Browsing by Author "Maxine P. Atkinson, Committee Member"

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Equal Employment Opportunity and Educational Achievement Gaps
(2003-05-07) Kaase, Kristopher Jerome; Jeffrey C. Leiter, Committee Member; Maxine P. Atkinson, Committee Member; Donald T. Tomaskovic-Devey, Committee Member; Catherine R. Zimmer, Committee Chair
Despite over 30 years of awareness, intervention, and research regarding race, class, and gender differences in educational achievement, large differences still persist. These differences have a significant impact on individuals? quality of life. Research on educational achievement gaps has been largely focused on schools or families; while policy efforts to address these gaps have been focused on schools, with limited success. This study examines the broader community context in which schools and families are embedded. Specifically, this study addressed the policy question: Is relative inequality in employment opportunity in local areas related to relative inequality in educational achievement in the same areas in North Carolina? Employment opportunity was conceptualized as quality of employment and as earnings. Relative inequality was measured by comparing a race (Black or White), class (high school education or less vs. education beyond high school), and gender group to White males with parental education beyond high school. Relative inequality in Biology and English I achievement were measured at the school level and at a modified Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA) level. Relative inequality in quality of employment and earnings were measured at the modified PUMA level, and measured separately for the local area and neighboring area. This study was unique in that it a) examined the variation in employment opportunity across communities and b) examined race, class, and gender inequality as simultaneously experienced rather than as separate inequalities. Relative inequality in local earnings had a positive relationship with relative inequality in high school Biology for most Black and White student groups. Relative inequality in local earnings had a positive relationship with relative inequality in English I for Black students. There was little support for the hypothesis that relative inequality in the local quality of employment had an effect on relative inequality in achievement. There was also little support for the effect of neighboring community employment factors on inequality in achievement. This study found reason to support policies that would reduce relative inequality in earnings in local areas as a means to reducing educational achievement gaps.
Maternal Employment, Relative Income, and Child Well-Being: The Effects of Gendered Household Resource Allocation on Children's Cognitive Development Trajectories
(2007-04-06) Wills, Jeremiah B; Theodore N. Greenstein, Committee Chair; Maxine P. Atkinson, Committee Member; Feinian Chen, Committee Member; Richard Della Fave, Committee Member
In this study, I extend the scholarship on maternal employment and the allocation of household resources by evaluating the effects of mothers' time spent in the labor force and mothers' relative income on children's cognitive development. I use a gendered resource allocation model that recognizes differences in investment preferences between men and women and how women can use increases in their relative earnings to direct greater amounts of family resources towards enrichment goods and services that promote child well-being. Support for this model comes mostly from research conducted outside of the United States. This study contributes to this research literature by using an American sample drawn from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. In addition, I contribute to the research on maternal employment and child outcomes with a longitudinal analysis of children's cognitive development trajectories from age five to 14. I find some negative effects on children's initial levels of cognitive skills for measures of both early and current maternal employment hours. Some of these effects are moderated by race, the supportiveness of children's home environment, and mothers' cognitive skills. Contrary to predictions from a gendered resource allocation model, I find that children's cognitive development is lowest in households in which mothers' and fathers' incomes approximate parity, likely because of a lack of clear specialization in such households. I discuss these findings in terms of theoretical, research, and policy applications.
Rationality Unveiled: Philosophy and Practices in a Hospice Organization
(2003-06-18) Monahan, Molly Bernice; Maxine P. Atkinson, Committee Member; Amy G. Halberstadt, Committee Member; Maxine S. Thompson, Committee Member; Michael L. Schwalbe, Committee Member; Barbara J. Risman, Committee Chair
The modern hospice movement began in the 1960s as a response to the rationalization of care for the dying. Ironically, however, hospice organizations have themselves become increasingly rationalized over time, with the advent of Medicare certification and conventional accreditation practices. Despite this, contemporary hospice practitioners must still attempt to follow the holistic philosophy which originally made hospice unique. Thus, they encounter a dilemma of trying to enact an alternative philosophy while being tied to the conventional. This dissertation is a case study of a hospice organization in the Southeastern United States ("Hometown Hospice"). I use observational and interview data to illustrate the rationalization process and discuss its consequences for hospice practitioners. I show how the attempt to follow an alternative medical philosophy while also pleasing regulatory bodies created mixed messages for front-line workers at this organization. Next, I discuss how the workers used humor to manage the unpleasant emotions that resulted from this dilemma. I then discuss how Hometown Hospice perpetuated racial and class inequalities common throughout health care, despite their interdisciplinary team approach to fulfilling the philosophy of holistic care. I conclude with a discussion of other sites where the dilemma between philosophy and expected practices occurs.