Making the Difference to Sociology of Education: Reflections on family-school and gender relations

In the context of the 1970s, the focus of critical theorists was on education and cultural and social reproduction. Emphasis had shifted from a family-education link to a school-economy link, placing the family as a subsidiary institution in the framing of social inequality. Published in the early 1980s, Making the Difference (Connell et al ., 1982) was a timely and much needed intervention in bringing back into focus the realities of the lived experience of young people, and providing sophisticated theorizing around class and gender relations within and between the family and the school. Social class and gender relations, Connell et al . argued, could be found within the dynamics of family, school, and industrial life simultaneously. Twenty years later, we are reaping the benefits of their analysis in terms of understanding the hegemonizing influences of the school--the many subtle and indirect ways that schools produce (rather than reproduce) class and gendered identities, at the same time recognising the increasing dissonance of gender values within class formations.     

Academic employment decisions and gender

This study explored gender differences in the reasons why academics accept or reject offers of faculty positions. Using both open-ended questions and rating scales, 115 academics in the early stages of their careers who had accepted or declined/resigned university positions between 1986 and 1989 were interviewed. Contrary to suggestions in the literature, few significant gender differences emerged. In particular, family needs were a major consideration for both men and women. Responses revealed that both female and male academics who accepted positions generally were influenced most strongly by the academic reputation of the department and university, the compatibility of the appointment with the needs of family members, including dual-career relationships, and the attractiveness of the job offer, especially the length and type of contract. Male rejecters showed a similar pattern while female rejecters focused primarily on family needs and the job offer. Opportunities for personal development, support for research, the job market, teaching assignments, and geographical location were generally less influential for all respondents. Salary and discrimination were cited least frequently as factors underlying employment decisions. The results imply that academic recruiting for both female and male faculty members can be best enhanced by emphasizing the quality of academic life in the department and university, accommodating the needs of family members, and offering greater job security in the form of longer, tenure-track appointments.     

Women students in engineering in Mexico: exploring responses to gender differences

The percentage of women students in engineering in Mexico is still low compared to the percentage of women enrolled in higher education institutions in the country, which has achieved parity with male enrollment. It is thus important to understand how gender can shape the experiences of female college students in engineering programs, which was the focus of this study. Findings for this study are presented in two sections. We first describe how female students have an extra burden dealing with the possibility that their performance might confirm the stereotype of female inferiority in math and science and that they may be judged according to that stereotype. Secondly, we describe the challenges faced by female students in engineering colleges in Mexico, namely, a demanding academic curriculum, and competitive and individualistic environment. This study illustrates how successful female students negotiated the gendered expectations in engineering in Mexican engineering programs, and how they use resistance strategies like academic success to become accepted in the male-dominated engineering environment.     

新就业形态的不确定性: 平台资本空间中的数字劳动及其反思

数字经济深刻影响就业市场的变革,促使就业市场对技术技能人才的需求发生转变。这种变革具体表现为：工作者所承担的失业风险由“岗位失业”变为“技术失业”,工作者的雇佣身份从“雇佣工人”转向“流动工人”,工作者的工作模式从“工厂模式”转向“数字模式”。这一系列变化对技术技能人才提出了新的能力要求,具体包括创新创业能力、跨岗位就业能力、数字化应用能力、情绪调节能力、普遍适应能力、终身发展能力等。面对数字经济对就业市场的挑战以及就业市场对技术技能人才提出的新要求,职业教育作为培养未来工作者的关键场域,要顺应数字经济背景下就业市场的变革趋势,肩负起人才培养的新使命,通过提升不确定性的课程知识、构建终身学习的教学模式、推动数字集群的专业建设等方式变革人才培养模式,实现技术技能人才与数字经济时代的协同发展。     

Explaining the class gap in training: the role of employment relations and job characteristics

Existing studies consistently find a gap in further education between high‐ and low‐skilled workers, implying a gap in formal training between high‐ and low‐skilled classes. In this paper, we hypothesize that the most important reasons for differences between social classes in further education participation are grounded in job characteristics rather than worker characteristics. This is in line with theoretical foundations of the construction of the widely used Erikson‐Goldthorpe‐Portocarero (EGP) class scheme and related classifications, such as the new European Socio‐Economic Classification (ESeC) scheme that we apply in our analyses. We explore the importance of different job characteristics for the explanation of the class gap with a dataset providing detailed information about the jobs of more than 20,000 German employees. The tasks performed and the technologies used in the job are found to be of particular importance. Both are able to explain much of the variation in training activity between different class positions and different educational levels. We discuss the implications of our results for social inequality. Our conclusion is that much of the variation of training incidents between classes comes from the very simple fact that they carry out different jobs. This should always be taken into account when inequality in training between individuals is examined.     

Invisible labour: home–school relations and the front office

When school front offices are mentioned in research on schools and their relations with the community, it is often to describe how parents/carers and the public are treated officiously and/or inappropriately. In professional development materials, schools are urged to improve communication, and occasionally directed to consider the practices of the front office staff. Yet when schools send out information to parents/carers, the school office is usually the place to which all queries are directed. However, there is almost no detailed research that looks at what actually happens in this place. In this paper we draw on a small‐scale commissioned research project which began to fill this gap. In seeking to reread our data and push further on analysis, we have come to realize that those who work in school front offices are women whose physical and emotional labour is not only rendered largely invisible in a wide range of literatures relating to home–school relations but is also inadequately recognized through recruitment practices, professional development and remuneration. We suggest that there needs to be further research into the high energy, multitasking, nurturing work that goes on in school front offices.     

农民工在职技能培训的决定因素——来自雇主和雇员匹配调查的证据

基于2016年广东省佛山市南海区“雇主-雇员”匹配调查数据,以在职培训识别工会教育职能对工会工资效应的影响及机制,发现：工会与在职培训均存在工资增益效应,以二者交互项衡量的工会教育职能还能进一步放大工会工资效应。进一步检验工会教育职能的存在性与净效应,通过机制分析发现：工会教育职能的正向工资效应源于企业业绩的提高。异质性分析表明,工会对不同技能水平的员工均具有工资溢价效应,而其教育职能则主要作用于低技能员工群体。对于其他福利而言,工会能够促进员工参与社保、获得劳保用品,同时降低员工工作时长;在职培训对员工参保情况无显著影响,但能提高员工获得劳保用品的相对概率,缩短员工工作时间;而工会教育职能则无上述作用。教育职能是我国工会兼顾劳资双方利益、实现互利共赢的手段之一。     

Learning with trade unions: a contemporary agenda in employment relations

This paper seeks to advance our understanding of the credit transfer phenomenon in the UK, specifically how students draw on a credit as a form of institutional cultural capital. Drawing on interviews with 26 part-time mature learners, this paper examines the progressive and retrospective orientations to study that surfaced in students' accounts of credit transfer and their lifelong learning journeys. A common theme of ‘unfinished business’ appeared to dominate these accounts and a narrative-oriented analysis of the findings revealed the role of credit transfer in enabling students to complete varied personal projects or forms of ‘unfinished business’. The findings of this work suggest that in an increasingly complex higher education market, there is a need to understand students' strategic use of the credit they accumulate. In particular, this paper explores how credit transfer features in the narratives of students' successful learning journeys.     

Further Education: the Legal Basis

Local education authorities have 'a clear and absolute duty' to provide full time education up to the age of 19 for all young people with special needs who request it, confirms Peter Newell, of the Children's Legal Centre, recently opened in London     

医学生社会实践活动与就业的关系

医学生社会实践活动是大学生全面发展、健康成才的有效载体,文章从社会实践活动的视角对医学生就业中存在的突出问题进行阐述,并从任职教育、国情教育、医德教育等方面具体分析社会实践活动对医学生就业的积极作用。     

Higher Education in Further Education: Northern Ireland

This paper reviews the provision of higher education courses in the further education sector in Northern Ireland. It charts the evolution of policy through the 1990s by examining major policy documents. It notes the chronic absence of reliable statistical and research evidence during this period. The available statistical evidence is reviewed. Key themes are identified including: localism, ‘non‐evidence based policy making’, higher education versus the demand for skills and community relations and equality. The innovative concept, now it would appear doomed, of the Springvale campus for west Belfast is examined. Finally, the paper notes that there is an urgent need to provide strategic direction to the further education sector as a whole.     

Women Mentoring in Academe: addressing the gender gap in higher education

Although the number of women in management and administrative positions in all sectors of the economy is increasing over time, the majority of senior positions are still held by men. The lack of women role models in high management and administrative positions has been well documented, as has the lack of women faculty in many academic departments, and barriers to women's leadership due to male‐orientated organizational expectations. Research has shown that mentoring can significantly enhance income and promotion possibilities for individuals experiencing these relationships. In academe, mentoring awareness can reduce barriers to women's career advancement, tenure and pay. The objectives of this study were to explore mentoring functions senior women provided to their juniors and identify mentoring limitations women faced in academe. Senior women favored career mentoring and provided less psychosocial support. Subsequently, the classical mentoring experience is not realized. Research findings suggested recommendations for academic institutions interested in utilizing this strategy to advance women.     

Women principals in South Africa: gender,mothering and leadership

This paper draws on qualitative data from a mixed‐method study that analysed women's access to the principal role and their leadership experiences. The paper draws on a subset of interviews with 54 female head teachers in the Gauteng and North West provinces of South Africa. Since a mothering style of leadership was self‐reported by over half of the participants in our study, this paper aims to explore the diverse ways in which motherhood was constructed and the outcomes of these constructions on women.     

新型劳动时间控制与虚假自由——外卖骑手的劳动过程研究

随着互联网技术的广泛应用,包括平台经济在内的各种更具灵活性的就业形式应运而生,工作在“空间”和“时间”两个维度上都呈现出迥异于传统劳动组织方式的独特性。弹性劳动时代的确让灵活就业人员的劳动更自由、更具弹性;但正是这种“弹性”,也让劳动者的生计与境遇更具不确定性。表面上的“自由”,背后隐含着深刻的焦虑。基于笔者团队在长三角地区的调研数据,通过对灵活就业者焦虑感影响因素的多元回归分析发现：当下的灵活就业者在获得“自由”的同时也存在极大的焦虑感,而且这种焦虑感显著地高于正规就业人员;那些体现“弹性”与“自由”的劳动特征,恰恰是对灵活就业者的焦虑感具有显著影响的因素;在相当多的灵活就业者的内心深处还隐藏着对一份稳定的、可预期的工作的追求;基于养家糊口的生计理性依然是这一就业群体的行动逻辑。这是当前包括零工经济的新业态的最大的现实。