Factors affecting occupational advice for speakers who do and do not stutter

Factors affecting perceptions of occupational suitability were examined for speakers who stutter and speakers who do not stutter. In Experiment 1, 58 adults who do not stutter heard one of two audio recordings (less severe stuttering, more severe stuttering) of a speaker who stuttered. Participants rated the speaker's communicative functioning, personal attributes, and suitability for 32 occupations, along with perceptions of the occupations' speaking demands and educational requirements. Perceived speaking demand strongly affected occupational suitability ratings at both levels of stuttering severity. In Experiment 2, 58 additional adults who do not stutter heard a recording of another adult in one of two conditions (fluent speech, pseudo-stuttering), and provided the same ratings as in Experiment 1. In the pseudo-stuttering condition, participants' perceptions of occupational speaking demand again had a strong effect on occupational suitability ratings. In the fluent condition, suitability ratings were affected primarily by perceived educational demand; perceived speaking demand was of secondary importance. Across all participants in Experiment 2, occupational suitability ratings were associated with ratings of the speaker's personal attributes and communicative functioning. In both experiments, speakers who stuttered received lower suitability ratings for high speaking demand occupations than for low speaking demand occupations. Ratings for many high speaking occupations, however, fell just below the midpoint of the occupational suitability scale, suggesting that participants viewed these occupations as less appropriate, but not necessarily inappropriate, for people who stutter. Overall, the findings support the hypothesis that people who stutter may face occupational stereotyping and/or role entrapment in work settings. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: At the end of this activity the reader will be able to (a) summarize main findings on research related to the work-related experiences of people who stutter, (b) describe factors that affect perceptions of which occupations are best suited for speakers who stutter and speakers who do not stutter, and (c) discuss how findings from the present study relate to previous findings on occupational advice for people who stutter.     

Speech pathology student clinician attitudes and beliefs towards people who stutter: A mixed-method pilot study

PurposeStuttering is a disorder of fluency that extends beyond its physical nature and has social, emotional and vocational impacts. Research shows that individuals often exhibit negative attitudes towards people who stutter; however, there is limited research on the attitudes and beliefs of speech pathology students towards people who stutter in Australia. Existing research is predominantly quantitative; whereas this mixed-method study placed an emphasis on the qualitative component. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes and beliefs of final year Australian speech pathology students towards people who stutter.MethodsThis mixed-method study applied the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes – Stuttering (POSHA-S) and semi-structured interviews to gather data from final year speech pathology students from a major university in Australia.Principal resultsThe overall qualitative findings identified that final year Australian speech pathology students exhibit positive attitudes towards people who stutter. The results also illustrated the role of education in influencing attitudes of students as well as increasing their confidence to work with people who stutter.Major conclusionThis research revealed that Australian final year speech pathology students exhibit positive attitudes towards people who stutter. They displayed an understanding that people who stutter may have acquired traits such as shyness as a response to their personal situation and environment, rather than those traits being endemic to them. Results also suggested that education can play a role in creating confident student clinicians in their transition to practice, and positively influence their attitudes and beliefs.     

'I'd hate to be just a housewife': Career aspirations of British Muslim girls

The career hopes of, and the career guidance provided to, a group of adolescent Muslim girls are analysed. In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 British Asian Muslim girls in the final year of compulsory schooling at three schools, with their parents and with 18 of their teachers. The findings indicate British Muslims' ardent desire for upward social mobility through the routes of education and careers, point to the role of negotiation and persuasion in career choices, and caution against stereotyping ethnic-minority groups.     

Trait perspective-taking and need for cognition in the formation of stereotypes about people who stutter

People who stutter (PWS) suffer from stereotypes portraying them as timid and anxious, which may affect their relationships and careers. One of the mechanisms for this stereotyping is the anchoring and adjustment heuristic, whereby individuals make judgements about PWS by using previous experiences for the initial judgement and then adjust accordingly. In the current study (n = 309) we replicate previous findings that individuals stereotype PWS by anchoring to experiences with episodic stuttering and adjusting toward typical non-stuttering individuals, although insufficiently. We extend this finding by testing whether trait perspective-taking and need for cognition moderate this relationship. The results show that trait perspective-taking decreases stereotyping of non-PWS, while having no effect on PWS stereotyping. However, need for cognition exhibited no consistent moderating effect on stereotyping.     

MATHEMATICS ANXIETY AND SCIENCE CAREERS AMONG ABLE COLLEGE WOMEN

Abstract —Does mathematics anxiety deflect able students from pursuing scientific careers? We obtained the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores of 1,366 students entering Barnard College and also questioned them about their career interests and their feelings about mathematics learning At every level of mathematical skill, math anxiety correlated negatively with interest in scientific careers Contrariwise, quantitative SAT score was unrelated lo career interests, within relatively homogeneous categories of math anxiety or confidence Students were also asked directly whether the desire to avoid math affected their career choices The responses suggested a mediating role for math anxiety or confidence in career choice.     

The Experiences of Black Females in Traditional and Nontraditional Professions

This study is an investigation of differences in the backgrounds, attitudes, and career-related expectations of black college females pursuing traditional (e.g. teaching, social work, and nursing) and nontraditional (e.g. sciences, engineering, pre-law, business) careers for women. The subjects were 147 black female undergraduates attending a large urban university in the midwest who completed a questionnaire. The results showed that mothers of nontraditionals were likely to be better educated than mothers of traditionals. Also, the mothers of nontraditionals were more likely to have worked in nontraditional fields themselves. Nontraditionals were more Likely to have had an early work experience, were more confident in their own ability to complete nontraditional educational programs, and had less traditional views about appropriate roles for women than traditionals. Hoowever, nontraditionals were less confident than traditionals that they and other women could actually achieve the careers they themselves were pursuing. Finally, nontraditionals did not think they were any less likely than traditionals to marry because of their career choices. However, nontraditionals did expect that they would have fewer female but more male friends because of their careers.     

The accuracy with which adults who do not stutter predict stuttering-related communication attitudes

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which adults who do not stutter can predict communication-related attitudes of adults who do stutter. 40 participants (mean age of 22.5 years) evaluated speech samples from an adult with mild stuttering and an adult with severe stuttering via audio-only (n = 20) or audio-visual (n = 20) modes to predict how the adults had responded on the S24 scale of communication attitudes. Participants correctly predicted which speaker had the more favorable S24 score, and the predicted scores were significantly different between the severity conditions. Across the four subgroups, predicted S24 scores differed from actual scores by 4–9 points. Predicted values were greater than the actual values for 3 of 4 subgroups, but still relatively positive in relation to the S24 norm sample. Stimulus presentation mode interacted with stuttering severity to affect prediction accuracy. The participants predicted the speakers’ negative self-attributions more accurately than their positive self-attributions. Findings suggest that adults who do not stutter estimate the communication-related attitudes of specific adults who stutter in a manner that is generally accurate, though, in some conditions, somewhat less favorable than the speaker's actual ratings. At a group level, adults who do not stutter demonstrate the ability to discern minimal versus average levels of attitudinal impact for speakers who stutter. The participants’ complex prediction patterns are discussed in relation to stereotype accuracy and classic views of negative stereotyping.Educational objectives: The reader will be able to (a) summarize main findings on research related to listeners’ attitudes toward people who stutter, (b) describe the extent to which people who do not stutter can predict the communication attitudes of people who do stutter; and (c) discuss how findings from the present study relate to previous findings on stereotypes about people who stutter.     

Discriminant analysis in career studying "decision/indecision": the Career Factors Inventory (CFI) as a diagnostic measure

Literature has shown that, nowadays, a multidimensional approach to decision-making has become prioritized. The Careers Factor Inventory (CFI) is, in fact, a multidimensional measurement instrument for evaluating career indecision, which may be useful in the diagnosis of adaptation behaviors in terms of career decision versus indecision. This study emerges as a follow-up to a previous study which used the CFI on a sample of university students in which this measurement instrument was found to be capable of distinguishing Low decided vs. Highly decided groups and to evaluate the discriminatory capacity of the CFI scales. It is the aim, here, to further analyse the results obtained in such study with a view to grounding the importance of the use of this Inventory as an instrument for distinguishing people who present different decision levels in relation to their careers. In this study, 494 university students from a number of higher education establishments and courses are part of the afore mentioned Low decided and Highly decided groups. The collected data were analysed by means of Discrete Discriminant Analysis models and corroborate the discriminant power of the Inventory and its use as a diagnostic instrument in the psychological intervention of career counseling and development.     

The influence of workplace discrimination and vigilance on job satisfaction with people who stutter

Purpose The purpose of the present study is to examine the association between workplace discrimination, vigilance, and job satisfaction in people who stutter and compare this with people who do not stutter. Method Seventy-two people who stutter (PWS) and 92 people who do not stutter (PWNS) participated in an online survey. Participants completed a survey assessing 6 different areas: (a) background information, (b) job satisfaction, (c) everyday discrimination, and (d) heightened vigilance. Mediation analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable. Results There was a relationship between being a PWS and job satisfaction, discrimination, and vigilance. PWS were found to experience higher discrimination as well as be more vigilant. Discrimination and vigilance were found to mediate the relationship between stuttering and job satisfaction. Conclusion Results of this study indicate that the participants who stutter differ from PWNS in their job satisfaction, discrimination, and vigilance. Clinicians can prepare PWS with self-advocacy strategies, legal knowledge of what their rights are as an employee who identifies as a person who stutters with a disability, a legal understanding of workplace discrimination, and counseling on the impact of vigilance on workplace experiences.     

THE DISTINCTIVENESS EFFECT IN SOCIAL CATEGORIZATION:

Abstract— Three studies tested the hypothesis that people assume that the identities of other people are tied more closely to their distinctive than to their nondistinctive traits. In Studies 1 and 3, subjects predicted the preferences of a target person who was a member of both a statistically distinctive and a statistically nondistinctive category (e g, sky diver and tennis player). In Study 2, subjects judged the degree of interpersonal similarity between pairs of people sharing distinctive as opposed to nondistinctive category memberships. Consistent with the hypothesis, subjects linked targets with their more distinctive traits and assumed targets would be more similar to people who shared their distinctive traits than to people who shared their nondistinctive traits. The implications of this distinctiveness effect for an understanding of stereotyping are explored.     

Orientations and motivations: Are you a “people person,” a “thing person,” or both?

Previous theory and research suggests that individuals selectively orient primarily toward the social environment (people) or toward the physical environment (things). These orientations can be conceptualized as motivation-based complexes that influence personal preferences and interests, with consequences for important life choices. This paper examined differential orientation in two studies, one with university students and another with children. Person-thing Orientation showed sex differences and was related to occupational choices in both age groups. For university students person-thing interests were linked to academic majors, and retention within programs focused on things (e.g., science and engineering). Sex differences were greater for TO than PO, but not for students majoring in engineering. Sex differences in selective orientations to the social and physical environments were similar in children (3rd and 6th grade) and university students, suggesting processes may be underway early and may be consequential for sex differences in interests and career trajectories for STEM.     

A Study of Black and White College Women

In an examination of career aspirations, 101 black and 530 white college women were asked to indicate their occupational and educational plans, important considerations for career choices, and their attitudes toward combining the roles of career and family. Results indicated that women who planned careers in male-dominated occupations had higher career and educational aspirations than women who desired careers in femaledominated occupations. Black women who planned careers in male-dominated professions showed high levels of aspirations, planned more education than was necessary for the desired occupations, and perceived less conflict in combining the roles of career and family than their white counterparts. There were few differences between black and white women in their attitudes toward the traditional roles of men and women. Those choosing female-dominated careers, however, had more traditional attitudes regardless of race. Implications of these findings for the influence of occupational gender dominance on career aspirations are discussed.     

Background and career orientations of women with mathematical aptitude

A “person-thing” career motivation continuum was tested as a model for structuring this investigation of the personal characteristics and career influences of women in mathematics who entered teaching or nonteaching careers. Women mathematicians who chose to teach were hypothesized to be more person-oriented in career development (i.e., they would be more influenced in the development of career interest by people). In contrast, women who chose careers in mathematically oriented fields, until recently considered nontraditional for their sex (engineering, physical science, accounting, economics, computer science), were expected to be more attracted to the “ideas” or “things” of mathematics.This hypothesis was tested in its null form by comparing personality traits and career influences for two groups of university senior women. Each group was composed of 30 subjects who had elected at least 24 semester credit hours in mathematics. Subjects were randomly selected after individuals were first stratified into two groups, according to whether they chose teaching or nonteaching careers in math-related areas.Second order personality traits derived from subjects' responses to Cattell's 16 PF Questionnaire were employed to assess personality differences. A biographical questionnaire was utilized for collecting data relative to career-influence factors. Multivariate analysis of variance and chi square statistical models were employed for data analysis.The two groups differed significantly in overall personality profiles. This difference was related to the nonteaching group's having scored significantly higher (than did the teaching group) on both the creativity and independence personality factors. Related to career influence, the nonteaching women appeared to develop their interests in mathematics somewhat earlier than did their counterparts who chose to teach. Women teachers were more attracted to their careers because of the influence of people engaged in mathematically oriented work. More of the nonteaching women cited influences associated with mathematics, itself, such as books, demonstrations and independent studies, as paramount in their career decision-making. Also, men were seen as more influential in fostering their career development by the non-teaching group, while in contrast, the teachers chose women as more influential in the development of their interests in mathematics.These findings appear to support the “person-thing” hypothesis associated with the development of career interests for women in mathematics.     

Effects of stuttering severity and therapy involvement on attitudes towards people who stutter

The purpose of this study was to explore whether stuttering severity or therapy involvement had an effect on the attitudes that individuals who do not stutter reported towards people who stutter (PWS). Two hundred and sixty (260) university students participated in this study. Direct survey procedures consisting of a 25-item semantic differential scale were utilized. Comparisons of the effects of stuttering severity, level of therapy involvement, and the interaction of these variables were completed. Results suggested that both stuttering severity and therapy involvement had significant effects on participants' attitudes towards PWS. Findings of this study support past research studies that has found that individuals who stutter mildly are perceived more positively than those who are severe. Similarly, the data supported past research that has found that PWS that attend therapy are perceived more positively than those who do not attend therapy. Surprisingly, the interaction of these variables was not significant. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will be able to: (1) explain the possible effects of listeners' attitudes toward stuttering on the lives of PWS; (2) discuss how different factors might alter listeners' attitudes towards stuttering; (3) delineate how stuttering severity and involvement in therapy might impact listeners' attitudes towards PWS.     

Willingness to help as determined by the sex-role appropriateness of the help-seeker's career goals

College students were asked if they would be willing to serve as student contacts for high school students applying for admission to the university who wanted more information about student life. Students volunteered to spend more time helping a female applicant if she wanted to become a librarian than if she wanted to become an engineer, while they volunteered to spend more time helping a male applicant if he wanted to become an engineer than if he wanted to become a librarian. Results were the same when the dependent measure was the amount of time volunteered for interviews, for telephone conversations, and for letterwriting, indicating that the amount of personal contact required did not influence subjects' preference to help those whose career aspirations were sex-role appropriate more than those whose career goals were sex-role inappropriate.     

Careers lessons and career awareness of fifth-form students

A questionnaire designed to assess the 'career awareness' of fifth-form students was completed by 274 students from six different schools. The results were used to investigate differences between students who were having and not having regular careers lessons. The results indicated: (a) that those having regular careers lessons, especially the less-able, had a greater knowledge of the world of work than their peers who had no such lessons; (b) that those having regular careers lessons were less reliant on their family for careers advice, and in general used a wider range of sources for career knowledge; and (c) that those having regular careers lessons were more aware of the preparations necessary for job interviews.     

Reprint of: technology and the evolution of clinical methods for stuttering

The World Wide Web (WWW) was 20 years old last year. Enormous amounts of information about stuttering are now available to anyone who can access the Internet. Compared to 20 years ago, people who stutter and their families can now make more informed choices about speech-language interventions, from a distance. Blogs and chat rooms provide opportunities for people who stutter to share their experiences from a distance and to support one another. New technologies are also being adopted into speech-language pathology practice and service delivery. Telehealth is an exciting development as it means that treatment can now be made available to many rural and remotely located people who previously did not have access to it. Possible future technological developments for speech-language pathology practice include Internet based treatments and the use of Virtual Reality. Having speech and CBT treatments for stuttering available on the Internet would greatly increase their accessibility. Second Life also has exciting possibilities for people who stutter.Educational objectives: The reader will (1) explain how people who stutter and their families can get information about stuttering from the World Wide Web, (2) discuss how new technologies have been applied in speech-language pathology practice, and (3) summarize the principles and practice of telehealth delivery of services for people who stutter and their families.     

Career decision making and interview frequency

A survey of one university's graduates in 1971 and an analysis of its student case notes in 1973 indicated a relationship between level of indecision, frequency of careers advisory interviews, and ability to make an early career choice. In 1974, therefore, one of the two careers advisers responsible for arts students adopted a policy — with those students whose career choice seemed uncertain at first interview — of agreeing appropriate short-term goals and arranging a follow-up interview. In 1975 both arts advisers adopted this method, restricting single interviews to those who had initially expressed clearly-defined career goals, and significant increase in early decisions was achieved. The importance of early decisions is discussed in relationship to job opportunities and student satisfaction.