The Viability of Career Maturity Theory: A Developmental—Contextual Perspective

The critical role of the timing of person—context interactions is important in the conceptualization of the school-to-work transition. It is argued that career maturity, with its focus on the individual and its ties to stage models and notions of age-appropriateness, gives insufficient attention to the particular contexts of time and culture within which it may be observed. The use of recent advances in developmental theory is suggested as a viable alternative for understanding developmental transitions. Findings from the research literature and from a recent study of young adults from former East Germany and former West Germany are cited in support of this proposal. These findings highlight limitations of the construct of career maturity in showing how individual differences and contextual factors contribute to the school-to-work transition in contrasting environments of former East and West Germany.     

Think tanks, free market academics, and the triumph of the right

These two books address different dimensions of the triumphal rise of free market ideas. Thomas Medvetz analyzes the emergence of think tanks as a new organizational form in the United States and explains why they have effectively reduced the influence of most academic intellectuals on policy making. Angus Burgin analyzes the emergence and history of the Mont Pèlerin Society—the free market group that was founded by Friedrich Hayek—which had a decisive influence on conservative thought.     

Forecasting Materials Damage from Air Pollution

Forecasts of materials damage from air pollution require (a) knowledge of a “damage function,” (b) an estimate of the exposure of materials to pollutants and other factors that enter into the dose relationship, and (c) the quantity and characteristics of the exposed materials. Uncertainty about any of these factors can lead to unacceptable uncertainty or bias in damage forecasts. Particular attention is given to the influence of the spatial units used to derive forecasts of materials damage. Environmental corrosion can vary significantly over relatively small geographic areas; accordingly, the choice of spatial unit can have an impact on forecasts of damage. The environmental factors that influence materials damage may not be independent over the time of exposure. There appears to be some evidence, for example, that SO₂ is not independent of time of wetness, both factors in metal corrosion.     

Thinking critically about the Internet: suggestions for practitioners

Parents have a long history of seeking child-rearing information in the popular media. This trend continues on the World Wide Web, with the number of parents online still on the rise. The Web offers speed, 24-hour access, and extremely large quantities of child rearing information. Although the availability of huge quantities of childrearing information has many positive aspects, there is a serious risk of exposure to erroneous and potentially harmful information due to the absence of monitoring of online material. This article summarizes the literature on parents' Web use and describes several steps that, if taken, will help to lessen the chance of parents' exposure to risky online material. The steps include: making parents aware of the risks, providing them with sets of screened sites that they can trust, and teaching them a few simple Web skills to improve their searching and their assessment of sites' trustworthiness.     

Out of touch: local government and disabled people's employment needs

In autumn 2003 we contracted to undertake a study in two district council areas of ways in which they could meet their Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) targets in respect of disabled people returning to work. We undertook a literature review of barriers to work, interviewed a number of people involved in working with unemployed people and a number of disabled people in these areas. All the employment organisations we had contact with were working to an individual model of disability and the need to change their orientation became the central recommendation of the first phase of this study. This was rejected by those funding the study. At the end of the first year none of the organisations active in this area was able to identify a single disabled person who had returned to work as a result of their help. We conclude that central government policies are doing little to change the perception of the employment needs of disabled people within local government.     

Probabilistic-Based Structural Specifications

The construction industry is both the largest civilian industry and the most unique in terms of fragmentation and its approach to controlling risk. Structural specifications establish nominal safety factors and design criteria for engineered structures such as buildings, bridges, dams, and power facilities. The goal is satisfactory strength capacity to safely and economically meet the demands of structural performance. Structures must resist the highly uncertain effects of combined gravity, earthquakes, wind, and snow loads supported by natural and human-made materials. The public's expectation is that structures should last a long time and have low lifetime risk of structural failure. Historically, specifications have contained safety factors which evolved from past experiences and provided adequate safety or low risk. Due to pressures of economy and the need to optimize structural performance, structural specifications have recently been developed and accepted by industry based on structural reliability and risk-assessment principles. This paper reviews developments of probabilistic applications in structural specifications including specification format, database, implementation examples, target risk levels, present research activities, and future goals for establishing optimal risk-design procedures.