The Influence of Career Planning on Career Thoughts in STEM‐Interested Undergraduates

Undergraduate career planning courses have shown efficacy in decreasing students’ negative career thoughts; however, universities have minimally applied these courses to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) populations. This study compared the influence of a STEM‐focused career planning course for undecided STEM students with a seminar course for decided STEM majors. An analysis of covariance with covariate adjustment revealed that undecided career planning students had lower adjusted mean scores on a measure of negative career thinking than the decided STEM majors after the first semester of college. The results provide support for the efficacy of STEM‐focused career planning courses and measuring negative career thoughts with STEM undergraduates.     

How student teachers (don’t) talk about race: An intersectional analysis

This study explores how student teacher talk about their students illuminates the identities ascribed to these same students. It uses a hybrid intersectional framework based on Disability Studies, Critical Race Theory, and Latino Critical Theory and methodologies (like examining majoritarian stories, counter-storytelling, coded talk, and post-civil rights race talk) to uncover how student teacher talk reveals oppressive discourses of race, disability (and language status). This article focuses on how the medicalization of disability facilitates student teachers not identifying the racialization of disability in school. It demonstrates the need for educational research to employ an intersectionality lens when exploring educational issues related to students’ identities.     

Enoch Powell,empires, immigrants and education

2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Enoch Powell’s infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech, an intervention that is still viewed as one of the most incendiary statements of the perceived decay and violence likely to follow legislation intended to assure minoritised British citizens of equal rights regardless of their ethnic origin. In this essay, Sally Tomlinson (one of Britain’s foremost multicultural theorists) reflects on Powell’s legacy and the contemporary scene where in the US, UK and across Europe, White resentment and fear is increasingly shaping ‘mainstream’ debates about nationhood, migration and education.     

Structural Pluralism and Life Expectancy in Less-Developed Countries: The Role of Women's Status

This study replicates a previous finding forthe U.S. counties that showed a strongassociation, net of controls between``structural pluralism' and lower mortality. ``Structural pluralism' refers to a community'scapacity for political competition, and is acore element of ``democracy.' Pluralism hasthis effect because it facilitates theacquisition of appropriate medical facilitiesand because it tends to optimize the biologicalfunctioning of the residents. Working from amajor component of pluralism, minorityparticipation, this hypothesis is tested byshowing that women's status in less developedcountries improves life expectancy net ofcontrols. A path analysis demonstrates thatthe structural dimensions work through healthorganization as an intervening variable, andthe future testing of biological optimizationis outlined. Location in Africa south of theSahara is a partially unexplained controlvariable that has a powerful negative impact. Interpreting women's status as a component ofpluralism explains why it predicts increasedlife expectancy for all citizens, not justwomen. It is a global dimension that affectsall the members of a community.     

Family Responsibilities,Productivity, and Earnings: A Study of Gender Differences Among Canadian Lawyers

This study examines whether men and women invest in different determinants of productivity and whether these investments affect productivity and salary in different ways. Hypotheses are tested from human and social capital theories that include more direct measures for family responsibilities and family-friendly firm arguments. Data from 670 law firm lawyers were used given they report a standardized measure of productivity in billable hours. Despite men investing more in their careers and women investing more in their families, both report similar productivity and their productivity is affected similarly by these factors. In addition, equally productive men and women are paid the same. The findings further our understanding of productivity and salary and the relevance of family responsibilities and family-friendly firms.

What shapes plant and animal diversity on urban golf courses?

Recent concern over increasing loss of biodiversity has prompted considerable interest in the role of urban green spaces as reservoirs of local biodiversity. This study assessed the diversity of three indicator taxa - plants, ants and birds - on golf courses spanning a wide range of environmental variation in terms of climate, elevation, course age, size and connectivity to native woodland. Species richness and community composition was further compared between contrasting on-course habitat types that reflect different management intensities. We identified a set of taxon-specific environmental correlates indicating an intricate interplay of landscape- and local-scale variables that affect local species diversity. Our results show that floristic diversity is positively associated with the amount of rainfall, whereas ant and bird diversity are related to local-scale factors, particularly the number of trees and the size of water features on a site. The amount of on-course native habitat was a strong predictor of plant and ant diversity and was also associated with the number of unique species at the site level; this reinforces the value of remnant habitat patches as local biodiversity reservoirs that represent mini hot-spots in an otherwise species-poor urban landscape. Community composition for all three taxa differed markedly between non-playing and playing areas, with boundary and remnant habitats generally having more diverse, species-rich communities. Our results suggest that local floral and faunal biodiversity on urban golf courses can be enhanced by creating woody non-playing areas and, especially, by preserving, restoring or expanding remnant habitats.     

Understanding end-user perspectives to enhance perceived value uptake of harm-minimization tools: considering gambler’s views of a pre-commitment system

Harm-minimization strategies reduce the experience of gambling-related harms for individuals and those close to them. Most policies and particularly discussions of tool design and implementation fail to involve end users and consider their concerns and needs. This study aimed to investigate the best way to introduce a harm-minimization tool for electronic gaming machines (EGMs) that will maximize the perceived value and subsequent uptake by the intended audience of gamblers. Focus groups were conducted with 31 Australian regular EGM gamblers experiencing a range of gambling problems. Participants were asked their perspectives of a pre-commitment system (features including accessing activity statements, setting limits, viewing dynamic messages, taking breaks), including concerns, and how to enhance perceived value and usefulness. Positive attitudes about the system were expressed; however, many gamblers saw the tool as relevant only for problem gamblers. Participants indicated that value could be enhanced by making the system flexible and customizable, but still easy to use. Design and implementation strategies such as incorporating flexibility in features, ease of use, appropriate terminology, and educational efforts may address gamblers’ concerns, particularly regarding privacy and potential stigma. This would enhance user perception of harm-minimization tools as relevant and may subsequently enhance effectiveness.     

Complex home care: challenges arising from the blurring of boundaries between family and professional care

Over the last 50 years, increasingly complex care (such as tracheostomy management, dialysis or enteral feeding) has shifted from hospital to home, with a concomitant rise in patient self-management and care given by family members. Recognition of the importance of the contribution of family care to the health system is also growing. This article reports the findings of a New Zealand study which explored the experiences of family carers who manage technical health procedures at home. It then draws attention to some broader issues raised by shifting complex care from professional management in hospital settings to family care at home, namely the ways in which complex home care blurs the boundaries between professional and family care (creating the ambiguous position of the expert carer) and questions of safety and responsibility in family care. We also discuss the implications for policy around family caregiving in New Zealand. Given the potential physical and mental health impacts of caring, it is time for renewed consideration of what family carers should be expected or allowed to manage and how the health system can support them in their important role.