Talkin' up sport and gender : Three Australian Aboriginal women speak

This paper presents the perspectives from three Aboriginal women on body image, sport and physical activity within Australian contemporary society. It draws on a range of literature along with artworks from visual artist Pamela Croft.

Intake of isoflavone and lignan phytoestrogens and associated demographic and lifestyle factors in older Australian women

The purpose was to determine intake of phytoestrogens in a sample of older Australian women, and to investigate associated lifestyle factors. Subjects were an age-stratified sample of 511 women aged 40-80 y, randomly selected from the electoral roll and participating in the Longitudinal Assessment of Ageing in Women at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess isoflavone and lignan intake over the past month from food and supplements using a 112-item phytoestrogen frequency questionnaire. Data were also collected on nutrient intakes, physical activity, smoking, alcohol, non-prescription supplements, hormone therapy, education and occupation. Logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between demographic and lifestyle variables and soy/linseed consumption while controlling for age. Isoflavone intakes were significantly higher in the younger compared to older age groups (p<0.001); there were no age-related differences in lignan intake. Forty-five percent of women consumed at least one serve of a soy and/or linseed item and were defined as a soy/linseed consumer. Median (range) intakes by consumers for isoflavones and lignans (3.9 (0-172) mg/d and 2.4 (0.1-33) mg/d) were higher than intakes by non-consumers (0.004 (0-2.6) mg/d and 1.57 (0.44-4.7) mg/d), respectively (p<0.001). Consumers had higher intakes of dietary fibre (p=0.003), energy (p=0.04) and polyunsaturated fat (p=0.004), and higher levels of physical activity (p=0.006), socio-economic position (p<0.001), education (p<0.001) and supplement use (p<0.001). Women who consumed soy or linseed foods differed in lifestyle and demographic characteristics suggesting these factors should be considered when investigating associations with chronic disease outcomes.

Even Penelope had a plan : imagining a metaphysics of wandering in the contemporary travel blogs of Australian Women Abroad

Despite the continued popularity of travel blogs and virtual travel communities, there is currently a lack of contemporary criticism surrounding the coded structures and connotations of online travel writings, especially those arising out of the Australian context. While there have been few significant studies of Australian women’s travel to date, there have been even less about female wandering. Reimagining the archetype of Penelope, this paper considers liminal accounts of wandering in contemporary travel blogs of Australian women abroad. When women travel as wanderers, they undermine normative accounts of travel and trace out alternative movements fused with gendered meaning.

Corporate governance in China

So far as Asia is concerned, corporate governance is an import. The concept itself was virtually unknown in China ¬a decade ago. Yet corporate governance has now been enthusiastically embraced in China, to the point that the year 2005 was declared the Year of Corporate Governance and extensive amendments have been made to several laws and regulations with an emphasis on corporate governance. This essay will consider the effectiveness of China’s corporate governance law on paper and in practice with the OECD’s Principles of Corporate Governance acting as a general guide.

Design and implementation of the Exercise for Health trial – a pragmatic exercise intervention for women with breast cancer

Background Exercise for Health was a pragmatic, randomised, controlled trial comparing the effect of an eight-month exercise intervention on function, treatment-related side effects and quality of life following breast cancer, compared with usual care. The intervention commenced six weeks post-surgery, and two modes of delivering the same intervention was compared with usual care. The purpose of this paper is to describe the study design, along with outcomes related to recruitment, retention and representativeness, and intervention participation. Methods: Women newly diagnosed with breast cancer and residing in a major metropolitan city of Queensland, Australia, were eligible to participate. Consenting women were randomised to a face-to-face-delivered exercise group (FtF, n=67), telephone-delivered exercise group (Tel, n=67) or usual care group (UC, n=60) and were assessed pre-intervention (5-weeks post-surgery), mid-intervention (6 months post-surgery) and 10 weeks post-intervention (12 months post-surgery). Each intervention arm entailed 16 sessions with an Exercise Physiologist. Results: Of 318 potentially eligible women, 63% (n=200) agreed to participate, with a 12-month retention rate of 93%. Participants were similar to the Queensland breast cancer population with respect to disease characteristics, and the randomisation procedure was mostly successful at attaining group balance, with the few minor imbalances observed unlikely to influence intervention effects given balance in other related characteristics. Median participation was 14 (min, max: 0, 16) and 13 (min, max: 3, 16) intervention sessions for the FtF and Tel, respectively, with 68% of those in Tel and 82% in FtF participating in at least 75% of sessions. Discussion: Participation in both intervention arms during and following treatment for breast cancer was feasible and acceptable to women. Future work, designed to inform translation into practice, will evaluate the quality of life, clinical, psychosocial and behavioural outcomes associated with each mode of delivery.

The Australian story : catalysts and inhibitors in the achievement of new women professors

Women are substantially under-represented in the professoriate in Australia with a ratio of one female professor to every three male professors. This gender imbalance has been an ongoing concern with various affirmative action programs implemented in universities but to limited effect. Hence, there is a need to investigate the catalysts for and inhibitors to women’s ascent to the professoriate. This investigation focussed on women appointed to the professoriate between 2005, when a research quality assessment was first proposed, and 2008. Henceforth, these women are referred to as “New Women Professors”. The catalysts and inhibitors in these women’s careers were investigated through an electronic survey and focus group interviews. The survey was administered to new women professors (n=255) and new men professors (n=240) to enable a comparison of responses. However, only women participated in focus group discussions (n=21). An analysis of the survey and interview data revealed that the most critical catalysts for women’s advancement to the professoriate were equal employment opportunities and mentoring. Equal opportunity initiatives provided women with access to traditionally male-dominated forums. Mentoring gave women an insider perspective on the complexity of academia and the politics of the academy. The key inhibitors to women’s career advancement were negative discrimination, the culture of the boys’ club, the tension between personal and professional life, and isolation. Negative discrimination and the boys’ club are problematic because they favour men and marginalise women. The tension between personal and professional life is a particular concern for women who bear children and typically assume the major role in a family for child rearing. Isolation was a concern for both women and men with isolation appearing to increase after ascent to the professoriate. Knowledge of the significant catalysts and inhibitors provides a pragmatic way to orient universities towards redressing the gender balance in the professoriate.

The work of women teachers in primary literacy education : knowing and doing

This paper provides a retrospective account of three decades of my work as a literacy educator and researcher. Taking key insights from feminist sociologist, Dorothy Smith, including women’s standpoint, the everyday world as problematic, institutional capture, a sociology for the people, I revisit my research on literacy, poverty and schooling. I argue that understanding better the effects of what we do in educational institutions, through collaborative research with teachers, can lead us to generate positive alternative equity-driven practices.

Communicating friendships : a case study of women in an Australian 'seachange' town

This thesis proposes =friendworks‘ as an important sub-group of social networks, comprised of networks of friends. It investigates friendworks of a particular group of adult Australian women as a way of understanding neglected aspects of social networking practices. Friendworks are contextualised to highlight two main themes of interest: population mobility and communication practices. The impact of relocation on individuals, local communities and the wider society is explored through a case study of female friendworks in a seachange community. Research findings point to the importance of friendworks in building and cohering social and emotional support, well-being, belonging and senses of place and community. Different types of communication methods were used by research participants for mediating different kinds of social ties within the friendworks considered here. Communication patterns were influenced by geographical proximity to friends, and the type of social support required of them (emotional, instrumental or companionship). Most findings were consistent with broader social patterns of communication. For example, face-to-face interactions were the dominant and most favoured communication method between local friends, regardless of whether they were weak or strong ties. The fixed-telephone and the internet were commonly in use to maintain old and geographically distant social ties, while mobile phones were used the least among friends in comparison with other communication methods. The key finding of this thesis is that friendworks are an extremely important solid network in contemporary society, providing mooring relations in a mobile world. Paradoxically, however, for women in this study, the mobile phone, which is popularly perceived as a flexible, multi-purpose communication technology for people on the move, was the least versatile of all technologies for maintaining friendworks. The cost of services was the main inhibitor here. The internet was found to be the most versatile communication technology and was used to support various types of social ties: strong, weak, local and distant. This thesis also highlights the value of the concept of friendworks as well as networks for communication research and policy investigating individuals‘ motivations and practices.

The artistic partnership of two women

This brief paper details the artistic working relationship between Bronwyn Fredericks and Pamela Croft within the Keppel Sands / Rockhampton region.

Changing times in China

Brief travel article about Beijing, China, in the lead up to the Olympic Games.

The art of careful listening : children as co-artists in the making of live performance

Since 2007 Kite Arts Education Program (KITE), based at Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), has been engaged in delivering a series of theatre-based experiences for children in low socio-economic primary schools in Queensland. The twelve-week workshop experience culminates in a performance developed by the children with the assistance of the teacher artists from KITE for their community and parents/carers in a peak community cultural institution. Using Wartella’s notion of the socially competent child this analysis interrogates the performance product Precious, child participation modes, the intersection between the professional artists, teacher artists and child artists and outcomes in terms of building capacities for the development of social competencies in children.

Enhancing research productivity of TEFL academics in China

As research has become an important indicator of TEFL academics’ overall performance in Chinese higher education institutions, it is critical that TEFL academics are able to meet the expectation of conducting research. This mixedmethod study investigated research productivity of Chinese TEFL academics and associated influences, with the ultimate objective of constructing a framework to help build their research capacity in the future. Using an initial survey, the study provided a snapshot of research productivity of 182 TEFL academics from three Chinese higher education institutions, and individual and institutional characteristics that influenced their research productivity. Using interviews and documents as the data sources, the subsequent qualitative case study of two purposively-sampled Chinese TEFL departments provided insights into Chinese TEFL academics’ perceptions about research, and individual, institutional and departmental efforts in meeting the research expectation. The findings from this study revealed that the 182 Chinese TEFL academics’ research productivity during 2004-2008 was relatively low as a whole as was the quality of their research. This study identified four influences that impacted on Chinese TEFL academics’ research productivity: TEFL disciplinary influences, institutional and departmental research environments, individual characteristics desirable for research, and TEFL academics’ perceptions about research. Drawing upon the above findings from this study, a Framework towards Enhancing Chinese TEFL Academics’ Research Productivity (FECTARP) was constructed. The FECTARP synthesised the findings from the study, and presented a framework for Chinese institutions and TEFL departments to enhance their TEFL academics’ research capacity.

Social influences on drivers in China

China is one of Asia’s many rapidly-motorising nations and recent increases in private-vehicle ownership have been coupled with an escalation in novice drivers. Several pieces of road safety legislation have been introduced in recent decades in China. While managing the legal aspects of road use is important, social influences on driver behaviour may offer alternative avenues to alter behaviour, particularly in a culture where such factors carry high importance. This paper reports qualitative research with Beijing drivers to investigate social influence factors that have, to date, received little attention in the literature. Findings indicated that family members, friends, and driving instructors appear influential on driver behaviour and that some newly licensed drivers seek additional assistance to facilitate the transition from learning to drive in a controlled environment to driving on the road in complex conditions. Strategies to avoid detection and penalties for inappropriate road use were described, many of which involved the use of a third person. These findings indicate potential barriers to implementing effective traffic enforcement and highlight the importance of understanding culturally-specific social factors relating to driver behaviour.