Notes that five-sixths of new workforce entrants between 1986 and 2000 will be women, minorities, and immigrants and that their career development needs must be met. Lists research-based generalizations concerning this issue and provides selected examples of statistics supporting each generalization. Concludes with comments regarding challenges…

Surveyed employers (N=100) on reservations about hiring people with disabilities. Found employers were convinced that workers with physical disabilities had positive work performance abilities and work personality attributes; opinions about workers with mental and emotional disabilities were much less positive. (Author/ABL)

Presents methods and outcomes of a study that analyzed the relationship between learner preferences, received instruction, and learner control. Seventy-five employees of a major corporation were pretested before and posttested after receiving random instruction. Tables display mean pretest and posttest scores, and attitudes toward received…

Examined responses of 43 Texas community colleges to federal Higher Education Act requirement to provide an accessible drug abuse program. Determined vast majority of colleges have developed written student policies and indicated primary influence was federal requirements. Although fewer colleges had employee programs than student programs, those…

A survey of 42 chief executive officers (28%), 72 line managers (47%), and 37 state agency personnel directors (24%) found that all 3 groups viewed the personnel department as primarily service providers, directors regarded themselves more involved in advisory roles than did the other 2 groups, and there was limited support for policymaking…

A survey of the 50 state personnel directors found that (1) their attitudes and actions reflect a concern for social equity issues; (2) 21 were women and 6 African American; (3) they experience similar role conflicts and tensions as federal civil servants; and (4) state personnel systems are addressing equity issues and benefit flexibility. (SK)

Effectiveness of training for public agency employees demands on adapting methods to individual learning styles. Trainers should assess employees' learning styles and create training environments that are affectively, perceptually, symbolically, or behaviorally complex, as appropriate. (SK)

Governors and legislators are looking for ways to help offset budget deficits, and the public pension funds that cover working and retired school employees are tempting targets. Discusses problems in a number of states, pros and cons of federal regulation, calculating retirement benefits, and how pension funds are controlled. (MLF)

Studied optimal experiences in 47 campers aged 11-12 years and 21 staff using experience sampling forms at random times during the day. Respondents rated the challenge of the activity and the amount of skill required on a four-point scale. Results suggest a high potential for optimal (flow) experiences in a camp setting. Provides suggestions to…

Surveyed 211 returning staff from 25 camps and interviewed 19 returning staff to study factors that influence a counselor's decision to return to camp. Examined the following dimensions of motivation and hygiene factors: (1) stimulation or inspiration; (2) personal; (3) job-related experience; (4) living conditions and camp life; (5) camp…

As the number of organizations engaged in some form of workplace literacy training grows, their capacity to enhance worker skills/knowledge and improve productivity becomes more challenging. Two factors are important: instructional program fit in the workplace and types of organizational support available. (Contains six references.) (LB)

A latent class unfolding model is developed for single stimulus preference ratings. One advantage is the possibility of testing the spatial unfolding model against the unconstrained latent class model for rating data. The model is applied to data about party preferences of members of the Dutch parliament. (SLD)

Results of 3 studies, involving 80 adult employees, 6,810 defense contractor employees, and 88 graduate students, support the reliability and validity of a new measure of global work autonomy, the Global Work Autonomy Scale (B. Ashforth and A. Saks, 1995). (SLD)

Injured workers (n=49) and their employers (n=23) were interviewed concerning their perceptions about their own and each other's behavior in the process of occupational rehabilitation. While workers focus on the perceived failure of the system to provide adequate care, employers were concerned with cost containment and productivity. Recommends…

Reviewed clinical- and cost-effectiveness studies, including quasi-experimental studies, of comprehensive, multifactorial worksite health promotion programs. Searching such sources as MEDLINE, ERIC, and ADI identified 15 studies. Results suggest that providing individualized risk reduction for high- risk employees within the context of…