Browsing by Subject "Phenomenology"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Open Access
    Academic librarian's transition to blended librarianship: a phenomenology of selected academic librarians in Zimbabwe
    (2019-05-13) Dabengwa, Israel Mbekezeli; Raju, Jaya; Matingwina, Thomas
    This paper explores the shared experiences of practices of blended librarianship among Zimbabwean academic librarians to identify how adequately they comply with their dynamic roles and functions. The paper relies on the theoretical constructs from Bell and Shank's (2004, 2007) blended librarianship and Lave and Wenger's (1991) Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP) to understand how Zimbabwean academic librarians practice blended librarianship in the workplace through engagement in legitimate work tasks. The investigators used phenomenology to explore academic librarians' experiences of blended librarianship. They selected a sample of 101 academic librarians and delivered a semi-structured questionnaire to the sample, conducted document research and interviewed key informants from the sample. The researchers collected data from the Bindura University of Science Education, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Lupane State University, Midlands State University, the National University of Science and Technology, and PHSBL80 Library which chose to be undisclosed. Each institution adopted blended librarianship in its way. Four (4) different categories of blended librarianship emerged from the experiences; that is “transcending blended librarians”, “partially blended librarians”, “intermittent blended librarians” and “aspiring blended librarians”, displaying each institution's level of instructional technology and instructional design roles. The study proposes that the “Academic librarian's transition to blended librarianship” two-by-two matrix that developed was in this inquiry needs further refinement. Further enquiries may test the matrix within the same sites or other locales altogether to corroborate if the results are replicable.
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    Heidegger's Hermeneutic Phenomenology and the Application to Ghanaian Women's Experiences of Unsuccessful Invitro Fertilisation (IVF) Treatment
    (2020) Amoah, Vida Maame Kissiwaa; Fouché, Nicola
    Ghanaian women experiencing infertility problem, have been seeking invitro fertilisation treatment in the quest for motherhood, however there is a dearth in the nursing studies researching this phenomenon. It appears that the concept and meanings of infertility is inadequately explored from the perspective of women experiences following unsuccessful invitro fertilisation treatment. In particular, it is vital to be knowledgeable about the challenges women encounter when undergoing IVF treatment and following unsuccessful procedure. The study sought to gain a deeper knowledge and to understand the meanings women struggling with infertility and its treatment experience and how invitro fertilisation treatment failure affects women in their everyday life. To unearth the women perception and meaning attributed to their experiences of unsuccessful infertility treatment, Heidegger's philosophy of phenomenology underpinned this study. A semistructured opening question and further probing questions were used to gather information which was reduced to sub-themes and main themes which captured the participant's lived experiences of unsuccessful invitro fertilisation treatment. I adopted van Manen's (1990) six steps of research activities as a structure to unravel the participants' phenomenological conversations. Applying Heidegger's concept of the three modes of existence (Existenze): authenticity, inauthenticity and undifferentiatedness, four major themes were identified: 1. Seeking wholistic and authentic care- authenticity 2. Facing up to the Angst- inauthenticity 3. The vulnerable self - inauthenticity 4. Living with infertility (being-in-the-world-of-motherless) - undifferentiatedness The participants' phenomenological conversations and their stories have revealed a range of challenges Ghanaian women who seek invitro fertilisation treatment go through. The study contribute significantly by giving insight to the painful experiences Ghanaian women go through when seeking invitro fertilisation treatment and has given a voice to how assisted reproductive technologies are currently experienced in the Ghanaian context. From the women's narrative, it appeared that their emotional and informational needs were not being met and were not being cared for as expected. The findings provide some direction regarding the needs of women experiencing infertility for information, support and advocacy in their pursuit of assisted reproductive technology services in Ghana. There is a critical need to simplify invitro fertilisation treatment and provision of safe, affordable procedure so that the average Ghanaian women can access it.
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    Invisible labour: the role of institutionalised Xenophobia in shaping the experiences of migrant domestic workers in South Africa
    (2025) Fuman, Melay Asanda; Maluleke, Gavaza
    Background: Physiotherapy remains a female dominated profession, yet in certain professional spheres female physiotherapists are underrepresented. This is particularly evident in men's professional sport. Despite efforts to promote inclusivity and diversity in various professional men's sports, females in coaching, leadership and support roles remain underrepresented and continue to face significant challenges. While World Rugby, has put policies and development plans in place to address gender inequality, this does not necessarily extend to support staff, like physiotherapists. Lavoi's (2016) socio-ecological model has previously been used to explore the multidimensional barriers that affect the lived experiences of female coaches working in men's sports. However, the experiences of physiotherapists, faced with similar gender challenges, has not been explored. Purpose: This study aimed to identify the challenges and barriers of female physiotherapists working in professional men's rugby union. Guided by the socio-ecological model, it examined the individual, interpersonal, organisational, and sociocultural barriers, and challenges encountered by these therapists, and the facilitators or supports that have made female physiotherapists stay and develop in professional men's rugby union. Methods: A phenomenological qualitative study was undertaken utilising semi-structured interviews. Purposeful criterion sampling was used to identify potential participants who met the inclusion criteria. Participants were recruited through a professional acquaintance of the researcher who is associated with professional men's rugby union. The professional acquaintance was requested to circulate recruitment information to individuals who they identified as prospective participants, who then contacted the researcher. Semi-structured interviews were conducted via Microsoft Teams and transcribed for analysis. A stepwise inductive-deductive thematic analysis was performed to generate an initial list of codes aligned to the four levels of Lavoi's (2016) socio-ecological model. The codes were organised into subthemes by identifying patterns in the coded data and continuously reviewed to identify emerging deductive themes based on the model. Results: Participants included 12 physiotherapists, working globally in professional men's rugby for an average of 5.3 years. The thematic analysis identified 18 higher order themes, categorising them as either barriers or supports. The greatest barriers emerged in the societal and organisational dimensions, while the individual dimension provided the most supporting factors. As individuals, physiotherapists noted significant personal sacrifices which affected their work-life balance and negatively impacted on personal relationships. However, their job rewarded them and provided satisfaction particularly linked to returning athletes to play. At an interpersonal level, participants had a supportive and respectful relationship with the athletes but identified a lack of female role models in rugby union. Organisationally, participants faced significant challenges describing inadequate policies, particularly around maternity leave and family obligations. They were often overlooked and dismissed for better roles. At the societal level, barriers emerged relating to traditional gender roles, gender power dynamics, and gender stereotypes within their teams. Conclusion: Despite policies promoting gender equity in professional men's rugby structures, female physiotherapists working in these environments continue to face gender-related challenges which hinder their representation and career progression. This often forces them into leaving these roles. The findings underscore the importance of implementing and enforcing policy frameworks aimed at increasing female representation and breaking down gendered structures within rugby organisations. At the club level, offering mentorship programs, career progression pathways, and flexible work-life balance options can support female physiotherapists professional growth and retention. Promoting transparency in recruitment processes and increasing the visibility of females in these roles can not only normalise their presence but also inspire greater female representation in the field. Implications: Sporting codes need to improve their structures and policies to better support and retain female physiotherapists, therefore negating the masculine norm within certain sporting disciplines. Female physiotherapists are as capable as their male counterparts of fulfilling these roles and should be presented with equal opportunities to do so.
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    The Embodied needs of Women in the Workplace: An Exploratory study
    (2021) Chimhandamba, Nyasha Aura; Swart-Opperman, Christina
    Women and men face differences in how they experience the work environment concerning health and safety and their needs within the workspace. Depending on age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, women and men face different stigmas, thus impacting their difficulties within their work environments. Owing to this knowledge, the purpose of this research was to explore this difference in the workplace and understand how women experience the workplace differently. Specifically, from a perspective of embodiment and the needs, women are often inclined to have as a result of biology in the workplace. This insightful study explored the personalisation of embodiment by examining the diversified understanding of embodied needs of women that existed within different levels of an organisational hierarchy and had varied roles that required different levels of skills, manual labour, and knowledge. Using qualitative interviews and a phenomenological approach, the realities of these women with different embodied needs, and embodied stages were explored. The central insight being that while women may suffer the same injustices in the workplace and share the same biology, their embodied needs and experience still vary and cannot be painted with the same brush. Through this qualitative insight, key themes such as pregnancy and maternal needs, workplace accommodations, women clinic services and women workplace accommodations were identified as components of the female embodied needs. This exploratory study brought light to this understanding by exploring the varied experience of 12 participants.