A USA national survey of program services provided by child advocacy centers

OBJECTIVE: Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) are designed to improve the community collaborative response to child sexual abuse and the criminal justice processing of child sexual abuse cases. CACs, in existence for 16 years, now have standards for membership developed by the National Children's Alliance (NCA) that include nine core components. And yet no systematic examination of the CAC model exists. The purpose of this paper was to assess the variations within these core components as they exist in the field. METHOD: Using a stratified random sampling design, 117 CAC directors were interviewed using a semi-structured interview that was based on the NCA's standards for membership. The eight core components of the CAC model examined in this study include: a child-friendly facility, a multidisciplinary team, an investigative child interview, a medical examination of the child, provision of mental health services, victim advocacy, case review, and case tracking. RESULTS: Results reveal the CAC model has been widely adopted by both member and nonmember centers, although variations in implementation exist. CONCLUSIONS: Future developments in the CAC model must include evaluation of the model.     

Evidencing student success and career outcomes among business and creative industries graduates

ABSTRACT

The teaching performance of higher education institutions is increasingly gauged by graduate employment outcomes. Measuring outcomes in full-time employment terms does not capture the complexities of underemployment, the rise of portfolio careers, the constraints of the labour market and graduate motivations for working arrangements that can allow greater flexibility and work-life balance. This study explores the career outcomes of Business and Creative Industries graduates using both traditional measures (full-time employment outcomes) and a suite of broader measures that examine career satisfaction, perceived employability, perceived career success, underemployment, and graduate motivations for seeking new roles. Findings confirm disciplinary differences in graduate experience, and raise some broad concerns about the quality of graduate employment, particularly given the lack of improvement in outcomes over time since course completion. Findings suggest graduates are optimistic about their career futures, despite unmet expectations – particularly on income.     

Influences on Computer‐based Problem Solving: help facilities,intrinsic orientation,gender and home computing

Abstract Microcomputer aided instruction often provides pupils with a means of obtaining assistance. The findings of an initial study suggested that experience on a microcomputer task with a help facility does not necessarily lead to improved performance. The frequent use of a help facility was associated with poorer concurrent performance and was associated with poorer performance when the help facility was no longer available. The possibility that the effects of the help facility were confounded by other variables led to a second controlled investigation of this issue. This experiment confirmed that a help facility was of no significant benefit and appeared to interfere with some aspects of the pupils’ performance. The initial investigation also examined other sources of influence on computer‐based problem solving. It was found that, as predicted, pupils with an intrinsic orientation tended to use a help facility less and to choose more difficult problems. However, pupils who were intrinsically orientated were not found to be any better at computer‐based problem solving than pupils who were less intrinsically orientated. Finally, no differences were found in computer‐based problem solving according to gender or the pupils’ access to home computers.     

The influence of Work-Integrated Learning and paid work during studies on graduate employment and underemployment

To enhance employability and improve the career prospects of graduating students, this study explores the influence of practical experience on graduate employment outcomes in an Australian setting. To develop our understanding of the relative benefit of different forms of practical experience, the study evaluates the influence of both Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) and paid work in the final year of study on graduate employment and underemployment. Two samples are used, N?=?628 and N?=?237, to evaluate institutional data on practical experience combined with national data on graduate employment outcomes. Findings indicate that participating in WIL does not produce an increase in full-time employment rates. There is some evidence to suggest that it could lead to higher quality, relevant employment in both the short and long term. Paid employment during the final year of undergraduate study produced higher full-time employment rates, but had little effect on underemployment. Findings will help to inform stakeholders of the relative benefit of curricular and extra-curricular work experience and contribute to the dearth of empirical evidence on the value of activities designed to improve graduate employment prospects. This is particularly important given growth in the supply of graduates, concerns for credentialism, soft graduate labour markets and global economic weakening.     

Differently Academic? Constructions of ‘academic’ in higher education

This article draws on my research, in which I have interviewed a group of students over the course of their degrees. The women are all taking women's studies combined with a range of other subjects in a ‘new’ university with campuses in inner London and on its outskirts. This article considers the women's perceptions of both women's studies and their second subjects as "academic", as well as how they think both the university and the wider world value the academic nature of their various subjects. It asks whether subjects are only valued as "academic" if they focus on the writings of men, and are considered "objective", abstract and theoretical. Do students need to be seen to be "thinking like a man" in order to value their subjects and have them valued by others, or are there ways to be "differently academic"? It concludes by suggesting some alternative ways for institutions of higher education to consider the meaning of "academic" in higher education.