Psychological and sociodemographic correlates of communicative anxiety in L2 and L3 production

This paper analyses foreign language anxiety in the French L2 and English L3 speech production of 100 Flemish students. The findings suggest that foreign language anxiety is not a stable personality trait among experienced language learners. The societal as well as the individual contexts were found to determine levels of communicative anxiety. The perception of French as the former prestige language in Flanders and its function as a social marker was found to be linked to the participants' social class, which was, in turn, linked to levels of anxiety in French - but not in English. This social effect appeared to be a stronger predictor of communicative anxiety in French than three personality variables (extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism). Psychoticism, extraversion, and, to a lesser extent, neuroticism did however significantly predict levels of communicative anxiety in English L3 production. Students who scored high on the extraversion and psychoticism scales reported significant lower levels of communicative anxiety in English. Those who scored low on the neuroticism scale also tended to report lower levels of communicative anxiety in English. The same pattern emerged for communicative anxiety in French without reaching statistical significance

Transforming Perception: Black Men and Boys

While there has been progress in the U.S. in terms of racial attitudes and opportunities, black men and boys continue to face challenges. This report presents original research, along with current studies in social psychology and neuroscience, offering an empirically grounded analysis of how emotions and fears about race shape behaviors and biases

Subject: Psychology and Sociology

Compiled by Susan LaCette.PsychologyandSociology.pdf: 3180 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Early Determinants of Women in the IT Workforce: A Model of Girls’ Career Choices

Purpose – To develop a testable model for girls’ career choices in technology fields based on past research and hypotheses about the future of the information technology (IT) workforce. Design/Methodology/Approach – Review and assimilation of literature from education, psychology, sociology, computer science, IT, and business in a model that identifies factors that can potentially influence a girl’s choice towards or against IT careers. The factors are categorized into social factors (family, peers, and media), structural factors (computer use, teacher/counselor influence, same sex versus coeducational schools), and individual differences. The impact of culture on these various factors is also explored. Findings – The model indicates that parents, particularly fathers, are the key influencers of girls’ choice of IT careers. Teachers and counselors provide little or no career direction. Hypotheses propose that early access to computers may reduce intimidation with technology and that same-sex education may serve to reduce career bias against IT. Research Limitations/Implications – While the model is multidisciplinary, much of research from which it draws is five to eight years old. Patterns of career choices, availability of technology, increased independence of women and girls, offshore/nearshore outsourcings of IT jobs are just some of the factors that may be insufficiently addressed in this study. Practical Implications – A “Recommendations” section provides some practical steps to increase the involvement of girls in IT-related careers and activities at an early age. The article identifies cultural research as a limitation and ways to address this. Originality/value – The paper is an assimilation of literature from diverse fields and provides a testable model for research on gender and IT

Gender differences in adolescents' academic motivation and classroom behaviour

© 2013 Taylor & Francis. The present study investigated gender differences in adolescents’ academic motivation and classroom behaviour and gender differences in the extent to which motivation was associated with, and predicted, classroom behaviour. Seven hundred and fifty students (384 boys and 366 girls) aged 11–16 (M age = 14.0, 1.59 SD) completed a questionnaire examining academic motivation and teachers completed assessments of their classroom behaviour. Girls generally reported higher levels of academic motivation, whilst teacher reports of behaviour were poorer for boys. Interestingly, boys’ reported levels of academic motivation were significantly more closely associated with teacher reports of their classroom behaviour. Furthermore, cognitive aspects of boys’ motivation were better predictors of their classroom behaviour than behavioural aspects. On the other hand, behavioural aspects of girls’ motivation were better predictors of their behaviour. Implications for understanding the relationship between motivation and behaviour among adolescent boys and girls are discussed, in addition to interventions aimed at improving adolescents’ classroom behaviour

You get what you pay for: Incentives and Selection in the Education System

We analyse worker self-selection with a special focus on teachers. The point of the paper is that worker composition is generally endogenous, due to worker selfselection. In a first step we analyse lab experimental data to provide causal evidence on particular sorting patterns. This evidence sets the stage for our field data analysis, which focuses specifically on selection patterns of teachers. We find that teachers are more risk averse than employees in other professions, which indicates that relatively risk averse individuals sort into teaching occupations under the current system. Using survey measures on trust and reciprocity we also find that teachers trust more and are less negatively reciprocal than other employees. Finally, we establish differences in personality based on the Big Five concept.labour organization;

You get what you pay for: Incentives and Selection in the Education System

We analyse worker self-selection with a special focus on teachers. The point of the paper is that worker composition is generally endogenous, due to worker self-selection. In a first step we analyse lab experimental data to provide causal evidence on particular sorting patterns. This evidence sets the stage for our field data analysis, which focuses specifically on selection patterns of teachers. We find that teachers are more risk averse than employees in other professions, which indicates that relatively risk averse individuals sort into teaching occupations under the current system. Using survey measures on trust and reciprocity we also find that teachers trust more and are less negatively reciprocal than other employees. Finally, we establish differences in personality based on the Big Five concept.education, training and the labour market;

Gender and participation in mathematics and further mathematics A-levels: a literature review for the Further Mathematics Support Programme

In preparing this report I have considered evidence from over 60 documents that relate to raising girls’ participation in mathematics. These include published research papers and reports compiled by expert bodies that present an evidence base. Although research specifically addressing Further Mathematics A-level is rare, the last ten years have seen considerable efforts to synthesise and update knowledge from different research perspectives about the relationship between gender and participation. For this reason, the review process started with papers from 2008 onwards