Variation In Women Research Articles

The effects of liberal and illiberal world society on women's legislative representation, 1970–2018

AbstractObjectiveThis research investigates the impact of liberal and illiberal world society on women's legislative representation across a sample of developed and developing countries, and at the global level.MethodsI estimate fixed effects panel regression models with robust standard errors clustered by country.ResultsI consistently find that liberal world society embeddedness helps explain cross‐national and longitudinal variations in women's legislative representation across all three country samples, while illiberal world society ties matter at the global level.ConclusionThis analysis highlights the role of world culture in explaining the worldwide expansion of women's legislative representation across country development levels.

Role of community-level emergency contraceptive pills awareness and possibilities of long-acting reversible or permanent methods in reducing unwanted births in Bangladesh: evidence from a nationwide cross-sectional survey

ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the role of community-level emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) awareness in reducing unwanted births (UWBs) in Bangladesh and explore the regional variation in women’s appropriateness to...

Is male out-migration associated with women's participation in post-disaster rebuilding? Evidence from Nepal after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake.

How does male out-migration impact women's experience of post-disaster reconstruction? This paper employs survey data collected by Nepal's Housing Recovery Reconstruction Platform in 2018 to establish robust associations between male out-migration and three indicators of women's participation in rebuilding their private houses after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake: (i) knowing where to consult for information; (ii) visiting a local government official by oneself; and (iii) signing a rebuilding agreement with the local government. Twenty-six semi-structured interviews conducted in 2022 further revealed that women whose husbands were abroad undertook roles that they would not have performed had their spouse been present, including in relation to management and decision-making. However, the interviews also highlighted challenges that women had to overcome, such as a lack of knowledge of procuring materials and difficulties leading the process as a woman. This study advances the literature by establishing a relationship between male out-migration and variation in women's post-earthquake rebuilding experiences.

Flexible Working Hours and Job Satisfaction in Females

To examine the concepts of job satisfaction among females and the impact of working arrangements, this review examines five research articles from different countries. The cultural variations in women's job satisfaction according to their working hours were addressed in research done in different nations. This review claims that gender difference in job satisfaction is present and the impact of working arrangements like flexible hours has an impact on job satisfaction especially in females. Also, flexible working arrangements, such as homeworking, working part-time, flexitime, job-sharing, compressed hours, and term-time, were identified for the study. Moreover, it is suggested that the findings reported as a result of the data of different samples obtained from different countries, even if flexible working hours mean the same concept across countries, whether the effects of conditions and women on them have changed in future studies. Depending on the results of these articles, different directions in the issue were found. In this review paper, the discussion and implications based on whether gender may have an impact on the relationship between flexible working hours and job satisfaction will be covered. Keywords: Flexible Working Hours, Gender, Job Satisfaction, Working Arrangements.

Variations in Women's Attribution of Blame for Sexual Assault.

In the United States, sexual assault (SA) is a significant problem that has adverse psychological impacts on women. Scholarship has shown that when survivors choose to disclose their experiences, the way their networks react has a powerful impact on their well-being, but literature on response to SA disclosure has not extensively explored variation among women, who are likely recipients of these disclosures. This study explored variation among perceptions of and blame attribution for SA within a geographically and politically diverse but primarily White sample of women. Participants were assigned one of four vignettes, each of which described a non-stereotypical SA. The vignettes differed in two ways: (1) the social status of the perpetrator of the assault and (2) the length of time the victim waited to report. Results showed that being older and more politically conservative was associated with assigning less blame to the perpetrator and more blame to the victim, but neither education level nor where the participant lived were linked with blame attribution. While women's own experiences of SA were unrelated to their responses, having a loved one who had experienced SA was associated with less victim blaming. With respect to attitudes, women endorsing higher levels of social dominance orientation (SDO) and sexism also reported higher levels of victim blame and lower levels of perpetrator blame. Further research should explore the role of specific personal experiences and knowledge of others' SA in assignment of blame, investigate the predictors and moderators of SDO, and should extend these findings to more racially/ethnically diverse samples of women.

Mapping the vaginal microbiota variations in women from a community clinic in Mumbai, India

PurposeThe vaginal microbiome contributes significantly to women’s reproductive health and fluctuates due to various physiological and pathological factors. The study’s objective is to map the vaginal microbiome of non-pregnant women and evaluate variations based on various potential factors influencing vaginal milieu. MethodsFifty-two sexually active, non-pregnant women between 18 and 45 years were recruited from a community clinic and clinical history was recorded. Vaginal swabs were collected to assess the vaginal microbiome by sequencing the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA using the Illumina HiSeq platform, followed by data analysis with QIIME 2. Vaginal milieu was assessed by Nugent score and profiling cytokines in the cervico-vaginal lavage. ResultsLactobacillus iners (34.3%) were the most abundant species in all women. Significant changes in abundance of genera (Lactobacillus, Prevotella and Anaerococcus), expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine IFN-γ and changes in alpha and beta diversity was observed in women having asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis (BV). Differences in beta diversity were seen between healthy women and women exhibiting presence of Candida spp. Variations in the abundance of genera (Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Porphyromonas) were observed in women who had delivery less than twelve months back, probably as more of these women (50%, 53.7%) had higher abnormal Nugent score. ConclusionLactobacillus iners was the most prevalent vaginal species in women from a Mumbai community clinic. Maximum variations in the vaginal microbiome characterized by a perturbation of the Lactobacillus predominant vaginal microbiota are seen in those women who have asymptomatic BV and childbirth within last twelve months.

Regional Inequalities in Nineteenth-Century Female Wages: Evidence from Belgium

Abstract Although recent studies on the geography of the female labor force have highlighted strong spatial variation in women’s labor market participation, little is known about regional female wage inequalities in nineteenth-century industries. An analysis of female regional wage inequality for late-nineteenth-century Belgium, a country known for its early industrialization, finds a positive correlation between female industrial employment and wage levels, underlining the importance of industrial labor demand in shaping the female labor market experience. This finding is augmented by a correlational analysis of various market drivers.

Multilevel analysis of women’s education in Ethiopia

BackgroundWomen’s education is the base for faster economic growth, longer life expectancy, lower population growth, improved quality of life, and a high rate of investment return in developing countries. Historically, girls were denied opportunities for schooling in most of the regions and societies of Ethiopia. So this study targeted a multilevel analysis of women’s education in Ethiopia using the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data.MethodsSecondary data on women’s data sets were obtained from the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey. A population-based cross-sectional study design was used for the survey. The sampling technique used for the survey was the two-stage sampling technique, which is stratified in the first stage and equal probability systematic selection technique in the second stage. The multi-level ordinal logistic regression model was fitted to identify the determinants of women’s education in Ethiopia.ResultsAmong the random sample of 17137 women, the majority, 65.6 percent were rural residents. Somali regional state (75.3 percent) and the capital city Addis Ababa (8.6 percent) had the highest and lowest percentages of women illiteracy respectively than the remaining administrative units of Ethiopia. The minimum values for the fit statistics and the indicative value of the intra-class correlation (68.3%) of the multilevel model showed its appropriateness to the data. Among the predictors in the final multilevel ordinal logistic regression analysis, women’s age at first marriage, residence, and family’s wealth index were significant predictors of women’s education in Ethiopia. Moreover, the estimates from the random effect result revealed that there is more variation in women’s education between the enumeration areas than within the enumeration areas.ConclusionA multi-level ordinal logistic regression analysis has determined higher-level differences in women's education that could not be addressed by a single-level approach. So, the application of standard models by ignoring this variation ought to embrace spurious results, then for such hierarchical data, multilevel modeling is recommended.

Lipidomics Reveals Elevated Plasmalogens in Women with Obesity Who Develop Preeclampsia.

Objective: Preeclampsia (PE) is a prevalent pregnancy disorder worldwide with limited preventative treatments available. Obesity triples the risk for PE, yet only 10% of women with obesity develop PE. The factors that distinguish PE from uncomplicated pregnancies in the context of obesity have not been fully established. Methods: We studied a cohort of women with obesity throughout pregnancy to identify lipid mediators and/or biomarkers of PE. Blood samples were collected at each trimester and analyzed by both targeted lipidomics and standard lipid panels. Individual lipid species were compared by PE status at each trimester, as well as by self-identified race (Black vs. White) and fetal sex. Results: Standard lipid panels and clinical measurements revealed few differences between PE and uncomplicated pregnancies. Targeted lipidomics, however, identified plasmalogen, phosphatidylethanolamine, and free fatty acid species that were elevated in the third trimester of women with PE. Furthermore, race and trimester of pregnancy were considerable sources of plasma lipidomic variation in women with obesity. Conclusions: First and second trimester individual plasma lipid species do not predict the development of PE in obese women. In the third trimester, PE patients have elevated levels of plasmalogens-a class of lipoprotein-associated phospholipids that have been implicated in the response to oxidative stress.

Political Pathways and Performance of Women Opposition Leaders in Indonesia and South Korea

While some world regions have seen women opposition leaders with no ties to political families rise to national leadership, in East Asia, women opposition leaders who ascend to national executive positions have been largely limited to the wives, daughters, or sisters of prominent male politicians. Locally, however, there have been some broadening and diversification of women who seek and win executive office through oppositional politics. Given the small number of women opposition leaders who have gained leadership positions in the government, this article develops an interpretive study of the relationship between becoming “critical actors” and doing “critical acts” as women opposition leaders. Using four illustrative cases of women who have pursued executive power through oppositional politics, this article questions whether and how the variation in women’s pathways affects their exercise of power in Indonesia and South Korea, two young though consolidating democracies in East Asia. Drawing on the biographies and policies of two presidents (Megawati Soekarnoputri and Park Geun-hye) and two mayors (Tri Rismaharini and Kim Soo-young) it shows that local women opposition leaders use their executive leadership to initiate and implement public policies, unlike their national counterparts whose pathways and performance are intertwined with family background. By doing so, the article sheds light on the complex nexus between political pathways and performance of women opposition leaders.

Study of some biochemical variations in women used the steroidal contraceptive type

This study included (100) samples of women used Steroidal Contraceptive types in (Samarra General Hospital) (20) blood samples pulled from healthy women as Control sample. The samples were distribted into three groups; the first group:- (40) women used a combined oral contraceptive the second group: -(40) women used Combined injectable contraceptive. The third group:- (20) was the women not used contraceptiv (control). The results of the study indicated high significant decrease in the Concentration of the Uric acid (P <0.001) and a high increment in the Concentration of the creatinine at level (P <0.001) in approach to the control group. The results revealed high significant decrease in the proteins of the blood (Total protein, Albumin) (P <0.001)when compared to control cluster. while the results showed a rise in the concentration of Cholesterol, Triglyceride, LDL (P <0.001) effective decrease in the HDL when compared to the control group.

Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions: Evidence from 37 Countries

Despite global commitments and efforts, a gender‐based division of paid and unpaid work persists. To identify how psychological factors, national policies, and the broader sociocultural context contribute to this inequality, we assessed parental‐leave intentions in young adults (18–30 years old) planning to have children (N = 13,942; 8,880 identified as women; 5,062 identified as men) across 37 countries that varied in parental‐leave policies and societal gender equality. In all countries, women intended to take longer leave than men. National parental‐leave policies and women's political representation partially explained cross‐national variations in the gender gap. Gender gaps in leave intentions were paradoxically larger in countries with more gender‐egalitarian parental‐leave policies (i.e., longer leave available to both fathers and mothers). Interestingly, this cross‐national variation in the gender gap was driven by cross‐national variations in women's (rather than men's) leave intentions. Financially generous leave and gender‐egalitarian policies (linked to men's higher uptake in prior research) were not associated with leave intentions in men. Rather, men's leave intentions were related to their individual gender attitudes. Leave intentions were inversely related to career ambitions. The potential for existing policies to foster gender equality in paid and unpaid work is discussed.

Analysis of the geographical variations in women’s empowerment in Nigeria

ABSTRACT Women’s empowerment is essential in improving maternal health. We analyse the geographical variability of women’s empowerment using data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. Eight indicators of empowerment were created using latent scores derived from factor analysis and used to assign the women into one of low, moderate or high category of empowerment. A geoadditive ordinal model was used to quantify the effects of demographic and geographical factors. The findings indicate that a determinant can have different effects on women’s empowerment indicator and women from majority of the northern states are less empowered based on all the indicators.

Women's lived experiences of preterm birth and neonatal care for premature infants at a tertiary hospital in Ghana: A qualitative study.

Preterm birth is a leading cause of death in children under five and a major public concern in Ghana. Women's lived experiences of care following preterm birth in clinical setting represents a viable adjunctive measure to improve the quality of care for premature infants. This qualitative study explored the knowledge and experiences of women who have had preterm birth and the associated challenges in caring for premature infants at a tertiary hospital. A qualitative design using in-depth interviews (IDIs) was conducted among women who experienced preterm birth with surviving infants at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana. A thematic content analysis using the inductive analytic framework was undertaken using Nvivo. Thirty women participated in the study. We observed substantial variation in women's knowledge on preterm birth: some women demonstrated significant understanding of preterm delivery including its causes such as hypertension in pregnancy, and potential complications including neonatal death whilst others had limited knowledge on the condition. Women reported significant social and financial challenges associated with preterm birth that negatively impacted the quality of postnatal care they received. Admission of preterm infants at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) generated enormous psychological and emotional stress on the preterm mothers due to uncertainty associated with the prognosis of their babies, health system challenges and increased cost. Context-specific recommendations to improve the quality of care for prematurely born infants were provided by the affected mothers and include urgent need to expand the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) coverage and more antenatal health education on preterm birth. Mothers of premature infants experienced varied unanticipated challenges during the care for their babies within the hospital setting. While knowledge of preterm birth seems adequate among women, there was a significant gap in the women's expectations of the challenges associated with the care of premature infants of which the majority experience psychosocial, economic and emotional impact.

Appraisal of Saliva and Its Sensory Perception in Reproductive Transitions of Women: A Review.

There are physical, hormonal, and psychological variations in women, which affect their health in general. This may influence the environment of oral cavity, specific to salivary stream rate, salivary pH, and buffering capacity. Saliva is a perplexing liquid containing an assortment of mucosal host protection factors from diverse salivary organs and crevicular liquid. Though saliva has been inspected with regard to several physiological and pathological conditions, the association of various properties of saliva with different phases of women's menstrual cycle remains unexplored. Because diet and salivary stream rate are correlated, food not only affects salivary flow but also has an impact on sensory perception. One of the most vital human senses, taste, is crucial in determining a person's dietary requirements, which in turn influences eating habits and, eventually, human nourishment. As a result, along with variations in salivary stream rate and pH, the capability to sense taste may also alter during the phases of pregnancy, menstruation, and menopause. Hence, this review article is designed to assess salivary stream rate, pH, and gustatory function in several phases of women's lives to determine the impact of menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause on saliva as well as the reciprocal relationship between saliva and gustatory function.

Marshall Lecture 2022: The Economics of Women’s Rights

Abstract Two centuries ago, in most countries around the world, women were unable to vote, had no say over their own children or property, and could not obtain a divorce. Women have gradually gained rights in many areas of life, and this legal expansion has been closely intertwined with economic development. We aim to understand the drivers behind these reforms. To this end, we distinguish between four types of women’s rights—economic, political, labor, and body—and document their evolution over the past 50 years across countries. We summarize the political-economy mechanisms that link economic development to changes in women’s rights and show empirically that these mechanisms account for a large share of the variation in women’s rights across countries and over time.

A Pilot Study of Associations Between the Occurrence of Palpitations and Cytokine Gene Variations in Women Prior to Breast Cancer Surgery.

Palpitations are common and have a negative impact on women's quality of life. While evidence suggests that inflammatory mechanisms may play a role in the development of palpitations, no studies have evaluated for this association in patients with breast cancer who report palpitations prior to surgery. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate for associations between the occurrence of palpitations and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes for pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, their receptors, and transcriptional regulators. Patients were recruited prior to surgery and completed a self-report questionnaire on the occurrence of palpitations. Genotyping of SNPs in cytokine genes was performed using a custom array. Multiple logistic regression analyses were done to identify associations between the occurrence of palpitations and SNPs in fifteen candidate genes. Of the 82 SNPs evaluated in the bivariate analyses, eleven SNPs in 6 genes were associated with the occurrence of palpitations. After controlling for functional status, the occurrence of back pain, and self-reported and genomic estimates of race/ethnicity, 3 SNPs in 3 different genes (i.e., interleukin (IL) 1-beta (IL1B) rs1143643, IL10 rs3024505, IL13 rs1295686) were associated with the occurrence of palpitations prior to surgery (all p ≤ .038). While these preliminary findings warrant replication, they suggest that inflammatory mechanisms may contribute to the subjective sensation of palpitations in women prior to breast cancer surgery.

Women's Empowerment, Income, and Nutrition in a Food Processing Value Chain Development Project in Touba, Senegal.

To study the impacts of implementing a gender-sensitive value chain development (VCD) initiative in the agri-food sector, we conducted a mixed-methods study of a woman-owned food processing business and its associated value chain in Touba, Senegal. As a result of partnering with a USAID-funded project, the business began producing instant fortified flours, an innovative, higher-value product compared to traditional porridge, using extrusion and fortification techniques. Drawing on Senegalese women’s association networks, the business connected with local women who could work as processors and retailers. Our study’s goal was to explore how the project’s support of this food processing value chain has affected the lives of women processors and retailers, farmers, and medical personnel along the value chain. Particularly relevant to our study is the general lack of opportunities for women to earn their own incomes in the study region, especially outside of the home, and provide for their families. Through surveys, interviews, observations, and novel participatory focus group activities, our study provides qualitative and quantitative evidence of the perceived impacts of value chain development on women’s empowerment, income, and nutrition by key stakeholders in the value chain. We find an often cited barrier to women’s empowerment is the husband’s lack of understanding and limitations placed on women’s mobility, yet we also find perceptions of women’s empowerment in this conservative religious context. Our findings and discussion highlight the need for more research into VCD projects on the complex and, at times, contradictory processes of women’s empowerment. The women in our study expressed a desire for freedom to work outside of the home, and they expressed a need for childcare and contraception. Notably, the women discussed positive community changes, such as infrastructure and the creation of a childcare center, that implicate women’s collective empowerment. We also highlight a promising research opportunity in Senegal to explore the subnational variation in women’s empowerment through VCD.

Response to Commentaries: Variation in Women's Intrasexual Sociality by Life History Strategy, Patrilocal Legacy, and Polygyny.

Response to Commentaries: Variation in Women's Intrasexual Sociality by Life History Strategy, Patrilocal Legacy, and Polygyny.

Exploring artmaking as a source of metaphor for women’s cancer experiences: A phenomenological study

Metaphoric language is common in cancer discourse. However, prevailing military and journey metaphors may not capture variation in cancer experiences. In this article, the authors describe an art-based community research programme for women who had experienced cancer. Taking a phenomenological approach, the article examines how artmaking processes and materials were used by the study participants to shape their own metaphoric thought and, thereby, to articulate a more intimate understanding of their cancer experiences. The authors discuss four themes arising from their findings: (1) experiencing metaphor at its source, (2) artworks as insight cultivators, (3) art as process and metaphor for understanding cancer and (4) alternative metaphors for the cancer experience. Artmaking may be a means to enhance phenomenological data collection in the context of cancer experiences. By capturing variation in women’s cancer experiences, it may also lead to improvements in cancer survivorship care.