Toward a Framework for Multicultural STEM‐Focused Career Interventions

Numerous federal and national commissions have called for policies, funds, and initiatives aimed at expanding the nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce and education investments to create a significantly larger, more diverse talent pool of individuals who pursue technical careers. Career development professionals are poised to contribute to the equity discourse about broadening STEM participation. However, few are aware of STEM‐related career development matters, career opportunities and pathways, or strategies for promoting STEM pursuits. The author summarizes STEM education and workforce trends and articulates an equity imperative for broadening and diversifying STEM participation. The author then offers a multicultural STEM‐focused career development framework to encourage career development professionals’ knowledge and awareness of STEM education and careers and delineates considerations for practice aimed at increasing the attainment and achievement of diverse groups in STEM fields.     

THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC REWARDS AS DETERMINANTS OF WORK SATISFACTION*

This study investigates the nature and sources of overall work satisfaction in several occupational groups. The effects of three types of work rewards on work satisfaction are assessed. They are: intrinsic task rewards, extrinsic social rewards and extrinsic organizational rewards. Data from 1,385 workers representing five occupational groups suggest that intrinsic rewards followed by extrinsic social rewards, are powerful determinants of satisfaction across all occupational groups. Extrinsic organizational rewards appear to emerge as an important determinant only in lower-level occupations. The implications of these findings for job redesign programs are subsequently discussed.     

Exposure to Chlorination By-Products from Hot Water Uses

Exposures to chlorination by-products (CBP) within public water supplies are multiroute in water. Cold water is primarily used for ingestion while a mixture of cold water and hot water is used for showering, bathing others, dish washing, etc. These latter two activities result in inhalation and dermal exposure. Heating water was observed to change the concentration of various CBP. An increase in the trihalomethanes (THM) concentrations and a decrease in the haloacetonitriles and halopropanones concentration, though an initial rise in the concentration of dichloropropanone, were observed. The extent of the increase in the THM is dependent on the chlorine residual present. Therefore, estimates of total exposure to CBP from public water supplies need to consider any changes in their concentration with different water uses. The overall THM exposures calculated using the THM concentration in heated water were 50% higher than those calculated using the THM concentration present in cold water. The estimated lifetime cancer risk associated with exposure to THM in water during the shower is therefore underestimated by 50% if the concentration of THM in cold water is used in the risk assessment.     

AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORK SATISFACTION AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

This article investigates the interrelationship between individual characteristics, work rewards, work satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Data obtained from 1,385 workers representing a variety of occupational groups are analyzed. Generally, the data suggest that individual characteristics have very little impact on either satisfaction or commitment, while work rewards are found to be better predictors of satisfaction than commitment. More important, the data further indicate that satisfaction and commitment have reciprocal effects; however, it appears that satisfaction has a significantly greater effect on commitment than the reverse. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Modern and traditional value orientations and fertility behavior: A social demographic study

Modern versus traditional value orientations based on the Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck schema are related to family size preferences and birth control effectiveness. Value orientations are viewed as mediating the relationship between socioeconomic status and the fertility behavior variables. Interviews with a probability sample of women in Lexington, Kentucky, provide the data for testing the hypothesized relationships. The results indicate that both value orientations and socioeconomic status are related to fertility behavior. The inference can be made that value orientations aid in interpreting the relationship between socioeconomic status and fertility behavior but that other status-related variables are operating.     

Metacognition and Multicultural Competence: Expanding the Culturally Appropriate Career Counseling Model

The authors focus on the significance of the counselor's cultural contexts in effective career interventions vis‐à‐vis the incorporation of multicultural metacognition. They briefly summarize and critique extant career counseling models for racial/ethnic minority clients and then describe an expanded model for career counseling that incorporates metacognition processes for addressing counselor‐related cultural factors.     

Breaking Barriers: The Experiences of Women in Male Dominated Informal Sector Occupations in Urban Ghana

Globally changing economic conditions have made it necessary for men and women to cross gender based occupational lines. While some research has been conducted on the men crossing occupational barriers in Ghana, not much is known about the women venturing into male dominated occupational sectors in the informal sector. Using the concepts of ‘tokenism and ‘heightened visibility’, this research investigated the experiences of women in male dominated informal sector occupations in Ghana. The research revealed that being numerically disadvantaged and being a woman does not necessarily lead to some of the challenges highlighted as facing other females in more formal occupational settings. On the contrary, this study has revealed how the numerical disadvantage combined with socio-cultural feminine attributes, contributes to the occupational development of women. This research recommends that future programmes aimed at female empowerment should not only focus on the academic (science; technology and mathematics) opportunities, but should also highlight the opportunities for female economic empowerment within male dominated sectors of the informal economy.     

A Context‐sensitive Approach to Analysing Talk in Strategy Meetings

The talk of managers in meetings is central to organizational life and crucial to research in strategic management, as well as managerial and organizational cognition, sensemaking and decision‐making. To achieve full understanding, both the text and the context of discussion require systematic analysis, but most approaches treat context as everything that is known and observed beyond the immediate text. This obscures different readings of the text of meetings. To resolve this problem, the discourse historical approach (DHA) to critical discourse analysis is outlined as a framework within which researchers can analyse the text and context of talk in meetings. The primary contribution of this paper is to isolate four ‘levels of context’ as a heuristic framework within which discursive practices, strategies and texts can be located. By making explicit the levels of contextual analysis that are implicit in other methods, and illustrating the DHA using an episode of strategic discussion from a multinational company, this paper shows how researchers can use the approach to analyse the naturally occurring talk of senior managers in meetings, which is arguably the most important but yet under‐explored venue for strategizing.     

An exploration of the offset hypothesis using disaggregate data: The case of airbags and antilock brakes

The offset hypothesis predicts consumers adapt to innovations that improve safety by becoming less vigilant about safety. Previous tests have used aggregate data that may confound the effect of a safety policy with those consumers who are most affected by it. We test the hypothesis using disaggregate data to analyze the effects of airbags and antilock brakes on automobile safety. We find that safety-conscious drivers are more likely than other drivers to acquire airbags and antilock brakes but these safety devices do not have a significant effect on collisions or injuries, suggesting drivers trade off enhanced safety for speedier trips. JEL Classification L5 · R4