Elizabeth A. Cooper

Predicting Academic Performance: The Impact of Expectancy and Needs Theory

Abstract Many approaches to the explanation/prediction of student performance have been presented in the literature. In this study, both expectancy theory and needs theory variables are used to predict college student performance—that is, overall GPA. The average valence variable from the expectancy theory model was found to be the best overall predictor of actual academic performance. Although exhibiting low internal reliability measures, need for autonomy scores were also found to be highly explanatory. Need for achievement was unexpectedly not a significant predictor of actual performance for this student group.

Gender Relations and Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Michael Crichton's Disclosure as a Teaching Tool

In Crichtons best-selling novel Disclosure, a high-level manager who rejects the sexual advances of his new boss (who is also his ex-lover) is accused by her of sexual harassment. Meanwhile, their high-tech West Coast company is being considered for possible acquisition by a New York publishing conglomerate that would appear to be intolerant of even the tiniest intimation of impropriety. This novel can be used as the foundation for provocative discussion of topics, including the gray areas of sexual harassment, the relationship between sexual harassment and power, and the nature of gender relations in organizations.

The Use of Job Evaluation to Eliminate Gender Based Pay Differentials

The comparable worth issue has placed considerable emphasis on the use of job evaluation in eliminating gender based pay differentials. Specifically the reliability and validity of job evaluation, especially generic forms of job evaluation, have been questioned. This study examines the process of comparable worth determination. Job evaluations were performed on a set of male-dominated and female-dominated job descriptions using both the MIMA system and Factor Evaluation system (FES). Estimates of reliability and convergence were calculated. The resultant salaries, calculated using five different approaches to worth computation, were also compared. The results indicate that the generic FES is as reliable as the job family based MIMA system of job evaluation. The FES shows strong convergence with the MIMA system as well as to market pay rates and present salaries.

Reliability of job evaluation: Differences across sex-typed jobs

Recent work has questioned whether a single job evaluation instrument can reliably measure jobs from different job families. To test this, a generalizability study was done to determine the reliability of three job evaluation instruments: one for male-dominated jobs, MIMA-Shop, one for female-dominated jobs, MIMA-office and one which evaluated both types, FES. Initial results indicated that the latter instrument suffered no loss in reliability, and that all three instruments were equally highly reliable. A second analysis evaluated the reliability of the FES for male-dominated jobs separately from the reliability of the FES for female-dominated jobs. These results indicated no significant difference in reliability for male-dominated jobs and for female-dominated jobs. Implications of these findings were discussed.

Sex Bias in Job Evaluation: The Effect of Sex on Judgments of Factor and Level Weights

Job evaluation instruments have recently been the subject of a number of critical reviews. In these reviews, job evaluation methods have been criticized for sex bias in the selection and weighting of factors. The present work investigated whether males and females differed in their ratings of importance on ten job evaluation factors and whether different weighting techniques would result in different wage structures. The results indicated that rater gender explained little of the variation in the ratings of the job evaluation factors.

Backwoods Brewing Company: Learning to Tolerate Ambiguity

Backwoods Brewing Company is an experiential exercise that provides a challenging, reality based business situation, requiring students to create a conclusion based on limited information. It is designed primarily for upper-division management students. A tolerance for ambiguity scale is administered; the debriefing of the exercise helps students develop a better understanding of their tolerance for ambiguity and teaches them some concrete tools to be used when dealing with ambiguity.