Why are male students less likely to opt for social science courses? : a theory-driven analysis

Copyright © 2020 SageIn this article, we discuss the question of why only a few men decide to study social science courses such as social work. While the conceptual base of our analysis includes the theory of planned behaviour and theories centring on gender role orientations, the empirical base is a random cluster sample of high-school graduates in Switzerland. The results show different gender effects, as well as direct and indirect effects, for all the theory of planned behaviour factors. Gender role orientations and the question of how a social science profession fits one’s own gender identity appear to be of particular importance only among male students

Preparing women for dead-end jobs? Vocational education and training (VET) for information and communication technology (ICT) jobs

This paper discusses the role that vocational education and training (VET) in ICT subject areas plays in contributing to the gender and social class structuring of ICT occupations, focusing in particular on education and employment data from the UK. The paper also makes reference to similar data about ICT VET in Germany and Japan to argue that the new areas of ‘soft’ ICT skills – in education and in occupations - have become feminised, and channel women into low skilled and low paid work. Unlike university level ICT education, which has opened opportunities for women and students coming from families with no experience of higher education, sub-degree level ICT VET seems to be continuing to reproduce gender and socio- economic class within and through ICT occupations. I argue that those concerned with gender equity research and interventions in ICT need to work with an analysis that disaggregates what are now appearing to be quite different skills sets, and different career opportunities often misleadingly conflated under the umbrella term ‘ICT’. I also argue for better analytical models for the gendering of ICT than those offered by the ‘leaky pipeline’ or ‘critical mass’ models, and for new analyses that would incorporate both a structural analysis and new ways of looking at women’s choices, such as Hakim’s ‘orientation to work’

Considering Teaching Excellence in Higher Education: 2007-2013: A Literature Review Since the CHERI Report 2007

No abstract available

Transition Planning -- Responsibilities and Strategies

This meta-synthesis of the literature, on transition planning for youth with disabilities, examines several important facets that impact the post school outcomes for students with disabilities. Eight specific areas have been highlighted that point out the common theme areas of this metasynthesis. Research recognizes the responsibilities of the regular and special education teachers to the secondary transition process and the roles of the student and parent are not minimized at all. Professional development and continuous training are needed and highlighted for teachers, counselors, administrators, parents and students. There are specific successful strategies and methods to apply to the transition planning process. Raising expectations will likely result in positive post school outcomes as well. However, it is only too often that teachers, counselors, parents, and students are ill prepared for secondary transitions from high school to employment or further training. Expectations are too low and students are not prepared to make decisions about their employment or training in spite of the fact that self determination and self advocacy are strong tools that can and will promote positive outcomes for students. Indeed, individualized transition planning and person centered planning are valuable tools

Determinants of Desired Career Paths among Canadian Engineers

The goal of this research is to study five career paths available to engineers and to understand what leads them to prefer the management path to other career path possibilities (i.e. the technical path, the project-based path, the entrepreneurial path, and the hybrid path). A questionnaire survey was conducted using a sample of 900 male and female engineers from a large Canadian province. The0501n results show that several determinants under study (mainly individual-related factors, such as career anchors and education) effectively distinguish engineers who want to pursue a management path from those who choose other career paths, especially technical ones Cette recherche vise à étudier six orientations que les ingénieurs peuvent vouloir donner à leur carrière et à comprendre ce qui les amène à privilégier certains choix de carrière. Les possibilités de carrière retenues sont la voie de gestion, la voie technique, la voie de projet, la voie entreprenieuriale, la voie hybride et une nouvelle carrière. Une enquête par questionnaire a été réalisée auprès de 900 ingénieurs à travers le Québec, dont 403 femmes. Les résultats démontrent principalement que plusieurs des facteurs étudiés (principalement les facteurs individuels comme les ancres de carrière et la scolarité) permettent de distinguer efficacement les ingénieurs qui désirent poursuivre une carrière en gestion de ceux qui aspirent à d'autres voies de carrière.Engineers, career, career path, entrepreneurial career, career anchor, Ingénieurs, carrière, voies de carrière, changement de carrière

An Examination of Demographics, Personal Values, and Philosophical Orientations of College Students from Multiple University Campuses

The purpose of this study is to identify what current students value today and to determine whether there is a link between personal values and student demographics. A brief demographic survey of fourteen questions was developed and distributed, along with a twenty-question survey which is used determine participant’s values, or philosophical orientation (McKee, Boyatzis, & Johnston, 2008). There were two hundred and forty-two subjects who volunteered over a two-week time period for this research project. Analysis was completed comparing various demographics (such as age, gender, nationality, first generation students) to determine if certain demographics strongly correlated with a particular philosophical orientation, such as pragmatic, human or intellectual. This manuscript further describes some of the current research within the field, the method in which the data was collected and analyzed, as well as the results

Attracting and Retaining Women in the Transportation Industry

This study synthesized previously conducted research and identified additional research needed to attract, promote, and retain women in the transportation industry. This study will detail major findings and subsequent recommendations, based on the annotated bibliography, of the current atmosphere and the most successful ways to attract and retain young women in the transportation industry in the future. Oftentimes, it is perception that drives women away from the transportation industry, as communal goals are not emphasized in transportation. Men are attracted to agentic goals, whereas women tend to be more attracted to communal goals (Diekman et al., 2011). While this misalignment of goals has been found to be one reason that women tend to avoid the transportation industry, there are ways to highlight the goal congruity processes that contribute to transportation engineering, planning, operations, maintenance, and decisions—thus attracting the most talented individuals, regardless of gender. Other literature has pointed to the lack of female role models and mentors as one reason that it is difficult to attract women to transportation (Dennehy & Dasgupta, 2017). It is encouraging to know that attention is being placed on the attraction and retention of women in all fields, as it will increase the probability that the best individual is attracted to the career that best fits their abilities, regardless of gender

The collective consciousness of Information Technology research: The significance and value of research projects. A. The views of IT researchers

This research seeks to reveal the different perceptual worlds in a research community, with the longterm intent of fostering increased understanding and hence collaboration. In the relatively new field of information technology (IT) research, available evidence suggests that a shared understanding of the research object or territory does not yet exist. This has led to the development of different perceptions amongst IT researchers of what constitutes significant and valuable research. A phenomenological approach is used to elicit data from a diverse range of IT researchers in semistructured interviews. This data is presented to show (1) the variation in meaning associated with the idea of significance and value and (2) the awareness structures through which participants experience significance and value. An Outcome Space represents the interrelation between those different ways of seeing, revealing a widening awareness. Five categories of ways of seeing the significance and value of research projects were found: The Personal Goals Conception, The Research Currency Conception, The Design of the Research Project Conception, The Outcomes for the Technology End User Conception and The Solving Real-World Problems Conception. These are situated within three wider perceptual boundaries: The Individual, The Research Community and Humankind. The categories are described in detail, demonstrated with participants’ quotes and illustrated with diagrams. A tentative comparison is made between this project and a similar investigation of IT professionals’ ways of seeing the significance and value of IT research projects. Finally, some recommendations for further research are made

The collective consciousness of Information Technology research: The significance and value of research projects. B. The views of IT industry professionals

This research seeks to reveal the different perceptual worlds in a research community, with the longterm intent of fostering increased understanding and hence collaboration. In the relatively new field of information technology (IT) research, available evidence suggests that a shared understanding of the research object or territory does not yet exist. This has led to the development of different perceptions amongst IT researchers of what constitutes significant and valuable research. Phenomenological methodology is used to elicit data from a diverse range of IT industry professionals in semi-structured interviews. This data is presented to show (1) the variation in meaning associated with the idea of significance and value and (2) the awareness structures through which participants experience significance and value. An Outcome Space represents the interrelation between those different ways of seeing, revealing a widening awareness. Five categories of ways of seeing the significance and value of research projects were found: The Personal Goals Conception, The Commercial Goals Conception, The Outcomes for the Technology End User Conception, The Solving Real-World Problems Conception and The Design of the Research Project Conception. These are situated within three wider perceptual boundaries: The Individual, The Enterprise and Society. The categories are described in detail, demonstrated with participants’ quotes and illustrated with diagrams. A tentative comparison is made between this project and a similar investigation of IT researchers’ ways of seeing the significance and value of IT research projects. Finally, some recommendations for further research are made