‘Having It All’? : Pre-Teen Girls Negotiate Successful Femininity

<p>Depictions of girls and young women as powerful, unconstrained and outshining boys and men characterise the modern postfeminist cultural climate and imbue femininity with wide reaching success. However, research into postfeminist discourse reveals a far more complicated picture than this straightforward ode to success. Previously the focus has been on successful femininity within education or employment, or on the future aspirations of girls and young women. Yet considering the grandiose postfeminist claims of successful femininity it is important to examine specifically what success means to those who are expected to hold it. The current research has done so from the perspective of ethnically diverse pre-adolescent girls, addressing the lack of research with this age group and with girls from minority ethnic backgrounds. Incorporating the latter enabled the thesis to examine how ethnic identities may intersect with understandings of successful femininity. Focus groups and photo-narrative books were used to explore the ways 32 girls between 11- and 13-years old made sense of successful girl/womanhood, including media representations of successful femininity. Participants were recruited from two urban schools within New Zealand. The study used a feminist poststructuralist framework and employed thematic and Foucauldian discourse analysis to analyse the data. Two overarching themes were identified: ‘Success as Individual Qualities’ and ‘Spheres of Success.’ Across these themes the girls’ drew heavily on postfeminist and neoliberal discourses and constructed success through the competing and contradictory discourses of girl power and traditional femininity. Successful femininity was constructed as a highly individualised endeavour, predicated on the individual qualities of hard work, constant striving towards goals and overcoming adversity. These qualities were required to accomplishing success within three mandatory spheres of success; education, employment and motherhood. The successful female subject was expected to move linearly through these three spheres, engaging in higher education to earn a successful career in order to financially sustain motherhood. Discussions of employment success oscillated between constructions of unbounded possibility for young women in the workforce and recognition of the barriers facing young women and especially Māori women who work. Motherhood, described as the apex of successful femininity, was also shot through with complexity. The girls constructed a narrow scope for success through motherhood: those who had children without planning, had many children or who gave birth while young or single were positioned outside of this successfulness. The ultimate form of successful femininity required a delicate balancing of the three spheres of success in order for women to achieve the contradictory and unobtainable task of ‘having it all.’ Findings demonstrate girls’ lack of access to a language with which to articulate oppression and inequality and emphasise the problematic entanglement of ‘new’ discourses of equality, empowerment and success with the enduring presence of powerful and regulatory traditional discourses of femininity.</p>

‘Having It All’? : Pre-Teen Girls Negotiate Successful Femininity

<p>Depictions of girls and young women as powerful, unconstrained and outshining boys and men characterise the modern postfeminist cultural climate and imbue femininity with wide reaching success. However, research into postfeminist discourse reveals a far more complicated picture than this straightforward ode to success. Previously the focus has been on successful femininity within education or employment, or on the future aspirations of girls and young women. Yet considering the grandiose postfeminist claims of successful femininity it is important to examine specifically what success means to those who are expected to hold it. The current research has done so from the perspective of ethnically diverse pre-adolescent girls, addressing the lack of research with this age group and with girls from minority ethnic backgrounds. Incorporating the latter enabled the thesis to examine how ethnic identities may intersect with understandings of successful femininity. Focus groups and photo-narrative books were used to explore the ways 32 girls between 11- and 13-years old made sense of successful girl/womanhood, including media representations of successful femininity. Participants were recruited from two urban schools within New Zealand. The study used a feminist poststructuralist framework and employed thematic and Foucauldian discourse analysis to analyse the data. Two overarching themes were identified: ‘Success as Individual Qualities’ and ‘Spheres of Success.’ Across these themes the girls’ drew heavily on postfeminist and neoliberal discourses and constructed success through the competing and contradictory discourses of girl power and traditional femininity. Successful femininity was constructed as a highly individualised endeavour, predicated on the individual qualities of hard work, constant striving towards goals and overcoming adversity. These qualities were required to accomplishing success within three mandatory spheres of success; education, employment and motherhood. The successful female subject was expected to move linearly through these three spheres, engaging in higher education to earn a successful career in order to financially sustain motherhood. Discussions of employment success oscillated between constructions of unbounded possibility for young women in the workforce and recognition of the barriers facing young women and especially Māori women who work. Motherhood, described as the apex of successful femininity, was also shot through with complexity. The girls constructed a narrow scope for success through motherhood: those who had children without planning, had many children or who gave birth while young or single were positioned outside of this successfulness. The ultimate form of successful femininity required a delicate balancing of the three spheres of success in order for women to achieve the contradictory and unobtainable task of ‘having it all.’ Findings demonstrate girls’ lack of access to a language with which to articulate oppression and inequality and emphasise the problematic entanglement of ‘new’ discourses of equality, empowerment and success with the enduring presence of powerful and regulatory traditional discourses of femininity.</p>

Service needs assessment of employment-related soft skills for transition age youth with disabilities

BACKGROUND: Work-related soft skills can be an important factor for successful employment outcomes, particularly for individuals with disabilities. OBJECTIVE: This study conducted a survey on the needs of important work-related soft skills for employment success of transition age youth with disabilities. METHODS: 183 participants included 27 individuals with disabilities, 32 family members of individuals with disabilities,35 disability service providers, 47 disability advocates and 42 employers, completed surveys to identify a list of soft skills by importance for transition age youth with disabilities to succeed at work. RESULTS: All five groups noted the top two skills: asking for help and responding to feedback, as most important. Employers also rated interview skills as third most important skills, while the other four groups advocated requesting for accommodations and negotiating conflicts as the third and fourth most important skills. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicated soft skills being critical to work success for transition age youth with disabilities, with some skills potentially being more important. Vocational counseling implications were discussed.

Good fences make good neighbors: Collaborating with families to create employment opportunity

BACKGROUND: Collaboration between supported employment providers and parents/guardians of job seekers with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities is key to employment success. However, parents are often concerned about the efficacy of employment supports or the capacity of the professionals providing the service. Likewise, job coaches may consider certain kinds of parent involvement as detrimental to a successful job match. OBJECTIVE: This article provides context for why parents/guardians may be distrustful of the employment process, as well as why employment specialists may struggle to build strong partnerships with parents/guardians. METHODS: This article will discuss how to implement practices that not only welcome the critical input of families, but also maintain healthy and well-defined boundaries that affirm the autonomy, professionalism, and competence of the worker.

Microcredential learners need quality careers and employability support

Providers, industry, and governments have embraced microcredentialing as a solution to the volatility and velocity of changes in labour markets, workplace competencies, and the needs of the 21st century lifelong learner (Oliver, 2019). However, microcredentials do not, in and of themselves, guarantee career or employment success. Seeking a microcredential is one adaptive career behaviour that people might enact in pursuit of their career goals (Lent & Brown, 2013). Similarly, holding a microcredential is one form of employability capital that people might highlight when seeking employment (Tomlinson & Anderson, 2020).

How kinship resources alleviate structural disadvantage: self-employment duration among refugees and labor migrants

Purpose Economic integration of refugees remains a challenge for developed countries. Although refugees differ greatly from labor migrants in available resources and motivation toward self-employment, prevailing studies on minority and ethnic entrepreneurship tend to lump these different categories of migrants together. Based on theories of migrants’ economic embeddedness, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent to which family- and kinship-based resources affect self-employment duration among refugees and labor migrants. Design/methodology/approach Based on Cox regression models, this longitudinal study estimates the self-employment duration of 10,519 refugees and 2,503 labor migrants starting businesses in Sweden in the period 2006–2012. Findings Results reveal that while refugees are at a disadvantage to labor migrants in terms of self-employment duration, their higher level of family embeddedness in part helps them overcome these disadvantages. For refugees but not for labor migrants, co-location in an ethnic enclave also lowers the risk of them becoming unemployed after a spell in entrepreneurship. Originality/value This original paper provides empirical and theoretical contributions to research on migrants’ self-employment success. It also discusses contributions for research on entrepreneurs’ social embeddedness and refugees’ entrepreneurship.

Bonding Social Capital, Afghan Refugees, and Early Access to Employment

This IMR Research Note examines the impact of the level of bonding social capital on access to employment among newly arrived Afghan refugees in Victoria (Australia). Based on a mixed-methods analysis of biographical interviews with 80 Afghan refugees, it examines their use of social capital, year by year, during the first three years after their arrival. Our analysis shows that higher levels of bonding social capital are associated with greater success in finding employment during the first and second year of settlement. In the third year, however, bonding social capital for Afghan refugees in Victoria is no longer a significant predictor of employment. This Research Note helps clarify inconsistent findings in the literature on the effects of social capital on obtaining employment by suggesting that bonding social capital’s impact on refugee employment success changes significantly across the first three years after arrival. This finding has important implications for migration policy and the prioritization of resources toward services for newly arrived refugees.

Neoliberalism: Unpacking Limited Employment Success for Persons with SMI

Background. A mixed-methods case study exploring access to competitive employment for persons with serious mental illness (SMI) revealed limited access to work and low employment success across two northern communities. Purpose. To explore possible explanations for why low employment rates persist despite existing employment services and supports. Methods. A total of 46 individual or group interviews were conducted with persons with SMI, vocational providers, and decision-makers regarding access to competitive employment in the case communities. Data were systematically analysed for dominant ideas, interests and institutions using a neo-institutional framework. Findings. Participants described access to employment to be constrained by provider competition, limited supports, and a lack of consideration of difference—ideas and interests associated with neoliberal influences within provincial employment supports policy. Implications. Enabling participation in meaningful employment for people with SMI will require occupational therapists to appreciate and contest the oppressive nature of neoliberal policies on local programs and services.