Harvesting Human Capital: Family Structure and Education Among Rural Youth1

Abstract Coleman's (1988) theory of family social capital provides a conceptual framework for assessing the relationship between several dimensions of family structure and school dropout rates among nonmetro-politan youth. This paper evaluates the extent to which higher rural than urban dropout rates are attributable to spatial differences in family structure (e.g., living arrangements, family size, and early childbearing) or economic resources (e.g., poverty) and estimates the differential effects of family structure and poverty on school dropout rates in nonmetropolitan areas, suburbs, and central cities. Data are drawn from the March 1990 Current Population Survey. Results indicate that residential differences in family structure account for a relatively small part of the higher dropout rates found in rural areas. Rural youth's experience with poverty appears to matter more. The educational effects of family structure are nevertheless strong in rural areas, albeit somewhat smaller than in suburban areas, owing perhaps to compensating forms of social capital found in rural areas. The results suggest that studies of dropout behavior—in rural or urban areas—must acknowledge the potentially large role of family structure and economic resources on the educational achievement process.     

Getting the story straight: evaluating the test-retest reliability of a university health history questionnaire.

This study was designed to establish the reliability of a health history questionnaire used as a screening tool for incoming university students. The authors used a test-retest design, with a test interval of 6 months, on a sample of medical and nursing students. The analysis focused on overall reliability of the questionnaire and reproducibility of specific items, based on question format. Questionnaire items of specific interest were those with dichotomous yes/no response options versus open-ended format questions, those using the words frequently or recently, or those that asked multiple questions. Demographic characteristics of the subjects were considered in the evaluation of reliability. Overall reliability of the questionnaire (93.6%) was above the anticipated level of 90%, and subject sex or program of study did not show any significant differences in reproducibility of responses. Although wording of questions did not affect item reliability, dichotomous format questions demonstrated a higher degree of reliability (96.4%) than the overall reliability of the questionnaire. Recommendations for enhancing the reliability of the questionnaire are based on item analysis and information gathered from interviews with subjects.     

Designing and facilitating collaboration in R&D: A case study

This case study aims to highlight the strategic decisions and managerial practices in the formation and operation of a co-located research unit within a national laboratory. The empirical evidence is based on interviews with members of the research unit as well as responses from a research environment survey. The findings of the case study suggest specific strategies that are conducive not only for the co-location of research units but also for research management in general. Principal among these are the need to balance increases in diversity and complexity with mechanisms of integration and the use of specific management practices and leadership qualities that support these activities.     

Overtime and Undertime: An Analysis of Hours Worked*

Drawing on 1980 Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS), this study compares the determinants of annual hours of work for whites, blacks, and mainland-born Puerto Ricans residing in the New York SMSA in 1979. Two theoretical approaches are tested; a neoclassical specification and an extended structural model. The analysis supports both approaches. Few differences in coefficients exist between white and minority men, but the hours of minority women are less sensitive to family demands than are those of white women. The implications of these and other findings are discussed.     

Linking collegiate service‐learning to future volunteerism: Implications for nonprofit organizations

One of the biggest challenges facing nonprofits is attracting and retaining volunteers to help deliver their programs. One way that colleges and universities are attempting to educate students on the importance of community issues and to graduate “good citizens” is through service‐learning (S‐L) programs. Although many scholars argue that collegiate S‐L programs will increase the extent to which students volunteer following graduation (for example, Astin, Sax, and Avalos, 1999; Misa, Anderson, and Yamamura, 2005), more empirical research has been called for to examine this relationship. This article proposes three predictors of future volunteerism for alumni of a collegiate S‐L experience: the amount of personal development experienced during the S‐L project, the perceived value of the S‐L project to the community organization, and the level of volunteerism prior to participation in an S‐L project. Results showed significant effects of all the proposed predictors on postgraduation volunteering. Our findings have implications for nonprofit managers charged with maintaining a sufficient level of volunteers to provide their community services as well as individuals who are responsible for organizing S‐L programs. These managerial implications and directions for future S‐L research are discussed.     

Hopelessness and suicidality in Turkish and American respondents

In samples of both Turkish and American students, the correlates of suicidal ideation were found to be similar, with depression, hopelessness, and attitudes toward the ownership of life predicting the level of suicidal ideation in both samples. Results using a Western measure of religiosity, however, were different in the two cultures, indicating the need for measures of religiosity specifically tailored for Turkish culture.     

Gender, Job Searching, and Employment Outcomes among Mexican Immigrants

Past quantitative research has typically disregarded the effect of gender on the relationship between social capital and immigrant adaptation. However, recent theory and qualitative evidence suggest that gender is a significant factor moderating this association. I use Mexican Migration Project (MMP) data regarding Mexican immigrant experiences in the U.S. to examine quantitatively how the process of job searching, and the effects of network-based job searching, vary by gender. Results show no evidence of overall sex differences in the likelihood of using network (i.e., family-based or friend-based) or individual (i.e., non-network) job search methods, but there are sex differences in the processes affecting job search method used. Settlement increases women’s use of their friend networks to obtain work, while for men, it decreases the use of networks of any kind. Contrary to conventional wisdom, women who use network-based job searches are less likely to obtain formal sector employment than women who find work without network assistance. Conversely, using network-based job searches increases the likelihood that men will find work in the formal sector. Since employment in the formal sector is correlated with wages, as well as nonwage benefits, this suggests that using networks in the job search has markedly different effects on the overall economic well-being of male and female Mexican immigrants in the U.S.     

Delayed Hospital Discharge and Mental Health: The Policy Implications of Recent Research

In 2003, the Community Care (Delayed Discharges etc.) Act introduced charges for social services departments unable to discharge patients from hospital within agreed timescales. As details of this reimbursement policy have begun to emerge, it has become apparent that the new system may also be extended to mental health services. In response, this narrative review of the literature on delayed hospital discharges and mental health reports findings from 12 studies, which raise important and timely concerns about the feasibility of reimbursement. Although a significant number of people experience delayed discharges from acute psychiatric services, the task of defining delayed discharges is complex and subjective, dependent on the professional background and seniority of the person making the judgement. Reasons behind delayed discharges are also multi‐factorial in nature and cannot be attributed to social services departments alone.     

Social Origins of Civil Society: Explaining the Nonprofit Sector Cross-Nationally

Recent research has usefully documented the contribution that nonprofit organizations make to social capital and to the economic and political development it seems to foster. Because of a gross lack of basic comparative data, however, the question of what it is that allows such organizations to develop remains far from settled. This article seeks to remedy this by testing five existing theories of the nonprofit sector against data assembled on eight countries as part of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project. The five theories are: (a) government failure/market failure theory; (b) supply-side theory; (c) trust theories; (d) welfare state theory; and (e) interdependence theory. The article finds none of these theories adequate to explain the variations among countries in either the size, the composition, or the financing of the nonprofit sector. On this basis it suggests a new theoretical approach to explaining patterns of nonprofit development among countries—the social origins approach—which focuses on broader social, political, and economic relationships. Using this theory, the article identifies four routes of third-sector development (the liberal, the social democratic, the corporatist, and the statist), each associated with a particular constellation of class relationships and pattern of state-society relations. The article then tests this theory against the eight-country data and finds that it helps make sense of anomalies left unexplained by the prevailing theories.