Parenting in relation to child and adolescent vocational development

Processes of child and adolescent vocational development include acquisition of knowledge, beliefs, and values about work options and requirements, exploration of interests that will be relevant for occupational interest development, development of academic aspirations, self-efficacy, expectations, and attainment. These elements serve to provide preparation for entry into a range of occupations and provide for the establishment of vocational aspirations, occupational self-efficacy, expectations, planning, and attainment. Parenting occurs within a family context influenced by a myriad of factors, including availability of financial capital, human capital, social capital, child agency, work-family interfacing, family roles, family structure, and the historical conditions affecting parents. These family contextual factors promote our understanding of differences in parenting in relation to child and adolescent vocational development. Far more complex than specific steps to entering the labor market per se, child and adolescent vocational development includes the interfacing of parenting and developmental processes.     

The impact of peer relations on academic progress in junior high

The purpose of this study is to examine whether peer relations within classrooms were related to students' academic progress, and if so, whether this can be explained by students' relatedness and engagement, in line with Connell and Wellborn's self-system model. We analyzed data of 18,735 students in 796 school classes in Dutch junior high schools, using multilevel analysis. Academic progress, conceptualized as regular promotion to the next year versus grade retention, moving upward, and moving downward in the track system, was measured at the time of transition between Grades 1 and 2 (equivalent to US Grades 7 and 8). The results indicated that students who were accepted by their peers had lower probabilities to retain a grade or to move downward in the track system. Although peer acceptance was associated with relatedness and engagement, these variables did not explain why peer acceptance was associated to academic progress. Furthermore, peer acceptance and relatedness were more strongly related in classes with more negative class climates.     

The influence of personality on HE students’ confidence in their academic abilities

Students’ confidence in their academic abilities, measured with the Individual Learning Profile (ILP) scale, was examined in relation to their personality traits and grades. To validate the ILP, in Study 1, factor analysis of data from 3003 students extracted six factors (Reading and Writing, Hard IT, Numeracy, Time Management, Speaking, and Easy IT) with good internal reliability. Subsequently, in Study 2, 130 students completed the refined ILP, and scales measuring the Big Five, Perfectionism, Anxiety, and Self-Esteem. Between 10% and 31% of the variance in four ILP factors, but not IT skills, could be predicted by personality traits, but Self-Esteem and Anxiety were not influential. Higher conscientiousness and openness positively predicted higher confidence in reading and writing, while agreeableness and three aspects of perfectionism predicted confidence in numeracy skills. Being introverted and female were predictive of lower confidence in speaking, as were low conscientiousness and the perfectionistic desire to be organised. Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and the perfectionistic desire to be organised were strong predictors of confidence in time-management skills, which in turn predicted first-year GPA. The reliability of the ILP was examined over the course of a one-year interval.     

Improving Responsiveness to Intervention for English-Language Learners: A Comparison of Instructional Pace on Letter Naming Rates

An alternating treatments design was used to compare the effects of a 1-s and a 5-s paced intervention on rates of letter naming by English Language Learners (ELL). Participants were four kindergarten students performing below the average letter naming level and learning rate than other ELL classmates. The fast paced intervention consisted of a 1-s paced letter modeling and 1-s response wait time combined with a 1-s intertrial interval. Alternatively, the slower paced intervention consisted of 5-s modeling, response wait time, and intertrial intervals. For three students, the 5-s paced intervention resulted in greater increases in letter naming rates as compared to the 1-s intervention and baseline condition. All students first obtained the mastery criterion level during the 5-s intervention.     

Examining the unique and combined effects of grit,trait self-control,and conscientiousness in predicting motivation for academic goals: A commonality analysis

The purpose of the present research was to examine the predicative ability of both the unique and combined components of grit, trait self-control, and conscientiousness in the context of academic goal pursuit. Participants (n₁ = 163, n₂ = 551) were asked to complete assessments of each self-regulatory trait and reported their motivation for an academic goal. Together, grit, trait self-control, and conscientiousness explained 9.9% of the variance in academic goal motivation across both samples. Using commonality analysis, we found that the overlapping components of grit, trait self-control, and conscientiousness accounted for 49.6% of the explained variance (4.9% of the total variance), with the individual components each accounting for less than 20% (2% of the total variance). Implications for research on self-regulatory traits are discussed.     

The Attributes Adolescents Associate with Peer Popularity and Teacher Preference

Perceived popularity and perceived teacher preference were investigated in a sample of 351 (179 boys, 172 girls) 10th-grade students from an urban community experiencing a moderate degree of economic distress. Students completed rating scale sociometric and behavioral nomination measures. Data on GPAs and unexplained absences were obtained from the school. Multiple regression analyses revealed that different behaviors were associated with perceived popularity and perceived teacher preference. Low GPA, low submissiveness, and high rates of absenteeism were associated with high perceived popularity and a low perceived teacher preference. Snobbishness and prosociality were more strongly associated with perceived popularity than perceived teacher preference. Students who were perceived as high on both dimensions simultaneously maintained a commitment to their scholastic success at school while behaving in a highly friendly nonsubmissive manner. A relation was also found between individuals' ratings of students' peer popularity and their own behavioral and academic attributes.     

Psychological capital bolsters motivation,engagement, and achievement: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies

Psychological capital (PsyCap) has been widely investigated in the organizational context. However, limited attention has been given to the role of PsyCap in the academic setting. The primary objective of this study was to examine how PsyCap is associated with academic motivation, engagement, and achievement using both cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) approaches. Study 1 revealed that PsyCap was associated with higher autonomous motivation and controlled motivation even after controlling for relevant demographic variables. PsyCap was also associated with lower levels of amotivation. Study 2 showed that PsyCap was both a concurrent and prospective predictor of autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, academic engagement, and academic achievement even after controlling for their respective autoregressors and other relevant covariates. Mediational analyses indicated that the effects of T1 PsyCap on T2 achievement and T2 engagement were mediated by T2 autonomous motivation. The theoretical and practical implications are elucidated.     

Juger la recrutabilité des candidats : quels effets de l’apparence et des aptitudes en fonction des types de postes ?

Scientific research has shown the influence of norms and of gender and beauty stereotypes on evaluations and hiring decisions. Recent studies (Desrumaux, 2005; Jawahar & Mattson, 2005) have shown an evolution of the lack of Fit model (Heilman, 1983). The objective of this research is to test the effects of physical appearance, GMA and normative pieces of information (internality/externality) related to the candidate on the candidates’ recrutabilty. This study has also taken into account hierarchy level and sexual connotation of the job. We have tested its effects on medical jobs, of higher level (surgeon, doctor nutritionist) or subordinate (ambulance man and dental assistant). The results indicate that an attractive candidate is judged more recrutable for a subordinate job than a superior one. Moreover, for a subordinate job, the effect of the attractiveness was more important for male target than for feminine target. Results show also that men are judged less hirable than the women for female type jobs. Moreover, the effect of the aptitude is more discriminating for the external ones than for the internals. Results were discussed on the line of the lack of fit correspondence model.     

Behavioral Self‐Regulation,Early Academic Achievement,and the Effectiveness of Urban Schools for Low‐Income Ethnic Minority Children

The independent and joint associations between child behavioral self‐regulation ability and school effectiveness in relation to academic achievement were examined in a sample of low‐income African American (n = 132) and Latino (n = 198) children attending kindergarten and first grade across a large metropolitan area. Child behavioral self‐regulation and school effectiveness were positively associated with both reading and mathematics performance. School effectiveness moderated the effect of behavioral self‐regulation on reading but not math achievement. Lower child behavioral self‐regulation during early elementary school was associated with lower reading achievement the following year but only among children attending less effective schools. Behavioral self‐regulation was not related to reading achievement among children attending more effective schools. Implications of these findings for policies addressing disparities in early academic achievement are discussed.