Faculty in Transition: A Longitudinal Analysis of Perceived Control and Type of Institution in the Research Productivity of Newly Hired Faculty

The systemic changes facing postsecondary institutions today pose a threat to the quality of academic programs unless new faculty can be successfully attracted and retained. To be more competitive in the recruitment and retention of faculty, a better understanding is needed of the adjustment experiences of newly hired faculty. Our study examined the adjustment of new hires at the point of entry into their institutions using research productivity as one indicator of adaptation. It was expected that perceived personal control, age, gender, and type of institution would relate to research productivity. At the beginning of their first and second year, newly hired faculty in three different types of postsecondary institutions responded to a comprehensive questionnaire concerning their initial adjustment experiences. A path analysis indicated both direct and indirect linkages between the independent variables of interest and research productivity. Substantial direct paths were found between the institution type and research productivity, specifically for the research I and liberal arts/comprehensive institutions, and to a lesser degree, between age and research productivity. Age, the research I university, and the liberal arts/comprehensive universities had direct effects on two measures of perceived control and were linked indirectly to research productivity via perceived control. Perceived control resulting from the personal qualities of the faculty members was instrumental to research productivity, whereas perceived control resulting from activities initiated by faculty members were not related to productivity. Surprisingly, gender was not related to research productivity through either direct or indirect paths. If the adjustment of newly hired faculty is viewed in terms of research productivity, then these results suggest that perceived control, the milieu of research-oriented institutions, and age (to a limited extent), are important predictors of faculty performance.     

美国科学信息研究所对完善ISI数据库选刊标准中有关中国期刊文献收录方针的进展报告与建议

目前,美国科学信息研究所(ISI)数据库收录了60种中国期刊(不包括台湾省期刊)为刊源,其中13种被SCI收录;虽然中国期刊在ISI数据库中所占比例很小,但近两年其刊源数量有明显增长.科技期刊的研究质量是办刊之本,但各国研究者在检索本专业最新资料时,文献目录的信息也十分重要.ISI数据库是唯一包括所有论文参考文献的文摘检索服务系统,它所摘引的参考文献给专业研究人员带来很大的帮助.ISI为了给读者提供最完善可靠的文献目录信息,将期刊按国际规范编排,附上所有英文参考文献,不仅提高了文献检索率还标明了所引刊物,这在列举引文资料时非常重要.近年来,越来越多的中国文献也开始列出英文参考文献,这对于中国期刊的发展有重要意义,文献标准化是提供准确的期刊引文分析的关键.还有期刊的刊名必须清楚,中文刊名、英译名、汉语拼音名、拉丁文刊名、各种情况的英文版本名应有所区分,标注得当,目的是尽量给检索系统提供最清楚、准确的信息,以免与同类刊物混淆.本文介绍了ISI数据库收录期刊的方针并推荐一些收录期刊的可取经验,目的是为了使更多的中国学术期刊进入国际科技出版的主流并真正被世界科学家认同.     

How do African American Mothers in a Rural Community Perceive Resources for Supporting Family Involvement in the Early Years?

Previous research focused on schools that serve low-income and minoritized communities has demonstrated that families often do not feel that their schools are receptive to family involvement. This interview study, which comes out of a long-term ethnographic project at a rural school that primarily served low-income, African American families, reports on the ways that mothers in this school felt welcomed by school staff during their children’s first three years of schooling (Prekindergarten to Grade 1). Many of the parents identified the rural context as contributing to their positive feelings about involvement with the school because the context supported long-term relationships with school staff, and the small school allowed parents to feel that both they and their children were known. Mothers reported that these characteristics supported their efforts to intervene on behalf of their children.     

‘Nothing but Trouble’: The Soviet Union's Push to ‘Democratise’ International Sports During the Cold War, 1959–1962

Analysing internal documents from recently accessible Soviet archives as well as International Olympic Committee (IOC) correspondence, this article explores how Soviet sports administrators sought to gain influence and authority in international sports in order to advance Soviet state goals during the Cold War. To counter the ‘reactionary’, ‘Anglo-American’ bloc they perceived in the IOC and International Federations (IFs), members of the Soviet All-Union Committee on Physical Culture and Sport sought to ‘democratise’ international sports organisations by transforming them into truly international bodies that included representatives from all regions of the world, especially those sympathetic to the Soviet Union. Because of the governing culture of the IOC and the personalities of many of its members, any stance taken on by Soviet members could not overtly challenge Olympic ideals. Couching their call to expand Olympism in the principles of international cooperation, democracy and the right for everyone to participate in sports, Soviet administrators could present themselves as dedicated promoters of sport and use their clout to further Soviet interests. Through their efforts to increase Soviet influence globally, Soviet administrators challenged the insularity of the IOC and IFs and helped to transform international sports and the Olympic Games into a truly global movement.     

The longitudinal effects of achievement goals and perceived control on university student achievement

In the area of achievement motivation, students’ beliefs pertaining to achievement goals and perceived control have separately guided a large amount theoretical and empirical research. However, limited research has considered the simultaneous effects of goals and control on achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine primary and secondary control as potential mediators of the effects of mastery and performance goals on achievement, measured as final percentage in Introductory Psychology and GPA. The sample consisted of 224 first-year university students at a Canadian doctoral granting university. All participants completed two surveys and consented to release their grades to the researchers. We found that neither performance goals nor mastery goals had direct effects on achievement. However, performance goals had a positive indirect effect on achievement through primary control. Indirect effects also emerged for mastery goals, positively through primary control and negatively through secondary control. These results offer one explanation for the often-found non-significant relationship between mastery and achievement and are discussed in light of interventions aimed to modify goals and/or control and thereby increase achievement.