The Influence of Education and Family Background on Women's Earnings in Midlife: evidence from a British national birth cohort study

Studies which have investigated the influence of education on adult earnings are almost exclusively concerned with men and take little account of family influences on either education or later earnings. Those studies which have information on women's earnings focus on gender differentials rather than differences between women in opportunities and outcomes. This paper which examines the influence of education and family background on the midlife earnings of a national cohort of British women born immediately after the Second World War is an attempt to redress this situation. It shows that the few women who were able to take full advantage of the expansion in educational opportunities and achieve high educational qualifications earned significantly more in adult life than less educated females. Family background played an important role, both through its effect on early educational achievement and attitude to school work, which in turn influenced the type of secondary school attended and the achievement of educational qualifications, and also by well‐educated mothers raising their daughter's career expectations or providing successful role models. In adult life, employment characteristics which indicated a long‐term commitment to full‐time work and the decision not to have children, or to delay childbearing, were also important predictors of later economic success in this cohort, but did not explain the prior effects of education and family background. Advanced educational qualifications were the key to economic success for women bom in the early post‐war period.     

Talking about Practice: photography students,photographic culture and professional identities

Despite the social and cultural importance of photography in modern societies, photographic education is an area that has inspired very little in the way of academic research. Photographic education is generally perceived in very narrow terms, as an area of technical training, lacking any broader intellectual significance. It is the argument of this paper that in his/her many guises the photographer is an important figure in contemporary culture, and that the impoverished, or total lack of, understanding of photographic education is a significant omission. The aim of the paper is to begin to address this gap through a qualitative look at the way in which professional photography students talk about their practice. It is argued that photographic education has its own professionalised discourse, which students are encouraged to adopt, thereby excluding alternative perspectives. I discuss examples of students’ talk about practice as evidence of this discourse. In the final section of the paper I consider some alternative approaches that have been developed outside the context of mainstream photographic education, and the possibilities they offer for rethinking what it means to teach photography.     

Which ingroup,when? Effects of gender,partisanship, veteran status,and evaluator identities on candidate evaluations

Military service is acknowledged as one of many elements voters use to evaluate candidates, but it has primarily been studied as a univariate element of a candidate’s biography. This project experimentally manipulates veteran status, gender, and partisanship as potentially interactive heuristics for evaluation of a hypothetical candidate specifically regarding military issues. We found an almost universal benefit enjoyed by veterans over civilians regardless of whether the candidate was a member of the participant’s partisan ingroup or outgroup. We also found little evidence of a gender penalty, and even a benefit for women candidates who were veterans, though this benefit was restricted to evaluations from Republican women. We also found that Democratic respondents assigned a penalty to outgroup veteran men candidates. We explain these nuanced findings in the context of moderation by gender mis/alignment between participant and candidate. Implications of the study are offered.     

Immersive VR for Organic Chemistry: Impacts on Performance and Grades for First-Generation and Continuing-Generation University Students

Innovative Higher Education - Rapid advances in the quality and accessibility of immersive virtual reality (IVR) have brought about intense interest in applications of the technology within higher...     

Getting Everyone to the Fair: Supporting Teachers in Broadening Participation in Science and Engineering Fairs

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Science and Engineering (S&E) fairs are a valuable educational activity and are believed to increase students’ engagement and learning in...     

The consequences of being labelled ‘looked‐after’: Exploring the educational experiences of looked‐after children and young people in Wales

The educational experiences and attainment of looked‐after children and young people (LACYP) remains an issue of widespread international concern. Within the UK, children and young people in care achieve poorer educational outcomes compared to individuals not in care. Despite proliferation of research documenting the reasons for educational disadvantage amongst this population, there remains limited empirical consideration of the lived experiences of the educational system, as perceived by LACYP themselves. This paper draws upon qualitative research with 67 care‐experienced children and young people in Wales. The sample was aged 6–27 years, and comprised 27 females and 40 males. Participants had experienced a range of care placements. Findings focus on how educational policies and practices alienate LACYP from dominant discourses of educational achievement through assignment of the ‘supported’ subject position, where children and young people are permitted and even encouraged not to succeed academically due to their complex and disrupted home circumstances. However, such diminished expectations are rejected by LACYP, who want to be pushed and challenged in the realisation of their potential. The paper argues that more differentiated understandings of LACYP's aspirations and capabilities need to be embedded into everyday practices, to ensure that effective educational support systems are developed.     

In support of teachers’ learning: specifying and contextualising teacher inquiry as professional practice

Drawing upon research into a case study of teacher inquiry in one school in Queensland, Australia, recent theorising into professional practice, and relevant literature on teachers’ learning, this article reveals the complexity and particularity of teacher inquiry processes in support of teachers’ learning. Specifically, the research reveals how particular actions, dialogue, and relationships collectively constitute a practice of teacher inquiry which seeks to promote substantive teacher-led learning. The research draws upon a group of Year 5 teachers engaged in collective inquiry into their work in what was described as an “Inquiry Cycle” approach in a school in northern Queensland, during a period of support for substantial curriculum reform. The research reveals the Inquiry Cycle approach as characterised by specific actions, dialogue, and relationships – “doings,” “sayings,” and “relatings” – productive of the development of a learning culture focused on significant curriculum reform; overt support for whole-school “explicit” approaches to teachers’ pedagogies; and active/robust critique of data-focused assessment processes. The research reveals necessary texture and detail in support of teachers’ learning, and the specific circumstances and contextual “arrangements” that help constitute this learning.     

Computer conferencing: A new medium for investigating issues in gender and learning

Claims have been made that computer mediated communication (CMC) is a potentially highly participatory and democratic medium because it reduces the requirement to interrupt or wait your turn to speak. Such aspects of discussion have been shown to be relevant to differences in male and female participation in group discussions. In general, men have been found to take more turns and to speak longer than women in mixed sex groups. Men are also said to characteristically speak about things, take centre stage and give opinions. Women on the other hand are more likely to emphasis people rather than things, and to build and maintain relations in the way they talk. These two styles have been described as report talk of men and rapport talk of women.In this paper we describe some preliminary findings on the impact of using CMC and its effect on traditional gender participation differences. We look first at turn taking by men and women in computer conferences, and then how women in particular experience differences in the kind of contributions made to the conferences by men and women. Finally, we look at the actual contributions made by men and women and the extent they differ from each other.     

Audio teleconferencing and the adult learner: Strategies for effective practice

Abstract

Audio teleconferencing is a distance learning delivery system that has often been overlooked by educational institutions and other organizations. However, the trend toward adoption of “high‐end” (and high cost) delivery systems is giving way to a new trend toward appropriate selection of a delivery system based on course content, course design, and intended audience. This article takes a close look at audio teleconferencing as a viable option for many distance learning situations, discusses the importance of the audio component in distance learning, and suggests management and delivery strategies for organizations considering this medium.