The Funnel Effect: How Elite College Culture Narrows Students' Perceptions of Post-Collegiate Career Opportunities

Today, the process of choosing a career for young adults is not a linear path, but instead a complex process influenced by a myriad of internal and external factors. At elite colleges, high prestige jobs are most appealing as students strive to occupy a position of power and resources and live up to their institution's reputation. In the current environment of high or uncertain unemployment, increased competition for jobs and increasingly rising college costs, the steps young adults take to determine goals and means can become confused. All too frequently, ambient university culture emphasizes the importance of finding a certain kind of job rather than thinking through where passions lie and which jobs might be most meaningful and well fitting over the long haul.In this study, we explore the issues of career choice among a small group of Harvard seniors,identifying the factors that have the most significant influence on the decision-making process. Specifically, we interviewed 40 Harvard seniors about their college experiences, formative influences, and decision-making processes regarding career choices. Twenty-two females and 18 males participated, coming from a range of concentrations, though the most prevalent majors were English, History, and Social Studies. Students were recruited using list serves at residential houses and the Office of Career Services. Our primary focus was to identify why and how students make decisions about the careers they pursue. We also focused on why some students seem driven to take jobs in finance and consulting, while others pursue paths of public service.Our findings suggest the presence of a "funnel effect." Though students enter college with a diverse set of interests, by senior year, most of them seem to focus on a narrow set of jobs. The culture at Harvard seems to be dominated by the pursuit of high earning, prestigious jobs, especially in the finance and consulting industries. Interestingly, there is a notable disconnect between students' proclaimed passions and interests and the jobs they pursue. According to the Office of Career Services at Harvard, only 22% of the student body accepts jobs in these industries (2011 OCS Student Report). Nonetheless, seniors feel pressured to enter into the fall recruiting cycle in order to procure a job that "lives up to their Harvard degree." Those who express interest in public service jobs appear to forge this path without the help of university structures, often networking and researching online to find out about potential opportunities. Many students feel that finding public service careers is a challenge at Harvard. Unlike the finance, consulting, technology and marketing sectors, few recruiters for public service jobs come to campus. Students appear to be "risk averse," a stance that ultimately seems to impact career choice upon graduation. Our results pinpoint factors that support and explain those students who make choices counter to the prevailing trends -- namely extracurricular activities, study abroad programs, and students' longstanding passions and beliefs

Ancestral Spaces: Time, Memory and the Liminal Experience of Painting

Abstract of Dissertation Where a person is situated in space and time determines the way an artwork is perceived. The result of this experience implies a relationship between the viewer and the artwork, thereby creating a liminal space. The terms liminal space and nonduality in this paper refer to the threshold, or in-between space that both separates and unites two opposing forces, creating a unique place that transcends memory and time. An artwork can serve as a mediatory object between artist and viewer because with each encounter, a unique meeting occurs. Thus, the meeting of audience and art object is transitory, ephemeral and temporal by nature and will be discussed in relation to the artwork as a vehicle to foster a subjective perception. Using my ancestral memories as a starting point, I refer to the art object as a means to explore time as a cross section of experience. Like dreams, where time is non-linear and memories exist side by side, I refer to the nondual space that exists between artist, artwork and audience as an opportunity to access an intuitive reaction to perception. The yearning to represent subjective space stems from my desire to understand perception and the brain. By presenting an overview of approaches from art history and contemporary art, this paper will discuss the various philosophical approaches that have been employed to represent space and time. I emphasise the ability of visual art to record the multifarious nature of experience, and the ability of the picture plane as a means to employ illusory and abstract space simultaneously. I have approached the research of time, memory and space through the lens of my own ancestry, which is essentially a combination of eastern and western in origin. Through this model I explore the tendencies throughout art history to depict space and time and the influences that culture and science have had upon the visual arts. My own paintings, and the work of Louise Bourgeois, Amy Cutler and Mamma Andersson are discussed with the intention of describing how the subjectivity of space can be expressed through a method that embraces the theories of nonduality and liminal space. Between the junction of east/west and abstract/illusory space, lies a point of union that I will refer to as ‘transcendent space’. By existing in the nondual, access is granted into a field that transcends the ‘either/or’ and allows access into a temporal space that permeates all experience. Studio work The studio component of the MVA will comprise of a series of paintings and an installation entitled, Only the memories are new. The paintings are of small scale and play with depictions of flatness and illusion. I have referenced Arabic miniatures as a means to employ a vertical perspective, whilst the inclusion of windows and doorways imply an opening to the nondual and the liminal. For the installation, components of the paintings come to life and occupy a space that invites the viewers’ participation. The installation presents an environment that asks the viewer to navigate the space that they occupy by way of memory and time

The GoodWork Toolkit

The GoodWork Toolkit is not a prescribed curriculum; it is called a "toolkit" because it contains a variety of tools that may be used in a number of combinations. Its design is grounded in our own experience using the materials with educators and students, and in research about human learning and development. In short, we know that just teaching about good work is not sufficient if we hope individuals will actually do good work.The Toolkit is based on a set of principles about how to most effectively encourage individuals to care about and to carry out good work. The materials are designed to guide participants through a series of questions central to understanding the importance of good work in our society

Absence of a dose-rate effect in the transformation of C3H 10T1/2 cells by α-particles

The findings of Hill et al. (1984) on the greatly enhanced transformation frequencies at very low dose rates of fission neutrons induced us to perform an analogous study with -particles at comparable dose rates. Transformation frequencies were determined with γ-rays at high dose rate (0·5 Gy/min), and with -particles at high (0·2 Gy/min) and at low dose rates (0·83-2·5 mGy/min) in the C3H 10T1/2 cell system. α-particles were substantially more effective than γ-rays, both for cell inactivation and for neoplastic transformation at high and low dose rates. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for cell inactivation and for neoplastic transformation was of similar magnitude, and ranged from about 3 at an -particle dose of 2 Gy to values of the order of 10 at 0·25 Gy. In contrast to the experiments of Hill et al. (1984) with fission neutrons, no increased transformation frequencies were observed when the -particle dose was protracted over several hours

Comparison of RBE values of high- LET α-particles for the induction of DNA-DSBs, chromosome aberrations and cell reproductive death

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Various types of radiation effects in mammalian cells have been studied with the aim to predict the radiosensitivity of tumours and normal tissues, e.g. DNA double strand breaks (DSB), chromosome aberrations and cell reproductive inactivation. However, variation in correlations with clinical results has reduced general application. An additional type of information is required for the increasing application of high-LET radiation in cancer therapy: the Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE) for effects in tumours and normal tissues. Relevant information on RBE values might be derived from studies on cells in culture.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To evaluate relationships between DNA-DSB, chromosome aberrations and the clinically most relevant effect of cell reproductive death, for ionizing radiations of different LET, dose-effect relationships were determined for the induction of these effects in cultured SW-1573 cells irradiated with gamma-rays from a Cs-137 source or with α-particles from an Am-241 source. RBE values were derived for these effects. Ionizing radiation induced foci (IRIF) of DNA repair related proteins, indicative of DSB, were assessed by counting gamma-H2AX foci. Chromosome aberration frequencies were determined by scoring fragments and translocations using premature chromosome condensation. Cell survival was measured by colony formation assay. Analysis of dose-effect relations was based on the linear-quadratic model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results show that, although both investigated radiation types induce similar numbers of IRIF per absorbed dose, only a small fraction of the DSB induced by the low-LET gamma-rays result in chromosome rearrangements and cell reproductive death, while this fraction is considerably enhanced for the high-LET alpha-radiation. Calculated RBE values derived for the linear components of dose-effect relations for gamma-H2AX foci, cell reproductive death, chromosome fragments and colour junctions are 1.0 ± 0.3, 14.7 ± 5.1, 15.3 ± 5.9 and 13.3 ± 6.0 respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results indicate that RBE values for IRIF (DNA-DSB) induction provide little valid information on other biologically-relevant end points in cells exposed to high-LET radiations. Furthermore, the RBE values for the induction of the two types of chromosome aberrations are similar to those established for cell reproductive death. This suggests that assays of these aberrations might yield relevant information on the biological effectiveness in high-LET radiotherapy.</p

The GoodWork Project: An Overview

The Good Project is a large scale effort to identify individuals and institutions that exemplify good work -- work that is excellent in quality, socially responsible, and meaningful to its practitioners -- and to determine how best to increase the incidence of good work in our society. This paper is a comprehensive description of the GoodWork Project