Racial/Ethnic Minority Community College Students' Critical Consciousness and Social Cognitive Career Outcomes

A need exists to better understand how racial/ethnic minority students' critical consciousness development in response to marginalization may be involved in their educational and career development. We therefore examined the link between critical consciousness development and career decision self-efficacy and career outcome expectations among racial/ethnic minority community college students. Following social cognitive career theory's conceptual pillars, we developed a testable model integrating critical consciousness and social cognitive variables. This model was tested with 135 racially and ethnically diverse community college students. Data analysis included path analyses and tests of model fit using structural equation modeling. Results suggested that (a) higher critical agency is linked to higher career decision self-efficacy and outcome expectations and (b) critical action and reflection have a bidirectional link and predict higher critical agency. Implications for research and practice aiming to close educational and career gaps among racial/ethnic minorities are discussed.     

Identity work in female‐led creative businesses

This study explores the identity work carried out by three female owner‐managers in creative industry businesses, identified in Government reports as a discriminatory industrial sector for women in the UK. Through the development of narratives by the owners and other participants, observation of practice and review of online and offline materials, three cases emerged. These showed overlapping, different identities developed and performed through identity work. Each presented rational and logical persona as business leaders despite observation showing extensive use of intuition and gut feeling in both creative and entrepreneurial aspects of the business. Intuition and gut feeling were seen as inappropriate at work as they belonged to the home sphere, emotionally based and therefore automatically unreliable. While occupying male stereotypes and avoiding the female realm of emotion at work, these women expressed femininity through their emphasis on the maternal, ‘being a good mother' as a desired ideal being embedded in work as well as home practice.     

An Evaluation of Staff Preference for Graphic Characteristics

The purpose of the current study was to assess staff preference for how data were displayed on graphs. Specifically, preference for line versus bar graphs was assessed, as well as preference for data displayed as one date in time versus multiple dates showing performance trends. A secondary purpose of the study was to assess staff comprehension of the data presented across different graphic displays. Participants included 60 entry-level direct care staff and 25 seasoned therapists. Therapists had more advanced training in applied behavior analysis than the direct care staff. The vast majority of direct care staff preferred data depicted as a bar graph versus data depicted as a line graph, even preferring a single bar graph over a time-series line graph. The therapists preferred time-series line graphs to bar graphs. Most staff demonstrated understanding of the data, regardless of how it was depicted.     

Leader-employee congruence of expected contributions in the employee-organization relationship

Employees' expected contributions can be incongruent with those of their leader. We examine the congruence effect of leaders' and employees' expected contributions on job satisfaction. Results of cross-level polynomial regressions on 947 employees and 224 leaders support the congruence effect. When expected contributions are congruent, employees are more satisfied with their job. Our findings suggest that employees enjoy high challenges, as long as these challenges are in harmony with the expected contributions of their leaders. Employees are less satisfied with their jobs both when their expected contributions were higher than their leaders' and when their expected contributions were lower than those of their leaders. Beyond the relevance of having high expected contributions, the findings highlight the crucial role played by the congruence of expected contributions of leaders and employees.     

Class participation as a pedagogical tool in social work education

Class participation is an essential part of the social work pedagogy. However, active student engagement in classes is inconsistent and varies based on factors such as social backgrounds, educational background, and individual characteristics. Instructors often evaluate participation based on frequency of verbal contributions. Evaluation criteria are often unarticulated or difficult to measure, presenting numerous challenges for instructors and students alike. A model of reflective self-assessment of participation by students, paired with timely instructor feedback is put forth in this paper to mitigate these concerns. The steps in this model include initial self-assessment, goal setting, midterm review, and a final review. The process of continuous self-evaluation and problem-solving is discussed as strategies that aid the process of class participation. Three instructor touch points are suggested: at the goal-setting stage, the midterm review, and the final grade. Throughout the paper, connections to social work practice and social work pedagogy are highlighted. This model has yet to be implemented in a social work school’s curriculum. Challenges in the implementation and resolution of those challenges are also presented. This model suggests ways to enhance opportunities for student engagement and integration into graduate programs, in addition to fostering valuable skills for future practice in the field.     

Tracking weight change,insulin resistance,stress, and aerobic fitness over 4 years of college

Objective: To determine if weight gain is accompanied by development of insulin resistance (IR) during 4 years in college. Participants: Two cohorts of college students were enrolled in fall semesters 2009 and 2010 and tracked for 4 years. Methods: Following a 12-hour fast, subjects reported for measurement of body mass index (BMI), perceived stress (PSS), aerobic fitness, and blood glucose, insulin, and lipids. Results: In the first year, 33% of subjects were overweight or obese, and 20% were hyperinsulinemic. Year 4 had 29 remaining subjects with disproportionate attrition of overweight and obese individuals. Just over half the subjects gained weight (WI), whereas nearly 30% lost considerable amounts (WD). WD showed significant decline in fasting insulin, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and PSS from year 1. WI was primarily highly fit men who did not demonstrate increased IR. Conclusion: WI was not associated with IR over 4 years of college.     

Minority Stress,Emotion Regulation,and the Parenting of Sexual-Minority Youth

ABSTRACT

Despite increasing societal acceptance of sexual-minority individuals, there are still gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) adolescents who experience negative mental health outcomes. Minority stress theory posits that stigma-related stress associated with sexual-minority status drives increased risk among GLB individuals. Furthermore, recent evidence suggests that minority stress impacts emotion regulation (ER), identified as a particularly important risk factor for sexual-minority youth (SMY). Current research has identified some aspects of parenting contribute to GLB youth's mental health. We review the literature in these areas, and also integrate research from the broader developmental field on families and emotion socialization in order to identify the need for studies of parenting that go beyond existing data on parental acceptance and supportiveness of youth's sexual orientation. Limitations of the current literature and directions for future research are discussed, with specific focus on implications for interventions with SMY and their families.     

Integrative and Masking Emotion Work: Marital Outcomes Among Dual-Earner Couples

This study redresses a gap in the literature concerning the outcomes of emotion work by exploring how both integrative and masking emotion work relate to marital quality and marital conflict. Using data from a random sample of dual-earner couples in a northeastern city in an upper Midwestern state (n = 99 couples), this study explores the emotion-work performance of each partner. The findings show that men’s integrative emotion work is only significantly associated with men’s marital quality, whereas men’s masking emotion work significantly predicts their partner’s marital quality, men’s marital quality, and men’s marital conflict. Women’s integrative emotion work is significantly associated with women’s marital quality and their partner’s marital conflict, whereas women’s masking emotion work predicts women’s marital quality and marital conflict. Altogether, the findings suggest that considering both masking and integrative emotion work helps gain a fuller understanding of how emotion work shapes marital outcomes.     

Family Experiences of Competition and Adolescent Performance

The authors examined how mothers' and fathers' feelings of competition at home and work affect their relationships with their daughters and sons using time‐diary data from a national sample of 220 families. Multivariate analyses revealed 3 relationships between parents' feelings of competitiveness at work and home and feelings of competition experienced by their children at school and home: (a) parents' and adolescents' competitiveness varied across home, work, and school—with mothers and fathers reporting similar levels of competition at work but daughters feeling more competitive at school than sons; (b) parents' competition at work was associated with similar activities; however, daughters' and sons' competition at school varied by activities; and (c) mothers' competition was associated with strategies for college enrollment and varied by gender, most notably with respect to daughters' academic progress. The results suggest how parents' competitive disposition may motivate their children's academic performance, especially between working mothers and their daughters.     

Professional identity: How communication management practitioners identify with their industry

This paper explores the current status of professionalization of communication management practice which emerged from a content analysis of 360 responses to questions exploring the nature of practitioner identity (or dis-identity) with communication management. The results revealed that positive identification arose from an ability to influence, emulate the professional values of peers, and cohesion with the wider practitioner community. Conversely, dis-identification arose from the poor performance of colleagues, advice not being taken, and media ‘spin’.