Measuring efficiency of Tunisian schools in the presence of quasi-fixed inputs: A bootstrap data envelopment analysis approach

The objective of this paper is to measure the efficiency of high schools in Tunisia. We use a statistical data envelopment analysis (DEA)-bootstrap approach with quasi-fixed inputs to estimate the precision of our measure. To do so, we developed a statistical model serving as the foundation of the data generation process (DGP). The DGP is constructed such that we can implement both smooth homogeneous and heterogeneous bootstrap methods. Bootstrap simulations were used to estimate and correct the bias, and to construct confidence intervals for the efficiency measures. The simulation results show that the efficiency measures are subject to sampling variations. The adjusted measure reveals that high schools with residence services would have to give up less than 12.1% of their resources on average to be efficient.     

To See the World or Stay at Home: Applying an Integrated Student Choice Model to Explore the Gender Gap in the Intent to Study Abroad

Although interest in study abroad has grown consistently in recent decades, study abroad professionals and higher education scholars have been unable to explain or rectify the long-standing gender gap in study abroad participation. This study applies an integrated model of the student-choice construct to explore differences between male and female intent to study abroad. Results indicate that, not only can various forms of social and cultural capital predict student decisions about curricular opportunities during college such as study abroad, but gender plays a substantial role in altering the ways in which those forms of capital shape student decisions differently. These findings present a range of implications for researchers interested in better understanding the decision making process of college students as well as study abroad professionals and national policymakers intent on narrowing the gender gap in study abroad participation.     

USING FOCUS GROUPS AS AN EDUCATIONAL METHODOLOGY: DECONSTRUCTING STEREOTYPES AND SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING AGING AND OLDER ADULTS

During the coming years the number of older adults will increase dramatically, which will require a corresponding increase in the number of social workers who have accurate knowledge of this population. This article reports the impact focus groups with older adults and with service providers who work with older adults and their families have on baccalaureate social work (BSW) students. We find that BSW students exposed to focus groups have their negative attitudes about older adults and service providers deconstructed and replaced with more positive and accurate information about older adults. When students' misconceptions about older adults are confronted, they become more interested in choosing geriatric social work as a career option.     

Protection of the librarian

This article deals with a proposed initiative to train library managers on the African continent. It is argued that such an education initiative will contribute to the socio-economic development of Africa. Issues addressed in the article include the following: the background to and rationale for this initiative, justification for the University of Pretoria to be the degree-issuing institution, the delivery mode, outline of the proposed curriculum and expected outcomes of this initiative.