SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DIMENSIONS OF NEIGHBORHOOD EFFECTS ON HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION

Research into the effects of neighborhood characteristics on children’s behavior has burgeoned in recent years, but these studies have generally adopted a limited conceptualization of the spatial and temporal dimensions of neighborhood effects. We use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and techniques of spatial data analysis to examine how both the socioeconomic characteristics of extralocal neighborhoods—neighborhoods surrounding the immediate neighborhood of residence—and the duration of exposure to disadvantaged neighborhoods throughout the childhood life course influence the likelihood of graduating from high school. Among blacks and whites, socioeconomic advantage in the immediate neighborhood increases the likelihood of completing high school, but among whites higher levels of socioeconomic advantage in extralocal neighborhoods decrease high school graduation rates. Extralocal neighborhood advantage suppresses the influence of advantage in the immediate neighborhood so that controlling for extralocal conditions provides stronger support for the neighborhood effects hypothesis than has previously been observed. Exposure to advantaged neighborhoods over the childhood life course exerts a stronger effect than point-in-time measures on high school graduation, and racial differences in exposure to advantaged neighbors over the childhood life course help to suppress a net black advantage in the likelihood of completing high school.     

Math-oriented fields of study and the race gap in graduation likelihoods at elite colleges

This study examines the relationship between chosen field of study and the race gap in college completion among students at elite colleges. Fields of study are characterized by varying institutional arrangements, which impact the academic performance of students in higher education. If the effect of fields on graduation likelihoods is unequal across racial groups, then this may account for part of the overall race gap in college completion. Results from a large sample of students attending elite colleges confirm that fields of study influence the graduation likelihoods of all students, above and beyond factors such as students’ academic and social backgrounds. This effect, however, is asymmetrical: relative to white students, the negative effect of the institutional arrangements of math-oriented fields on graduation likelihood is greater for black students. Therefore, the race gap is larger within math-oriented fields than in other fields, which contributes to the overall race gap in graduation likelihoods at these selective colleges. These results indicate that a nontrivial share of the race gap in college completion is generated after matriculation, by the environments that students encounter in college. Consequently, policy interventions that target field of study environments can substantially mitigate racial disparities in college graduation rates.     

Social and behavioral skills and the gender gap in early educational achievement

Though many studies have suggested that social and behavioral skills play a central role in gender stratification processes, we know little about the extent to which these skills affect gender gaps in academic achievement. Analyzing data from the Early Child Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, we demonstrate that social and behavioral skills have substantively important effects on academic outcomes from kindergarten through fifth grade. Gender differences in the acquisition of these skills, moreover, explain a considerable fraction of the gender gap in academic outcomes during early elementary school. Boys get roughly the same academic return to social and behavioral skills as their female peers, but girls begin school with more advanced social and behavioral skills and their skill advantage grows over time. While part of the effect may reflect an evaluation process that rewards students who better conform to school norms, our results imply that the acquisition of social and behavioral skills enhances learning as well. Our results call for a reconsideration of the family and school-level processes that produce gender gaps in social and behavioral skills and the advantages they confer for academic and later success.     

Who is the better applicant? Effects from gender, academic record, and type of decision

This experiment recreates several features of the selection of candidates for junior professional positions. The situation of central interest involves an assessor (either male or female) and a pair consisting of a male and a female applicant with either equivalent or slightly different academic records. We also investigate effects from quality of record (either excellent or poor) and type of decision (namely, choice between applicants, and ratings of competence and suitability). Our hypotheses consider both gender as social status and as social identity, and predict different outcomes depending on decision type. In line with those predictions, findings show that, at both levels of performance, the question about competence elicited effects only from the two applicants’ relative academic standing, while the choice and suitability measures show effects from that standing as well as from sex category of applicant and of assessor. Results and their interpretation are presented and discussed in detail.     

Overlapping disadvantages and the racial/ethnic graduation gap among students attending selective institutions

Using a configurational approach, I examine the extent to which the intersection between background attributes can account for racial and ethnic gaps in graduation likelihood among students attending elite institutions in the United States. The results, which are based on the College & Beyond database, demonstrate the compounding effect of multiple disadvantages on students’ graduation likelihood, above and beyond the unique hardship associated with each background characteristic. Under-represented minority students are more likely to suffer from overlapping disadvantages than whites and Asians, but given similar constellations of disadvantages most minority students perform as well as whites. However, black students with overlapping disadvantages are slightly less likely to graduate than their white configuration-counterparts. About third of the overall race gap is attributed to the compounding effect of overlapping disadvantages on blacks’ achievement. That black male students with overlapping disadvantages are the most vulnerable group of all reveals an intersection between gender, race and class.     

The 9th grade shock and the high school dropout crisis

Retrospective questions on educational attainment in national surveys and censuses tend to over-estimate high school graduation rates by 15-20% points relative to administrative records. Administrative data on educational enrollment are, however, only available at the aggregate level (state, school district, and school levels) and the recording of inter-school transfers are generally incomplete. With access to linked individual-level administrative records from a very large “West Coast metropolitan school district” we track patterns of high school attrition and on-time high school graduation of individual students. Even with adjustments for the omission of out-of-district transfers (estimates of omission are presented), the results of this study show that failure in high school, as indexed by retention and attrition, are almost as common as on-time high school graduation. In addition to the usual risk factors of disadvantaged background, we find that the “9th grade shock”—an unpredicted decline in academic performance upon entering high school—is a key mechanism behind the continuing crisis of high school attrition.     

大学生人际交往能力现状的实证分析

采用自编《大学生人际交往能力调查问卷》,对某高校的380名本科生进行施测。结果显示:大学生人际交往能力的总体水平较好;不同性别、独生子女与非独生子女、不同来源地、不同年级、不同专业的大学生人际交往能力存在显著性差异。具体而言,男性大学生在影响力、开放性、包容度和人际结交能力方面均稍好于女性,但在情绪控制、友谊表达、人际理解能力方面,则女性好于男性;独生子女在人际交往能力的很多方面都优于非独生子女;来自大中城市的学生,人际交往能力要优于来自农村的学生;在人际结交能力、包容度方面,理工类学生要强于文科类学生;人际处理能力、人际理解能力随着年级的升高而逐渐提高。     

从社会性别的视角看云南少数民族女性禁忌

作者以女性禁忌的具体实例为依据分析了具有负面价值的女性禁忌的文化意义,指出其实质是社会性别论在少数民族现实生活中的一种折射与再现,其象征着男性的尊贵与女性的卑贱,是男女不平等的观念在现实中的反映,并对女性禁忌与妇女的发展以及如何改革女性禁忌等问题作了进一步的探讨。     

从“小脚”与“细腰”谈中西方传统服饰审美中的性别差异

服饰的发展史是人类社会发展的一面镜子,服饰审美中的性别暗示既暗示了社会中的两性关系,又反映了社会文化本身的发展变化。中国服装史上的缠足与西洋服装史上的束腰都是服饰审美中的极端化例子,它们都是以伤害身体为代价去符合当时社会的男性审美需求。这两种残酷的陋习可以说完全是男权社会的产物,是两性差异中男尊女卑的完全体现。随着社会的现代化发展,两性的不平等日趋走向消亡,女性的这种以强制性手段伤害身体来取悦男性的方式已不存在。     

Feeding the pipeline: Gender,occupational plans,and college major selection

In this article, we analyze gender differences in college major selection for respondents to the Education Longitudinal Study (2002–2006), focusing on educational pathways through college that lead to science, engineering, or doctoral-track medicine occupations and to non-doctoral track clinical and health sciences occupations. We show that gender differences in college major selection remain substantial, even for a cohort in which rates of enrollment in postsecondary education are more than ten percent higher for young women than for young men. Consistent with other recent research, we demonstrate that neither gender differences in work–family goals nor in academic preparation explain a substantial portion of these differences. However, the occupational plans of high school seniors are strong predictors of initial college major selection, a finding that is revealed only when occupational plans are measured with sufficient detail, here by using the verbatim responses of students. We also find that the association between occupational plans and college major selection is not attributable to work–family orientation or academic preparation. Finally, we find gender differences in the associations between occupational plans and college major selection that are consistent with prior research on STEM attrition, as well as with the claim that attrition also affects the selection of majors that are gateways into doctoral-track medicine. We discuss the implications of the predictive power of occupational plans formed in adolescence for understanding sex segregation and for policies intended to create a gender-balanced STEM and doctoral-level medical workforce.     

Competing for jobs: Labor queues and gender sorting in the hiring process

While much research has documented the pattern and extent of sex segregation of workers once they are employed, few studies have addressed the pre-hire mechanisms that are posited to produce sex segregation in employment. While the notion of a labor queue—the rank order of the set of people that employers choose among—plays a prominent role in pre-hire accounts of job sex sorting mechanisms, few studies have examined the ways in which job candidates are sorted into labor queues. In this paper, we explore the mechanisms by which labor queues contribute to the gendering of jobs by studying the hiring process for all jobs at a call center. Being placed in a queue has a clear gendering effect on the hiring process: the sex distribution of applicants who are matched to queues and those who are rejected at this phase diverge, and among those assigned to queues, women are prevalent in queues for low pay, low status jobs. The screening process also contributes to the gendering of the population of hires at this firm. Females are more prevalent among hires than they are among candidates at initial queue assignment. Among high status jobs, however, males are more prevalent than females. Moreover, there are important wage implications associated with matching to queues. While there are large between-queue sex differences in the paid wages associated with allocation to queues, once allocated to queues the wage differences between male and female candidates are nil. Consequently, the roots of gender wage inequality in this setting lie in the initial sorting of candidates to labor queues.     

西方文学中的疯癫现象研究综述

基于西方哲学中理性与非理性之争日益激烈,以及现代社会环境和个人因素的原因,西方文学作品中的疯癫形象及其研究日益增多。国外研究中性别疯癫研究、男性研究逐渐取代女性疯癫研究,断代史中的疯癫研究成果丰富,少数族裔研究成为特色;国内多隐喻研究和女性疯癫研究,同时在理论运用、研究深度以及研究文本创新方面存在不足。针对国内研究现状,需要加强男性疯癫研究和跨文化比较研究,此外尝试运用新理论进行文本阐释。     

Choosing between two semi-finalists: On academic performance gap,sex category,and decision question

We use an application-files experimental design to investigate a new topic in the assessment of candidates for junior-engineering jobs. Our focus is on two semi-finalists, a man and a woman, who show clearly different but still good levels of academic record. We keep the gap between those levels constant, but vary the sex category of the better performer. We also include control conditions in which the two have similar records. Each assessor’s task was to choose either one applicant or neither, and to rate both in competence and suitability. The control-group competence ratings indicate no gender bias by either men or women; the experimental-conditions competence data are consistent with the candidates’ records as predicted, but also show women minimizing the record of the better-performing male candidate. Choice and suitability, on the other hand, reveal a preference for the female applicant across respondents and conditions, as anticipated given the more open nature of those two questions, while still reflecting the academic records. Findings and their interpretation are presented in detail.     

Affirmation effects on math scores: The importance of high school track

Stereotype threat has been shown to affect academic performance of minority racial groups. Minority girls may experience the burdens of both race and gender - a “double bind” theorized to affect the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields. A randomized controlled trial focused on alleviating stereotype threat in three high schools in a large U.S. metro demonstrates the effects of affirmative writing interventions, which have previously shown positive effects for minority and female students. Results indicate effects for these groups were insignificant. However, results also show that student track is highly significant at p < 0.001, and interactive analyses suggest that the intervention may help alleviate threat for higher-achieving students.     

Gatekeepers of the American Dream: How teachers’ perceptions shape the academic outcomes of immigrant and language-minority students

High school teachers evaluate and offer guidance to students as they approach the transition to college based in part on their perceptions of the student's hard work and potential to succeed in college. Their perceptions may be especially crucial for immigrant and language-minority students navigating the U.S. educational system. Using the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), we consider how the intersection of nativity and language-minority status may (1) inform teachers’ perceptions of students’ effort and college potential, and (2) shape the link between teachers’ perceptions and students’ academic progress towards college (grades and likelihood of advancing to more demanding math courses). We find that teachers perceive immigrant language-minority students as hard workers, and that their grades reflect that perception. However, these same students are less likely than others to advance in math between the sophomore and junior years, a critical point for preparing for college. Language-minority students born in the U.S. are more likely to be negatively perceived. Yet, when their teachers see them as hard workers, they advance in math at the same rates as nonimmigrant native English speaking peers. Our results demonstrate the importance of considering both language-minority and immigrant status as social dimensions of students’ background that moderate the way that high school teachers’ perceptions shape students’ preparation for college.     

Preferences,constraints, and the process of sex segregation in college majors: A choice analysis

The persistence of horizontal sex segregation in higher education continues to puzzle social scientists. To help resolve this puzzle, we analyze a sample of college entrants in Germany with a discrete choice design that allows for social learning from the experiences of others. We make at least two contributions to the state of research. First, we test whether essentialist gender stereotypes affect major selection mostly through internalization or rather as external constraints that high school graduates adapt their behavior to. Empirically, we find that internalized vocational interests better explain gendered major choices than conformance with friends' and parents' expectations does. Second, we scrutinize whether segregation results from women's anticipation of gendered family roles or from their anticipation of sex-based discrimination, but we find no evidence for either of these hypotheses. As in most previous studies, differences in mathematics achievement fail to explain gendered patterns of selection into college majors.     

Motivation vs. relevance: Using strong ties to find a job in Urban China

While the idea that contacts matter in finding a job is intuitively appealing, we still do not know—after decades of research—how and why strong ties benefit job seekers. To resolve this confusion, we need to theorize how specific characteristics of ties are related to the mechanisms that make job search through contacts effective. We have reasons to expect that, while a contact’s motivation influences the likelihood that a job seeker receives an offer, her homophily with the job seeker on occupation and other job-relevant attributes influences the quality of the offer. The use of strong ties among university students to find jobs in China provides a unique opportunity to empirically isolate the relationship between contact characteristics and the mechanisms through which contacts benefit the job seeker. I tested my hypotheses with data on both the successful and unsuccessful job searches of 478 graduates of China’s flagship universities, who, as first-time job seekers, primarily used strong ties. Survey results are consistent with my hypotheses: job seekers who used strong ties to look for jobs had more offers—but not better offers—than those who used only formal methods.     

社会性别辨义

对于中国当代妇女学学者来说,社会性别这个概念是在20世纪80年代中后期的“西学东渐”中,随“新女性主义”一同进入研究视野的。社会性别概念辨析起来可有四重内涵:1.社会性别作为文化要素,用来指称社会文化形成的对男女差异的理解,以及两性的群体特征和行为方式。2.社会性别作为关系体系,强调性别文化要素之间的相互关联。3.社会性别作为分析范畴,是从性别的角度对文化意识形态进行发现、辨析和阐释的工具。4.社会性别作为研究领域,既有其它任何一个学科不可替代的理论内涵,同时又与传统人文学科有着互为依存的联系。     

女大学生心理健康状况的调查研究

由于传统文化、社会认同以及生理特征的影响,女大学生在心理健康方面呈现出较明显的问题,为深入了解女生心理健康状况,我们对女生进行了心理测量和问卷调查,采用定量和定性相结合的方法,对不同背景、不同年级、不同学科类型的女大学生的心理健康状况进行了比较研究,为提高女生心理健康教育的效率提供了科学的依据。     

广州高校学生就业压力的调查分析

本研究是以问卷调查的形式 ,对广州市高校学生的就业压力及择业意向进行考察了解并进行了性别分析 ,归纳出以下结果 :1、当前高校学生的主要生活压力是就业压力 ,女性对就业前途的忧虑更甚于男性。 2、学生就业压力体验相当严重 ,尤以心理体验最为严重 ,而男生就业压力生理体验强度高于女生。 3、学生对求职困难的认知倾向于个人素质欠缺、专业结构的不合理性、就业环境欠佳等方面。 4、学生的择业观念呈现个性化自主化、保守化、功利化、务实、片面的地区性等特点。文章最后尝试从学生、学校及政府三方面提出解决问题的策略