Active and inclusive citizenship for women: democratic considerations for fostering lifelong education

In this paper a critical feminist theoretical framework is used to explore the challenges of creating democratic learning spaces that will foster active and inclusive citizenship for women. Three democratic considerations are addressed to assess how adult educators can create more inclusive opportunities for lifelong education for women. The first consideration is the need for a careful examination of structural inequalities that create disadvantages for women in pursuing lifelong education. The second consideration is the need to create a broader and more gender inclusive understanding of the scope of lifelong learning possibilities, so that women’s learning experiences are not devalued. The third consideration explores how to take up gender as a complex variable within the broader discourse of inclusion. This paper is informed by preliminary results from a current SSHRC (Social Science and Humanities Research Council) study on lifelong learning trajectories for women in Canada and a CCL (Canadian Council on Learning) study on active citizenship for women in Nova Scotia.     

Perfectionism differences in gifted middle school students

Perfectionism has been cited as a major characteristic associated with children and adolescents who have been identified as gifted and talented. This study explored grade level, birth order, and gender differences among 391 students in three gifted and talented programs. The students completed an adaptation of the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. A2 × 3 × 3 between subject multivariate analysis revealed that females expressed more concern than males about organization, while males reported stronger parental expectations. First born adolescents reported higher parental criticism and expectations than youngest children. Females' concerns about making mistakes increases from grade 6 to grade 8 while the pattern for males fluctuated insignificantly. Patterns of parental criticism varied between males and females from grade 6 through grade 8.     

Book reviews

Streznewski, M. K. (1999). Gifted grownups: The mixed blessings of extraordinary potential . New York: John Wiley & Sons (292 pp., $24.95 hb, ISBN‐0–471–29580–9).

Johnson, N.G., Roberts, M.C., & Worell, J., Eds.(1999). Beyond appearance: A new look at adolescent girls . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association (464 pp., ISBN‐1–55798–582–0).

Smutny, J.F. (1998). The young gifted child: Potential and promise, an anthology . Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc. (582 pp. $35.00, paperback, ISBN 1–57273–108–7).

Elias, M. J., Zins, J. E., Weissberg, R. P., Frey, K. S., Green‐berg, M. T., Haynes, N. M., Kessler, R., Schwab‐Stone, M. E., & Shriver, T. P. (1997). Promoting social and emotional learning . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. (164 pp., $22.95 pb, ISBN‐0–87120–288–3).

Friedman, R. C., & Rogers, K. B. (Eds.). (1998). Talent in context: Historical and social perspectives on giftedness . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association (218 pp., $29.95 Hardback, ISBN 1–55798–493).     

Predictors of Self-Reported Likelihood of Working with Older Adults

This study examined the self-reported likelihood of working with older adults in a future career among 237 college undergraduates at a midsized Midwestern university. Although aging anxiety was not significantly related to likelihood of working with older adults, those students who had a greater level of death anxiety were less likely than other students to report a future likelihood of working with older adults. In addition, quality relationships with unrelated older adults were positively correlated with likelihood of working with older adults. Recommendations for future research and ideas for attracting college students to gerontology as a career are discussed.     

Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Revising Promotion and Tenure Standards According to Boyer

If one acknowledges that scholarship comes in many shapes and forms, and if one agrees with Boyer's argument that it is time to reconsider scholarship in light of the role of faculty members within departments, colleges, and universities, the next logical step then is to see if Boyer's principles can be effectively applied in a university setting. At the 1995 NAPEHE conference, Boyer acknowledged that the next step, as indicated by the title of the Carnegie Foundation's forthcoming sequel Scholarship Assessed, is to identify ways to fairly and equitably evaluate faculty scholarship within the context of the professoriate in general, and in higher education institutions in particular. The authors argue the case for differential application of standards within and among universities, based upon the diversity of missions and goals. Following that, examples are given for how Boyer's classifications have been applied to promotion and tenure standards at one comprehensive land grant university in the midwest. Administrator and faculty (new and old) commentary provide sup port for the new standards.     

A Steep Part of the Landscape: Serials,Libraries, and the Challenges Faced by Higher Education

Numerous challenges confront serials librarians in this period of financial uncertainty for higher education. Colleges and universities face unprecedented economic constraints affecting both private and public support while serials costs are increasing and publishing outlets are decreasing. Librarians and their advocates do a good job of describing these conditions among themselves, but need to collaborate to communicate their message forcefully to the large higher education community to expand support.     

Organizational newcomers: Temporary and regular employees,same‐sex and mixed‐sex superior‐subordinate dyads,supervisor influence techniques,subordinates communication satisfaction,and leader‐member exchange

This study examined the relationship between newly hired employees’ characteristics (i.e., temporary vs. regular employee, superior‐subordinate gender‐dyad combinations), supervisors initial tactics of influence, subordinate communication satisfaction, and quality of leader‐member exchange. Results from 148 (71 temporary) new hires indicated (a) employee characteristics were not significantly related to the leader‐member exchange, (b) supervisors initial use of prosocial influence tactics were significantly and positively related to the quality of leader‐member exchange, and (c) subordinates’ satisfaction with communication was significantly and positively related to the quality of leader‐member exchange.     

Exploring cultural diversity: A network analysis of the communicative correlates of shyness within the black culture

This Investigation was designed to explore the experience of shyness within the black culture. Specifically, this is the second study In a three‐phase research program designed to assess the relationship between social network attributes and shyness. In order to achieve this purpose, this study compared the communication networks of high, moderate, and low‐shy black communicators with expectations about the communicative behavior of shy individuals drawn from existing research on shyness. The results suggest that shyness may be experienced differently within culturally‐diverse populations; thus, there is a need for In‐depth intracultural investigations of shyness before an understanding of this phenomenon in intercultural contexts can be achieved.