No abstract

No abstract

As mothers labor force participation rate increases dramatically over the past few decades, so is the discussion of their work-family dilemma. It has brought to our attention that the media tend to oversimplify this dilemma and individualize it as an individual problem of women. Using the French film Plein Temps (Full Time) as an entry point, this study analyzes the work-family dilemma faced by working mothers in modern European society from the perspectives of structural discrimination and restrictive gender stereotypes, dissects discrimination in the workplace context and the patriarchal gaze behind these phenomena, and concludes with more open-ended and practical initiatives. Combining the empirical and theological analysis, this study is able to explore the root causes of the widespread problem of work-family dilemma. Our findings support the existence of workplace discrimination and pre-determined negative gender stereotypes against working mothers. We argue that mothers work-family dilemma reflects the structural sexism in todays society.

Although motivational variables have been extensively examined in the context of English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL), they have received little attention when learning Chinese as a second language (CSL), especially among elementary school students in lower grades. Considering the significant impact of psychological variables on language learning and the dilemma of Chinese reading for non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students from Hong Kong, this study examined the structural relationship between the ideal L2 self and intrinsic motivation, as well as their impacts on the learning engagement and reading performance of 475 Hong Kong first-grade NCS students. Two findings were noteworthy: (1) under the simultaneous consideration of the above-mentioned variables, intrinsic motivation affects learning engagement and Chinese reading performance more than the ideal self; (2) the indirect effects of intrinsic motivation on reading performance through learning engagement are more significant than its direct effect on reading performance. The implications of the findings are discussed.