Purpose is an indicator of healthy human development and believed by some theorists and educators to be an important outcome of college. The aim of this study was to test the potential for assessing purpose using a person-centered analysis, thereby providing more individual-specific understanding of students' purpose development, and second by…

Longitudinal analyses have revealed informative patterns about health, mental health, adaptive skills, autism symptoms, and social skills during the transition to adulthood for autistic individuals. This study expands on these findings by investigating the trajectories of positive affect from age 15 to 30 years using a heterogeneous cohort (n =…

We employ a feminist phenomenological methodology to explore the lived meaningfulness of the academic dual career. We contend that university approaches to resolving the "problem" of dual career fail to address partners' long-term commitments and shared challenges. Following an analysis of focus group interviews with dual career academic…

The emerging green economy will create not just jobs, but--if done right--career opportunities across the United States as green manufacturing, green products, and green services fuel demand for workers at all skill levels. Sixty-one percent of the members of the Association of Energy Engineers report a growing shortage of qualified professionals…

In recent years, issues pertaining to graduate student union organizing have been at the center of several political battles and court cases. This attention is, at least in part, due to the growth of graduate student unions at a time when organized labor's influence is receding in other, more traditionally unionized sectors of the labor force. As…

A new measure of community well-being is developed based on the notion that community residents perceive the quality-of-life (QOL) impact of community services and conditions in various life domains (e.g., family, social, leisure, health, financial, cultural, consumer, work, spiritual, and environmental domains). These perceptions influence…

Opportunities for community employment of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are limited, and have not improved over the past quarter century of interest and effort. This report provides the findings from an outcome study of this issue. Twenty-seven people with intellectual and developmental disability, residents in Kent…

Most research on parental bookreading has focused on mothers reading to their children. This study examined bookreading practices among approximately 800 fathers and mothers in low-income families. We looked at differences and similarities between families where both parents read frequently compared to families where only mothers read frequently.…

Background: Asthma is a serious problem for low-income preteens living in disadvantaged communities. Among the chronic diseases of childhood and adolescence, asthma has the highest prevalence and related health care use. School-based asthma interventions have proven successful for older and younger students, but results have not been demonstrated…

The physical decay of neighborhoods is associated with social conditions such as disease risk, poor mental health, and fear of crime. Researchers assessing neighborhood effects commonly operationalize neighborhoods via municipal boundaries such as U.S. Census Tracts, although more sophisticated analyses examine structures within a defined radius…

Sociologists have documented how important place is in people's lives. C. Wright Mills (1959) argued that people must understand that they do not exist in a vacuum, but that their values, beliefs, and behaviors are influenced by the particular time and place in which they themselves exist. The development of this "sociological…

This study investigated psychosocial factors thought to be associated with perceived stress over the course of infertility treatment. The research was based on secondary analysis of data from the Study of Marriage, Family, and Life Quality with a sample of 128 people who completed an infertility-related stress instrument at all three measurement…

New facilities at schools and universities are being designed that embrace the latest learning techniques and philosophies. The article describes two facilities that exemplify this trend: Thomas Jefferson Hall at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and Cass Technical High School library in Detroit, Michigan. Libraries, once thought…

While wandering through the recesses of history one occasionally stumbles upon relatively uncelebrated persons whose contributions to the quality of life and faith of a given population merit attention. Their insights and experience have paved the way for continuing developments in religious education. One such person is Josephine Van Dyke…

The use and impact of a $256 monthly cash subsidy by 1,283 Michigan families with children with severe disabilities were examined. Families reported such uses as the purchase of clothing, toys, sitters, special foods, adaptive equipment, and professional services. Families indicated that the subsidy had improved family life, eased financial…