Showing papers on "Higher education published in 1986"

Self-efficacy in the prediction of academic performance and perceived career options.

Abstract: This study explored the relation of self-efficacy beliefs to educational/vocational choice and performance, assessing the extent to which efficacy beliefs, in concert with other relevant variables, predict academic grades, persistence, and perceived career options in students considering science and engineering fields. Subjects were 105 undergraduates who participated in a career planning course on science and engineering fields. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that self-efficacy contributed significant unique variance to the prediction of grades, persistence, and range of perceived career options in technical/scientific fields. The two self-efficacy scales used were moderately intercorrelated but differentially related to previous academic performance; neither scale was significantly related to general selfesteem or career indecision. Implications for further career self-efficacy research, and for career and academic counseling, are discussed.

The Comprehension Strategies of Second Language Readers

Abstract: Think-aloud protocols, a version of verbal report in which participants state their thoughts and behaviors, have become increasingly popular as a means of studying the comprehension processes of native English speakers. The study reported in this article used think-alouds to examine the comprehension strategies used by college-level students-both native speakers of English and nonnative speakers--enrolled in remedial reading classes as they read material from a college textbook. "Poor" readers (those who had failed the college's reading proficiency test) were chosen for study because they are the ones at whom college remedial reading programs are aimed. Furthermore, their use of comprehension strategies has not attained the degree of automaticity found in fluent readers. Thus, they may be more aware of how they solve the problems they encounter as they read. Some of the strategies used by the ESL and native-speaking readers in the study are described. Strategy use is related to measures of memory and comprehension and to academic performance, and implications for teaching are discussed. The thoughts that wander or rush through the minds of readers, the searches and struggles for meaning, the reflections and associations, are hidden from the outside observer. Yet this struggle and search for control are the core of reading comprehension. For teachers, knowledge of the components and management of this internal process is extremely important. Without it, educators must resort to designing reading programs based on intuitions and guesses about students' problems. Without it, classroom teachers are left commiserating with Eskey (1973), who described the "maddening experience of having a student who appears to understand every sentence and yet cannot answer the simplest question about a passage as a whole" (p. 177). Knowledge about the process, not just the product of reading, is needed if we are to move

Pathways to Top Corporate Management

Abstract: With college attendance approaching universality among senior managers in large American corporations, the issue of the impact of distinctions within the system of higher education in providing access to these positions has become increasingly salient. This study, based on data on the education, social backgrounds, and careers of 2,729 senior managers associated with 208 major corporations, analyzes the relationship between stratification within higher education (as measured by institutional status and level of credential) and stratification within the ranks of top corporate management. Findings reveal that: (1) Corporate ascent is facilitated by the possession of a bachelor's degree from a top-ranked college, a master's degree in business administration from a prominent program, or a degree in law from a leading institution. (2) Controlling for educational credentials, an upper-class background increases the likelihood of rising to the top ranks of corporate management. (3) The impact of a law degree and an upper-class origin are most pronounced for successful movement beyond the firm into formal and informal inter-corporate networks.

College cheating: Immaturity, lack of commitment, and the neutralizing attitude.

Abstract: Through the use of a 49-item questionnaire administered to 380 university students, we investigated student cheating on exams, quizzes, and homework assignments. More than half the students reported cheating during the academic year on at least one of the above. The purpose of this paper was to uncover fundamental factors underlying cheating behavior. Through the use of correlational and factor analysis, three primary factors were identified: student immaturity, lack of commitment to academics, and neutralization. We offer interpretations of these factors and suggestions for testing these and other factors in future research.

Alienation of Ethnic Minority Students at a Predominantly White University

Abstract: Despite civil rights legislation, the national goal of providing ethnic minorities with equal access to quality institutions of higher education and opportunities for academic success has yet to be realized. Actualizing this educational vision requires understanding the forces that preclude and those that promote equal opportunity and academic success. Higher college dropout rates, lower levels of academic preparation in high school, lower socioeconomic status, and greater alienation or isolation in the white college environment have been cited as problems facing ethnic minority college students [2, 3, 14, 22, 29, 30]. There is a need at the national level for research on ethnic minority and white college students' attitudes and perceptions. Despite this need, little such research has been conducted [10]. Comparative studies have either been conducted among various white student populations [12, 18, 24] or between white students and only one ethnic minority group [13, 25, 28]. At a state and local level, the underrepresentation of ethnic minori-

Effective teaching and mentoring

Abstract: (1988). Effective Teaching and Mentoring. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education: Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 28-29.

What Professors Actually Require: Academic Tasks for the ESL Classroom

Abstract: Surveys of academic writing have an important role to play in providing a more complete picture of writing than the “process” approach has given us. However, previous academic writing surveys have not satisfactorily answered the question of just what kinds of academic writing tasks are typical. Without such information, creating realistic writing tasks in the English-for-academic-purposes (EAP) classroom remains largely a matter of guesswork. The present study attempts to fill this gap, taking as its data the actual handouts in university classes. The tasks were classified into seven categories, which are described. The implications of the controlled nature of many of the writing tasks are discussed, and ways to put these findings into use in the EAP classroom are suggested.

Effects of Single-Sex Secondary Schools on Student Achievement and Attitudes.

Abstract: A movement away from single-sex education occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, just as research was beginning to document positive effects of women's colleges. There has been very little investigation of single-sex education at the secondary level, however. In this study, we compared the effects of sing

An analysis of discomfort, risktaking, sociability, and motivation in the l2 classroom

Abstract: This study investigated a causal model of second language learning. Particular attention was given to three situation-specific constructs: Language Class Discomfort, Language Class Risktaking, and Language Class Sociability. It was theorized that voluntary Classroom Participation mediates the effect of Language Class Discomfort, Language Class Risktaking, Language Class Sociability, and Strength of Motivation on success in classroom L2 learning. The subjects were students enrolled in first year (first and second quarter) university Spanish classes. Data on Classroom Participation were gathered by means of classroom observation and audio recording. Proficiency was measured by correctness and fluency on a storyretelling task and correctness on a written final examination. The results of the causal analysis included findings that: Language Class Discomfort negatively predicted Language Class Risktaking and Language Class Sociability; Language Class Risktaking positively predicted Classroom Participation; and Classroom Participation positively predicted Oral Correctness for the first quarter students.

Perspectives on the Professional Socialization of Women Faculty: A Case of Accumulative Disadvantage?.

Abstract: (1986). Perspectives on the Professional Socialization of Women Faculty. The Journal of Higher Education: Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 20-43.

Competing Theories of Process: A Critique and a Proposal.

Abstract: The recognition of the study of writing as an important area of research within English in North America has also led to a questioning of its theoretical underpinnings. While the teaching of writing has achieved programmatic or departmental status at many colleges and universities, voices from outside and from within the ranks question whether a discipline devoted to the study of writing exists or if those who teach writing simply assume it exists because they share common problems and interests. The convenient landmark for disciplinary historians is the Richard Braddock, Richard Lloyd-Jones, and Lowell Schoer review of the field in 1963, a survey that found a legion of pedagogical studies of writing, most lacking any broad theoretical notion of writing abilities or even awareness of similar existing studies. Contemporary reviewers of writing research point out how much happened in the years that followed, but no development has been more influential than the emphasis on writing as a process. For the last few years, Richard Young's and Maxine Hairston's accounts of the process movement as a Kuhnian paradigm shift have served as justifications for disciplinary status. Even though the claim of a paradigm shift is now viewed by some as an overstatement, it is evident that many writing teachers in grade schools, high schools, and colleges have internalized process assumptions. In the most optimistic visions, writing teachers K-13 march happily under the process banner. Slogans such as "revising is good for you" are repeated in nearly every college writing textbook as well as in many secondary and elementary classrooms. Paradigm, pre-paradigm, or no paradigm, nearly everyone seems to agree that writing as a process is good and "current-traditional rhetoric" is bad. It would seem, therefore, that any disciplinary claims must be based on some shared definition of process. The problem, of course, is that conceptions of writing as a process vary from theorist to theorist. Commentators on the process movement (e.g., Berlin, Writing Instruction) now assume at least two major perspectives on composing, an expressive view including the work of "authentic voice" proponents such as William Coles, Peter Elbow, Ken Macrorie, and Donald Stewart, and a cognitive view including the research of those who analyze composing processes such as

University-industry research relationships in biotechnology: implications for the university

Abstract: The growth of university-industry research relationships in biotechnology has raised questions concerning their effects, both positive and negative, on universities. A survey of over 1200 faculty members at 40 major universities in the United States reveals that biotechnology researchers with industrial support publish at higher rates, patent more frequently, participate in more administrative and professional activities and earn more than colleagues without such support. At the same time, faculty with industry funds are much more likely than other biotechnology faculty to report that their research has resulted in trade secrets and that commercial considerations have influenced their choice of research projects. Although the data do not establish a causal connection between industrial support and these faculty behaviors, our findings strongly suggest that university-industry research relationships have both benefits and risks for academic institutions. The challenge for universities is to find ways to manage these relationships that will preserve the benefits while minimizing the risks.

Community Colleges and Social Stratification.

Abstract: The expansion of the community colleges in recent years repeats an American pattern that couples class-based tracking with "educational inflation." Shaped by a changing economy and by the American ideology of equal opportunity, community colleges are moving toward vocational rather than transfer curricula and are channeling first generation college students into these programs. The author examines the social forces behind the community college movement and the social processes within the community colleges that have produced a submerged class conflict in higher education.

Problem Drinking among College Students: A Review of Recent Research

Abstract: Research examining collegiate problem drinking from 1975–1985 is reviewed. Eight topics are distinguished pertaining to the definition and correlates of problem drinking: consumption patterns; self-identification as a problem drinker; motivations; negative consequences; personality characteristics; family, peers, and environment; long-term consequences of problem alcohol use; and male-female differences in problem drinking. Reported prevalences of problem drinking range from a low of 6% to a high of 72%, with most studies suggesting that approximately 20–25% of students have drinking problems. This variability may be explained in large part by divergent conceptual and operational definitions of problem drinkers across studies. Problem drinkers are characterized relative to nonproblem drinkers as impulsive, prone to deviant behavior, less oriented towards academic success, more independence-seeking, and more likely to drink for escapist (rather than sociability) reasons. The influential role of co...

Untangling the satisfaction-performance relationship for college students.

Abstract: (1986) Untangling the Satisfaction-Performance Relationship for College Students The Journal of Higher Education: Vol 57, No 4, pp 393-412

To Advance Knowledge: The Growth of American Research Universities, 1900-1940

Abstract: American scientific supremacy was built upon the strength of our research universities. This book shows how these universities laid the foundation for the ascendancy of American science in the first half of this century, when they went from being provincial outposts of international science to being the equal of the best European centers of learning. This is a rich social history that tells much not only about the growth of American higher education but also about American intellectual life in general and the politics of scientific research in education. How did research come to be a major function of universities? How did universities reconcile the demands of an active research program with their other institutional commitments? To answer these questions, Geiger ranges over a broad spectrum of topics, from the adoption of a selective admissions policy and the development of graduate schools to the continuing vitality of liberal arts colleges within university settings. The book includes fascinating sections on the bizarre attempt to militarize college campuses during World War I and on the backlash of the 1920's, when many major campuses became more concerned with social life than intellectual matters. One remarkable feature of the development of research universities, Geiger points out, was that it was largely accomplished through private resources. Individual philanthropy was responsible for establishing the wealth of the private research universities, and played a key role at several state universities as well. Foundations and corporations were also highly significant in developing the institutions' research capabilities. Geiger describes how each university resolved in its own way the conflict between the research role and other institutional commitments. The major research institutions he deals with are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Columbia, Cornell, Pennsylvania, Stanford, the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, the California Institute of Technology, and the Universities of Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California.

Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article

Abstract: Students and researchers all write under pressure, and those pressures - most lamentably, the desire to impress your audience rather than to communicate with them - often lead to pretentious prose, academic posturing, and, not infrequently, writer's block. Sociologist Howard S. Becker has written the classic book on how to conquer these pressures and simply write. First published nearly twenty years ago, "Writing for Social Scientists" has become a lifesaver for writers in all fields, from beginning students to published authors. Becker's message is clear: in order to learn how to write, take a deep breath and then begin writing. Revise. Repeat. It is not always an easy process, as Becker wryly relates. Decades of teaching, researching, and writing have given him plenty of material, and Becker neatly exposes the foibles of academia and its "publish or perish" atmosphere. Wordiness, the passive voice, inserting a "the way in which" when a simple "how" will do - all these mechanisms are a part of the social structure of academic writing. By shrugging off such impediments - or at the very least, putting them aside for a few hours - we can reform our work habits and start writing lucidly without worrying about grades, peer approval, or "the literature." In this new edition, Becker takes account of major changes in the computer tools available today and also substantially expands his analysis of how academic institutions create problems for writers. As competition in higher education grows increasingly heated, "Writing for Social Scientists" will provide solace to a new generation of frazzled, would-be writers.

Comparative and Predictive Analyses of Black and White Students' College Achievement and Experiences.

Abstract: Ever since the 1954 landmark Supreme Court case of Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, efforts have been made to achieve greater desegregation at all levels of formal education. As a result of the gradual elimination of racially discriminatory barriers to higher education, more blacks began attending college in the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, even though those two decades were the greatest overall enrollment growth years in the history of American higher education, black enrollment increased more than twice as much as total enrollment. In 1965, for example, black undergraduates represented 4.8 percent of all undergraduates in the United States, compared to 10.2 percent in 1980 [42]. This remarkable increase in black enrollment appears on the surface to herald a great movement toward the achievement of equality in higher education. However, an examination of students' college performance reveals that some formidable challenges remain to be faced by American colleges and universities in the quest for equality. Because of the enormous increase in the interest of minority students in attending college, many barriers to access have been challenged. Perhaps none has been challenged as strongly as traditional admissions standards of colleges and universities. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, there were many debates regarding traditional college admis-

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practices and Principles

Abstract: (1986). Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practices and Principles. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education: Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 22-23.

Financing education in developing countries : an exploration of policy options

Abstract: With the current constrained financial conditions in many developing countries, it is essential to develop and utilize new methods of financing education to ensure efficiency and greater social equity. The current financing arrangements in many cases result in an underinvestment in education, an untapped willingness to pay for education and a misallocation of public spending in this sector. This report examines three broad policy options that could remedy the above problems. It is argued that they would result in an increase of resources flowing to education, improve their use, and ensure more equitable access to schooling. Although the suggested reforms need to be phased in gradually, and their specific content will differ among countries, the package includes three elements. They comprise: (1) recovering the public cost of higher education and reallocating government spending on education toward the level with the highest social returns; (2) developing a credit market for education, together with selective scholarships, especially in higher education; and (3) decentralizing the management of public education and encouraging the expansion of private and community-supported schools.

Producing Written Summaries: Task Demands, Cognitive Operations, and Implications for Instruction:

Abstract: Theoretical views regarding the cognitive processes of summarization are reviewed and some of the specific cognitive operations involved in summarization are considered. In particular, we argue that the cognitive demands of summarization are dependent upon the qualities of the text to be summarized, the whereabouts of the text during summarization, and the type of summary to be produced. To this latter point, a distinction is made between a summary written for oneself (writer-based) and a summary written for others (reader-based). Developmental differences among summarizers are then described in terms of awareness of task demands, sensitivity to importance, and ability to condense material and select and create topic sentences. Finally, instructional suggestions are made for how the beginning summarizer might be taught to produce more sophisticated summaries.

Dimensions of stress among university faculty: Factor-analytic results from a national study

Abstract: Previous studies on the role of the professor reflect the existence of a multifaceted complex of strains on faculty. This research study investigated identifiable patterns of faculty stress. From a sample of 80 doctorate-granting institutions, 1,920 professors were selected and stratified by academic rank and Biglan's academic discipline model. The response rate was 75.28%. The multidimensionality of the 45-item Faculty Stress Index, investigated through factor analysis, resulted in five distinct dimensions of perceived stress: reward and recognition (55% common variance); time constraints (12% common variance); departmental influence (7% common variance); professional identity (6% common variance); and student interaction (6% common variance). Each factor was also analyzed according to professional and personal characteristics, and the analysis resulted in significant differences in the areas of tenure, rank, age, gender, and marital status. No differential pattern was discovered among disciplinary categories.