Schooling the public on boys: the ongoing salience in media representations of the “crisis” in boys’ education

This paper explores the salience of the “crisis” in boys’ education as it is articulated in Australian print media. We will consider the ways in which this crisis is expressed through a gendered language which simultaneously represents boys as “forgotten” by teaching practices thought to be prioritising girls’ learning, and as an equity (disadvantaged) grouping who require specialised teaching methods different from those currently offered within the Australian school system. Further, we will examine the extent to which feminist-inspired reforms in education are either implicitly or explicitly referenced as an explanation for boys’ apparently poor education attainment, and relatedly consider the work of “experts” supporting claims of a pro-feminine bias that adversely affects boys’ learning outcomes, particularly those experts offering neurological or psychological/cognitive findings which assert a biological basis for gender difference. In this context, we argue that rather than advancing gender equity in schools, popular public discourse, as presented in Australian print media, reinforces and perpetuates notions of gender difference and masculine entitlement.     

Practitioner research for the professionalization of human resources practice: empirical data from the Netherlands

Despite the growing interest in and literature regarding practitioner research in human resources (HR), not much is known about the factors that play a role in the actual practice by HR practitioners. This article describes an explorative study to gain empirical insight into the use and quality of practitioner research in HR practice. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 Dutch HR practitioners from diverse backgrounds, posing questions about (1) their definitions of practitioner research, (2) the characteristics of the research they perform, (3) the quality and usability of the research projects in which they have taken part, and (4) the forces that drive or hinder practitioner research. We constructed theory-based coding schemes to analyse the data. To assess the quality and usability of the research performed by participants, we constructed a quality framework. Our findings show that all participants were more or less involved in HR-related practitioner research, but the quality and usability of that research could be improved. We report several causes and influencing factors. Our findings complement previous research on evidence-based HR and other practitioner research approaches and provide new insights. Based on our findings, we discuss implications for further research and practice.     

Marital Relationships Following the Korean Economic Crisis: Applying the Family Stress Model

In response to the recent economic crisis in Korea and its negative effects on families, the current study examined the interrelationships among economic pressure, emotional distress, marital conflict, and marital satisfaction for 236 Korean couples. The family stress model ( Conger & Elder, 1994 ; Conger, Rueter, & Conger, 2000 ; Conger, Rueter, & Elder, 1999 ) was tested using structural equation modeling. The results generally supported the theoretical model, showing that economic pressure negatively affects marital satisfaction via emotional distress and marital conflict. The results also implied cultural differences in the process of family stress. Korean husbands' emotional distress did not affect marital conflict or marital satisfaction, suggesting that Korean husbands may differ from their wives in their reaction to emotional distress from economic pressure.     

Stock Market Wealth and Consumer Spending

This article investigates the effects of stock market wealth on consumer spending. Traditional macroeconometric models estimate that a dollar's increase in stock wealth boosts consumption by three to seven cents. With the substantial 1990s rise in stock prices, the nature and magnitude of this "wealth effect" have been much debated. After describing the issues and previous research, I present new evidence from a well‐known consumer survey. The results are broadly consistent with life‐cycle saving and a modest wealth effect: most stockholders reported no appreciable effect of stock prices on their saving or spending, but many mentioned "retirement saving" in explaining their behavior.     

Queens of the hill: Creative destruction and the emergence of executive leadership of women

Despite penetrating the middle management ranks of many U.S. businesses, women continue to lag far behind men in their appointments to top leadership positions. Many explanations exist for why the glass ceiling exists, but few theories offer suggestions for how women break through this ceiling. In this paper we propose that the concept of ‘creative destruction’ can help us understand why some women ascend to leadership positions. Using empirical research and anecdotal evidence from the experiences of several high-profile female executives, we argue that women may rise to leadership positions in turbulent environments that are receptive to new talent and open to innovative, bold ideas. Further, we propose that under these conditions women may be seen as especially attractive candidates to guide organizations because they are perceived to utilize a leadership style that promotes openness and inclusion, and facilitates change.     

From civil rights to … civic engagement? Concerns of two older critical gerontologists about a “new social movement” and what it portends

In this essay, we draw on the political economic and humanities paths in critical gerontology, and on our own personal reflections, to further probe the notion of civic engagement in older adults. We ask why, as older women and critical gerontologists, we are so discomfited by this rallying cry. We ponder whether the status of contemporary later life as a unique time in human history necessitates the carving out of a new set of “productive” roles in order for its occupants to be valued. We also look more deeply at the calls for civic engagement (operationalized as volunteering) to fill gaping holes in the safety net and argue that this implicitly lets government off the hook in providing for basic human needs.     

The Effect of Family Communication Patterns on Adopted Adolescent Adjustment

Adoption and family communication both affect adolescent adjustment. We proposed that adoption status and family communication interact such that adopted adolescents in families with certain communication patterns are at greater risk for adjustment problems. We tested this hypothesis using a community‐based sample of 384 adoptive and 208 nonadoptive families. Adolescents in these families were, on average, 16 years of age. The results supported our hypothesis. Adopted adolescents were at significantly greater risk for adjustment problems compared to nonadopted adolescents in families that emphasized conformity orientation without conversation orientation and in families that emphasized neither conformity nor conversation orientation. Adolescents in families emphasizing conversation orientation were at lower risk for adjustment problems, regardless of adoption status.     

Retrospective Reporting of Household Wealth: Evidence From the 1983–1989 Survey of Consumer Finances

One way to obtain panel-like information on household wealth is to ask households about changes in their asset holdings. Yet the reliability of retrospective data is unclear, considering the potential for recall error. This article examines the reliability of retrospective reporting, using data from the 1983–1989 Survey of Consumer Finances. We find substantial inconsistencies between reported net investments in assets with measured changes in holdings. Inconsistencies are less severe for salient transactions like home sales and more severe for aggregated items like financial assets.     

Optimal sampling for spatial prediction of functional data

This paper combines optimal spatial sampling designs with geostatistical analysis of functional data. We propose a methodology and design criteria to find the set of spatial locations that minimizes the variance of the spatial functional prediction at unsampled sites for three functional predictors: ordinary kriging, simple kriging and simple cokriging. The last one is a modification of an existing predictor that uses ordinary cokriging based on the basis coefficients. Instead, we propose to use a simple cokriging predictor with the scores resulting from a representation of the functional data with the empirical functional principal components, allowing to remove restrictions and complexity of the covariance models and constraints on the estimation procedure. The methodology is applied to a network of air quality in Bogotá city, Colombia.     

Mexican and Swedish Managers' Perceptions of the Impact of EIS on Organizational Intelligence,Decision Making,and Structure*

Although information technologies in business organizations around the world may be very similar, the meanings conveyed through the technologies may be dependent on managerial values and national culture. Cultural differences need to be understood before information technology developed for organizations in one country can be effectively implemented in organizations in another country. Drawing on survey responses from managers using Executive Information Systems (EIS) across many organizations in Mexico, Sweden, and the United States, the current study examined whether cultural differences influence perceptions of the relationship between Executive Information Systems' use and various outcomes related to decision-making behaviors and processes. The study found significant differences, predicted by cultural factors, in the impact of EIS use on senior management decision making. The findings confirm the notion that IT is used by executives to reinforce the decision-making behaviors valued in their culture.