The purpose of this study is to examine how preschool teachers’ and childminders’ perceive parental/guardian influence in preschool. This qualitative study is based on individual interviews with five preschool teachers and childminders representing a wide range of professional experiences and backgrounds. A phenomenographic approach was used to highlight the variations in the way parental/guardian influence was perceived. The variations were then analysed using Alasuutari’s (2010) horizontal and vertical frames of power to determine power relations between preschool teachers/childminders and parents/guardians. The results were further analysed through Moss’ (2007) views on democratic practices in the preschool setting. The results of this study show that both preschool teachers and childminders acknowledge the parental/guardian knowledge and expertise of their own children and place significance on open communication and building a trusting relationship. However, preschool teachers and childminders exerted their professional background when it came to matters regarding the preschool’s pedagogy. This finding alludes to the practice that preschool teachers and childminders attempt to regulate and limit parental/guardian influence under certain circumstances, which is not in line with Moss’ views on democratic practices. In addition the study found that an uncertainty exists among preschool teachers and childminders in regards to what parental/guardian influence actually means.

Att möjliggöra vårdnadshavares inflytande i förskolans utbildning ses som komplext, då det inte framkommer hurförskollärare ska möjliggöra inflytandet. Det som framkommer är att förskollärare ansvara för att ge vårdnadshavare möjlighet till inflytande. Syftet med studien är att bidra med kunskap om förskollärares arbete med möjliggörandet av vårdnadshavares inflytande i förskolans utbildning. Genom intervjuer med sex förskollärare visar studiens resultat att vårdnadshavares inflytande handlar om att påverka barnets utveckling och lärande. I studien framkommer information, profession, samverkansformer och delaktighet som framgångsrika faktorer förskollärare använder i arbetet med att möjliggöra vårdnadshavares inflytande i förskolans utbildning.

That an individual can be influenced by people they are close to and by society is something that most people are aware of and something that has been studied before. But how does a human resource student actually experience and reason about what influenced the study choice? The aim of this study is to investigate what is the basis for an individual's choice to begin studies on the human resources program. Furthermore, we want to investigate what the studentssee as important in their future working life and if there are any differences in how they reason. Questions asked are how the individual experiences and reason about what has influenced the study choice and its attitude to the future working life and also whether it is possible to distinguish differences between the students. This qualitative study bases its results on interviews with students who study semesters fiveand sixon the human resources program at two different universities in Sweden. The theoretical framework for this study consists of Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts about habitus, capital, social space and fields. The result indicates that all individuals in this study have experienced a certain influence from people around them to further their education and that the choice to study on the human resource program was made due to a certain uncertainty about what the individual would like to work with in the future. Furthermore, the result showed that the student’s attitude to the future working life was mainly about feeling comfortable in their workplace, having the opportunity to develop and to be appreciated for their work but also to be able to work with people in some way. Some differences in the attitudes towards the future working life could be discerned and these differences can be linked to previous work experience as well as parents’ influence in terms of profession and educational background. / Att en individ kan bli påverkad av personer i ens närhet och av samhället är något som de flesta är medvetna om och något som tidigare har studerats. Men hur upplever och resonerar egentligen en student på personalvetarprogrammet vad som påverkat studievalet? Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vad som ligger till grund för en individs val att påbörja studier på personalvetarprogrammet. Vidare vill vi undersöka vad studenterna ser som viktigt i det kommande arbetslivet och om det finns eventuella skillnader i hur de resonerar. Detta utifrån frågeställningarna om hur individen upplever och resonerar kring vad som påverkat studievalet och vilken inställning till det framtida arbetslivet personalvetarstudenterna har samt om det går att urskilja skillnader mellan studenterna. Denna kvalitativa studie baserar sitt resultat på intervjuer med sju studenter som studerar termin femoch sexpå personalvetarprogrammet vid två olika universitet i Sverige. Det teoretiska ramverket i studien består av Pierre Bourdieus teoretiska begrepp habitus, kapital, det sociala rummet och fält. Resultatet tyder på att alla individer i studien har upplevt enviss påverkan från omgivningen att vidareutbilda sig samt att valet av personalvetarprogrammet gjordes på grund av en viss osäkerhet kring vad individen vill arbeta med. Vidare framkom det i resultatet att studenternas inställning till det framtida arbetslivet främst handlade om att trivas på sin arbetsplats, ha möjlighet att utvecklas samt att bli uppskattad för sitt arbete men även att få arbeta med människor på något sätt. Vissa skillnader i inställningen till det framtida arbetslivet gick att urskilja och dessa skillnader kan kopplas till tidigare arbetslivserfarenhet och föräldrars påverkan i form av yrke och utbildningsbakgrund.

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First generation students face significant challenges with respect to college enrollment (Choy, 2001) and remain disproportionately underrepresented in certain segments of American higher education particularly in graduate education (Callan, 2001). Among those individuals who shape the educational plans of first-generation students are their parents (Hossler & Stage, 1999; McDonough, 1997). Researchers operationalize parental influence as the transmission of various forms of capital (Bourdieu, 1977). The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between various forms of capital parents transmit to their children and graduate school aspirations of first generation and non-first generation students attending highly selective institutions. Three dimensions of capital were explored in this study: (a) human, (b) cultural, and (c) social. Additionally, this study was designed to determine whether there are differences in the degree of these forms of capital among groups classified by race, gender and institution type. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen (NLSF) (Massey et. al, 2003) which included a sample of Asian, Black, Hispanic and Caucasian first year, first generation and non-first generation students from 28 highly selective colleges and universities were used for this study. The findings suggest that human, cultural, and social capital transmitted to students by parents are marginally related to graduate school aspirations regardless of generation status. Also, graduate school aspirations differ by race/ethnicity and gender, but do not differ substantively between first generation and non-first generation students in this sample. Finally, the type of institution students attend does not relate to their graduate school aspirations. / Ph. D.

Education is important for keeping people productively employed and gaining important credentials for making positive life changes. Despite the gains in educational access, a gap in education achievement still exists between White and minority students in America. Many people of color are unemployed and continue to experience high poverty rates compared to the non-Hispanic White population. The racial minority population continues to be disproportionately underrepresented in higher education and degree attainment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the phenomena of persistence to graduating senior status for Black and Hispanic students who transferred from a two-year degree granting community college to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). Data were collected using two face-to-face, semi-structured, in-depth interviews with each of the Black and Hispanic male transfer students. A constant comparative technique was used to analyze the data. The data collection and analysis was used to answer the following research question. How do Black and Hispanic transfer students who have persisted to graduating senior status describe: (a) their academic experiences, (b) their social experiences, (c) motivators that contributed to their persistence in undergraduate studies, (d) personal characteristics necessary for successful post-transfer persistence in undergraduate studies, and (e) institutional attributes necessary for successful post-transfer persistence in undergraduate studies at Virginia Tech? The data analysis resulted in the identification of five themes: (a) transfer students had a personal commitment to achieve their academic goals despite the hindrances they experienced; (b) transfer students' academic performance was influenced by family expectations; (c) encouraging support from family, friends, faculty, and peer students was a factor for transfer students' persistence; (d) building relationships within the campus community influenced transfer students' persistence; and (e) learning from life lessons contributed to the transfer students' persistence. This document concludes with a discussion of the results that may be used to inform future practice, policy, and research in higher education about five Black and Hispanic male transfer students' experiences of persistence. These students successfully adjusted to the university, made meaningful academic and social connections, became attached to the university, and are continuing in higher education. / Ph. D.

Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Rick J. Scheidt / This M.S. report provides an evaluative review of research on parental influences on adolescent sexual decision-making. Data show that a significant proportion of never-married female and male teens (ages 15-19) have had sexual intercourse at least once. Adolescent decisions on sexuality and possible consequences such as pregnancy or sexually-transmitted diseases may have profound personal and social impacts. Theoretical and empirical domains of parental influence are reviewed, including communication, morality, family structure and context, parental control, as well as the role of media. This review shows that adolescent sexuality has changed over time due to socio-historical factors and that parents continue to have an influence on their children’s decision-making abilities. Implications for applied professionals and researchers are discussed.

In the undergraduate and working environments, some science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) areas remain dominated by males. The purpose of this study was to understand the gendered experience of individuals in STEM majors by assessing students’ math self-efficacy, impostorism (a feeling of intellectual phoniness), and future goals. Based on prior research, an overall conceptual model was proposed and analyzed. Several related precursors including gender role orientation, perceived parental influence, math identity, and theories of intelligence were included in the model. Three hundred six undergraduates (64.38% female) in the colleges of natural science, geosciences, and engineering responded to an online survey addressing these constructs. Based on prior research, hypotheses were created proposing that females would report higher impostorism, lower math self-efficacy, and more femininity than males. I expected that masculinity, perceived parental influence, an entity theory of intelligence, and high math identity would predict the impostor phenomenon. Moreover, I hypothesized that the relation of each of these predictors to impostorism would be moderated by sex. For the next two hypotheses, I proposed that the four sources of math self-efficacy would predict math self-efficacy, but this relation would be moderated by impostorism. Finally, I expected that impostorism would lead to reduced future expectations and aspirations, but that this association would be mediated by math self-efficacy. Results indicated partial support of the study hypotheses, and a revised model was created. Both sexes reported similar levels of impostorism, but females had lower math self-efficacy and greater femininity than males. Masculinity negatively predicted the impostor phenomenon, while math identity and an entity theory of intelligence positively related to the dependent variable. Sex moderated the effect of perceived parental influence such that males’ impostorism was more affected by parental influence than females’. Emotional arousal was a strong contributor to math self-efficacy, but this relation was attenuated by impostorism. Coping with emotional arousal was positively associated with math self-efficacy; however, this association was significantly stronger for low impostors than high ones. Finally, impostors were less likely to expect to go to graduate school or work in a STEM-related field. Implications for schools and professors are discussed. / text

The aim of the present study was to examine how the academic confidence among first year and second year master students were affected by the students’ parents educational level. 47 students on advanced level completed a questionnaire examining self-efficacy (SE), a concept that Albert Bandura (1997) defined as the level of confidence individuals have in their ability to execute courses of action or attain specific performance results. The questionnaire also included questions regarding the students’ parents educational level, the students gender, age and campus. The results indicated that the students SE in no significant matter were affected by the parents’ educational level. Neither did the students gender or campus significantly affect their SE. There was a significant negative correlation between the age of students and SE, which showed that as the age of the students increased, their SE decreased. / Målsättningen med den aktuella studien var att undersöka hur magister- och masterstudenters tilltro till sin studieförmåga påverkades av deras respektive föräldrars utbildningsnivå. 47 studenter på avancerad nivå fick svara på en enkät som undersökte graden av self-efficacy (SE), vilket Albert Bandura (1997) definierade som förmågan att ta sig an en uppgift och slutföra den, samt nå ett på förhand uppsatt mål. Enkäten omfattade även information om studenternas föräldrars utbildningsnivå, studenternas kön, ålder och studieort. Resultaten visade att studenternas SE inte påverkades signifikant av föräldrarnas utbildningsnivå. Inte heller studenternas kön, eller studieort hade någon signifikant påverkan på SE. Däremot fanns en signifikant negativ korrelation mellan studenternas ålder och SE, vilken visade på att i takt med att åldern på studenterna ökade, så minskade deras SE.

How an individual's choice of profession is influenced has been studied for over 50 years. The main outcome of this research is that parental influence has a major impact on this decision. However, how the choice of profession is influenced and through what mechanisms are still somewhat inconclusive. This study aims to understand how the choice of profession is influenced. Central aspects are how parents, relations, social experiences, events and attitudes affect the choice of profession. Previous research shows how parents influence a child’s choice of profession, but that there are also mechanisms that influence that has not yet been defined. This study is based on qualitative interviews with six respondents of different ethnicity, education level and sex. Several factors that seem to influence the choice of profession have been distinguished in this research. We conclude that except from parental impact, also attitudes from friends, teachers and society in general influence the decision of future careers. Also, previous events and work experience seem to play a role. / Hur en individs yrkesval påverkas är något som har undersökts i över 50 år. Att föräldrarna påverkar barnens yrkesroll är något som har bekräftats. Men hur påverkan sker och vilka mekanismer som avgör yrkesvalet är något mer oklart. Syftet med detta självständiga arbete är att förstå hur yrkesvalet påverkas. Centrala frågor är hur föräldrar, relationer, sociala erfarenheter, händelser och attityder tillsammans påverkar yrkesvalet. Tidigare forskning visar att föräldrar påverkar yrkesvalet, men att där även finns andra mekanismer som inte har fastställts. Denna studie baseras på kvalitativa intervjuer med sex respondenter av olika etnicitet, utbildningsnivå och kön. Flera mekanismer som påverkar yrkesvalet har gått att urskilja i denna undersökningen. Huvudsakligen grundar sig dessa i föräldrar, umgängeskretsar, samhället samt personliga egenskaper och tidigare händelser i individers liv.