1.5 Contextualizing the Study: Rural Women in Northern Ireland
It is important to note that rural women often develop a sense of self that is inseparable from the context in which they are located (Heather et al., 2005). Additionally, variations in the particularities surrounding the concept of ‘rural’ exist between and among rural spaces (Little and Austin, 1996). Therefore, although the women of rural Northern Ireland are not exceptions to the wider literature on women and rural women, it is fundamental to recognize the impossibility of generalizing rural women’s experiences to women from all communities (Jackson, 1993), and to bear in mind that women from Northern Ireland will have interpretations of experiences and ideologies which differ from those of rural women in other rural locations (Little and Austin, 1996). One of the most unique facets of Northern Ireland women’s experiences is that of the conflict which has been present in the region for many years and has served to heighten the role of women in the affected areas as nurturers and caretakers (Rural Women’s Networks, Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network, 2007).
In 2002 (p. 161), Shortall wrote: ‘the equality legislation that has emerged in Northern Ireland is far-reaching’, but that ‘the current face of agricultural and rural restructuring is not one that significantly advances gender equality.’ Much of this can be attributed to the hidden undervaluing of women’s representation that is present in Northern Ireland, as revealed in the lack of statistical information surrounding women’s issues and the under-representation of women on rural development organization’s management boards (Shortall, 2002). The following year, in her report on women in rural areas of Northern Ireland, she noted several specific issues facing rural women in Northern Ireland (each of which resonates clearly with broader literature): lack of adequate childcare, transportation difficulties, restricted job opportunities and limited access to training (Shortall, 2003). More recently, a 2007 regional report noted the continued existence of inequalities ‘around labour market participation and pay, family and caring responsibilities, health needs, lack of representation at a political and decision making level, access transport, and violence in the home’ (Rural Women’s Networks, Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network, 2007).
Seeking to address these issues locally are six major Rural Women’s Networks (Fermanagh, Mid-Ulster, Omagh, Newry and Mourne, Roe Valley, and South Armagh) and one umbrella organization (Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network, or NIRWN). These groups are led by women and are for women (Crawley, 2005). They are often supported by, and work in conjunction with, the Women’s Resource and Development Agency (WRDA) and Rural Community Network (RCN). In response to the above-mentioned issues, these groups and networks have, for many years, attempted to provide accessible childcare and training, but have continually met with difficulties in obtaining long-term funding and finding appropriate facilities and trained staff (Shortall, 2003). This can, in part, be attributed to a shuffling of responsibility for these organizations between the women’s sector and the rural development sector, resulting in a lack of funding from both (Crawley, 2005). Thus, they have also experienced a change in focus from general development to specific projects (Rural Women’s Networks, Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network, 2007). With the 2006 formation of NIRWN by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD – a government agency), an attempt has been made to fit the previously existing networks under an umbrella organization as a means of coordinating their efforts. While this effort has met with mixed reviews (including questions regarding the motives for NIRWN’s inception), rural women’s networks continue to remain an active and essential part of rural life in Northern Ireland.
The six Rural Women’s Networks and NIRWN responded to the European Union Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (Peace III) 2007–2013 plan by calling for a focus on building equality between women and men in three areas related to leadership, the facilitation of which should include provision for appropriate childcare and transportation assistance: participation in political and decision-making bodies, skills development, and giving women confidence to speak out regarding their political opinions (Rural Women’s Networks, Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network, 2007). Similarly, DARD’s 2007–2013 rural strategy promotes the building of leadership skills as ‘a central pillar in the regeneration of rural areas’ (Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2006).
Summary: Intersection of this Study with Broader Literature and Research
In a 2005 article on the relevance of rural sociology, Beaulieu listed leadership development as one of the areas of inquiry that should be addressed in order to assure that rural sociology remains relevant to the fluctuating social make-up of the rural community. This provides an intersection for this research and the broader research on women in leadership and organizations. While there are authors who have ventured into the world of women in leadership, only a very few (see especially Alston, 2003; Pini, 2003b, 2004a, 2005) have concentrated their writings on rural women. This is particularly true in rural Northern Ireland (Crawley, 2005). There is a markedly noticeable gap in the literature regarding factors that positively influence rural women’s leadership development. It is possible that this is the result of a conceptualizing of the rural community as a place where change may take place, but is not created (Bell et al., 2010). This work seeks to bring feminist sociology out of what Rosenberg and Howard (2008) have termed ‘ghettoized spaces’ (i.e. areas of sociological inquiry saturated by feminist work, to the exclusion of other areas) both by its identification of positive factors (in the form of people, events, organizations, thought processes and choices) that have helped to foster and promote women’s development of leadership skills and attainment of leadership roles; and through its focus on rural women in leadership.
2
Introducing the Methodology and Participants
Introduction
Because the methodology utilized in this study – particularly in the analysis of data – contributed in a unique way to the development of the study’s results, the purpose of this chapter is to familiarize the reader with the methods used. A brief discussion of the rationale for choosing a feminist approach to the study is presented first. The research design, aims and objectives then precede individual sections on the data-gathering methods and the use of reflexivity. The method of analysis used to examine the data is addressed in detail, followed by profiles of the study’s participants.
2.1 Feminism and Methodology
2.1.1 Why feminism?
Choice of method entails powerful, unavoidable consequences as related to the production of knowledge (Walby, 2001). Since – to many researchers – social science research is a social interaction which cannot be separated from its context (Lal, 1996), questions of knowledge production have been connected to calls for methodological choices to be made with a keen awareness of the study’s social, political and historical setting (Stack, 1996). The challenges of these settings represent issues being faced by the entire social research community (Ramazanoglu and Holland, 2002). However, Letherby (2004) goes so far as to centralize within feminist research the choice of appropriate method in combination with implications of power relations between researcher and participant.
Bochner (2001, p. 135) asserts that, with regard to ‘realms of lived experience’ housing the production of knowledge, academia is merely one among many. One of the key ways feminism addresses power relations in knowledge production is through the recognition of women’s experiences as a ‘legitimate form and source of knowledge’ (Pini,
