Although employment can be an exciting challenge, it can also induce stress. This digest examines some of the characteristics of job-related stress. Three concepts characterize the association of work, mental health, and physical health. (1) Stress is an interaction between individuals and any source of environmental demand. (2) A stressor is an…

This study is one in a series that examines cohorts of American Rhodes scholars in order to determine how changing dynamics of merit, sponsorship, and democratization affect elite membership, socialization, occupational structures, and perceptions of leadership. This segment of the study examines the ways in which elite baccalaureate credentials…

Provides an overview of the benefits and limitations of pursuing a musical career in the military. Military band members enjoy greater job security and benefits than most musicians. The military, however, remains a highly structured environment and most musicians have to go through basic training. (MJP)

Account of one woman's climb to full professorship after over 20 years of teaching. Greeted with an icy reception at a midsize southern college, this Ivy League graduate was reluctantly hired in 1973. Recounts various specific instances of sex discrimination endured by the only full-time female professional in the music department. (LSR)

Technological innovations in factories and offices are examined in terms of 10 core issues: "high flex" workplace; control of work; organizational change; impact on skill; unemployment; educational needs and retraining; changing occupational structures; safety and health; interaction of work, leisure, and family; and quality of working life. The…

A study of 43 British women university faculty suggested that, in general, women faculty are small minorities, feel isolated and excluded, feel their authority challenged by male students, and pressure themselves to perform better than men. Women faculty tend to have fewer support systems, role models or mentors, and have difficulty with work…

Reports the findings of a study of library and information science faculty and compares results to a previous study of social science and humanities scholars. Topics addressed include collegial research relationships, publishing, professional association activities, attitudes toward scholarly and professional literature, computer skills and uses…

Effects of recent changes in Australian higher education on everyday academic work are examined, including changed emphases in teaching, research, administration, and public service and new demands associated with allocation of time, self-regulation, fragmentation of work into more discrete tasks, greater uniformity of effort, recruitment…

Describes the everyday working life of a lesbian teacher working in a secondary school in England. Compares her experiences and the problems she faces with those of other lesbian and gay teachers. Discusses school climate, the necessity for silence about her personal life, and school power structures. (JB)

Student activists have put pressure on colleges and universities to toughen licensing codes aimed at eliminating sweatshop labor for college apparel made in other countries, and have had some success. However, oversight of the codes among contractors in developing countries is logistically and economically problematic. (MSE)

Individuals who retire have widely varying needs and differ also in their preparedness for their new conditions.

In this article, the authors consider three sources of support for new teachers--hiring practices, relationships with colleagues, and curriculum--all found in earlier research to influence new teachers' satisfaction with their work, their sense of success with students, and their eventual retention in their job. They find that a "support…

Based on an extensive survey of the numbers, salaries, and benefits of part-time and non-tenure-track faculty in ten academic disciplines, a November 2000 report from the Coalition on the Academic Workforce (CAW) clarified how colleges and universities depend on contingent labor and how inadequately many of these faculty are supported. A group of…

Working in partnership with the Ontario Women's Directorate, Camco Inc. has taken a planned approach in determining appropriate workplace initiatives to help its employees address the issue of balancing paid work and family responsibilities. Camco surveyed employees to identify their needs and determine what kinds of programs would best respond to…

This paper addresses the shortage of physicians providing medical services to rural communities in Queensland, Australia. Queensland is the fastest growing Australian state, but it has the lowest ratio of total doctors to population. Data indicate there may be twice as many patients per rural doctor compared with the city, which represents a…