Browsing by Subject "Empowerment"

Now showing 1 - 12 of 12

Breaking the silence : empowering adolescent girls through art
(2016-12) Link, Bethany L.; Adejumo, Christopher O., 1959-
This action research study investigates “loss of voice” in adolescent girls and explores the ways art educators can promote assertiveness and self-confidence in middle school girls. This study examines literature on adolescent girls’ psychology, the power of art-making, decentralized structure, and feminist pedagogy. Grounded in this literature the author creates a 12-week art club for 7th and 8th grade girls. This club was designed to promote assertiveness and self-confidence by letting the girls lead in a decentralized learning environment. The daily process of the club is chronicled and recommendations are made for art teachers looking to support girls as they transition through adolescence. Data was collected with surveys, interviews, field notes, and observations. After the club concluded, findings revealed that the girls involved in the study grew in their ability to assert their opinions, take risks, and have confidence in themselves.
Cuban Americans and type 2 diabetes : describing self-management decision making using an empowerment framework
(2013-08) Cuevas, Heather E.; Brown, Sharon A., 1943-
This qualitative descriptive study examined the day-to-day self-management decision making in Cuban Americans with type 2 diabetes including major decisions, resources and influences to decisions, desired amount of control and advice, and the role of the health care provider. The sample consisted of 20 English speaking, Cuban-American adults between the ages of 45 to 65 years. The mean A1C was 7.49%; mean diabetes duration 4.5 years. Data were collected through discussion of a short self-management decision-making scenario, a semi-structured interview, and demographic questionnaire. Interviews were analyzed using Miles and Huberman’s method of content analysis framed by the concepts of Paolo Freire’s empowerment theory. Self-management tasks of exercise, diet, medication administration, and glucose monitoring were all thought to be important by the participants. Cost, time, structural barriers, social environment, symptoms, and medical information influenced self-management decisions. Challenges included negotiating social occasions, acknowledgement of friends and family, structural barriers, and available resources. Most participants felt they had some personal control and responsibility in decision making. Health care providers, friends, and family were sources of advice. Attempts were made to integrate health care providers’ advice into day-to-day self-management. The aspects of Freire’s theory (dialogue, reflection, and praxis) were reflected in participants’ descriptions of self-management decisions. The findings of this study suggest the challenges of balancing self-management practices with everyday life should be considered when caring for Cuban Americans with diabetes. Culturally sensitive interventions that facilitate the integration of glucose monitoring, exercise, diet, and mediations need to be developed.
Cultura Within : designing workshops and transitional objects that empower young Latina women to persevere in higher education
(2016-08) Sibrian, Ana Angelica; Gorman, Carma; Catterall, Kate; Park, Jiwon
Latinos are one of the fastest-growing ethnic minority groups in the United States. Yet they have the lowest college graduation rate of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. This report documents self-reflective, participatory processes I used, based on my personal experience as a Latina in higher education, to design engaging workshops and transitional objects to support the Latina community at the University of Texas at Austin. I propose that workshops promoting awareness of structural barriers, coaching in self-reflective techniques, and the co-creation of totemic objects that serve as transitional objects and aides-mémoires can empower young Latina women to persevere in higher education. The workshops were designed to use group storytelling, self-reflection and sharing methods to educate and empower young Latinas to create an on-going sense of agency and build stronger communities within higher education.
Decision subject-centered AI explanations : organizational justice perspective
(2023-04-21) Sreekanth, Varshinee; Lee, Min Kyung, Ph. D.
As AI is being integrated into various tasks, much research has focused on making AI explanations human-centered. Most prior work has focused on supporting human decision-makers who use AI explanations; however, less research has designed AI explanations for decision subjects, who are affected by AI decisions but have little control over them. We investigate decision subject-centered AI explanations in order to design explanations to influence decision subjects' sense of justice and empowerment. We draw from the organizational justice literature which suggests that different explanations impact decision subjects differently even when the decision outcomes are the same. We explore the effects of three forms of explanations---apology, excuse, and justification---that vary the organization's assumed responsibility in and acknowledgment of negative outcomes. We contrast them with having only input-influence-based explanations, one of the most common AI explanation types. We conduct two online studies to investigate the explanations' impact on subjects' perceptions of justice and empowerment in the context of AI shift scheduling to compare AI-assigned vs. human-assigned schedules at varying degrees of worker preference satisfaction (low vs medium outcome favorability). Our findings suggest that apologies and excuses improve participants' sense of interpersonal justice over justifications and input-influence-based explanations. Additionally, when decisions are made by an AI system, participants are more willing to negotiate changes, believe they have greater influence over the schedule, and believe the decision was procedurally fairer, though human-decision-makers are thought to be more polite and respectful. The qualitative analysis of participants' responses suggests that AI decisions are seen as more rational and unbiased, while human decision-makers are seen as more likely to be biased but also in possession of more power to override previous decisions. This work serves to inform the design of XAI systems to consider worker well-being in the context of organizational justice and worker empowerment.
Developing an Innovative Library Culture through Entrepreneurship
(2018-01-09) Scanlon, Mary G.; Crumpton, Michael A.
Empowerment in rural secondary novice science teachers
(2013-12) Stehling, Susan Melinda; Barufaldi, James P.
The purpose of this research was to investigate what can be learned from the professional voices of secondary novice science teachers in rural schools during their first one to three years of their teaching assignment. The results of this research were viewed through the lens of empowerment as defined by Melenyzer (1990) and the six dimensions as defined by Short (1994): autonomy, self-efficacy, professional growth, status, impact, and decision making. This study examined what caused teachers’ empowerment to change in the context of their work environment with a focus on key events or experiences that caused empowerment to change. Data were collected that provided insight into what can be done to strengthen empowerment and improve retention so that rural novice science teachers can reach their full potential. In addition, patterns were examined to determine what strengthened or weakened teacher empowerment so that schools, professors, or science specialists can provide appropriate professional development opportunities for their new teachers and help teachers move along the professional continuum. This research can be utilized to determine what secondary novice science teachers bring to the classroom as well as what they need to become empowered effective teachers. The data revealed some important findings that fill in the gaps from Hobbs; (2004) and (Barufaldi, Hobbs, Moreland, & Schumacker, 2010) empowerment work with veteran (9+years) science teachers and Moreland’s (2011) empowerment research with mid-career (4-8 years) science teachers. Autonomy and decision making were not viewed as distinct dimensions but had significant effects on empowerment, self-efficacy was influenced by student successes, classroom management, and inadequate pre-service training, professional growth closely resembled empowerment, impact was weak but it did exist for many of the teachers, status was higher than expected for all teachers, overall empowerment was higher than expected, attending conferences such as the Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST) was a major positive force for empowerment, positive reinforcement played a large role in empowerment and leadership was found to either drive empowerment upward or break down empowerment depending on the situation. The results of this study can be used to inform decisions on how to differentiate professional development for science teachers as well as how they can be professionally sustained, empowered, and retained over time.
Empowerment/disempowerment issues in immigrant parents’ school involvement experiences in their children’s schooling : Korean immigrant mothers’ perceptions
(2012-05) Kwon, Yi Jeong; Reifel, Robert Stuart; Schallert, Diane L.; Salinas, Cynthia S.; Suizzo, Marie-Anne P.; Urrieta, Luis
Using Delgado-Gaitan and Trueba’s (1991) empowerment/disempowerment definition as a framework, this dissertation investigated how Korean immigrant mothers perceived and practiced parental involvement in their children’s schooling, and how an empowerment/disempowerment process occurred during their involvement. To inquire into the research questions, this study used the qualitative case study method, and five Korean immigrant mothers were the cases. The interview method was used to gather data, and an unstructured interview protocol, as well as a semi-structured interview protocol, was used for the interviews. Each mother was interviewed three times. From this study, I found these things: For the concept of schooling, all the Korean mothers in this study agreed that schooling is all activities relevant to acquiring abilities related to having a better school life, and that the concept of parental involvement includes all the activities to support their children’s schooling, regardless of activity types. In a comparison of their beliefs and their practices for involvement, they show accord in terms of the comprehensive nature of parental involvement. However, there were also discrepancies between their perceptions and practices of involvement. To get an understanding of the discrepancy issue, their involvement experiences were explored, based on an empowerment/disempowerment framework. The Korean immigrant mothers showed distinctive features in empowerment and disempowerment while they were involved in their children’s schooling. First, they felt contradictory feelings—guilt and pride-- toward their identity, and this influenced their empowerment and disempowerment. The second feature was the struggles that the Korean immigrant mothers reported: cultural differences, exclusion, and a lack of English skill for involvement. Last, the most salient feature to influence their empowerment/disempowerment was the standard they were using to evaluate their involvement. These findings were discussed in terms of the features of empowerment/ disempowerment and the factors that influenced their empowerment and disempowerment. The Korean mothers’ standard of evaluation was discussed in depth, since it was determined to be the most basic issue to impact their empowerment/ disempowerment experiences. Based on the findings, this dissertation concluded with presenting implications for teachers, educational administrators, and Korean immigrant mothers themselves, and with suggestions for future research.
Examining women's experiences of sport participation and (dis)empowerment
(2015-05) Lim, So Youn; Dixon, Marlene A., 1970-; Todd, Janice; Holahan, Carole; Jin, Su-hyun; Green, Chris
Sport has demonstrated the capacity to generate positive personal change for girls and women (e.g., Blinde, Taub, & Han, 2001; Brandy, 2005). While it is suggested that women’s participation in sport can empower them and provide a safe place for them to be themselves, sport experiences can also reinforce the traditional gender roles and expectations and make women feel powerless (e.g., Brace-Govan, 2004; Wheaton & Tomlinson, 1998). The inconsistency of outcomes from women’s sport experiences suggests that sport does not automatically result in positive outcomes (Chalip, 2006; Green, 2008). Therefore, this study utilizes Zimmerman’s framework of Psychological Empowerment, empowerment at the individual level of analysis (Zimmerman, 1995), to explore the sport experiences of women and the empowerment processes and outcomes associated with those experiences. By utilizing the framework, this study aimed to examine how sport experiences affected female participants’ daily lives across different life domains and to identify which attributes of these sport experiences facilitated women’s empowerment or disempowerment. To understand how sport experiences relevant to empowerment, this study utilized an interpretive approach. Twenty three Korean female sport participants were interviewed in-depth using a semi-structured interview technique with probing. The interviewees were asked about their backgrounds of sport participation and then described their sport experiences that they think have strengthened and weakened their capabilities. As results, nearly all the components and elements of the framework were indicated in the interview data. Both empowering and disempowering outcomes and sport elements associated with the outcomes were identified. Some of the women’s empowerment was limited to the sport context, while others infiltrated other life domains such as at work, school, or home. The findings in this study suggest to re-think the conceptualization and boundary condition of Zimmerman’s empowerment framework by proposing two concepts of individual-level empowerment: self empowerment and action empowerment.
Finding Satan : from cult to cult culture
(2022-05-06) Collins, Ronald Gene; Habeck, Michelle M.; Dawson, Kathryn
Gay bars are regarded as special places for the LGBTQ community who frequent them and have existed for many years to serve a multitude of purposes including places of celebration, refuge, health clinics, and venues for fundraisers. In this thesis project, I use autoethnographic methods and theatrical installation to explore my coming out story: from my exit from a religious cult to my acceptance into the gay community and culture. Working from personal reflection and research, this paper explores the design and implementation of the Finding Satan immersive installation. The installation reflects on gay bar culture from the 80’s to now, sharing examples of small-town bars, how people connect, and how the AIDS epidemic affected how gay bars were utilized. I share my story and journey with others within the installation, as my personal history often echoes and aligns with the experience of other gay people in the United States.
Preference for health information and decision-making autonomy among Chinese patients with T2DM in the mHealth era
(2017-08) Nie, Ronghong; Xie, Bo, Ph. D.; Acton, Gayle Jane, 1951-; Brown, Sharon A; Zhou, Le
This quantitative descriptive study explored preferences for health information and decision-making and for mobile health (mHealth) use in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Specific aims of this study were: to explore (1) individual preferences for the types and amounts of health information and decision-making autonomy among Chinese patients with T2DM; (2) their use of mobile technology in their self-management of the condition; and (3) the relationship between their use of mHealth and their preferences for health information and decision-making autonomy. The sample consisted of 200 Mandarin-speaking Chinese patients from 26 to 90 years of age (mean age 59.91; SD: 12.17) with T2DM and a mean of 7.4 years since diabetes diagnosis. Data were collected via a pen-and-paper survey questionnaire at a general hospital in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, China. The survey questionnaire measured preferences for health information and decision-making autonomy and mHealth use. The study results provided empirical evidence that Chinese patients with T2DM wanted to have a wide range of health information and participation in decision-making. Gender, health status, and knowledge about the condition were associated with differences in information wanted and participation in decision-making, but age was not. Half (50.5%) of the participants used smartphones to access the Internet and look for health or medical information; 71% of participants used smartphones to receive/read health-related posts; and 24% of participants had at least one health-related application downloaded to their smartphones. Smartphone use frequency for health information and participation in decision-making had a statistically significant interaction, the strength of which varied across seven subscales (specific health condition, treatment, laboratory tests, self-management, complementary/alternative medicine, psychosocial aspects, and healthcare providers). The overall health information wanted had a positive relationship with using smartphones to receive health-related posts. This study has implications for research and clinical practice, especially given the shift from disease-centered to patient-centered care.
Study of dialogic approaches and responses in planning low-income communities in Maracaibo, Venezuela : the "Promotion of Full Citizenship" plan
(2009-05) Rincon, Hugo Rodolfo, 1968-; Wilson, Patricia Ann
The research followed up a local development initiative in Maracaibo, Venezuela, named Programa Promoción de la Ciudadanía Plena (Promotion of Full Citizenship Program), a joint initiative that has sought to bring the population of low-income communities to the sphere of citizen participation with a revaluation of citizenship and the promotion of participation. The research included first, a preliminary bibliographical review of the theoretical framework to understand the significance of citizenship and participation at the community level and the implications of organizational development and self-improvement approaches in development projects and institutions, and second, the review of the principles of the local program and the social-economic data of the four communities considered in the study. The results of a preliminary survey (secondary data provided by the municipality) of adult heads of household from the four communities, who openly expressed to the institutions their interest in participating and benefiting from the program, and the passive observation of local meetings and workshops in the communities contributed to the analysis. A series of open-ended interviews to facilitators (3 individuals) were conducted in 2006 in order to assess the facilitator's identification with the program's objectives and the possible bond between the learning assumptions and their personal experiences while working in these communities. That same year, a final series of open-ended interviews to a sample group of 39 beneficiaries (30% of the group that successfully completed the citizenship and technical education), provided the input to assess the impact of the program in the motivation of people toward participation and self-improvement. In these events, information was extracted, which contributed to the evaluation of people's expectations and attitudes, as they differed or not from the initial condition. A methodological guideline, in the form of field notes and questionnaires, was needed to address and manage conversation and dialogue. Following an interpretive and constructivist approach, evidence was inferred from the logic of the narratives gathered in meetings and interviews, and a coded frequency of responses. Findings suggest that the initiative strengthened local people's empowerment by involving them in the collaborative identification of problems and issues affecting their lives, in all activities planned to tie the relationship among stakeholders, and in every recognition and public ceremony. People's improvement depended on economic growth, but it was necessary that beneficiaries develop and exercise their capacities, abilities, knowledge, information and motivation, which were necessary conditions to improve the quality of life of local residents, and consequently, to strengthen the local social capital. Project agents did it with a respectful dialogue in the decision-making concerning the design and construction proposal, and recognizing people's own capacities, which assured collaboration and feedback. People did not participate unless they believed that an interest or individual benefit was possible; and for them, the immediate interest was economic. People associated changes to the following values --from high to low frequency of response: being more confident, reaching mutual support, improving communication, strengthening unity, consciousness, and achieving better social relations. Empowerment of the individual as head of household was strengthened by his or her involvement in the collaborative identification of household limitations and housing-related issues. Nevertheless, beyond the individual and household levels, the success of the educational strategy was not sufficiently effective to reach changes on people's attitude and motivation to confront and interact in the solution of community-related issues, but the increase of 6 percent in this indicator indicated that change was possible but required the sustainability of the educational approach in the communities. By the time the field research ended, a perceivable empowerment and partnership approach, with all the complex administrative and intellectual assumptions, guided Ciudadanía Plena toward its set goals. The attention and dedication in the four barrios were based on the need to materialize an ideal that was expected to expand in order to reach more communities in the near future. The transparency, the material incentive and the citizenship education to achieve self-improvement and empowerment were key elements to achieve change and improvement.
Su voz, su decisión : data-driven system to support day laborers in making informed employment decisions
(2016-08) Narya, Shrankhla; Gorman, Carma; Bias, Randolph; Park, Jiwon; Boggess, Bethany
Wage theft and worksite injury is a significant issue for day workers in Texas and across the nation. In Texas, where a majority of day laborers are undocumented and therefore more vulnerable, the most urgent issue that needs to be addressed is exploitation, which is often compounded by laborers’ lack of access to information about worker rights and employers’ reputations. In 2014 alone, 524 workers were documented to have been killed on their job site in Texas, while many deaths went unreported. And between 2010 and 2014, more than 40,000 Texan workers were victims of wage theft amounting to a total of more than $70 million. Operating in the field of ICT (Information and Communication Technology), I hypothesize that access to both English- and Spanish-language information about worker rights and potential employers’ labor violation-related records can empower workers to make informed employment decisions that will increase their safety and prosperity. At a time when the field of design and advanced digital technologies can skew toward serving the privileged and elite of the society, I am using technology to help members of marginalized/disadvantaged communities use information to improve their economic condition and quality of life: in short, to effect social justice from the bottom up. In my thesis project, Su Voz, Su Decisión, meaning your voice, your decision, I use the methodology of user-centered design to design a mobile app that provides a system of information access for day laborers in Austin. In this report, I will discuss the process of user experience (UX) design that I followed to design the solution, which is a mobile app for Android and iOS, and how I used physical data visualization to represent the data that helped me create the app.