End of Occupational Segregation in the Nursing Profession

This chapter focuses on how female nurses make sense of their occupations as the perception of their profession changes from gender-biased to gender-neutral. Nursing is one of those rare professions with occupational segregation in favor of females, but one that is changing as more males enter the profession. While there are many occupational segregation studies to explain male and female nurses' perspectives, research on how female nurses reconsider their views about the profession is scarce. Therefore, this chapter will address this change for females by utilizing a conceptual analysis, specifically the cognitive sense-making perspective. Referring to the phases of the cognitive sense-making (ecological change, enactment, selection, and retention), this chapter examines how the meaning of the nursing profession and the meaning of work in general is changing for females.

What Does It Mean to Be a “Woman Leader” in Academia?

This chapter seeks to determine how patriarchy and capitalism together work to oppress women in academic leadership positions. In today's globalized world, higher education institutions, both state and private, either have strong ties with the corporate world or are run as if they are corporations themselves. Women who work their way up to management positions in academia are forced to accommodate patriarchal and capitalist ways of leading, which undervalue democratic processes such as getting legitimacy from people and deliberation, as well as other ways of “doing things” or “leading” differently. This study aims to discuss the multi-layered forms of gender-based discrimination in regard to civil status, age, ethnicity, class, and pay differences in academic leadership positions.

Women in Leadership From the Perspective of a Chinese-American Professional

The purpose of the chapter is to introduce changing roles of women over time, both in the settings of household and professional settings. As analyzed through the perspective of a Chinese-American professional, the chapter is to illustrate the challenges faced by women globally but also from Asian-American women in particular. In this chapter, the concerns of professional women have not only concerned women in general, but also minority women, especially in the United States. The questions of minority women in the workplace have raised critical concerns of professional integration and assimilation. In other words, minority women in general have struggled to seek professional careers with upward mobility. The question of how minority women choose careers and seek stability within their work places are being asked and explored within the current literature. The current literature explores how our psychological has and sociological changes in the society have affected how women understand their places and positions in their workplaces.

Entrepreneurship as a Career Choice for Women

Entrepreneurship is seen as an important tool in the prevention of women's unemployment and in the fight against poverty in underdeveloped and developing countries. Entrepreneurship becomes particularly obligatory for many women to substitute a kind of employment to provide additional income to the family. Drawing on Bowen and Hisrich's a career perspective to women's entrepreneurship and the context of a successful entrepreneurial career of a woman in Turkey, this chapter aims to discuss women's entrepreneurship by focusing on the reasons as to why women might choose entrepreneurship as a career choice. Another contribution is to provide a platform aimed at encouraging the mindset for the development of women's employment and entrepreneurship. In this context, the chapter provides explanations for the reasons for women's entrepreneurship within the push and pull factors. Furthermore, the main demographics of women entrepreneurs, their general personality characteristics, the sectors they operate in, and the difficulties they face are discussed.

Women-Founded Start-Ups

The number of women-owned businesses has increased in the last several years. This chapter begins with the theoretical background of women entrepreneurship, its history, and its influencing factors. The rate of women-owned enterprises is lower than men's in most countries. Women-owned enterprises are characterized by their small size and a business segment with less monetary value. Women in developing countries face additional challenges due to limited resources and cultural barriers. Therefore, the discussion follows issues faced by these women. The role of culture and a cross-cultural comparison are presented to gain a thorough understanding. The chapter includes a qualitative study and concludes with a brief outlook.

Researching Sensitive Topics

This is a methodological chapter, discussing various reasons why sexism and gender discrimination at Turkish universities might be a sensitive topic for research and how to overcome the obstacles associated with researching such a sensitive topic. The reasons why sexism and gender discrimination might be a sensitive topic for research include the research participants' possible identification with a victim position in a sexist environment and a resulting loss of self-esteem on their part as well as the university management's potential disapproval of having one of its faculty interviewed about perceptions of sexism. In this study various research methods are discussed and evaluated, ranging from various forms of snowballing to more randomized ways of finding participants. One tentative conclusion of the present study is that research on sexism and gender discrimination at the university requires the support of powerful academics willing to function as key persons.

Women's Participation in the Labor Market

The issue of gender disparity regarding women's participation in the labor force has generally been lower than that of men all around the world. While the rates of labor force participation have been on the rise for many Western European countries due to their longstanding policies, the rates remain lower, with a much slower increase, in the Europe and Central Asia region, which Turkey is considered to be a part of, according to the regional categorization of the World Bank. The issues of institutional and socio-cultural dynamics need to be taken into consideration to explain the comparatively lower female labor force participation rate (LFPR) in the ECA Region, including Turkey, which, in fact, falls behind the ECA countries. Drawing on available data pertaining to women's LFPR, this chapter aims to provide integrated institutional and socio-cultural explanations regarding women's access to education, family policies, participation in unpaid work, and child care.

The Effects of Values and Gender Role Perceptions on Attitudes Towards Women Managers

One of the key drivers of the development of societies over the past century has been the shift in women's social and economic position. Women have since been increasingly moving into the labor market, into employment, and into work organizations. According to the 2017 ILO report, women's overall labor participation is estimated to be 49.4%, and this rate increases to 53% for the East European countries. Even though women's participation in the labor force and in the front-line managerial positions is increasing, we are still far from achieving gender equality. Apart from the participation of women, a number of other issues remain to be tackled such as the under-representation of women in decision-making positions, the gender pay gap, and male-dominated work cultures. This chapter explores the effects of values and gender role perceptions on attitudes towards women managers.

Gender Inequality in Work Organizations

In this chapter, the author aims to present, through a review of literature, that the gender equality assumption of the human resource management (HRM) approach is not taken for granted. It seems there exist two sides of the same coin, one representing the HRM approach and the other representing the gendered approach to HRM practices. This chapter reviews HRM practices in work organizations as the potential facilitator of gender inequalities in organizations. In addition, the contentious function of HRM practices in maintaining gender inequalities within work organizations is reviewed. In spite of knowing the implication of HRM practices on being a gender-diverse organization, there remain few studies on the relationship between HRM practices and gender inequality in work organizations. Such research will add a different perspective to HRM practices and contribute to the awareness related to the gendered nature of organizations and their organizational practices.

African Women in Leadership

This chapter considers African women's participation in leadership and their views on effective leadership. The literature suggests that African women remain underrepresented in leadership roles, although participation rates are increasing. African women are well represented as entrepreneurs, in the less profitable informal sector, and are increasingly found in political spheres. The LEAD research shows men and women holding similar views regarding effective leadership. Preliminary results suggest that traditional views about leadership, which held women back, may be changing. This is a positive development, as society will benefit from the leadership skills of women. Efforts by African governments to mandate percentages of women in leadership positions may have an effect on government as well as business. Africa, however, is a large continent with parts of its population residing in rural areas where traditions continue. Consequently, more research is needed to understand developments regarding the involvement of women in leadership to inform policy and influence practice.