A Hypothetical Letter

Abstract

Author: Ronald A. Banaszak and Dennis C. Brennan Title: Teaching Economics: Content and Strategies Publisher: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Innovative Division, 2725 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025. Date of Publication: 1983 Price: $13.25 Audience: Secondary (7-12)/Social Studies Teachers.     

Theorizing Inequality: Comparative Policy Regimes,Gender, and Everyday Lives

Sociological explanations of inequality are incomplete unless they fully recognize the importance of social policy regimes, the policy logics embedded within them, and how policy arrangements work to stratify and shape daily lives. In this address, I develop my arguments by examining two overlapping struggles of everyday life in the contemporary United States: balancing work and family on the one hand, and securing health‐care services, both formal medical care and informal family care, on the other. Both struggles involve care deficits that are significantly more serious in the United States than in other high‐income countries, in part because our policy regime contributes to rather than counters the gendered roots of work–family conflict. Comparative studies hold a key to better understanding the link between policy regimes and everyday lives, as illustrated by the author's own comparative research in Finland and in the United States In terms of policies and policy logics that promote gender equity, paid parental leave for fathers has received much recent attention from social science scholars. Sociologists are challenged to become aware of comparative social policy scholarship and to approach inequalities and the related daily conflicts and struggles—such as over care deficits—by including this work in their analyses.     

Time for a Change? Women's Accounts of the Move from Organizational Careers to Self‐Employment

This paper is based on a study of women's transition from careers within organizations into self-employment. It focuses on three key issues: the ways in which women accounted for their career transition, their decisions to opt for self-employment, and the extent to which, in telling their stories, respondents engaged with emerging career discourses. First, this paper considers recent debates within the literature on women's exit from organizations, and emerging discourses of career and self-employment, focusing on the position of women within these changing discourses. Research findings are then presented, examining three central themes: entrepreneurial orientation, dissatisfaction with the organization and balance of personal and professional life. The concluding section considers how women made sense of the web of factors involved in their career transition and reflects on whether indeed it is 'time for a change'.     

Gender-Specific Changes in Students' Sexual Behaviors and Attitudes at a Southeastern University between 1973 and 1988

Abstract

This study investigated the gender-specific, self-reported sexual behaviors and attitudes of never-married college students attending a southeastern university in 1973 and 1988. Data were collected by means of a mailed questionnaire that remained essentially unchanged for both years. The authors found that both men and women reported an increase in heterosexual relationships that included sexual intercourse and a decrease in nonsexual relationships with the other gender. The majority of the students perceived themselves as adequately informed about sexuality and satisfied with their relationships, although the proportion of men who reported being satisfied with their relationships declined over the 15 years. The students indicated that sexuality education should focus primarily on information about AIDS and on preparation for marriage.     

Recruiting fathers to parenting programs: Advice from dads and fatherhood program providers

The benefits of high-quality father–child relationships for fathers and children alike are well documented. While evidence suggests parenting programs can improve the quality of father–child relationships, few fathers participate in such programs. This qualitative study aims to fill the gap in knowledge on best practices for recruiting urban African American fathers, a group of fathers with unique parenting challenges, to parenting programs. Focus groups were conducted with 29 fathers to gain their perspectives on recruitment strategies. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with a nationwide sample of 19 fatherhood program providers to learn about their most successful recruitment strategies. Recruitment strategies based on emergent themes from the focus groups and interviews are presented here. Themes included using word-of-mouth recruitment, increasing advertising, targeting advertising specifically to urban African American fathers, providing transportation and incentives, recruiting through the courts, collaborating with other community agencies, and offering parenting programming along with other programming valued by fathers such as employment assistance. Implications for developing strategies for recruiting urban African American fathers to parenting programs are discussed.