Elementary school children were asked to recall information about individuals either labeled elderly or not labeled at all. Found that children rated the elderly as unattractive, poor, sad, and sick and also had negative feelings about being old. Results suggest that children's concepts or stereotypes about the elderly affect the organization and…

Finnish special-education teachers (n=135) rated five sentences written by an 11-year-old student either labeled or not labeled as being in a special class for educable mentally retarded (EMR) students. Results indicated that the EMR label diminished teachers' ratings and that teacher dogmatism and pessimistic stereotype correlated negatively with…

Explored gender constancy's interaction with television viewing, using videotapes of television viewing and viewing diaries for 5-year olds. Gender-constant boys focused on more male characters and watched more action and sports programs than preconstant boys. Gender-constant girls viewed more action programming than preconstant girls. Acquisition…

Historically, women's recreation and leisure programs have been inferior to men's. The article reviews the history of recreation programming for females, examines the effect of contemporary feminism, then discusses current and future inclusive programming. Includes references. (SM)

New research and structures of higher education must be explored to create positive learning environments for gay, lesbian, and bisexual students, whose needs may be different from those of traditional students. This requires attention to college and classroom environment, curriculum, and services, including campus activities, career and personal…

Discusses the importance of avoiding stereotypes and considering the many forms of families when talking about increasing parent involvement in the schools. The article provides information on families with children, single-parent families, blended families, family finances, and population changes. (SM)

Reviews and compares "Gender and Mathematics" edited by Leone Burton and Valerie Walkerdine's book "Schoolgirl Fictions" on proposed truths related to gender issues in mathematics. Issues include (1) attention given to boys and girls in mathematics class; (2) the effects of noncompetitive classroom environments; and (3) sex differences in…

Describes an ethnic collection development conference held in California that focused on how librarians can meet the needs of the growing numbers of ethnic and racial minorities. Topics discussed include library management; sources of reviews for ethnic titles; selection criteria; acquisitions procedures; cataloging practices; subject heading…

Parents and teachers can help children accept diversity in others by looking at their own beliefs and recognizing subtle stereotypes. Children will be influenced negatively by society if adults do not deliberately intervene to help create positive attitudes toward all people. Five strategies for helping change childrens' misconceptions are…

Studies female engineers' characteristics, how they were socialized into engineering, and coping mechanisms for a male-dominated work world. Interviews with 29 women and 3 men suggest that women choose engineering because of the challenge, interest, and parental influence. Many female engineers experience gender discrimination and problems with…

Studies differences in sex-typing of occupations based on job title (JT) versus job description (JD), school classification, and gender, using 1,601 female and 1,344 male seventh graders and eighth graders viewing 2 videotapes of 18 occupations' JDs or JTs. JT elicited more sex typing than JD. Males had more sex-typed occupational attitudes. (RLC)

Data from 2,000 Norwegian 16-year-old ninth graders were used to study the importance of socioeconomic factors and sex differences in an educational system with mainstreaming, no ability grouping, little acceleration, and no retention in grade. Analysis illustrates how sex and socioeconomic differences may be mediated in an egalitarian society.…

Investigated sex differences in preschoolers' computer interest and computer competence. There was little evidence for greater male interest and competence; in fact, there were no sex differences in computer competence. Boys viewed the computer as male-oriented, and girls viewed it as female-oriented. (GLR)

Examines Chinese-American author M. H. Kingston's book "The Woman Warrior" and the controversy and literary response to it. Discusses the dilemma of the "ethnic" writer and other issues including the use of literary license and social documentation and tensions between historical and experiential authenticity. (JB)

Contends that it is important to eliminate negative attitudes and discriminatory behavior toward children and adults with disabilities. Reports on a study of the effect of a unit on the history of treatment of persons with disabilities on 142 nondisabled students enrolled in 7 10th-grade social studies classes. (CFR)