scholarly journals Women's leadership in traditional villages in Samoa: The cultural, social, and religious challenges

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Silia Pa'usisi Finau

<p>Samoan legends and myths document that matriarchal leadership existed prior to colonisation and Christianity. This was evident in the administration of Queen Salamasina, the first official tafa’ifā (holder of four paramount chiefly titles) in the history of the country. However, the era of matriarchs began to erode and was completely worn away with the introduction of male leadership, firstly, and most severely, by Christian missionaries in 1830, and later by colonial powers after World War 2. Leadership positions in families, churches, local government, national government, and most cultural, religious, and modern organisations have been predominantly held by males. Aspiring women leaders strive to gain leadership positions, but are faced with a variety of restrictions. Therefore, a search for gender equality in participation and representation in traditional village judiciaries (local government) warrants this study.  This study focussed on exploring the challenges that impede Samoan women from leadership positions in local government (pulega o nu’u). This qualitative study employed multiple methods for data collection consisting of interviews, observations, and document analysis. Interviews and observations were facilitated by the talanoa research framework, an indigenous research method effective for indigenous people conversing in their own vernacular, in this case, in the Samoan language. The data collected from interviews and observations was analysed by thematic analysis where major themes were constructed from consistent patterns emerging from coding, recoding, and interpreting data. Participants were selected through a purposeful sampling technique to yield in-depth information for the study.  The study found that barriers limiting women’s opportunities for leadership positions in traditional villages in Samoa are based on cultural values, religious beliefs, and social assumptions. Cultural values are most influential in people’s perception of a leader, as male leadership is entrenched as the true cultural norm. Religious beliefs that emphasise the importance of the father as the leader and the head of the family reinforce cultural restrictions on women accessing leadership positions. Social assumptions that associate women’s work with household tasks further curb women’s leadership aspirations.  The participants in this study believed their rights to leadership were disrupted by the structure of the local government, as leadership for them has been restricted to the confinement of the women’s committees. Women cannot participate fully in village councils (fono a le nu’u) because they neither hold matai titles nor recognised by male leaders. In addition to not gaining full participation in village councils, women without matai titles were excluded from standing for parliament.  This study sets the platform to generate further dialogue about the exclusion of women from positions of authority in local government, as well as addressing general gender inequality issues. This study also makes a valuable contribution to feminist thinking, promotes the field of women’s leadership, and makes an important contribution to the Pacific cultural leadership, specifically.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Silia Pa'usisi Finau

<p>Samoan legends and myths document that matriarchal leadership existed prior to colonisation and Christianity. This was evident in the administration of Queen Salamasina, the first official tafa’ifā (holder of four paramount chiefly titles) in the history of the country. However, the era of matriarchs began to erode and was completely worn away with the introduction of male leadership, firstly, and most severely, by Christian missionaries in 1830, and later by colonial powers after World War 2. Leadership positions in families, churches, local government, national government, and most cultural, religious, and modern organisations have been predominantly held by males. Aspiring women leaders strive to gain leadership positions, but are faced with a variety of restrictions. Therefore, a search for gender equality in participation and representation in traditional village judiciaries (local government) warrants this study.  This study focussed on exploring the challenges that impede Samoan women from leadership positions in local government (pulega o nu’u). This qualitative study employed multiple methods for data collection consisting of interviews, observations, and document analysis. Interviews and observations were facilitated by the talanoa research framework, an indigenous research method effective for indigenous people conversing in their own vernacular, in this case, in the Samoan language. The data collected from interviews and observations was analysed by thematic analysis where major themes were constructed from consistent patterns emerging from coding, recoding, and interpreting data. Participants were selected through a purposeful sampling technique to yield in-depth information for the study.  The study found that barriers limiting women’s opportunities for leadership positions in traditional villages in Samoa are based on cultural values, religious beliefs, and social assumptions. Cultural values are most influential in people’s perception of a leader, as male leadership is entrenched as the true cultural norm. Religious beliefs that emphasise the importance of the father as the leader and the head of the family reinforce cultural restrictions on women accessing leadership positions. Social assumptions that associate women’s work with household tasks further curb women’s leadership aspirations.  The participants in this study believed their rights to leadership were disrupted by the structure of the local government, as leadership for them has been restricted to the confinement of the women’s committees. Women cannot participate fully in village councils (fono a le nu’u) because they neither hold matai titles nor recognised by male leaders. In addition to not gaining full participation in village councils, women without matai titles were excluded from standing for parliament.  This study sets the platform to generate further dialogue about the exclusion of women from positions of authority in local government, as well as addressing general gender inequality issues. This study also makes a valuable contribution to feminist thinking, promotes the field of women’s leadership, and makes an important contribution to the Pacific cultural leadership, specifically.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-07
Author(s):  
Alfred Eboh

Background: The hawking of wares by children has been a serious issue confronting the Nigerian society. Children hawk in some of the most horrible conditions conceivable, where they face a serious risk of injury, chronic illness, kidnapping, rape or death. Objective: The focus of this study was to assess the perceived effects of street hawking on the well-being of children in Anyigba, Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State. Methods: The population of this study consists of parents of the street hawkers in Anyigba while cross-sectional survey design was used through the purposive sampling technique to choose the sample size of one hundred and sixty-two (162) respondents. The validated structured questionnaire and In-Depth Interviews (IDIs) served as the instruments for the data collection respectively. The hypotheses were tested using Chi-Square at a predetermined 0.05 level of significance. The quantitative data were analysed with the aid of the SPSS (version 20). Results: The results indicated among others that street hawking had significant social implications and physical consequences on children's moral behaviour as well as health status in the study area. Conclusion: The study, therefore, concluded that the government of Kogi State should carry out an enlightenment campaign through the media and religious institutions on the negative consequences of street hawking are recommended as panacea. Also, the child right act instrument and its implementation should be strengthened in order to curb street hawking in the study area.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Astri Furqani ◽  
Hafidhah .

In this era, a lot of activities that can not be separated from the practice of cheating or fraud , no exception In the government . Inspektorat Sumenep is the leading institution of internal Local Government in preventing and detecting fraud in the Local Government appropiate Perbup Sumenep No. 29 of 2008 . Dinas Pendidikan Sumenep need attention on the issue . This is due to Dinas Pendidikan Sumenep an agency with the largest number of assets and managing large budgets . These conditions led to the formulation of the problem is How Inspektorat Sumenep role in preventing and detecting fraud in Dinas Pendidikan Sumenep. This study used a qualitative approach in which the focus of this study is Inspektorat role in preventing and detecting fraud at Dinas Pendidikan Sumenep . Primary data obtained by direct interviews with the parties directly related to the determination of the source of research data in a qualitative study using nonprobability sampling . The sampling technique used was purposive sampling . The conclusion of this study, role of the Inspektorat Sumenep in the prevention of fraud in Dinas Pendidikan Sumenep still not maximal . This is due to Inspektorat Sumenep not supervise from the planning / budgeting and not optimal in overseeing and assisting the implementation of the SPIP as an instrument of fraud prevention in Dinas Pendidikan Sumenep . The role of Inspektorat Sumenep in the detection of fraud in Dinas Pendidikan Sumenep done by conducting an audit of financial and asset management in each financial year.Keywords: fraud, government, inspektorat.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fariha Azalea

Previous studies have observed a paradigm shift in the debate concerning the dimensionality of organizational citizenship behavior. Building on organizational citizenship behavior literature, the present study in intends to validate the dimensionality of the organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) scale developed by Smith et al., (1983) who proposed a 2 dimensional16-item instrument. Data was collected through a survey questionnaire using systematic random sampling technique to employees of local government in Lagos State, Nigeria. A total of 400 questionnaires were administered and 393 valid responses were obtained over a period of 4-weeks. Factor analysis and reliability analysis were conducted to confirm that the instrument is valid within the context of local government employees. The implication of this current study is that OCB scale developed by smith et al., (1983) has revealed two-dimensional structures comprising of; altruism and generalized compliance. The instrument was found to be valid and reliable scale for OCB measurement among employees of public organization, particularly Local Government employees in Lagos, Nigeria.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Mohammed Mustapha Namadi

Corruption is pervasive in Nigeria at all levels. Thus, despite recent gains in healthcare provision, the health sector faces numerous corruption related challenges. This study aims at examining areas of corruption in the health sector with specific focus on its types and nature. A sample size of 480 respondents aged 18 years and above was drawn from the eight Metropolitan Local Government Areas of Kano State, using the multistage sampling technique. The results revealed evidence of corrupt practices including those related to unnecessary-absenteeism, diversion of patients from the public health facilities to the private sector, diverting money meant for the purchase of equipment, fuel and diesel, bribery, stealing of medications, fraud, misappropriation of medications and unjustifiable reimbursement claims. In order to resolve the problem of corrupt practices in the healthcare sector, the study recommended the need for enforcement of appropriate code of ethics guiding the conduct of the health professionals, adoption of anti-corruption strategies, and strengthening the government monitoring system to check corruption in public health sector in order to ensure equitable access to healthcare services among the under-privileged people in the society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 411-417
Author(s):  
Salamatu Suleiman ◽  
Usman Kibbon Adamu ◽  
Jibril Abdullahi

This study examined the soil management practices of farmers in Zaria Local Government Area, Kaduna state, Nigeria. Both primary and secondary means of data collection were employed in the study. Purposive sampling technique was used to select both the study locations and the respondents based on the characteristics of the population and the objectives of the study. The sample size of 384 copies of questionnaire was purposively used to acquire data from the selected respondents. This was analyzed in SPSS 2.0 version, using simple descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and mean derived from 4-point Likert scale. The study indicated that the most adopted soil management practice by the respondents was the use of animal manure with 28.1%. This is followed by Mixed Cropping (26.3%). while shifting cultivation is the least practice (1.7%). The results also revealed that manure application is the most effective soil management practice with a mean score of ( = 4.21). while the lowest mean score is zero tilling with a value of ( = 1.51). Findings also showed that Soil fertility depletion is the strongest challenge to soil management practices with 32.9%.  The paper concludes that farmers in the study area can adopt many soil management practices. The paper recommends that there is need for mobile advisory teams of agricultural extension agents and the N-power agro unit to be set up, equipped, mobilized to reach out farmers to increase their awareness on adoption of improved agro soil management practices through training and consultation with farmers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 276-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Payi Ford ◽  
Kathy Gotha Guthadjaka ◽  
James Walung Daymangu ◽  
Bettina Danganbar ◽  
Colin Baker ◽  
...  

This article focuses on leadership by women in Indigenous research in the higher education sector of Australia. The research that provided the context for this exploration of Indigenous women’s leadership involved archiving ceremonial cultural knowledge from the Daly and Wagait regions of the Northern Territory. The article introduces the concept of Aboriginal corporeality and the struggle within colonial Australia and through to the present to prevent its erasure from Australia’s history. This struggle is referenced in the paradigm shifts underway in Indigenist research. The article acknowledges the past commitments of powerful Aboriginal women to the advancement of their clans’ people under the new circumstances that they had to confront from the 1880s. It is argued that the cultural agenda of these women prepared the ground for the advances in Indigenist research reported in this article. The article concludes with an example of the close, culturally significant partnership that was forged by the research project across two Aboriginal communities of the Northern Territory.


Author(s):  
Lixia Qin ◽  
Mario Torres ◽  
Jean Madsen

International feminist perspectives recognize the continuing inequalities of power between men and women across all classes (Adler & Israeli, 1988; Alston, 2000; De la Rey, 2005). In China’s male-dominant society, for example, women often have been inhibited from pursuing leadership positions (Wiseman, Obiakor & Bakken, 2009). Further, women’s access to leadership positions is constrained within many social sectors (Cooke, 2005). In school settings, there is no doubt that women have greatly contributed to the changing practice of educational management in China since 1980s ( Zhong & Ehrich, 2010). However, despite recent changes, women are still vastly underrepresented in educational leadership positions due to a variety of reasons, such as their adherence to traditional gender roles (Coleman, Qiang & Li, 1998). One particular reason that has been drawing increasing attention across the world is the lack of appropriate training and guidance in young women’s leadership (Su, Adams & Miniberg, 2000; Cooke, 2003; Barnett, 2004; Chen, 2005). This paper probes in greater depth one of the most important, yet largely overlooked aspects in the educational leadership of China – women’s leadership roles in education and young women’s leadership preparation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-19
Author(s):  
Nur Fadzilah Muhamad Zamani

As people agree that socioeconomic status (SES) is one of the contributing factors that hinders one’s literacy development, there are still students who come from low socioeconomic background yet are able to acquire high English literacy despite the presence of life stressors. This study examines the challenges faced by low SES students in acquiring high English literacy and the factors that help them to overcome those challenges.  Three students aged fourteen to sixteen years old were chosen as the sample for this study through purposive sampling technique. A qualitative semi-structured interview was conducted to obtain in-depth information about the topic discussed. Three themes emerged which include individual, family and school that demonstrated the challenges faced by low SES students in acquiring high English literacy and the factors that helped them to overcome those challenges. In brief, the participants agreed that their internal motivation and hard work were the most important factors that kept them positive to fight against challenges and become highly literate in the English language. Keywords: Semi-structured interview, qualitative, socioeconomic status (SES), English literacy, motivation


Author(s):  
Abimbola Foluso OJAPINWA,

This study investigated the effect of self-efficacy on self-employment intentions of recent graduates. Using the descriptive survey research design, the study population includes National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members of Ojo Local Government area of Lagos state. A sample of 130 was selected using the purposive sampling technique. The formulated hypotheses were tested using the simple linear regression and the independent sample t-test. The results showed that there was a statistically significant influence of self-efficacy on self-employment intention of Corps members of Ojo local government, Lagos state. A significant regression coefficient was found F (1.128)=29.72, p<.05), with R2 of .19. This presupposes that19.0% of the variance in self-employment intentions is as a result of the self-efficacy of recent graduates. Also, a statistically significant difference in the self-employment intentions were found between male and female corps members (tcal(128) = 2.11 is greater than ttab=1.98, p < .05). The study therefore recommended, amongst others, that institutions and the government should educate and devise a means by which they can increase the level of graduates and students’ self-efficacy which in turn will help shape their intention towards shaping career options after graduation. Similarly, effective entrepreneurship education and training for students and graduates to enhance their efficacy in performing specific tasks and roles of an entrepreneur will go a long way in boosting their self-employment intention and also aids them towards post graduate job creation ability rather than job seekers


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