Initial Career and Work Meanings in Seven European Countries

This study explores the initial careers of two target groups of young adults in seven European countries. Career patterns have been constructed through cluster analysis on data gathered from the young adults through a retrospective self-report procedure covering a period of 2.5 years. Six career patterns have been identified across countries by the activities taking place (employment, various educational preparations, unemployment, military or civil service) and have been further described by personal and work-related variables as well as by meaning of work indices (work centrality, intrinsic versus extrinsic work orientations, and societal norms about working) and psychological well-being in the second year on the labor market. Suggestions for further research as well as the implications for career counseling, career education, organizational career guidance and development have been given.     

Money Management Patterns of Dual-Earner Families in Israel

The purpose of the present study is to assess money organizing patterns and banking arrangements in dual-earner families and how they are affected by both the economic and social context. A log linear analysis of data from the International Social Survey Program for working couples in Israel indicates that the combination of money organizing patterns and banking arrangements enables meaningful distinction between traditional, modern and individualistic spousal economic behavior modes. A further comparison of demographic, employment and attitudinal effects suggests that both the economic and social context approaches are necessary to identify the factors associated with different spousal economic behavior modes. Both the spouses' labor force positions and their attitudes regarding family roles contribute to their using a particular mode.     

Graduate education in sociology: What do we need to do differently?

Research methods should be the core of a sociology curriculum, but they need to be taught with more emphasis on application and with greater recognition of the importance of managerial and communicative skills. Participation in practicums or where feasible, internships in the private or public sector, should be part of that research training. Departments should select areas of specialization within sociology that reflect the faculty’s expertise, the university’s strengths or distinctiveness, and the social, economic and demographic characteristics of the area. But such basic sub-fields as history, stratification, theory, social psychology, demography and social organization must be included in every curriculum. How to go about selecting a worthwhile research problem and how to communicate results are skills that should be taught in a graduate program. She has been working on immigrants and U.S. immigration policy, and her most recent publication isInternational Migration: The Female Experience (co-edited with Caroline Brettell).     

An assessment of the accuracy of a regional economic-demographic projection model

A large number of regional economic-demographic projection models have been developed but their accuracy has seldom been evaluated. This article examines the accuracy of one such model in projecting total populations for 1980, using 1970 base data, for 106 counties and 553 places in two states. Comparisons of the model's projections to 1980 Census counts reveal mean percentage absolute differences of 10 percent for counties and 14 percent for places. In addition, the model's accuracy was comparable to that for alternative projection systems. When projections for places of less than 1,000 are excluded, differences are substantially reduced. Economic-demographic models appear to be quite useful and deserve further attention.     

Workplace support, role overload, and job satisfaction of direct care workers in assisted living

This study aims to enhance our understanding of job satisfaction of direct care workers in assisted living facilities. Low job satisfaction is related to high turnover rates and lower quality of care in assisted living. We integrate two theories of job satisfaction to investigate relationships among workplace support, role overload, and job satisfaction. Data are from a survey of 984 direct care workers in 108 assisted living facilities. Results from multilevel hierarchical linear models (HLM) indicate that job satisfaction varies both within and among facilities. Job satisfaction is negatively associated with role overload, and it is positively associated with institutional support, supervisor instrumental and emotional support, and coworker emotional support. These workplace support measures and role overload are separately and independently associated with job satisfaction. Enhancing job satisfaction of assisted living direct care workers will likely require a multipronged approach that includes improving institutional, supervisor, and coworker support while simultaneously directly addressing role overload.     

Gender nonconformity, homophobia, and mental distress in latino gay and bisexual men

This study explored whether gender nonconformity in gay and bisexual men is related to mental distress and if so, whether this relationship is mediated by negative experiences that are likely associated with gender nonconformity, including abuse and harassment. To study this question, data were analyzed from face-to face interviews with 912 self-identified gay and bisexual Latino men in three major U.S. cities collected by Diaz and colleagues (2001). Gay and bisexual Latino men who considered themselves to be effeminate had higher levels of mental distress and more frequently reported various negative experiences, compared with gay and bisexual Latino men who did not identify as effeminate. Higher levels of mental distress in effeminate men seemed to primarily result from more experiences of homophobia. Findings suggest the need for more attention to gender in research as well as counseling of sexual minority men.     

Information Technology,Adaptation and Innovation in Nonprofit Human Service Organizations

This report examines how two measures of performance—adaptation and innovation—can be predicted by the use of digital communication. It suggests that information technology in nonprofits offers strong leverage for adaptation but not for innovation. This suggests that (a) the two measures are dissimilar in both their nature and their relevance to organizational performance in nonprofit settings, (b) that service organizations are more likely to use information technology for adapting to change, and (c) it is probable that large and well-founded organizations will use IT for establishing innovations.     

Financing Empowerment? How Foreign Aid to Southern Ngos and Social Movements Undermines Grass‐Roots Mobilization

The article examines why many foreign‐funded, resource‐ rich movements in developing countries have been unable to produce the massive mobilization found in other successful social movements with access to fewer resources. While foreign ties have brought substantial benefits to local movements, many such social movements have limited grass‐roots support. The issue of external aid is at the core of an emerging research agenda in the fields of international relations, social movements, and development studies that focuses on the relationship between participatory development, democratization, and the process of transnationalization. Drawing on research work from these different fields, the article argues that by making constituency support irrelevant, internationalization through financial assistance has transformed conflict movements into consensus movements that follow an institutional, resource‐dependent, non‐conflictual strategy with no deep roots in the community. The article specifies the mechanisms by which foreign funding affects grass‐roots mobilization. These arguments are examined with respect to evidence from around the world.