The Influence of Venture Creation Stage on The Relationship Between Environmental Context and Social Network Orientation Among U.S. Minority Groups

The percentage of minorities who have owned successful small businesses in the U.S. has been astonishingly lower than that of Mainstreams. An important underlying challenge for minority entrepreneurs is the ability to development and maintain social network connections. This research investigates the role urban and rural environments play in the new venture creation process among U.S. minority groups. Specifically, this dissertation will focus on issues relating to network scope, networking ability and strength and network relationships at different stages of the venture creation process. The environmental contexts of both the urban entrepreneur and that of the rural American entrepreneur will be examined in order to determine the influence of environmental context on social network creation at different stages of the venture creation process for U.S. minority entrepreneurs

Gender Differences in Acquiring Business Support from Online Social Networks

Social Networks have always been an invaluable resource for entrepreneurs attempting to engage in venture creation and growth. While differences in gender and its effect on traditional social networks have been explored, it is worth examining the gender effect when using the internet to create online network connections that supply useful resources. This study investigates the difference between male and female entrepreneurs’ social networks, the resources obtained from those networks, and the evolution of the ever-valuable weak tie. Hypotheses are tested using analysis of variance and analyses reveal women that female entrepreneurs and male entrepreneurs use the online network connections very differently in terms of the type of relationship and the type of resource acquired. The findings create implications for organizations that support female, minority or disadvantaged business development as these ventures increase in number and success

Empirical Analysis Of Factors Influencing The Level Of Job Satisfaction Of Caucasian And Hispanic Accounting Professionals

This study examines the effect of 78 work-related variables on the level of job satisfaction of Caucasian and Hispanic accounting professionals. Factor analysis with Varimax Rotation reduced the number of variables to 12 factor groups for the Caucasian accountants and 11 factor groups for the Hispanic accountants.  Data were analyzed using multiple regression models using the level of job satisfaction perceived by the Caucasian or Hispanic accountants as the dependent variable.  From the Caucasian regression model, it was found that factors such as supervision, compensation, reporting discrimination, promotion opportunities and organizational culture tend to increase the level of job satisfaction for Caucasian accountants.   Discriminatory treatment seems to decrease the job satisfaction for Caucasian accountants.  From the Hispanic regression model factors such as compensation, benefits, promotion opportunities, professional development and organizational culture tend to increase the level of job satisfaction for Hispanic accountants

Human Services Students Preferences for Master\u27s Level Training

Human Services students close to graduation are seeking employment in the field, but many are also considering their future career paths and the training needed to reach their long-term career goals. Knowing if bachelor\u27s level students desire graduate degrees, which focus they prefer, and how they would like to pursue the degrees may contribute to the decision-making of educators, employers, and students. This exploratory study, therefore, examined human services students\u27 preferences for master\u27s level training. Students\u27 responses reflected preferences for several types of master\u27s programs, direct acceptance, and online delivery. These themes and their implications for educators, employers, and students are discussed

Who or Whom? A Program Innovation to Improve the Writing Skills of Human Service Students

Writing is perhaps one of the most essential skills of the human service practitioner. However, many human service students lack the writing skills required to perform the necessary duties of their profession. This article describes an innovative initiative designed to strengthen the writing skills of students enrolled in a baccalaureate-level human services program

African-American Accountants Then and Now: A Longitudinal Study of Factors Influencing Perceptions of the Workplace

This study addresses the question of whether African-American accounting professionals perceive levels of job satisfaction and other work attributes differently over time as they gain experience in accounting practice. We examine how the elements that influence job satisfaction and perceptions of the workplace have changed over time for these accounting professionals. We contend that the evolution of the workforce and work itself have set forth contemporary workplace attitudes challenging Herzbergs (1959, 1966) Two-Factor Theory. Archival and newly collected data are combined to generate a longitudinal perspective on the African-Americans perception of job satisfaction and other work attributes specific to the field of accounting. The results reveal significant increases in the level of workload job stress and the overall level of job satisfaction, countered with significant decrease in professional-family conflict and discrimination applied to promotion

Self-Reported Emergency Medicine Residency Applicant Attitudes Towards a Procedural Cadaver Laboratory Curriculum

Objective: Residency applicants consider a variety of factors when ranking emergency medicine (EM) programs for their NRMP match list. A human cadaver emergency procedure lab curriculum is uncommon. We hypothesized that the presence this curriculum would positively impact the ranking of an EM residency program.Methods: The EM residency at Nebraska Medical Center is an urban, university-based program with a PGY I-III format. Residency applicants during the interview for a position in the PGY I class of 2006 were surveyed by three weekly electronic mailings. The survey was distributed in March 2006 after the final NRMP match results were released. The survey explored learner preferences and methodological commonality of models of emergency procedural training, as well as the impact of a procedural cadaver lab curriculum on residency ranking. ANOVA of ranks was used to compare responses to ranking questions.Results: Of the 73 potential subjects, 54 (74%) completed the survey. Respondents ranked methods of procedural instruction from 1 (most preferred or most common technique) to 4 (least preferred or least common technique). Response averages and 95% confidence intervals for the preferred means of learning a new procedure are as follows: textbook (3.69; 3.51-3.87), mannequin (2.83; 2.64-3.02), human cadaver (1.93; 1.72-2.14), and living patient (1.56; 1.33-1.79). Response averages for the commonality of means used to teach a new procedure are as follows: human cadaver (3.63; 3.46-3.80), mannequin (2.70; 2.50-2.90), living patient (2.09; 1.85-2.33), and textbook (1.57; 1.32-1.82). When asked if the University of Nebraska Medical Center residency ranked higher in the individual’s match list because of its procedural cadaver lab, 14.8% strongly disagreed, 14.8% disagreed, 40.7% were neutral, 14.8% agreed, and 14.8% strongly agreed.Conclusion: We conclude that, although cadaveric procedural training is viewed by senior medical student learners as a desirable means of learning a procedure, its use is uncommon during medical school, and its presence as part of a residency curriculum does not influence ranking of the residency program.[WestJEM. 2008;9:141-145.

Students\u27 Experiences with Different Course Delivery Modalities: On Campus, Online, and Satellite

In an effort to adapt to the technological advances of this century, the training of human services professionals has grown from traditional classrooms and satellite programs to online education. Many human services programs are under pressure from their universities and students to expand into online education. This study examined 252 students’ experiences and perceptions of their Bachelors of Science program as it transitioned to offering courses online in addition to on campus and satellite sites. Students’ narrative responses reflected 4 themes: convenience, interactions, learning preference, and technology. These themes and their implications for educators and students are discussed

Synchrotron flaring behaviour of CygnusX-3 during the February-March 1994 and September 2001 outbursts

Aims: In this paper we study whether the shock-in-jet model, widely used to explain the outbursting behaviour of quasars, can be used to explain the radio flaring behaviour of the microquasar Cygnus X-3. Method: We have used a method developed to model the synchrotron outbursts of quasar jets, which decomposes multifrequency lightcurves into a series of outbursts. The method is based on the Marscher & Gear (1985) shock model, but we have implemented the modifications to the model suggested by Bjornsson & Aslaksen (2000), which make the flux density increase in the initial phase less abrupt. We study the average outburst evolution as well as specific characteristics of individual outbursts and physical jet properties of Cyg X-3. Results: We find that the lightcurves of the February-March 1994 and September 2001 outbursts can be described with the modified shock model. The average evolution shows that instead of the expected synchrotron plateau, the flux density is still increasing during the synchrotron stage. We also find that high frequency peaking outbursts are shorter in duration than the ones peaking at lower frequencies. Finally, we show that the method can be used, complementary to radio interferometric jet imaging, for deriving the physical parameters such as the magnetic field strength and the energy density of relativistic electrons in the jet of Cyg X-3.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Radio jets and gamma-ray emission in radio-silent narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies

We have detected six narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies at 37 GHz that were previously classified as radio silent and two that were classified as radio quiet. These detections reveal the presumption that NLS1 galaxies labelled radio quiet or radio silent and hosted by spiral galaxies are unable to launch jets to be incorrect. The detections are a plausible indicator of the presence of a powerful, most likely relativistic jet because this intensity of emission at 37 GHz cannot be explained by, for example, radiation from supernova remnants. Additionally, one of the detected NLS1 galaxies is a newly discovered source of gamma rays and three others are candidates for future detections.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, 37 GHz data available in electronic form at the CDS. Accepted in A&