Browsing by Subject "Social change"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    A Critical Literature Review of Social Class in American Sociology
    (2012-11-29) Mouser, Brandon L.; Seybold, Peter James, 1950-; Modibo, Najja N.; White, Robert W. (Robert William), 1958-
    A theoretical understanding of stratification and inequality is necessary to understand social phenomena in general. Unfortunately, professional sociology in the United States has historically promoted a limited theoretical understanding of stratification that tends to ignore economic realities, social structures, institutional mechanisms, power relations, and other important factors such as racial discrimination in reproducing social class. In fact, mainstream sociology has replaced class-based theories altogether with the concept of socio-economic status (SES) and, at the same time, all too often embraces problematic theories that justify inequality. This critical literature review of social class in American sociology attempts to: 1) provide a more comprehensive history of sociological theory in the United States regarding stratification and social class, 2) expose the sociological factors affecting these social theories and concepts, and 3) deconstruct and critique mainstream social theories that offer weak explanations of stratification.
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    Institutional influence on the manifestation of entrepreneurial orientation: A case of social investment funders
    (2014-07-11) Onishi, Tamaki; Bielefeld, Wolfgang; Burlingame, Dwight; Covin, Jeffrey G. (Jeffrey Glenn); Near, Janet P.
    Linking the new institutionalism to entrepreneurial orientation (EO), my dissertation investigates institutional forces and entrepreneurial forces—two contradicting types of forces—as main effects and moderating effects upon practices and performance of organizations embedded in the institutional duality. The case chosen observes unique hybrid funders that this study collectively calls social investment funders (SIF), which integrate philanthropy and venture capital investment to create and implement a venture philanthropy model for a pursuit of their mission. A theoretical framework is developed to propose regulative and normative pressures from two dominant institutions governing SIFs. Original data collected from 146 organizations are scrutinized by moderated multiple regressions for two empirical studies: Study 1 for effects on SIFs’ venture philanthropy practices, and Study 2 for effects on SIFs’ social and financial performance. Multiple imputations, diagnostic analyses, and several post hoc analyses are also conducted for robustness of data and results from multiple regression analyses. Results from these analyses find that EO and venture capital institutional forces both enhance SIFs’ venture philanthropy practices. A hypothesis postulated for a negative relationship between the nonprofit status and venture philanthropy practices is also supported. Results from moderated regression analyses, along with a subgroup and EO subdimension analyses, confirm a moderating effect between EO and the nonprofit status, i.e., a regulative institutional pressure. A positive relationship is found in EO- financial performance, but not in EO-social performance. While support is lent to hypotheses posited for a social/financial performance relationship with donors’/investors’ demand for social outcomes, and with the management team’s training in business, the overall results remain mixed for Study 2. Nonetheless, this dissertation appears to be the first study to theorize and test EO as a micro-level condition enabling organizations to strategically shape and resist institutional pressures, and it reinforces that organizations’ behavior is not merely a product of their passive conformity to environmental forces, but of the agency, also. As such, this study aims to contribute to scholarly efforts by the “agency camp” of the new institutionalism and EO, answering a call from the leading scholars of both EO (Miller) and the new institutionalism (Oliver).
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    A Mixed-method Analysis of Community-Engaged Theatre Illuminates Black Women’s Experiences of Racism and Addresses Healthcare Inequities by Targeting Provider Bias
    (Sage, 2020) Wasmuth, Sally; Pritchard, Kevin; Milton, Cierra; Smith, Emily; Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences
    Theatre has been a powerful means of eliciting social change. This paper describes methods and outcomes of a theatre project to reduce healthcare inequities experienced by Black women. We conducted narrative interviews with a convenience sample of Black women and conducted thematic analysis of interview transcripts to learn about their experiences of healthcare and to inform development of a professional theatrical production. To assess the impact of the performance on the audience, we used a single post-test concurrent mixed-methods design using a self-created Likert-type survey that included space for open-ended responses. Ten Black women completed narrative interviews. Thematic analysis revealed 5 main themes: being ignored, being accused, being talked-down to, fearing harm, and being hurt. Narratives were used to create a script that centered on these themes, and that was professionally produced and performed. Audience members (n = 113, 25% healthcare providers) produced a mean total post-test score of 19.28 (agree/strongly agree) on a 25-point survey with 2 items scoring in the 2 to 3 range (disagree/not sure). Thematic analysis data revealed the extent to which Black women experienced discrimination in multiple settings. Quantitative survey data suggested audience members conceptually understood and were aware of inequity, but open-ended responses revealed this information was new for some, and prior knowledge for others. The audience reported planning to change personal behaviors that may contribute to inequity. Participants were unsure if they had contributed to inequity in the past. The performance stimulated conversation about implicit bias and discrimination and encouraged audience members to examine their contributions to the problem. Future pre-post studies are needed to better assess the impact of the performance. Theatre has the potential to illuminate the extent and nature of discrimination in healthcare and society, and to foster conversations that allow audience members to consider their own potential contributions to discrimination.
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    Relevance and Beyond: The Role of Socially Transformative Curriculum in Science and Mathematics Education. Equity by Design
    (Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center, 2022) Morton, Crystal; Mutegi, Jomo W.; Smith-Mutegi, Demetrice
    The curriculum design of educational programs is pivotal to the success of Black students in mathematics and science. It is essential to implement a curricular approach that values the experiences of Black students. In this "Equity by Design" brief, we will provide an overview and framework of/for socially transformative curriculum, and discuss how it can help to rehumanize the mathematics and science learning experiences of Black students.
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    Revolutions, coups, and clashes: Using implicit motivations to predict the severity of intranational political unrest
    (2014-08) Maguire, Alanna; Konrath, Sara H.
    Research has found that war is likely to break out in times when leaders are high in power motives and low in affiliation, however research has been limited to conflicts between Western countries. We examine 4 revolutionary movements in the Philippines to examine whether this pattern applies to political violence across cultures and conflict types (i.e., within-country vs. between-country). We also explore the role of achievement motives in intranational political unrest. We gathered speeches during 4 times of civil unrest in the Philippines to study implicit motives at various levels of threat. All 4 occurred in the same country, city, and street in the Philippines, with some of the same actors. We scored speeches for power, affiliation, and achievement motives. The highest power and lowest affiliation motives occurred during the most violent conflict. In addition, we found that higher violence was associated with lower achievement motives