The training of effective instructors and future faculty members is a critical component of doctoral programs in sociology. Many universities and departments have instituted a single course, course sequence, or certification program dedicated to the preparation of future academic faculty. This article evaluates the efficacy of one such program, and asks two questions: (1) What are the most useful aspects of the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program? (2) Is participation in the PFF program associated with greater job satisfaction, confidence, or competence? Qualitative data from Indiana University alumni suggest that the program is beneficial for exposing students to pedagogical knowledge, encouraging professionalization, and providing institutionalized support in the form of peer and faculty mentorship. Quantitative data indicate that although PFF participants were not significantly more satisfied or confident than their nonparticipating peers, the PFF program did appear to help to make participants feel more competent in their first jobs.
Recent studies have drawn attention to the relationship between healthcare environments and patient outcomes. Yet, it remains unclear how changes in the design of healthcare facilities are experienced by providers. To understand this relationship, this study employs an inhabited institutionalist theoretical frame to assess longitudinal ethnographic and interview data collected at a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) as it transformed from an open‐bay unit, to one with single‐patient rooms. Findings show that changing the structure of the NICU interfered with the original local organisational culture of collaboration. While providers actively worked to maintain the original culture, their success in doing so was mediated by the built environment. Responding to the new space, practitioners developed new practices. Some of the practices (such as doorway discussions and increased individual assessments) directly undermined the original organisational culture, whereas others (hallway hangouts and calling out) worked to transpose the original culture into the new space. These findings call for greater attention to the effect of physical space on organisational culture.
The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a bereavement crisis unparalleled in a generation, with devastating consequences for the mental health of those who lost a loved one to the virus. Using national survey data ( n = 2,000) containing detailed information about people’s experiences of pandemic-related stressors, coping resources, and mental health, in this study we examine whether and how three psychosocial coping resources—mastery, self-esteem, and social support—moderate the association between COVID-19 bereavement and psychological distress. We find that coping resources have both expected and unanticipated effects on the relationship between bereavement and mental health. Consistent with the stress process model, higher levels of mastery uniformly reduce the damaging effects of bereavement on depressive symptoms and anger, whereas self-esteem mitigates the positive association between losing a close tie to the virus and reports of anger. Contrary to the stress-buffering hypothesis, however, higher levels of perceived support exacerbate the positive associations between bereavement and each indicator of psychological distress. Our findings suggest that the putatively advantageous aspects of social support may be compromised, or even reversed, in the context of constrained social engagement. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings for sociological research on the stress process.
How does engagement in multiple health behaviors consolidate into health promoting health lifestyles, and how does economic development provide a broadly shared living condition to enable participation in health promoting health lifestyles? To answer these questions, we harmonize information from the 2011 International Social Survey Programme and the 2014 European Social Survey to examine patterns of health lifestyles and subsequent associations with self-rated health in representative samples of 52 country-years nested in 35 countries, with repeated observations from 17 countries. We find individuals engage more frequently in health promoting behaviors in countries with higher levels of economic development. Moreover, we find a tighter connection between health lifestyles and health in countries with higher levels of economic development. Critically, we move health lifestyles research forward by testing the consequences of within country changes in economic development, finding that growth in economic development increases the engagement of health promoting health behaviors. Policy and theoretical implications are discussed.
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