Randall Eberts explores the role of teachers unions in public education. He focuses particularly on how collective bargaining agreements shape the delivery of educational services, how unions affect both student achievement and the cost of providing quality education, and how they support educational reform efforts. Eberts's synthesis of the…

This study explored the consequences of perceived job security and insecurity on the psychological and physical health of employees. Data were gathered from employees of a large midwestern manufacturing organization that produced products for material removal applications. Surveys were sent through company mail to a stratified random sample of 442…

Canadian business graduates (n=217) rated items related to old and new career and organizational realities. Respondents who were older and had higher incomes and longer tenure were more likely to endorse the new career "rules." Those who did had more job satisfaction, more optimistic future prospects, and less intention to quit. (SK)

The experiences of 24 women and 14 men working at home (23 independently, 15 as employees) indicated that, although their prime motivation was flexibility, this often benefitted employers more than employees. There were gender differences in childcare arrangements and part-time status. Home-based employment has the potential to reinforce existing…

Interviews and other data collected from a high-tech firm found that organizational instability raises workers' inclination to quit, independent of whether their job security is threatened. Instability undermines trust and impairs the usefulness of incentives intended to increase commitment. (SK)

A 4-year study of 70 adult educators in the vocational training sector showed that they had diverse work patterns, with increasing numbers in casual, contractual, or part-time work. Employee flexibility was rarely rewarded or reciprocated by employers. Wage polarization increased, and a view was emerging that casualization was inevitable. (SK)

These days, most newly hired faculty are appointed on a part-or full-time nontenure- track basis. The AAUP has reported that between 1975 and 2003, full-time tenure-track positions increased by only about 16 percent, while full-time non-tenure-track positions grew by 178 percent, and part-time appointment rose by 189 percent. Yet tenure…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a processual framework of psychological contract breach, which maps holistically the interactions among concepts drawn from the trust and justice literature. However, the price of a holistic picture is frequently a lack of depth of analysis of any single variable, and consequently the second part of…

Analyzes union effects on patterns of job mobility. It finds that the union effects vary by type of union and by type of job change, with industrial unions promoting the incidence of intrafirm occupation changes and craft unions decreasing the incidence of interoccupation moves. (CT)

The practice of granting tenure to academic administrators, especially presidents and academic deans, seems fairly prevalent. However, it is important to consider the possible advantages and disadvantages carefully before making such an offer. Boards interested in attracting talented administrators empowered to do what is in the best interest of…

The principalship may be the most demanding school administrator role. Principals strive to provide vision and unity of purpose within challenging, dynamic, and highly political settings. To enhance job security, principals should refine their interpersonal skills, maintain a proper world perspective, delegate tasks appropriately, look for signs…

Structural equation modeling results from data on 178 undergraduates and their parents in Singapore indicated that paternal job insecurity was associated positively and maternal job insecurity negatively with authoritarian parenting. Mothers' authoritarian parenting was related to young adults' self-efficacy. Self-efficacy was positively…

Five articles address the realities of coping with downsizing: "Living with Layoffs" (Nocera); "How Safe Is Your Job?" (Lieber); "Career Makeover" (Robinson); "Ma Bell's Orphans" (O'Reilly); and "Where Are They Now?" (Martin). (SK)

Investigated job insecurity of 326 Israeli secondary teachers in public and private sectors, using a multidimensional measure of job insecurity. Public-sector teachers tended to emphasize intrinsic job factors, while private-sector teachers tended to stress extrinsic ones. Job insecurity's effects on teacher attitudes also differed. (59…

A survey of more than 300 Nova Scotia youth revealed that they expect strong demands for periodic retraining that may affect the stability of their careers. They believe that governments and employers should accept responsibility for some of the retraining costs. (Author/JOW)