Multiple Paths Forward: Diversifying Mathematics as a Strategy for College Success (Executive Summary)

This executive summary outlines key findings from a report on how colleges are creating math pathways that are aligned with students' programs of study

From College To Jobs: Making Sense of Labor Market Returns To Higher Education

This report summarizes key findings from recent research on links between higher education and the workforce. Featuring eight brief papers from leading education and workforce experts from around the country, the report offers practical advice for institutional leaders, policymakers, students and their advisers about how to use the increasingly available information on the economic value of higher education. Specifically, the authors' papers and the opening summary explore what various audiences can learn from emerging evidence about: variations in labor market outcomes by program and institution; the value of degrees to jobs both in and out of fields studied; returns to the completion of certain course clusters that don't add up to a degree; and distortions that may result from examining returns to individual degrees rather than "stacked" degrees

The effects of computers and acquired skills on earnings, employment and college enrollment: Evidence from a field experiment and California UI earnings records

This paper provides the first evidence on the earnings, employment and college enrollment effects of computers and acquired skills from a randomized controlled trial providing computers to entering college students. We matched confidential administrative data from California Employment Development Department (EDD)/Unemployment Insurance (UI) system earnings records, the California Community College system, and the National Student Clearinghouse to all study participants for seven years after the random provision of computers. The experiment does not provide evidence that computer skills have short- or medium-run effects on earnings. These null effects are found along both the extensive and intensive margins of earnings (although the estimates are not precise). We also do not find evidence of positive or negative effects on college enrollment. A non-experimental analysis of CPS data reveals large, positive and statistically significant relationships between home computers, and earnings, employment and college enrollment, raising concerns about selection bias in non-experimental studies

The effects of computers and acquired skills on earnings, employment and college enrollment: Evidence from a field experiment and California UI earnings records

This paper provides the first evidence on the earnings, employment and college enrollment effects of computers and acquired skills from a randomized controlled trial providing computers to entering college students. We matched confidential administrative data from California Employment Development Department (EDD)/Unemployment Insurance (UI) system earnings records, the California Community College system, and the National Student Clearinghouse to all study participants for seven years after the random provision of computers. The experiment does not provide evidence that computer skills have short- or medium-run effects on earnings. These null effects are found along both the extensive and intensive margins of earnings (although the estimates are not precise). We also do not find evidence of positive or negative effects on college enrollment. A non-experimental analysis of CPS data reveals large, positive and statistically significant relationships between home computers, and earnings, employment and college enrollment, raising concerns about selection bias in non-experimental studies

Too much of a good thing:’ Fatal attractions in adult intimate relationships

Why might people become dissatisfied with a partner or spouse? A common answer from those experiencing a divorce or breakup is that they are not getting what they want. The implication is that if only they could obtain what they desired in a partner, relationship conflict would dissipate. The argument we propose, however, is as follows: Disenchantment with a partner also occurs when, and perhaps because, individuals receive what they wanted in a loved one. That is, a "fatal attraction" occurs. A fatal attraction takes place when a quality that an individual comes to dislike in a partner is an exaggerated version of the same quality that was initially attractive In other words, fatal attractions transpire when an intimate partner is seen as having "too much" of an attractive quality. Note that the term "fatal" in this context is used in the sense of "prophetic," rather than "deadly." Illustrations of fatal attractions include a woman who was attracted to a man because of his "sense of humor," but who later complained that he was "never serious." In another instance a man was drawn to a woman because of her "nuturing" nature, and then disliked her tendency to be "smothering." Previous research on fatal attraction is based largely on samples of young college students, and it shows that fatal attraction is a relatively common phenomenon in romantic relationships (e.g., Previous work finds that fatal attractions are more likely when individuals are attracted to partner qualities that are seen as "different" from one's own, are extreme, or unique (Felmlee, 3 2001). Nevertheless, the theory behind this phenomenon is relatively underdeveloped and not well-tested. A second purpose of this research is to expand the theory and to test hypotheses regarding factors that are expected to influence the likelihood of a fatal attraction. We also do not know the extent to which this type of partner disenchantment happens in different types of attractions. Do fatal attractions occur in a wide assortment of personality dimensions? Another purpose of this project, thus, is to examine fatal attractions for various partner personality qualities, many of which are taken from established personality scales. Finally, previous work relies on open-ended data to identify the occurrence of a fatal attraction (e.g., BACKGROUN

Multiple Paths Forward: Diversifying Mathematics as a Strategy for College Success

This report, written for community college practitioners, details how colleges are creating math pathways that are aligned with students' programs of study