Early Influences and the choice of college major: Can policies reduce the gender gap in scientific curricula (STEM)?

I use rich administrative and survey data to analyse the determinants of the gender gap in STEM graduation rates among Italian college graduates. Results from both Gelbach and Oaxaca decompositions show that half of the gender gap in STEM graduation is attributed to the gender difference in maths and science content of the respective high school curricula. This finding indicates that in Italy the gender gap in STEM graduation has its roots in a gendered choice originating many years before and that effective interventions aimed at increasing girls’ interests in science and technology should be implemented at an early stage.     

Stemming inequality? Employment and pay of female and minority scientists and engineers

When white men overwhelmingly dominated the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) work force, the high pay in STEM occupations was a major source of gender and race inequality in the U.S. economy. As women, Blacks, and Latinos increasingly study STEM fields, new possibilities for achieving pay equality are opening. We test whether the reality matches the promise using two large data sets. Analysis of a five percent Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) of the 2000 Census and the 2001-06 American Community Surveys shows that women and minorities earn more, relative to comparable white men, in STEM than in non-STEM fields. This general pattern persists in analysis of a 1% sample of federal personnel records, which include better measures of work experience and education. Thus, federal efforts to increase the representativeness of the STEM workforce should increase pay equality in the economy by moving women and minorities into traditionally high-paying fields.     

Coping with peer victimization predicts peer outcomes across the transition to middle school

The present study examined strategies for coping with peer victimization as predictors of peer victimization experiences and broader peer relationship outcomes across the transition to middle school, and tested for possible gender differences in these associations. Participants included 123 early adolescents (M_age = 12.03 years at T1; 50% males; 58.5% European Americans, 35% African Americans, 6.5% of other races/ethnicities) who reported on strategies for coping with peer victimization at T1 (summer before the transition to middle school) as well as experiences of peer victimization and loneliness at T1 and T2 (spring of the first year of middle school). Teachers reported on peer victimization and peer competence at T1 and T2. Conflict resolution predicted higher teacher‐reported peer competence. In contrast, revenge‐seeking predicted higher self‐reported peer victimization (among girls but not boys) and loneliness, and support‐seeking predicted higher teacher‐reported peer victimization and lower teacher‐reported peer competence. In addition, cognitive distancing predicted lower teacher‐reported peer victimization and lower self‐reported loneliness among boys but not girls. Results are discussed with reference to the specific context of peer victimization and developmental period of early adolescence.     

Citizen Participation—What Motivates It?

Why, in community decision making, do so few of those affected exercise opportunities to influence decisions? This question was investigated by comparing the behaviour and attitudes of men on state primary school committees with those of other fathers of children at the same 25 schools. Predispositional variables accounted for about 30% of participation variance, and this indicates a substantial influence. School committee members were comparatively more predisposed toward decision making, having acquired greater confidence and skills through education, occupation, and club activities. They were more concerned with educational outcomes, and had stronger social links with the school through their wives and other parents. It is suggested that more parents might be encouraged by opportunities to participate in familiar (eg. neighbourhood) groups under informal conditions, dealing with problems of immediate interest to them. Awareness of the work done by the school committee, and its effectiveness, are also important factors in participation.     

“Sense” and sensitivity: Informal apprenticeship among youth care workers in a residential treatment center for children

This article reports findings from a 13‐month ethnographic study of knowledge use and expertise among 78 workers in a U.S. residential treatment center for children. It investigates the question of how youth care workers developed expertise in an organization that did not require graduate professional education and provided little didactic training. It demonstrates how processes of informal apprenticeship allowed some workers to develop locally recognized expertise through working alongside more experienced peers. It analyzes the puzzling initial finding that workers simultaneously attributed expertise to innate “common sense” and reported that they developed this form of expertise through informal on‐the‐job apprenticeship. Taking a cultural perspective on learning, this article conceptualizes youth‐serving organizations as communities of practice in which informal apprenticeship contributes to the development of locally valued forms of expertise and addresses the question of why youth care workers appeared to differ in their ability to make use of opportunities for such learning. It explores implications of these findings for workforce development in youth residential treatment and for social work education in general, suggesting simple methods for maximizing opportunities for situated learning.     

Organizational Effects on Race Relations in Schools

This article identifies organizational structures and practices in schools that influence the frequency of interracial interactions, the likelihood ofcross-race friendships, and students' attitudes and behaviors toward members of different racial and ethnic groups. These formal and informal organizational practices include curriculum tracking, assignment to classes, attendance at school level functions, and extracurricular activities. The article discusses how the quality of interracial interactions and the resultingrelationships among students is influenced by the contexts of these different organizational practices, including students' status expectations, cooperative versus competitive modes of academic and extracurricular interactions, and educators' views on racial/ethnic issues and their preferences for instructional methods. By taking these effects into account, schools can make significant advances in promoting positive race relations.     

社会工作教育中的学生学业评价

社会工作专业教学中的学生学业评价具有促进学生学业、促进教师教学以及促进学校管理等多种功能。学业评价的领域包括学生认知学习评价、技能学习评价、价值学习评价等多个方面。在学生学业评价中，可以综合采用多种方法，也可以针对性地采取特定方法。要切实改进社会工作专业教学中的学生学业评价，需要在结合中国现实、丰富课堂教学、提高教师素质、加强专业支持等方面积极努力。     

Mindfulness Training for Social Service Providers in Hawaii: Context and Considerations

Abstract

Few studies exploring outcomes for mindfulness training have specifically focused on social service providers such as case managers, juvenile justice (probation/parole) officers, family court liaisons, substance abuse and mental health counselors, and school behavioral health specialists, among others. This study examined whether social service professionals across various agencies in the state of Hawai‘i would be accepting of mindfulness-based training and practices, and explored their personal practice experiences. Participants (N?=?97) received mindfulness skills training including mindful breathing, mindful walking, and the body scan. Through post-evaluation surveys, practice logs of homework practices, and reflections, they were then asked to reflect on their experiences with the practice and identify potential changes that they would attribute to mindfulness. Interpretative phenomenological and content analyses revealed that participants generally reported a high level of acceptance of the mindfulness training and practices but progress, continuity, and sustainability were slow. Findings provided some indications of mindfulness resulting in salutary effects for social service professionals, but the training structure was problematic. Future research needs to examine how institutional, cultural milieu facilitate or hinder opportunities for social service professionals to embody and embed mindfulness in daily life; this would require multimodal and qualitative methodologies that seek to highlight and understand the live experiences of social service providers.     

Uneven impacts of COVID-19 on the attendance rates of secondary school students from different socioeconomic backgrounds in Australia: A quasi-experimental analysis of administrative data

This paper contributes to the growing body of research that demonstrates uneven impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on educational outcomes of students from different socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. We evaluate the early impacts of COVID-19 on student attendance in secondary school and show how these impacts depend on students' SES. We employ a quasi-experimental design, using difference-in-differences (DiD) estimation extended to incorporate third-order differences over time between low-SES and other students, and pre- versus during-COVID-19, leveraging robust administrative data extracted from the registers of the Tasmanian Department of Education. Using data from multiple cohorts of secondary school students in government schools in Tasmania (N = 14,135), we find that while the attendance rates were similar pre- and during-COVID-19 for high-SES students, there was a significant drop in attendance rates during COVID-19 among socioeconomically disadvantaged students, demonstrating the more pronounced impacts of COVID-19 for these students. The findings demonstrate that even “relatively short” lockdowns, as those in Tasmania in 2020 (30–40 days of home learning), can significantly affect the learning experiences of students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. We discuss the implications of this for future pandemic planning in educational policy and practice and how this needs to be addressed in Australia's COVID-19 recovery.     

Geriatric enrichment: guaranteeing a place for aging in the curriculum

Two years ago, the School of Social Work embarked upon a new and challenging initiative to create sustainable structural changes that enrich gerontological learning experiences for all our BSW and MSW students, faculty, fieldwork instructors and community practitioners. We envisioned that participation in this initiative would enable us to expand and embed geriatric content in the undergraduate and graduate curriculum, to increase our geriatric fieldwork placement opportunities, to evaluate and enhance our teaching and learning resources on aging, and to develop two new aging specific courses. Having reached our third year of operation, we find ourselves reflecting on what have been our successes, what could we have done differently, and where do we go in the future. This article will describe our process of developing a model of curriculum change that will guarantee a place for aging in both our undergraduate and graduate curricula.     

“撤点并校”、家庭背景与入学机会

本研究旨在探究在“撤点并校”的政策调整下,家庭背景是如何影响子女的教育获得机会的。本文利用“中国家庭追踪调查”（CFPS）2010年到2012年追踪个案的数据,通过对农村学生小学至初中毕业升学历程的回溯,建立基于Cox比例风险模型的“辍学模型”和基于Logistic模型和线性概率模型的“升学模型”,发现家庭背景始终是影响子女教育机会的重要因素。在“撤点并校”刚开始执行的年份,农村学生在义务教育阶段的辍学风险反而有所降低,家庭背景在“撤点并校”后对于子女的入学几率起到更为重要的作用。本文认为,这一政策使得农村家庭在教育上“主动投入”,而这种家庭层面对于政策的回应使政策的影响效果被削弱或者推迟,从宏观上观察到的家庭背景在教育层面上的再生产机制是每个家庭在制度驱动下做出选择的结果。     

北京市属高校大学生学习活动质量实证研究

大学生学习活动质量是指大学生在大学学习生活中,对旨在获取知识经验和促进自身发展的各种学习活动的参与和努力程度,具体包括与图书馆、 计算机及信息技术、 课程学习、 生师相处经验等相关的学习活动.通过对北京市属高校大学生的抽样调查发现:大学生学习活动质量的个体差异较大,且在不同学习活动类型上也有所差异,在与课程学习、 计算机及信息技术相关学习活动中的质量较高,在与图书馆、 生师相处经验相关学习活动中的质量较低;大学生学习活动质量在年级、 生源地、 是否独生子女维度上有显著差异,在性别上无显著差异,在各变量内部,低年级、 农村生源和非独生子女学生的学习活动质量相对较低.鉴于此,当前北京市属高校的教育综合改革应以营造支持性的校园文化环境为导向,在强化校园硬件资源建设的同时,注重学校教育制度建设以及学生良好校园人际关系的构建,促进大学生学习活动质量的提升.     

Connection,connectivity and choice: Learning during COVID-19 restrictions across mainstream schools and Flexible Learning Programmes in Australia

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated school closures may have constrained educational participation particularly for students in disadvantaged circumstances. We explore how 30 disadvantaged students in secondary school (14 mainstream/16 Flexible Learning Programme) from Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania experienced home learning during the first wave of COVID-19, teasing out nuances across two educational models. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with these students, our analysis revealed three interconnected themes inflecting their learning: connection, connectivity and choice. Connection captures the desire for belonging and practices that facilitated meeting this desire during system-wide disruptions to school routines and face-to-face learning. Connectivity captures the impact of digitally facilitated learning at home on students' ability to engage with curriculum content and with their learning community. Choice captures the availability of viable options to overcome barriers students encountered in their learning and possibilities to flexibly accommodate student preferences and learning needs. Students from Flexible Learning Programmes appeared generally better supported to exercise agency within the scope of their lived experience of home-based learning. Findings indicate a need for strengthening student-centred policy and practices aimed at leveraging the affordances of information technology, balancing self-directed and structured learning and providing holistic support to enable meaningful student choice.     

SOME ASPECTS OF GROUP LEADERSHIP IN A SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK TRAINING UNIT

The experiences of a graduate social work student unit in a school setting illurtrate some of the major variables around which professional group work skills are developed. Issues such as individual vs. co-leadership. pre-group planning, early group considerations, ongoing considerations and termination are discussed in light of the problems and potentials for learning.     

Designing Service–Learning to Empower Students and Community: Jackson Elementary Builds a Nature Study Center

We propose an approach to service–learning in which projects are designed so as to empower undergraduate students and community members. When student service scholars take away control from citizens, they can undermine citizens' perceptions of competency; when faculty reduce students' choice and responsibility, they can undermine students' efficacy and desire to learn. We propose four guidelines for optimizing student and citizen experiences: (1) service should serve both the community and the students; (2) service should empower; (3) service should be contextual; and (4) service projects should endure. We elaborate this philosophy and illustrate it with a project in which nine university students and 30 fifth–graders built a science and nature study center for a K–6 elementary school.     

Why one goes to school: what school means to young people entering foster care

In this interpretative childhood study of 17 boys and girls aged 13–16 years placed in foster families, the experiences and attitudes towards school are explored. The importance of school as an arena for both learning and socialization is emphasized. Data were collected through interviews, network maps and text answers via mobile phone (‘beepers’). Their educational improvement was based on their understanding of scholastic achievement as meaningful for their future, stability in daily routines and the involvement and support of family, peers and teachers. Access to peers at school is important, and group activities facilitate this. Because of their background, foster youth can also be exposed to bullying from peers. Both learning and socialization at school affect their self‐esteem.     

Learning (to) taste: food,aesthetics, and education in early modern France

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the intersection between taste and education in the early modern period. The first part investigates the close connection between the sense of taste and the sin of gluttony, highlighting taste’s close association with food disorders in the late Middle Ages and early modernity. Silencing taste was by then a key aspect of the education of the body, which needed to be learned from the earliest age, at home as well as at school. The second part charts the rise of a moderate and honest gourmandise from the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries onward, accompanied by the invention of the polite bon goût and later the aesthetic taste of beauty, which contributed to a new social valorization of taste, while also complicating contemporary practices of learning (to) taste. Using a wide variety of early modern printed sources, including conduct books, religious and moral treatises, books of emblems, and treatises on the senses and on taste in particular, as well as aesthetic works, this paper sheds light on the multiple ways in which taste – of the body as much as of the mind – was used, learned, and displayed, hence revealing a transformation of the experience and understanding of taste throughout the early modern period, as well as its impact on educational practices.     

Negotiating deficiency: Exploring ethnic minority parents' narratives about encountering child welfare services in Norway

Evaluating the participatory opportunities for service users within social welfare institutions is a pressing issue. In this article, we explore a group of ethnic minority parents' experiences with child welfare services (CWS) in Norway. A strong narrative theme was deficiency positioning—how lacking a Norwegian normative set of knowledge and skills challenged the parents' opportunities to participate. We analysed how deficiency positioning was perceived, negotiated, and contested in the parents' accounts, and 4 themes emerged: (a) learning to parent, (b) contesting expert knowledge, (c) learning to be a client, and (d) constructing CWS deficiency. Nancy Fraser's concept of “participatory parity” was applied to explore how current institutional structures may enable and limit parents' participation. The analysis provides insight into agencies and informants' sense‐making processes as well as the diverse resources and strategies that parents draw upon in the CWS encounter. Furthermore, we argue that an interplay between a strong focus on “parenting skills” and bureaucratic and economic structures positions ethnic minority parents as deficient, thus providing powerful mechanisms for marginalization. Implications for case work and institutional levels are discussed.     

五四文学革命的历史功过

五四文学革命已经有 85年的历史 ,功过是非 ,理应给予理性的学术评价。对于五四文学革命 ,既有“新儒学派”的根本否定 ,受“新儒学派”影响的传统文化维护派的指责与否定 ,也有“国学派”、“鸳鸯蝴蝶派”、“新鸳蝴派”等的挑战 ,他们的一些批评指出了五四文学革命的缺点与失误 ,往往不无道理 ,但相对于五四文学革命的伟大功绩而言不过是九牛一毛。五四文学革命的主要功绩有 :( 1 )以白话取代文言 ,完成了文学语言由古典向现代的转型 ;( 2 )揭开了中国“人的文学”的新篇章 ;( 3 )彻底扫荡了“鸳鸯蝴蝶派” ;( 4 )取法欧美文学的经验 ,实现了中国文学与世界的首次接轨。