Women ageing solo in Ireland: An exploratory study of women’s perspectives on relationship status and future care needs

This study explores the impact of relationship status for women in Ireland who are ageing ‘solo’ and their perspectives on relationship status and their future care needs. Solo women were defined as those over 55 years who identify with long-term, non-partnered relationship status and have not had children. In-depth qualitative interviews with 10 women were used to gather data on how participants responded to their solo status. Voice-relational method was used to analyse the data and we report on three themes relating to social work. Firstly, participants experienced social stigma related to their status as solo women; secondly, their resistance and resilience in response and thirdly, the anticipated challenges and experiences of solo ageing in relation to meeting their care and support needs. Whilst conducted in Ireland, further research in this area is important to identify how social policy is inclusive for marginalised populations in ageing in similar contexts. Our findings suggest the need for increased professional awareness of women ageing solo when undertaking assessment and designing women’s person-centred support.

Academic pipeline for scientists with disabilities

The business model for organizational diversity states that “diverse” organizations have a competitive advantage over non-“diverse organizations. These advantages arise from increased creativity,1 problem solving,2,3 decision making,4 and overall quality of results,5 among other observed outcomes. Within academia, increasing diversity benefits performance and persistence of students by reducing the deleterious effects of solo status (being the only representative of a social group)/tokenism (member of a minority social group in a given organization) and stereotype threat.

The Lone Instrument

Given the extensive instrumental resources afforded by an orchestra, why would a composer elect to feature a single solo instrument? In this study we explore one possible use of solos—that of conveying or enhancing a sad affect. Orchestral passages were identified from an existing collection and categorized as solos or non-solos. Independently, the passages were characterized on seven other features previously linked to sad affect, including mode, tempo, dynamics, articulation, rhythmic smoothness, relative pitch height, and pitch range. Using the first four factors, passages were classified into nine previously defined expressive categories. Passages containing acoustic features associated with the “sad/relaxed” expressive category were twice as likely to employ solo texture. Moreover, a regression model incorporating all factors significantly predicted solo status. However, only two factors (legato articulation, quiet dynamics) were significant individual predictors. Finally, with the notable exception of string instruments, we found a strong correlation (ρ = .88) between the likelihood that a solo is assigned to a given instrument and an independent scale of the capacity of that instrument for expressing sadness. Although solo instrumentation undoubtedly serves many other functions, these results are consistent with a significant though moderate association between sadness-related acoustic features and solo textures.

Reflections for the Future

This chapter considers the careers of women more generally, not just of those in the computer game industry. The chapter considers ways forward and how the workplace can be improved to help women’s careers. This includes identifying career factors and considering a number of psychological constructs, such as stereotypes and solo status. It considers the position of women in senior management and leadership positions, explores how women are disadvantaged in the workforce, and provides the reader with an understanding of the issue of time and how this impacts the careers of women due to the long hours culture associates with many careers, especially male-dominated careers. Finally, the chapter looks at how organisational practices can support women in the workforce.