Elaine Seymour

The Role of Socialization in Shaping the Career‐Related Choices of Undergraduate Women in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Majors

[Note: The information in this paper is derived from Talking about Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the Sciences. In this study, interviews and focus groups were conducted with 335 current and former science, mathematics and engineering (S.M.E.) majors or intended majors on seven campuses between 1990 and 1993 in order to discover the relative importance of factors contributing to the loss of undergraduates from these majors. Women of all races and ethnicities were 51.9% (N = 174) of this sample. At the time of data gathering, the loss rates for women from these majors into non-science majors were 70% for national samples and 54% for highly selective institutions; for men, the comparative rates were 61% and 39%. Among other findings, the study provides information about the role played by socialization in the patterns of choice relevant to academic and occupational careers made by female and male S.M.E. undergraduates.]

Sources and consequences of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in nursing: findings from a national sample

The implications for the current nursing shortage of the job satisfaction and dissatisfaction described by 252 members of the American Nursing Association are discussed. Comparison of sources of dissatisfaction by the frequency with which they were mentioned, the strength of emotion with which they were expressed and their potential to provoke defection from nursing, indicate inadequate working conditions and counter-productive attitudes within employing organizations to be the most serious sources of dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction with remuneration and benefits rank second to structural problems, by each measure. The relative importance of problems with gender and family roles, colleagues, education, and professional associations, and of respect, recognition, and autonomy issues are also discussed.

Learning, Teaching and Scholarship: Fundamental Tensions of Undergraduate Research

Sandra Laursen and Anne-Barrie Hunter are the co-directors of Ethnography & Evaluation Research (E&ER) in the Center to Advance Research and Teaching in the Social Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder; Laursen is a research associate and Hunter a senior professional research assistant there. E&ER conducts research and evaluation studies on education and career paths in science, engineering, and mathematics. Elaine Seymour is the director emerita of E&ER.