2,380 research outputs found
When Do Faculty inputs Matter? A Panel Study of Racial/Ethnic Differences in Engineering Bachelor\u27s Degree Production
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields are widely credited as the primary drivers of economic growth through innovation, with engineering universally identified as especially critical. Yet as other nations have strengthened their engineering talent pools, the United States has struggled to cultivate an engineering workforce that reflects its diversity and takes full advantage of its human capital. Reflecting this dilemma, African Americans have consistently posted the weakest persistence and bachelor\u27s degree completion rates of all racial/ethnic groups in engineering, and by some indications, their postsecondary outcomes are worsening.
The purpose of this study was to develop understanding about potential institutional levers for improving engineering bachelor\u27s degree attainment both for underrepresented minorities (URMs) broadly and Black students specifically. Drawing on the higher education production function, I used multiple sources of institutional panel data for 324 engineering schools/colleges from 2005 to 2011 to uncover differential relationships between faculty predictors and engineering bachelor\u27s degree production by student race/ethnicity and institutional context. I used multiple imputation to handle missing data and estimated fixed effects linear regression and dynamic panel models of engineering degree production, then I assessed institutions\u27 degree production efficiencies using stochastic frontier analysis.
The findings indicate that from 2005 to 2011, the number of engineering bachelor\u27s degrees conferred to Black students declined 10%, with the smallest declines occurring at highly competitive institutions (2%) and the largest declines at HBCUs (30%). Results from the fixed effects models indicate that engineering faculty-to-student ratio was positively related and the proportion of research faculty negatively related to engineering bachelor\u27s degree production for every student subgroup in at least one institutional setting. The share of URM faculty was positively related to degree production for URMs and Blacks in some settings. However, no faculty measure was predictive of degree output for every student subgroup across every institution type. And in every instance where a faculty variable was related to degree output for multiple student subgroups, the magnitude of the estimated effect was greatest for Black students, then URMs, then all students. Ultimately, the study suggests that leveraging institutional resources to improve student outcomes in STEM calls for targeted analyses to develop strategies that reflect the heterogeneity of STEM disciplines, STEM students, and educational settings
Multigenerational Financial Values: Differences Between Leaders in the Workplace
Company leaders in the workplace represent all generations with diverse values, and those values influence their financial decisions in the workplace. The problem is that multigenerational company leaders and their employees possess different values from one another, which in turn creates different financial priorities for the company. The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain a better understanding of how the financial values of company leaders from different generations are developed, and how those values influence their financial decisions in the workplace. The key research question for this qualitative study examined how the financial values and decisions of company leaders in the workplace differ from their fellow company leaders from a different generation. This study assessed the different motivations for financial decision making by the multigenerational managers in the workplace. Semi-structured interviews and notes from direct observation of 10 multigenerational managers coupled with the analysis compiled from qualitative research software showed that most managers possessed similar financial values and made similar financial decisions, regardless of their generation. The findings also showed that the financial values of the participants were developed at an early age, which influenced their financial decision-making in the workplace. These results could lead to positive social change by gaining a better understanding of the motivations for financial values and financial decisions made in the workplace
The Proper Motion of PSR J0205+6449 in 3C 58
We report on sensitive phase-referenced and gated 1.4-GHz VLBI radio
observations of the pulsar PSR J0205+6449 in the young pulsar-wind nebula 3C
58, made in 2007 and 2010. We employed a novel technique where the ~105-m Green
Bank telescope is used simultaneously to obtain single-dish data used to
determine the pulsar's period as well as to obtain the VLBI data, allowing the
VLBI correlation to be gated synchronously with the pulse to increase the
signal-to-noise. The high timing noise of this young pulsar precludes the
determination of the proper motion from the pulsar timing. We derive the
position of the pulsar accurate at the milliarcsecond level, which is
consistent with a re-determined position from the Chandra X-ray observations.
We reject the original tentative optical identification of the pulsar by
Shearer and Neustroev (2008), but rather identify a different optical
counterpart on their images, with R-band magnitude ~24. We also determine an
accurate proper motion for PSR J0205+6449 of (2.3 +- 0.3) mas/yr, corresponding
to a projected velocity of only (35 +- 6) km/s for a distance of 3.2 kpc, at
p.a. -38 deg. This projected velocity is quite low compared to the velocity
dispersion of known pulsars of ~200 km/s. Our measured proper motion does not
suggest any particular kinematic age for the pulsar.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures; accepted for publication in MNRA
A broadband radio study of the average profile and giant pulses from PSR B1821-24A
We present the results of wide-band (720-2400 MHz) study of PSR B1821-24A
(J1824-2452A, M28A), an energetic millisecond pulsar visible in radio, X-rays
and gamma-rays. In radio, the pulsar has a complex average profile which spans
>85% of the spin period and exhibits strong evolution with observing frequency.
For the first time we measure phase-resolved polarization properties and
spectral indices of radio emission throughout almost all of the on-pulse
window. We combine this knowledge with the high-energy information to compare
M28A to other known gamma-ray millisecond pulsars and to speculate that M28A's
radio emission originates in multiple regions within its magnetosphere (i.e.
both in the slot or outer gaps near the light cylinder and at lower altitudes
above the polar cap). M28A is one of the handful of pulsars which are known to
emit Giant Pulses (GPs) -- short, bright radio pulses of unknown nature. We
report a drop in the linear polarization of the average profile in both windows
of GP generation and also a `W'-shaped absorption feature (resembling a double
notch), partly overlapping with one of the GP windows. The GPs themselves have
broadband spectra consisting of multiple patches with fractional spectral width
() of about 0.07. Although our time resolution was not
sufficient to resolve the GP structure on the microsecond scale, we argue that
GPs from this pulsar most closely resemble the GPs from the main pulse of the
Crab pulsar, which consist of a series of narrowband nanoshots.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, accepted to Ap
X-Ray Timing, Spectroscopy and Photometry of the Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar Candidate CXOU J010043.1-721134
We present new X-ray timing and spectral results on the 8.0-second X-ray
pulsar CXOU J010043.1-721134 from a series of observations using the Chandra
X-ray Observatory. We find a spin period in 2004 January of 8.020392pm0.000009
seconds. Comparison of this to 2001 Chandra observations implies a period
derivative dot{P} = (1.88 pm 0.08) times 10^{-11} s s^{-1}, leading to an
inferred dipole surface magnetic field of 3.9 times 10^{14} G. The spectrum is
well fit to an absorbed blackbody of temperature kT = 0.38pm0.02 keV with a
power law tail of photon index Gamma = 2.0pm0.6. We find that the source has an
unabsorbed X-ray flux (0.5-10 keV) of 4(+2-1) times 10^{-13} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1}
and a corresponding X-ray luminosity of ~2 times 10^{35} erg s^{-1} for a
distance of 60 kpc. These properties support classification of CXOU
J010043.1-721134 as the seventh confirmed anomalous X-ray pulsar,the eleventh
confirmed magnetar, and the first magnetar to be identified in the Small
Magellanic Cloud.Comment: 5 pages, plus 1 embedded eps figure. Refined coordinates of source,
including typo in declination. ApJ Letters, in pres
Out of the frying pan: a young pulsar with a long radio trail emerging from SNR G315.9-0.0
The faint radio supernova remnant SNR G315.9-0.0 is notable for a long and
thin trail that extends outward perpendicular from the edge of its
approximately circular shell. In a search with the Parkes telescope we have
found a young and energetic pulsar that is located at the tip of this
collimated linear structure. PSR J1437-5959 has period P = 61 ms,
characteristic age tau_c = 114 kyr, and spin-down luminosity dE/dt = 1.4e36
erg/s. It is very faint, with a flux density at 1.4 GHz of about 75 uJy. From
its dispersion measure of 549 pc/cc, we infer d ~ 8 kpc. At this distance and
for an age comparable to tau_c, the implied pulsar velocity in the plane of the
sky is V_t = 300 km/s for a birth at the center of the SNR, although it is
possible that the SNR/pulsar system is younger than tau_c and that V_t > 300
km/s. The highly collimated linear feature is evidently the pulsar wind trail
left from the supersonic passage of PSR J1437-5959 through the interstellar
medium surrounding SNR G315.9-0.0.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
A High-Frequency Search for Pulsars Within the Central Parsec of SgrA*
We report results from a deep high-frequency search for pulsars within the
central parsec of Sgr A* using the Green Bank Telescope. The observing
frequency of 15 GHz was chosen to maximize the likelihood of detecting normal
pulsars (i.e. with periods of \,ms and spectral indices of ) close to Sgr A*, that might be used as probes of gravity in the
strong-field regime; this is the highest frequency used for such pulsar
searches of the Galactic Center to date. No convincing candidate was detected
in the survey, with a detection threshold of Jy
achieved in two separate observing sessions. This survey represents a
significant improvement over previous searches for pulsars at the Galactic
Center and would have detected a significant fraction ($\gtrsim 5%) of the
pulsars around Sgr A*, if they had properties similar to those of the known
population. Using our best current knowledge of the properties of the Galactic
pulsar population and the scattering material toward Sgr A*, we estimate an
upper limit of 90 normal pulsars in orbit within the central parsec of Sgr A*.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in the ApJ
Reframing the Narrative: Librarians as Innovators in the Past and Present
This paper examines the revolutionary impact librarians had on American higher education in the late 19th century. Librarians were transformative agents in the evolution of today’s American higher education. The argument that libraries aren’t “just books,” reinforces negative perceptions and undermines the legacy of innovation and impact of historical librarians and library staff. We will benefit from better understanding our role in transforming higher education in the past, and championing our legacy as innovators
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