Am I a Qualified Literacy Researcher and Educator? A Counter-Story of a Professional Journey of One Asian Male Literacy Scholar in the United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bong Gee Jang
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Minority Faculty ◽  
Literacy Practice ◽  
International Faculty ◽  
Potential Barriers ◽  
Professional Experiences ◽  
Barriers And Challenges ◽  
Meaningful Literacy

Although there has been a significant increase in the number of minority faculty members in higher education, little is known about potential barriers and challenges we face during their early career development. In this counter-story article, I share my own professional experiences regarding the choices I made and obstacles I faced in developing my own career including both teaching and research. Compared with mainstream early career scholars, I realized that there are certain areas or methods that I was expected to teach or research. I hope that my counter-story presented in this article can contribute to understanding the conflicts and labels that international faculty may face and reframing them as potential assets that we can develop and bring into meaningful literacy practice.

Citation Metrics in Psychological Science

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162096412
Author(s):  
Nina Radosic ◽  
Ed Diener
Keyword(s):  
Citation Count ◽  
National Research Council ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Enormous Variation ◽  
Citation Counts ◽  
Citation Metrics ◽  
Number Of Citations

We present norms for faculty citation counts based on 811 faculty members at 30 PhD-granting psychology departments in the United States across the range of the National Research Council rankings. The metrics were highly skewed, with most scientists having a low to moderate number of citations of their work and a few scientists having extremely high numbers. However, the median per-year citation count was 149, showing widespread scientific contributions across scholars. Some individuals in lower ranked departments are more highly cited than the average scholar in higher ranked departments, with enormous variation in citation counts in both the low- and high-ranking departments. Citation counts overall have risen in recent years, and the citations of early-career scholars are increasing at a faster rate than their senior colleagues did at the same point in their careers. We found that citation counts at the beginning of scientists’ careers substantially predict lifetime citation success. Young scholars’ citation counts are associated with obtaining positions at higher ranked universities. Finally, we found no significant differences for subfields of psychology. In sum, although a few highly productive scientists have a very large influence, trends reveal that contributions to psychological science are growing over time, widespread, and not limited to a few stars and elite departments.

Chinese university faculty members' visiting experience and professional growth in American universities

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Jie Hu ◽  
Kezheng Chen ◽  
Dongfang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Professional Growth ◽  
The United States ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
University Faculty ◽  
Academic Experience ◽  
American Universities ◽  
Chinese University ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Visiting Scholars

We empirically investigated Chinese university faculty members' visiting experience and professional growth in American universities. The major data source was qualitative semistructured interviews with 30 Chinese faculty members in the arts, engineering, natural sciences, and social sciences disciplines. The results showed that, despite challenges in preparation, language, and different academic cultures, Chinese visiting scholars were capable of navigating their host programs and achieving professional growth as they moved from peripheral to central participation in their academic community. We also critically discussed how Chinese visiting scholars' academic experience in the United States can be improved, and cast light on the globalization of higher education.

scholarly journals Why do Irish pig farmers use medications? Barriers for effective reduction of antimicrobials in Irish pig production

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessia Diana ◽  
Sylvia Snijders ◽  
Alison Rieple ◽  
Laura Ann Boyle
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Pig Production ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Potential Barriers ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Personal Action ◽  
Barriers And Challenges ◽  
Attitudinal Changes

Abstract Background In addressing the threat of antimicrobial resistance, it is critical to understand the barriers to the uptake of strategies for the reduction of antimicrobial use (AMU) in the pig industry. In several EU countries, factors such as education level, habits and social pressures are recognised as affecting farmers’ decision-making process in relation to AMU. However, there is a lack of information on the Irish scenario. The aim of this study was to investigate pig farmers’ perspectives and their behaviour towards AMU to identify potential barriers to effectively reduce AMU in Irish pig production. We conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 30 pig farmers, 5 pig veterinarians and 4 focus groups of pig farm personnel. We employed qualitative analyses to explore the objective of the study. Results Qualitative analysis revealed six convergent themes as potential barriers: perceptions about the need for AMU on farm, concept of animal welfare and associated management practices, legislation, culture, economics and standards of communication/type of advice-network. Overall, pig farmers believed that there is poor communication between stakeholders (i.e. farmers, vets and advisors) and a lack of reliable people to approach for advice. They considered themselves as operating responsibly in terms of AMU compared to their national and international colleagues and expressed the importance of a so-called ‘Irish solution’ to the problem of AMU because it was associated with what ‘has always been done’ and was therefore considered reliable and safe. Conclusions Barriers and challenges were in line with those identified in other EU countries highlighting similarities in behavioural and attitudinal patterns among pig farmers. Overall, farmers appeared to be more likely to rely on previous experiences or to wait for an imposed change (e.g. legislation) instead of taking personal action. Thus, considerable behavioural and attitudinal changes are needed to adopt a more responsible AMU in Irish pig production and to develop effective intervention strategies.

Thinking Outside the Mosque

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 104-108
Author(s):  
Anna Challet
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Female Student ◽  
Male Student ◽  
School Community ◽  
The United States ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Islam In America ◽  
The Future

This article discusses how the community at Zaytuna College, the first and only accredited Muslim college in the United States, is charting the future of Islam in America. The college is located in Berkeley, California and admitted its first class in 2010. The article gives an overview of the school and its curriculum, which combines Islamic scholarship with Western teachings. The piece then profiles four members of the school community–a female student who was raised as a Muslim, a male student who converted to Islam, and two faculty members (both of whom are also converts).

Professional values, job satisfaction, career development, and intent to stay

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 675-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Yarbrough ◽  
Pam Martin ◽  
Danita Alfred ◽  
Charleen McNeill
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Career Development ◽  
Intent To Stay ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Professional Values ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Hospital System ◽  
The Future

Background: Hospitals are experiencing an estimated 16.5% turnover rate of registered nurses costing from $44,380 - $63,400 per nurse—an estimated $4.21 to $6.02 million financial loss annually for hospitals in the United States of America. Attrition of all nurses is costly. Most past research has focused on the new graduate nurse with little focus on the mid-career nurse. Attrition of mid-career nurses is a loss for the profession now and into the future. Research objective: The purpose of the study was to explore relationships of professional values orientation, career development, job satisfaction, and intent to stay in recently hired mid-career and early-career nurses in a large hospital system. Research design: A descriptive correlational study of personal and professional factors on job satisfaction and retention was conducted. Participants and research context: A convenience sample of nurses from a mid-sized hospital in a metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States was recruited via in-house email. Sixty-seven nurses met the eligibility criteria and completed survey documents. Ethical considerations: Institutional Review Board approval was obtained from both the university and hospital system. Findings: Findings indicated a strong correlation between professional values and career development and that both job satisfaction and career development correlated positively with retention. Discussion: Newly hired mid-career nurses scored higher on job satisfaction and planned to remain in their jobs. This is important because their expertise and leadership are necessary to sustain the profession into the future. Conclusion: Nurse managers should be aware that when nurses perceive value conflicts, retention might be adversely affected. The practice environment stimulates nurses to consider whether to remain on the job or look for other opportunities.

Immigrant Entrepreneurship: The Effect of Early Career Immigration Constraints on New Venture Formation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajshree Agarwal ◽  
Martin Ganco ◽  
Joseph Raffiee
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
New Venture ◽  
Opportunity Costs ◽  
Paid Employment ◽  
Specialized Human Capital ◽  
New Venture Formation

We examine how institutional factors may affect microlevel career decisions by individuals to create new firms by impacting their ability to exercise entrepreneurial preferences, their accumulation of human capital, and the opportunity costs associated with new venture formation. We focus on an important institutional factor—immigration-related work constraints—given that technologically intensive firms in the United States not only draw upon immigrants as knowledge workers but also because such firms are disproportionately founded by immigrants. We examine the implications of these constraints using the National Science Foundation’s Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System, which tracks the careers of science and engineering graduates from U.S. universities. Relative to natives, we theorize and show that immigration-related work constraints in the United States suppress entrepreneurship as an early career choice of immigrants by restricting labor market options to paid employment jobs in organizational contexts tightly matched with the immigrant’s educational training (job-education match). Work experience in paid employment job-education match is associated with the accumulation of specialized human capital and increased opportunity costs associated with new venture formation. Consistent with immigration-related work constraints inhibiting individuals with entrepreneurial preferences from engaging in entrepreneurship, we show that when the immigration-related work constraints are released, immigrants in job-education match are more likely than comparable natives to found incorporated employer firms. Incorporated employer firms can both leverage specialized human capital and provide the expected returns needed to justify the increased opportunity costs associated with entrepreneurial entry. We discuss our study’s contributions to theory and practice.

Exploring the Relationship between Demographic Isolation and Professional Experiences of Black and Latinx Teachers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Kemper Patrick ◽  
Francisco Arturo Santelli
Keyword(s):  
Small Sample Size ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Teachers ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Continuous Measure ◽  
Professional Experiences ◽  
Workplace Experiences ◽  
Perceived Satisfaction ◽  
Ordinal Measure ◽  
Qualitative Work

Educational leaders throughout the United States have repeatedly emphasized the importance of increasing the number of Black and Latinx teachers in American schools. Prior qualitative work suggests that Black and Latinx teachers who are demographically isolated in their schools often report negative experiences. Drawing on theories of proportional representation in organizations, we use Tennessee statewide survey and administrative data to examine whether self-reported professional experiences of Black and Latinx teachers are different when they are demographically isolated. We estimate models using two measures of demographic isolation: a continuous measure and a theoretically generated ordinal measure. We find that, for Black teachers, the percentage of Black teachers in the school is positively associated with teachers’ perceived satisfaction and support and with the frequency of collaboration. There is also some evidence of threshold effects of demographic isolation for Black teachers, as Black teachers in schools in which at least 60% of fellow teachers are Black report significantly higher satisfaction and support than other Black teachers. Our models do not find any associations between isolation and professional experience for Latinx teachers, but a small sample size and lack of variation in demographic isolation among Latinx teachers makes it difficult to estimate these associations. Our findings suggest that both ordinal and continuous measures of demographic isolation may be useful when examining relationships between demographic isolation and workplace experiences. Because we study factors linked to turnover in prior research, these analyses can contribute to the broader discussion about the retention of Black and Latinx teachers.

Mentoring Early Career Special Education Teachers

2009 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Dempsey ◽  
Michael Arthur-Kelly ◽  
Breda Carty
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Turnover Rates ◽  
High Turnover ◽  
Professional Experiences ◽  
Mentoring Support

For some time, special education has been plagued by shortages of qualified teaching staff and by high turnover rates for these staff. While several factors—external, employment and personal—are largely responsible for this situation, the research demonstrates that the initial professional experiences of early career teachers are closely associated with their longevity in the field. This paper reviews the literature on mentoring support for beginning teachers, mentoring models and the use of information technologies in mentoring support. The paper concludes with recommendations for methods of support for Australian early career special-education teachers.

A comparative study of piano performance programs at university-level institutions in China and the United States: From current faculty members’ and students’ perspectives

2021 ◽  
pp. 025576142110657
Author(s):  
Yuan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Prospective Students ◽  
Piano Performance ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Challenging Tasks ◽  
Applied Lessons ◽  
University Level ◽  
And Performance

This study investigated the perceptions of piano performance programs in higher education from current collegiate students and faculty members’ perspectives in China and the United States. Participants were from representative university-level institutions in the U.S. ( n = 41) and China ( n = 130). They were sent a questionnaire concerning (a) the factors that motivate students to pursue a piano performance degree, (b) the most important educational practices in their programs, (c) the most challenging tasks the students encounter, (d) students’ career goal, and (e) faculty members’ suggestions for prospective students and opinions on improving the piano performance programs. A summary of students and faculty members’ perceptions were outlined and the comparison between the two countries were explored. It is encouraging that not only students gave careful attention toward the applied lessons and performance opportunities in their studies, but also that a large percentage of the students believed they received excellent advice regarding practice strategies and artistry in their applied lessons in both countries. Most of the faculty participants in both countries expressed positive attitudes regarding the piano performance programs in their universities. By providing statistically significant data, this study provides a comprehensive vision for institutions to continue establishing piano programs.

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