Actividades de la Secretaría de la CEPAL con relación a la integración de la mujer en el desarrollo económico y social de América Latina y el Caribe desde el 1 de julio de 1988 hasta el 31 de julio de 1989 = Activities of the ECLAC Secretariat with respect to the integration of women into the economic and social development of Latin America and the Caribbean from 1 July 1988 to 31 July 1989

Incluye Bibliografía

Selección de resoluciones aprobadas por la Asamblea General y el Consejo Económico y Social (ECOSOC) durante el período 1981-1988 acerca de la situación de la mujer y su integración en el desarrollo económico y social = A selection of resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) between 1981 and 1988 on the situation of women and their integration into economic and social development

Contiene resoluciones aprobadas por la Asamblea General y el ECOSOC durante los años 1981 y 1988 sobre la situación y participación de la mujer en el desarrollo económico y social.

Resoluciones aprobadas por la Asamblea General y el Consejo Económico y Social (ECOSOC) durante el período 1988-1991 acerca de la situación de la mujer y su integración en el desarrollo económico y social = A selection of resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) between 1988 and 1991 on the situation of women and their integration into economic and social development

Selección de resoluciones sobre la integración de la mujer al desarrollo, 1988-1991.

Women's participation in economic activity as a strategic factor of change in fertility: the cases of Mexico and Costa Rica

Includes bibliography

Informe de ejecución y orientación de las actividades de la Secretaría de la CEPAL con relación a la integración de la mujer en el desarrollo económico y social de América Latina (1 de enero al 30 de junio de 1983) = Report on the implementation and orientation of the ECLA Secretariat's activities on the integration of women into the economic and social development of Latin America (1 January-30 June 1983)

Incluye Bibliografía

The software and information technology services industry: An opportunity for the economic autonomy of women in Latin America

The objective of this report is to understand the rationality that underpins public and business policies for promoting the IT and SIS industries and to determine whether they incorporate gender equality and/or provide incentives for women’s participation. The report also explores how this group of women is symbolically constructed within the firms, what issues are emphasized by the women themselves and what solutions or resources they propose for overcoming the problems. It then contrasts this discourse and intervention with the experiences, visions and demands of women leaders in the SIS sector. For this purpose, the policies, programmes and best practices of Europe are analysed and compared with instruments currently in place in Latin America and the Caribbean, in terms of their specific characteristics and degree of progress. Special attention is given to the cases of Argentina, Costa Rica and Colombia.

Food choices and practices during pregnancy of immigrant and Aboriginal women in Canada: a study protocol

Abstract Background Facilitating the provision of appropriate health care for immigrant and Aboriginal populations in Canada is critical for maximizing health potential and well-being. Numerous reports describe heightened risks of poor maternal and birth outcomes for immigrant and Aboriginal women. Many of these outcomes may relate to food consumption/practices and thus may be obviated through provision of resources which suit the women's ethnocultural preferences. This project aims to understand ethnocultural food and health practices of Aboriginal and immigrant women, and how these intersect with respect to the legacy of Aboriginal colonialism and to the social contexts of cultural adaptation and adjustment of immigrants. The findings will inform the development of visual tools for health promotion by practitioners. Methods/Design This four-phase study employs a case study design allowing for multiple means of data collection and different units of analysis. Phase 1 consists of a scoping review of the literature. Phases 2 and 3 incorporate pictorial representations of food choices (photovoice in Phase 2) with semi-structured photo-elicited interviews (in Phase 3). The findings from Phases 1-3 and consultations with key stakeholders will generate key understandings for Phase 4, the production of culturally appropriate visual tools. For the scoping review, an emerging methodological framework will be utilized in addition to systematic review guidelines. A research librarian will assist with the search strategy and retrieval of literature. For Phases 2 and 3, recruitment of 20-24 women will be facilitated by team member affiliations at perinatal clinics in one of the city's most diverse neighbourhoods. The interviews will reveal culturally normative practices surrounding maternal food choices and consumption, including how women negotiate these practices within their own worldview and experiences. A structured and comprehensive integrated knowledge translation plan has been formulated. Discussion The findings of this study will provide practitioners with an understanding of the cultural differences that affect women's dietary choices during maternity. We expect that the developed resources will be of immediate use within the women's units and will enhance counseling efforts. Wide dissemination of outputs may have a greater long term impact in the primary and secondary prevention of these high risk conditions.

Women's subjective and objective health over time : the role of psychosocial conditions and physiological stress responses

Today, health problems are likely to have a complex and multifactorial etiology, whereby psychosocial factors interact with behaviour and bodily responses. Women generally report more health problems than men. The present thesis concerns the development of women’s health from a subjective and objective perspective, as related to psychosocial living conditions and physiological stress responses. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies were carried out on a representative sample of women. Data analysis was based on a holistic person-oriented approach as well as a variable approach. In Study I, the women’s self-reported symptoms and diseases as well as self-rated general health status were compared to physician-rated health problems and ratings of the general health of the women, based on medical examinations. The findings showed that physicians rated twice as many women as having poor health compared to the ratings of the women themselves. Moreover, the symptom ”a sense of powerlessness” had the highest predictive power for self-rated general health. Study II investigated individual and structural stability in symptom profiles between adolescence and middle-age as related to pubertal timing. There was individual stability in symptom reporting for nearly thirty years, although the effect of pubertal timing on symptom reporting did not extend into middle-age. Study III explored the longitudinal and current influence of socioeconomic and psychosocial factors on women’s self-reported health. Contemporary factors such as job strain, low income, financial worries, and double exposure in terms of high job strain and heavy domestic responsibilities increased the risk for poor self-reported health in middle-aged women. In Study IV, the association between self-reported symptoms and physiological stress responses was investigated. Results revealed that higher levels of medically unexplained symptoms were related to higher levels of cortisol, cholesterol, and heart rate. The empirical findings are discussed in relation to existing models of stress and health, such as the demand-control model, the allostatic load model, the biopsychosocial model, and the multiple role hypothesis. It was concluded that women’s health problems could be reduced if their overall life circumstances were improved. The practical implications of this might include a redesign of the labour market giving women more influence and control over their lives, both at and away from work.

Donne e precarietà del lavoro nell’industria bolognese dagli anni Cinquanta alla crisi degli anni Settanta

This dissertation uses the concept of “precariousness” to analyze women’s labour conditions in Italian industry over the Fifties and Sixties, when the agricultural basis of the Italian economy was replaced by an industrial one. The present research studies the way in which female work has been employed on different and nearly always inferior terms to male work, whether quantitatively or qualitatively. In most cases wages have been lower, periods of qualification and dequalification more unfavourable, and contract terms generally less secure than for male workers. The combination of these aspects of women work conditions has resulted in what will be called job precariousness. Job precariousness is adopted as a paradigm for an in-depth analysis of women’s working conditions. Women (like immigrants) have always experienced considerably worse working conditions than men throughout the capitalist industrial age. Even in the “Golden Age” of the 20th century (1945-1975), considered by most sociologists and economists “the era of job stability”, women’s working conditions were worse than men’s and can be defined precarious. Women in Bolognese industry are not an exception. The dissertation will show how many women’s jobs in industry were the opposite of stable and therefore can be called precarious in the period of 1950s and 1960s, when the Italian economy experienced the most intense economic and industrial growth of the 20th century. The comparison between female and male work conditions will address several aspects related to job precariousness: duration and continuity of work, salary variability, forms of discrimination and the relation between contract and social rights. In addition, attention will be paid to the forms of contract, gender-specific forms of discrimination and material working conditions of women.

Reproduction and maternal health care among young women in Kenya: geographic and socio-economic determinants

Many factors influence the propensity of young women to seek appropriate maternal healthcare, and they need to be considered when analyzing these women’s reproductive behavior. This study aimed to contribute to the analysis concerning Kenyan young women’s determinants on maternal healthcare-seeking behavior for the 5 years preceding the 2008/9 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey. The specific objectives were to: investigate the individual and contextual variables that may explain maternal healthcare habits; measure the individual, household and community effect on maternal healthcare attitudes in young women; assess the link between young women’s characteristics and the use of facilities for maternal healthcare; find a relationship between young women’s behavior and the community where they live; examine how the role of the local presence of healthcare facilities influences reproductive behavior, and if the specificity of services offered by healthcare facilities affects their inclination to use healthcare facilities, and measure the geographic differences that influence the propensity to seek appropriate maternal healthcare. The analysis of factors associated with maternal healthcare-seeking behavior for young women in Kenya was investigated using multilevel models. We performed three major analyses, which concerned the individual and contextual determinants influencing antenatal care (discussed in Part 6), delivery care (Part 7), and postnatal care (Part 8). Our results show that there is a significant variation in antenatal, delivery and postnatal care between communities, even if the majority of variability is explained by individual characteristics. There are differences at the women’s level on the probability of receiving antenatal care and delivering in a healthcare facility instead of at home. Moreover, community factors and availability of healthcare facilities on the territory are also crucial in influencing young women’s behavior. Therefore, policies addressed to youth’s reproductive health should also consider geographic inequalities and different types of barriers in access to healthcare facilities.

Italian American women in Helen Barolini's Umbertina

This essay analyzes the story and the culture of Italian American women, in particular how they are treated in the novel "Umbertina" by Helen Barolini. The essay first introduces briefly the causes of the great migration and the conditions of immigrants in the US. Then the focus moves on the analysis of the main themes that belong to the genre of Italian American literature. After having shortly treated the biography of Helen Barolini and a general presentation of her novel Umbertina, the essay goes on with the description of its three Italian American female characters and, in particular, of what it meant to be both immigrants and women, together with all the interior and generational conflicts they had to face in order to accept their new hybrid identity. An analysis of some meaningful metaphorical objects in the novel, such as the tin heart and the bedspread, the metaphor of Persephone and of the threshold conclude the essay. Through the analysis of the story of Umbertina, this essay wants to show how migration can lead to a displacement and the kind of journey people had to undertake in order to overcome the conflicts deriving from their belonging to an in-between culture and to accept their hybrid identity.