Academic Engagement and Achievement Predict Career Adaptability

Abundant evidence indicates that personality, social, cultural, and contextual factors predict career adaptability. However, little research attends to the roles of academic engagement and achievement in career adaptability, especially in non‐Western cultural contexts. We examined the associations of perceived academic engagement dimensions (i.e., behavioral and emotional engagement) and academic achievement with facets of career adaptability among 324 Filipino high school students. Results of hierarchical regression analyses demonstrate that, after controlling for age and gender, behavioral engagement served as the strongest predictor of concern, curiosity, confidence, and control. In addition, perceived academic achievement was the weakest predictor of career adaptability dimensions. Our findings underscore the benefits of integrating active involvement in school‐related tasks to foster career adaptability in high school student populations.     

Employability,Poverty and the Spheres of Sociability – Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey

Policymakers in the UK and beyond have sought to promote interventions to encourage social capital‐building among disadvantaged groups. One specific concern is that those with limited access to social capital/social network relationships will be at greater risk of experiencing both unemployment and poverty. By analyzing longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), we seek to identify significant relationships between poverty and the likelihood of entering employment, and different measures of ‘sociability’ and social isolation. Crucially, we discuss if and how measures of sociability/social isolation are associated with jobseekers' varying chances of exiting and re‐entering work and how this varies with their experience of poverty. These issues are important because if sociability impacts on the likelihood of entering employment from a state of worklessness, then policymakers need to understand how cycles of social and labour market exclusion are associated with the rates of entering employment in order to develop effective interventions to improve jobseekers' employability and combat poverty. Following an analysis of BHPS data, we identify lessons for policy for combating long‐term unemployment and promoting social inclusion.     

The dynamics of returns to education in Uganda: National and subnational trends

We assess empirically the changes in returns to education at the subnational level in Uganda using the Uganda National Household Surveys for 2002–3 and 2005–6. Our results indicate that average returns to schooling tended to converge across regions in the last decade. The overall trend in convergence of returns to schooling took place at all levels of educational attainment and this behaviour in returns to education is mostly driven by the dynamics of returns to schooling in urban areas. We analyse subnational convergence in returns to education and unveil deviant dynamics in Northern Uganda. We discuss the potential challenges to inclusive economic growth in Uganda which are implied by our results.     

Quality of Life Predictors and Normative Data

This study identifies predictors and normative data for quality of life (QOL) in a sample of Portuguese adults from general population. A cross-sectional correlational study was undertaken with two hundred and fifty-five (N = 255) individuals from Portuguese general population (mean age 43 years, range 25–84 years; 148 females, 107 males). Participants completed the European Portuguese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life short-form instrument and the European Portuguese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Demographic information was also collected. Portuguese adults reported their QOL as good. The physical, psychological and environmental domains predicted 44 % of the variance of QOL. The strongest predictor was the physical domain and the weakest was social relationships. Age, educational level, socioeconomic status and emotional status were significantly correlated with QOL and explained 25 % of the variance of QOL. The strongest predictor of QOL was emotional status followed by education and age. QOL was significantly different according to: marital status; living place (mainland or islands); type of cohabitants; occupation; health. The sample of adults from general Portuguese population reported high levels of QOL. The life domain that better explained QOL was the physical domain. Among other variables, emotional status best predicted QOL. Further variables influenced overall QOL. These findings inform our understanding on adults from Portuguese general population QOL and can be helpful for researchers and practitioners using this assessment tool to compare their results with normative data.     

Standard statistical tools for the breed allocation problem

Modern technologies are frequently used in order to deal with new genomic problems. For instance, the STRUCTURE software is usually employed for breed assignment based on genetic information. However, standard statistical techniques offer a number of valuable tools which can be successfully used for dealing with most problems. In this paper, we investigated the capability of microsatellite markers for individual identification and their potential use for breed assignment of individuals in seventy Lidia breed lines and breeders. Traditional binomial logistic regression is applied to each line and used to assign one individual to a particular line. In addition, the area under receiver operating curve (AUC) criterion is used to measure the capability of the microsatellite-based models to separate the groups. This method allows us to identify which microsatellite loci are related to each line. Overall, only one subject was misclassified or a 99.94% correct allocation. The minimum observed AUC was 0.986 with an average of 0.997. These results suggest that our method is competitive for animal allocation and has some interpretative advantages and a strong relationship with methods based on SNPs and related techniques.     

Structured orthogonal families of one and two strata prime basis factorial models

The models in structured families correspond to the treatments of a fixed effects base design \(\pi \) . Then the action of factors in \(\pi \) , on the fixed effects parameters of the models, is studied. Analyzing such a families enables the study of the action of nesting factors on the effects and interactions of nested factors. When \(\pi \) has an orthogonal structure, the family of models is said to be orthogonal. The models in the family can have one, two or more strata. Models with more than one stratum are obtained through nesting of one stratum models. A general treatment of the case in which the base design has orthogonal structure is presented and a special emphasis is given to the families of prime basis factorials models. These last models are, as it is well known, widely used in fertilization trials.     

Mere religiosity is not enough! Spirituality strengthens the relations between religiosity and positive youth development

Although prior research shows that either religiosity or spirituality facilitates well-being, the interaction of both constructs in predicting positive youth development (PYD) in collectivistic contexts remains unknown. This study examined the moderating role of spirituality on the link between religiosity and PYD, including each of its Cs (i.e., competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring) among 1116 Filipino adolescents. Results demonstrate that both religiosity and spirituality are positively correlated with PYD and its dimensions. Furthermore, there is a significant interaction between religiosity and spirituality for the overall PYD construct and the socio-emotional Cs (i.e., connection, character, and caring). This study highlights the importance of young people's sense of connection with something beyond than themselves (i.e., spirituality) in promoting adolescent thriving.     

Quality of College Life (QCL) of Students: Further Validation of a Measure of Well-being

This paper reports a study designed to further validate a measure of quality of college life (QCL) of university students (Sirgy, Grzeskowiak, Rahtz, Soc Indic Res 80(2), 343–360, 2007). Two studies were conducted: a replication study and an extension study. The replication study involved surveys of 10 different college campuses in different countries. The results of the replication study provided additional nomological (predictive) validation support of the measure based on a theoretical model mapping out the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction with college life. With respect to the extension study, the focus was to further test the nomological validity of the QCL measure by arguing and empirically demonstrating that the consequence of QCL is life satisfaction. The extension study involved a survey of three college campuses in different countries. The results were also supportive of the nomological validity of the QCL measure.     

The municipal solid waste and the quality of life of collectors of recyclable materials in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais

The generation growing and diversified of Municipal Solid Waste is configured as an environmental problem, economic and social deterioration, especially, by application of inappropriate management of them. Faced with this urban context, the research in development presents as specific objective assessment of the quality of life of the gatherers of recyclable materials were active in the city of Juiz de Fora, in the brazilian state of Minas Gerais. In addition, the objective is, still, the recognition of the activity of sorting performed by "scavengers" in order to maximize the reduction, reuse and recycling energy and material waste daily. The proposed methodology is based on the application of the questionnaire Word Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-100), prepared by the World Health Organization, in order to value the quality of life of the gatherers of recyclable materials, involved, even in educational workshops in order to discuss and organize strategies of health care and scouting to the basement to public policies.