Turnover Processes in a Temporal Context: It's About Time

To better understand the process of organizational withdrawal, a turnover model incorporating dynamic predictors measured at five distinct points in time was examined by following a large, occupationally diverse sample over a two-year period. Results demonstrated that turnover can be predicted by perceived costs of turnover, organizational commitment, and critical events measured soon after entry into the organization, and unemployment rates, job satisfaction, and search for alternative jobs also become significant predictors when measured over time. Critical events also predicted turnover in a manner distinct from the operation of attitudes, consistent with the unfolding model (Lee & Mitchell, 1994). The path to turnover was marked by consistently low perceived costs of turnover and satisfaction, decreases in commitment, and increases in job search over time.

Ants wax maniac : a translation in orature

In this study I examine a translation of the oral Ant Songs from 'Akimel 'O'odham (Pima) to English, emphasizing the way obstacles to translation transfigure how they are rendered as literary works. An analysis of their performance, language, cultural codes, and orality illuminate a highly ambiguous territory. The study of this and other translations of orature, including the difficulties they give rise to, can enrich our understanding of literature as well as translation

The Human Race Vs. the Minorities : Racism, anti-racism, and intelligent non-humans in the world architecture of speculative fiction

This dissertation examines the intelligent non-humans of speculative fiction, interrogating their relationship to the social construct of “race.” It seeks to provide a framework for answering questions about whether a given fictional group is racial and the degree to which making claims about intelligent non-humans contributes to real-world inequality and oppression. To accomplish these goals, the dissertation examines the most popular works of speculative fiction from the twentieth century with supporting examples from elsewhere throughout the genre. It analyzes those works with a focus on their world architecture, defined here as the collection of all details about the world and the events therein that can be established by an appeal to the text. It compares the world architecture of each work to real-world ideological frameworks, showing how the works reflect and renegotiate contemporary ideologies in structuring their fictional worlds. The analysis proceeds from establishing the link between intelligent nonhuman creatures and “race” to exploring the ends to which texts deploy that link. This process begins in chapter three, which compares numerous fundamental traits of various non-humans to contemporary beliefs about human races. It further explores parallels between beliefs in racial hierarchies and the underlying logic of racial mixedness. It establishes that the texts define intelligent non-humans in terms strongly reminiscent of those used by contemporary racists to define human racial divisions. It further reinforces this claim by an appeal to features such as racial taxonomy and “new racism” to show that as racist beliefs have evolved over the century in the real world, the portrayal of intelligent non-humans in speculative fiction has evolved to match. Chapter four takes the pattern of representation established in chapter three and extends it, drawing on concepts from Whiteness studies. By exploring concepts such as normativity, enterprise, gendered relationships to light and dark, color coding by pigmentation, and reproductive anxieties, chapter four reveals further nuance to the hierarchies established in chapter three. In particular, it shows the hierarchies extending in muted form between genders and humans of different skin tones. Many of these uses of Whiteness come despite attempts by the same texts to work against them. The chapter takes initial steps in exploring the use of racialized non-humans by arguing that using Whiteness to rationalize the hierarchies of the fictional world reinforces its use in rationalizing real-world hierarchies. Chapter five finally explores the deployment of this racialization by considering the anti-racist strategies each work engages with. Each work involves itself with a variety of relativist, universalist, and practice-oriented anti-racist strategies. Each involvement shows the willingness of the works to negotiate these strategies and a critical awareness of those strategies’ strengths and shortcomings. At the same time, the works show a productive (“producerly”) complexity, and I discuss how each engagement leaves opportunities for selective (“guerilla”) readings. This openness ensures the ideological compatibility of the works with a wide audience by remaining open to interpretations across a broad range of the political spectrum. Ultimately, the dissertation establishes sufficient ground to answer final questions, such as whether a given work might be considered “racist” or “antiracist,” a question it tackles based on various foci and meanings. Any answer as to whether the works are “racist” regarding human beings must be highly qualified. However, there is an undeniable “yes” to whether they are “racist” regarding intelligent non-humans. Intelligent non-humans are constructed in racial terms, while humans mainly exist in a normative position relative to them. Among humans, differences appear regarding enterprise and participation in gendered Whiteness. Nonetheless, these are patterned rather than explicit, and no inherent differences are directly ascribed to humans based on skin tone, while some are openly denied. At the same time, each work is undeniably anti-racist, yet this anti-racism and racism coexist comfortably and without contradiction, as each work opposes certain features of or associated with racism while casually embracing more fundamental aspects. This complexity and openness to race is typical of popular speculative fiction and shows that race matters, even when it does not exist

Quantifying the effects of multicellular mutations TUS2 and AIM44 on size and growth rate in S. cerevisiae

Faculty advisor: Michael TravisanoThis research was supported by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Evaluating the Usefulness of Knowledge Sharing Connections in Multinational Construction Companies

ABSTRACT Although knowledge is a vital resource for construction companies, most organizations do not take full advantage of their knowledge resources. In many cases, knowledge management is a game of extremes; either managers take a hands off approach and employees fail to initiate connections that would otherwise be useful, or they embrace a spirit of collaboration that saturates employees with relationships and information flows that are redundant, time intensive, and distracting. To better understand what drives effectiveness in knowledge sharing networks, this study examines the relationship between structural and relational factors and the perceived usefulness of knowledge sharing connections. Results indicate that there is no association between usefulness and communication frequency, media richness, or geographic and disciplinary boundary spanning. These results and their implications are discussed in depth

Findings from the First Phase of a Study of the Transition from Welfare to Work in Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Funding provided by the Joyce Foundation, Hennepin County, City of Minneapolis, and the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota

Findings from the Second Phase of a Study of the Transition from Welfare to Work in Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Funding provided by the Joyce Foundation, Hennepin County, City of Minneapolis, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs and School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota

The job search grind: Perceived progress, self-reactions, and self-regulation of search effort.

Guided by theory and research on self-regulation and goal pursuit, we offer a framework for studying the dynamics of unemployed individuals' job search. A daily survey over three weeks demonstrated vacillation in job seeker affect and, to a lesser extent, "reemployment efficacy." Daily perceived job search progress was related to this vacillation. Lower perceived progress on any given day was related to more effort the following day. The study provides insights into the daily dynamics of job search and elucidates the roles of search progress, affect, and three key moderators-financial hardship, employment commitment, and "action-state orientation"-in explaining these dynamics

Needs-based assessment: a model for profiling, assisting, and empowering job seekers

Needs-based assessment (NBA) was developed in New Zealand to assess job seekers’ capacity, willingness, and opportunity to find work. This article outlines the development of NBA from its theoretical underpinnings, evidence from a longitudinal study and the development of an employment adviser–administered computerized profiling tool, and the provision of self-assessment and support tools. The authors argue that, with a rise in the number of unemployed job seekers and the long-term unemployed, demands for government resources with less resources available to satisfy those demands, and the widespread adoption of social and interactive media, it is timely to revisit an NBA approach to job seeker profiling and targeted intervention