This Study examined issues related to persistence in higher education among African American students, using the prominent model proposed by Vincent Tinto. The intentions were to examine the growing gender gap among African American students. The study examines factors from the Tinto model such as high school GPA, College GPA, college social integration and academic integration to try and explain the effects of gender among African American students. This research also attempts to elaborate the Tinto model by considering high school extracurricular activities as a pre-entry attribute that has an effect on persistence in higher education. Use of the Tinto model, even in an elaborated state, did not explain the effects of gender among African American students. This research suggests that other factors not included in the model have some effect on student persistence; one such factor could be gender socialization which can lead to different patterns in educational achievement.

Career opportunities for women were limited until the 1970s. Teaching is a profession women have long pursued. The purpose of the study was to determine if differences exist in Kentucky women teachers’ demographic characteristics and career choice outcomes by age cohort/era. The population consisted of women who lived in the state of Kentucky and the teacher sample consisted of 110 females, ranging in age from 25-74. Findings from this study were examined through the Social Cognitive Career Theory’s (SCCT) three constructs: self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and personal goals. Five key influences were reviewed from literature: age, resources, educational attainment, teaching responsibilities, and motherhood. The educational level of all women in this sample consisted of respondents earning a bachelor’s degree or higher, with the majority having obtained a master’s degree. It was found that the teacher sample of the Kentucky Women’s Educational Attainment Study was highly influenced by their educational and occupational decisions. They were influenced by their personal values and family in their marriage and parenting decisions. Personal goals, outcome expectations, and self-efficacy were being met for these teachers by accomplishing their education and career goals while balancing their parenting choices.

A large body of research, typically nationally focused, has examined the relationship between family structure, educational attainment, and healthcare access. Within this field of study, there is limited availability of regionally based studies, specifically the Lower Mississippi Delta (LMD) region. This exploratory study examines the effects of family structure on high school graduation rates and health insurance coverage within the LMD region. The objective is to determine if family structure has a direct impact on the educational attainment and health outcomes of a child within the region using concepts from nationally focused literature. Through the use of an OLS regression, we find that family structure does not have a strong impact on the educational attainment of children within the region. However, we did find that family structure had a strong impact on the health insurance coverage of youth within the region. Additionally, we examine the impact that spatial location and race has on these variables. These results can encourage the development of potential intervention programs, outreach initiatives, and other programs geared toward helping youth within the region. The study's conclusions provide insight on the impact of family structure on health and education thus encouraging further research within the LDM region.

The overall aim of this thesis was to study elderly persons’ everyday life and the benefits of community-based day care rehabilitation (DCR). Further aims were to describe everyday life as experienced by elderly persons eligible for DCR and what they expected to gain from attending DCR. Participants in  study I and II were 22 prospective elderly day-care patients with physical disabilities. Interviews about their experiences of everyday life (study I) and their expectations of DCR (study II) were conducted and analysed according to a qualitative research approach called phenomenography. In study III 15 elderly persons were interviewed about changes in everyday life after having been discharged from DCR. A narrative approach was used for analysing the interviews. In Study IV occupational therapy patients’ records from 59 patients that had been discharged from DCR were analysed using deductive content analysis for describing individual treatment goals and level of goal attainment. The findings in study I, showed that cessation of activities and social contacts resulted in feelings of resignation and dejection for some participants. Participants also described how activities and social contacts continued, albeit in a different way, and that being active resulted in feelings of pleasure. In study II the findings described expectations of participating in physical training and socialisation with others at the DCR. The findings in study III, in the form of four case-stories, described positive changes in the participants’ everyday life such as improved occupational performance and heightened sense of wellbeing. The findings indicate that it was a combination of several events that together contributed to the changes. The findings in study IV showed that “Walking” was the category that contained the highest proportion of treatment goals. A majority of the treatment goals were either completely achieved or partially achieved. DCR could have a significant impact on elderly persons’ everyday life.

Statistics show that boys perform better in mathematics tests than girls. In order to make a refined assessment of the magnitude of gender differences in mathematics performance, a study was made of one thousand 16+ mathematics scripts to find the precise topics on which girls and boys differ significantly in performance. These concepts were found to be concerned with scale or ratio, spatial problems, space-time relationships and probability questions. Differences were found in performance between girls and boys at each ten-percentile level through the ability range. A longitudinal study also revealed differences in mathematics 'performance through the years of secondary education. There is no convincing evidence that the discrepancy can be accounted for by innate or genetic reasons. Intervention programmes have been found to improve the performance of girls in the weak areas of spatial awareness, proportionality and problem solving. In addition, a study was made of gender attitudes towards mathematics. Ten secondary schools were surveyed and the results revealed a marked decrease in the attitudes of third and fourth form girls. During these difficult adolescent years girls and boys are susceptible to strong internal and external pressures. Corresponding differences were also found across the ability range. These social pressures are concerned with teacher influence, social interaction, type of grouping, sex stereotyping, choices, teaching materials and careers advice.

This doctoral thesis examines the long-term impact of birth order on health, and educational attainment. Swedish register data is used to link individuals to their siblings, thereby allowing members of the sibling group to be compared to one another. This thesis consists of an introductory chapter summarizing empirical research on the relationship between birth order and educational attainment, intelligence, health, and personality, as well the theoretical frameworks that have been developed to explain those relationships. This introductory chapter is followed by four original empirical studies. The first two studies show that relative to first born siblings, later borns have lower physical fitness in late adolescence, and higher mortality in adulthood. The third study uses the Swedish registers to identify sibling groups that entirely consist of adopted individuals, and shows that the commonly observed negative relationship between birth order and educational attainment persists in these fully adopted sibling groups. These results suggest that birth order effects are likely explained by post-natal, social mechanisms within the family. Finally, the fourth study shows that even though later born siblings do worse than first borns in a fully adjusted statistical model, educational expansion in the 20th century has meant that later born siblings actually tend to have greater educational attainment and are more likely to attend university in comparison to older siblings within the same family. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2: Epub ahead of print. Paper 3: Accepted. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

We use a production function approach in investigating the relationship between financial development and economic growth in 9 EU accession - mostly transition countries. These findings are compared with the results for the group of 18 developed countries, and separately, with the results for a group of less developed EU countries - structural fund recipients. We use aggregate measures of financial development as well as measures for single segments of financial sectors. In context of transition countries, bond markets are, to our knowledge, taken explicitly into account for the first time. We find that domestic credit and bond markets together with real capital stock growth stimulate economic growth in transition. With progress in cohesion, educational attainment becomes the next important factor that contributes to economic growth followed by labor participation in mature market economies. For the developed countries, financial sector did not play any positive role for growth over the period under study. We conclude that transfer mechanisms for growth differ over the development cycle. This is important to growth theory, to the sequencing of economic reforms and to financial sector development priorities. (author's abstract) / Series: EI Working Papers / Europainstitut

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Title from first page of PDF file (viewed March 23, 2010). Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2009. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 48-02, page: .

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Sociology. Thesis / Dissertation ETD / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.