A study was conducted at The University of Texas at Arlington to obtain measurements of non-traditional age undergraduate students using the Mattering Scales for Adult Students in Higher Education (MHE). The MHE is designed to assess the perceptions of adult students on how much they matter to the institution they are attending. The study also sought to determine if "mattering" and other selected nonacademic variables associated with the university environment are perceived by nontraditional age students to effect their likelihood of completing their baccalaureate degree. Of the five subscales surveyed by the MHE, significant statistical differences were found to exist in the Administration, Interaction With Peers, Multiple Roles, and Faculty subscales denoting an interaction between gender and minority status. Significant statistical differences were also found by gender on the Advising subscale and by minority status on the Faculty subscale.

The study determined the overall persistence rate of first-time full-time entrants into a mid-sized private university during the fall semesters 1989 to 1991 to the 2nd year (1990 to 1992). The study compared the retention rate of recipients and nonrecipients of a variety of financial aid programs. Included is a comparison of groups receiving various types of financial assistance and whether or not there are differences between the groups with respect to types of assistance, gender, ethnicity (African American, Hispanic, Anglo), high school grade point average, and national test scores (SAT, ACT). The types of assistance studied were categorized by academic scholarships, university-operated student employment, need-based grants, activity awards, entitlements, and loans. The question of whether renewal, elimination, or reduction in assistance relates to retention was also studied.

The relationship between work-family role strain and parenting styles (permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative) was examined. Questionnaires were completed by 45 mothers whose children (ages newborn to three years) were enrolled in early childhood centers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Denton, Texas, area. Participants were primarily Caucasian, high-income mothers who had attended college. Results indicated no significant relationship between role strain and parenting styles. Open-ended questions revealed insights into mothers' reported role strain. This research may provide employers and professionals who work with families with information to assist mothers in reducing role strain. They may also recognize that parenting style may be independent of a successful balance of work and family.

The fact that girls and women suffer a loss of self-esteem disproportionate to boys and men is without argument. There are an increasing number of books, magazine articles, and resource kits being made available to begin to comprehensively address the issue with young girls. However, less effort is being directed toward the older adolescent, the college-age woman. The problem with which this study was concerned was that of determining the impact of a mentoring program on the self-esteem of college-age women. The Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory (MSEI) was administered as a pre- and posttest, to 40 sophomore women, 20 of whom were in a control group and 20 who participated in the structured mentoring program. Using the MSEI, it was possible to gain statistically significant data which indicated that the self-esteem of the women could be positively impacted as a result of the mentoring experience. In addition to the instrument, the participants kept journals about their mentoring experience. Therefore, this research was able to report both qualitative and quantitative findings. The findings regarding the control group were not statistically significant for any of the 11 characteristics on the inventory. The findings from the mentored group however, were determined to be statistically …

A nonexperimental descriptive study was conducted to determine the interrelatedness among coping strategies, humor and burnout among nursing education faculty. The conceptual framework of this study was based on the constructs of coping strategies and humor which were conceptualized as having a direct relationship to burnout. Areview of the literature concerning coping, humor and burnout supported this proposition and emphasized the need for empirical testing. Coping Humor Scale. Wavs of Coping Questionnaire and Maslach Burnout Inventory were the instruments used to measure the constructs. Academic history and demographic data sheets were also used. Hie instruments were mailed to 285 nursing faculty teaching in programs of nursing in the Dallas /Fort Worth, Texas area. The return rate for the mailing was 70.07%. Burnout among nursing education faculty showed a low degree of emotional exhaustion (54.8%), a low degree of depersonalization (84.7% and a low degree of personal accomplishment (60.7%). The findings did not reveal a high or low degree of burnout but rather a pattern of burnout suggestive of a different stage. Humor as a coping mechanism during stressful events was not frequently used. The highest proportion of nursing education faculty used distancing (46.53%) as a coping strategy. The second strategy …