24 research outputs found
A New National Defense: Feminism, Education, and the Quest for "Scientific Brainpower," 1940-1965
Focusing on the Second World War and early Cold War Era, this study uncovers how female activists promoted women's scientific participation as a shared solution to national security concerns. By appropriating the language and the cause of national defense, they presented powerful, sophisticated, and surprisingly familiar critiques of the pervasive cultural attitudes and discriminatory practices that discouraged womenâs scientific interests and aspirations. Although these activists lacked the analytical tools to comprehend the deep-rootedness of women's scientific subordination, they still conceived of it as the product of social forces. They realized fully that women's exclusion stemmed from a series of cultural attitudes and deliberate choices regarding who could do science and who could not. But, in the context of the Second World War and early Cold War years when scientific brainpower was supposedly at a premium, they argued that this artificial and inaccurate distinction, along with all of its ramifications, was ultimately wasteful and unpatriotic. In an era that discouraged and even punished dissent, the language and cause of national defense provided activists with a culturally legitimated means for critiquing gender conventions and discrimination. The invocation of defense rhetoric, however, not only camouflaged but also compromised their agenda. Activists' own implorations to utilize female intellect and stem the waste of scientific talent elided their interest in sexual equality. The militaristic and technocratic language in which they couched their demands, moreover, subordinated women's rights to national needs and circumscribed their liberatory potential. Nevertheless, these efforts at expanding women's scientific participation are significant because they set the groundwork for later feminist reform. In effect, this study reveals that contemporary feminist interest in science did not spring full-blown from the so-called second wave of American feminism but rather, had been percolating for some time. Reclaiming this early history complicates our picture of the mid-twentieth century as an era of domestic complacency, illuminates continuities between earlier efforts and contemporary feminist critiques, and calls into question the waves of feminism paradigm
State education as high-yield investment: human capital theory in European policy discourse
Human Capital Theory has been an increasingly important phenomenon in economic thought over the last 50 years. The central role it affords to education has become even more marked in recent years as the concept of the âknowledge economyâ has become a global concern. In this paper, the prevalence of Human Capital Theory within European educational policy discourse is explored. The paper examines a selection of policy documents from a number of disparate European national contexts and considers the extent to which the ideas of Human Capital Theory can be seen to be influential. In the second part of the paper, the implications of Human Capital Theory for education are considered, with a particular focus on the possible ramifications at a time of economic austerity. The paper argues that Human Capital Theory risks offering a diminished view of the person, a diminished view of education, but that with its sole focus on economic goals leaves room for educationists and others to argue for the educational, social, and moral values it ignores, and for the conception of the good life and good society it fails to mention
Educational choices of the future. A sociological inquiry into micro-politics in education
This thesis investigates how studentsâ practical considerations for future choices in education and occupations correspond to policy objectives of socially productive educational choices. This is conveyed through the primary aim of analyzing the correspondence between on the one hand educational policy intentions and on the other hand studentsâ educational choices and the social and cultural conditions that structure them. These concerns are addressed with specific aims in four different articles. However, the following research questions have been of central guidance for framing the main issue: (1) How are economic, political and social processes brought together on a policy level for motivating and regulating individualsâ educational choices (Article I)? (2) How do studentsâ educational choices correspond with policy intentions and the assumptions of rational choice that the latter are founded on (Article I-II)? (3) How are studentsâ educational choices shaped by wants and identities (Article II-IV)? (4) What is the relationship between studentsâ want formation and relevant social and cultural conditions (Article II-IV)?
The empirical material consisted of interviews and semi-structured questionnaires with young people in secondary education and higher education, and interviews with school staff in secondary education. Empirical inquiries were also conveyed via a semiotic content analysis on recent policy: specifically the Swedish Long-Term Surveys from 2008 and 2011. In comprehensive terms, the rationality of choices from both how choice is practiced and what is desired has been of primary interest. These concerns are addressed by the following emphases in the different investigations.
In Article I the form of government that aims to shape actorsâ wants and decisions in relation to productive educational choices in the Long-Term Surveys is investigated. The forms of rationality in general, and the suggested implementation of rational choices in particular, are here analyzed through a critical semiotic analysis. The result of the study lifts forward critical distinctions of ontological and epistemological assumptions in how to delineate social and economic claims for the righteousness, reasonableness and necessity of choices.
Article II focuses on how studentsâ wants and choices are formed in a vocational (vehicle maintenance program) and a theoretical (social science program) upper secondary education. By examining studentsâ want-lists complemented by interviews with students and school staff the study argues that it is important to view wants in an organic totality based on individual and collective experiences. The results show a pragmatic rationality in studentsâ decision-making, which challenges instrumental rationality in educational choices. This is importantly about how structural support guides studentsâ decisions over the future under conditions of the radical uncertainty that marks decisions in open social systems.
In article III the analysis of vocational and theoretical upper secondary studentsâ want formations are further developed in relation to their educational environment. Through analysis of interviews with students, teachers, principals and student counselors the article pays particular attention to institutional school effects and school habitus. The results showed that different forms of school habitus in the investigated programs could be empirically attributed to how students form their wants.
Article IV investigates identity work via a semi-structured questionnaire and group interviews with students from a Swedish Human Resource program in higher education. What in particular was investigated was how symbolic signification of education and occupations occurred within education. The actual meaning students attributed to education rested importantly on collective sense-making. Indicated in the results is that the meaning of being a student incorporates an awareness of social status and an ability to form relatively autonomous personal projects related to social forces.
The result of the thesis points to a lack of correspondence between, on the one hand, political notions of how rational and utility maximizing choices should be made based on effective matching of education and working life and, on the other hand, how young people form their paths into the future in practice through education choices. Students often make their educational choices due to a lack of better alternatives and are often uncertain about where their choices will take them in life. These results show that there is a need for concrete support in schools in order to turn studentsâ insecurity about the future into useful strategies for educational and occupational paths
Bit-Error probabilities for linear block codes
Detta examensarbete har en distinkt avgrÀnsning vilket innebÀr att enbart binÀra koder som kan beskrivas med en generator- och en kontrollmatris behandlas, det vill sÀga linjÀra block koder. För att se hur felsannolikheten varierar har tvÄ metoder anvÀnts, dels en fullstÀndig undersökning vilket innebÀr att alla linjÀrkombinationer av en generatormatris undersöks, dels en slumpmÀssig vilken innebÀr att enbart ett antal slumpmÀssigt utvalda linjÀrkombinationer undersöks. Den sistnÀmnda metoden anvÀnds enbart nÀr det blir för tidsödande att genomföra en fullstÀndig undersökning. Resultatet visar att alla avbildningar till en linjÀr kod inte Àr ekvivalenta med avseende pÄ felsannolikheten för de olika bitpositionerna i meddelandeordet. Detta innebÀr att vissa linjÀrkombinationer av en generatormatris för en given kod beter sig bÀttre Àn den ursprungliga generatormatrisen som definierar koden. Vissa koder kan till och med fÄs att bete sig snarlikt en perfekt kod. Som referens till de undersökta koderna har jag anvÀnt mig av Hamming koden, ham(7,4), vilken Àr en perfekt kod
Gregory Paul Wegner. Anti-Semitism and Schooling under the Third Reich. New York: RoutledgeFalmer, 2002. 262 pp. Cloth 26.95.
We Learned What Democracy Really Meantâ: The Berlin Student Parliament and Postwar School Reform in the 1950s
Charles B. Lansing. From Nazism to Communism: German Schoolteachers Under Two Dictatorships. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010. 320 pp. Cloth $49.95.
The Reality Of Stigma
Bakgrund: Depression Ă€r en av de vanligaste psykiska sjukdomarna idag och att det Ă€r i lika grad stigmatiserat. Stigma kan kopplas till okunnighet om psykisk ohĂ€lsa. Detta gör det nĂ€stintill omöjligt för individer som lider av psykisk ohĂ€lsa, sĂ„som depression, att kunna vara en del av samhĂ€llet och yttra sina kĂ€nslor utan att motta negativitet relaterat till sin sjukdom. Som ett tillĂ€gg till detta Ă€r individerna i frĂ„ga oftast ensamma, dvs de föredrar isolering Ă€n sĂ€llskapet av de som stigmatiserar dem. Detta i sin tur ger upphov till kĂ€nslor av oro och hopplöshet, hĂ€mmad Ă„terhĂ€mtning och Ă€ven vĂ€gran att söka hjĂ€lp och behandling. Syfte: Syftet Ă€r att undersöka hur upplevelser av stigmatisering kommer till uttryck i blogginlĂ€gg bland unga vuxna med depression. Metod: En kvalitativ metod med hjĂ€lp av textanalys utfördes. Ă
tta blogginlĂ€gg sammanlagt anvĂ€ndes för att komma fram till ett resultat. BlogginlĂ€gg granskades efter relevans av vĂ„rt syfte och studie. Resultat: Tre teman uppkom under studiens gĂ„ng. Dessa Ă€r: âRĂ€dslan att prata om sin diagnosâ, âDepression Ă€r ett skĂ€mtâ och âStigma frĂ„n professionellaâ. Konklusion: Individer som upplever stigmatisering frĂ„n samhĂ€llet som en följd av sin psykiska sjukdom upplever ovilja till Ă„terhĂ€mtning, kĂ€nslor av förtvivlan, vĂ€rdelöshet och illamĂ„ende som kan leda till isolering och minskade möjligheter i samhĂ€llet.Background: Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses today and it is equally stigmatized. Stigma can be linked to ignorance of mental illness. This makes it almost  impossible for individuals suffering from mental illness, such as depression, to be a part of society and express their feelings without receiving negativity related to their illness. In addition to this, the individuals in question are usually alone, i.e. they prefer isolation rather than the company of those who stigmatize them. This in turn gives rise to feelings of anxiety and hopelessness, inhibited recovery and even refusal to seek help and treatment. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the experiences of stigmatization is expressed in blog posts among young adults with depression. Method: A qualitative study using text analysis was used. A total of eight blog posts were analysed to get the results. Blog posts were reviewed after the relevance for our purpose and study. Result: Three themes arose during the study. These are: "The fear of talking about their diagnosis", "Depression is a joke" and "Stigma from professionals". Conclusion: Individuals who experience stigmatization from society as a result of their mental illness experience reluctance to recovery, feelings of despair, worthlessness and malice that can lead to isolation and diminished opportunities in society
The Reality Of Stigma
Bakgrund: Depression Ă€r en av de vanligaste psykiska sjukdomarna idag och att det Ă€r i lika grad stigmatiserat. Stigma kan kopplas till okunnighet om psykisk ohĂ€lsa. Detta gör det nĂ€stintill omöjligt för individer som lider av psykisk ohĂ€lsa, sĂ„som depression, att kunna vara en del av samhĂ€llet och yttra sina kĂ€nslor utan att motta negativitet relaterat till sin sjukdom. Som ett tillĂ€gg till detta Ă€r individerna i frĂ„ga oftast ensamma, dvs de föredrar isolering Ă€n sĂ€llskapet av de som stigmatiserar dem. Detta i sin tur ger upphov till kĂ€nslor av oro och hopplöshet, hĂ€mmad Ă„terhĂ€mtning och Ă€ven vĂ€gran att söka hjĂ€lp och behandling. Syfte: Syftet Ă€r att undersöka hur upplevelser av stigmatisering kommer till uttryck i blogginlĂ€gg bland unga vuxna med depression. Metod: En kvalitativ metod med hjĂ€lp av textanalys utfördes. Ă
tta blogginlĂ€gg sammanlagt anvĂ€ndes för att komma fram till ett resultat. BlogginlĂ€gg granskades efter relevans av vĂ„rt syfte och studie. Resultat: Tre teman uppkom under studiens gĂ„ng. Dessa Ă€r: âRĂ€dslan att prata om sin diagnosâ, âDepression Ă€r ett skĂ€mtâ och âStigma frĂ„n professionellaâ. Konklusion: Individer som upplever stigmatisering frĂ„n samhĂ€llet som en följd av sin psykiska sjukdom upplever ovilja till Ă„terhĂ€mtning, kĂ€nslor av förtvivlan, vĂ€rdelöshet och illamĂ„ende som kan leda till isolering och minskade möjligheter i samhĂ€llet.Background: Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses today and it is equally stigmatized. Stigma can be linked to ignorance of mental illness. This makes it almost  impossible for individuals suffering from mental illness, such as depression, to be a part of society and express their feelings without receiving negativity related to their illness. In addition to this, the individuals in question are usually alone, i.e. they prefer isolation rather than the company of those who stigmatize them. This in turn gives rise to feelings of anxiety and hopelessness, inhibited recovery and even refusal to seek help and treatment. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the experiences of stigmatization is expressed in blog posts among young adults with depression. Method: A qualitative study using text analysis was used. A total of eight blog posts were analysed to get the results. Blog posts were reviewed after the relevance for our purpose and study. Result: Three themes arose during the study. These are: "The fear of talking about their diagnosis", "Depression is a joke" and "Stigma from professionals". Conclusion: Individuals who experience stigmatization from society as a result of their mental illness experience reluctance to recovery, feelings of despair, worthlessness and malice that can lead to isolation and diminished opportunities in society