Choosing colleges: Identifying and modeling choice sets

Although largely ignored in the growing literature about college choice that adopts a random utility modeling framework, there is reason to believe that the estimates are sensitive to the criteria used to define the choice sets. Accordingly, this paper examines the methodological and substantive implications of using merit (class rank) and socioeconomic (high school strata) to define college choice sets. Using Texas as a case study, results show that criteria used to constrain choice sets—and type of high school attend in particular—not only produce quite different post-secondary institutional profiles, but also different estimates of institutional attributes on students’ top choice. These findings have methodological implications for future research about college choice and substantive importance for the prospects that the Texas top 10% law, which guarantees automatic admission to students who graduate in the top decile of their high school class, will equalize access to the state’s competitive public institutions.     

Gender,family negotiations and academic success of young Moroccan women in Spain

This article examines the lives of pioneering young women from Morocco, the first to enjoy educational and social success in Catalonia, by analyzing the family negotiations entered into during this process. The study is based on the life stories of these young Moroccan women and on ideas that emerge from discussion groups involving the women themselves and experts in education and other fields. We report that the young women perceive a certain degree of flexibility on the part of their families in their intra-family relations and the model of woman they are prepared to accept. However, our study also provides evidence of the fact that their success is associated with a constant process of negotiation, the women having to exercise their agency above and beyond their parental expectations and control, leaving them in a position of solitude.     

A very ‘prudent integration’: white flight,school segregation and the depoliticization of (anti-)racism

This article explores the contemporary legitimation of institutional racism resulting from the prevailing depoliticized framework of integration, which became prominent in the 1960s and is now hegemonic in political and academic debate in Europe. Integration has helped shift the focus to the supposed cultural inadequacies of ethnically marked populations, who ought to show a willingness to pursue the modern dream; simultaneously, it has invisibilized institutional racism and made an anti-racist repertoire unavailable. This argument is illustrated through a case of white flight and school segregation in a rural area in Portugal, revealing both the enduring racism against the Roma/Gypsies – suppressed and repressed throughout the last five centuries in Europe – and its depoliticization within the normal working of institutions. It draws on qualitative research with representatives from public bodies and mediating agents (e.g. teachers and social workers), as well as on analysis of the official reports by the Portuguese state and European institutions.     

The Involvement of a Concerned Significant Other in Gambling Disorder Treatment Outcome

Interpersonal distress is a common feature in gambling disorder and adding a concerned significant other (CSO) to the recovery process could be an effective tool for improving treatment outcome. However, little empirical evidence is available regarding the effectiveness of including a CSO to interventions. We aimed to compare treatment outcomes (i.e. compliance with therapy guidelines, dropout from treatment, and relapse during treatment) in a CBT program involving a CSO to CBT treatment as usual (TAU) without a CSO. The sample comprised male gambling disorder patients (N = 675). The manualized CBT intervention consisted of 16 weekly outpatient group sessions and a 3-month follow-up period. Patient CSOs attended a predetermined number of sessions with the patient and were provided with resources to acquire a better understanding of the disorder, to manage risk situations, and to aid patients in adhering to treatment guidelines. Patients with a CSO had significant higher treatment attendance and reduced dropout compared to patients receiving TAU. Moreover, patients whose spouse was involved in the treatment program were less likely to relapse and adhered to the treatment guidelines more than those with a non-spousal CSO. Our results suggest that incorporating interpersonal support to gambling disorder interventions could potentially improve treatment outcomes.     

Evidence Review on Labour Market and Job Place Retention: Mentoring Pathways Towards Employment

In Europe, there are four main active labour market programs: training, job search assistance, wage subsidies and subsidized public sector employment. Literature indicates that among all four, job search assistance, which includes mentoring, is the active employment policy with the most positive results. This paper, an output of an European funded project work package, is aimed to answer the question ‘What is there that says that mentoring is effective in job place retention?’ In order to answer this question, we conducted a literature review. In terms of content, our literature review’s results could be categorized into 14 main topics: Retention, Employee, Supervisor, Leadership, Education, Health Care, Management &; Marketing, ICT &; IT, Finance, Programme, Benefits, Mentee, Mentor, Less positive about mentoring. In addition to the academic literature review, we conducted a review in four different EU countries: Cyprus, Romania, Hungary and Portugal. Based on these reviews we will discuss the recommendations considering the three types of actors present in an effective mentoring process: mentoring coordinator, mentor and mentee.     

Breast Surgery as a Gender Technology: Analyzing Plastic Surgeons’ Discourses

This article explores the role of breast surgery as a gender technology by considering the discourse of plastic surgeons. We analyze the gender discourses that come into play when surgeons are asked to distinguish between 3 cases of breast surgery: breast implantation for transsexual women, postmastectomy breast intervention, and breast augmentation for aesthetic reasons. In the surgeons’ discourses, the 3 interventions are situated in the reconstruction/cosmetic divide. However, we can see that this boundary is profoundly influenced by cultural conceptions of gender. These gendered conceptions affect what is labeled normal/abnormal, what demands are considered legitimate, and which bodies are deemed able to possess certain attributes.     

The Drivers of Voluntary Transparency in Nonprofits: Professionalization and Partnerships with Firms as Determinants

This research analyzes the drivers of voluntary transparency in nonprofit organizations (NPOs). Particularly, we assess the influence of key internal and external resource providers—paid staff and business partners—on the extent to which NPOs make accessible relevant information about themselves for public scrutiny on a voluntary basis. First, we conceptualize transparency as one of the critical dimensions of accountability and explain how it has become a key issue for NPOs. Second, we discuss professionalization and business–nonprofit partnerships as business-oriented strategies directly connected to the main challenges (and controversies) NPOs face. Third, following institutional theory as core theoretical framework, we propose a set of hypotheses linking those strategies to transparency. Their influence will be measured through an empirical research based on a survey to a representative sample of 325 NPOs. Regression analysis and probit models will be used to test the hypotheses. The results confirm the positive effects of both professionalization and partnerships, although each strategy influences different dimensions of transparency.     

Instruments of trainers' activity: the use of refentials in processes of recognition and validation of prior learning

In Portugal, recognition and validation of prior learning has emerged as an important training practice. Since 2001, it has been possible to obtain an academic certification by valuing learning, regardless of its origin. The current study was conducted with trainers and adults who were involved in processes of recognition, validation and certification of competences (RVCC). This research study, using qualitative research methods, described and tried to develop the comprehension of the use of referentials as instruments of trainers' activity. This analysis focused especially on three aspects: (i) the organization and development of RVCC processes; (ii) trainers' role in these processes; and (iii) the use of a referential as an instrument of activity. The findings suggested that the referential used in these processes mediates trainers' activity, functioning as competences identification guides. After an initial appropriation, trainers reconceptualize the referential by creating their own grids. There is clear variability in the use of this guiding document. Trainers revealed ambivalence towards the autonomy that they have in their work activity. Although they assess the opportunity to individually and freely create their work instruments in a positive way, they also lack a collective support and validation.