A Needle in the Haystack—Finding that First Academic Serials Job and Advancing to the Next Level

No abstract available for this article.     

FUTURE HOMEMAKERS AND FEMINIST AWAKENINGS: AUTOETHNOGRAPHY AS A METHOD IN THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

The author describes a project that illustrates the use of critical ethnography as a research methodology in religious education. The article focuses on a facet of critical ethnography known as autoethnography. Autoethnography refers to the researcher's use of portions of her own life story in an ethnographic project. It allows the researcher to interrogate her reasons for engaging in a specific field, in this case, female adolescent voice. In her research with adolescent females, the author weaves memories of her own adolescence, especially those memories of significant adult mentors who helped her come to voice. Through the use of such autobiographical narrative, the researcher acknowledges the situated nature of her observations and reveals the connections between herself and the topic under study. In keeping with significant work in the field of anthropology, the author argues that this turn toward autoethnography allows for research that engages scholarly passion, enabling the researcher to effect change.     

“Why am I here?”: A phenomenological exploration of first-generation college student experiences in STEM majors within a predominantly white institution

First-generation college students (FGCSs) are a growing population in undergraduate education. Research on FGCS primarily focuses on the challenges and barriers they encounter in college. While important, this literature offers a limited view of FGCS as learners. Moreover, minimal literature has examined these students' lived experiences within sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This study explores the learning experiences of FGCS (N = 17) in undergraduate STEM programs at a mid-sized, private, predominantly white institution. Guided by the frameworks of intersectionality and social cognitive career theory, the researchers utilized a qualitative, phenomenological research methodology to hear the perspectives of FGCS to and to identify problematic higher educational structures in STEM. Findings point to an elitist stance underlying STEM programs based in general disciplinary norms that restricted FGCS access to STEM majors and careers across social, academic, and professional elements of the academic experience. FGCS who were multiply minoritized based upon race, gender, and social class experienced the compounding of marginalization, and academic success and persistence came at a personal cost. Students also reported relying predominantly on personal strengths and motivations to overcome elitism in STEM rather than on institutional supports. Findings also highlight the variation in the first-generation experience and identify the unique barriers FGCS encounter within STEM fields. Implications for dismantling inequitable structures for higher education in STEM attending to the social, academic, and professional inclusion of FGCS.     

PERCEIVED CHOICE OF PROSE MATERIALS BY YOUNG AND ELDERLY ADULTS

Three experiments evaluated the effects of perceived choice upon comprehension and memory of prose reading passages. Participants in the choice conditions selected the titles of the passages they read, while the rest of the volunteers were not given the opportunity to choose. Experiment 1 compared choice and no choice conditions with young (x = 28.3 years) and elderly (x ‐ 68.9 years) adults of various vocabulary levels. Experiments 2 and 3 tested only elderly groups to evaluate a wider range of vocabulary levels and to compare the effects of starting the reading task either immediately after choosing the titles or after a delay of 2 to 3 weeks. The results indicated both age‐ and vocabulary‐related deficits. However, perceived choice conditions did not produce any consistent improvement in performance.