Impact of the Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Programs on the Employment of Women in the US

Abstract. This study examines the impact that Equal Employment Opportunity and affirmative action programs that were implemented in 1965 have had on the employment of women relative to that of men in the United States. Using time series data covering the period 1947-1988. the results indicate that women in the 20-54 age group benefitted in terms of greater stability of employment (i.e. less sensitivity to short-run variations in employment) over the period 1965-1980 while they lost some of these gains over the period 1981-1988 (corresponding to the tenure of the Reagan Administration). Men in the same age group, on the other hand, experienced the opposite effect. That is. men in the 20-54 age group became more sensitive to short-run variations in employment over the period 1965-1980 and less sensitive over the period 1981-1988. The evidence also indicates that the EEO and affirmative action programs had the effect of increasing the share of projected employment of women in the 20-24 age group and in the 55-64 age. group while decreasing the share of projected employment of men in the comparable age groups.     

Language educators’ regard for variation in late modernity: Perceptions of linguistic variation in minority contexts

This article investigates language educators’ regard for linguistic variation in a minority language context. It argues that teachers function as language norm authorities who may influence the linguistic practices and ideologies of students, and that this role takes on added significance in minority language contexts where access to the target language may be limited. Data are presented from a study on the linguistic ideologies of Irish language educators – ‘new speakers’ who acquired the language mainly thorough the education system. Participants’ ideologies on variation in modern spoken Irish were explored using semi‐structured interviews incorporating a speaker evaluation design. Although participants valorise traditional dialectal varieties of Irish, in line with established hierarchies, ideological frameworks are contested so that new ways of using Irish are beginning to gain overt acceptance. The results reveal the manner in which hierarchies of language variation in the Irish language are in flux in our contemporary late‐modern period.     

Treatment of Marital Disharmony Where One Spouse Has A Primary Affective Disorder (Manic Depressive Illness): I. General Overview—100 Couples*

This paper gives a general overview of the treatment of marital disharmony where one spouse has a primary affective disorder. This is the first of a series of clinical-statistical studies on the subject. Neither purely clinical conclusions without the insights of statistics nor vice versa are sufficient methodologically. By treatment we mean a variety of interventions ranging from psychotherapies to somatotherapies (pharmaceuticals and/or electroconvulsive therapy [ECT]). By marital disharmony we mean where the nature of the marital relationship is such that it leads to sufficient pain in either or both spouses to warrent treatment.     

The Determinants of Non-Executive Representation on the Boards of Large UK Companies

An important aspect of current governance practice is theutilisation of non-executive directors to monitor the behaviourof senior management. The purpose of this paper is to provide aninitial insight on the determinants of non-executiverepresentation on the boards of large UK companies. The studyadopts an agency theory perspective, focusing specifically on theimpact of company size and ownership on non-executiverepresentation. I find that larger companies, where monitoringvia ownership is expected to be less efficient, utilise higherlevels of non-executive representation. I also find thatnon-executive representation is positively associated with theownership of external blockholders. The presence of CEO/chairmanduality has a negative impact on non-executive representation. Overall, the findings suggest that companies utilise boards withstronger monitoring potential when size and ownershipcharacteristics suggest that alternative governance mechanismsmay be unable to ensure managers pursue shareholders' interests.     

Supporting familial and community care for children: legislative reform and implementation challenges in South Africa

This article critically evaluates important legislative reforms in South Africa, which, at the height of the AIDS pandemic, are intended to reduce the need for removing children from their families or communities. In a textual analysis of the 2005 Children's Act and the 2006 Children's Act Amendment Bill, the shift in focus from individual interventions to a developmental approach incorporating prevention and early intervention is explained. New family service and alternative care orders such as partial care, shared care, cluster care and support for child-headed households are described. Although these creative solutions have considerable potential, there are gaps in the legislation that require supplementary wording. Drawing on the work of researchers and commentators, it is also shown that an inappropriate approach towards implementation has commenced, which harms rather than assists children. Recommendations are made for improving implementation that may be of relevance to other countries faced with similar challenges.     

Social structure and personal choice

A review of representative literature in the newly developing area of alternative lifestyle research suggests an antisocial structural bias. The origin of this trend and its implications for a theoretically based social science of alternative lifestyles are explored. The aged, women, and Black families are viewed as examples where social structural conditions affect the diversity of intimacy, marriage, and family alternative lifestyles chosen. Current definitions of alternative lifestyles, individual freedom, and choice are seen as reflecting and supporting the social, political, and economic status quo in American society. It is concluded that a social science of alternative lifestyles is only possible when we more fully understand the individual, institutional, and historical dynamics determining the availability and feasibility of alternatives in intimacy, marriage, and family life.     

Differentiating,Collaborating, Outdoing: Nordic Identity and Marginality in the Contemporary World

This article compares the interplay between Europe and Scandinavian countries with interactions at other margins, and speculates on the prospects for Nordic identity. It uses an idea of the possibilities inherent in the "marginality" of a society, applying that conception to situations past and present. A summary exposition indicates how Scandinavian countries have negotiated their marginality in a "Nordic posture" of political independence and economic and cultural ties to "more advanced" societies. These interactions with Europe are then compared with other contemporary margins (i.e., ex-colonized societies, ex-soviet bloc countries, EU states, countries experiencing globalization). While similar, Nordic societies are distinctly more successful in exploiting marginality: practiced in cooperating or emulating "Europe" while sometimes finding space to outdo it. This article thus suggests continuing vigor in some version of Nordic distinctiveness. The late 20th century decline of confidence in a separate Nordic identity need not therefore end Scandinavia's advantageous position on the margins.     

Picking Up the Mantle of “Expert”: Assigned Roles,Assertion of Identity,and Peer Recognition Within a Programming Class

Changing an established role in a classroom is difficult. It involves constructing a new set of relations within a community. In this article we investigate how students with newly developed interest and experience in programming developed outside the classroom pick up and establish their roles as experts in programming within the classroom community. More specifically, we focus on how two 11-year-old software designers shifted their established roles in their classroom to gain status as expert programmers. We use an identity lens to understand how peer expertise was established in the context of a classroom community, adopting a multifaceted perspective of identity by focusing on an individual's narrativization of self, full, or peripheral participation among a group of people, and individuals' social recognition by others. Our findings point to the importance of both positive positioning by authority figures in the classroom and activities and roles that provide opportunities to establish intersubjectivity among peers in facilitating students' identities as experts in the classroom. Students' willingness to take up a new position in the established activity system also played a role. We consider implications of how making roles flexible within classroom stratification may provide opportunities for more students see themselves as experts.