Thesis advisor: Sara Moorman / This research looks at the ways in which mothers influence their daughter’s educational achievements and occupational aspirations. The goal is to determine whether the Role-Model Hypothesis or Grades Hypothesis explains the relationship more. According to the literature, the Role-Model Hypothesis is based on ideas of socialization and gender-role stereotypes while the Grades Hypothesis is based on the idea of transmission of social capital, which improves test scores. In order to test these hypotheses, a series of multinomial logistic regression models were run on the responses of a sample of 7,716 female students and their mothers to the Educational Longitudinal Study, (ELS) 2002, Base Year. The results provide evidence in support of the Grades Hypothesis. A mother with higher educational attainment and a more prestigious occupation is more likely to have a daughter with higher test scores, with higher test scores leading to higher expectations and aspirations by the daughter. Implications of this finding include suggestions for the need for action, policy changes, and the decline in the importance of gender theory in influencing aspirations. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.

It is well established that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to health and emotional outcomes. But less is known about the relationship between ACEs and educational attainment—a potentially important feature of educational stratification in America. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a nationally representative youth study of 7-12th grade students in the 1994-95 school year, I investigate whether ACEs is linked to post-secondary attainment and examine the role of health and socio-emotional factors as mediators. Results confirm that there is a graded relationship between ACEs and timely bachelor's degree attainment. I find that an additional ACE decreases the odds of timely bachelor's degree attainment by about 17%, even after accounting for other related factors.

The objective of this study was to determine if a highly structured instructional program, as a supplement to a more traditional pre-school program would have an effect on the concept attainment of pre-school children. Two groups of eighteen pre-school children, enrolled in the Child Development Laboratory at Utah State University comprised the study sample. The eighteen children in the experimental group received the instructional program, in addition to the Child Development Laboratory school experience. Standardized pre and post tests were administered to both the experimental and control groups. A standardized test, The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts, was utilized. An hypothesis of no difference was used to guide this study. The results of the study indicated that a statistically significant difference did exist in comparing the post test scores of the two groups; thus the hypothesis of no difference was rejected. Although the results obtained were of statistical significance, the numerical value of the differences was very small. In examining variables within the experimental group, it was found that age, sex, verbal participation, and laboratory school experiences affected the study results.

Thesis (M.A.(Educational Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2013 / A study was conducted to investigate the relationship between educational achievement (EA) and physical activity (PA) among rural secondary school learners based on the hypothesis that PA boasts educational achievement. The participants (n=275) (164 girls and 111 boys) aged 17-27 were selected from three rural high schools at Xihoko Circuit, Limpopo Province in South Africa. Due to mounting pressures to reach adequate yearly progress, many school officials view non-assessed activities like Physical Education (PE) and recess as unnecessary, consequently creating a case for the elimination of any subject that is not directly measured through standardized testing. This action ends up depriving learners of one of the elements that they need to do well in the classroom. Participation in PE has been found to have many benefits, such as, improved EA and health. This is the only subject that provides learners with an opportunity for PA after long hours of sitting. Most of the evidence linking PA to student achievement comes from studies looking at the impact of PE classes. Overall, there seems to be consensus among those who have studied the issue that reducing the amount of instructional time devoted to “academic” subjects in order to devote more time to PE does not harm students’ EA. On the contrary, schools that have reduced their PE time have not seen reliable improvements in student achievement. Finding a link between EA and PA may make educational leaders to re-evaluate time spent during the school day. In this study, data was collected for one month. PA data were collected by means of a self-report Youth Physical Activity Questionnaire (YPAQ), whereas data on EA were obtained through Mathematics and English tests scores. The University of Limpopo granted ethical clearance for the study and the permission to access schools was given by the Department of Education, Limpopo. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18. The results revealed a low positive correlation (r = .079) for English and (r = .086) for Mathematics. The null hypothesis was rejected as a results of the chi-square test outcome which revealed that at p< 0.05, df = 2, the c2 = 8.06 for Mathematics and c2 =147.2 for English. Since these values are greater than 5.99 chi-square statistical value, it means that the relationship between EA and PA exists, though non-significant. This has important implications for the introduction of PE in the school curriculum in the face of increasing sedentary life styles among young people and declining education performance that is plaguing our education system.

I use unique longitudinal data to examine, with greater detail than previously achieved by quantitative researchers, variation in parents' educational aspirations. More specifically, I examine the effects of background characteristics (including demographic, geographic, and socioeconomic origin characteristics), socioeconomic status characteristics, such as education attainment and household income, and social-psychological characteristics, such as locus of control, job-satisfaction, and subjective well-being, on parents' odds of having high educational aspirations for their children (i.e. wanting their children to attain a Graduate or Professional degree).

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Although the field of coaching psychology has witnessed some theoretical and empirical advances in recent years, this has yet to translate into a commonly accepted theoretical and empirical foundation for coaching practice. Rather, coaching practice has run well ahead of related theory and research, and resulted in the establishment of an industry that lacks firm foundations. This doctoral dissertation reports on a series of reviews and empirical studies designed to further the development of evidence-based coaching practice (EBCP). A review of the relevant literature revealed that the development of solid evidence-based foundations is critical if coaching is to realise its promise and potential. As events surrounding the decline of the human potential movement (HPM) in the 1960s and 1970s indicate, the absence of theoretically-based rationales and solid research support may be a reliable predictor of decline for particular treatment modalities. Whilst the development of EBCP has important implications for the formal preparation of coaches, pedagogical recommendations to industry educators are difficult whilst the characteristics of the coaching industry remain hidden. In order to develop the profile of the Australian coaching industry, a survey was conducted of 148 practicing coaches. The results of this study revealed the presence of a diverse local industry. Despite the existence of a small core of highly experienced practitioners, the majority of coaches appeared to have little coaching experience and greatly varied skills and experience. Interestingly, only 20% of respondents reported any formal training in psychology or the other helping professions. Given recent data that suggests mental health issues may sometimes be encountered in coaching (Green, Oades, & Grant, 2006; Spence & Grant, in press), it is concluded that the majority of coaches lack the skills and knowledge to identify and deal effectively with such eventualities. As the development of an informed strategy for dealing with mental health issues would move the practice of coaching onto a more professional footing, it is recommended that coaches receive basic training in the identification and appropriate referral of such issues. Much of the work presented in this dissertation is based on the presupposition that client outcomes can be optimised through the use of EBCP. However, as this assumption has yet to be empirically tested, a total of 63 participants took part in a 10-week life coaching program. The results showed that when life coaching was conducted by coaches trained in cognitive-behavioural solution-focused (CB-SF) coaching methods (i.e. professional coaching), as opposed to untrained peers (i.e. peer coaching), participants were more engaged in coaching and reported significantly greater goal attainment, goal commitment and environmental mastery. Effective goal-directed self-regulation requires that individuals remain focused on their goals overtime, whilst managing a steady stream of disturbances that can destabilise goal directed effort. In this regard, the construct of mindfulness has much conceptual relevance. Mindfulness reflects the unique human capacity for directing conscious awareness via the controlled deployment of attention. After an extensive review of the scholarly literature, three alternative conceptualisations are presented (i.e. Eastern religious, socio-cognitive and cognitive-attentional perspectives), accompanied by a description of the mindfulness skills training practices associated with each. A total of 72 participants then took part in a study to assess the impact of three mindfulness training (MT) programs on mindfulness, goal-directed self-regulation, mental health and wellbeing. The results revealed that all the MT programs were effective in significantly increasing mindfulness and a variety of mental health and wellbeing indicators. Importantly, MT was also found to significantly increase goal attainment; suggesting that MT may be a valuable addition to EBCP. Goal attainment is a key dependent variable in coaching research. However, the measurement of goal attainment has yet to receive much attention in the coaching literature. As most empirical coaching studies have reported findings based on measures that rely exclusively on subjective measures of performance (measures that are susceptible to several forms of distortion and bias), some key issues relating to the measurement of goal attainment are reviewed and explored in detail. From this review, goal attainment scaling (GAS) is identified as a potentially useful methodology with which both researchers and practitioners can document and evaluate coaching outcomes. The final study pulls together the threads from work presented to that point, and integrates them into a practice framework for coaching. A total of 42 participants took part in this study, which investigated the efficacy of using MT and CB-SF coaching to facilitate the attainment of health goals. The results showed that the delivery of MT prior to (rather than after) CB-SF coaching was more effective in facilitating these outcomes. This suggests MT may be important in coaching for helping people prepare for change.

<p>Denna uppsats bygger på intervjuer med sju kvinnor som deltagit i ett utvecklingsprogram utformat för kvinnor med ambition att göra karriär. Företag bör satsa på anställdas karriärutveckling då det ökar individernas välmående och ger konkurrensfördelar. Syftet var att se vilka faktorer som bidrar till eller hindrar personlig utveckling samt se på vilket sätt utvecklingsprogrammet kan medverka till kvinnors personliga ledarskap och karriärutveckling. Frågeställningen löd: Upplever kvinnor att personligt ledarskap är ett bra verktyg för att utvecklas i sin karriär? Resultatet visade att kvinnorna genom utvecklingsprogrammet upplevde ökad kontroll över sina liv vilket hjälpt dem definiera och uppnå karriärmål. Faktorer med inverkan på karriären är individens utvecklingsbehov och tro på sig själv, stöd från andra samt företagets satsningar på anställdas karriärutveckling.</p>

<p>The purpose of this paper was, on the basis of the association’s annual reports, to describe appropriate key performance indicators for non-profit associations. The purpose was furthermore to study how the associations show their goal-attainment.</p><p> </p><p>The research was delimited to contain the second category of non profit associations, which include sports associations. The authors choose three non profit associations, which according to the law, shall draw up annual reports. The three ice hockey associations HV71, MODO Hockey and Frölunda Hockey Club, were thereafter chosen on the basis of those delimits. The research was furthermore delimited to include the parent associations only.  </p><p> </p><p>The authors obtained the basis of the paper through studies of literature and annual reports and via an interview. The authors described different key performance indicators based on these studies and analytical assumptions.</p><p> </p><p>In the study it appeared that all of the three studied associations largely present their goal-attainment in the statement of activity, which is a part of the annual report. The financial key performance indicators that appeared were “the equity ratio” and “the gross profit margin”, which are considered to be appropriate for these three sport associations. It also appeared that the described appropriate non financial key performance indicators could be used as statistical measures to show the three studied association’s goal-attainments and with that consolidate the credibility in their annual reports.   </p>

Thesis (M.Com. (Management Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Denna uppsats bygger på intervjuer med sju kvinnor som deltagit i ett utvecklingsprogram utformat för kvinnor med ambition att göra karriär. Företag bör satsa på anställdas karriärutveckling då det ökar individernas välmående och ger konkurrensfördelar. Syftet var att se vilka faktorer som bidrar till eller hindrar personlig utveckling samt se på vilket sätt utvecklingsprogrammet kan medverka till kvinnors personliga ledarskap och karriärutveckling. Frågeställningen löd: Upplever kvinnor att personligt ledarskap är ett bra verktyg för att utvecklas i sin karriär? Resultatet visade att kvinnorna genom utvecklingsprogrammet upplevde ökad kontroll över sina liv vilket hjälpt dem definiera och uppnå karriärmål. Faktorer med inverkan på karriären är individens utvecklingsbehov och tro på sig själv, stöd från andra samt företagets satsningar på anställdas karriärutveckling.