Gender and income in pharmacy: human capital and gender stratification theories revisited

This is a case study of gender and earnings in pharmacy--a profession characterized by its rapid recruitment of female practitioners. We try to account for disparities in earnings between male and female pharmacists in Ontario with the aid of human capital theory and gender stratification theory. Data is drawn from a random sample of 463 Ontario pharmacists. We find a consistent sex gap in earnings regardless of occupational level of practitioners (i.e. owner, manager or employee) and net of such factors as hours worked, commitment to work, hours devoted to childcare, absences from the labour market, and years since graduation. Instead, the main reason why women in pharmacy earn less than males is because they remain employees throughout their careers. However, we are less successful at identifying the additional factors responsible for the depressed earnings of female practitioners. We discuss our findings in light of the claims of gender stratification and human capital theory.     

Immigrant incorporation in the garment industry of Los Angeles

This study expands immigrant social network theory and examined employment patterns in the garment industry in Los Angeles, California, among Latino workers employed by Asian immigrant entrepreneurs. The study determined that a large percentage of immigrant employees found their jobs through the immigrant economy. Entrepreneurship increased the supply of local jobs and expanded the economy at destination at no expense to natives. Immigrant entrepreneurs bought firms from nonimmigrant owners or started new ones with an immigrant labor supply. Massey's index is flawed due to its exclusion of the role of entrepreneurs. Migration networks facilitate entrepreneurship, but some ethnic groups have fewer entrepreneurs, such as Mexicans and Central Americans. A 1993 Los Angeles survey identified 3642 garment factories in its county. Mean employment was 27.1 persons. The garment industry was the 4th largest industry in the area in 1996, with 98,700 employees. It represented 6% of all wage and salary employees in the City and 5.5% of the immigrant labor force in the County in 1990. 93% of garment workers in 1990 were immigrants. It is estimated that 51% of garment factory owners were Asians; most employees were Latinos. Census figures on sewing machine operators indicated 47.3% of owners were Whites and 42.45 were Asians. 53.3% of employees were other ethnic groups, 14.5% were Asians, and 32.2% were Whites. It is estimated that 47.2% of total employment was due to the immigration economy. 71.5% of the total employment in the garment industry was in the immigrant sector.     

The industrial division of labor among immigrants and internal migrants to the Los Angeles economy

This study examined the industrial division of labor among immigrants and in-migrants in the Los Angeles, California, metropolitan area. It addresses debates about channeling of new arrivals into jobs among similar ethnic groups and human capital views. Data were obtained from the 1990 Census on resident native-born, resident foreign-born, in-migrants, and recent immigrants who arrived during 1985-90. Light and Rosenstein's (1995) concepts of groups and their resources were used to organize ideas about ethnic networks and their effectiveness in channeling migrant workers into 15 industrial sectors. Sectoral differences were revealed with the familiarity index of dissimilarity. Findings reveal that social networks were the strongest for Koreans, who supplied work for recent arrivals in the same sectors as Korean-born residents, regardless of education. Mexican new arrivals were less likely to work in the same sectors as their resident Mexican counterparts. Mexican networks placed new arrivals in durable manufacturing in the 1960s and 1970s when it was a key source of employment. By the 1980s and 1990s, the economy shifted and employment went down in durable manufacturing. Mexicans thus found employment elsewhere. Native White and Black in-migrants had the strongest channeling into same sector jobs. This is attributed to the small streams, the ability of the labor market to absorb these workers, and the availability of job vacancies among native out-migrants. Filipino migrants had similar patterns as Whites and Blacks. Mexican and Central American residents had more inter-ethnic competition over jobs than Whites or Blacks.     

Exposure of medical students to body fluids

Three hundred forty-two students at 3 Florida medical schools were surveyed concerning occupational exposures to blood and body fluids during their 3rd-year clerkship. The 16-item questionnaire was anonymously returned by 150 students, and differences among groups were assessed at p < .05. Most of the students complied with universal precautions guidelines (UVPG); 62 reported 101 exposures, including 9 with HIV-positive blood and body fluids. Most of the exposed students knew about the guidelines but regarded the incidents as irrelevant to their safety or supervision training. Noncompliant students reported significantly more exposures than compliant students. Time constraints, inconvenience of using gloves during procedures, and belief that patients were at low HIV risk discouraged adherence to the guidelines. Common practices following exposure were "no action" or "washed area only" without medical follow-up. Medical students' UVPG adherence should be increased by workload modification, user-friendly safety products, and supervised practice training in clinical exposure settings.     

Prevalence of alcohol-use disorders and alcohol-related problems in a college student sample

Most studies of alcohol consumption patterns and alcohol-related problems among college students have failed to include a diagnostic measure based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV) criteria. Applying the DSM-IV standards would facilitate an analysis of the prevalence of alcohol-use disorders and individual symptoms of those disorders. A structured diagnostic interview based on DSM-IV criteria (the alcohol section of the Substance Abuse Module) and several alcohol screening instruments were administered to 306 undergraduate students at an urban commuter campus. The prevalence of current and lifetime alcohol-use disorders, individual symptoms of those disorders, and other alcohol-related problems are reported, as well as data regarding alcohol consumption patterns and binge drinking. The data are analyzed in terms of demographic variables, including sex, ethnicity, year in school, age, and marital status of those in the sample.     

Well siblings living with schizophrenia. Impact of associated behaviors.

As a result of the ongoing hallucinations and delusions, life at home became "anxious and chaotic" with "lots of stress." Because there was no on-site crisis intervention by professionals, well siblings were sometimes called upon to control the violent behavior and were vigilant and fearful regarding the potential for abuse. Negative symptoms were the most disturbing to well siblings. Siblings need help to understand that social isolation and lack of motivation are symptoms of the illness--not due to "laziness."     

The five "S" levels of enterprise health.

Whether pride, necessity, or inattention is at the root, some "slowly boiling" physicians find themselves working harder for fewer compensations of all sorts, and may not be fully cognizant of their circumstances. This article helps to diagnose and manage the health of physicians' practices and/or related enterprises. There are five levels of enterprise health, ranging from success (S-1) to shutdown (S-5), that serve as weather vanes about how the enterprise is adapting to changes in its environment. How should physicians respond to chaos and the threats of deteriorating enterprise health? A five-step approach is offered: (1) Discern what is important; (2) place and keep your program in alignment with those patient interests that will enhance your enterprise viability; (3) keep score with an internal balanced scorecard; (4) manage and shepherd your resources in a manner that demonstrably adds value to patient care; and (5) know the score and use it.     

Civil war, social integration and mental health in Croatia

Research has shown that social relationships are generally beneficial for mental health (Thoits 1995). However, few scholars have examined this association after the occurrence of a significant shock to the social system as a whole. The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between social integration and war-related distress in Croatia immediately following the recent civil war. Does social integration decrease war-related distress? Does social integration buffer the effect of traumatic events on war-related distress? We analyze these questions using nationally representative survey data collected in Croatia in 1996. Results suggest that social integration has both positive and negative direct effects on distress. Being a member of informal organizations, such as sports clubs, and participating in social activities are beneficial for mental health. On the other hand, being a member of some formal organizations, such as church organizations and unions, is detrimental to mental health. There is little support for the idea that social integration buffers the effect of traumatic events on distress. Only one of thirty-six possible interactions is significant and supports the buffer hypothesis. Frequent participation in social activities buffers the effect of experiencing violence on war-related distress. Also, some forms of social integration appear to aggravate the effect of traumatic events on war-related distress. In sum, social integration does affect war-related distress after a system shock, but in complex and sometimes unexpected ways.     

Gender, social status, and emotional reliance

Past research has suggested the potential importance of considering emotional reliance, a dimension of interpersonal dependence, when addressing social and developmental risk factors for depression. Based on a probability sample of 1,393 adults aged 18-55 residing in Toronto, Canada, this paper addresses gender differences in emotional reliance and the relevance of emotional reliance in explaining the gender-depression association. We also explore link-ages between emotional reliance and status factors. Findings indicate that emotional reliance is significantly related to depression and that women report greater reliance than men, independent of social status factors like marital and parental status, education, income, and occupational prestige. Moreover, the positive association between emotional reliance and depression is greater for women. Several social status factors modify the relationship between gender and emotional reliance. Both education and occupational prestige reduce reliance, and are particularly beneficial in this regard for women. Marriage, on the other hand, increases emotional reliance, especially for men. We offer interpretations of this pattern of findings.