The trade-off between career aspirations and class status: research on the influence of family background on the realization of doctoral graduates’ career aspirations

According to Self-Determination Theory, teachers can enhance their students’ motivation, engagement, and learning through need-supportive teaching, which involves providing autonomy support, structure, and involvement. However, within classes, there appears to be great variation in the degree to which teachers support students’ psychological needs. The current studies aimed to investigate to what extent this differentiation in need support was associated with students’ socioeconomic background. Additionally, we examined whether teachers differentiated their need support more strongly when they had more biased Explicitly or Implicitly measured attitudes toward students from a low socioeconomic background. We conducted two studies: Study 1 was a vignette study representing a fictional student from a high or low socioeconomic background, and Study 2 was a field study where teachers reported on the need support provided to real students from a high and low socioeconomic background from their own class. Findings of both studies indicated that teachers reported lower levels of involvement for students from a low compared to a high socioeconomic background. Moreover, in Study 2, teachers reported to provide students from a low socioeconomic background with less autonomy support and more structure compared to students from a high socioeconomic background. However, these differences in autonomy support and structure seemed to be related to other student characteristics, namely students’ gender, and teachers’ perceptions of students’ academic ability and classroom behavior. Furthermore, we revealed that teachers differentiated their need support more strongly when they had more biased attitudes toward low socioeconomic backgrounds.

The aim of this work was to study the effect of hypoxic stress on the physical growth of prepubertal Bolivian boys (10-11.5 years of age) of the same socioeconomic and nutritional conditions. The subjects consisted of 143 boys living in La Paz (altitude 3600 m, n = 67) and Santa Cruz de la Sierra (altitude 420 m, n = 76). Among the boys studied at high altitude, 23 were from a high socioeconomic background (HA1) and 44 from a low socioeconomic background (HA2). The group studied at low altitude consisted of 47 boys from a high socioeconomic background (LA1) and 29 from a low socioeconomic background (LA2). A scientific evaluation of the nutritional status of the boys was realized from specific anthropometric characteristics (height, body weight, upper arm muscle circumference, body fat mass and body mass index) and haematological (haematocrit, haemoglobin, serum iron, serum ferritin, red cell protoporphyrin, transferrin saturation) and biochemical (total serum protein, albumin and prealbumin) parameters. At high as at low altitudes, the biometric characteristics of boys from a low socioeconomic background were significantly lower than those of boys from a high socioeconomic background. The physical growth of HA2 and LA2 boys was delayed by approximately 2 years. All the boys had biochemical and haematological parameters within the normal range. Boys from a low socioeconomic background were considered as marginally undernourished and those from a high socioeconomic background as well-nourished. Within the same socioeconomic class there was no nutritional difference between highland and lowland boys. Similarly, and this is the most important feature of this study, there was no difference for the overall biometric characteristics between highland and lowland boys of the same socioeconomic and nutritional status. Therefore, it appears that when socioeconomic and nutritional conditions are taken into account, there is no effect of hypoxic stress on the physical growth of prepubertal Andean highland boys.

Sports participation and elite sporting success are fundamental to Australian culture and a prominent source of national pride. As sport is a major part of day-to-day living in Australia, it is not surprising that many young people aspire to careers as sportspersons. While such aspirations are often dismissed as fanciful and unattainable, the reality is that a higher proportion of Australians participate in the workforce as sportspeople than in careers as mining engineers, surgeons, optometrists or barristers. Indeed, little is known about aspirations for sports careers. Drawing on data from a 4-year longitudinal study involving 6492 Australian school students in Years 3–12, we sought to understand the extent to which young Australians aspire to a career as a sportsperson and the extent to which these aspirations are evenly distributed across demographic categories. Our findings suggest that not only was sportsperson the most popular occupational category, but this interest was heavily shaped by social and cultural markers of difference. Logistic regression analysis revealed that significant predictors of interest in a career as a sportsperson were being male, Indigenous, from high socioeconomic background, and attending advantaged schools. Far from sport’s reputation as the great equalizer, accessible to all, these results demonstrate that aspirations for a career as a sportsperson largely reflect the status quo of sports participation in Australian society and wider inequalities. Given the growing number of careers in professional sports and the value sport holds in the lives of Australians, we argue that aspirations for careers in sport should be treated seriously, and that disrupting current patterns in who aspires to careers as sportspeople is vital. It will require access for a more diverse range of students to the kinds of social resources and networks that nurture their capacity to aspire.

The declining influence of family background on educational attainment in Australia: The role of measured and unmeasured influences

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of altitude and socioeconomic status on the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) of prepubertal Bolivian boys. The subjects were 143 prepubertal boys (10 to 11.5 years old) living in La Paz (altitude 3600 m, n = 67) and Santa Cruz de la Sierra (altitude 420m, n = 76). At high altitude, 23 boys were from a high socioeconomic status (HAHSES) and 44 from a low socioeconomic background (HALSES). At low altitude, 29 boys were from a high socioeconomic level (LAHSES) and 47 from a low socioeconomic background (LALSES). Anthropometric characteristics were determined in order to assess the physical growth of the boys. The VO2max was determined from a progressive maximal exercise (direct method). The subjects performed this test using the same cycle ergometer at both high and low altitudes. For the overall anthropometric parameters, there was no significant difference between highland and lowland boys of the same socioeconomic status. However, regardless of altitude, boys from a low socioeconomic background were 2 years behind those from a high socioeconomic background. There was no significant difference for VO2max between boys from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds at HA (HAHSES: 37.2 +/- 5.6; HALSES: 38.9 +/- 6.4 ml.min-1.kg-1 body weight) and at LA (LAHSES: 42.6 +/- 5.4; LALSES: 43.1 +/- 4.9 ml.min-1.kg-1 body weight). The VO2max of highland boys was, on average, 11% lower than that of lowland boys. It appears, therefore, that a difference in socioeconomic status has no effect on the VO2max (ml.min-1.kg-1) of prepubertal children at low altitude as well as the altitude of 3600m.

Instructional quality and achievement inequality: How effective is teaching in closing the social achievement gap?

BackgroundTo inform the development of an online tool to be potentially used in shared decision-making about breast cancer screening, French women were questioned about participation in breast cancer screening, the health professional’s role, and their perceptions of the proposed tool.MethodsWe organised focus group discussions with 55 French women. Two different strategies were used to recruit women from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds. We applied both inductive and deductive approaches to conduct a thematic analysis of the discussions. We analysed the responses by using the main determinants from different health behaviour models and compared the two groups.ResultsIndependently of socioeconomic status, the most important determinant for a woman’s participation in breast cancer screening was the perceived severity of breast cancer and the perceived benefits of its early detection by screening. Cues to action reported by both groups were invitation letters; recommendations by health professionals, or group/community activities and public events were reported by women from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds, respectively. Among other positive determinants, women from high socioeconomic backgrounds reported making informed decisions and receiving peer support whereas women from low socioeconomic backgrounds reported community empowerment through group/community events. Fear of cancer was reported as a barrier in both groups. Among other barriers, language issues were reported only by women from low socioeconomic backgrounds; women from high socioeconomic backgrounds reported breast cancer screening-related risks other than overdiagnosis and/or overtreatment. Barriers to accessing the online tool to be developed were mainly reported by women from high socioeconomic backgrounds.ConclusionLimitations in implementing shared decision-making for women from low socioeconomic backgrounds were highlighted. An online tool that is suitable for all women, regardless of socioeconomic status, would provide “on-demand” reliable and tailored information about breast cancer screening and improve access to health professionals and social exchanges.

Changes in the Frequency of Family Meals From 1999 to 2010 in the Homes of Adolescents: Trends by Sociodemographic Characteristics

Within the EU-27, Italy is one of the countries with the highest levels of inequality and intergenerational transmission of disadvantage. This paper aims to verify the effect that different conditions of vulnerability, such as a low socio-economic family background (SEB) and a prolonged period in the school-work transition, have on individuals’ future careers. The analysis is based on a dataset obtained by matching the EU-SILC data with the administrative archives of the National Institute of Social Security. We measured the determinants of the duration of the waiting time to the first job (STWT). The Cox survival function shows that growing up in a disadvantaged family context strongly increases the probability of longer STWT. We also explore the effects of this duration, combined with the family socio-economic background, on the subsequent ten years of job career. A longer STWT increases the probability of experiencing longer spells of unemployment or inactivity, leading to more precarious working conditions. The relationship is complex and non-linear, with a diminishing negative impact on career stability as STWT duration increases, especially for individuals with high SEB.

Considering Prenatal Alcohol Exposure in a Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Framework.

Risk-adjustment algorithms typically incorporate demographic and clinical variables to equalize compensation to insurers for enrollees who vary in expected cost, but including information about enrollees' socioeconomic background is controversial. We studied 1 182 847 continuously insured 0 to 19-year-olds using 2008-2012 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and American Community Survey data. We characterized enrollees' socioeconomic background using the validated area-based socioeconomic measure and calculated annual plan payments using paid claims. We evaluated the relationship between annual plan payments and geocoded socioeconomic background using generalized estimating equations (γ distribution and log link). We expressed outcomes as the percentage difference in spending and utilization between enrollees with high and low socioeconomic backgrounds. Geocoded socioeconomic background had a significant, positive association with annual plan payments after applying standard adjusters. Every 1 SD increase in socioeconomic background was associated with a 7.8% (95% confidence interval, 7.2% to 8.3%; P < .001) increase in spending. High socioeconomic background enrollees used higher-priced outpatient and pharmacy services more frequently than their counterparts from low socioeconomic backgrounds (eg, 25% more outpatient encounters annually; 8% higher price per encounter; P < .001), which outweighed greater emergency department spending among low socioeconomic background enrollees. Higher socioeconomic background is associated with greater levels of pediatric health care spending in commercially insured children. Including socioeconomic information in risk-adjustment algorithms may address concerns about adverse selection from an economic perspective, but it would direct funds away from those caring for children and adolescents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who are at greater risk of poor health.

Educational outcomes are strongly associated with family background, with children from higher socio-economic backgrounds being more likely to be academically successful than those from lower socio-economic backgrounds (Breen and Jonsson, 2005; OECD, 2012; Pfeffer, 2008). However, since the Second World War, in the majority of developed states, attention has been focused on increasing educational opportunities between different socio-economic groups; girls and boys; those from different migrant, ethnic or racial groups; and those with and without special educational needs.

The Career Interests and Aspirations of Gay Men: How Sex-Role Orientation Is Related

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background:&lt;/strong&gt; The shift in recent years towards the lifespan concept of career development, which views career behaviour as occurring in stages beginning in childhood and continuing throughout life, has meant that it has become increasingly important to assist learners in fulfilling their career goals. There is, however, a scarcity of research on the career aspirations of primary school learners, especially those from low socio-economic backgrounds.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Aim:&lt;/strong&gt; This article describes research conducted on the career aspirations of Grade 7 learners at a community school.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Setting:&lt;/strong&gt; The study is set within an interpretivist paradigm and utilises a generic qualitative research design.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods:&lt;/strong&gt; The study involved a purposefully selected group of Grade 7 learners from a local community school. As part of the study, each learner completed a collage and sociogram, and took part in a group interview.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results:&lt;/strong&gt; Themes that emerged from the data analysis were: career aspirations that seek to fulfil hopes and dreams, the role of the family in shaping career aspirations and counting the ‘cost’ of career aspirations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/strong&gt; The results of the study indicated that there is a need to explore learners’ career aspirations from an early age in order to expose them to various career choices in the constantly changing world of work.&lt;/p&gt;

The number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia increased in 2017 from 1.67% to 3.10% from 225 million Indonesians. But the number is still less than the number of our neighboring entrepreneurs, Malaysia has 6% entrepreneurs, Singapore 7% and Thailand 5%. Increasing the number of entrepreneurs shows the increasing economic growth of a country, therefore the government made various efforts encourages the growth of the number of entrepreneurs in Indonesia, through education in this case the ministry of education provides an appeal for entrepreneurship to be included as part of the curriculum, both at the high school and university level. Entrepreneurship education giving the students experiances of various technical and skills to become more confident as an entrepreneurs. Beside of education, motivation, personality and family background also determine entrepreneurial intention. The aims of this research is to find out the entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial motivation, entrepreneurial personality and family background influence on entrepreneurial intention. This study uses a sample of 326 business students of President University. The data collection using google docs that is spreaded via whatshapp, line and email. The result of the study were processed using SPSS version 22. The conclusion show that independent variables (entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial motivation, entrepreneurial personality and family background) influence on entrepreneurial intention with affected 54.4% and the rest by the others factors.