Indigenous household demography and socioeconomic status: The policy implications of 1996 Census data

The paper presents an analysis of indigenous household demography and economic status relative to non-indigenous Australian households. An innovative combination of economic analysis of 1996 Census data and ethnographic research is used, and reveals that indigenous households are experiencing substantial and multiple forms of economic burden in comparison to non-indigenous Australian households and that they display significantly different characteristics. The findings highlight a number of policy implications

The economic status of Indigenous Australian families

A shorter version of this paper was presented to the International Year of the Family National Conference on 'Australian Families: the Next Ten Years', in Adelaide 20-23 November 1994. This longer paper presents a preliminary analysis of the economic status of Indigenous families relative to other Australian families. A methodological combination of economic analysis of current census data, and anthropological research is used in the paper, revealing that Indigenous families are experiencing substantial and multiple forms of economic burden in comparison to other Australian families. They also display significantly different structural and organisational characteristics which are assessed in terms of their economic impacts. Indigenous families are more likely to be sole parent families and have on average, a larger number of children and larger households. The adults are younger, have lower levels of education and are less likely to be in employment than other Australians. The poor economic position of Indigenous sole parents is highlighted, and the economic role of the aged, matrifocal families, young adults and children are considered. The paper concludes by examining the important policy and program implications raised by the research, and argues the need for an increased focus on the particular socioeconomic and locational circumstances of Indigenous families

Returning to Graduate School: Expectations of Success, Values of the Degree, and Managing the Costs

Background Limited research exists on the experiences of engineering returners – those with undergraduate degrees who work for at least five years and return to academia for graduate degrees. Returners bring a different perspective to their graduate studies and postgraduate work than direct‐pathway students but face additional challenges. Purpose Our aim was to understand practitioners' decisions to return to graduate school and complete graduate degrees. Guided by expectancy value theory, we investigated their beliefs about their ability to succeed; the interest, attainment, and utility values returners placed on graduate school; the costs they experienced in returning; and the personal, programmatic, and cultural factors that mitigated these costs. Design/Method We employed a qualitative interpretivist approach to investigate the returning experience through semi‐structured interviews with 10 returners. We analyzed the results deductively, using expectancy value theory to understand participants' expectations of success and the values of those experiences, and inductively, to understand the types of costs that influenced the decision to return and complete graduate school. Results Utility value drove participants' decisions to return and complete graduate programs, and participants had a high expectancy of success in earning their graduate degrees. Four types of costs emerged from analysis of the interviews: intellectual, balance, cultural and environmental, and financial. Participants employed various strategies to mitigate these costs. Conclusions With the results of our study, potential returners can more effectively plan for success in the graduate environment, and universities can develop initiatives to better recruit returners and support their success.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/99102/1/jee20012.pd

The economic status of Indigenous Australian households: a statistical and ethnographic analysis

This paper presents an overview of the contemporary economic status of Indigenous households relative to other Australian households, based on an analysis of 1991 Census data and a review of ethnographic case study evidence. The analysis is expanded by a brief consideration of information on households from the 1994 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey. The paper complements an earlier one by Daly and Smith (1995) focusing on Indigenous families and is part of a longer-term project to investigate changes in the economic status of families and households over time. A multidisciplinary approach is employed, reviewing ethnographic case study research to give a qualitative depth to the quantitative analysis. The paper highlights critical differences in the socioeconomic status of Indigenous households relative to others and suggests a number of policy implications

The continuing disadvantage of Indigenous sole parents: a preliminary analysis of 1996 Census data

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of 1996 Census data relating to female Indigenous sole parents. It confirms results from the 1991 Census which show that sole parent families account for a larger share of Indigenous families than sole parents among other Australian families. Indigenous female sole parents tend to be younger, have larger numbers of children, less education and are less likely to be in employment than other Australian sole parents. All these factors have important implications for the economic status of Indigenous sole parent families and for any attempts to reduce welfare dependency and make them more economically self-sufficient. This preliminary analysis of inter-censal trend indicates that increasing numbers of such families are being formed and that they continue to have low income levels. Marginal increases in some areas of their educational qualifications and employment rate between 1991 and 1996, appear to be substantially offset by the greater proportion of female Indigenous sole parents leaving the mainstream labour force and identifying themselves as 'not in the labour force'. Indigenous sole parent families represent over one-third of Indigenous families with children; a proportion twice as high as for the wider population, and it appears that this proportion is increasing. Their access to education, vocational training and employment skills, and assistance with overcoming transportation and child-care barriers to participation in the workforce are especially critical to creating welfare exit options. The position of children within these families is a matter of concern and requires further community-based research and policy attention

Indigenous sole parent families: Invisible and disadvantaged

This paper identifies the key characteristics of Indigenous sole-parent families relative to other such Australian families and analyses the factors associated with their ongoing high levels of economic disadvantage using ethnographic research, the 1991 Census, the 1994 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey (NATSIS), and the 1997 Department of Social Security (DSS) data

Indigenous welfare policy: lessons from a community survey

Although Indigenous Australians only represent two per cent of the Australian population, they have a high profile in the community as the original inhabitants of the continent and because of the problems associated with their poverty, dispossession and welfare dependence. In this article we present a summary of research findings from a three-year study conducted among Indigenous people living in and around the town of Kuranda in Northern Queensland — about half an hour’s drive inland from Cairns

Characteristics of the Menstrual Cycle After Discontinuation of Oral Contraceptives

Background: Menstrual cycle function may continue to be altered after discontinuation of oral contraceptives (OC). Few studies have been published on the effects of recent OC use on menstrual cycle parameters; none have examined characteristics of the menstrual flow or the quality of cervical mucus. The purpose of this retrospective matched cohort study is to assess biomarkers of the menstrual cycle after discontinuation of OCs. Methods: Among a sample of women who daily recorded observations of menstrual cycle biomarkers, 70 women who had recently discontinued OCs were randomly matched by age and parity with 70 women who had not used OCs for at least 1 year. Outcomes investigated included overall cycle length, length of the luteal phase, estimated day of ovulation, duration of menstrual flow, menstrual intensity, and mucus score. Differences between recent OC users and controls were assessed using random effects modeling. Results: Recent OC users had statistically significantly lower scores for mucus quality for cycles 1 and 2. Additionally, OC users had a later estimated day of ovulation that was statistically significant in cycle 2 and a decreased intensity of menstrual flow that was significant in the first four cycles (difference = −0.48 days). In random effects modeling, all these parameters were significantly different for the first six cycles combined. Conclusions: Menstrual cycle biomarkers are altered for at least two cycles after discontinuation of OCs, and this may help explain the temporary decrease in fecundity associated with recent OC use

Worker stress, burnout, and wellbeing before and during the COVID-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom

COVID-19 created a transformational shift in the working environment for much of the labour force, yet its impact on workers is unclear. This study uses longitudinal data to examine the wellbeing of 621 full-time workers assessed before (November 2019–February 2020) and during (May–June 2020) the first lockdown in the United Kingdom. We employ fixed effects analyses to investigate the impact of the restrictions and mandatory homeworking on cognitive, emotional, and psychological wellbeing. Within the sample, the rate of full-time homeworking increased from 2 to 74% between waves. We identify significant changes in 9 of the 15 measures assessed, with a general pattern of improvements in wellbeing during lockdown. Overall levels of stress, self-rated mental health, positive emotions and life and job satisfaction are not adversely affected by the restrictions. There is a reduction in the burnout symptoms of disengagement (−0.13 sd) and exhaustion (−0.20 sd) and in the frequency with which negative emotions are experienced at work (−0.15 sd). Workers feel more autonomous (+0.09 sd), closer to their co-workers (+0.10 sd), and more attached to their organisations (+0.19 sd). However, homelife satisfaction declines (−0.11 sd). These findings highlight the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic and large-scale transition to homeworking was associated with unchanged or improved worker wellbeing. This study has important implications for governments and employers regarding a global shift to homeworking

Drivers of research topic selection for engineering doctoral students

In this study, we explored engineering doctoral students’ motivations for selecting their research topic. The extent to whichindividuals are intrinsically or extrinsically motivated and the autonomy they have to make their own decisions hasimplications for their enjoyment of and success at a particular task. Given the importance of motivation, we sought toaddress a gap in the understanding of how doctoral students in engineering decide on a particular problem to study. Ourfindings are based on interviews with students with varying past educational and professional experiences that enable us tocapture a wide range of motivations for engineering PhD students’ research subject decisions. We found that the majorityof students interviewed reported some form of extrinsic motivation guiding their decision, though these students varied intheir autonomy to select their own topic. Of the students who reported intrinsic motivations for their research topicselection, many had extensive prior work experience that informed their topic choice. Funding played a major role inshaping students’ project decisions, which is reflective of the scale and expense of much of engineering work. However, ourfindings suggest there are a number of opportunities for students to identify research topics in which they personallyperceive as important and interesting