Managerial characteristics, operational observations, and small business performance: A comparison of US and Mexican ventures

To contribute to our cross-cultural understanding of small business ventures, we investigate manager reports of small business effectiveness in the United States and Mexico. We examine the influence of organizational policies, managerial characteristics, and managerial process observations on reports of business effectiveness. Data were gathered from ventures in both countries, and results showed differences in interpersonal processes, business structure, and gender. Implications for future research are given.     

Older children verify adult claims because they are skeptical of those claims

We investigated children's information seeking in response to a surprising claim (Study 1, N = 109, 54 Female, Range = 4.02—6.94 years, 49% White, 21% Mixed Ethnicity, 19% Southeast Asian, September 2019—March 2020; Study 2, N = 154, 74 Female, Range = 4.09—7.99, 50% White, 20% Mixed Ethnicity, 17% Southeast Asian, September 2020—December 2020). Relative to younger children, older children more often expressed skepticism about the adult's surprising claims (1-year increase, OR = 2.70) and more often suggested exploration strategies appropriate for testing the specific claim they heard (1-year increase, OR = 1.42). Controlling for age, recommending more targeted exploration strategies was associated with a greater likelihood of expressing skepticism about the adult's claim.     

Trends in Female Authorships, Editorial Board Memberships, and Editorships in Educational Psychology Journals from 2003 to 2008

Robinson, McKay, Katayama, and Fan (Contemporary Educational Psychology, 23, 331–343, 1998) reported that women were underrepresented in terms of authorships, editorial board memberships, and editorships in the field of educational psychology based on membership trends. More recently, Evans, Hsieh, and Robinson (Educational Psychology Review, 17, 263–271, 2005) reported that women had made gains as editors but had not kept pace with organizational membership in terms of authorships and editorial board memberships. Our goal in this paper was to further examine women’s participation in educational psychology journals by extending the datasets of Robinson et al. and Evans et al. The number of female authors per article, particularly those from non-US institutions, has continued to increase. However, consistent with Evans et al., although females are continuing to make numerical gains in both authorships—both primary and secondary—and editorial board memberships, their involvement has not kept pace in relation to membership trends.     

What counts as part of a game? Reconsidering skills

The first goal of this paper is to reply to a number of criticisms levied by Gunnar Breivik and Robert L. Simon against an account of sporting skills I published almost 20 years ago in which I distinguished between constitutive and restorative skills and examined their normative significance. To accomplish this goal, I first summarize my characterization and classification of skills and then detail the criticisms. After responding to the latter, and thus reconsidering and hopefully strengthening my account of skill in sport, I turn my attention to Scott Kretchmar and Tim Elcombe’s inquiry into the skills involved in competitive sport. These authors claim that contesting skills demand the same respect usually accorded to testing skills. The second goal of this paper is then to explore Kretchmar and Elcombe’s inquiry under the light of my reconsidered analysis of skill. I specifically advocate a plausible relationship, both in terms of their distinctive character and relative import, between testing and contesting skills and constitutive and restorative skills. In doing so, I seek to present a more comprehensive account of skill in non-competitive and competitive sport.     

School and community factors involved in Chilean students’ perception of school safety

Identifying and understanding predictors of school safety perceptions is important due to its consequences for students. However, it is not clear what school‐related factors most contribute to explaining students’ perception of school safety, and how they relate to community‐related factors such as neighborhood safety. The purpose of this study was to understand the factors associated with Chilean elementary and middle school students’ perceptions of school safety. We used a sample of 5,455 students from low socioeconomic status public schools, and analyzed the predictive value of peer physical and verbal victimization; teacher and school staff victimization; teacher's social support; and perception of safety in the students’ neighborhoods on perceptions of school safety. Findings showed that although different forms of school violence, particularly peer physical victimization and physical and sexual victimization from teachers and school staff, contribute to students’ perception of school safety, the highest contribution came from students perceiving their neighborhoods as unsafe. In contrast, teacher social support contributed to increased levels of perceived school safety. We discuss the need for school‐based interventions that address physical victimization and engage teachers in prosocial and less punitive approaches to foster a positive and safe school climate, and in fostering school–community partnerships.     

The association between financial aid availability and the college dropout rates in Colombia

The main objective of this study is to estimate the association between financial aid and college dropout rates of postsecondary students in Colombia. We use a unique dataset from the Colombian Ministry of Education that includes all enrolled college students in the country between 1998 and 2008. Logistic regression is used to identify the correlation between receiving different forms of financial aid on the dropout rates of the students. The main results of the study suggest that the probability of dropping out decrease between 25 and 29% according to the type of financial aid received. There is also evidence that the financial aid is more effective in reducing dropout rates at the beginning of the student’s college careers. This result holds after controlling by type of postsecondary institution attended. These findings suggest that financial aid is an effective tool to reduce dropout rates, and therefore increase persistence and expand access in Colombia.