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    Education, development scholarships and women's empowerment : exploring the impacts of the Vietnam Education Foundation Fellowship : a research report presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master's in International Development at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2017) Bui, Hanh Thanh
    The research project explores the impacts that international development scholarship programmes have had on women’s empowerment in Vietnam drawing on a case study of the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF) Fellowship Programme and its female Fellows. Evaluations of such scholarship schemes are often limited to quantitative assessments of the number of graduates, degrees obtained or professional promotions after graduation. While education is understood as being a significant means for women’s empowerment, an understanding of how these education scholarship programmes have impacted on women’s empowerment is still under-studied, especially in the context of Vietnam. This research provides an in-depth qualitative exploration of the experiences of five female VEF Fellows who pursued Master’s or Ph.D. degree programmes in the STEM fields in the U.S. and have now returned to work in Vietnam. The research findings have shown that while the VEF Fellowship has had mostly positive impacts on women’s empowerment, it also resulted in some challenges for the women once back in Vietnam. In terms of the positive impacts, participants of the research reported they have now become self-confident and independent women. They have more self-respect and also gain respect from others. While previously, their decisions were influenced by others, now they make decisions in line with their own wishes. They are also able to access more career opportunities and enlarge their networks. In return, these VEF Fellows have exercised their expertise and positive attributes to support others within their family, their workplace, the community and the country at large. This transformation is a manifestation of the women’s empowerment. Nonetheless, taking on the study opportunity also created some negative outcomes influencing women’s empowerment to some extent. When coming back, these VEF Fellows have encountered “reverse culture shock”, the feeling of loss and disorientation, negative reactions from family and friends for their being allegedly “Westernized”, and personal dissatisfaction with the Vietnamese working style, services, and infrastructure. They also have to deal with gender discrimination including problematic stereotypes of females in the STEM fields. Taking on the scholarships also brought about unexpected influences on these women’s personal and love life. However, overall these Fellows did not regret the decision they had made to pursue higher education in the U.S. More importantly they took action to tackle any challenges and confirm their position in the workplace and in the society. All participants of the research felt that the positive changes outweighed the challenges. The research findings prove that women’s empowerment might be achieved through education scholarships as part of development aid schemes. Development scholarships are not only ii a means to enhance people’s expertise in specific professional fields but from a gender perspective they are effective tools to promote and sustain the position of women participants. More importantly, the awards granted to women have compelling impacts on transforming not only the women recipients themselves but also other women and the wider community. Research findings also indicate that besides access to a more advanced education, living in a more developed and less patriarchal country and interacting with people coming from diverse backgrounds and cultures, also contributes to the empowerment process of these women. At the same time, the research suggests that scholarship programmes should pay more attention to supporting women participants when they return to their home country.
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    Successful ageing : a critical analysis : a dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Sociology, Social Policy, and Social Work at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2006) Holmes, Jeanne
    The demographics and implications of the growth of the world's population of older people have been well publicised. Frequently, this is linked to concerns about growing demands for social services. In liberal western nations, this rise in the proportion of elderly people is occurring at a period in history when governments are attempting to contain state spending on health care and welfare. Within this context, the gerontological concept of 'successful ageing', which encourages productivity and self-reliance among older people, has emerged. The term 'successful ageing' was coined by R. J. Havighurst in 196l and developed by Rowe and Kahn into a gerontological concept in 1998. Rowe and Kahn's search to identify the factors "that conspire to put one octogenarian on cross-country skis and another in a wheelchair" led them to put forward the view that 'successfully aged' old people are those who remain healthy and socially engaged. The concept of successful aging is widely regarded as promoting well-being in old age. As a result, it has become highly influential in the fields of nursing, social work, and social care. However, the concept has also attracted criticism, mainly for praising the fortunate and privileged elders who have managed to prolong healthy middle age; whilst labelling unwell, disabled, and lonely old people as unsuccessful. In this thesis, my central criticism of the concept of successful ageing is that its definition of 'success' in old age is not based on the views and real life experiences of older people, but instead, on the expertise of scientists and researchers, many of whom have yet to experience the decline and losses normally associated with old age. Consequently, there is a significant difference between the concept of successful ageing and a proportion of elderly people regarding the requirements for the best possible old age. The purpose of this study is to discover the factors which a diverse group of old people regard as essential to optimal old age. It compares and contrasts their self-assessed components of well-being with the externally assessed components of 'successful aging'. The process involved in-depth research with thirty elderly people in New Zealand and the United States. The majority were women. Several ethnic groups were represented. Participants included First Nations people, first generation immigrants, and the descendants of European settlers. Although it was not intentional, my entire sample consisted of people who would have been defined as unsuccessfully aged by the 'successful ageing' paradigm. Yet these people showed resilience, resourcefulness, and often, great satisfaction with their lives. This research demonstrates that there is an incomplete fit between the factors, which older people say produce the best possible old age, and those promoted by the concept of successful ageing. It concludes that in order to promote optimum well-being among older people, it is necessary to take note of the experiences, views, and values of elders themselves.
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    The politics of development aid : the allocation and delivery of aid from the United States of America to Pakistan : a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2012) Ali, Murad
    This thesis investigates two aspects of the United States of America (USA) foreign aid to Pakistan: allocation and delivery. Regarding the former, the study explores the principal determinants of USA foreign aid to Pakistan during three distinct periods: the Cold War, the post-Cold War of the 1990s and the =war on terror‘ since 2001. In order to have a comprehensive, in-depth and balanced analysis of the primary motivations behind the USA aid disbursement to Pakistan, the study also examines the provision of USA aid to other important USA allies including Egypt, Israel and Turkey. The focus has been to explore to what extent USA foreign aid policies are driven by USA geo-strategic ambitions, and to what extent widely espoused international principles such as poverty reduction as well as democracy and respect for human rights determine USA aid allocations. This research has found that the USA aid regime, both historical as well as contemporary, has largely been motivated and sustained by USA geo-strategic, security and political goals. In the context of USA aid to Pakistan, the thesis finds that the contemporary USA-Pakistan alliance in the =war on terror‘ has striking similarities with the Cold War period. Then, the primary objective of USA aid to Pakistan was anti-communism; now it is anti-terrorism. In relation to the second aspect of the study, the thesis examines the delivery and utilization of USA aid in Pakistan within the 2005 Paris Declaration (PD) framework that contains five interrelated principles aimed at enhancing ownership, alignment, harmonisation, management for development results and mutual accountability between donors and partner countries. Both Pakistan and the USA are signatories to the PD; hence the respective roles of different ministries and departments of the Government of Pakistan (GoP) and the role of Unites States Agency for International Development (USAID) are examined in USA-funded projects. The aim is to investigate to what extent the PD commitments are being implemented in actual practices during the selection, design and execution of development projects. The study has found that there are issues from both the GoP and USAID ends that hinder the actual implementation of the PD commitments. On the part of the former, lack of institutional capacity and corruption are the key challenges. Concerning the latter, USAID still does not delegate authority to GoP institutions to design and implement projects and instead comes up with its own plans and executes these through its international partners working as substitutes for GoP institutions. As a result, almost half of the aid is being consumed by USAID‘s international contractors on the management and administration of USA-funded projects. Furthermore, most aid is being spent on activities which do not address the actual problems of the targeted population. The thesis contributes to the body of knowledge concerning the allocation and delivery of aid from =rich‘ to =poor‘ countries. Its two-fold contribution is, first, it has uncovered the primary determinants of the historical as well as contemporary USA aid provision to Pakistan. Second, it is one of the very few in-depth studies that has looked into the implementation of the PD principles at the country level and has uncovered the constraints responsible for the lack of progress towards achieving the PD partnership commitments in the context of USA aid to Pakistan.