STUDENTS WHO CHOOSE AND THE SCHOOLS THEY LEAVE: Examining Participation in Intradistrict Transfers

Data from one urban school district is analyzed to examine equity‐based arguments about school choice as they pertain to intradistrict transfer policies. We specifically examine which factors influence the propensity for parents to participate in choice, and how choice schools differ from the schools that students are zoned to attend. We find that advantaged and disadvantaged parents make similar choices in that they are both likely to choose more affluent schools with better academic records than the schools they are zoned to attend. However, these choices operate in different spheres, as advantaged parents choose the most affluent schools with the best academic records, and disadvantaged parents choose away from the least affluent schools with the worst academic records to schools that are slightly better.     

Youth studies,citizenship and transitions: towards a new research agenda

A key goal in youth studies is to gain holistic understandings of what it means to be young. However, a significant impediment to achieving this has been the tendency of youth studies to develop along siloed and stratified subfields. In keeping with the goal of creating more productive dialogue between subfields in youth studies, this paper examines the intersections between research in youth citizenship and youth transitions to consider the fresh insights and cross fertilisations that such an analysis may yield. This examination reveals a sense of dissatisfaction in both subfields with traditional normative and linear models of citizenship and transitions which rely on step-wise and sequential notions of time. In response, the paper advances a new research agenda which posits more temporally, spatially and relationally-sensitive understandings of youth citizenship and transition. Drawing on Ingold (2007. Lines: A brief history. London: Routledge), this agenda proposes the use of three alternative metaphors – genealogical, wayfaring and threads – which could hold the potential to unsettle the normativity and linearity of previous youth transitions and citizenship frameworks, and thus provide deeper insights into what it means to live and to be young citizens in times of transition.     

Beratungsforschung mit,für oder ohne die Praxis?

This article deals with the extent to which consulting research and consulting practice are pulling in the same direction or whether the gap between them still seems insurmountable. Therefore we examine the literature on consulting research, report what kind of research coaching practitioners would consider beneficial and introduce first findings from an empirical survey in which coaching practitioners were asked about their motivation for—or against—taking part in coaching research.     

Teacher–Child Relationships from Kindergarten to Sixth Grade: Early Childhood Predictors of Teacher-perceived Conflict and Closeness

This article examined general trends in teacher-reported conflict and closeness among 878 children from kindergarten through sixth grade, and examined early childhood characteristics that predict differences in initial levels and growth of conflict and closeness over time. Results indicated modest stability of teacher-perceived conflict and closeness through sixth grade, with relatively greater stability in perceptions of conflict. Levels of conflict at kindergarten were higher for children who were male, Black, had greater mean hours of childcare, had lower academic achievement scores, and had greater externalizing behavior. Children identified as Black and those with less sensitive mothers were at greater risk for increased conflict with teachers over time. Levels of teacher-reported closeness were lower when children were male, had lower quality home environments, and had lower academic achievement scores. The gap in closeness ratings between males and females increased in the middle elementary school years. Additional analyses were conduced to explore differences in teacher ratings of conflict between Black and White students.     

Hedging Against Heritage: Jewish Identity Reconsidered: Commentary on Bahar's “Coming Out as Queen”

In this paper, I first survey the ways in which bisexuality was understood by late 19th-century sexologists, by Freud and his followers, by Alfred Kinsey, and by contemporary social scientists and political activists. Then the three domains distinguished by Freud in which bisexuality is currently being examined are surveyed: biological bisexuality, psychological bisexuality (in terms of gender), and kinds of object choice. Particular areas of research that indicate how questions about bisexuality are currently being considered are mapped, for example, transsexualism. The final part of the paper is an inquiry into the ways in which objects are bisexual, a domain that has been neglected in the complex history of work on bisexuality.     

How People Perceive and Will Cope with Risks from the Diffusion of Ubiquitous Information and Communication Technologies

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly pervasive and continue to reshape our environment. This trend carries different risks. Therefore, the early sensitization of people to these risks, as well as improving their capacity for protective coping behavior, is essential. Based on the protection motivation theory (PMT), we examined with structural equation modeling the relationships between different components of threat and coping appraisal to explain protective and nonprotective responses. Calculations were performed with data from a representative survey on perception and use of ICT among German residents (N= 5,030). Our findings largely supported the proposed model: an increased perceived threat was positively related to the intentions to react protectively and nonprotectively. Perceived coping efficacy increased the protective and decreased the nonprotective responses. Negative affect enhanced the perceived threat and the nonprotective response, but inhibited protective intentions. The implications of these findings on how to sensitize people to the risks of these new technologies are outlined.     

Toward a Feminist Political Economics

Feminist critiques of globalization have received insufficient attention in public discourse.Spike Peterson's RVP framework integrates feminist scholarship in a way that adds punch to such critiques. Its main contribution consists in bringing into view women's labor in the 'reproductive' economy. A shortcoming is that it retains the opposition between production and reproduction. The RVP framework is built on a constructivist ontology that allows for the integration of discursive and institutionalist approaches and provides grounds for further theoretical elaboration.     

Fire Risks in Oil Refineries: Economic Analysis of Camera Monitoring

A probabilistic method is presented to evaluate the economic value of fire monitoring by closed circuit TV camera in petroleum refineries. The proposed model is restricted to the analysis of risk reduction in an area where fires can be caused either by pump failure or by failure of valves and lines. The benefits come from reducing the time during which the fire grows undetected. Fire growth and expected values of losses are analyzed by a Markov model that includes five phases: (1) active undetected growth, (2) detection, (3) fire growth at the beginning of the firemen's intervention, (4) fire control, and (5) fire extinction. The results (e.g., the expected net present value of the investment) show that the proposed monitoring investment is attractive for an illustrative example.     

The Cadbury Committee recommendations on corporate governance – a review of compliance and performance impacts

In December 1992, the Cadbury Committee published their Code of Best Practice. The recommendations, which largely reflected perceived best practice at the time, included separating the roles of CEO and chairman, having a minimum of three non-executive directors on the board and the formulation of audit committees. The Code also advocated that a more active role be taken by institutional investors in the promotion of good practice in corporate governance. This paper discusses how agency problems may be (partially) resolved by corporate governance, reviews the evidence on compliance with the Cadbury Code and examines the relationship between board structure and firm performance, looking for evidence that the Code has enhanced board performance. While there is no empirical evidence of an association between board structure and firm value, there is some evidence that compliance with the Cadbury recommendations enhances board oversight with respect to the manipulation of accounting numbers and the discipline of the top executive.