Goals of male and female college students: Do traditional sex differences still exist?

Importance ratings of reasons for attending college were obtained from male and female undergraduates. Responses were compared for sex differences and were compared to the responses of subjects in the Constantinople (1967) study. The picture of college students that emerged is very different from those of previous studies. Current females did not emphasize career goals less, nor social goals more, than males. Current males were more interested in social aspects of college than were their male predecessors. Male and female concepts of success seemed to differ. To females challenge and accomplishment were most important; to males, complying with parental pressures and economic success were most important.The authors thank Phillip Shaver for his helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.     

Increasing similarity in the values and life plans of male and female college students? Evidence and implications

A time-series analysis of college freshmen indicates that from 1969 to 1984 there has been a dramatic increase in the value women place on status-attainment goals, but not a comparable decrease in the value placed on domestic-nurturant goals—a pattern that reflects an amalgamation rather than a masculinization of the feminine value constellation. As the value placed on status-attainment goals has not increased as significantly for males, there has been a narrowing of the difference in the value constellations of the sexes over this time period. Further, there has been a greater increase in the percentage of women than men aspiring to graduate degrees and to the highest status professional and executive occupations, resulting in increased congruence in the educational and high-status career goals of women and men. The limitations and implications of these data are discussed.The research for this paper was funded by a grant from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. I thank Andrea Tyree and Norman Goodman for reading and commenting on earlier drafts of this paper. I particularly thank Stephen Cole for his incisive comments.     

Suicide and the contemporary woman: Are male and female suicide rates converging?

Nationwide statistics on White suicide rates for the years 1960–1978 are examined to assess whether the suicide rates of women are increasing relative to those of men. This is accomplished by calculating for the total population and for several age groupings the sex differential (SD), which is defined as the percentage of suicides which are female after adjustments are made for the sex distribution in the population. The data reveal that the SD narrowed from 1960–1967, held steady from 1968–1972, and then widened slightly from 1973–1978. The most important aspects of these trends are that (a) the narrowing of the SD is due more to declining suicide rates among older (over-40) males than to increasing female suicide rates, and (b) the narrowing of the SD and the small increases in female suicide rates occurred prior to 1970 and thus were earlier than would be expected on the basis of changing sex-role expectations. Post hoc explanations of these patterns refer to methodological factors and to changes in social integration resulting from a variety of sociohistorical factors.     

Classroom-based programs of retrieval practice reduce middle school and high school students’ test anxiety

When retrieval practice is applied in classroom settings, do K-12 students experience changes in test anxiety? To answer this question frequently asked by educators, we surveyed 1408 middle school and high school students about their study strategy preferences and their reactions to a classroom-based program of retrieval practice. For classes in which retrieval practice occurred, 92% of students reported that retrieval practice helped them learn and 72% reported that retrieval practice made them less nervous for unit tests and exams. This study is the first to examine the relationship between retrieval practice and classroom test anxiety, and self-reported study strategy use in pre-college students. In light of our results, we encourage K-12 teachers to use retrieval practice in their classrooms to reduce test anxiety and improve learning.     

Climbing the corporate ladder: do female and male executives follow the same route?

This study compares the careers of matched samples of 69 female executives and 69 male executives by examining perceived barriers and facilitators of advancement, self-reported developmental experiences, and career histories. Consistent with tokenism theory, women reported greater barriers, such as lack of culture fit and being excluded from informal networks, and greater importance of having a good track record and developing relationships to facilitate advancement than did men. Career success, measured by organizational level and compensation, was positively related to breadth of experience and developmental assignments for both genders, but successful women were less likely than successful men to report that mentoring facilitated their advancement. Developmental experiences and career histories were similar for female and male executives, but men had more overseas assignments and women had more assignments with nonauthority relationships.     

Eve and Adam--is a partnership between the male and female actually possible?

Whereas the girl can pattern the formation of her post-oedipal gender-typical selfrepresentation on the model of her mother, the boy must give up the maternal object and turn to the father. The author believes that the reorientation consumes energy which the boy lacks when forming his ego structures, his frustration tolerance, his capacity for relationships. This deficit model is invoked to explain the commonly deplored typically male behavioral and attitudinal characteristics.     

Is the Reasonable Person a Person of Virtue?

Res Publica - The ‘reasonable person standard’ (RPS) is often called on in difficult legal cases as the last resource to be appealed to when other solutions run out. Its complexity...     

Latino parents’ science beliefs and support of high school students’ motivational beliefs: Do the relations vary across gender and familism values?

Based on the Eccles’ expectancy-value theory, the objectives of this study were (1) to examine the longitudinal relations between Latino parents’ science beliefs, parents’ science support, and high school students’ science motivational beliefs, and (2) to test whether these relations varied by familism values and adolescent gender. Multi-informant longitudinal survey data were collected from 104 Latino parents and adolescents during 9th and 10th grade. Parents’ perceptions of their adolescents’ science ability and value of science in 9th grade predicted higher parent science support at home in 10th grade if they were parents of boys. In contrast, these relations were not statistically significant for parents of daughters. Parent support in 9th grade predicted higher adolescent motivational beliefs one year later. This work provides evidence that parent support is important for high school student success in this understudied population.     

Exploring the relationship between Black high school students’ external regulation and intrinsic motivation

Motivation and Emotion - Self-determination theory (SDT) asserts that motivation types, ranging from controlled to autonomous, are independent forms of motivation that differentially emerge from...     

To identify and limit the risks of neglect in orphaned students: Can France manage it?

Orphans' needs are barely identified, barely acknowledged, and barely treated notably in France. Yet, parental loss might generate specific needs associated with cognitive, relational/behavioral, and emotional difficulties. In turn, such difficulties are likely to give rise to lower academic achievement. In this theoretical paper, we argue that, due to the detrimental impact of parental loss on academic achievement, orphaned students should be considered as students with special educational needs. This is important to provide appropriate educational responses consistent with inclusive education. The present paper aims to identify different specific needs of orphaned children, as a way to limit neglect of orphans. We discuss various ways to reduce the risks of neglecting orphans in French schools by using Bronfenbrenner's ecological development model and propose avenues for relevant pedagogical responses.     

The Mehrabian measures of achieving tendency: are separate male and female scales necessary?

The 1969 male and female Mehrabian measures of achieving tendency are among the best-known measures of resultant achievement motivation. This study addressed the question of whether unique male and female items are necessary. Pearson product-moment correlation analyses on 83 male and 184 female undergraduates showed that females' scores on the unique male items correlated positively with their scores on the original female scale, and males' scores on the unique female items correlated positively with their scores on the original male scale. Coefficient alpha reliabilities of the original male and female forms were found to be acceptable. Cluster analyses showed that the Mehrabian items cluster in very similar ways for both males and females.     

Differences in male and female patterns of communication in groups: A methodological artifact?

This study investigated communication patterns in an all-male, all-female, and mixed-sex group. All participants were white and middle class. These groups met for longer periods of time than those in most previous studies that reported differences between men and women in task and maintenance communication patterns. Most previous research investigations were based on groups that met for an hour or less and used unacquainted undergraduates. In this study, no significant differences were found in seven categories of verbal input. While there were no significant differences, the typical pattern reported in the literature was present in the first 30–60 minutes of the groups. After that time period, no consistent patterns were noted, and stereotypic sex differences vanished. This has led the authors to tentatively conclude that the findings of previous research may be due to the limited time period used in most investigations. Men and women did not differ on task and maintenance input, or other categories of verbal input, in groups meeting for 4 1/2 hours or 6 hours.     

Does school desegregation change occupational goals of Negro males?

Instruments, designed to assess values which affect the motivation to work and aspiration levels, were administered to over 600 Negro male seniors in Texas high schools. Results indicate that the degree and duration of school desegregation these students have experienced, ranging from less than 1 to more than 5 years, have had little effect on work values and occupational aspirations.     

The effects of high school context and interpersonal factors on students’ educational expectations: a multi-level model

This study examines the effects of some aspects of the school normative, academic and institutional context together with individual and interpersonal factors, on educational expectations among Palestinian students in Israel. The data consist of a sub-sample of 1601 students in 40 high schools. Hierarchical linear modelling technique (Multilevel analysis) is used to investigate the effect of the school context and the interpersonal factors on students educational expectations (SEE). The results of this study clearly demonstrate that both sets of variables are highly related to the outcome variable, providing new evidence that SEE, perhaps like other educational outcomes, are developed through interpersonal and contextual effects. While recent research indicates that the school institutional context mediates the effects of interpersonal factors (Buchmann & Dalton, 2002), this study suggests that among Palestinian students in Israel, interpersonal relations exert significant influences on SEE, regardless of, or despite, the schools institutional context.     

Delinquency: the learning disabled students reaction to academic school failure?

Support for the relationship between academic performance and delinquency is offered. Additionally a review is provided describing the learning disabled male adolescent as the target population for experimental research.