College attendance by Italian and American women over age 30 is compared, and attention is directed to whether mature Italian and U.S. women who continue their education do so for similar reasons and whether they experience similar problems. The analysis is based on two studies of women over 30 in post-compulsory degree programs: (1) a study on…

The conceptions of information needs of seven American and seven Swedish mechanics employed by a Swedish multinational machine industry are compared by using perspective text analysis to analyze their verbal responses to three open-ended questions concerning their need for work-related information. The structures embedded in the texts are…

Roles in the Jewish-American family system tend to be flexible, without a clearly defined division of labor or hierarchy of authority. Husband-father and wife-mother roles tend to be somewhat interchangeable and androgynous. Because role expectations constantly change to fit changing circumstances, ambiguity in each member's perception of…

Units of study to help secondary students learn about the aging process are provided. There are five units. Major concepts taught in the first unit, "Chronological Aging," are that aging is a continual process, that generational cycles ensure survival, and that species depend on each other for survival. In the second unit, students learn…

A study examined the influence that the United States media have on the values, morality, and traditions of other countries, and more specifically the effects on Korean values of American television as it is broadcast on the U.S. Forces Korean Network. College students in Seoul, Korea (46% male and 54% female with a mean age of 24.6) answered a…

In recent years, both American and Japanese people have experienced dramatic changes in the world of work. To compare Japanese and American work ethics and attitudes toward women's employment, Japanese and English versions of the Work/Family Ethic questionnaire were completed by 205 middle-aged Japanese and American adults. An analysis of the…

Schools have been accused of being insensitive to students' cultural backgrounds, and thus of failing to serve some populations because instruction and curricula are designed for middle class children. But teachers should be cautious about applying the findings of ethnographic studies which address this problem. Although ethnographic studies…

This publication contains two papers that describe Australian immigration policies, ethnic relations, and multicultural educational practices. Australia contains people from over 100 countries who speak approximately 50 different languages. The first paper, "Immigration Policies and Ethnic Relations in Australia," presents a historical…

Using a model of educational attainment modified to take the Mexican-American experience into account, data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Study were analyzed in an attempt to identify factors important to high school graduation for Mexican-Americans and Whites. Findings show that, among Whites, the general factor of family…

Efforts are underway to determine if there are any unique ways to Navajo thinking and thus to the way they might learn. Studies have shown a consistent lag in achievement levels for Native Americans, especially after seventh grade. At least three possible explanations for this phenomenon are viable: (1) They are deficient in the needed skills to…

A study of student opinions in a developing country--Malaysia--shows that the institutionalization of education in developed countries has been transferred to developing countries in the status given to Western degrees. Ideas about what constitutes knowledge and professionalism, disseminated by universities of the Western world, have come to…

"Outlier studies" identify items for which extreme differences in performance by contrasting groups occur; these extreme items are the "outliers" referred to. Review of the studies conducted on tests receiving major use in higher education reveals that though one cannot make a priori classifications of outliers with confidence,…

Focusing upon the interactive work-group communication patterns of employees classified as "managers," this paper compares such communication observed in Japanese and United States business and industrial organizations. The paper first describes several models of decision making within American and Japanese organizations, highlighting…

Twenty-four mother-toddler dyads, 12 each from the Hmong and Caucasian communities of the Twin Cities, took part in a cross-cultural study of maternal-child interaction and its links to health and development. Findings showed that the Hmong mothers were rated as more attentive, expressive, sensitive, responsive, and patient in childrearing than…

The refugee experience--migrating against one's will--is a source of immense psychological stress. This paper therefore draws on empirical findings and theoretical discussions from the psychological, psychiatric, nursing, social work, sociological, and anthropological literature in order to identify the major stressors encountered in the…