This study tests hypotheses posed in a 1983 article regarding the Sloan School of Management and the Harvard Business School (HBS). In this article, Van Maanen (1983) states that student-faculty and student-student relations in the two MBA programs differ due to their contrasting institutional and curricular characteristics. Subsequently, the Sloan School of Management adopted some of the same characteristics found at HBS. By adopting a cohort system, eliminating the master's thesis as a degree requirement, increasing its program size, and placing greater emphases on student in-class participation and faculty teaching quality relative to research production, the Sloan School has begun to resemble HBS structurally. Through interviews with MBA students, faculty members, and administrators as well as observations of classes and analysis of documents including course syllabi, this study attempts to determine whether the Sloan culture resembles that found in the literature on HBS. The results show that Sloan's culture looks more similar to that at HBS in some ways. Most importantly, the implementation of the cohort system has increased the sense of cohesiveness among students. In this manner, the Sloan culture has begun to resemble that at HBS. The more dramatic effects on student-faculty and student-student relations that are attributed to the HBS cohort, however, have not begun to appear at Sloan. Nor have the increased emphases on student in-class participation and faculty teaching quality had the same effects at Sloan as they have at HBS.

Description of students as at-risk became a trend in educational policy and programming in the late 1980s. The term at risk was originally part of the specialized discourse of medicine and psychology, and related subfields of education such as special education and educational psychology. Due to the influence of national reform reports, the term at risk became more common in the discourse of policymakers and practitioners. It was used as a descriptor of students, often low-income and/or minority students, likely to fail or drop out of school. This study employed methods from sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and policy analysis to trace the uses and meanings of at risk through national reports, state education policies in Arizona, and district policies in a medium-sized Arizona school district with both rural and suburban schools. Analysis of reports and recorded interviews with state policymakers, district administrators, principals, and teachers identified differences in the meanings of at risk at different levels of the educational system. Groups at each level had particular interests in students, as reflected in their definitions of the problems of at-risk students and their policy recommendations. The most common consequences for students of being labelled at-risk were to be removed from the mainstream for special treatment, despite arguments of some researchers and theorists that educators need to rethink such approaches.

During the last decade the term "economic development" has been widely used in community college policy statements and literature, but the meaning of the term has lacked clarity and consistency in interpretation. Additionally, there is little empirical information regarding the design of community college economic development programs. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, to determine community college faculty and administrator perceptions of the term "economic development". Second, to analyze the actors, processes, organizational structures, role of faculty and external forces affecting economic development programs at community colleges. A political/pluralistic framework and qualitative research methods were selected to capture the dynamics of a complex, multi-college community college district. The study found that college constituents hold varying interpretations of the term "economic development". Full-time faculty define economic developments in terms of employable skills and job training for students. Administrators, almost without exception, perceive economic development as serving the needs of business, primarily large, corporate businesses. The organizational structure for economic development programs includes a centralized district economic development department and some college-level business and industry institutes. These structures are primarily "stand alone" entities, largely administratively run, operating parallel to but separate from the traditional, main educational functions of the college. The purpose of the district economic development department is to help recruit large, corporate businesses and to hire and train a work force for relocating or expanding companies. The economic development role of the community colleges is primarily industrial training. Few full-time faculty participate in the development and implementation of economic development courses or programs which are primarily designed and taught by independent contractors, many times employees of the company receiving the training. The study raises the question of whether community college economic development programs are driven by state or local interests because of the emphasis on serving primarily large, corporate companies in lieu of small to middle size local companies. Also, in light of diminishing state and local resources and additional demands placed on community colleges, policymakers must reevaluate their role in economic development and existing methods of funding such programs.

This paper investigates the multiskilled health practitioner (i.e., imaging specialist) how they are trained for what they do and the way their traditional role as a generalist in radiologic technology has been impacted by advancing technologies. This dissertation consists of multiple case studies, which is primarily qualitative and exploratory in nature. It does not test a hypothesis in a strict sense and is grounded in analytical categories and theories derived from the literature on technology, work, occupations, and organizations. The data analysis section consists of four sections: perceptions of the MSHPs' work, the impact of technology (i.e., incentive structures, wages, issues of autonomy/authority, task difficulty/responsibility and patterns of interaction), the enskilling/deskilling findings for all MSHPs in general and each hospital subgroup, and the MSHPs perceptions about the effectiveness of their formal education programs. With regards to a cultural examination of the workplace, the most significant sociological perspective identified were in the patterns of interaction. Specifically, three primary stylistic differences are noted. In relation to the effects of technology, an institutionalized practice of the incentive structure and the homogeneity of three broad skills were noted among our cohort. Additionally, three contextual factors that condition social action and thereby affect a technology's tendency to enskill or deskill are revealed. In light of the attributes and deficiencies noted by the interviewees regarding their formal educational programs and skills required for their new roles, the researcher provides five recommendations for strengthening technology transfer programs in which to better prepare the MSHP.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the educational aspirations and future expectations of working class youth in an all-female Catholic high school. The ethnographic methods of primarily interviews and participant observation were used to discover the plans and the decision processes of approximately 21% of the senior class. Sixty girls were interviewed four weeks before graduation, as well as 20 teachers and administrators. Almost 100% of the sample (59) planned to attend college the following fall. While most institutions were competitive, only one planned to attend a most competitive, most selective institution, although several met the admissions requirements to do so. One-fourth of the sample planned to attend community colleges. The institution helped to facilitate the process of college entrance. However, many of the girls' decisions were determined before high school, and most were influenced by family members, most of whom had never attended a finished college. It was observed and reported by the girls that the all-female environment enhanced their educational experiences.

The character of the professional socialization experience is a subject of debate in the literature; one of the primary issues being the relative contributions of trainees to the nature of their socializing experience. As crucial as the clinical education experience is to the educational and professional development of medical students, it has received relatively little attention in the literature on professional socialization of physicians. The goals of this research were to understand, from the students' perspective, the character of the first clinical learning experience in the medical school career of a group of medical students and, given the character of that context, the role of student negotiations in their own education and professional socialization. This study employed a symbolic interactionist framework and the data collection methods of participant observation and unstructured interview. The data collection was conducted over a six-week period during which time the researcher experienced along with a group of six medical students their first clinical learning experience. These students perceived the clinical learning environment to be challenging, complex and frequently too busy to easily accommodate their learning needs. They recognized the enormity of their learning task and of their own incompetence. These were the basic perceptions that prompted the students to negotiate their clinical learning experience. Student negotiations took three basic forms: the creation of new learning opportunities, the manipulation of existing learning resources, and interpretation of events and behaviors. Students' negotiations were constrained by the structure of the education program and the students' own assertiveness. The study's findings indicate that the students were active negotiators of the content and the conduct of their own professional education and professional socialization. Even in the face of overwhelming demands on their intellectual and emotional resources, the students expressed their individual and collective intent for their educational experience. The study findings were similar to those of earlier studies of professional socialization, although new behaviors and behaviors inconsistent with those found in previous research were uncovered. Contributions to the literature on professional socialization and to an understanding of this phenomenon were made through the explanation of these inconsistencies.

The purpose of this case study was to explore, from the perspective of students enrolled in a baccalaureate evangelical nursing program, the process of learning to care as a professional nurse. A modified symbolic interactionist perspective guided the study. The specific research questions focused on identification of student conceptions of caring, social processes that may have an effect on student conceptions of caring, and the effect that diverse clinical rotations may have on student conceptions. Initially, a content analysis of selected institutional documents was conducted and a detailed description of the institution was reported to contextualize the distinctive nature of the evangelical institution. Following this analysis, students and faculty members were observed during clinical experiences and interviewed both formally and informally during one academic year. Twenty-three nursing students enrolled in medical/surgical, maternity and community health clinical nursing courses and their respective faculty members participated in the study. The process of learning to care was, for many students, influenced by their life experiences and Christian worldview. As students developed conceptions of professional caring, they identified issues and tensions related to trust, respect, and interpersonal balance. In relationships with patients, staff nurses and faculty members, students identified conflicting messages regarding professional caring. The reality and challenge of providing care as a nurse was most meaningfully realized and negotiated in the clinical settings. The general conceptions of caring students held remained stable in each of the clinical settings, although students identified selected clinical characteristics that had an effect on the implementation of professional caring.

New student affairs professionals encounter a myriad of socialization challenges as they undergo both graduate and professional socialization and organizational socialization. More often than not, these environments are socializing new student affairs professionals in ways that are incongruent and perhaps even oppositional. Layered on top of these general socialization tensions is the emergence and encroachment of academic capitalism into student affairs professional environments. For the purpose of this dissertation, the term Market Effect with be utilized in place of academic capitalism to depict how academic capitalism has manifested itself in the student affairs profession. This case study of four college student personnel programs seeks to understand how new student affairs professionals make sense of and resolve socialization tensions in professional environments and the extent to which these socialization tensions are created by the marketization of the student affairs profession. The literatures drawn upon in this study include, the sociology of professions and professionalization, professional socialization and education, student affairs history and professional ideology, and academic capitalism and the marketization of student affairs. Implications and recommendations are made in the final chapter.

Graduate student recruitment has received relatively little attention in the literature. Most of the research has been quantitative and narrowly focused on factors related to student choice. While graduate student enrollment has remained essentially stable for over ten years, demographic shifts and anticipated needs for doctoral prepared faculty and scientists give cause for concern. The goals of this research were to understand how four departments at a large research university approach graduate student recruitment and what influences how departments recruit students. In addition, the study sought to understand how students experience the recruitment process and how that experience may differ by ethnic group, by gender, and by department. One hundred faculty, administrators, and graduate students were interviewed and a wide variety of documents were analyzed. Findings indicate graduate recruitment has been left to the departments, in contrast to undergraduate recruitment where coercive mechanisms have been applied centrally, through access and equal opportunity initiatives. Departmental goals related to recruitment focus primarily on getting the best students, while central administration goals are centered on increasing diversity among students and enhancing the quality of research. The numbers and characteristics of the customers, suppliers, and competitors have a significant impact on departmental recruitment. Experiences of students differed widely by department and by level of study. Generally students did not feel recruited. Masters students had different experiences than did doctoral students, and women had different experiences than male graduate students. The practical implications are: (1) Because graduate student recruitment is a student-initiated process, communication about graduate school must improve; (2) Departments must take better care of students, both undergraduate and graduate, so that students will want to continue their education at the graduate level; (3) Faculty involvement in recruitment is important; (4) Recruitment can be enhanced by strengthening connections among units on campus; (5) Departments lack expertise in recruitment; (6) Departmental efforts to increase ethnic minority enrollment need to be improved; (7) External sources of potential graduate students need to be explored; (8) Ways to decrease the financial obstacles must be developed and maintained; and (9) Consideration should be given to increasing graduate student enrollment in particular disciplines.

This study analyzes the dominant governance and decision making characteristics in community colleges by tracing the implementation of state mandated program review through two Florida community colleges. An alternative hypothesis is presented which challenges the predominate assumption in the community college literature which portrays these institutions as bureaucratic organizations. Through the application of a hybrid framework which combines three dominant organizational models--bureaucratic, political, and organized anarchy--with three parallel views of policy implementation--programmed, evolutionary, and adaptive--the study suggests that in governance and decision making as well as policy implementation, these colleges exhibit behavior more varied and complex than can be captured by any one model. A case study method was utilized to address the assumptions of the study. Field work included extensive interviews at both institutions and at the Division of Community Colleges. Content analysis was completed on the data gathered on site and analyzed across the several dimensions of the framework. In addition to suggesting alternative governance and decision making models, the study also challenges the closed systems perception of community colleges. Issues of coordination and control are explored, particularly in relation to the environmental vulnerability of two-year colleges. The study concludes that community college governance and decision making is too complex to be explained by a single model. Political and anarchic behavior are generally more prevalent than bureaucratic behavior. The president at each institution exercised authority in a manner which encouraged political and anarchic behavior. This led ultimately to increased presidential discretion and greater executive or managerial authority. These institutions responded to the state policy initiative by projecting the appropriate image of conformity to the state while simultaneously buffering the institution from any substantive policy influence. Implications for further research include the need to more thoroughly analyze the open systems nature of two-year colleges, with particular emphasis on the complex environment in which they operate. Policy implementation in community colleges should be reconsidered in light of the adaptive and evolutionary implementation behavior of these local institutions.