Literacy, numeracy, and digital practices at home among NEET Individuals in Germany. How are they associated with future work and school?

For adults who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET), an important source of their informal learning is literacy, numeracy, and digital (LND) practices at home. By analyzing data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and the longitudinal follow-ups in Germany, this study provides insight into the literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments skill profile of NEET individuals and examines if LND activities at home contribute to their level of skill in these areas. Additional longitudinal analysis examines the association between the probability of being NEET two and four years later and initial level of LND activities at home. Together, the results demonstrate that literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills are lower among NEET individuals and LND activities partially account for their difference in average skill levels compared to non-NEET people. Over time, LND activities at home have a small association with a lower probability of being NEET two years later but minimal to no association four years later. (DIPF/Orig.)Für Erwachsene mit NEET-Status ("not in employment, education, or training") sind literale, numerale und digitale (LND) Praktiken zu Hause wichtige Formen des informellen Lernens. Diese Studie bietet - basierend auf Daten des Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) und der weiterführenden Langzeitstudie PIAAC-Longitudinal (PIAAC-L) - Einblicke in das Kompetenzprofil von NEET-Personen in Deutschland und analysiert, ob LND-Aktivitäten zu Hause ihre Testergebnisse in standardisierten Kompetenztests beeinflussen. Eine zusätzliche Längsschnittanalyse untersucht den Zusammenhang zwischen dem vorangegangenen LND-Aktivitätsniveau und der Wahrscheinlichkeit zwei und vier Jahre später NEET zu sein. Insgesamt zeigen die Ergebnisse niedrigere Kompetenztestergebnisse für NEET-Erwachsene, was zum Teil durch unterschiedliche LND-Aktivitätsniveaus zu Hause zwischen NEET- und Nicht-NEET-Erwachsenen erklärt wird. Insgesamt zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass die Kompetenzen im Bereich Numeralität, Literalität und Problemlösung bei NEET-Personen im Vergleich zu Nicht-NEET-Personen geringer sind. Der Unterschied im durchschnittlichen Kompetenzniveau liegt partiell in den LND-Aktivitäten begründet. Im Zeitverlauf zeigt sich, ein (geringer) Zusammenhang zwischen LND-Aktivitäten zu Hause und einer niedrigeren Wahrscheinlichkeit, zwei Jahre später NEET zu sein; vier Jahre später lässt sich ein minimaler bis kein Zusammenhang feststellen. (DIPF/Orig.

Transient, Isolated Head Tremor in “Unaffected” Individuals: Is Essential Tremor an Even More Prevalent Disease Than We Suppose?

Background: Mild and transient head tremor may sometimes be observed in otherwise tremor-free relatives of essential tremor (ET) cases, although its prevalence is unclear. A diagnostic question is whether this transient, isolated head tremor, often observed as no more than a wobble, is an early manifestation of ET or whether it is a normal finding. A direct comparison with controls is needed.Methods: Two hundred and forty-one first-degree relatives of ET cases (FD-ET) and 77 spousal controls (Co) were enrolled in a study of ET. Each underwent a detailed evaluation that included a tremor history and videotaped neurological examination. None of the enrollees reported tremor, had a prior diagnosis of ET, or had significant tremor on screening spirals. All videotaped examinations were initially reviewed by a movement disorder neurologist blinded to subject type, and among those with head tremor on examination, co-reviewed by two additional movement disorders neurologists.Results: Twenty-six (10.8, 95% Confidence interval [CI] = 7.5–15.3%) of 241 FD-ET vs. 2 (2.6, 95% CI = 0.7–9.0%) of 77 Co had isolated, transient head tremor (odds ratio = 4.54, 95% CI = 1.05–19.57, p = 0.04). No enrollee had significant upper extremity tremor and none met inclusion criteria for ET based on the presence of upper extremity tremor. With one exception, head tremor occurred during or after phonation. It was always transient (generally a single back and forth wobble) and rare (observed briefly on one or two occasions during the videotaped examination) and had a faster frequency, lower amplitude and a different quality than voluntary head shaking.Conclusion: The basis for the observed isolated head tremor is unknown, but it could be an early feature of ET in ET families.Indeed, one-in-ten otherwise unaffected first-degree relatives of ET cases exhibited such tremor. To a far lesser extent it was also observed in “unaffected” controls. In both, it is likely a sign of early, emerging, undiagnosed ET, although follow-up studies are needed to confirm this. If it were ET, it would indicate that the prevalence of ET may be considerably higher than previously suspected

School Smoking Policy Characteristics and Individual Perceptions of the School Tobacco Context: Are They Linked to Students’ Smoking Status?

The purpose of this study was to explore individual- and school-level policy characteristics on student smoking behavior using an ecological perspective. Participants were 24,213 (51% female) Grade 10–11 students from 81 schools in five Canadian provinces. Data were collected using student self-report surveys, written policies collected from schools, interviews with school administrators, and school property observations to assess multiple dimensions of the school tobacco policy. The multi-level modeling results revealed that the school a student attended was associated with his/her smoking behavior. Individual-level variables that were associated with student smoking included lower school connectedness, a greater number of family and friends who smoked, higher perceptions of student smoking prevalence, lower perceptions of student smoking frequency, and stronger perceptions of the school tobacco context. School-level variables associated with student smoking included weaker policy intention indicating prohibition and assistance to overcome tobacco addiction, weaker policy implementation involving strategies for enforcement, and a higher number of students smoking on school property. These findings suggest that the school environment is important to tobacco control strategies, and that various policy dimensions have unique relationships to student smoking. School tobacco policies should be part of a comprehensive approach to adolescent tobacco use

Destablizing Curriculum History: A Genealogy of Critical Thinking

Through a case study of one higher-education institute, two historical moments are narrated through genealogy in order to expose the contentious historical roots of the discourse of critical thinking.  Two moments in time when critical thinking curriculum surfaced within institutional discourse are located in order to addresses the material impacts of this discourse within institutional change.  I excavate a particular, tenuous history of critical thinking, showing its use in navigating seemingly incompatible relationships between disciplinary-bound knowledge, student service, and academic legitimacy.  This paper provides an illustration of how genealogy can be used to reconceptualize curriculum history and theory, not simply in accounting for curriculum over time, but in destabilizing the taken-for-grantedness of its overarching concepts.  Thus, rather than contending with what critical thinking may be, this genealogy addresses the how of critical thinking, through excavating its when

Dimensions of educational stratification : non-standard employment, workplace task discretion, and educational beliefs

My dissertation consists of three distinct yet interrelated studies. Its purpose is to extend research and theory on inequality by investigating three educational outcomes: non-standard employment, workplace task discretion, and intrinsic and extrinsic educational beliefs. As a body of work, my research generates insight into how the level and type of educational attainment affect divergent life course pathways. The first study examines gender inequality in early career part-time and temporary employment in Canada. Through two types of decomposition analyses, I research non-standard employment across four cohorts graduating between 1990 and 2010, studying the extent to which gender stratification within fields of study or systemic employment inequality contribute to dissimilar outcomes. I find that rates of non-standard employment vary substantially across disciplines. Furthermore, the over and under-representation of women in certain fields is a main factor explaining gender differences in temporary employment but cannot fully account for disparities in part-time employment. The second study researches the relationship between education and workplace task discretion in 30 countries. Through regression and decomposition analyses, I examine the direct association between education and task discretion and the extent to which skill and occupational sector function as mediators. I compare individual-agency and critical-institutional theoretical perspectives as explanations for direct and indirect associations. My findings mainly support critical-institutional accounts and yield evidence of a relative relationship between education and task discretion. That is, in contexts where task discretion is higher overall and more equal among occupations, education, skill, and occupational sector are less significant mechanisms of stratification. The third study considers how intrinsic and extrinsic educational beliefs change over adulthood. My research is based on a longitudinal study that repeatedly surveyed the same graduating British Columbia high school cohort over 28 years. Through hierarchical growth modelling, I contrast demographic and experience-based explanations to consider the influence of social origin and individual education and employment participation over time. The findings suggest that both life course experiences and social position have an influence on initial educational beliefs in early adulthood and the rate of change over time. Additionally, educational beliefs are more variable in early adulthood and become more stable later in participants’ life courses.Education, Faculty ofEducational Studies (EDST), Department ofGraduat

Well-being in the Welfare State?: the redistributive capacity of education

International audienceFocusing on the macro-micro interaction between institutional arrangements and individual life outcomes, this article investigates how welfare régime types impact the association between education and well-being, as measured by satisfaction with life. Theorising with Esping-Andersen's ideal-typical welfare régime typology, we hypothesise that decommodified institutional arrangements reduce the association between education and well-being through compensatory social protections for at-risk individuals, while stratifying forces strengthen this association. These results are only partly supported; we find that Conservative Welfare States show the most robust association, whilst Liberal and Social-Democratic Welfare States display weaker relationships. Thus, stratification appears to play a more important role than decommodification in moderating this association. We also examine potential mediating factors and how they differ between welfare régime types, finding that health and income mediate the effects of education on well-being to varying degrees

Degree of Benefit? The Interconnection Among Social Capital, Well-Being and Education

International audienceSocial capital is instrumental to personal well-being; yet, this relationship may differ by educational level. Using data from the European Social Survey (ESS), the present study explores the interconnection between tertiary education, social capital, and subjective well-being. Examining the nature of these relationships, we test the hypothesis that tertiary education moderates the relationship between two broad forms of social capital, social trust and social relatedness, and well-being. We predict a “trade-off” between individual human capital and interpersonal social capital, where either one or the other comes to play a dominant role. Furthermore, we test if overall levels of tertiary education at the national level change the strength of the relationship among individual-level forms of social capital and well-being. Although connected occupation and employment factors are also important, we find that tertiary education functions as a non-pecuniary moderator changing the nature of the relationship between social capital and well-being. Respondents with tertiary education have higher levels of well-being regardless of their self-reported level of social capital, and—what is more—the extent to which social trust and social relatedness are associated with well-being is weaker among this highly educated group. In contrast, respondents without tertiary education experience greater well-being enhancement through social capital, “catching up” in self-reported well-being at higher social capital levels. This study provides preliminary evidence that social factors predicting well-being differ across the educational spectrum

Discretion, capabilities and autonomy: The role of education from an international comparative perspective

International audienc

The relative relationship between education and workplace task discretion: an international comparative perspective

International audienceThrough analyses of Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) data, the following study considers the direct and indirect association between education and workplace task discretion in 30 countries. By focusing on cross-national comparison, it considers the ways in which these findings are dependent on both the overall level and the range of task discretion across occupational sectors within a country. Theoretically, individual-agency and critical-institutional hypotheses are compared, two perspectives that provide divergent explanations for the indirect association between education and task discretion. The findings partially support both perspectives and there is strong evidence of a relative relationship between education and task discretion. That is, in country contexts where overall levels of task discretion are higher and more equal, education operates less strongly as a stratifying force. The originality of this approach showcases empirically how the association between education and task discretion is context dependent and theoretically how individual-agency and criticalinstitutional perspectives both contribute to understanding this relationship