This descriptive case study was an investigation of the transition to university, with a focus on academic experiences in the first semester of the 1992--93 academic year at a Canadian research university. To guide the study, a conceptual framework of the transition to university was created by combining elements of relevant theoretical models in the counseling and higher education literature. A purposive sample of eight first year students was selected, equally distributed in terms of gender, entry status (high school vs. college), and actual or contemplated program of study (English vs. Physics). Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews conducted at four points in the academic year. These were supplemented by class schedules, university documents, and classroom visits. Analysis of the interview data was conducted using the NUD·IST software package. / The results of the study suggest that students are strangers, in a strange land during their first semester at university. As they encounter successive sets of academic challenges throughout the semester, they are "learning the ropes" of functioning in this unfamiliar territory. In so doing, students are acquiring the experiential knowledge base that will allow them to survive in university. The results support the study's conceptualization of the transition to university, but also suggest that figure research in this area requires a more fine-grained and comprehensive model of the academic environment as experienced by students. Towards this end, the basic elements of an ecological perspective on the academic world of university students are presented. Areas of needed research related to the academic transition experiences of first year students are identified, and recommendations are made for improving orientation and academic advising, as well as course design and instructional practices.

This research explored the attitudes of McGill University undergraduate students toward people with physical disabilities. First and third year students in six different faculties were further subdivided into a Human Service discipline which included Education, Social Work, and Nursing students, and a non Human Service discipline which included Management, Engineering, and Agriculture students. The effects of gender, having had previous contact with persons with a disability, and having had a course on the topic of disability on attitudes toward people with disabilities were also examined. One hundred and forty-four women and 79 men served as the subjects for this study. Subjects completed the Attitude Toward Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP) Form B, and descriptive information giving the variables under investigation (gender, faculty, etc.). The analysis of the data collected showed that there was a significant positive difference in attitudes among students following a Human Service discipline than students following a non Human Service discipline. There was a significant interaction effect between faculty and year of study with Agriculture, Engineering, and Nursing student scores increasing in their third year, and Management, Education, and Social Work student scores decreasing in their third year. No significant differences on attitudes toward people who are physically disabled were found according to faculty enrolled in, year of study, gender, previous contact with persons with disabilities, or previous course on the topic of disability.

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The classic theories dealing with vocational choice (Holland, Super) have not satisfactorily predicted the career choices of women. Indeed, several (Psathas, Zytowski, Ben Dor, Fassinger) have questioned their ability to explain women's career development and have indicated the need for alternatives. The present work takes up this challenge and raises the question: "What are the factors which influence young women to continue to choose careers classified as typically 'feminine' when, as a result of societal and academic changes of the last two decades, all programs are now open to them?" / In 1984 a study was made of 401 women students enrolled in traditional female disciplines within the sciences (nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy) and in non-traditional fields (architecture, engineering, dentistry). An analysis of the data collected from this sample, representative of students registered in these programs at a large, metropolitan, English-speaking university in Canada (McGill), found that there were statistically significant differences between the two groups. These differences derive from place of birth, socio-economic status (SES), work experience, aspirations, significant others, work values and conception of the role of women. / Women students with a traditional (T) profile are more likely to be born in Quebec, come from a family of lower SES, work part time, have lower academic aspirations, have been influenced by a woman in their chosen field, value work more highly for its intrinsic worth and qualitative environment, and are willing to accept interrupted careers. Women students with a non traditional (NT) profile are more likely to be born outside Canada, come from a family of higher SES, do not work part time, have high academic aspirations, have been influenced by a man in their career choice, value work less highly for its intrinsic worth and qualitative environment, and expect to have continuous careers.

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This study is an inquiry into cultural conflict experienced by adolescents of Vietnamese origin in Montreal. It examines the nature of the conflicts as they are experienced by the adolescents themselves, as they are perceived by the parents, and by the teachers, counsellors and principals at the secondary schools they attended. The study also examines the course of the conflicts and the kinds of solutions used to resolve them. Separate semi-structured interviews were conducted with six adolescents, five parents and seven school personnel in two public schools attended by the students. Analysis of the interviews showed that students, parents and school personnel tended to define the problems in different ways and to have very different perceptions of their causes. In those families in which the problems of cultural conflict manifested themselves most severely, parents and children tended to use behaviours leading to a deterioration of relations between them and employed a very limited range of alternatives for conflict resolution.