Academic Majors Research Articles

Investigating stratification within higher education through examining the status of students in different academic majors in terms of cultural, social and economic capital

This study was carried out in order to explore the status of stratification within higher education through measuring cultural, economic and social capital of students in major academic disciplines across universities in Urmia, Northwestern Iran. The findings indicate that there are stratification structures in the presence of students in humanities, engineering, agriculture, science, medicine and its related fields, there is also significant differences between the cultural and economic capital of students in these majors, whereas there is no significant difference among them in terms of social capital. Moreover, the results suggest stratification also exists in terms of the students’ place of study (State, Azad, Payamenoor, Medical Sciences Universities, Non-profit), the type of university (public / private) and type of study (tuition-based / tuition-free). As a result, students admitted to Islamic Azad, Payam-e-Noor and Non-profit Universities enjoy a higher cultural and economic capital in comparison with State University students. These students after graduating and in order to enter work market, act better than lower class students in competitive field of employment and earn more success. As such, the higher educational system reinforces the class structure of society and it can be concluded that the type of university has played an important role in stratification. Key words: Stratification, higher education, cultural capital, economic capital, social capital, major academic disciplines, university.

Understanding Stem Majors’ Intent To Study Abroad

According to the Institute for International Education (IIE, 2013a), study abroad participation in the United States had almost doubled over the past decade, but still only a small fraction of U.S. college students study abroad. Students in certain academic majors, particularly those majoring in STEM fields, often face specific barriers to studying abroad (Desoff, 2006; IIE, 2014b, Wainwright et al., 2009). This study sought to unpack the role of college environments in promoting or inhibiting study abroad participation by examining the interplay of academic major, gender, and class standing as predictors of student’s intent to study abroad.

Study of Innovation in Learning Styles of Students in Different Secondary School Branches

Learning, creativity, and innovation are considered as the axis of the activities of all educational and entrepreneurbased institutions. Learning style of students as one of the factors effective in learning and academic progress has always been taken into consideration. By identifying the learning style and rate of creativity of individuals, each style can be a more appropriate teaching method adopted by teachers and also a more correct method of learning by learners. Accordingly, the main goal of the present article is to identify the differences of learning styles of individuals in different academic majors and the rate of the creativity of individuals in each learning style. The present methodology employed in this research is of descriptive-correlational research design. The statistical population consists of all the last-year students at the high school level in the city of Ghaen. The statistical sample consisted of 115 girls and 117 boys selected by classified sampling. Kolb’s learning style inventory and Abedi creativity were used to collect the required data. These two tools are standardized, therefore their validity is verified. On the other hand, the reliability of the Kolb’s inventory and that of Abedi’s creativity were 0.74 and 79.5, respectively. To analyze the data obtained by Chi-square tests, one-way analysis of variance, Pierson covariance and stepwise regression were employed. The results show that there is a meaningful difference between the creativity of the students with diverging and assimilator learning styles. Learning styles of students of different branches are also different. Creativity of the students of Mathematics is more than that of the Humanities and there is also a meaningful negative relation between concrete experiential learning methods and creativity (r=0.702 and p<0.01).

Women’s Rights and Call to Shifting Paradigms from Under Representation into Empowerment: The Case of Lebanon

Women’s Rights and Call to Shifting Paradigms from Under Representation into Empowerment: The Case of Lebanon Hassan Diab, Ghada Awada Abstract The study is set to investigate women empowerment status in Lebanon with a focus on education, career, and positions in management, public sector and civil society as well as women’s impact and potentials that would enable them to be good fits for leadership positions. Another purpose of the study is to elicit suggestions that would promote the Lebanese women's rights and ensure equity in terms of employment and participation in the political arena and civil society. The article reports the findings of a plethora of related literature as well as the descriptive statistical analysis of responses to questionnaire consisting of predefined questions used to collect the data reflecting the attitudes and perceptions of 331 educated Lebanese respondents of different academic majors and professions. Reflection logs were qualitatively analyzed to report the vision of changes suggested by the respondents. The findings of the study underscored the necessity for legislations and education that would conform with the women empowerment instruments and conventions and would render a significant change in the culture, values and mentalities of the Lebanese society which would ensure the full investment of both, women’s and men’s, potentials Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/ijgws.v4n1a4

Entrepreneurship Is a General Education Course! The Why, How and Transferability of the Concept

We describe the development and implementation of an innovative university undergraduate course entitled Entrepreneurship and Innovation (E&I). Our purpose is to explain and justify how the new E&I course adds a fresh dimension to undergraduate general education by emphasizing student integrative learning of opportunity recognition and creativity knowledge and skills within a classroom of students from many academic disciplines and majors. We describe the lengthy and ultimately successful university approval process that we traversed to create the first entrepreneurship course in the United States to be granted university general education (usually consisting of liberal arts and sciences courses) degree graduation requirement status. The E&I course was included as an approved general education social and behavioral science course in 2004. We view the designation of an introductory entrepreneurship course as a general education course as a significant milestone for college and university entrepreneurship education. The core general education curricula of most U.S. colleges and universities have been limited to conventional liberal arts courses and thus exclude professional school courses. We propose that the core concepts of entrepreneurial thinking are consistent with the purpose of university general education and therefore belong in the core undergraduate curriculum model. Our proposals in this article are supported by recent studies undertaken by the American Association of University Professors, the Association of American Colleges and Universities and The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. These studies address significant gaps in U.S. undergraduate general education and liberal arts core curriculum. Traditional general education courses typically are designed as introductory courses for liberal arts and sciences majors and as such are understandably less likely to assimilate ideas across disciplines and integrate multidisciplinary learning. Our E&I course, by contrast, is inherently multidisciplinary and designed to present and integrate ideas and concepts from divergent academic disciplines and sources as its subject focus. The E&I course adds new capacity to university general education by emphasizing opportunity recognition, creativity knowledge and skills, and integrative learning and thus fills an educational gap defined by educational leaders who seek to reinvigorate general and liberal education and thereby prepare university students for leadership in the 21st Century. We conclude the article with recommendations suggesting faculty at other colleges and universities can utilize our concepts and experience to create their own variation of an E&I course to improve their undergraduate curriculum initiatives.

Toward a Coalition in Support of the Awareness and Identity of New Academic Workers in Mexican Higher Education

The neoliberal policies implemented since the 1980s in Mexico and the world have deteriorated conditions of academic work measures imposing labor flexibility and precariousness for most teachers in higher education. This New Academic Majority needs a political revival. The reorganization of this sector becomes an urgent task for academics and their unions.

Attitudes Toward Seeking Help Among College Students Enrolled in Helping Profession Courses: A Comparative Study Between Clinical Mental Health Counselors, Social Workers, and Psychologists

This study used the Inventory of Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services to measure and compare college students’ attitudes toward seeking mental health services from professional clinical mental health counselors, social workers, psychologists, and mental health providers with a neutral identity. The participants’ (n = 131) attitudes toward seeking mental health services did not vary statistically among any of these four groups, even when participants’ academic majors and past experience with mental health services were covaried.

Professional Training and Support of Student-Teachers at Schools: A View from Britain and Russia

The paper investigated urgent problems of modern educated society, which puts great expectations on school teachers - powerful formal guides of a new generation. Therefore it places a great emphasis on the proper training and support of student-teachers so that to determine their successful introduction into a challenging profession of a teacher. Demonstrating a considerable success in this field, Great Britain and Russia, however, face a number of challenges multiplied by the necessity to achieve a long-term goal of entering the educational The aim of the research is to collect and analyze the most successful practices operated in the Russian and British teacher-training academic majors to enhance the future teacher’s training and support worldwide. To meet the goals of the research the author mostly applied the descriptive method for observation and processing the investigated material as well as collecting, analyzing and synthesizing the information on teacher-training education in Great Britain and Russia. The analytical material is supported with the illustrations from the author’s experience of a practice school teacher and a professor at Teacher-Training University for more than 20 years. This allowed the author to summarize the general state of the system of training student-teachers in Great Britain and Russia; to determine the modern society’ requirements for student-teacher training challenging the higher educational institutions of Great Britain and Russia; to thoroughly analyze exemplary practices to meet these challenges; to bridge the British and Russian systems of training student-teachers at schools to fast-track Russia’s joining the European educational space. Equally appealing to general public the paper is of special interest for state and independent higher educational institutions and schools, organizations and individuals involved in training and supporting the student-teachers worldwide.

International Relations As A Field Of Study In The Canadian System Of Higher Education

AbstractThe research presents an attempt to investigate the current state of international relations as a field of study in the context of higher education system in Canada. It contains a general overview of the field of study, focusing predominantly on the role and function of the given academic discipline. The scientific investigation covers the issue of short historiographic review of the development of international relations as a separate academic discipline and an independent field of study at the universities of Canada since it provides better understanding of the international relations evolution as a discipline in Canadian system of higher education. It gives information on the origins of international relations discipline in Canada and first higher education establishments, which provided professional training in the international relations field. The article reviews the official normative documents in the sphere of higher education in Canada, such as Major Field of Study Classification and Classification of Instructional Programs, being theoretical basis of our analysis. The research results can be used to outline the place of international relations major among the diversity of functioning academic majors in Canada. The research also turns to the profound analysis of the information about the offered instructional programs, dedicated to professional training of international relations specialists at the universities of Canada.

Personality, academic majors and performance: Revealing complex patterns

Personality–performance research typically uses samples of psychology students without questioning their representativeness. The present article reports two studies challenging this practice. Study 1: group differences in the Big Five personality traits were explored between students (N=1067) in different academic majors (medicine, psychology, law, economics, political science, science, and arts/humanities), who were tested immediately after university enrolment. Study 2: six and a half years later the students’ academic records were obtained, and predictive validity of the Big Five personality traits and their subordinate facets was examined in the various academic majors in relation to Grade Point Average (GPA). Significant group differences in all Big Five personality traits were found between students in different academic majors. Also, variability in predictive validity of the Big Five personality traits and facets was found between different academic majors; R2 varied from .05 to .15 for the Big Five personality traits and from .16 to .57 for the Big Five facets. Complex patterns emerged; several Conscientiousness and Openness facets were good predictors of GPA in some majors, but not in others. The findings call for new directions in personality–performance research with broader sampling strategies and exploration of predictive validity of the Big Five facets.

Supporting the Academic Majority: Policies and Practices Related to Part-Time Faculty's Job Satisfaction

The academic workforce in higher education has shifted in the last several decades from consisting of mostly full-time, tenure-track faculty to one comprised predominantly of contingent, non-tenure-track faculty. This substantial shift toward part-time academic labor has not corresponded with institutions implementing more supportive policies and practices targeted toward part-time faculty. This study examines the associations between part-time faculty satisfaction and a set of items that measure campus resources provided to part-timers, their perceptions of the campus climate, and measures of the institutional context. Findings point to opportunities for campuses and departments to improve parttime faculty's satisfaction through providing access to office space and developing a sense of respect among part-time and full-time faculty.

Cross-sectional survey on public health informatics workforce in China: issues, developments and the future

ObjectiveTo explore the current situation and issues related to the development of the public health informatics (PHI) workforce in provincial and prefectural centers for disease control and prevention (CDCs) in China, and to describe the corresponding strategies to address these issues for the future. Study designNational cross-sectional study. MethodsOne thousand two hundred and eighty-one respondents were selected at random from provincial and prefectural CDCs. The survey used a self-administered, structured questionnaire with an online data collection tool that integrated data quality control and user management. The questionnaire was divided into seven main categories. Score percentage of satisfaction and proportion in each part were calculated. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data, stratifying by country region, CDC level, job role and educational level. ResultsOne hundred and sixty staff from provincial CDCs and 1121 staff from prefectural CDCs were selected. Only 7.4% (33/445) of prefectural CDCs were not involved in this survey, due to lack of PHI practitioners. CDC staff in the eastern region were predominantly aged 30–39 years (39.5%), which was much younger compared with the other regions (P = 0.0012). Only 34 respondents (2.7%) had academic majors in both health and information technology. More staff had Master's degrees and a higher level of education (18.7%) in the eastern region compared with the other regions (P < 0.0001). Staff in the eastern region in high-level positions and with a higher level of education were more knowledgeable about PHI strategy. Prefectural CDC staff were more satisfied with their work and training than provincial CDC staff. In the eastern region, 34.9% of staff were hired through competitive recruitment, and 57.8% of staff had received a job description with detailed information about their responsibilities, which was higher than in the other regions. Staff in the western region were more likely to leave if a better job became available (37.7%) compared with staff in the other regions (P = 0.0116). ConclusionThis study found regional disparities in PHI workforce development, possibly related to disparities in overall regional development. Findings showed a severe shortage of staff with a background in PHI, and occupational development paths were clearly lacking. Based on this study of current workforce issues, a comprehensive strategy for PHI workforce development in China has been described.

Dietary Supplement Use Among the Undergraduate College Population

Over the past decade, the prevalence of dietary supplement use in the United States has increased among the general adult population.PurposeTo determine the relationship among dietary supplement use, academic major, health information source, and motivation for use in the undergraduate college population.MethodsUndergraduates at Case Western Reserve University were invited to participate in this study. A survey was administered through REDcap, a secure web‐based database, to interested participants. The survey included questions on (i) gender, (ii) intended academic major, (iii) dietary supplement use, (iv) rational for use, and (v) sources of information on dietary supplements.ResultsIn total, 238 undergraduates completed the survey with 71% reporting dietary supplement use. Nutrition majors and pre‐health majors were as likely to use dietary supplements as other academic majors (odds ratio=1.11, 95% CI for odd ratio= 0.63‐ 1.98). Main motivations for use were to improve or maintain overall health (88%), to boost immunity (50%), and for a vitamin/mineral deficiency (32%). The top three sources used to obtain information on dietary supplements were the Internet (57%), family or friends (49%), and physicians (38%).ConclusionsDietary supplement use is high in the undergraduate student population. Most students reported using unreliable resources to obtain information on dietary supplements, and thus may be potentially making poor health choices. In addition, many health majors are planning for careers in the medical profession. Therefore, critical assessment of reliable health information should be reinforced in their academic curriculums, so that they can provide evidence‐based advice to their future patients.

Scuba Diving and Kinesiology: Development of an Academic Program

The use of scuba diving as a recreational activity within traditional university instructional programs has been well established. Departments focusing on kinesiology, physical education, or exercise science have often provided scuba diving lessons as part of their activity-based course offerings. However, few departments have developed an academic scuba diving minor designed to meet the professional needs of students interested in both a scuba-based career and a traditional kinesiology profession. The Department of Kinesiology at Western Illinois University has developed and implemented an academic minor in scuba diving designed to provide unique academic and professional preparation for students interested in diving as a professional career. Students from a variety of academic majors, including kinesiology, are benefitting from courses designed to prepare students scientifically, technically, and academically for future employment in recreational, law-enforcement, and scientific careers utilizing scuba diving skills and techniques. The purpose of this article is to highlight the development and usefulness of this unique program and discuss its significance to an academic department in kinesiology and to the overall professional field.

Student readiness to start their own business

Micro firms are more important in Poland than in other European Union (EU) member states because Polish micro firms represent a larger share of the total number of Polish firms and contribute more to total turnover and gross value added than EU micro firms. Polish students exhibit substantial interest in starting their own businesses. This paper presents the results of a study examining the entrepreneurial attitudes of 458 students. The goal of the study was to identify relationships between academic majors and academic programme and the extent to which students were ready to start their own business. The analysis revealed that although the choice of academic major did not influence student readiness to start a business, there was an association between academic programme and student readiness to start their own business. Respondent gender influenced the extent to which students were prepared to start their own business due to gender differences in access to business start-up financing.

The use of a hybrid fuzzy-Delphi-AHP approach to develop educational system's strategies in the university students’ application

Without doubt one of the most significant ways to achieve political and economic power in any society is universities. One of significant challenges which decision makers in universities are faced with is admissions policy. Undoubtedly there are some programs with more demand and more students are applying for them; however, some restrictions have limited capacity. On the other hand, there are majors in universities which have empty seats because of low applicants and impose enormous costs on universities. The Aim of this research is firstly to recognize the elements which effect on admission and application of students by using Delphi fuzzy approach and secondly to prioritize them based on Fuzzy AHP. The results show that orientation to have a university certificate, existing academic majors, society views about the majors are the most important factors of students’ application. This hierarchy model can help strategists to make different plans and strategies for higher education in Iranian Universities.

The Influence of Institutional Experiences on the Development of Creative Thinking in Arts Alumn

Previous research has suggested that several different aspects of one’s environment can impact creativity. Using data from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP), this study explored whether satisfaction with aspects of the institutional experience contributed to the perceived development of creative thinking in arts alumni, and whether there are differences in these patterns between undergraduate and graduate alumni across a variety of academic majors. The results of several regression analyses indicated a greater number of significant predictors for creative thinking in undergraduate alumni when compared to graduate alumni. The two strongest, most consistent predictors across all models were satisfaction with their freedom and encouragement to take risks and instructors in classrooms, labs, and studios. Differences across majors are also discussed.

Supporting the Academic Majority: Policies and Practices Related to Part-Time Faculty’s Job Satisfaction

The academic workforce in higher education has shifted in the last several decades from consisting of mostly full-time, tenure-track faculty to one comprised predominantly of contingent, non-tenure-track faculty. This substantial shift toward part-time academic labor has not corresponded with institutions implementing more supportive policies and practices targeted toward part-time faculty. This study examines the associations between part-time faculty satisfaction and a set of items that measure campus resources provided to part-timers, their perceptions of the campus climate, and measures of the institutional context. Findings point to opportunities for campuses and departments to improve part-time faculty’s satisfaction through providing access to office space and developing a sense of respect among part-time and full-time faculty.

Culturally Insensitive Athletic Mascots: Do Future Leaders in Sport Care

Since the passage of the 1964 US Civil Rights Act, insensitive cultural imagery has received ever-increasing scrutiny and opposition, thus many US universities have reconsidered their usage of culturally insensitive athletic mascots (CIAM). A primary goal of this article was to present information on the adoption, evolution, opposition, and, in most cases, transition away from CIAM. Regarding the historic usage and evolution of specific CIAM’s, this article will provide a detailed examination of Chief Illiniwek (University of Illinois), Colonel Reb (University of Mississippi), and The Fighting Souix (University of North Dakota). Another goal was to explore the opinions of traditional-age college students in academic majors related to sport leadership. In order to explore this topic, a survey (N = 142) was conducted regarding sport science student reactions to graphic images of CIAM. This survey was conducted to examine the potential effect of Color Blind Racial Ideology (CBRI) regarding CIAM. These findings provide support to the theory that future sport leaders also tend to exhibit CBRI related to school-based athletic mascots where dominant ethnic group perspectives have been the traditional viewpoint.

Refusal strategies of Iranian university English as a foreign language and non-English learners in native language: a comparative study

This study is an attempt to examine the possible effect that exposure to English has had on the use of refusal strategies in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners compared with those of non-English learners when refusing in their native language, Persian. The sample included 12 EFL learners and 12 learners of other academic majors including electronics, psychology, management, etc., who responded to a Persian Discourse Completion Task (DCT), adopted from Allami and Naeimi (2011), who has engaged in the speech act of refusal. The responses were coded according to the classification of refusal strategies as outlined by Beebe, Tahakashi and Uliss-Weltz (1990). The results indicated that non-English learners used the refusal strategies considerably more frequently than the EFL learners did, while the EFL learners utilized more adjuncts to refusals than the non-English learners did. However, the differences were not statistically significant. Furthermore, the first four most frequently used refusal strategies by both EFL and non-English groups were found to be “Non-performative statement” (in the case of direct strategies and in the form of “I can’t”), “Statement of regret”, “Excuse, reason or explanation” and “Attempt to dissuade interlocutor” (in the case of indirect strategies), and the most frequently used adjuncts to refusal strategies by both EFL and non-English groups were “Statement of positive opinions, feelings or agreement” and “Gratitude/Appreciation”. Furthermore, gender differences were not statistically significant either. The results can be evidence that the effect of the second language (L2) on the native language (L1) might not be at work in the pragmatic aspects of language learning. (DIPF/Orig.)