Investigates the relationship between social networking and job placement of university graduates. Results reveal two different approaches to the process of job entry-use of formal or informal contacts. Significant differences were found between use of formal and informal sources of help relating to graduates' job-search intention and confidence…

A model predicting relationships between professional expertise and three variables (social networks, training and development, individual career initiatives) was tested with data from 420 higher-level employees and 224 supervisors. Results showed differences in three career/age stages and significant contributions of training and individual…

This paper considers the way social partnerships tend to be represented as either horizontal localised networks or neo-liberal policy instruments. Building on two empirical studies of partnerships, we argue that partnerships cannot be understood in either/or ways but are negotiated at the interface between central agencies and local networks. They…

This is an ethnographic study of the literacy practices of a group of rural Northeastern Thai women participating in a community-based literacy programme. Field research for the study examined the women's literacy practices and domains of literacy use in daily life, and the strategies they used to negotiate day-to-day life tasks in the context of…

Faculty learning communities create connections for isolated teachers, establish networks for those pursuing pedagogical issues, meet early-career faculty expectations for community, foster multidisciplinary curricula, and begin to bring community to higher education. The following are appended: (1) Qualities Necessary for Community in FLCs; and…

We explored the perceptions of caregivers of older adults using Internet-based social support networks regarding the unique advantages and disadvantages of online social support. Participants were recruited with permission of Web owners through 15 Web sites that offered social networks, and responses from 63 electronically submitted surveys were…

The collapse of the Soviet Union had devastating consequences for the lives of its population, especially for older adults, many of whom became impoverished and were left with no social support. Using data from a survey of 2,579 elderly Jews in two of the largest countries of the former Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine, we examine variables that…

The introduction of new market institutions in former socialist countries has produced economic and social dislocations in people?s lives. Researchers have focused on the impact of these changes on inequality and poverty, but have not given much attention to changes in community relationships. Panel data from surveys of Russian rural households…

This article draws on one year of qualitative data concerning a foreign-born English as a second language teacher. Findings reveal the key role that the foreign-born English as a second language teacher's shared personal experiences play in creating curriculum and conducting instruction that confirms the students' ethnic identities and pushes them…

The present paper examines existing links between identities and the social structure in the context of identity control theory. I point out that, whether social structure is conceived as positions (roles and group memberships) to which identities are tied, or as the human organization of resource flows and transfers that are controlled by the…

The concept of social organization provides an important framework for understanding families in the context of communities and focuses our attention on norms, networks, and associated processes that typify community life. We discuss the significance of community for understanding family outcomes, discuss challenges in defining community context,…

In "EDUCAUSE Quarterly," Volume 25, Number 3, 2002, Joan Getman and Nikki Reynolds published an excellent article about getting the most from a conference. They listed 10 strategies that a conference attendee could use to maximize the conference's yield in information and motivation: (1) Plan ahead; (2) Set realistic expectations; (3) Use e-mail…

Teenagers' lives are filled with writing. All teens write for school, and 93% of teens say they write for their own pleasure. Most notably, the vast majority of teens have eagerly embraced written communication with their peers as they share messages on their social network pages, in emails and instant messages online, and through fast-paced thumb…

This qualitative case study reports on processes and outcomes of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded System-Wide Change for All Learners and Educators (SCALE) project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison). It addresses a critical challenge in studying systemic reform in complex organizations: the lack of methodologies that…

Research Findings: Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, this article relates neighborhood characteristics to the type of child care used in families with toddlers and preschoolers (N = 1,121; representative of children in Chicago in 1996-1998). Neighborhood structural disadvantage was assessed via U.S. Census…