Gender differences at the transition to higher education between migrants and non-migrants: A comparison between Switzerland and France

Within Western societies women or girls meanwhile outperform men or boys with regard to attainments in primary and secondary education. For example concerning upper secondary degrees the share of females attaining the Matura approaches two thirds in Switzerland, while the share of females attaining the Baccalaureate exceeds fifty per cent in France. However, if transitions to higher education are regarded, the share of entitled females entering such institutions is significantly lower than among men in Switzerland. An opposite pattern is observed in France where females outperform men at this educational stage, too. With regard to migrant background, it has been shown by previous research focussing on secondary effects of ethnic origin that such youths enter the more demanding educational tracks (e.g. higher education) more often than their non-migrant peers if controlled for eligibility, their lower socioeconomic status and performances. However, so far only a few studies refer to the question of a possible gender gap regarding secondary effects of ethnic origin (e.g. Fleischmann et al., mimeo). Thus, with regard to a possible interaction of a migrant background and - for example - a female gender, it is important to note that in both countries many migrant groups have their origins in countries and regions where male advantage remains very strong. This is in particular the case for migrant groups from non-Western countries, e.g. Turkey, Algeria, Marocco or Tunisie, where gender gaps in the literacy rates of up to 18 per cent are still observed. In order to investigate the question of a possible disadvantages of women with a migrant background stemming from such countries when compared to non-migrant females two panel studies - the Tree data in Switzerland and the Panel d’élèves 1995 in France -, are analysed.

New Law against an Old State: Land Restitution as a Transition to Justice in Post-Apartheid South Africa?

The research on which this text is based has been financially supported by the Berne University Research Foundation (2009–2011) as well as by an Ambizione Research Fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation (2012–2014). During my stays in South Africa, the Departments of Anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and the University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria, provided me with welcoming and inspiring research environments. This article benefitted greatly from engaged discussions around its presentation at various occasions, notably our ECAS 2011 panel Transition and Justice: Negotiating the Terms of New Beginnings in Africa, held in Uppsala. I am particularly grateful to my co-convener and co-editor Gerhard Anders as well as Laurens Bakker, Keebet von Benda-Beckmann, Ben Cousins, Julia Eckert, Marion Fresia, Vinodh Jaichand, Steffen Jensen, Tim Kelsall, Hanri Mostert, Johanna Mugler, David O'Kane, Julia Pauli, Mats Utas, Julia Zenker and the anonymous referees of Development and Change for their critical engagements.

The relation between cognitive and motor performance and their relevance for children’s transition to school: A latent variable approach

Both theoretically and empirically there is a continuous interest in understanding the specific relation between cognitive and motor development in childhood. In the present longitudinal study including three measurement points, this relation was targeted. At the beginning of the study, the participating children were 5-6-year-olds. By assessing participants' fine motor skills, their executive functioning, and their non-verbal intelligence, their cross-sectional and cross-lagged interrelations were examined. Additionally, performance in these three areas was used to predict early school achievement (in terms of mathematics, reading, and spelling) at the end of participants' first grade. Correlational analyses and structural equation modeling revealed that fine motor skills, non-verbal intelligence and executive functioning were significantly interrelated. Both fine motor skills and intelligence had significant links to later school achievement. However, when executive functioning was additionally included into the prediction of early academic achievement, fine motor skills and non-verbal intelligence were no longer significantly associated with later school performance suggesting that executive functioning plays an important role for the motor-cognitive performance link.

Return to Work after Traumatic Hand Injuries: Medical, Personal and Work-related Factors

PURPOSE This study aimed to examine the work-related impact of open hand injuries, specifically, the amount of lost work days subsequent to the injury and factors associated with work-related rehabilitation. PATIENTS AND METHODS We retrospectivley included consecutive patients with acute hand injuries who were operated between 2008 and 2009 in the Division of Hand Surgery (n=435) at the Department of Orthopaedic, Plastic and Hand Surgery. Information was obtained from the medical records and via a self-reported questionnaire sent out in 2011. Patients younger than 18 or older than 65 years, as well as the unemployed were excluded from the study. Descriptive group analysis was used to establish statistical relationships between time off work (TOW) and possible influencing variables. Multiple linear regression was applied to analyse the impact of injury, personal and/or work-related factors on TOW. RESULTS The sample included 290 patients with a mean age of 38.9 (SD 13.2) years of whom 98.6% returned to work after a median absence of 45.5 days. Univariate analysis demonstrated an association of length of absence from work with socio-demographic, clinical and work-related factors. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the location of injury, the number of injured regions, the need for secondary surgery, age, and the type of occupation were independently associated with TOW. CONCLUSION Most factors associated with TOW after traumatic hand injuries could not be influenced. Possible interventions should probably target improved injury prevention, optimal clinical treatment and rehabilitation starting early after injury. Whether improvements in communication and enhancement of cooperation between the treatment teams, the workplace and the insurance carrier may support a staged and earlier return to work remains to be investigated.

How Cantonal Education Systems in Switzerland Promote Gender-Typical School-to-Work Transitions

The paper asks how cantonal education systems in Switzerland promote gender-typed school-to-work transitions and gender segregation at work. Data from the Swiss TREE youth panel study is used to analyse the impact of cantonal provision of vocational education and training (VET) on gender-typical educational trajectories. The findings show that education systems with higher VET rates have higher allocations of men in gender-(male-) typical occupational careers. The paper concludes that the pronounced and persistent gender segregation on the Swiss labor market is partly due to a prominent VET system, which urges early gender-typed occupational career decisions.

CT-guided infiltration saves surgical intervention and fastens return to work compared to anatomical landmark-guided infiltration in patients with lumbosciatica

BACKGROUND Infiltration procedures are a common treatment of lumbar radiculopathy. There is a wide variety of infiltration techniques without an established gold standard. Therefore, we compared the effectiveness of CT-guided transforaminal infiltrations versus anatomical landmark-guided transforaminal infiltrations at the lower lumbar spine in case of acute sciatica at L3-L5. METHODS A retrospective chart review was conducted of 107 outpatients treated between 2009 and 2011. All patients were diagnosed with lumbar radiculopathic pain secondary to disc herniation in L3-L5. A total of 52 patients received CT-guided transforaminal infiltrations; 55 patients received non-imaging-guided nerve root infiltrations. The therapeutic success was evaluated regarding number of physician contacts, duration of treatment, type of analgesics used and loss of work days. Defined endpoint was surgery at the lower lumbar spine. RESULTS In the CT group, patients needed significantly less oral analgesics (p < 0.001). Overall treatment duration and physician contacts were significantly lower in the CT group (p < 0.001 and 0.002) either. In the CT group, patients lost significant fewer work days due to incapacity (p < 0.001). Surgery had to be performed in 18.2 % of the non-imaging group patients (CT group: 1.9 %; p = 0.008). CONCLUSION This study shows that CT-guided periradicular infiltration in lumbosciatica caused by intervertebral disc herniation is significantly superior to non-imaging, anatomical landmark-guided infiltration, regarding the parameters investigated. The high number of treatment failures in the non-imaging group underlines the inferiority of this treatment concept.

Latent profiles of work motivation in adolescents in relation to work expectations, goal engagement, and changes in work experiences

Motivation plays a key role in successful entry into working life. Based on a cross-sectional and a one-year longitudinal study, we used a person-centered approach to explore work-related motivation (i.e., autonomous goals, positive affect, and occupational self-efficacy) among 577 students in 8th grade (Study 1) and 949 adolescents in vocational training (Study 2). Based on latent profile analysis, in both studies we identified four groups that were characterized by different levels of overall motivation and one group characterized by low positive affect and mean levels in autonomous goals and self-efficacy. Profiles characterized by high levels of motivation showed the highest levels of positive work expectations and goal engagement and the lowest levels of negative work expectations in Study 1 and the highest levels of person-job fit, work engagement, and job satisfaction in Study 2. Moreover, latent difference score analysis showed that motivational profiles predicted changes in person-job fit and work engagement across one year but not in job satisfaction. The results imply that career counselors should be aware of characteristic motivational patterns of clients that may require specific counseling approaches.