Variances in Attitudes across Cultures
VARIANCES IN ATTITUDES ACROSS CULTURES
THE ROLE OF GENDER
a. DEFINITION: “An attitude is the manifestation of values, beliefs, feelings, and states of mind” (Satterlee, 2009, p. 51).
b. SUMMARY: Birgit Pfau-Effinger of The University of Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany recently published an article titled “Women 's employment in the institutional and cultural context” in the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. The author’s intention throughout the paper is to identify the factor(s) affecting the low employment rate of mothers with children under the age of (3) three. Obviously, variances in attitudes regarding the female gender impact the employment rate of numerous countries around the globe. Social, economic and family policies are also discussed as influencing factors in regards to women’s employment in the institutional and cultural context. This data was gathered from international studies and country case studies from an international EU-Project.
c. DISCUSSION: I was recently hospitalized due to acute ulcerative colitis. One of my nurses was originally from Pakistan. After chatting a while, she enlightened me on the treatment of women in the Pakistani culture. Based on the table of information below from The World Bank’s website, only 22% of females are employed outside of the home.
2007 2008 2009 2010
21% 22% 22% 22%
“The employment rate for men is triple that for women, and Pakistan’s female literacy rate is just 45 percent, vs. 70 percent for men” (Mangi, 2011, para. 5). Within this society, women are constantly belittled and victimized. This was one of several reasons why she and her family moved to the United States. She wanted to pursue a career in nursing, which was not a tangible goal in Pakistan based on the cultural attitude towards women. In the Bible, there are various scriptures concerning the equality of men and women. “The Bible teaches that the forming of woman from man demonstrates the fundamental unity and
THE ROLE OF GENDER
a. DEFINITION: “An attitude is the manifestation of values, beliefs, feelings, and states of mind” (Satterlee, 2009, p. 51).
b. SUMMARY: Birgit Pfau-Effinger of The University of Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany recently published an article titled “Women 's employment in the institutional and cultural context” in the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. The author’s intention throughout the paper is to identify the factor(s) affecting the low employment rate of mothers with children under the age of (3) three. Obviously, variances in attitudes regarding the female gender impact the employment rate of numerous countries around the globe. Social, economic and family policies are also discussed as influencing factors in regards to women’s employment in the institutional and cultural context. This data was gathered from international studies and country case studies from an international EU-Project.
c. DISCUSSION: I was recently hospitalized due to acute ulcerative colitis. One of my nurses was originally from Pakistan. After chatting a while, she enlightened me on the treatment of women in the Pakistani culture. Based on the table of information below from The World Bank’s website, only 22% of females are employed outside of the home.
2007 2008 2009 2010
21% 22% 22% 22%
“The employment rate for men is triple that for women, and Pakistan’s female literacy rate is just 45 percent, vs. 70 percent for men” (Mangi, 2011, para. 5). Within this society, women are constantly belittled and victimized. This was one of several reasons why she and her family moved to the United States. She wanted to pursue a career in nursing, which was not a tangible goal in Pakistan based on the cultural attitude towards women. In the Bible, there are various scriptures concerning the equality of men and women. “The Bible teaches that the forming of woman from man demonstrates the fundamental unity and
References: Christians for Biblical Equality. (1989). Men, women and biblical equality. Ltd. CBE on the web at Biblical Equality. Retrieved from www.cbeinternational.org/ ?q=content/men-women-and-biblical-equality Mangi, N.A. (2011, September). Now on the job in Pakistan: Women. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/now-on-the-job-in-pakistan-women-09082011.html Pfau-Effinger, B. (2012). Women 's employment in the institutional and cultural context. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 32(9), 530-543. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01443331211257634 Satterlee, B. (2009). Cross-border commerce. Roanoke, VA: Synergistics Inc.