Category politics: deaf students' inclusion in a 'hearing university'

This article investigates the way in which deaf tertiary students' identity is constructed within the university - an overwhelmingly 'hearing' institution. It is a descriptive and analytical account of the experiences of two deaf teacher education students as they reflect on their progress and experiences in higher education. Data have been analysed within an interpretive framework of category politics and the construction of difference. The study found that providing the same access to the same information in the same form did little to address the discursive marginality of these students.

Acculturation experiences of Iraqi refugees in Australia: the impact of visa category

This paper examines the acculturation challenges facing Iraqi refugees in Australia, and the impact of humanitarian visa category. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) holders and Permanent Protection Visa (PPV) holders living in Melbourne. The findings indicate that TPV holders identify the temporary visa regime as the primary obstacle to successful integration into Australian society. The findings also suggest that TPV refugees have developed a greater level of social ties outside their ethnic groups and are less focused on issues of cultural maintenance than refugees with PPVs. The insecurity associated with the temporary protection regime appears to have led to a decreased focus on cultural maintenance, in favour of the more immediate “survival” focus on material settlement needs and visa status. While the increased social contacts of TPV refugees with some mainstream groups may be considered a partial indicator of successful acculturation, these developments cannot be equated with “settlement” as the social ties are of a temporary or unstable nature. The overriding impact of the temporary visa regime is one of creating obstacles to the effective integration of TPV refugees.

Technological efficacy: a new identity category

Debates continue about the relative benefits, costs and risks of the diffusion of computer-based technologies throughout society and schooling. One area that has received considerable attention is gender equity. Early work on gender and computers focused on differences between male and female access and use (e.g. Huff, Fleming & Cooper, 1992; Kirkman, 1993; Morritt, 1997; Nelson & Cooper, 1997; Sofia, 1993), with concerns focused on the potential for girls to be disadvantaged. In some respects, it is arguable that problems of gender equity in schools with respect to computers have been overcome. For example, in a small study I conducted in two New Zealand senior primary classrooms in 2003, I found that both boys and girls were motivated to use computers and appeared to have equal opportunities to access computers in the classroom. The students in my study expressed a belief in the importance of using computers, and this belief can also be discerned from educational policy and media coverage. In this paper I argue that, although gender by itself no longer appears to be a source of disadvantage in terms of access to and use of computers in schools, many questions about technology, schooling and power relations still remain unanswered. I present two alternative viewpoints on the new digital age. First, I explore Melanie Stewart Millar’s (1998) analysis of digital discourse as one which reproduces the power of white, middle-class, educated, well-paid males, and excludes anything else it considers ‘Other’. Second, I review arguments that the digital age has provided sites for the transcendence of traditional hierarchies and inequalities (e.g. Spender, 1995). I conclude that, despite the discrepancies between these two viewpoints, both concur that technological disadvantage will exacerbate any existing inequality that might result from intersections of identity categories, such as, gender, ethnicity, age, and socio-economic status, and that in this digital age, technological efficacy is arguably a new identity category.

The effect of the category of sport team on the role of nostalgia in an individual supporter’s psychological connection to that sport team

With the many benefits related to high levels of psychological connection with a sport team, marketers, management and communities desire supporters to be highly connected with sport teams. A major gap has been identified in relation to the effect of the category of sport team on the role of nostalgia in determining that connection. A conceptual model is presented together with a proposed methodology. This research will aid academics and administrators in their communications with and targeting of consumers and affords communities the opportunity to benefit from consumers’ higher levels of psychological connection with a sport team.

Applying choice based conjoint measurement to forcast demand for a new restaurant category

This paper examines the use of Choice Based Conjointexperimentation for forecasting demand for a new restaurant category.The results of the forecasting experiment are compared to demand forexisting restaurant categories to determine whether the choice experimentreplicates actual category shares in the sampled region. The analysisshows that Choice Based Conjoint experiments are able to predictcategory shares for existing restaurant categories. It is then shown howthe approach may be used to estimate demand for a new category.