The Access of the Young Graduates in Sciences into R&D Profession: A Switching Model Treatment for the French Case

We address the question concerning the choice of graduates in sciences and engineering to look for employment in research and development. We use an endogenous switching regression to avoid the existence of self‐selection biases. The study shows that human capital is decisive where both employment opportunities and remuneration are concerned within, but not without, this sector. The results also suggest that in the early stages of a career, the R&D sector is less rewarding than other types of employment only for doctors and not for graduates from engineering schools.     

Pregnant women's attitudes toward the abortion of defective fetuses

A survey asked 190 pregnant women their opinions on whether a hypothetical other woman would be justified in having an abortion under ten different circumstances, four of which related to abnormalities of the fetus. They were then asked whether they would be justified in having an abortion under these same circumstances. Also assessed were these women's views concerning the justifiability of abortion for a specific group of fetal abnormalities, neural tube defects. Respondents were more likely to view abortion as justifiable for a hypothetical other than for themselves. However, there was no evidence that pregnant women's views about abortion are more conservative than those of the general public. The majority of respondents considered abortion of a defective fetus to be justified, both for themselves and for others. The best predictor of abortion attitudes was respondent's views about the ideal number of children in a completed family.This research was supported by a grant from Maternal and Child Health Research, Bureau of Community Health Services, DHHS. Reprint requests should be sent to Dr. Ruth Faden at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Division of Health Education, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205.     

Anticiper ou temporiser : injonctions environnementales et recompositions des identités professionnelles en céréaliculture

Questions about the modernization of farming, given its environmental impact, are leading French farmers to rework their occupational identities. This is studied by comparing cereal growers who practice “integrated protection” — a form of agriculture that saves on input — with their “conventional” colleagues. Given the high degree of uncertainty about the standards that will be imposed, cereal farmers have adopted positions that contrast with regard to: the future (anticipating vs. stalling for time), “professional excellence” (whether or not to accept lower yields) and risks (whether to adopt strategies turned toward vigilance or toward insurance). The diffusion of innovative farming practices is limited owing to their lack of legitimacy, which leads farmers to explore the possibilities for obtaining legitimation from outside the profession.     

Bangladeshi families living in hardship: findings from research using a life-history approach

Whilst there are many commonalities in the experience of living in hardship, there are also many ways in which the experience of poverty varies. This paper draws on findings from life-history interviews about parenting and children's well-being which were undertaken with 70 low-income households including nine Bangladeshi families living in London. The paper explores the ways in which the experience of Bangladeshi families was similar to and different from the sample as a whole, discusses the intersection of culture, class, gender and ethnicity in the experience of living in poverty and how this impacted on parents' ability to access support. The findings show the many and complex ways poverty impacts on families' lives and suggest that many of the barriers for Bangladeshi families' to accessing services that have previously been identified still exist. The findings highlight the importance of social workers having the space to reflect on and develop their own practice in order to avoid oversimplistic assumptions about the experiences of Bangladeshi families and the need for home-visiting services so practitioners can develop relationships and build the confidence of the most socially excluded parents.     

Selbstmanagement-Entwicklung durch coaching?

Development of self-management by coaching? An expert survey on the promotion of self-management competenciesThe much-discussed assumption that business coaching promotes clients’ self-management competence was explored through an expert survey. In a qualitative questionnaire study, 20 professional coaches provided information on their conceptual understanding of self-management, their approaches to promoting client self-management and on strategies employed to assess intervention outcome. In addition, coaches specified the obstacles and constraints clients encounter when transferring improved self-management skills into everyday working life. The results corroborate the relevance of the self-management concept in a coaching context. The benefits resulting from an increased consideration of self-management processes in coaching research, vocational training courses and day-to-day coaching practice are discussed. The use of theoretical concepts which provide a guideline is recommended.     

Learning and Organization in the Knowledge‐Based Information Economy: Initial Findings from a Participatory Action Research Case Study

This paper reports on an ongoing, multiphase, project‐based action learning and research project. In particular, it summarizes some aspects of the learning climate and outcomes for a case‐study company in the software industry. Using a participatory action research approach, the learning company framework developed by Pedler et al. (1997) is used to initiate critical reflection in the company at three levels: managing director, senior management team and technical and professional staff. As such, this is one of the first systematic attempts to apply this framework to the entire organization and to a company in the knowledge‐based learning economy. Two sets of issues are of general concern to the company: internal issues surrounding the company's reward and recognition policies and practices and the provision of accounting and control information in a business‐relevant way to all levels of staff; and external issues concerning the extent to which the company and its members actively learn from other companies and effectively capture, disseminate and use information accessed by staff in boundary‐spanning roles. The paper concludes with some illustrations of changes being introduced by the company as a result of the feedback on and discussion of these issues.     

A breakpoint detection in the mean model with heterogeneous variance on fixed time intervals

Statistics and Computing - This work is motivated by an application for the homogenization of global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-derived integrated water vapour series. Indeed, these series...