Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Although female enrollment in higher education has increased dramatically throughout the world, women remain significantly underrepresented in engineering programs. We examine cultural and structural factors influencing the gender composition of engineering programs in 44 countries. Our results suggest that different causal processes are at work within more and less economically developed countries. Cultural factors (i.e., girls’ attitudes toward mathematics, and exposure to macro-cultural norms of gender-egalitarianism) are better predictors of female representation in engineering in advanced industrial societies, while structural factors (i.e., economic modernization and tertiary system size) are more important in less economically developed countries. We argue that universalistic mandates for gender egalitarianism within higher education have been addressed through creation of female occupational and educational “ghettos,” which contribute to the generation of gender-specific career preferences and aspirations among adolescents. The relative material security and the self-expressive value systems prevailing in modern “postmaterialist” societies allow for the realization of such gender-specific aspirations, despite the substantial economic costs of such choices.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Foreign policy analysts, citizens, and policymakers have become increasingly aware that a nation?s international image is an important factor in determining how effective it might be in pursuing global endeavors. In the specific case of the United States, Robert Wright notes how ?several forces have converged to create a new truth: national security depends crucially on foreign feelings towards the United States" (Wright, 2006:28). This concern has prompted an upsurge in scholarship that studies the U. S. image in the world, notably in books by Sweig (2006), Kohut and Stokes (2006), and Rusciano (2006), which attempt to explain why this nation?s image has declined internationally since 2000.This paper attempts to take a different approach to the issue of Fremdbild, or the manner in which a nation is perceived in other countries. Rather than tracing the rise or decline of the United States? image over time, it attempts to discover the factors that go into the construction of this image in other countries. This study uses the Pew Global surveys of 44 different nations from 2004 to trace the components of the U. S.?s international image. It discovers that there are three factors that affect how other nations view the United States: (1) their opinions on American culture, in terms of music and film, business practices, and political ideals; (2) their opinions on U. S. military hegemony in the world; and (3) their general opinions about whether they ?like? Americans, and the United States as a nation.The paper then moves on to construct a model of the relations among these three factors. The study also tests whether the model varies among different regions of the world. Finally, the project tests whether this model holds in other global surveys conducted by the Pew Research group; this analysis will attempt to find whether the three factors have different weights in affecting the overall image of the United States over time. The paper concludes by arguing these preliminary steps towards deconstructing a nation?s global image are not just useful in international public relations, but might just provide some lessons about the type of behavior that can promote admiration or approbation for a nation in the international realm.ReferencesWright, Robert. ?They Hate us, They Really Hate Us.? The New York Times Book Review. 14 May 2006. P. 28.Sweig, Julia E. Friendly Fire: Losing Friends and Making Enemies in the Anti-American Century. Washington: A Council on Foreign Affairs Book. 2006.Kohut, Andrew and Stokes, Bruce. America Against the World: How We Are Different and Why We Are Disliked. New York: Times Books/Henry Holt and Company. 2006.Rusciano, Frank Louis. Global Rage After the Cold War. New York: Palgrave. 2006.

Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: This study will use 2006 American Community Survey data to examine and describe the financial housing characteristics in Puerto Rico. Data from the United States will be used for comparison purposes.

In Puerto Rico, 47 percent of mortgaged owners and 14 percent of owners without a mortgage spent 30 percent or more of their household income on selected monthly owner costs, compared with 37 percent and 16 percent respectively for the United States. However, while selected monthly owner costs for mortgaged owners is higher in Puerto Rico than in the United States, gross rent as a percentage of household income is significantly lower, 35 percent of renters in Puerto Rico spent at least 30 percent of their household income on rent and utilities compared with 46 percent of U.S. renters. Thus, compared with the United States, the Puerto Rico housing market seems to be two-tiered with relatively low costs for renters and owners without mortgages and relatively high costs for owners with mortgages.

This study will describe the financial housing characteristics in Puerto Rico, both for the Commonwealth as a whole and by municipio or PUMA. We will look at the spatial distribution of high- and low-cost housing to determine whether individual municipios/PUMAs really do have two-tiered housing markets or, alternatively, whether the high-cost municipios/PUMAs have a much larger share of owners with mortgages than the low-cost municipios/PUMAs. We will then examine the characteristics of individuals living in high- and low-cost situations.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: To guide efforts to promote and maintain population health and quality of life, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed and used a brief set of "Healthy Days" survey measures for tracking health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among U.S. residents.

Since 1993, about 2 million U.S. adults have been asked a validated set of 4 health-related quality of life (HRQOL) questions in the state-based Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). After asking them to rate their general health status, respondents are asked to estimate how many days in the past 30 days that their physical health (including physical illness and injury) was not good, their mental health (including stress, depression, and problems with emotions) was not good, and their activities were limited due to poor physical or mental health.

The measures have also been shown to reflect known health disparities among demographic, socio-economic, and geographic populations and have shown policy-relevant temporal trends and patterns. The Healthy Days measures are also now used on many other national, state, and community surveys to inform health policy and are increasingly used in prevention research, performance monitoring, and evaluation. This poster describes the CDC HRQOL Website @ http://www.cdc.gov/hrqol , including state-based interactive HRQOL prevalence and trend data and graphs, links to exemplary reports, literature references, and other information related to these measures. Applications to sociological research will be highlighted and information on acquiring 12 years of public domain HRQOL data will be provided.