Computer‐Assisted Career Guidance Systems: A Part of NCDA History

The first computer‐assisted career planning systems were developed in the late 1960s and were based soundly on the best of career development and decision‐making theory. Over the years, this tradition has continued as the technology that delivers these systems’ content has improved dramatically and as they have been universally accepted as effective tools for career guidance practice. Although their widespread use in the United States is currently affected by financial conditions, the potential for using these systems in developing countries as a part of their implementation of career guidance services is promising.     

Marginalization by the Marginalized: Race,Homophobia, Heterosexism,and “the Problem of the 21st Century”

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States. This historic election occurred 105 years after W. E. B. Du Bois proclaimed in the introduction to The Souls of Black Folk, “the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line” (1994, p. v). According to Du Bois, the problem of the color line is racialized segregation and oppression. This article posits, however, that “the problem of the 21st century” is the further marginalization within already marginalized groups, and this article focuses on the history and occurrence of homophobia and heterosexism within the African American community as well as its links to gender discrimination. Special focus is placed on the Black Church as a possible causal factor for homophobia and heterosexism in the African American community. Possible solutions are also proposed, which consist of a nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage and African American leaders actively and publicly supporting lesbian, gay, and bisexual members of the African American community.     

A Temp in Life A Discussion of Deborah Waxenberg's “On Not Being Supposed To”

A discussion of Deborah Waxenberg's clinical case presentation of a woman with severe inhibitions in work, in intimate relationships, and in the realm of sexuality. The case material is considered in terms of its impact on a reader/listener as a way to consider parallel process in treatment and in supervision. Questions of gender identity, of sexual orientation, and enactment and its sequelae are addressed, along with questions of the patient's narcissism in relation to her experience and representation of her parental imagoes.     

Women and the Wild: Gender Socialization in Wilderness Recreation Advertising

Women are underrepresented in wilderness recreation despite the numerous benefits such activities provide to mental, physical, and emotional health. Several theories have been proposed linking women??s beliefs about their competence in outdoor spaces, fears of victimization, and concerns over retaining femininity to their lack of participation. We explore media representations of wilderness recreation as a possible agent in the gender socialization process that dissuades women from participation. Through analyzing advertisements from the 42 issues of Backpacker and Outside magazines published in 2008 and 2009 we find that, when women are shown, they are portrayed as having limited and passive roles in wilderness recreation. These advertisements also use the setting to reinforce traditional gender arrangements and paint women as consumers rather than conquerors of the wild. When women are shown as active participants in wilderness recreation, their physical accomplishments are often either downplayed or depicted as the endeavors of ??unique?? women who require feminization.     

UK Privatization: Its Impact on Procurement

This study is concerned with changes in procurement and supply chain management in UK privatized companies. In most cases, privatization requires the organization to develop a completely new approach. This is because of the change in ownership and the new competitive environment into which the company moves. Part of this reassessment of the business by senior management can be expected to include procurement. The paper focuses on the nature and direction of the changes in procurement associated with privatization, based on research into the privatized sector in Britain. The method adopted involves an extensive questionnaire completed by 28 major companies privatized in the UK, followed up by interviews with twelve of these companies. Questions centre on the following key areas: changes in the structure of procurement, procurement strategy, the role and profile of procurement within the company, attitudes to outsourcing and supplier performance and changes in approach to assessing the performance of the procurement function. Our results indicate extensive change. Although cost reduction is often a driver of these changes, as the companies strive to reduce costs to meet City expectations and best practice in the private sector, another consideration is the contribution that procurement can make to the overall strategy of the company, so as to gain and maintain competitive advantage.     

The Comparative Contributions of Congruence and Social Support in Career Outcomes

The authors assessed the relative contributions of social support and interest‐occupation congruence in job satisfaction and tenure. Congruence predicted 13% of the variance in job satisfaction for men, but it was not a significant predictor of job satisfaction for women. Social support accounted for 10% of the variance in job satisfaction for women but was not a significant predictor for men. Neither congruence nor social support predicted tenure. Implications for vocational counseling are discussed.     

Hispanics in Higher Education and the Texas Top 10% Law

This paper examines the consequences of changes in Hispanic college enrollment after affirmative action was banned and replaced by an admission guarantee for students who graduate in the top 10% of their high school class. We use administrative data on applicants, admittees, and enrollees from the two most selective public institutions and Texas Education Agency data about high schools to evaluate whether and how application, admission, and enrollment rates changed under the three admission regimes. Despite popular claims that the top 10% law has restored diversity to Texas’s public flagships, our analyses that account for secular changes in the size of graduation cohorts show that Hispanics are more disadvantaged relative to whites under the top 10% admission regime at both University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University. Simulations of Hispanics’ gains and losses at each stage of the college pipeline reveal that affirmative action is the most efficient policy to diversify college campuses, even in highly segregated states like Texas.