This study analyzes the writing performance levels of 352 students to determine the extent to which business students are achieving written communication competency and whether differences exist among the business majors. Although most students met or exceeded expectations in format and content on a common writing task, students were weakest in grammar and mechanics, with almost half scoring below expectations across all majors. The findings indicate no statistically significant differences in writing competency among majors. This study also suggests that business communicators can serve as “collegial consultants” in a cross-disciplinary effort to improve student writing.
{"title":"Major Difference: An Examination of Student Writing Performance by Major and its Implications for Business Communication","authors":"Lucia S. Sigmar, G. Hynes","doi":"10.5929/2011.2.1.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5929/2011.2.1.6","url":null,"abstract":"This study analyzes the writing performance levels of 352 students to determine the extent to which business students are achieving written communication competency and whether differences exist among the business majors. Although most students met or exceeded expectations in format and content on a common writing task, students were weakest in grammar and mechanics, with almost half scoring below expectations across all majors. The findings indicate no statistically significant differences in writing competency among majors. This study also suggests that business communicators can serve as “collegial consultants” in a cross-disciplinary effort to improve student writing.","PeriodicalId":189332,"journal":{"name":"Administrative Issues Journal","volume":"188 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117302808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Factor Analysis of Intern Effectiveness.","authors":"Sid T. Womack, S. L. Hannah, C. D. Bell","doi":"10.5929/2011.2.1.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5929/2011.2.1.5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":189332,"journal":{"name":"Administrative Issues Journal","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122763567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The purpose of this study was to examine the factors contributing to a successful transition into the role of a new superintendency in Texas. A triangular designed mixed methodology with a convergence model was employed. The setting was urban, suburban, and rural school districts in Texas. The participants were superintendents of public school districts in Texas. Quantitative data were collected through the use of an electronic survey, while a focus group was conducted to collect the qualitative data. Participating superintendents indicated that the training and education they received had adequately prepared them for the role of a new superintendent and that school board relations were important during the entry period. Analysis of qualitative data resulted in three themes; namely, community, learning, and goals and expectations. In accordance with the convergence model, the quantitative and qualitative results were synthesized and discussed. Based on the results of the study, a need for additional professional development programs or emphasis in college and university programs on the entry period of the superintendency, negotiating the superintendent’s contract, writing an entry plan, and working with stake holders was indicated.
{"title":"FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO SUCCESSFUL TRANSITIONS INTO THE ROLE OF A NEW SUPERINTENDENCY IN TEXAS: A MIXED METHODS TRIANGULATION CONVERGENCE INQUIRY","authors":"Nancy Jones","doi":"10.5929/2011.2.1.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5929/2011.2.1.1","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this study was to examine the factors contributing to a successful transition into the role of a new superintendency in Texas. A triangular designed mixed methodology with a convergence model was employed. The setting was urban, suburban, and rural school districts in Texas. The participants were superintendents of public school districts in Texas. Quantitative data were collected through the use of an electronic survey, while a focus group was conducted to collect the qualitative data. Participating superintendents indicated that the training and education they received had adequately prepared them for the role of a new superintendent and that school board relations were important during the entry period. Analysis of qualitative data resulted in three themes; namely, community, learning, and goals and expectations. In accordance with the convergence model, the quantitative and qualitative results were synthesized and discussed. Based on the results of the study, a need for additional professional development programs or emphasis in college and university programs on the entry period of the superintendency, negotiating the superintendent’s contract, writing an entry plan, and working with stake holders was indicated.","PeriodicalId":189332,"journal":{"name":"Administrative Issues Journal","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134350593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The primary purpose of this study was to explore the personal experiences of female and male engineering students in both Division I (17 females and 16 males) and Division II (11 females and 11 males) programs. Analyses of narratives of 55 undergraduate engineering students revealed that the sociocultural experiences of female and male students differ in substantial ways in that socialization processes into engineering are problematic for women, who often rely on one another to bolster their self-efficacy perceptions and resiliency. Another important finding is that Division II female students were provided much more support by both professors and male peers than were their Division I counterparts, who reported more incidents of negative interactions with male students, especially when working in collaborative groups.
{"title":"SOCIALIZATION PROCESSES OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS: DIFFERENCES IN THE EXPERIENCES OF FEMALES AND MALES","authors":"M. Riney, Janet G. Froeschle","doi":"10.5929/2011.2.1.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5929/2011.2.1.9","url":null,"abstract":"The primary purpose of this study was to explore the personal experiences of female and male engineering students in both Division I (17 females and 16 males) and Division II (11 females and 11 males) programs. Analyses of narratives of 55 undergraduate engineering students revealed that the sociocultural experiences of female and male students differ in substantial ways in that socialization processes into engineering are problematic for women, who often rely on one another to bolster their self-efficacy perceptions and resiliency. Another important finding is that Division II female students were provided much more support by both professors and male peers than were their Division I counterparts, who reported more incidents of negative interactions with male students, especially when working in collaborative groups.","PeriodicalId":189332,"journal":{"name":"Administrative Issues Journal","volume":"54 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114564024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Women in business are perceived to have been successful; however, the numbers of women in ‘C-level’ positions (e.g., CEO, CFO, CIO, etc.) provide evidence to the contrary. This paper examines obstacles to women rising to ‘C-level’ positions and how business education contributes to, but may ultimately help resolve these problems by identifying ways to increase the effectiveness of business education and educators regarding gender bias. Barriers that prevent women from advancement and contributing factors in business education are identified. Recommendations for strategies in business education to reduce, manage, and create awareness of gender bias in the classroom are presented. For educators in business schools, these findings suggest the importance of acknowledging that gender bias still exists and revising business curricula to address this problem, thus better preparing business graduates of both genders to identify and develop strategies for reducing gender bias in the workplace. Keywords: business, education, gender bias, glass ceiling
{"title":"BUSINESS EDUCATION AND GENDER BIAS AT THE ‘C-LEVEL’","authors":"G. Miller, F. Sisk","doi":"10.5929/2011.2.1.10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5929/2011.2.1.10","url":null,"abstract":"Women in business are perceived to have been successful; however, the numbers of women in ‘C-level’ positions (e.g., CEO, CFO, CIO, etc.) provide evidence to the contrary. This paper examines obstacles to women rising to ‘C-level’ positions and how business education contributes to, but may ultimately help resolve these problems by identifying ways to increase the effectiveness of business education and educators regarding gender bias. Barriers that prevent women from advancement and contributing factors in business education are identified. Recommendations for strategies in business education to reduce, manage, and create awareness of gender bias in the classroom are presented. For educators in business schools, these findings suggest the importance of acknowledging that gender bias still exists and revising business curricula to address this problem, thus better preparing business graduates of both genders to identify and develop strategies for reducing gender bias in the workplace.\u0000\u0000Keywords: business, education, gender bias, glass ceiling","PeriodicalId":189332,"journal":{"name":"Administrative Issues Journal","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117188777","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study employed a survey in examining the important influences that shape a student’s selection of a major in the Col-lege of Business (COB). In particular, it compared these influences, by major, to assess which items were most (and least) important to the students majoring in accounting, general business, finance, management, marketing, and MIS. The in-fluences, totaling 37, included internal influences (e.g., interest in the field), external influences (e.g., projected salary), and interpersonal influences (influence of significant others). Some of the findings were consistent with those of prior studies. For example, interesting work was highly important for all business majors, and specific interpersonal influences such as parents, high school teachers, and peers were relatively unimportant. The findings presented herein suggest that the over -all impact of interpersonal influence may have been underestimated in previous studies. Unlike many previous studies, this study showed that job availability and job security were more important to students than interest in the field. This study augments the extant literature in that the survey was conducted right after the 2009 recession, which allowed an analysis of student decision making during a period of high unemployment and lingering economic uncertainty. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed. Keywords: business, college major, careers, survey
{"title":"SELECTING A BUSINESS MAJOR WITHIN THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS","authors":"Dave Roach, R. McGaughey, James P. Downey","doi":"10.5929/2011.2.1.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5929/2011.2.1.7","url":null,"abstract":"This study employed a survey in examining the important influences that shape a student’s selection of a major in the Col-lege of Business (COB). In particular, it compared these influences, by major, to assess which items were most (and least) important to the students majoring in accounting, general business, finance, management, marketing, and MIS. The in-fluences, totaling 37, included internal influences (e.g., interest in the field), external influences (e.g., projected salary), and interpersonal influences (influence of significant others). Some of the findings were consistent with those of prior studies. For example, interesting work was highly important for all business majors, and specific interpersonal influences such as parents, high school teachers, and peers were relatively unimportant. The findings presented herein suggest that the over -all impact of interpersonal influence may have been underestimated in previous studies. Unlike many previous studies, this study showed that job availability and job security were more important to students than interest in the field. This study augments the extant literature in that the survey was conducted right after the 2009 recession, which allowed an analysis of student decision making during a period of high unemployment and lingering economic uncertainty. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed. Keywords: business, college major, careers, survey","PeriodicalId":189332,"journal":{"name":"Administrative Issues Journal","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134456500","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Assessment personnel are those individuals who work in the capacity of evaluation of students with disabilities, including, but not limited to, educational diagnosticians, educational examiners, psychometrists, and instructional specialists. These professionals are responsible for identifying strengths and weaknesses and for providing teachers with evidence-based recommendations that can be implemented in the classroom to improve performance of students with learning deficits. This qualitative study examines 19 educational diagnosticians’ perceptions related to the barriers and supports that impacted their ability to provide evidence-based recommendations for students who are learning disabled. Three categories of barriers to issuing successful evidence-based recommendations emerged as a result of the study: Knowledge of EvidenceBased Interventions, Time to Complete Assessments, and Support from Administrators and Teachers.
{"title":"The Promises and Realities of Evidence-Based Practices: Perceptions from Assessment Personnel.","authors":"Jessica A. Rueter, C. Simpson","doi":"10.5929/2011.2.1.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5929/2011.2.1.3","url":null,"abstract":"Assessment personnel are those individuals who work in the capacity of evaluation of students with disabilities, including, but not limited to, educational diagnosticians, educational examiners, psychometrists, and instructional specialists. These professionals are responsible for identifying strengths and weaknesses and for providing teachers with evidence-based recommendations that can be implemented in the classroom to improve performance of students with learning deficits. This qualitative study examines 19 educational diagnosticians’ perceptions related to the barriers and supports that impacted their ability to provide evidence-based recommendations for students who are learning disabled. Three categories of barriers to issuing successful evidence-based recommendations emerged as a result of the study: Knowledge of EvidenceBased Interventions, Time to Complete Assessments, and Support from Administrators and Teachers.","PeriodicalId":189332,"journal":{"name":"Administrative Issues Journal","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129341281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In today’s economic climate, government is now considered by many to be the “employer of choice.” However, employers at all levels of government may eventually lose their recent gains in the war for talent, as the economy improves. Accordingly, it is important to explain how public sector managers viewed the relative advantages and disadvantages of government employment before the economic downturn along specific parameters, including opportunities for women and minorities, managerial autonomy, and employee talent and innovativeness. This paper assesses these views for state-level public managers across a broad range of public services, using survey data that preceded the economic downturn. Specifically, it examines how their past public and private sector career experiences, controlling for their contemporaneous government work experiences, affect their views of the public and private sectors. The study emphasizes career experiences not because past work experience are the only or the most important predictors of sector perceptions generally, but because career trajectory may be the most important consideration for developing strategy for response to government workforce dynamics once the economy improves. Thus, the findings are explained in terms of the related processes of workplace socialization and attitude formation and change, which see public and perhaps also private sector occupational norms and expectations and experiences, past and present, amalgamating to render personal values conducive to favoring one sector over the other. The importance of sector perceptions for human resources management and for broader government workforce concerns as the economy recovers are discussed, as well theory development regarding the career trajectories of public managers.
{"title":"WHEN GOVERNMENT IS NO LONGER EMPLOYER OF CHOICE: WHAT MAY THE SECTOR PERCEPTIONS OF PUBLIC MANAGERS BE LIkE AFTER THE ECONOMY RECOVERS?","authors":"Craig Boardman, B. Ponomariov","doi":"10.5929/2011.2.1.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5929/2011.2.1.2","url":null,"abstract":"In today’s economic climate, government is now considered by many to be the “employer of choice.” However, employers at all levels of government may eventually lose their recent gains in the war for talent, as the economy improves. Accordingly, it is important to explain how public sector managers viewed the relative advantages and disadvantages of government employment before the economic downturn along specific parameters, including opportunities for women and minorities, managerial autonomy, and employee talent and innovativeness. This paper assesses these views for state-level public managers across a broad range of public services, using survey data that preceded the economic downturn. Specifically, it examines how their past public and private sector career experiences, controlling for their contemporaneous government work experiences, affect their views of the public and private sectors. The study emphasizes career experiences not because past work experience are the only or the most important predictors of sector perceptions generally, but because career trajectory may be the most important consideration for developing strategy for response to government workforce dynamics once the economy improves. Thus, the findings are explained in terms of the related processes of workplace socialization and attitude formation and change, which see public and perhaps also private sector occupational norms and expectations and experiences, past and present, amalgamating to render personal values conducive to favoring one sector over the other. The importance of sector perceptions for human resources management and for broader government workforce concerns as the economy recovers are discussed, as well theory development regarding the career trajectories of public managers.","PeriodicalId":189332,"journal":{"name":"Administrative Issues Journal","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121410630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This qualitative study examines how educators who are either currently enrolled or who have completed an educational leadership preparation program in the past five years at one Rocky Mountain university understand social justice—as a concept and operationally—and the role of multicultural education in promoting social justice in P-12 school settings. Less than half (44%) of the educational leaders in this study were familiar with the concept of social justice, with those leaders who were familiar with the concept identifying full and equal participation (17%) and equal distribution of resources (11%) as the focus of school programs. Less than one third (28%) of participants expressed views reflecting cultural proficiency or competence, indicating a need for explicit coverage of social justice issues and cultural responsiveness in the educational leadership program examined. The results of this study indicate the need for leadership preparation programs to explicitly address social justice and oppression issues to increase the awareness of leaders and thus their capability to facilitate change that supports greater social justice and equitable educational outcomes for all students.
{"title":"Enacting Social Justice: Perceptions of Educational Leaders.","authors":"Linda R. Vogel","doi":"10.5929/2011.1.2.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5929/2011.1.2.6","url":null,"abstract":"This qualitative study examines how educators who are either currently enrolled or who have completed an educational leadership preparation program in the past five years at one Rocky Mountain university understand social justice—as a concept and operationally—and the role of multicultural education in promoting social justice in P-12 school settings. Less than half (44%) of the educational leaders in this study were familiar with the concept of social justice, with those leaders who were familiar with the concept identifying full and equal participation (17%) and equal distribution of resources (11%) as the focus of school programs. Less than one third (28%) of participants expressed views reflecting cultural proficiency or competence, indicating a need for explicit coverage of social justice issues and cultural responsiveness in the educational leadership program examined. The results of this study indicate the need for leadership preparation programs to explicitly address social justice and oppression issues to increase the awareness of leaders and thus their capability to facilitate change that supports greater social justice and equitable educational outcomes for all students.","PeriodicalId":189332,"journal":{"name":"Administrative Issues Journal","volume":"54 3","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"113989682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This quantitative study, utilizing the backward method of multiple regression, examined the relationship between the length of tenure of a superintendent and academic achievement as defined by the percentage of students who scored “Proficient” or better on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment. To put this relationship into context, five other predictive variables were included as a part of this study: the individual’s total length of experience as a superintendent, the superintendent’s total length of experience in education, each district’s assessed valuation per pupil, each district’s percentage of students who qualified for free or reduced meal prices, and each district’s total student headcount. To gain the most comprehensive view possible, all 295 Kansas school districts in existence in 2008 were included in this study. Although included as one of the four predictive variables that had a significant effect on the percentage of students who scored “Proficient” or better on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment, the primary focus of this study – to examine the impact a superintendent’s length of tenure has on students’ academic achievement – proved to have the least relative impact, according to beta weights.
{"title":"Superintendent Length of Tenure and Student Achievement.","authors":"S. Myers","doi":"10.5929/2011.1.2.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5929/2011.1.2.4","url":null,"abstract":"This quantitative study, utilizing the backward method of multiple regression, examined the relationship between the length of tenure of a superintendent and academic achievement as defined by the percentage of students who scored “Proficient” or better on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment. To put this relationship into context, five other predictive variables were included as a part of this study: the individual’s total length of experience as a superintendent, the superintendent’s total length of experience in education, each district’s assessed valuation per pupil, each district’s percentage of students who qualified for free or reduced meal prices, and each district’s total student headcount. To gain the most comprehensive view possible, all 295 Kansas school districts in existence in 2008 were included in this study. Although included as one of the four predictive variables that had a significant effect on the percentage of students who scored “Proficient” or better on the 2008 Third Grade Kansas Reading Assessment, the primary focus of this study – to examine the impact a superintendent’s length of tenure has on students’ academic achievement – proved to have the least relative impact, according to beta weights.","PeriodicalId":189332,"journal":{"name":"Administrative Issues Journal","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128069161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}