Toward understanding the study experience of culturally sensitive graduate students in *American distance education programs

The purpose of this research was to gain an understanding of the study experience of non-American graduate students living outside of the United States and formally engaged in graduate studies in an American Distance Education (DE) Program. These students have been labeled “culturally sensitive.” The nature of this study dictated a qualitative case study methodology using in-depth interviews to collect the data and the hermeneutic approach to understanding and description. This study aims at generating questions and hypotheses that will lead to further investigations that explore the need for cultural and contextual sensitivity in order to provide more equitable and accessible higher education for all. ^ The study attempted to answer the question: What is the study experience of “culturally sensitive” graduate students in American DE Programs? The underlying issue in this study is whether education designed and provided by educators of different socio-cultural backgrounds from that of the students could be content relevant and instructionally appropriate, resulting in educational enhancement and/or prepare students to function adequately in their own communities. ^ Participants in this study (n = 12) were engaged in Master's level (n = 2) and Doctoral level (n = 10) DE programs at American Universities, and were interviewed by E-mail, face-to-face, or using a combination of the two. Data analysis compared interviews and highlighted repetitive patterns. Interview data was triangulated with recent related literature and data from document reviews of archived E-mail conversations between students and their professors. The patterns that emerged were coded and categorized according to generative themes. The following themes were identified in order to analyze the data and confirmed through participant check-back: program benefits, communication, technology, culture and methodology, and reflectivity. ^ Major findings in this study indicate that culture plays an important role in cross-cultural encounters for students in American DE programs vis-à-vis student perceptions as to whether their study needs were being met. Most notably, it was found that the coupling of cultural perceptual differences with transactional distance created a potential barrier to communication that could affect short-term success in American DE programs. To overcome this barrier, students cited good communication as essential in meeting student's needs, especially those communications that were supportive and full of detail and context and from a primary source (ex. directly from the professor). Evaluation was a particularly sensitive issue, especially when students were unaware of their professor's cultural and contextual intricacies and therefore were uncertain about expectations and intended meaning. CSGS were aware of their position and the American rather than global context in which they were participating. Students appear to have developed “extended identities”, meaning that they acculturated in varying degrees in order to be successful in their program but that their local cultural identity was not compromised in any way. For participants from Venezuela access to higher DE has been a limiting factor to participation, due to the high cost of technology and telephone lines for communication. ^

The role of individualism and collectivism as predictors of attributions for unethical work behavior : an empirical examination across two culturally diverse groups

This dissertation addresses how the cultural dimensions of individualism and collectivism affect the attributions people make for unethical behavior at work. The moderating effect of ethnicity is also examined by considering two culturally diverse groups: Hispanics and Anglos. The sample for this study is a group of business graduate students from two universities in the Southeast. A 20-minute survey was distributed to master's degree students at their classroom and later on returned to the researcher. Individualism and collectivism were operationalized as by a set of attitude items, while unethical work behavior was introduced in the form of hypothetical descriptions or scenarios. Data analysis employed multiple group confirmatory factor analysis for both independent and dependent variables, and subsequently multiple group LISREL models, in order to test predictions. Results confirmed the expected link between cultural variables and attribution responses, although the role of independent variables shifted, due to the moderating effect of ethnicity, and to the nuances of each particular situation.

Factors associated with social work student satisfaction with field placements in child welfare by Diane Elias Alperin.

This study was conducted during the 1994-1995 academic year. Seven social work education programs in the state of Florida, all accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, participated in this study. Graduate and undergraduate social work students in child welfare field placements, and their field instructors, were surveyed during the Spring 1995 semester to assess their satisfaction with field placements ii this area and the relationship of this satisfaction to employment interests and field placement recommendations. The majority of social work students responding to this survey were generally satisfied with several aspects of their field placements--the learning, field work program, field instructor, child welfare agency, and overall field experience. The field instructors were generally more satisfied than the students, but only statistically different from the students in the areas of satisfaction with the field work program and the child welfare agency. Multiple regression analysis revealed that learning assignment opportunities, field instructor relationship characteristics, placement preference, and pre-placement interview contributed to the prediction of student satisfaction. Student satisfaction in field placement was significantly related to the acceptance of employment, if offered, and the recommendation of the field placement to other students. Logistic regression analysis revealed that satisfaction with the child welfare agency was the greatest contributor to the prediction of acceptance of employment, and satisfaction with the field work program was the greatest contributor to the prediction of field placement recommendation.

PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO, PRODUÇÃO ACADÊMICA, INTERDISCIPLINARIDADE E SOCIALIZAÇÃO DO CONHECIMENTO: A PRODUÇÃO CIENTÍFICA DO GRANDE ABC À LUZ DO PNPG 2011-2020

O objetivo desta investigação foi verificar se, diante da autonomia e vocação que possuem, bem como da possibilidade de receber amparo e incentivos governamentais, as universidades pertencentes à região do Grande ABC atenderam as recomendações feitas pelo PNPG vigente. Para tanto, foram analisadas cinquenta e sete dissertações e duas teses da área de ciências sociais aplicadas, publicadas no período entre 2011 e 2014, pelas seguintes instituições: Universidade Metodista de São Paulo (UMESP); Universidade Municipal de São Caetano do Sul (USCS); Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC) e Faculdade de Engenharia Industrial (FEI). Essa averiguação se deu ao redor de dois eixos organizadores do PNPG 2011-2014: o terceiro eixo – o aperfeiçoamento da avaliação e sua expansão para outros segmentos do sistema de CT&I (formação de pós-graduados voltados para atividades extra-acadêmicas/setor empresarial) e o quarto eixo – a multi e a interdisciplinaridade entre as principais características da pós-graduação e importantes temas da pesquisa (promover, por meio de programas, áreas de concentração e linhas de pesquisa, a convergência de temas e compartilhamento de problemas em oposição à sua mera associação ou sobreposição). Este estudo – qualitativo, bibliográfico, documental, exploratório, descritivo, tipo estado do conhecimento – se desenvolveu por meio de pesquisa documental e de análise de conteúdo temático categorial. A coleta de dados foi feita por meio dos repositórios digitais de teses e dissertações mantidos na internet pelas Universidades, cuja produção científica foi investigada. Após a análise dos dados ficou demonstrado que aproximadamente 68,96% da produção científica da área de ciências sociais aplicadas, publicada pelas universidades do Grande ABC, no período entre 2011 e 2014, corresponde às expectativas do PNPG atual no que diz respeito às recomendações constantes no terceiro eixo. Em relação às recomendações feitas no texto do quarto eixo, vemos que aproximadamente 31,03% dos trabalhos selecionados atendem às expectativas do Plano, apresentando em sua estrutura, segundo a fundamentação teórica utilizada neste trabalho, características de interdisciplinaridade.

Work-life Balance and Gender Regime After the Economic Transition

Work-life balance (WLB) is a key issue in our societies in which there is increasing pressure to be permanently available on demand and to work more intensively, and when due to technological change the borders between work and private life appear to be dissolving. However, the social, institutional and normative frames of a region have a huge impact on how people experience work and private life, where the borders between these spheres lie and how much control individuals have in managing these borders. Based on these arguments, this editorial to the special issue Work-life balance/imbalance: individual, organisational and social experiences in Intersections. EEJSP draws attention to the social institutions, frameworks and norms which have an effect on experience, practices and expectations about work-life balance. Concerning the time horizon, this editorial focuses on the change of regime as a reference point since socialist and post-socialist eras differ significantly, although there is still some continuity between them. The authors of this introduction offer an overview of the situation in CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) based mainly on examples of Visegrad countries.

Xavier Zapata (FIU graduate student) collecting a groundwater sample, Taylor Slough

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research program under Cooperative Agreements #DBI-0620409 and #DEB-9910514. This image is made available for non-commercial or educational use only.

Are we asking the right questions? Rethinking post-graduate design education towards sustainable visions for the future

Our society is currently facing complex challenges, such us climate change, loss of biodiversity, ageing population, unemployment, to name but a few. This has created growing expectations on designers and engineers to explore, experiment and implement innovative solutions to such issues. At this critical time, if we want design to be part of the solution, we need to wonder whether we are asking designers suitable and sustainable questions. Both in post-graduate design education and in business, the brief still overwhelmingly requires designers to follow a linear problem-solving approach that focuses on product rather than strategies, services and systems. Traditional design briefs result no longer appropriate to face the challenges of our unsustainable world, as they relate to market, growth economy and human needs rather than society, business models and the needs of nature. Instead, we need to be asking questions about, for example, how we create sustainable business opportunities, how we overcome the barriers for change, or how we facilitate the process of innovation through design methodology. If the role of design is to create new visions and outline strategic directions towards a sustainable future world - for policy makers, businesses, communities and individual citizens – we need those stakeholders to create briefs for designers that allow them to do that. This paper will explain how the reframing of questions has been embedded into SustainRCA’s teaching practice in post-graduate design, art and engineering, leading to the development of new tools and methods, as well as some innovative outcomes

Market work and household production in Brazil

This thesis is composed of three papers in which the research questions are related to the double burden that accrues to Brazilian women. The first and second papers address this issue by looking at expenditure decisions about home production. The first paper examines whether the expenditure decisions about production goods, such as white appliances, relative to entertainment goods, such as TVs, are the outcome of a bargaining process between husbands and wives. The second paper looks at the demand for maid services and for production durable goods, examining the extent to which other household members substitute for maid services and durable goods in home production. The third paper addresses the effects of Brazilian women's double burden on their labor market participation by examining whether the occupational choice of Brazilian women is affected by their gender roles and whether entry into other occupations that are not identified as female occupations has become easier since the introduction of anti-discrimination laws in the labor market. The first paper combines two Brazilian data sets: a Brazilian household expenditure survey, Pesquisa de Orçamento Familiares (POF), and a Brazilian household survey, Pesquisa Nacional Por Amostra de Domicílios (PNAD). The results of the first paper indicate that the decision about durable goods ownership is the outcome of a bargaining process between husband and wife. The test on the coefficients of the marriage market variable and the indicators of households in which only the wife and households in which only the husband makes expenditure decisions corroborate the expectations about wives' preferences for production goods. The same data sets as the first paper are used in the second paper. The finding of the second paper indicates that if the marriage market is favorable to women, that is if the ratio of women to men goes from 1.07 to 0.96, the increment in the household probability of owning at least one maid's substitute durable goods is equivalent to 24% the impact of moving a household up one income quintile. Moreover, the results indicate that daughters' time substitutes for wives' time and maid services in home production. Parents may want daughters trained in home production to be able to perform their future role as wives. However, this training comes at a cost to daughters' investment in formal education, narrowing their future career options. The data used in the third paper come from a Brazilian household survey, Pesquisa Nacional Por Amostra de Domicílios (PNAD). Gender roles are responsible for women to choose female-dominated occupations, married women are 1.14 times more likely to work in female-dominated occupations and having a child six years and older increases on average by 12% the probability that women work in female-dominated occupations instead of genderintegrated occupations in 2001. However, it becomes easier for all types of women to enter into male-dominated and gender-integrated occupations in 2001 compared to 1981.

Relatório de Estágio

A Prática Educativa Supervisionada representa, sem dúvida, a etapa mais aguardada pelos estudantes que se formam para serem professores, pois este é um momento recheado de expectativas e descobertas da profissionalidade docente. Por conseguinte, o presente relatório de estágio pretende espelhar o percurso evolutivo da mestranda ao longo dessa prática pedagógica. A passagem pelas escolas ficou marcada por uma postura crítica e reflexiva perante as opções pedagógicas tomadas, sendo que estas resultaram sempre de uma articulação entre os quadros teóricos e práticos de cada área disciplinar. A supervisão, processo crucial durante o estágio, é considerada pela professora estagiária como um momento de acompanhamento e orientação da ação educativa por parte dos supervisores institucionais. A par deste processo foi sempre visível um trabalho colaborativo com o par pedagógico e com os professores cooperantes, com o principal objetivo de atingir novos e melhores modos de agir, ancorando-se, assim, nos pilares da metodologia de investigação-ação. O trajeto construído pela formanda é o retrato de uma experiência de desenvolvimento pessoal e profissional, tendo, porém, a convicção de que, apesar de este relatório marcar o término de um ciclo de estudos inicial, há muito mais para aprender e construir.

Do teacher stereotypes about school tracks function as expectations at the collective level and do they relate to the perception of obstacles in the classroom and to teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs?

The effects of individual teacher expectations have been the subject of intensive research. Results indicate that teachers use their expectations to adapt their interactions with their students to some degree (as summarized in a review by Jussim & Harber, 2005). This can in turn lead to expectancy-confirming student developments. While there are studies on the Pygmalion effect on individual students, there is only little research on teacher judgements of whole classes and schools. Our study aims to extend the perspective of teacher judgements at the collective level to stereotypes within the context of school tracking. The content and structure of teachers’ school track stereotypes are investigated as well as the question of whether these stereotypical judgements are related to teachers’ perception of obstacles to their teaching and their teaching self-efficacy beliefs. Cross-sectional data on 341 teachers at two different school types from the Panel Study at the Research School „Education and Capabilities“ in North Rhine-Westphalia (PARS) (see Bos et al., 2016) were used for two purposes: First, the structure of teachers’ stereotypes was identified via an exploratory factor analysis. Second, in follow-up regression analyses, the stereotype dimensions extracted were used to predict teachers’ perceptions of obstacles to their classroom work and their individual and collective teacher self-efficacy beliefs. Results showed that – after controlling for the average cognitive abilities and the average cultural capital of the students – teacher stereotypes were indeed related to perceived obstacles concerning their classroom work and their self-efficacy beliefs. After a discussion of the strengths and limitations of the present research, the article closes with a short proposal of a future research framework for collective Pygmalion effects. (DIPF/Orig.)

Avian flu: the creation of expectations in the interplay between science and the media

This paper examines the emerging cultural patterns and interpretative repertoires in reports of an impending pandemic of avian flu in the UK mass media and scientific journals at the beginning of 2005, paying particular attention to metaphors, pragmatic markers ('risk signals'), symbolic dates and scare statistics used by scientists and the media to create expectations and elicit actions. This study complements other work on the metaphorical framing of infectious disease, such as foot and mouth disease and SARS, tries to link it to developments in the sociology of expectations and applies insights from pragmatics both to the sociology of metaphor and the sociology of expectations.

Empregabilidade nos recém licenciados da Faculdade de Motricidade Humana

Esta investigação enquadra-se nos estudos sobre o percurso académico e inserção profissional dos recém-licenciados dos anos letivos de 2007/08, 2008/09 e 2009/10 da Faculdade de Motricidade Humana (FMH) em colaboração com o Observatório da Empregabilidade da FMH. Tem como principal objetivo a caracterização do emprego dos recém-licenciados pela Faculdade. A metodologia aproveitou e aperfeiçoou uma plataforma eletrónica proprietária (AgonScopio v.1.7.51), para o desenvolvimento de questionários online, no meio Web. O universo do estudo foi representado pelos recém-licenciados dos três (3) anos letivos em estudo, das seguintes Licenciaturas: Ciências do Desporto, Ergonomia, Gestão do Desporto, Reabilitação Psicomotora e Dança. A amostra foi representada pelos resultados obtidos das duzentas e vinte e quatro (224) respostas conseguidas, de um universo de seiscentos e oitenta e seis (686) licenciados, permitindo caracterizar o comportamento dos recém-licenciados, de acordo com nove (9) dimensões estudadas, nomeadamente: dados gerais, enquadramento sociocultural com o objeto da FMH, primeiro emprego, formação, experiência profissional, trabalho e remuneração, expetativas, mobilidade e formação pós licenciatura. Aferimos que os recém-licenciados da FMH têm uma boa emprega-bilidade e o emprego é maioritariamente na sua área de formação. A maioria dos licenciados está empregada ao fim de 12 meses após a conclusão das suas licenciaturas (79,4%).

Empregabilidade nos récem licenciados da Faculdade de Motricidade Humana

A presente investigação enquadra-se nos estudos sobre o percurso académico e inserção profissional dos recém-licenciados dos anos letivos de 2010/11 e 2011/12 da Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, em colaboração com o Observatório da Empregabilidade da FMH. Tem como principal objetivo a caraterização do emprego dos recém-licenciados pela Faculdade. A metodologia aproveitou e aperfeiçoou uma plataforma eletrónica proprietária (AgonScopio v.1.7.51), para o desenvolvimento de questionários online, no meio Web. O universo do estudo foi representado pelos recém-licenciados dos dois anos letivos em estudo, das seguintes licenciaturas: Ciências do Desporto, Dança, Ergonomia, Gestão do Desporto e Reabilitação Psicomotora. A amostra foi representada pelos resultados obtidos das 105 respostas conseguidas, de um universo de 334 licenciados, permitindo caraterizar o comportamento dos recém-licenciados, de acordo com nove dimensões estudadas, nomeadamente: dados gerais, enquadramento sociocultural com o objeto da FMH, primeiro emprego, formação, experiência profissional, trabalho e remuneração, expetativas, mobilidade e formação pós licenciatura. Aferimos que os recém-licenciados da FMH possuem um bom índice de empregabilidade e o emprego é maioritariamente na sua área de formação. A maioria dos licenciados obtém emprego até 12 meses após a conclusão das respetivas licenciaturas (71%).