Introduces this special issue of the journal and highlights the contents, which focus mainly on text and talk in the context of healthcare and medicine. (Author/VWL)

Comments on the methodological questions associated with applied linguistic field research, such as gaining access, data preparation, type of intervention, methods of data collection and analysis, and how to deal with requests for help and with the practitioners' expectation that discourse consultants will make recommendations for change. Focuses…

Comments on the changing dynamics in work practices. Argues that such changes are not new but have become more visible due to the increased access by outsiders, such as researchers and the media to the increase in litigation claims that exert additional pressure on practitioners. (Author/VWL)

Existing computer-assisted career guidance systems based on the linear career model are no longer adequate. Sometimes they may be accessed in less-controlled settings, raising ethical questions. Counselors must examine their mindsets, assumptions, interventions, and practices to reflect the new world of work. (SK)

Governmental professionalism is declining. There are many more political appointees in the bureaucracy and the environment has not been supportive or trusting. Public officials can play a role in restoring the environment for professionalism. (JOW)

A discussion of judicial and arbitral trends regarding sexual harassment addresses what constitutes harassment, outlines legislative action and judicial decisions, and identifies recent trends that show the evolution of social responses to it. (JOW)

Ways to improve training so that it actually gets applied on the job include screening the work environment to unearth potential barriers, establishing collaborative relationships with other areas (technical support, supervisors, human resources), and turning down training opportunities when follow-up support will not be available. (SK)

There is a powerful and common glass ceiling (barrier that prevents capable employees from being promoted) that affects men as much as women. Between middle management and the executive level, corporate culture shifts to one based on power and a worker must play by new rules even if these have never been explained. (JOW)

Examines differences between professional work setting, gender, and ethnicity, and attitudes toward brief and nontraditional therapeutic approaches. Results indicated that practitioners of minority classification, males, and individuals employed in private practice held more favorable attitudes toward brief therapeutic approaches, and ethnic…

Content analyses were used to explore alternative sources and functions of developmental support other than mentoring among nonfaculty university employees. The alternative source of support most frequently mentioned was coworkers. The results also suggested that alternative sources of support may provide many of the functions associated with…

Incivility by teachers can turn into behavior that injures careers. Workplace "mobbing" or bullying begins when an individual becomes the target of disrespectful and harmful behavior. Recounts experiences of two teachers. Offers suggestions to school leaders to stop this incivility. (MLF)

Cooperative education could play a role in education for sustainability, which has evolved from environmental education. Three modes for integrating them are learning about education for sustainability in the workplace, teaching the workplace about education for sustainability, and integrating education for sustainability and cooperative…

The president of the City University of New York College of Staten Island reflects on her path to the presidency. She admits that even with help and advice, the climb to the top is rigorous, but that it leads to a richly rewarding view. (EV)

An ethnographic study of 24 office workers trained in supervisory skills used heuristic elicitation methodology. Workplace design was a key organizational factor impeding or facilitating transfer of training. Design features that did not support privacy were the most frequent impediment. Management support was also an important factor. (Contains…

Noneconomic factors such as level of education, job flexibility in work hours, and physical stress appear to influence older women's labor force participation resulting in many retired women who are employed. Some women classified as retired work nearly as many hours as those employed, although many employed older women work part time. (Contains…