽  
Jori Hall ◽  
Karen Hilyard
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Breastfeeding Support ◽  
American Women

Background: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 39.1% of African American infants are breastfed at 6 months. However, few studies have explored the breastfeeding experiences of African American women who successfully breastfeed to 6 months or longer durations. Research aim: The goal of this qualitative study was to explore the long-term breastfeeding experiences of low-income African American women using the positive deviance approach. Methods: African American women with breastfeeding experience were recruited through Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) breastfeeding peer counselors. Eligibility criteria included being age 18 or older, currently participating in WIC, and having breastfed one child for at least 6 months in the past 2 years. Semistructured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 participants. Interviews were audio-recorded and professionally transcribed. Transcripts were then analyzed for emerging themes using thematic analysis in NVivo software. Results: Participants had on average three children each, with an average length of breastfeeding of 10.5 months per child. Four main themes developed: (a) deciding to breastfeed, (b) initiating breastfeeding, (c) breastfeeding long-term, and (d) expanding breastfeeding support. Participants offered culturally tailored suggestions to improve breastfeeding support for other African American women: prenatal discussions of breastfeeding with health care providers, African American lactation support personnel and breastfeeding support groups, and African American breastfeeding promotion in print and digital media. Conclusion: Women who participated in this study breastfed for longer durations than the national average for African Americans. Findings can inform practice and research efforts to improve breastfeeding rates in this population using lessons learned from successful women.

“Get an Education in Case He Leaves You”: Consejos for Mexican American Women PhDs

2016 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle M. Espino
Keyword(s):  
Mexican American ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Mexican American Women ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
American Women ◽  
Educational Advancement ◽  
Professional Careers ◽  
Educational Structures

In this study, Michelle M. Espino uncovers the ways in which twenty-five Mexican American women PhDs made meaning of conflicting messages about the purpose of higher education as they navigated within and through educational structures and shifting familial expectations. Participants received consejos, or nurturing advice, from parents and extended family members that simultaneously promoted educational attainment and raced-gendered heteronormativity as a means of survival within and resistance against cultural and societal constraints. Lessons learned from conflicting consejos later informed how the participants resisted racism and sexism they encountered in their professional careers. Reflecting a Chicana feminist perspective, the findings illustrate the various social, psychological, and cultural locations that participants (re)crossed in conceptualizing Mexican American womanhood in the United States. This study offers an opportunity to explore and interrogate the systems of oppression that affect Mexican American women and their educational advancement and adds to understandings about the complexities and constraints that Mexican American women encounter during their academic life course.

Lessons Learned from African American Women about Participation in a Family-Based HIV Prevention Program

2006 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rogério M. Pinto ◽  
Mary M. McKay
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Hiv Prevention ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
American Women ◽  
Hiv Prevention Intervention ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Family Based ◽  
The Individual

This study uses qualitative data from individual interviews with low-income, African American women (n = 92) between 19 and 35 years of age who participated in 12 two-hour sessions of a family-focused HIV prevention intervention. The study explores influences on three domains. At the individual domain, development of personal attributes and the perceptions that program staff was fair toward racial minorities appear to influence participation. At the program domain, staff friendliness and monetary incentive also influenced participation. At the social domain, influence of friends and emotional support influenced participation. Training staff to confront racism and to develop a culturally competent and friendly environment has the potential to increase attendance among participants at high risk for HIV exposure.

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