Shirley Freed

Women Administrators in Christian Universities: Making Family and Career Co-Central

The purpose of this study was to explore how women in administrative positions in Christian higher education integrate their professional and personal lives. Six women in leadership positions in small, faith-based liberal arts colleges were interviewed. Levinsons (1996) concept of gender-splitting was used as a lens to analyze the data. The women in this study have experienced a number of influences that moderate strict notions of gender-splitting: coming from non-traditional homes with working mothers, husbands who provide substantial support with domestic duties, strong personal motivation to achieve, and mentors who provided support and guidance. The women spoke freely of their work as a ‘calling’ and used their faith in God when meeting a variety of challenges. While gender-splitting was a prevailing influence in the lives of the women in this study there was substantial evidence to show that they were resilient and flexible enough to create pathways to negotiate the commitment to family and the commitment to work in order to manage a successful career in higher education.

Personal Problems of Seventh-day Adventist Academy Students

The Personal Problems Checklist for Adolescents (PPC-A) was administered to students in 14 Adventist academies for the purpose of determining the extent of their personal problems. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the top 10 problems were: (1) poor study habits; (2) worrying about future job or college; (3) not enough money; (4) not enough exercise; (5) being tired and having no energy; (6) no time to relax; (7) poor sleeping habits; (8) bored in school; (9) having trouble concentrating; and (10) being shy. There were differences found among, (a) the types of academies; (b) male and female students; and (c) age groups. Self-supporting academies reported more frequent problems; females reported more problems than males; and problems increased by age. All 13 scales of the problems on the PPC-A, were significantly correlated.