Livelihood occupations of women with disabilities in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe : a case of occupational injustice?
Date
2023-03
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
ENGLISH SUMMARY: Introduction: Globally, persons with disability are faced with unemployment and reduced income opportunities, with an outlook that is worse for women. Barriers to employment tend to be severe for women with disabilities who occupy marginalised positions in labour markets. ‘Livelihood occupations’ are conceptualised for this research to denote everyday activities, including those that are non-sanctioned, that are done for subsistence and survival, and to broaden presentations of activities normally termed ‘work’, ‘employment’, ‘job’ or ‘productivity’ that people do for monetary and non-monetary gain. Livelihood occupations of women with disability and the experiential features thereof, are not well understood
Methodology: In this dissertation, an analysis of experiences in livelihood occupational engagement for livelihoods is done using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Firstly, a scoping review was done to map literature on experiences of livelihood occupations for women with disability. The framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley, and PRISMA extension for scoping reviews guidelines were utilized to guide the five-stage scoping review. Data from selected sources were further synthesized using deductive qualitative content analysis to fit experiential components into equity categories determined a-priori from the Equitable Total Rewards model. The equity perspective was applied to explore how experiences connote equity or lack thereof. Secondly, purposive sampling was used to select twelve participants. Nine participants were recruited from two disability organizations and three were approached individually and directly to diversify participants’ range of experiences. Twelve semi structured interviews were conducted, audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using an interpretative phenomenological approach. To ensure trustworthiness, consistent and iterative meetings to discuss data collection and analysis were done between the researcher and supervisors. Findings: From the scoping review, fifteen sources, mainly from high income countries, were identified. Aspects of benefit and career inequity were largely evident in the experiences of the women across all sources. From the interpretative phenomenological analysis, five superordinate themes were identified. Theme 1: ‘Framing livelihood occupations’ was foundational to the four experiential themes; Theme 2: ‘Disability is always present’; Theme 3: ‘We are not in it alone’; Theme 4: ’Livelihood is part of a larger context’ and Theme 5: ‘It’s more than just engagement’. These findings are then situated into a broader theoretical framework comprised of Occupational Injustice Framework, Bourdieu’s ‘habitus, capital and field’ theory, and Sen’s Capability Approach. Conclusions: The scoping review revealed that there is considerable lack of research on experiences in livelihood occupations in low income contexts calling for further research. Women with disability reported experiencing inability to realize career goals and occupational choice. Participants’ experiences show that the women with disability have great resilience, initiative, personal causation, and volition. Intrapersonal resources, such as resilience and will, were drawn on to dispel perceptions of women with disabilities as unable, passive, and dependent. Extra-personal factors, such as relationships, COVID19, policies, opportunities, stigma, and discrimination, were influential in shaping experiential facets of livelihood occupational engagement. Occupational therapists can benefit from an understanding of experiential features of occupational engagement for livelihoods to incorporate community participation for women with disability.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar.
Description
Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2023.