MANAGEMENT Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MANAGEMENT - Research Paper Example The strategic organizations are able to exploit the benefits and opportunities with clear targets as well as required resources and dynamism (Burkhart & Reuss, 1993). A number of businesses are analyzing and applying strategic planning concepts and methodologies that have major contributions to successes in the business fields. The fundamental notion of strategic planning is to create plans, which help businesses to undertake in an uncertain future and are founded on clear visions. The future plans may have several years of strategic planning. Sometimes, it may be as long as of two decades (Anthony & Young, 1999). Strategy planning can be described as â€Å"the plans and activities developed by an organization in pursuit of its goals and objectives, particularly in regard to positioning itself to meet external environmental demands relative to its competition† (Kovner & Neuhauser, 1990). Strategic planning for example Wal-Mart offers a clear outline and that helps in coordinat ion endeavors and harmonization of the company. Moreover, it helps companies to have better decision-making, good internal and external communication in addition to improved motivations amongst participating members (Begun & Heatwole, 1999). Strategic planning covers future decisions by human resources of organizations. Strategic Planning helps the management of company the needed direction and goals for internal as well as external environments. Strategic Levels The contemporary organizations generally implement many levels for successful running of the organizations (Beamish, 2000). Each strategic level aims at distinct planning tasks and objectives. The strategic levels are meant to apply the decisions made by businesses and their impacts on the organizations. Following are levels of planning strategies: 1. Corporate strategy 2. Business strategy, and 3. Functional strategy. Corporate level strategy covers the decisions the company made regarding allocation of resources to achiev e the desired goals. It also makes the decisions regarding new services and diversifications provided by the company. Business level strategy concerns with the decisions regarding how the companies would be competitive in the business environment for a particular service or product. Functional level strategy focuses on how a particular business would undertake and operate various business strategies. The successful application of the planning strategies might include modern systems, employment, and training of staff in addition to and the creation of new business partnerships. However there are certain limitations for many organizations to execute some specific plans. The best method for the execution of strategic planning involves both a strategy formulation process and an implementation procedure. Formulation of the planning strategy decides about the modus operandi and its execution. Both these procedures are strongly interrelated and could be assessed individually. Strategy form ulation Strategy formulation is a quite flexible process and is employed to evaluate or re-examine a company’s core values and philosophy. Moreover it helps in development of company’s plans to realize its targets and goals (Beamish, 2000). Following are the key determinants in the strategy formulation procedures: 1. Consensus of mission and vision 2. Environmental assessment, and 3. Setting goals and objectives. Mission/Vision A good strategic plan ensures that a

Why a BSN is the future over ADN Essay Example for Free

Why a BSN is the future over ADN Essay Associate -Degree Versus the Baccalaureate degree level in nursing My theory is that the more education a nurse has the better he/she can be at their job of taking care of patient as a whole and on a complex level. To obtain a Nursing Degree one can start at the LVN or go all the way to a PHD in nursing. This paper will focus on the abilities or competencies of a prepared Associate Degree nurse, and the abilities or competencies of a Baccalaureate Degree Nurse. This is a hot topic now and has been for many years. I have been hearing for many years that ADN will be phased out, and only BSN will be used in the future. The time period in which to mandate this event is governed differently by the state where the nurse works. There are catchy phrases out there like BNS in 10, or BSN by 2020. â€Å"As of 2010, at least 18 states, including New York, New Jersey, were considering BSN in 10 legislation.† (nursing link 2011, 07.) The first step is to define nursing. â€Å"Nursing is the knowledge based discipline, which focuses on the wholeness of human being.† The ADN nurse and BSN take a different approach in teaching their students. They both take the same state mandated NCLEX, but have a different time of training. â€Å"The Associated Degree takes a shorter path of two years where the BSN takes a longer with 4 years of education to complete the degree.† Now to break this down and let you know the difference of a 2 and 4 year nursing program. The Associate trained nurse is more task oriented, while the BSN is based on theory and research. I having a diploma hospital based program spent 4 or more days in the hospital setting, but my wife has her BSN and she tells me she usually only spent 1 or 1.5 days at the hospital. I see this now also, where I work we see the Associate nurses more than the BSN students. The clinical experience is only part of what a BSN is exposed to. â€Å"You will receive crucial training in key areas like communication, leadership and critical thinking enhanced knowledge that will become ever more valuable in the complex and changing future of health care  delivery.†(NY Times 2012,06). In short a nurse that takes the extra time of going to a BSN is better educated to take care of their patient’s special and unique needs. Can provide a higher level of care and uses the tool of critical thinking as part of their treatment process. The arguments of BSN over Associate diploma will be supported with the following examples. The Association of College of Nursing provided examples and has linked it to better outcomes for patients, and is pressing for a higher educated nursing force. â€Å"In the October issue of medical Care, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that surgical patients in Magnet hospitals had 14% lower odds of inpatient death within 30 days and 12 % lower odds of failure to-rescue comp ared with patients cared for in non- Magnet Hospitals.† (aacn. 2012.10).This research is reflective of Magnet hospitals have a higher proportion of BSN. The push for higher education in nursing work force had shown to be beneficial. In its October 2010 report The Future of Nursing, the Institute of Medicine states â€Å" and increase in the percentage of nurses with a BSN is imperative as the scope of what the public needs from nurses grows, expectation of surrounding quality heighten, and settings where nurses are needed proliferates and become more complex.† Institute of Medicine 2010). This means that the population is getting sicker, living longer, becoming more complex to treat, and are in need of higher educated nurses. Knowledge of basic nursing skill in is not enough to get by on you need a higher level of education. â€Å"According to the IOM Institute of Medicine, core competencies for today’s nurse include : Leadership, Healthy policy, System improvement, Research and evidence-based practice, Teamwork and collaboration, Competency in specific content areas such as community and public health and geriatrics, and Technological knowledge.† (nursing link 2011, 07.) This means that nur sing educational need are an ongoing process to meet the special needs of our complex, elderly, and sick patients. An advantage that a BSN will have over an Associate nurse is job opportunity. In the world of professional nursing BSN are chosen before, and is some case required to be in management position. Also it opens the door for further education such as but not limited to Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesia, Nurse Practitioner, and the list goes on, but these are my hot buttons. To conclude this paper it is imperative to pursue a BSN degree. It helps provide a higher level of care  to the population needs. Patient outcome has been proven to be improved. At some point a BSN is probably going to be mandated any way. The information here strongly supports the need for a BSN education. The oppurinity is out there. However one pursues a higher education on line, or in the classroom lets up the bar to give our population the highest level of care they deserve. References Fink, J. (2011, 07 11). 6 reasons to get a BSN. Retrieved from nursinglink.monster.com/education/articles/3542-6-reasons-to-get-a-bsn?print+=true. Marybabu. (2012, 02). Bsn vs Associate Degree in Nursing. Retrieved from studymode.com/essays/Bsn-Vs-Associate-Degree-In-Nursing . Medicine, I. o. (2010). The Future of Nursing. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. PÉREZ-PEÑA, R. (2012, 06 23). Why a BSN? The New York Times, pp. 1-2. Rosseter, R. (2012, 10 24). American Association of nursing Creating a More Highly Qualified Nursing Workforce. Retrieved from www.accn.nche.edu/media-relation/facts-sheets/nursing-workforce. Smoothieshah. (2012, 08 30). Difference between adn and bsn nurses. Retrieved from studymode.com/essy/Differences-between-adn-and-bsn.

Van Genneps Stages of a Rite of Passage

Van Genneps Stages of a Rite of Passage Van Genneps stages and understanding a rite of passage in relationship to one or more rituals Wittgenstein (1987, p.14, Chapter I. Introduction) set a large challenge for anthropology that has yet to be taken up. After reading the Golden Bough, he argues that Fraser made a crucial mistake by trying to deduce what things mean. He accused Fraser of not understanding that practices signify nothing but themselves, and that the extent of anthropology could be to delimit and work out the practical structure of such tasks. For the past fifty years or so, anthropology has largely ignored Wittgensteins remarks and has built an anthropology that privileges the observer. It privileges the observer because it is only the observer who can read into phenomenon their underlying socio-cultural meaning. It is precisely this sort of reifying reductionism that we find in Van Genneps (1909) theory of the rite of passage. Rites of passage present an irresistible and difficult focus for the ethnographer: they are constellations of compacted meanings removed from the process of everyday life. In the authors own experience, they are also some of the most frustrating things to analyse. Presented with so many unusual phenomenon, the ethnographer asks, what does this mask mean only for your informant to respond with a shrug. This difficulty of compacted meaning may partly explain why ethnographers are so quick to ignore the phenomenon involved in a rite of passage in favour of reading it as a structural process. This difficulty may also explain why, fully one hundred years after it was published, Van Genneps Rites of Passage theory remains unchallenged in the anthropological world. That said, Van Gennep’s overall structures has remained remarkably adept at matching up to all the rituals people apply to it. However, there should not be taken as a mark of its success. It one is to recall that the success of Evans-Pritchards structural-functionalism (Kuper: 1988, pp. 190-210, Chapter 10 Descent Theory: A Phoenix from the Ashes), was more based on the tastes and cultural paradigms of anthropologists than it was on its correspondence to any ethnographic reality. This essay will argue that Van Genneps stages of rites of passage do indeed cohere to many rituals, however, like Turners schemes (1995), these stages do little to explain to us the significance of ritual. In order to do so, this essay will argue, it is necessary to turn to how the phenomenologically experienced reality of ritual constitutes the social reality of a ritual. To make this argument this essay will focus on three rites of passage: French marriage ritual in Auvergne (Reed-Dahany: 1996), Yak a healing rituals in Zaire (Devisch: 1998, 1996) and refugee experience in Tanzania (Malikki: 1995). The last example proves the most difficult for Van Genneps theory: because though it corresponds to his stages, nothing about the experience of refugees would correspond to the socially rigid categories Van Gennep claims are central to rites of passage. From this example, this essay will argue to understand rites of passage we need to consider more fully the relationship of time-out-of-time in culture. For until we confront the question of what allows a certain unit of time to be taken out of the experience of the everyday, we will be no closer to understanding how rites of passage deal with other senses of time-out-of-time. Van Gennep (1909, Chapter I The Classification of Rites) attempts to demonstrate a there is a universal structure underlying all rites of passage. While there might be physiological, factors involved (e.g. coming to puberty) the mechanisms that determined the rites of passage are always social, and these social constructions display a cross-cultural similarity. Rituals and ceremonies in Van Gennep’s scheme serve the function of guaranteeing ones path through liminal transitory categories as one passes through the stages of separation, transition and reincorporation that he claims are present in all stages of rites of passage. What we can note about this model already is that the ritual serves the purpose of a unit of causation in a socially determinist model of society: there is a societal need that ritual fulfils. Because of this functional model, we are none the wiser as to how a society determines the exact elements of a ritual, or how people experience the ritual. Van Genneps approach is based on a socially functional model: though he is far more inclined to admit the power of the individual in the social form sui generis than is Durkheim (Zumwalt: 1982:304). That said, he still claims (Van Gennep, 1909, p. 72, Chapter Six Initiation Rites) that in mutilation: the mutilated individual is removed from the mass of common humanity by a rite of separation which automatically incorporates him into the defined group. His emphasis here is on the social end process: as if it could somehow be separated from the phenomenological experience of the pain. Thus, the process of scarification that marks many initiation rituals is merely placed as part of the logic of social cohesion: following such a pattern, it is hard to explain the beating and terror that often accompanies initiation rituals. Indeed, it ignores the central challenge Merleau-Ponty (1962, p.115, Part I The Body, Chapter III The Spatiality of Ones own Body and Motility) posed when he asked: H ow can we understand someone else without sacrificing him to our logic or it to him? The domain of phenomenology is closely linked to that of ritual. Jackson (1996, p.3, Chapter I Introduction) characterises phenomenology as a project designed to understand being-in-the-world. This attempt to understand how inter-subjective experience is constituted is a possible answer to the question Merleau-Ponty poses above how does one understand the other. Characteristically, phenomenology attempts to answer this project by not privileging one domain of experience or knowledge, as none of them can encompass the totality of the lived experience. Instead, it is an investigation into (Ricoeur, 1979, p.127, Chapter IV The Structure of Experience) the structures of experience which proceed connected expression in language. This is what Merleau-Ponty would call the preobjective. This understanding of the importance of structures that escape linguistic formalisation has also been part of the emphasis of the study of ritual in anthropology. In Levi-Strauss (1965, pp.167-186, Chapter Nine The Sorcerer and His Magic) classic examination of north American healing sorcerers he emphasises how the experience of the healing takes place between the triad of patient, sorcerer, and social body. He also emphasises the importance in this relationship of the sensory experience of the sorcerer. However, despite this emphasis, he is undertaking his analysis from a recorded text, and his emphasis is on the structural coherency sorcery provides rather than its embodied experience. He writes (ibid: 181): In a universe which it [the social body] strives to understand but whose dynamics it cannot fully control, normal thought continually seeks the meaning of things which refuse to reveal their significance. So-called pathological thought, on the other hand, overflows with emotion al interpretations and overtones, in order to supplement an otherwise deficient reality. The sensory experience of the ritual as understood by Levi-Strauss is constituted as a means-end relationship to get to the desired goal, the assertion of the cosmological unity of the social body. Here we can see the same pattern of assumptions about bodily meaning we noted earlier in Van Gennep. This emphasis, a legacy of Durkheim, characteristically means that repetition, often the element of ritual that constitutes its definition, is overlooked as window-dressing to the mythical meat of the ceremony which is that which can be vocalised (and thus objectified). This legacy can also be found in the two anthropologists whose writing about myth has defined the field, Van Gennep and Turner (1986, 1995). In Van Gennep, central to his notion of ritual as a rite of passage is a sacred-profane dualism, which is also kept in Turners scheme, though he also includes the notion of the marginal or liminal. In this distinction we can see that both theorists only deal with the relationship between the sacred and profane in terms of social structure and fail to deal with these elements interpenetrate in everyday lived reality. In a sense, their distinction is similar to that made by Mauss (1993, p. 12, Chapter I The Exchange of Gifts and the Obligation to Reciprocate) when understanding the gift. Mauss claims that the person for whom the sacrifice is performed enters the domain of the sacred and then rejoins the profane world, which is separate from the sacred, though conditioned by it. For Turners early work, and for Van Gennep, ritual is the heightened activity in which the sacred-profane worlds are mediated between. What is advantageous about these approaches is that they identify ritual as the situation or drama par excellence, as an organisation of practice constructed and defined by participants and it is a practice in which the participants confront the existential conditions of their existence. However, there are problems with Turner and Van Gennep’s approaches which parallel that of Levi-Strauss. In both cases, the emphasis is on the formal unity of the social world. Kapferer (1997, pp.55-61, Chapter II: Gods of Protection, Demons of Destruction: Sorcery and Modernity. The Transmutation of Suniyama: Difference and Repetition) illustrates some of these problems when analysing the Sri Lankan suniyama, or exorcisms. While he agrees with Turner that the suniyama constitute their own space-time, he also makes clear the extent to which they borrow from everyday life. Rather than seeing resolution and unity in the suniyama, he notes that the reactualisation of the ordinary world amid the virtuality of the rite is a moment of intense anxiety. In the events of the chedana vidiya, the tension, he argues, is not just about the destructive forces of the demon but also about the re-emergence of the victim in the ordered world. One can see in the suniyama that the lived world is not reducible to categories, despite the attempts at structuration. It is an excellent example of what Jackson (1989, p.5, Chapter I Paths Towards a Clearing) calls mans rage for order, and simultaneously usurpation of that order coupled with an awareness that the order is always exceeded by the lived world. Kapferer refuses to push dualistic or triadic models onto the Sri Lankan suniyama, and argue for it being a continuous process orientated at the restitution of social action. One of the ways this uncertainty the rage for order and its ambiguity or infirmity is manifested is in sensory experience. It is here that the Durkheimean project is unable to provide a satisfactory analytical framework and where phenomenology can provide some edifying lines of inquiry. None of these lines of inquiry are pursued by Reed-Dahany (1996), who illustrates the extent to which Van Gennep can be utilized, and also the extent to which Van Genneps scheme founders in its constructionist model, in her analysis of marriage practice in Auvergne. She notes that (ibid: 750) in the early morning after a wedding, a group of unmarried youths burst into the room to which the bride and groom have retired for the night and present them with a chamber pot containing champagne and chocolate. The youth and the newly wed couple then consume the chocolate and champagne together. The participants describe is as something which appears disgusting, and yet actually tastes really good. Reed-Dahany utilises Bourdieus work on taste to show how this reversal of the established bourgeois order simultaneously parodies marriage and bourgeois taste. Like the examples we see in Turners work, the sacred ritual of marriage here is associated with the inversion of established meanings only for these meanings to be ever more forcefully reinserted after the period of liminal disaggregation. We can see how such a ritual fits Van Genneps scheme very well: the couple are segregated from society (both from each other before marriage, and then from society the honeymoon afterwards) before being reaggregated. Thus, Reed-Dahany has no problem in understanding the ritual of la rà ´tie as a ritual of reincorporation in the sense Turner had meant it. Through the partaking of food with the unwed they are allowed to re-enter society, the wet-substance consumed standing in for fecundity. Indeed, as Reed-Dahany notes (ibid: 752) Van Gennep himself had commented on these rituals in his work on folk customs in rural France and had pursued much the same conclusion. Yet what Reed-Dahany notes is that the focus for the people involved in the ritual are the scatological reference implicit in the ritual: these elements of parody of bourgeois society that take place at the level of bodily praxis are left unexplained by Van Genneps scheme, in which any set of symbols is replaceable with anot her as long as they have the same social purpose. This is why Van Gennep has great problems explaining rites of passage that are not formal. Yet, it is not the case that rites of passage and other temporal markers must be institutionalised. As Malikki (1995, p. 241, Chapter Six Cosmological Order of Nations) notes: historical consciousness is lodged within precarious accidental processes that are situated and implicated in the lived events and local processes of the everyday. In her work, Malikki looks at the creation of a mythico-history among Hutu refugees who fled the mass killing of 1972 in Burundi for Tanzania fifteen years ago. She contrasts two groups; the first, living in an urban environment, deploy their ethnicity and history only rarely, situationally and relationally, and attempt not to stick out. In contrast, at the refugee camp, the inhabitants were continually engaged in recreating their homeland. Malikki (ibid: p.3, Introduction An Ethnography of Displacement in the National order of Things) notes: The camp refugees saw themselves as a nation in exile, and defined exile, in turn, as a moral trajectory of trials and tribulations that would ultimately empower them to reclaim, or recreate anew, the homeland in Burundi. One of the noticeable elements in this construction of a mythico-history is the way in which it internalised exterior categories, and then subverted them. For instance, Malikki draws attention to the way in the powerful discourse of inter-nationalism, refugees are in an ambiguous space, particularly polluting, between national boundaries. Malikki uses the work of Van Gennep and Turner to understand how the Hutu refugees in the camp had turned this liminal space into a trial of separation, which would empower them to return. The narratives that people told Malikki were incredibly standardised, they functioned, as Malikki notes, as moral lessons, that represented (ibid: p. 54, Chapter Two The Mythico History) a subversive recasting and reinterpretation of [events] it in fundamentally moral ways. In Malikkis work, we can see that rites of passage can be lodged in accidental processes and contingent historical events. Even here, they seem to fit the categories of Van Genneps classificati on. However, one notes that nothing about these classifications explains the way these patterns were then sedimented into a rite of passage that structured and organised practice. She notes that one of the key moments in this history is when the refugees arrive across the border in Tanzania, and are able to meet other refugees from Burundi (there appeared to be little widespread national connections before then ibid: p.103, Chapter Two The Mythico History). Thus, collective effervescence of consciousness, which, as the narrative describes, allowed people to understand the final secret of the Tutsis, was not just experienced verbally. The supplanting of the social order with chaos (though an ordered chaos) was accompanied by very physical processes. The fear of pursuit, the bodily feeling of cramp and hunger, the sight of corpses on the road: all these were processes that the refugees took great pains to describe to Malikki. The refugees referred to this moment as one of revelation, and this memory, which must have in part formed the social bond that allowed for the creation of the mythico-history, was a silent history of bodily feeling and gesture as much as i t was one verbalised. If we develop Malikkis understanding of the similarity between rites of passage and the refugee experience slightly, there is a parallel between the symbolic death and rebirth in the liminal stage of separation in a rite of passage, normally accompanied by ritual action that provides the unity of a shared painful experience, and the collective pain of that crossing into Tanzania in 1972. These phenomenological bodily experienced realities are not marginal to a group feeling of cohesion: rather than social aspects of the rite of passage stem from these silent memories of bodily experience. We will now turn to an analysis of the rites of passage in the Yaka healing cults of Zaire. In contrast to the social world of the Yaka, which is patrilineal, femaleness, uterine filiation and mediatory roles are cyclical and occupy a concentric life-cycle (Devisch: 1996, p.96, The Cosmology of Life Transmission). It is within this contrast that the healing rituals takes place. The healing rituals a re not a collection or commiseration, rather, they are bodily and sensuous, they (ibid: 95) aim at emancipating the initiates destiny clearing and enhancing the lines of force in the wider weave of family. It is not just in the matrilineage that healing occurs however, for (Devisch: 1998, p.127, Chapter Six Treating the affect by remodelling the body in a Yaka Healing Cult) it is in the interplay of physical links and individualising relationships a person weaves through his mothers lineage with the uterine sources of life and the primary and fusional object that the Yaka cultures in Kinshasa and south-west Congo localise the origin of serious illness, infirmity and madness. The ritual allows for the rebirth of the individual, and occurs at the margins (physical and cultural) of the society. This re-sourcing of the body is very fundamentally sensory. For instance, in the period of seclusion a young Mbwoolu become body doubles, and become an inscribed body envelope that serves as his interface with the social body. It is important to note there that the Yaka identity is structured as an envelope and knot. Harmful things like thievery of sorcery are associated with this knot being tied too tightly or loosely, inversion of normal bodily functions, such as flatulence or ejaculation outside of coitus can be understood as the knot being tied too tightly or gently. The person in this sense is constructed inter-subjectively, spreading outwards in a myriad of exchanges and well formed knots. The transference to the Mbwoolu involves an enacted cosmology where the objects and the initiate are covered with a red paste. Devisch notes that the notion of the person in these ceremonies is to be found to be located at the skin level, through a myriad of exchanges. At an early stage in the ritual, the initiates and the Mbwoolu figurines are floated in water, and this is the beginning of a process that continues throughout the ritual, as the initiates skin is turned inside out. In this process, the illness is displaced onto the Mbwoolu, and his insides become a receptacle for the power of the healing ritual. The figurines become a social skin to be idealised, socialised and protected. The importance of sensory experience in the ritual is also in the moment where the master shaman bites off the head of a chicken and sprays the initiates with its blood. Devisch (ibid: 146) also talks about the importance of the fusional absorption in the rhythm and music, then (ibid) [the] tactile olfactory and auditory contacts envelop, and are finally interwoven into an increasingly elaborate utterance, by the mirrored gaze. By this Devisch is alluding to the process by which the initiate converts the primary fusional object into phenomena of identification by incorporation. In this process of incorporating the figurine into themselves, all the senses are in use. What is noteworthy and excellent in Devischs work is that while he does occasionally lapse into statements about trance-inducing music, she is clear to emphasise that sensual phenomenon are not part of a means-end relationship to induce the required result, nor are they somehow secondary to the meaning of the ritual. Rath er, he emphasises that the sensory experience is in many respects, the ritual that the experience of being covered in red clay and submerged in water and having your skin reversed cannot be separated from the transference of your illness to the statues. What Mauss (1993, p.2, Chapter I The Exchange of Gifts and the Obligation to Reciprocate) was right to emphasise when he claimed sacrifice was a total social fact was that questions of sacrifice are questions of Being first and foremost. They occupy a place were the social world is made and remade. In Devisch, what is understood to constitute the central aspects of the Yaka healing cult are sensory experience. This is very different to the understanding laid out by Van Gennep and Turner. For while Devisch makes clear that in the Yaka healing cult one is separated from society pending ones reincorporation, he does not allow the socially functional explanation to obscure what the ceremony might mean. One can see the difference if we contrast Turners work to Devischs. For Turner, the performative and sensory aspects of healing function at its normative pole, the pole at which ritual healing is a resolution of social and emotional conflict. The power of dominant symbols, for Turner, derived from their capacity to condense structural or moral norms the eidetic pole and fuse them with physiological and sensory phenomena and processes – the oretic pole. In Turner, the oretic pole, where emotional and bodily praxis is centred, is a given. For Devisch, this given in Turners work is a critical problem, for it prevents his understanding that the basis of creativity in ritual (1993, p.37, 1.6 Body and Weave: A Semantic-Praxilogical Approach) is to be sought not in liminality but in the body seen as a surface upon which the group and the life-world is inscribed. We have seen in three rituals how Van Genneps classification superficially fits the pattern of behaviour. However, like in the work of Victor Turner, we have seen that Van Gennep cannot explain the detail of rites of passage using his system of classification. In his system, the details of a ceremony become marginal, whereas for the practioners they are central. To explain such details we need to pursue a phenomenologically informed anthropology such as that which Devisch practices. For if a rites of passage is a primarily embodied experience, then the body cannot simply be a receptacle for social value rather, one would argue, it can also be a generative movement, both of meaning and of experience Bibliography Devisch, R. 1998: Treating the affect by remodelling the body in a Yaka healing cult. In Strathern Lambek, Bodies and Persons. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Devisch, R. The Cosmology of Life Transmission. pp.94-115. In, Jackson, M. (ed) 1996: Things as they are: New Directions in Phenomenological Anthropology. Indiana: Indiana University Press. Devisch, R. 1993: Weaving the Threads of Life: The Khita Gyn-Eco-Logical Healing cult among the Yaka. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Jackson, M. 1989: Paths Towards a Clearing. Indiana: Indiana University Press. Jackson, M. (ed) 1996: Things as they are: New Directions in Phenomenological Anthropology. Indiana: Indiana University Press. Kuper, A. 1988. The Invention of primitive society: transformations of an illusion. London: Routledge Kapferer, B. 1997: The Feast of the Sorcerer: Practices of Consciousness and Power Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Levi-Strauss, C. 1965. Structural Anthropology 1. London: Penguin. Malikki, L. 1995: Purity and Exile: Violence, memory and National Cosmology among Hutu Refugees in Tanzania. London: University College Press. Mauss, M. 1993: The Gift: The Form and Reason for exchange in Archaic Societies. London: Routledge. Merleau-Ponty, M. 1962 Phenomenology of perception. London : Routledge Reed-Dahany, D. 1996: Champagne and Chocolate: Taste and Inversion in a French wedding ritual. American Anthropologist. Vol. 98, No. 4, pp. 750-761. Ricoeur, P. 1979: Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning. Texas: Christian University Press. Turner, V.W. 1995: The Ritual Process: Structure and anti-structure. London: Aldine. Turner, V.W. 1986. The drums of affliction. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Van Gennep, A. 1909: The Rites of Passage. London: Routledge. Wittgenstein, L. 1987: Remarks on Frazers Golden Bough. London: Brynmill Press. Zumwalt, R. 1982: Arnold Van Gennep: The Hermit of Bourd-la-Reine. American Anthropologist. Vol 84, No 2, pp. 299-313.

History Of The Existence Of God Philosophy Essay

History Of The Existence Of God Philosophy Essay After reading Anselms Proslogion, a person could be convinced of the existence of a supreme being, based on the ontological argument he provides. Anselm claims that there exists a being that which nothing greater can be thought. He is referring to God and shows how the simple idea of God in ones mind proves that God exists because it is that which nothing greater can be thought. An idea that exists only in the mind and not in reality is not as great as an idea, which exists in both. Since God is the greatest being, God must exist in our minds as well as in reality. If a person had read the first of the five ways presented by Thomas Aquinas in the Summa of Theology and his Summa Against the Heathens, this person could be convinced of a divine being through the proof of an unmoved mover, who Aquinas conveys as God. The first of the five ways that Aquinas uses to prove the existence of God is related to motion. Aquinas says that some objects in the world are in motion. These objects must be moved by another object in motion. From that, he makes the deduction that there is a long chain of movers that not only move objects but also are moved by objects before them. Since the chain cannot go to infinity, there must be some unmoved mover that starts the chain and Aquinas concludes this being to be God. We will call the two previous convictions A, representing Anselm and T, representing Thomas Aquinas. Also, we will refer to G as the conviction that God exists. Together both convictions, A and T, are not equivalent to G. A and T both take different routes in proving G but are flawed in their own ways. Take for example A by itself, which is not equal to G. From individual to individual, there can be different notions of the word God. For example, take an idea of a sports car that which nothing greater can be thought. Two different people may have two very different ideas of what makes a sports car the greatest. The use of the word greatest in the argument is left for individual interpretation and also just the thought of the greatest sports car does not mean that it exists. Simply conceiving the greatest of anything does not result in its existence. If everyone had the same definition of God, a stronger case for A equaling G could be made but we know this not to be true. Anselms argument works under special circumstances but cannot be extended for every case. T by itself is not equal to G. Strictly speaking, T simply provides reasoning for a being that is an unmoved mover, not an all-powerful deity. However, Aquinas attributes this being to God but it can just as easily be attributed to any other being. Applying Aquinass principle that motion of an object must be received from a moving object before that object, the argument would result in infinity. If God is the first unmoved mover to start the motion of objects, the notion of God contradicts Aquinas foundation that all movers must be moved. An ordinary conception of God is a supreme being that is all good, omniscient, and omnipotent. Given such a conception, the conviction represented by A partially fails to be equivalent to it because of the various assumptions that Anselm makes in his ontological proof. Anselm references the greatest being, that which nothing greater can be thought, however, this does not necessarily mean that this being is omniscient, omnipotent, or other qualities that are included in an ordinary conception of God. This is due to the simple fact that a persons interpretation of greatness or idea of greatest may or may not encompass these qualities. Consider the common mans knowledge for a great basketball player. Some would assume that this person would be extremely tall. Using Anselms proof for the greatest basketball player that can be thought, each persons idea could be potentially different from the next. Some may define the greatest as the quickest or the best at shooting while others would agr ee that it would be the tallest man. This failure to be equivalent is only a partial failure because some may have the same definition as the ordinary conception while others would have a different definition. T partially fails to be equivalent to the ordinary conception of God as well but is closer to equivalence than A. In the first of Aquinas five ways, he simply proves a being that is a mover that is not moved. This can be interpreted to be an omnipotent being because it breaks away from the assumption that all objects that can move must be moved by another object before it. Only an all-powerful being would be able to be the unmoved mover. The first of the five ways does not embody the other ordinary conceptions of God in any way. However, if we were to expand our prior knowledge which led us to conviction T from just including the first way to including all five ways then we are closer to equivalence. Each of the five ways proves a different feature that a being could have which can be juxtaposed with the ordinary conceptions of god. Aquinas is closer to proving the existence of God with his five ways in comparison with Anselms ontological proof. We will refer to the limited acceptance that David Hume acknowledges for natural theology, as H. H is not directly equivalent to A or T, or both together because H is built upon the premise that analogies cannot be extended to the existence of God. A and T both conclude with statements that recognize the existence of God. Strictly speaking, Hume would not agree with A or T, therefore H does not equal A or T. Hume does however agree with the fact that if the arguments, A or T, are convincing enough, then they can be extended to human intelligence but not any further. H captures less of what people ordinarily take the word God to mean. Hume does not suggest anywhere in his limited acceptance of natural theology about the existence of God or any of the ordinary notions that are associated with God. Since he does not accept the existence of God as deduced by natural theology, his statement, H, does not bear any similarity to the ordinary conception of God. To a certain extent, A and T do acknowledge God and based on individual interpretation capture what the word God incorporates. Therefore, H captures less of the ordinary notion of God then A or T. Philosophers have yet to agree upon a definitive answer to whether God exists or not and each one provides their own argument. Each argument has its strengths and weaknesses and ultimately, we continue to work to find the answer. Word Count: 937 Problem of Evil The challenge issued by Gretchen Weirob in John Perrys Dialogue on Good, Evil and the Existence of God is directed towards Sam Miller. Not only does Gretchen want Sam to prove to her the existence of God, but also Gods coexistence with evil in the natural world. A successful answer to this challenge would be a clear and proficient proof for how a perfect God can exist and can create a world where there is evil. Sam starts arguing that God has a big picture plan for the universe, which includes necessary evil and imperfections for the greater good. Gretchen does not buy into his big picture argument and in order to prove the big picture, Sam presents her with a three-part theodicy. The first part discusses free will, where Sam says that creatures and beings have the option to make good choices or bad ones and the path that they choose is entirely up to them. Consider the choice a student makes between cheating on a test and studying diligently. The decision that he makes is up to him because he has free will. Gretchen is not convinced and does not believe that an all-good God can exist because of this reason. Sam counters with the second part, which considers the notion of the afterlife where God does justice for all the wrongs that are done in the world. For example, a flawed justice system could result in a criminal not being punished for his crime or an innocent man taking the fall for something the man has not done. In the afterlife, God, an all-fair and just being, would punish the criminal and reward the innocent man. Gretchen provides examples for evils that are not caused or controlled by humans and Sam has an answer for that as well. The final part deals with the existence of devils, which causes anguish and pain through natural phenomenon. This encompasses the remaining evil in the world that is not directly an effect of free will. For example, a tsunami that wipes out many cities is not something a human can control and it is explained by the will of the devils. These various ideas and the examples that defend them offer a satisfactory response to how evil can exist in the world created by a supreme being. Sams theodicy is difficult to argue with as he provides examples and observations in the natural world that eventually encompass all kinds of evil in the world. Gretchen is unable to come up with any more counter-examples or scenarios of evil in the world and she admits that Sam has provided a satisfactory response to her challenge. In David Humes Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Philo claims the idea of such a Deity is consistent with the nature of the world. God formed the world and everything in it. Therefore, a logical parallel to draw is between the nature of the world and the nature of God. Philos argument could answer Gretchens challenge because she is simply looking for a possible explanation not necessarily a feasible one. As long as Gretchen is provided an explanation for how God can exist alongside the evidence of so much evil in the world, she will treat this as a satisfactory response. However, there is good and evil in the world and given this nature, we cannot infer that God exists. Since our world is not perfect, our evidence and observations cannot be used as a root for the argument of Gods existence. For example, if a vehicle were to collide with an innocent pedestrian, an all-perfect God would not only know it was going to happen but also could have prevented it from happening in the first place. We can extend this example to all grief in the world and dismiss any understanding of God that comes from the world. If a perfect deity were to create a perfect world, we could use that evidence to prove the existence of such a deity. In my opinion, the inability to make this inference would hinder Philos ability to meet Gretchens challenge because he would be unable to prove to her that a supreme benevolent being exists. Philo explains four hypotheses for the possible nature of God; perfectly good, completely evil, good and evil, and neither good nor evil. The first two are immediately thrown out because of the natural world has both good and evil; therefore God has to somehow embody both forces. The third possibility is viewed by many as two separate beings, one representing good and another representing evil. If this were the case, then our world would be caught in a struggle and this is not evident simply observing what happens on Earth. What we can see is regardless of the nature of a person, that person is subject to the laws of nature. For example, a thief and a charity worker living in a city could both lose their homes because of a hurricane. Their individual nature has nothing to do with whether the hurr icane will affect them or not. God set up these laws of nature to affect everyone. Therefore, God is neither good nor evil. At best, Philo would prove to Gretchen about neither an all-good, nor an all-evil God, rather a neutral one. Gretchen would not be entirely convinced because her definition of God along with the general consensus is that God is all-good. The only assumptions for a possible existence of God come from what we can observe and the problem of evil in the world is a definite deterrent in proving this to be true.

Affects of Alcohol :: essays research papers fc

Alcohol: Best or Worst Times of Life? Alcohol has many dangerous effects and should be banned. That being said, what exactly IS alcohol? Alcohol is a clear liquid at room temperature, it is flammable and it can be dissolved in water. Alcohol is usually produced in two main ways: fermentation or distillation. The alcohol found in alcoholic beverages such as beer or wine is known as ethyl alcohol. Alcohol is rarely found in a pure form. In beer, the ethanol concentration is only 4 to 6 percent. In wine the ethanol concentration is 7 to 11 percent and in champagne 8 to 14 percent. In distilled spirits such as rum or vodka, ethanol concentration can be anywhere from 45 to 90 percent! Alcohol has made its way into western culture; from the good tasting beverage to have after work to the â€Å"cool† thing to do in front of all your friends. The United States has tried to ban alcohol consumption. The Prohibition in 1919 occurred when the 18th amendment was approved; this outlawed the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors. However, the ban on liquor was highly unsuccessful. Crime rates shot sky high and the demand for liquor was as high as ever. However, the 18th amendment was repealed by the 21st in 1933 (Mason 2). Where the 18th amendment failed, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 succeeded. The National minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 required that all states change their legal drinking age. If the states refused to comply with this new law, the state would lose its money under the Federal Aid Highway Act (Mason 1). This only proves the point further that alcohol is dangerous and should be banned for a variety of reasons: it has many negative effects on youth, it causes a lot of damage inside the home and out, and there are many physically ill effects. Alcohol has many negative effects on youth. Some of the most influential factors in a youth’s decision to drink are parents and peers. However, past and present research has shown that alcohol advertising also has a significant impact by ‘influencing the attitudes of parents and peers and helping to create an environment that promotes underage drinking. (CAMY 1). Youth are easily influenced through television advertisements. â€Å"A 1996 study of children age’s nine to eleven found that children were more familiar with Budweiser’s television frogs than Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger, the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, or Smokey the Bear (CAMY 1).

Philosophy of Education :: Philosophy of Education Teaching Essays

Philosophy of Education Educating children profoundly affects their lives and influences the life of anyone who comes into contact with those children. Education provides a foundation for a child to base the rest of his or her life on. Without a solid education, it becomes impossible for an individual to provide for themselves and their family. Also, well-educated people can make decisions that benefit both their own interests and the interests of society as a whole. In this paper, I will address my personal opinions and philosophy about education. First, I will address the nature of the student. Next, I will examine the nature of knowledge, followed by the purpose of public education, and method. Finally, my paper will conclude with a discussion of the curriculum areas that are most important in elementary school. Additionally, I will relate my views to pragmatism and progressivism, and to Plato?s teaching, three valuable theories regarding education. No two students are exactly alike. Nevertheless, they do share one fundamental characteristic -- every student has the ability to learn. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato believed that a student?s learning ability is determined entirely by genetics. According to Plato, people are either golds, silvers, or bronzes. The golds are the smartest and the bronzes are the slower learners. I don?t really agree with this philosophy. Yes, some children are naturally intelligent and others are not. But natural ability is not the only factor to consider. Students differ on their level of motivation regarding learning. Some students will settle for a ?C? while others push themselves to get an ?A.? Others are perfectly happy with failing grades. Motivation, or lack of it, can be blamed on one of two causes: environment and genetics. Some feel that a child?s desire to learn is most influenced by their home environment. Genes have also been blamed for a child?s longing to l earn. I feel that both factors play a role in how a child approaches education. In a home where education is strongly emphasized, a child is probably going to want to learn. However, this is not always true.

Using the Sports Industry as a Medium

I am using the sports industry as a medium to illustrate how the scales of inequality are weighted in favour of males. In particular, we are looking at the ways in which women are breaking through the barriers into areas that could not have been envisaged fifty years ago. The sports industry is extremely diverse and is currently experiencing rapid growth and development. The industry†s profits run into billions each year. The business of sport has certainly not been immune or isolated from gender inequalities. Traditionally, professional sports management has been the exclusive realm of males. Sport is often regarded as one of societies most traditional male institutions. However, one of the most important phrases of the '90†³s† has been ‘gender inequality†. This involves offering equal opportunities to both men and women to participate in sport. The table below illustrates just how little coverage women†s sport receives in the media: The Times Daily Express Guardian Daily Telegraph Given the changing face of the international workforce, sports managers must now make ethical decisions regarding hiring in order to make the management of sport both more appealing and available to women. Although recent changes within sports leagues, such as professional women†s football has opened the doors to women – it is found that they rarely attain positions of power and wealth. It could still be argued that women have not been accepted into the industry, as the roles offered within it tend to be opposed to the typical ‘ideology of women†. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world with over 117 million players across 175 countries. There are now over 8 million women playing the game worldwide. It is no longer just a sport for men. Speed, agility and tenacity are among the most important factors for success in soccer. All of these are qualities that women have in abundance. And not only are women becoming more prominent as soccer players, they are also breaking the closed ranks of refereeing. In September, huge progress was made in the field of female refereeing when, for the first time in the world, control of a senior mens' match was placed entirely in the hands of women. Wendy Toms refereed a Nationwide Conference match with the assistance of Janie Framptom and Amy Raynor running the lines. Brendan Phillips, the manager of one of the teams involved commented after the match on how impressed he was with the quality of the officials. And it is perhaps worth pointing out at this point how rare it is for referees to be praised, especially by football managers! Other successful women in soccer include: Karen Brady – Birmingham City Managing Director Gaby Yorath – Football presenter and player On top of these advances made in soccer, a major step was recently taken in female boxing when, in America, a female fought against a male and won the fight. However, cynics might suggest that the fight was more of a publicity stunt than a fair contest. A newspaper report on this landmark contest can be found in Appendix I. Also in female boxing, Laila the 21-year-old daughter of the legendary Muhammad Ali recently entered the history books when she took part in a professional boxing bout. Again, a newspaper article on this event can be found in Appendix I. Stereotyping identifies a gender role at a very early age and can be traced back to the family – in particular, mother child relations. Bandura illustrates that young children acquire sex role behaviours through imitation, identification and observation of parents, teachers, media, personality and peers. Sex differences are reinforced through the pattern of childhood games for example, if a girl was given ‘Action Men† to play with, although they may play with them for some time, they will have a natural tendency to favour toys that will encourage their traditional female roles. The continued existence of toys such as ‘A La Carte Kitchen†, ‘Barbie and Ken† and ‘Cindy† simply reinforce the stereotype typically associated with women in the past is still present in a huge way. It has been suggested that society in general, and schools in particular, have led girls to lower their aspirations for no good reason. In primary school it is often found that the Physical Education lessons involved either no provision whatsoever for ‘girl orientated† sports (for instance Netball), or the girls were encouraged (or forced) to get involved in ‘male orientated† sports such as football or rounders. There was little provision for girls who didn†t wish to participate in these sports, with the best alternative being a skipping rope. Women aren†t encouraged to compete as speed, power and excitement are all games associated predominately with males. They see themselves as being suited to work which is of a different nature and less prestigious than that of their male counterparts. Part of the reason for the concentration on ‘male orientated† sports in schools, particularly primary schools, could be related to the fact that most sports teachers are male and so they have more interest in such sports and so are biased. In 1996 for example, the average number of women in athletic administrative structures was less than 1% per school . Ideals about suitable jobs for men and women have reflected prevailing notions of man and womanhood. Hence, familial ideology is one of the critical factors in exploring the deep seated and taken for granted nature of gender differentiation. In the past two decades there has been an uprise of women in positions that were previously dominated by men, and although women are now engaged in virtually every occupational category, few of them manage to reach the top. So, there is obviously a need to promote women in society and to encourage female leaders and emphasise the qualities that they can bring to the workforce and workplace. They need to be encouraged to aim for the top. However, the problem is that â€Å"whilst women are increasingly gaining entry to jobs demanding high levels of expertise, they are only rarely translating these into jobs with high levels of authority and organisational power† . High occupational achievement accompanied by a high salary has traditionally been reflected by the masculine role. The International Review of Employment conducted a study that revealed a huge discrepancy in the number of female directors in the UK. The UK has trailed behind the USA both in the number of female directors and in adapting corporate cultures to the presence of women executives at the top level. There are 140 female executive directors and 138 non-executives working in a total of 2349 listed British companies. Of these, just 22 women made it to the top positions of Chief Executive or Managing Director. And it is also interesting to note that women managers â€Å"earn on average only 65% of their male counterparts† earnings†. Refer to Appendix II for an interview conducted with a female Section Manager at Tesco Plc. The interview highlights some problems and issues that women managers face in today†s workplace. So why does this glass ceiling exist? One obvious answer lies in discrimination, which is both covert and overt in the persistence of male dominated or paternalistic corporate cultures. Together with this women have factors such as child bearing to adopt within their careers and macho workaholic cultures currently make it difficult for female executives to fit in time for their children and family. Another reason for the glass ceiling may be because women are constantly fighting against the many stereotypes that exist concerning every aspect of life and female roles within it. This list is by no means exhaustive but it illustrates some of the underlying issues. Instead of trying to break the ‘glass ceiling† perhaps women need to find their own personal windows through which they can climb. Because men and women are obviously different, it would be foolish to suggest that or to hope that men and women can be distributed in the labour force in exactly the same jobs, i.e. men are always going to be suited to some jobs better than women and vice versa. But, despite this, society can offer various solutions to the gender inequalities that exist. Advancing equal opportunities is never an easy task and history shows that simple solutions rarely work. The present generation has addressed sexual inequalities in a number of ways, for example, increased education and increased support for interest in the female labour market. Many believe that for major changes in gender roles to take place it would be wise to look at the potential intervention in education at a younger age. By doing this, many of the stereotypes that children grow up believing and adhering too could be banished before they become inbred within the individual. However, schooling is only one part of this education and society as a whole and in particular home life has to play a part in this ‘new† education. Although there are presently a number of changes in parenting and the workforce, as well as the sexual familial division of labour it is far from certain that such changes will, in the near future, be sufficient to alter present social roles or position in the hierarchy of gender so that young children will receive clear, delineated and understandable concepts of equalised gender roles. Almost 25 years after the foundation of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) it would be nice to say as the millennium approaches that things have changed significantly changed for the better. However, reality would suggest that although changes have taken place the extent of these has neither been fast moving or dramatic. Julie Mellor, Chair of the EOC believes that ‘there is still a huge amount of work to be done – we get lulled into a feeling of more significant change than is actually reality†. There is no doubt that there are still many obstacles that face women when trying to further their careers. It is now the job of organisations and society to build upon the foundations laid over the past 25 years by the EOC and Government legislation, such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. The balance is being redressed and it must be understood that such changes can†t and won†t take place overnight. Maybe one of the most important points when looking at the future and the ways forward can be summed in this quote by Judi Marshall: â€Å"Equality should not be contingent on sameness but should recognize and welcome differences and accord them equal social worth.† Using the Sports Industry as a Medium I am using the sports industry as a medium to illustrate how the scales of inequality are weighted in favour of males. In particular, we are looking at the ways in which women are breaking through the barriers into areas that could not have been envisaged fifty years ago. The sports industry is extremely diverse and is currently experiencing rapid growth and development. The industry†s profits run into billions each year. The business of sport has certainly not been immune or isolated from gender inequalities. Traditionally, professional sports management has been the exclusive realm of males. Sport is often regarded as one of societies most traditional male institutions. However, one of the most important phrases of the '90†³s† has been ‘gender inequality†. This involves offering equal opportunities to both men and women to participate in sport. The table below illustrates just how little coverage women†s sport receives in the media: The Times Daily Express Guardian Daily Telegraph Given the changing face of the international workforce, sports managers must now make ethical decisions regarding hiring in order to make the management of sport both more appealing and available to women. Although recent changes within sports leagues, such as professional women†s football has opened the doors to women – it is found that they rarely attain positions of power and wealth. It could still be argued that women have not been accepted into the industry, as the roles offered within it tend to be opposed to the typical ‘ideology of women†. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world with over 117 million players across 175 countries. There are now over 8 million women playing the game worldwide. It is no longer just a sport for men. Speed, agility and tenacity are among the most important factors for success in soccer. All of these are qualities that women have in abundance. And not only are women becoming more prominent as soccer players, they are also breaking the closed ranks of refereeing. In September, huge progress was made in the field of female refereeing when, for the first time in the world, control of a senior mens' match was placed entirely in the hands of women. Wendy Toms refereed a Nationwide Conference match with the assistance of Janie Framptom and Amy Raynor running the lines. Brendan Phillips, the manager of one of the teams involved commented after the match on how impressed he was with the quality of the officials. And it is perhaps worth pointing out at this point how rare it is for referees to be praised, especially by football managers! Other successful women in soccer include: Karen Brady – Birmingham City Managing Director Gaby Yorath – Football presenter and player On top of these advances made in soccer, a major step was recently taken in female boxing when, in America, a female fought against a male and won the fight. However, cynics might suggest that the fight was more of a publicity stunt than a fair contest. A newspaper report on this landmark contest can be found in Appendix I. Also in female boxing, Laila the 21-year-old daughter of the legendary Muhammad Ali recently entered the history books when she took part in a professional boxing bout. Again, a newspaper article on this event can be found in Appendix I. Stereotyping identifies a gender role at a very early age and can be traced back to the family – in particular, mother child relations. Bandura illustrates that young children acquire sex role behaviours through imitation, identification and observation of parents, teachers, media, personality and peers. Sex differences are reinforced through the pattern of childhood games for example, if a girl was given ‘Action Men† to play with, although they may play with them for some time, they will have a natural tendency to favour toys that will encourage their traditional female roles. The continued existence of toys such as ‘A La Carte Kitchen†, ‘Barbie and Ken† and ‘Cindy† simply reinforce the stereotype typically associated with women in the past is still present in a huge way. It has been suggested that society in general, and schools in particular, have led girls to lower their aspirations for no good reason. In primary school it is often found that the Physical Education lessons involved either no provision whatsoever for ‘girl orientated† sports (for instance Netball), or the girls were encouraged (or forced) to get involved in ‘male orientated† sports such as football or rounders. There was little provision for girls who didn†t wish to participate in these sports, with the best alternative being a skipping rope. Women aren†t encouraged to compete as speed, power and excitement are all games associated predominately with males. They see themselves as being suited to work which is of a different nature and less prestigious than that of their male counterparts. Part of the reason for the concentration on ‘male orientated† sports in schools, particularly primary schools, could be related to the fact that most sports teachers are male and so they have more interest in such sports and so are biased. In 1996 for example, the average number of women in athletic administrative structures was less than 1% per school . Ideals about suitable jobs for men and women have reflected prevailing notions of man and womanhood. Hence, familial ideology is one of the critical factors in exploring the deep seated and taken for granted nature of gender differentiation. In the past two decades there has been an uprise of women in positions that were previously dominated by men, and although women are now engaged in virtually every occupational category, few of them manage to reach the top. So, there is obviously a need to promote women in society and to encourage female leaders and emphasise the qualities that they can bring to the workforce and workplace. They need to be encouraged to aim for the top. However, the problem is that â€Å"whilst women are increasingly gaining entry to jobs demanding high levels of expertise, they are only rarely translating these into jobs with high levels of authority and organisational power† . High occupational achievement accompanied by a high salary has traditionally been reflected by the masculine role. The International Review of Employment conducted a study that revealed a huge discrepancy in the number of female directors in the UK. The UK has trailed behind the USA both in the number of female directors and in adapting corporate cultures to the presence of women executives at the top level. There are 140 female executive directors and 138 non-executives working in a total of 2349 listed British companies. Of these, just 22 women made it to the top positions of Chief Executive or Managing Director. And it is also interesting to note that women managers â€Å"earn on average only 65% of their male counterparts† earnings†. Refer to Appendix II for an interview conducted with a female Section Manager at Tesco Plc. The interview highlights some problems and issues that women managers face in today†s workplace. So why does this glass ceiling exist? One obvious answer lies in discrimination, which is both covert and overt in the persistence of male dominated or paternalistic corporate cultures. Together with this women have factors such as child bearing to adopt within their careers and macho workaholic cultures currently make it difficult for female executives to fit in time for their children and family. Another reason for the glass ceiling may be because women are constantly fighting against the many stereotypes that exist concerning every aspect of life and female roles within it. This list is by no means exhaustive but it illustrates some of the underlying issues. Instead of trying to break the ‘glass ceiling† perhaps women need to find their own personal windows through which they can climb. Because men and women are obviously different, it would be foolish to suggest that or to hope that men and women can be distributed in the labour force in exactly the same jobs, i.e. men are always going to be suited to some jobs better than women and vice versa. But, despite this, society can offer various solutions to the gender inequalities that exist. Advancing equal opportunities is never an easy task and history shows that simple solutions rarely work. The present generation has addressed sexual inequalities in a number of ways, for example, increased education and increased support for interest in the female labour market. Many believe that for major changes in gender roles to take place it would be wise to look at the potential intervention in education at a younger age. By doing this, many of the stereotypes that children grow up believing and adhering too could be banished before they become inbred within the individual. However, schooling is only one part of this education and society as a whole and in particular home life has to play a part in this ‘new† education. Although there are presently a number of changes in parenting and the workforce, as well as the sexual familial division of labour it is far from certain that such changes will, in the near future, be sufficient to alter present social roles or position in the hierarchy of gender so that young children will receive clear, delineated and understandable concepts of equalised gender roles. Almost 25 years after the foundation of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) it would be nice to say as the millennium approaches that things have changed significantly changed for the better. However, reality would suggest that although changes have taken place the extent of these has neither been fast moving or dramatic. Julie Mellor, Chair of the EOC believes that ‘there is still a huge amount of work to be done – we get lulled into a feeling of more significant change than is actually reality†. There is no doubt that there are still many obstacles that face women when trying to further their careers. It is now the job of organisations and society to build upon the foundations laid over the past 25 years by the EOC and Government legislation, such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. The balance is being redressed and it must be understood that such changes can†t and won†t take place overnight. Maybe one of the most important points when looking at the future and the ways forward can be summed in this quote by Judi Marshall: â€Å"Equality should not be contingent on sameness but should recognize and welcome differences and accord them equal social worth.†