Investigating Gender Differences in Mathematics and Science: Results from the 2011 Trends in Mathematics and Science Survey

Research in Science Education - The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related fields remains a concern for educators and the scientific...     

Predicting long-term outcomes for women sexually abused in childhood: contribution of abuse severity versus family environment

OBJECTIVE: Child sexual abuse (CSA) has been associated with adverse adult psychosocial outcomes, although some reports describe minimal long-term effects. The search for explanations for the heterogeneous outcomes in women with CSA has led to an examination of a range of CSA-related factors, from the severity of individual CSA incidents to the childhood family environment. This study compares three factors for predicting adult outcomes: a multidimensional CSA Severity Scale, the presence or absence of CSA, and family environment. METHODS: The effect of CSA on adult outcomes was examined among 290 community-dwelling women raised in intact families. Standardized measures and a focused interview were used to collect data, with siblings as collateral informants. RESULTS: Comparison of a multidimensional CSA Severity Scale to a dichotomous measure of the presence or absence of CSA showed that the Severity Scale did not have greater predictive value for adult outcomes than the dichotomous measure, nor was it as parsimonious. Childhood family environment scales added significantly to the predictive ability of the dichotomous measure. CONCLUSION: The specific characteristics of a CSA experience may be less important than the occurrence of CSA and the family environment of women for predicting long-term outcomes.     

Development of a scale to measure economic status of students in rural vietnam

Family economic status is generally considered to be an important factor associated with students’ educational outcomes. However, to evaluate the strength of this contention, it is important to first have appropriate measures of family economic status. Measuring the economic status of Vietnamese people has been particularly difficult as the respondents have not been able to report accurately on their income. This has been compounded in rural populations, because of the relative economic homogeneity of communities. This study constructed, calibrated and validated a set of items to form a measure of economic status of students’ families in rural Vietnam.     

How does social inequality continue to influence young people’s trajectories through the apprenticeship pathway system in South Africa? An analytical approach

The paper contributes by proposing an analytical approach that allows for the identification of patterns of participation in education and training and the labour market, through empirical measurement of the number of transitions and distinct trajectories traversed by groups of individuals. To illustrate the value of the approach, we focus on an original survey data set of a 2009/2010 cohort of participants in the apprenticeship system in South Africa. The paper demonstrates that despite a clear shift in access, transition into the apprenticeship system remains strongly determined by race and gender. Race, class and gender likewise determine those who experience more complex transitions to the labour market. The methodological and analytical approach thus allows a clear identification of the location and the nature of potential structural inequalities in a pathway system. This ability is critical in many country contexts where social inequalities continue to hamper growth and development, but the ways in which these manifest structurally in skilling systems are often poorly identified and understood, and consequently, blockages are poorly addressed.     

Who is Whistling Vivaldi? How Black football players engage with stereotype threats in college

In light of the impact of negative stereotypes on student-athlete academic performance, the purpose of this paper was to conduct a qualitative study that examined how Black American male football players engage and cope with negative stereotypes at a predominantly White institution. Data were collected and analyzed from semi-structured interviews with 10 Division I Black male football student-athletes employing grounded theory methodology to examine how they experience and respond to negative stereotypes. Empirical results elucidate various strategies employed to engage with stereotype threat. These findings have implications for students, faculty, student affairs professionals in athletics, and others who frequently interact with student-athletes and are committed to reducing pernicious stigmas in higher education environments.     

The use of questions within in-the-moment coaching in initial mathematics teacher education: enhancing participation,reflection, and co-construction in rehearsals of practice

Managing mathematical discussion is known to be challenging for novice teachers. Coaching within student teacher rehearsals of teaching has been shown to develop mathematics teaching practice, but can be time consuming. To examine how coaching using questions could assist novice teachers to promote mathematical thinking and discussions within time-constrained programmes, videos of rehearsals, reflective debriefs, and student teacher surveys were collected across a range of courses over 4 years. Findings included that student teacher roles in rehearsals were enhanced through coaching with questions and co-construction was enabled. Coaching questions exposed effective practice, particularly in relation to orchestrating mathematical discussion, enabling student teachers to reflect, discuss, make decisions, and immediately trial teaching strategies. Questions appeared to lengthen rehearsals but improved their effectiveness through enhancing participation and enabling co-construction of meaning. Findings indicate that questions used in coaching of rehearsals inform and empower novice teachers, essential factors within initial teacher education for equitable and ambitious mathematics teaching.     

Counter-narratives that challenge neo-liberal discourses of schooling ‘disengagement’: youth professionals informing the work of teachers

Contemporary global economic contexts are shaped by a neo-liberal paradigm of hyper-individualism and meritocracy strongly influencing national policies in education and welfare. As social safety nets diminish, citizens are expected to be more personally accountable. This creates challenges for the poor and marginalised who are positionally disadvantaged in highly competitive neo-capitalist economies. Young people from such social categories are particularly vulnerable. Resource poor, many struggle to connect with schools and find meaning in a world that has relegated them to the margins. They make up the apparently growing numbers of ‘disengaged’, ‘at risk’, ‘dangerous’ and ‘sick’ youth who have become a focal point for official interventions that may be punitive and/or therapeutic or medical. Drawing upon the contrasting perspectives of teaching staff and youth workers in one Australian state, this article argues for a change in the way schooling authorities construct and respond to the phenomenon of schooling ‘disengagement’.     

Alternative education and social justice: considering issues of affective and contributive justice

This article considers the ways in which three alternative education sites in Australia support socially just education for their students and how injustice is addressed within these schools. The article begins with recognition of the importance of Nancy Fraser’s work to understandings of social justice. It then goes on to argue that her framework is insufficient for understanding the particularly complex set of injustices that are faced by many highly marginalised young people who have rejected or been rejected by mainstream education systems. We argue here for the need to consider the importance of ‘affective’ and ‘contributive’ aspects of justice in schools. Using interview data from the alternative schools, we highlight issues of affective justice raised by students in relation to their educational journeys, as well as foregrounding teachers’ affective work in schools. We also consider curricular choices and pedagogical practices in respect of matters of contributive justice. Our contention is that the affective and contributive fields are central to the achievement of social justice for the young people attending these sites. Whilst mainstream schools are not the focus of this article, we suggest that the lessons here have salience for all forms of schooling.     

‘Luring the academic soul’: promoting academic engagement in South African universities

There is widespread pressure that universities should become more responsive and accountable to multiple demands in their local, national and global contexts. Academics grapple to identify appropriate organisational responses to the pressures of state steering and incentive programmes. The empirical focus of the paper is a survey of academics' community engagement activities, mapping their interaction with external partners at five South African universities. The paper addresses a basic question: Who are the academics that engage, and what are their main academic influences? We argue that engagement is more likely to ‘lure the academic soul’ when it is driven by substantive growth in a disciplinary field and enhances reputations. The analysis seeks to identify how disciplinary, institutional and positional attributes are correlated with engaged activities. ‘Luring the academic soul’ through an understanding of the influences on academics' propensity to engage can facilitate more effectively targeted incentives and policies.