Gender Imbalance in Higher Education: Insights for College Administrators and Researchers

University administrators often strive for racial, socioeconomic, and geographic diversity in their student populations. Today, administrators face a new demographic challenge as women increasingly outnumber men in applications, enrollments, and graduation rates. This article discusses the causes and potential consequences of the growing gender imbalance and the legality of admissions policies that attempt to restore balance by giving preference to males. Using multiple analytic approaches, we test whether a public institution with increasing female enrollments responded by giving preferences in admissions to males. We conclude with insights for administrators and researchers.     

What determines the return to education: An extra year or a hurdle cleared?

The 1973 Raising of the School Leaving Age from 15 to 16 has been used to identify returns to years’ schooling. However, because the first set of “high stakes” exams are taken in the UK at age 16, the reform affected the proportion with qualifications, as well as schooling length. In order to shed light on whether the returns reflect the extra length of schooling or the increase in qualifications, we exploit another institutional rule – the Easter Leaving Rule – which we argue only affected the probability of obtaining qualifications (and not the length of schooling). We find sizeable returns to academic qualifications – increasing the probability of employment by 40% points – and our results suggest that qualifications drive most of the returns to education.     

Towards comprehensive sexuality education: a comparative analysis of the policy environment surrounding school-based sexuality education in Ghana,Peru, Kenya and Guatemala

The successful implementation of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) programmes in schools depends on the development and implementation of strong policy in support of CSE. This paper offers a comparative analysis of the policy environment governing school-based CSE in four low- and middle-income countries at different stages of programme implementation: Ghana, Peru, Kenya and Guatemala. Based on an analysis of current policy and legal frameworks, key informant interviews and recent regional reviews, the analysis focuses on seven policy-related levers that contribute to successful school-based sexuality education programmes. The levers cover policy development trends; current policy and legal frameworks for sexuality education; international commitments affecting CSE policies; the various actors involved in shaping CSE; and the partnerships and coalitions of actors that influence CSE policy. Our analysis shows that all four countries benefit from a policy environment that, if properly leveraged, could lead to a stronger implementation of CSE in schools. However, each faces several key challenges that must be addressed to ensure the health and wellbeing of their young people. Latin American and African countries show notable differences in the development and evolution of their CSE policy environments, providing valuable insights for programme development and implementation.     

Outsourcing academic development in higher education: staff perceptions of an international program

Increasingly, higher education support services are being outsourced. Our case study was of a program from a global, USA-based, non-profit organisation. From in-depth interviews, we investigated staff perceptions of academic development workshops and the efficacy of outsourcing to a transnational tertiary-support program. We found that interviewees valued the academic development. They believed greater consideration should be given to cultural differences between exporting and importing countries; to evidence-based assessment of, and institutional leadership support for, the program; and to discipline-based and tertiary-level skills. Our preliminary findings may inform university management about improved approaches to outsourcing academic development to international commercial providers.     

Inclusion of children with special educational needs in mainstream schools in Ghana: influence of teachers’ and children’s characteristics

The issue of where to teach children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities has been a great concern as countries respond to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Salamanca Statement on inclusion of 1994. In this study, the responses of 500 trained and untrained mainstream primary school teachers selected from three of the ten regions of Ghana were analysed to investigate their attitudes to including children with SEN and disabilities in mainstream schools in Ghana. These attitudes were examined alongside teachers’ characteristics such as gender, age, length and level of teaching experience, and knowledge of SEN, and also the type, nature and degree of children’s SEN. The results showed that teachers in Ghana were positive towards the inclusion of children with SEN and disabilities with a few reservations which are elaborated. On the basis of the findings, conclusions were drawn that the inclusion agenda should be subject to national and local interpretation, aimed at ensuring that policies and regulations on SEN are fashioned to meet local situations and standards.     

Kadimah: The Pursuit of Scholastic Excellence and Religious Commitment

This study uses phenomenological analysis to examine the perceptions of students attending a supplementary Hebrew school in a New England suburb. These students have ambivalent feelings about being Jewish. They equate being Jewish with being different, and they believe being Jewish has only a minor effect on their lives. They perceive the goals of Hebrew school on three levels: 1) The immediate level of learning prayers, learning about their religion, and learning Hebrew; 2) The long term goal of Bar/Bat Mitzvah; and 3) The ultimate goal of transmitting Jewish traditions to future generations. Their perceptions about Hebrew school differ markedly and range from boring to fun. Positive aspects of Hebrew school mentioned by all students include socializing and informality of classes. A negative aspect was the inconvenience of the Hebrew school schedule. Implications drawn from this study are that the Hebrew school ought to strive to maintain practical goals and a flexible curriculum, classroom environment, and school schedule.     

RESEARCH REPORT

Studies exploring school students' views about science have not always distinguished between different branches of science. Here, the views of 1395 secondary school students aged 11–16 about physics and, as a science comparator, biology were determined using a closed‐form questionnaire. Over the period of secondary schooling a decreasing proportion of students expressed a liking for physics, fewer thought it was interesting and more thought it was boring. These changes did not apply to biology. There was an increasing view that the study of physics, but not biology, required mathematical skills. Fewer students thought that physics, compared with biology, could contribute to the solution of medical or environmental problems. Suggestions that physics might offer good employment prospects did not influence students' liking of physics. Factor analysis suggested that the oldest group of students distinguished between physics and biology in terms of their general characteristics – to the detriment of physics.     

Computer Usage Among University Teacher-Trainees

This study reported the findings of a survey from a broader study conducted to： （a） find out the level to which students use computers; （b） compare which gender is more proficient in computer use; and （c） discuss the relationship between students＇ age and their computer proficiency. Activity theory was adopted as the theoretical framework to explain behavioural intentions of computer interactions. The study used self-answering questionnaires with closed-ended items to collect data from a group of teacher-trainees. A total of 1,500 questionnaires were distributed using a stratified sampling to select respondents. The data collected were analysed using simple means, frequencies, standard deviation, independent sample t-test, Chi-square test, and cross-tabulation. Findings from the study showed a significant difference of computer usage in level of proficiency by gender. The main findings are： 1 Younger students have higher computer proficiency skills as compared to the older students; 2. The students use computers for various activities including listening to music, playing games, researching, chatting, and e-mailing; 3. The students get access to educational resources including electronic journals, e-books, open educational resources （OER）, educational digital video disk/compact disc （DVD/CD）, and online databases; and 4. Male students have higher technology literacy skills than female students. The study recommended that efforts should be made to provide more access time to computing facilities to increase students＇ computer usage. There is a need to bridge the computer usage gap between male and female students. Older students should be encouraged to improve their technology literacy skills. Furthermore, the results suggested that the students used technologies within the objectivist model of teaching and learning. From the findings, teacher education programs need to provide teacher-trainees with further training programs to help them enhance their skills in the use of computers as an instructional tool for teaching and learning.     

Analysis of the 5 iron golf swing when hitting for maximum distance

Most previous research on golf swing mechanics has focused on the driver club. The aim of this study was to identify the kinematic factors that contribute to greater hitting distance when using the 5 iron club. Three-dimensional marker coordinate data were collected (250 Hz) to calculate joint kinematics at eight key swing events, while a swing analyser measured club swing and ball launch characteristics. Thirty male participants were assigned to one of two groups, based on their ball launch speed (high: 52.9 ± 2.1 m · s(-1); low: 39.9 ± 5.2 m · s(-1)). Statistical analyses were used to identify variables that differed significantly between the two groups. Results showed significant differences were evident between the two groups for club face impact point and a number of joint angles and angular velocities, with greater shoulder flexion and less left shoulder internal rotation in the backswing, greater extension angular velocity in both shoulders at early downswing, greater left shoulder adduction angular velocity at ball contact, greater hip joint movement and X Factor angle during the downswing, and greater left elbow extension early in the downswing appearing to contribute to greater hitting distance with the 5 iron club.