The author proposes that four basic questions be answered prior to the institution of any program of job improvement at the workplace, regardless of the problem or the solution involved. Each of the questions may help bring to light some hidden assumptions and, in doing so, may clarify the goals of program development. These questions are: (1)…

What impact do the institutions of society have on work? To answer this question a distinction was drawn between two models of social institutions, contrasting their characteristics and pointing out the implication of each model for an understanding of work and the production institution. It was concluded that the "multi-equal" model of social…

To investigate work adjustment of vocational education teachers, a nation-wide study was conducted focusing on vocational needs, job satisfaction, and job success. The study involved 180 secondary teachers from three vocational areas, business, home economics, and industrial education. A multistage sampling process was utilized to select…

This booklet, designed for job seekers, familiarizes the reader with careers in the social sciences. Occupational information is provided about careers in anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology and sociology. It outlines the various types of interests that Canadian social scientists pursue, the nature of their…

Contains history, case studies, and discussion of the use and benefits of flex-time employment, a pattern of working hours in which individual employees begin and end their work day at times of their choice, within certain limits, as long as they work a prescribed number of hours. The paper addresses the following topics: (1) What is flex-time,…

Jobs differs in ability, educational level, and other attributes required of workers such as a table listing 23 job characteristics (such as junior college required, outdoor work available, initiative required, etc.) shows which characteristics are associated with each of 281 occupations. Students can compare interests with occupational…

The relationship between the importance and satisfaction of various job characteristics as perceived by 322 business faculty members teaching in 15 Canadian universities is examined. The findings suggest that those aspects that the respondents felt to be most important were also those with which they were the least satisfied. (Author/JMD)

The quality of worklife concept means to create organizational environments in which labor and management cooperatively work together. In the United States, the moving force behind most quality of worklife experiments is the American Center for the Quality of Worklife. Discusses the successes and failures of some of these experiments. (EM)

Discusses executives' behaviors that create both defensive and supportive climates for workers, indicating ways in which transactional analysis can be used to interpret these behaviors and their effects. (RL)

Teaching Staff in day schools for mentally retarded students with direct classroom contact may carry an occupational risk of HBV infection. A seroepidemiologic study associated the prevalence of HBV markers with classroom contact with an HBsAg-positive student, duration of employment at school, and previous work with mentally retarded individuals.…

The author describes the work done by preschool teachers. Topics covered include (1) nature of the work, (2) working conditions and earnings, (3) qualifications and advancement, (4) employment and outlook, and (5) related occupations. Sources of additional information are listed. (CH)

Examined the extent and nature of employer workplace initiatives based on interviews with New Orleans (Louisiana) employers. Bolstered other research findings of progress but continued limited workplace implementations of formal, family-supportive programs. Found modifications of formal and informal policies extended organizational family…

Strategies for bringing knowing and doing together in the context of a seminar for students who are doing part-time internships along with their other courses are offered. Two students write and reflect about their own learning during their internships. (MLW)

This study investigated relationships among teacher assignment (general education and special education), primary organizational identification (local school and district level department), and perceived organizational conflict, as reported by 454 general and special education senior-high teachers. No differences were found between the two groups…

This research verifies complaints of substitute teachers that their work is dreary and unfulfilling. To improve this situation substitute teachers must be accepted by students and school personnel as full-fledged teachers with legitimate authority, rights, and responsibilities. Assigning them to specific subjects and grades will help them to…