Academic and Career Development of Undocumented College Students: The American Dream?

Little is known about the academic and career decision‐making process for college students with undocumented status. This study used a multiple case study approach to explore how academic and work‐related decisions were made for 2 college students with undocumented citizenship status. Participants responded to a series of questions about their academic and career development. Data collected from these interviews were analyzed by a research team. After cross‐case analysis, 6 themes emerged: (a) barriers; (b) emotional impact; (c) resiliency, supports, and coping; (d) discrimination; (e) familial and cultural influences; and (f) academic, work, and career factors. Findings suggest that counseling professionals should attend to systemic, academic, and work‐related barriers that directly affect the educational and career decisions of students with undocumented citizenship status. Future research could expand on the present study by further exploring systemic and contextual factors that influence how undocumented students make academic and career choices using varied qualitative and quantitative methodologies.     

Applying Image Norms Across Super's Career Development Stages

D. E. Super's (1957) theory of career development has long been of interest to careers researchers (M. Savickas, 1994; S. C. Whiston & B. K. Brecheisen, 2002). Its insightful illustration of career stages has made it widely applied by careers practitioners. Image norms may influence the career decisions and developmental tasks inherent in each stage. An image norm is the belief that individuals must present or possess a certain image, consistent with occupational, organizational, or industry standards, in order to achieve career success. Understanding the effects of image norms across D. E. Super's (1957) career stages has important implications for individuals, organizations, and career counseling professionals.     

Career choice in the context of political conflict: the case of Palestinians social workers in Israel

The helping professions in general and social work in particular pose particular challenges and opportunities for national minority group members. This article adds to the present knowledge in the literature concerning the interaction between career choice in the welfare professions and minority status, by looking at the voices of Palestinian Israeli social workers. The article is based on data gathered through in-depth interviews with 32 Palestinian Israeli social workers, describes the motivations, the process of choosing social work as a profession and the barriers that Palestinian Israeli professionals face in the context of the political, social and economic factors shaping their lives as belonging to a national minority in Israel.     

Rebooting and Rerouting: Women's Articulations of Frayed Careers in Science,Engineering and Technology Professions

This paper expands on previous work about women's non‐linear and frayed careers by examining the experiences of women who have attempted to return to science, engineering and technology (SET) professions in the UK and Republic of Ireland after taking a career break. These women potentially offer an important perspective on gender and career, because of the deep‐rooted, gendered associations of science and technology with masculinity. Drawing on qualitative interviews with women SET professionals, the paper identifies three narratives — Rebooting, Rerouting and Retreating — which women use to talk about their careers. Some of these women present themselves as career changers, having often made compromises and trade‐offs, while others, who have returned to their substantive professions, focus on continuity in their career narratives. The precarious nature of their careers is also apparent and in some cases leads to opting out or retreating. The paper concludes by exploring how women's scientist and technical identities persist, even among those who had not returned to work, and are drawn on in narratives of return and career change.     

Hard Jobs and Good Ambition: U.S. Army Generals and the Rhetoric of Modesty

This article examines the accounts given by U.S. Army general officers explaining their success. Based on interviews with sixty‐two generals, I describe the ways in which these officers—whose profession renounces careerism and self‐aggrandizement—fashion explanations of their success (and the success of their colleagues) as being due to selfless service. Even as they have reached the zenith of success in their field, these men and women are not free to admit to personal ambition or to a desire for promotion. Their accounts of their success emphasize their good fortune, hard work, and love of the service. Eschewing personal ambition, they cite as their primary responsibility the well‐being of the soldiers under their command. When asked directly about their extraordinarily successful careers, they almost uniformly acknowledge their willingness to accept the “hard jobs” the organization has asked them to assume. When asked about ambition, they routinely distinguish between good and bad ambition, a distinction that aligns almost perfectly with that between unit and self. Although they are warriors, specialists in the art of war, this is a group that is also practiced in modesty. I think I've had good ambition. (Division Commander, Interview #53)     

Messages to Social Work Education: What Makes Social Workers Continue and Cope in Child Welfare?

This article examines the positive elements which make social workers continue their career with a focus on statutory child welfare. Such analysis is needed, as existing research tends to highlight stress, exhaustion and career break-up issues. The empirical data consist of focus groups of 28 social workers and a questionnaire addressed to 56 professionals in child welfare in two Finnish urban municipalities. The focus groups were targeted at novice, expert and veteran social workers. The analysis presents organisational, person-related and client-work-related positive elements from the point of view of social workers. The results highlight that social work in child welfare may be experienced as being rewarding and professionally challenging. The positive elements vary among novice, expert and veteran social workers, with the latter especially viewing their work as independent expert work with major opportunities to make a change in children's lives. Commitment to care of children is one of the key motivating factors. The study suggests that social work education should recognise that the subjective motivation to do social work may change during one's career and that social work may be simultaneously both stressful and rewarding. Students should learn how to balance these aspects of their work.     

Does Gender Still Matter? A Study of the Views of Women in the ICT Industry in New Zealand

Using data from in‐depth interviews with female information and communication technology (ICT) professionals from New Zealand's four main cities, this article uses a social constructivist framework to investigate the women's perceptions of their ICT work place. The results show that there are regional differences in organization type, job category and salaries, as well as in the perceptions of the women towards their environment. Most women did not actively seek to be employed in ICT — rather their entry was serendipitous. While they enjoyed working in the environment, there was an obvious gendering of the workforce with most technical positions being held by men and women working mainly in the softer side of ICT. The women perceived their gendered roles to be a highly important and an integral part of ICT and believed their salaries were equitable with their male colleagues. Having a greater understanding of how women view their ICT work place will contribute to attracting and retaining them in an industry where a shortage of skills is envisaged in the near future.     

Preferences,constraints or schemas of devotion? Exploring Norwegian mothers' withdrawals from high‐commitment careers1

Despite decades of focus on gender equality and work–family balance, parenthood still affects mothers' and fathers' careers differently. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with Norwegian mothers who are relinquishing high‐commitment careers of law and consultancy, this paper questions the adequacy of established explanations emphasizing constraints vs. individual preferences. Our sample of female professionals living in a well‐developed welfare state is particularly apt to explore the processes and mechanisms upholding the statistically gendered pattern of women reducing their work commitment after childbirth. These doubly privileged mothers might be considered to have the best odds for combining career and work commitment with motherhood. Thus, we argue that the approach emphasizing practical constraints does not sufficiently account for the withdrawal from high‐commitment careers among these female professionals. Nevertheless, we are not content with the claim of Preference Theory that this shift in commitment is merely a matter of ‘not‐so‐dedicated’ women discovering their ‘genuine’ preferences. Rather, in order to understand why and how this shift occurs, we explore the culturally constructed rationalities and schemas of both work and family devotions. We specifically examine the circumstances, mechanisms and steps in a seemingly individual process of making the shift in commitment from a promising career to a family‐friendly job. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates how generous parental leave arrangements designed to enhance gender equality and work–family balance by simply reducing practical constraints may have limited – or even counterproductive – impact within high‐commitment occupations where the ‘irreplaceability’ of workers is taken for granted. Our findings indicate that unless the culturally (re)produced discourses, demands and expectations of both work and family are exposed and challenged, even intentionally gender neutral work–family policies will continue to facilitate mothers' career withdrawals, expressed as modified individual preferences.     

Longitudinal Relationships Between Part-Time Work and Career Development in Adolescents

In discussions about the effects of part-time work on adolescents, career development processes have received little attention. This study examined relationships between part-time work and two components of career development (work values and career indecision) in 483 high school students. Comparisons of longitudinal and cross-sectional data revealed that peripheral work aspects were less valued as a consequence of being involved in part-time work; thus, the relative value placed on central work aspects increased. However, part-time work did not affect career indecision. The decision of whether to work seemed unrelated to the preexisting career development status, except for the value placed on physical activity in boys.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of infant mental health enhanced case management for dependency populations

Children who are receiving services for abuse and neglect are likely to have reduced developmental levels and are less prepared for success in school as a result. The progress of 144 children receiving services from The Children's Home Society of Florida was tracked with half being randomly assigned to a control group and half to an experimental group receiving enhanced infant mental health oriented case management services from two social work professionals in each of two locations in Tallahassee and West Palm Beach Florida. Those receiving enhanced case management showed significantly higher results in the following areas: more visits with their parents (for those removed from the family home), more service referrals, more completed assessments for services, more services based on the assessments they received, and more success in completing goals of treatment for which they were referred. Their parents had more contact with professionals to whom they were referred and had more success in completing goals of the treatment for which they were referred. Children who received intensive case management also showed improvement in their developmental skills related to problem solving from inception to completion of services. Implications for further research are considered.     

CELEBRATING HETEROGENEITY?: A survey of female ICT professionals in England

This paper introduces key findings from a large-scale, online survey of women in the ICT industry across England undertaken between October 2004 and October 2005. Placed in a theoretical framework which draws on critical perspectives from within information systems (IS), and the sociology of gender and of technology, the authors examine some of the issues faced by female ICT professionals. The context for this paper is the ongoing under-representation of women in the ICT industry in England, and the difficulties that the industry is having retaining women, particularly at senior levels. Data are presented on the demographic composition of women in the ICT industry in England. In addition the authors focus on their management of domestic and caring responsibilities, including changes in working practices they have experienced as a result of these responsibilities. These data are particularly pertinent given current government and industry debates regarding the 'work-life balance' and 'flexible working' in the ICT industry, partially as a response to the need for a more diverse ICT workforce. Alongside information on the career histories of female ICT professionals, the authors review their perceptions of pay and reward packages, working environments, the skills they hold, and the recognition they may or may not receive in their current posts. They present reports of a 'long-hours' and 'presenteeism' culture in the ICT industry, and the existence of gendered informal networks in ICT. They also examine female ICT professionals' perceptions of the current and future-possible image of the industry. The findings highlight the continued masculinization of ICT work, and some of the difficulties faced by women working in what remain statistically and symbolically male-dominated environments.     

Striking A Balance: Female Correctional Officers,Gender Role Stereotypes,and Male Prisons*

This paper examines the strategies developed by female correctional officers to circumvent interactional and organizational barriers to advancement in the traditionally-male work organization of the men's prison. Data for the analysis are drawn from interviews with female officers and other staff in a state department of corrections located in the western United States. In a dramaturgical-like fashion, female officers seeking to advance must moderate–strike a balance–between a series of countervailing negative sex role stereotypes. However, regardless of their success in presenting a “balanced” image at work, female officers experienced stress from their responsibility of accommodating to this predominantly male work environment.     

The gap between career management expectations and reality – empirical insights from the IT industry

The Information Technology (IT) industry has become an important economic factor in many Western countries, but it is well known for suffering from skills shortages and high turnover rates. Organizational career management (OCM) may help to attract new talent and reduce IT turnover by satisfying individuals’ career needs. However, to date, little is known about what, exactly, IT professionals expect in terms of career-related support, and whether their expectations match with what IT organizations provide. This paper reports on a quantitative study that investigated what 1686 IT professionals in Switzerland, Germany and the UK expected and what their employers provided in terms of OCM. Findings indicate that there are substantial mismatches between OCM ‘supply’ and ‘demand’. The paper makes an important contribution by providing a more in-depth understanding of IT professionals’ OCM preferences, leading to various practical implications for IT organizations and beyond.     

A hero's journey: young women among males in forestry education

In Norway women are grossly under-represented in all sectors of forestry industry, and recruiting women has been difficult. Are gender attitudes a barrier to recruitment? In this article the question is scrutinized in relation to young women and practical forestry. The article is based on in-depth interviews with 12 girls and 11 boys who attended comprehensive school courses in forestry in 1998/1999. The female students did not necessarily plan to work in practical forestry.The girls’ participation in the setting of forestry education has some characteristics which are best captured in the metaphor of the hero's journey: a travel in foreign country, a road of trials, some helpers, and a return as a stronger, wiser and more self-confident person. This article argues that gender attitudes were not a barrier to the girls’ recruitment to a career in practical forestry work in the future.     

An Explorative Study of the Place of the Ethics of Care and Reflective Practice in Social Work Education and Practice

The moral development and identity of social work students have been shown to be enhanced by education in caring. Important aspects of this education are training in reflective practice and learning to have a perspective focused on professional loving care. In this study, we have explored how reflective processes can be implemented in both educational settings and working practice from an ethical point of view. Elaborating upon reflective practice from an ethical perspective focuses on reciprocity in relationships and relational capacity in institutional contexts. The study took the form of interviews with social work teachers and health care professionals. Interview and focus group data were analysed, three main topics were identified and statements were coded with relation to these topics. Use of both educators and practitioners in this study showed the importance of not neglecting the transition from education to practice. Responses also showed the value placed upon continuous education and development over the course of a health care professional's career.     

IMMIGRATION AND RURAL AMERICA

Immigration is changing the face of rural America. Stable, year-round employment in the food-processing industry is the most significant factor attracting immigrants into the rural Midwest. Much has been published documenting social and economic changes in rural communities following surges in immigration in rural meat-processing communities. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine immigrants’ perceptions of work and residence in rural America. To this end, personal interviews were conducted with 43 immigrants residing in three Nebraska meatpacking communities. Participants described routes of immigration and motivations for international movement, work in the packing plants, and rural residence. Work for future investigators and the role of policy and social service professionals are presented.     

Radical Normals: The Moral Career of Straight Parents as Public Advocates for Their Gay Children

Sociological research has examined straight parents in “traditional” family arrangements who become gay rights activists, but pays insufficient attention to how this puzzling identity comes into being. Drawn from observations and interviews of parents participating in a local chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) (2009 to 2010), this paper analyzes the parenting activities undertaken by straight parents of gay children as a moral career, involving stages of acceptance that can lead to eventual public advocacy. Paradoxically, these parents become radical normals through these stages; that is to say, they “do” the work of parenting by becoming gay rights advocates, motivated by commitments to conventional imperatives of loving and supporting a child. Using the conceptual scaffolding of the moral career, this paper identifies the mechanisms that move parents through these different career stages.     

Masculine domination and gender subtexts: The role of female professionals in the renewal of the Swedish video game industry

The video game industry is a showcase industry in the entrepreneurial, knowledge-intensive, and technology-based economy. Despite recent technological shifts rendering digital media portable in the form of smartphones, tablets, and laptops, attracting new categories of gamers, most notably women above the age of 35, the video game industry is struggling to handle its masculine domination, prescribing specific and gendered divisions of labor in terms of lowering thresholds for female video game developers. This article reports on empirical material based on interviews from the burgeoning Swedish video game industry and suggests that female professionals entering the industry encounter inherited gendered beliefs and ways of organizing work which locate women in specific, and not always desirable, roles within the industry. In this regime of masculine domination, the study concludes, female video game developers are understood as a particular group primarily knowledgeable about female gamers’ preferences and not as the possessors of general skills attractive to the video game companies. Ultimately, the masculine domination and the historical gendered divisions of labor are preventing the industry from creating more gender-equal workplaces and, as a consequence, fully exploiting market potentials.