Redefining Higher Education Through Competency-Based Education and Flexible Course Schedules

COVID has impacted the world in so many ways that life may never be “normal” again. What has come out of the pandemic is a trajectory of how we view the workplace and the classroom. With a growing number of people out of work due to the pandemic, many are turning to education to help get a job and improve their skill set. With a growing number of adult learners, higher education must be re-defined and re-evaluated. Even before the pandemic, competency-based education offered the nontraditional student the flexibility of time, pace, and cost to aid in their educational goals. Through this research, higher education is redefined to look at college degrees with a student-focus as opposed to the traditional institutional-focus, specifically in terms of course flexibility, cost savings, and pace.

Certification-Degree Pathways

Degrees from colleges and universities have historically been prerequisites for many good paying jobs. While the value of college degrees has recently been questioned by the American public, legislators, and employers, college is still viewed as an important component to the growth and socialization of learners destined to become future employees. Because they offer industry-recognized credentials, certification bodies already have a foothold in the siloed worlds of work and education and may provide an avenue to address the known gaps between employers and educational institutions. By leveraging their ability to identify the needs of employers as well as assessing knowledge and skills, certification bodies may play an important role in developing new opportunities for learners. Therefore, a pathway offering learners the ability to earn a certification while earning their degree provides individuals the ability to showcase a broad base of knowledge as well as work-relevant skills.

Motivations and Barriers for Adult Learner Achievement: Recommendations for Institutions of Higher Education

Recent trends in higher education indicate a steady increase in the number of adult and non-traditional learners returning to complete college degrees. Though higher education can provide numerous economic and career enhancement opportunities, adult learners experience several challenges when they return to college. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to gather and analyze data from employees from companies in the Midwest to determine the challenges and motivations of adult learners who plan to return to higher education. The results highlight that it is important for institutions of higher education to collaborate with employers to identify ways to modify their student recruitment methods to attract more adult student learners and identify supportive resources to help them complete their degrees successfully.

The Politics of Vaccine Hesitancy in the United States

ObjectiveWhy are Americans COVID-19 vaccine hesitant? We test social science hypotheses for vaccine hesitancy, focusing on partisanship, trust in institutions, and social-demographic characteristics of registered voters.MethodsWe use survey data from a representative sample of American registered voters collected in November 2020 to study vaccine hesitancy, and the reasons for vaccine hesitancy, at a point in time before the vaccine was available and hence show underlying responses based on beliefs and not on clinical trial data. We use multivariate logistic regression models to test hypotheses on vaccine hesitancy.ResultsWe find that consistently similar groups of people tend to be vaccine hesitant. Specifically, Black voters, those between the ages of 45 and 64, female voters, voters without college degrees, voters not worried about the spread of COVID-19, and voters who are concerned about government and the CDC’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, were vaccine hesitant. We also provide intriguing results showing the nuanced reasons that the vaccine hesitant provide.ConclusionsOur analysis allows us to establish important baseline information from a social science perspective on vaccine hesitancy at a crucial time, right before COVID-19 vaccines were beginning to be made available to adult Americans. What emerges from our analysis is a nuanced perspective on vaccine hesitancy in the United States, from this important point in the history of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Traditioning a Resurgence Anthem

This chapter traces the roots and routes of a Yupiit resurgence anthem, “Tarvarnauramken,” through some of the pathways and contributions of three (now) well-known and highly respected Yup’ik Elders: Theresa Arevgaq John, Chuna Nengqerralria McIntyre, and Marie Arnaq Meade. Over time, their collective paths converged as members of Nunamta (Of Our Land) Yup’ik Eskimo Dancers (ca. 1980s), one of the first professionalized Native performance groups to come out of Alaska and to develop inter-village yet distinctly Yupiit-specific aesthetics and sonic vernaculars. Their individual paths offer further insights into the densities of being highly educated in both Yupiit and non-Yupiit senses; they are fluent in Yugtun and Yuuyaraq (Way of the Human Being), and they have each earned college degrees and lived influential lives as public artists and intellectuals. The conclusion questions the role of density in traditioning Yupiit performance practices, especially for Yupiit performances in diaspora.

Rising nonmarital first childbearing among college-educated women: Evidence from three national studies

Levels of nonmarital first childbearing are assessed using recent administrations of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort; the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health; and the National Survey of Family Growth. Results confirm that the higher a woman’s educational attainment, the less likely she is to be unmarried at the time of her first birth. A comparison over time shows increases in nonmarital first childbearing at every educational level, with the largest percentage increase occurring among women with college degrees at the BA or BS level or higher. This article projects that 18 to 27% of college-educated women now in their thirties who have a first birth will be unmarried at the time. In addition, among all women who are unmarried at first birth, women with college degrees are more likely to be married at the time of their second birth, and, in a majority of cases, the other parent of the two children was the same person. A growing proportion of well-educated women, and their partners, may therefore be pursuing a family formation strategy that proceeds directly to a first birth, and then proceeds, at a later point, to marriage, followed by a second birth. Possible reasons for the increase in nonmarital first births among the college-educated include the stagnation of the college wage premium; the rise in student debt; decreasing selectivity; and the growing acceptability of childbearing within cohabiting unions, which have become a common setting for nonmarital childbearing, and among single parents.

Does college level the playing field? Socioeconomic gaps in the earnings of similar graduates: evidence from South Korea

The socioeconomic gap in participation at university is an enduring policy issue in South Korea, as in many other countries. However, less attention has been paid to the socioeconomic gap in the outcomes from tertiary education. This paper addresses this gap in the literature, using the Korean Education and Employment Panel (KEEP) data to investigate the extent to which the wages of Korean graduates who attended similar higher education institutions vary by socioeconomic background. The results show that a degree appears to largely level the playing field, in terms of earnings, between male graduates from poor and rich backgrounds. For females, by contrast, family background is still a strong predictor of earnings, even after allowing for institution attended and discipline of degree. Further, the wage premium for 2-year and 4-year college degrees also varies by family background. Four-year college degrees, contrary to popular belief, do not always attract a higher wage premium than 2-year college degrees, particularly for men from poorer family backgrounds.

Model of Psychological Empowerment Based on Structural Equations for Predicting Autonomy

The study relies on the assumption that one of the main effects of phycological empowerment composed by attributes like self-esteem, locus of control, and assertiveness, is increased autonomy. The theoretical arguments are tested based on a structural equation model that allows estimating hypothetical relationships simultaneously. Additionally, differences in means between women and men are estimated for each phycological variable and the hypothetical model is tested separately to both sexes. 1,569 people (56% women) from five Mexican States compose the sample. The average age is 29 years and 59% of the sample has college degrees. The results suggest that psychological empowerment is strongly related to autonomy. How to cite this article: Muñoz-Márquez, C. E., Morales Barrera, R., & Domínguez Espinosa, A. del C. (2021). Model of Psychological Empowerment Based on Structural Equations for Predicting Autonomy. Revista Colombiana de Psicología, 30(2), 55-69. Retrieved from https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/psicologia/article/view/82149

“A Personal Decision”: A Mixed-Methods Study of Parents’ Opposition to School-Based Public Health Initiatives in the Wake of COVID-19

Schools play a key role in promoting public health. Yet, these initiatives also face opposition from parents, and such opposition may be increasing in the wake of misinformation campaigns and efforts to politicize public health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, parent opposition helped derail schools’ efforts to require masks and vaccines. Thus, it is important for educators and policymakers to understand the extent, source, and nature of parents’ opposition to new school-based public health initiatives. Combining data from a national survey of US parents (N=1,945) with a content analysis of a Facebook group for parents in one politically divided school community, we found that, at the peak of the pandemic (December 2020), nearly one third of parents opposed each of our two focal initiatives. We also found that parents based their opposition to (or support for) school-based public health initiatives on individualistic calculations about the costs and benefits those initiatives would impose on their individual child. Those calculations, however, did not always follow the same logic. In light of those varied logics, vaccine opposition was most common among Republicans, mothers (especially white mothers), parents without college degrees, and Black parents. Meanwhile, opposition to mask mandates was disproportionately common among Republicans, fathers, and college-educated parents (especially among white parents), as well as among those who had COVID-19. We conclude that individualistic approaches to parental decision-making are preventing communities from enacting and maintaining school-based public health initiatives and undermining health and education as public goods.

JOB SATISFACTION OF MEDICAL STAFF AT NATIONAL OTORHINORARYNOLOGY HOSPITAL OF VIETNAM, 2019

Objective: Evaluation of job satisfaction of medical staff at National Otorhinorarynology Hospital of Vietnam, 2019.Methods: Design a cross-sectional descriptive study, interview 306 health workers according to a set of prepared questionnaires built on the two-factor theory of Ferederick Herzberg.Results: The overall satisfaction rate of medical staff is high, reaching 95.4%. health workers are most satisfied with their relationship with colleagues 93.5%, followed by learning and developmentopportunities 91.8%, income and policies, both are 88.9%, on benefits 88.6%, on supervisor supervision 88.2% and finally on working conditions 82.7%. Logistic regression analysis showedthat the overall satisfaction rate in the married group was lower than the single group (OR=0.75; 95%CI: 0.42-0.99; p<0.05); higher in the group of intermediate and college degrees than in theuniversity group (OR=1.63; 95%CI: 1.12-2.85; p<0.001); in the group working for more than 15 years was higher than that of the group under 5 years (OR=1.66; 95%CI: 1.06-2.23; p<0.05).Conclusion: Effective management in the hospital in the context of financial autonomy helps the satisfaction rate of health workers to be high. It is necessary to improve the infrastructure in some faculties and focus on the group of medical staff with short working years in human resources.