Browsing by Subject "Life course"
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Item Gender differences in the life course origins of adult functioning and mortality(2011-08) Montez, Jennifer Karas; Hayward, Mark D.; Hummer, Robert A.; Umberson, Debra J.; Pudrovska, Tetyana; Osborne, CynthiaA high degree of physical functioning is necessary for independently performing the numerous routine and valued tasks of daily life. Poor functioning not only hinders independent living, it can lower the quality of life, impede full social participation, and elevate the risk of death. However, not all adults are at equal risk of poor functioning: women experience worse functioning and live a greater number of years functionally impaired compared with men. Studies of this gap have focused on inequities in adult circumstances, such as socioeconomic status, but have generally fallen short of fully accounting for it. Recasting this research within a life-course, epidemiological framework points to the potential role of early-life circumstances. Early-life circumstances may impart a biological imprint, and they may also launch long-term trajectories of social circumstances, that could differentially shape functioning for men and women. Thus, this dissertation examines the life course origins of the gender gap in functioning and active life expectancy among older U.S. adults using two nationally-representative datasets: the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States and the Health and Retirement Study. In sum, the findings reveal that: (a) a host of early-life circumstances, such as parents’ education levels, leave an indelible stamp on functional ability and active life expectancy for women and men, irrespective of adult circumstances, (b) while some early-life adversities, such as extreme poverty, were marginally more consequential for women’s than men’s functioning, they appear to be primarily more consequential for precipitating metabolic conditions such as diabetes and obesity rather than directly impacting functioning, (c) explanations of the gap must incorporate endogenous biological differences between men and women; explanations that focus exclusively on socially-structured inequities are insufficient, and (d) exposures to socioeconomic resources accumulate across the life course to shape functioning differently for men than women; particularly between white men, who enjoy better functioning with higher educational attainment irrespective of early-life socioeconomic exposures, and white women whose functioning gains plateau if they experienced early-life socioeconomic adversities. Overall, the results underscore the importance of a life course perspective in explicating gender disparities in functioning, longevity, and active life expectancy.Item Sexing the midlife: women's experiences across same-sex and different-sex couples(2015-12) Paine, Emily Allen; Umberson, Debra; González-López, GloriaThis paper examines the experiences of women navigating sex amidst midlife transitions within same-sex and different sex long term couples. Data from in-depth interviews with women in 18 same-sex and 18 different-sex couples were analyzed to reveal how transitions related to caregiving, health and aging work to change women’s intra- and interpersonal experiences of sex and sexuality. I extend theories of gender and sexual scripts to examine how women framed and made sense of their changing sex lives in light of larger cultural schemas of gender and sexuality. For example, lesbian women negotiated their discordance from heterosexual scripts by framing their changing sex lives as either similar to those of heterosexual long term couples or too different to be understood through such scripts. Whereas straight women cited their alignment with the script of sexless long term heterosexual marriages, lesbian women negotiated stigmatized heterosexist scripts of lesbian asexuality. I introduce the term of lesbian “bed work” to describe the sense of responsibility and work undertaken to keep up sexual relationships discussed by lesbian women.Item Social ties and physical activity patterns over the life course : gender, race, and age variations(2014-05) Lodge, Amy Caroline; Umberson, Debra; Angel, Jacqueline; Crosnoe, Robert; Gonzalez-Lopez, Gloria; Hayward, MarkIn this dissertation I explore the lived experiences and meanings underlying population patterns linking social ties and exercise. To do so, I frame an analysis of qualitative data from 60 in-depth interviews with 15 white women, 15 black women, 15 white men, and 15 black men with life course theory and critical perspectives on gender, race, and age. In Article 1, I examine how parental influence matters for individuals’ exercise trajectories (i.e., lived experiences of change or stability in exercise patterns) from childhood into adulthood, how adult life course transitions (e.g., parenthood) and turning points (e.g., injury) matter in relation to this influence for exercise trajectories, and how they matter differently at the intersection of race and gender. I develop the concepts of disrupted advantage and disadvantage to refer to my key finding that adult life experiences can disrupt processes of cumulative (dis)advantage around exercise in ways that differ at the intersection of race and gender. In Article 2, I examine the gendered processes through which intimate relationship formation and dissolution result in shifts in exercise habits and find that relationship formation shapes men’s and women’s exercise habits in distinctive ways. Further, these gendered processes are shaped by men’s and women’s relational gendered performances, which reveal the importance of a gender-as-relational perspective for understanding the links between relationship formation and gendered changes in exercise habits. Finally, in Article 3 I examine how body image, as socially constituted, shapes individuals’ motivation to exercise in ways that differ by gender, age, and race. I further examine how, through exercise intentions and practices, individuals craft meanings about the body, gender, race, and age.Item Understanding the career trajectories of mid-career female athletics administrators : a life course approach(2015-08) Hartzell, Allyson Camille; Dixon, Marlene A., 1970-; Holahan, Carole K; Steinhardt, Mary A; Harrison, Tracie C; Angel, Jacqueline LThough there has been progress over the past decades, women continue to be underrepresented in intercollegiate athletics administration (Acosta & Carpenter, 2014). This is especially true in higher-level positions, such as that of athletic directors or those considered to be in the pipeline to that top seat in the administrative structure of athletics programs (Acosta & Carpenter, 2014; Lapchick, Agusta, Kinkopf, & McPhee, 2012). Past approaches to the study of this phenomenon have primarily been from a singular angle, such as the macro-, meso-, or micro-levels of analysis. While such research has yielded important information and added to the knowledge base in this area, understanding of the problem is still piecemeal. There is a paucity of research that considers the underrepresentation of women in this field in a holistic fashion. What is needed is research that takes into account the combination of various factors at multiple levels. It is important to consider the context within which people live their lives along with the circumstances and events that influence career decisions and shape life paths. The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of women who work in intercollegiate athletics administration in a multi-level manner and identify the factors within their experiences that have influenced the decisions they have made regarding their careers and have helped shape their trajectories. Qualitative methods were used along with the guiding framework of the life course perspective. Using data gleaned from a life/career map, interviews, and field notes, subthemes were identified within the four themes of the life course framework: life and historical times, timing of lives, linked lives, and human agency (Elder, 1994). Results demonstrate that women’s careers within intercollegiate athletics administration are influenced by multiple factors and are susceptible to impact from the circumstances preceding and surrounding them. The career paths of the women who participated in this study were affected by each of the four themes outlined by the life course perspective and more specifically by the subthemes identified within each of those broader themes.