Studied how doctoral students experienced their working conditions as they worked toward PhDs in Sweden. Survey responses of 278 doctoral students and interviews with 6 female students show their attitudes about their PhD work and describe the advantages and limitations of research freedom and demands on their time. (SLD)

Studied the predictability of 8 different types of goal orientations as motives for academic achievement in a sample of 7,391 13-year-old students. Findings suggest that students at this age already pursue a variety of academic and nonacademic goals and that different types of goal orientations are differentially related to achievement. (SLD)

Explored gender differences in home computer use and control beliefs about computer use in 152 Norwegian eighth graders. In the group of students without computer training or use at school, males had greater perceived control and greater confidence. No gender differences were found for the group with computer training in school. (SLD)

Studied whether signs of gender-biased provocation between teachers and students could be traced at the upper level of compulsory school using classroom observations in 40 lessons. Findings show that boys in general are given more attention than girls, but male teachers increase the attention given to girls as they grow older. Teachers could be…

Studied the work and lives of 20 experienced female teachers in relation to gender order in school and society. Presented results as six themes that show that the female teacher is in a contradictory situation with respect to positional authority. Gender regimes in schools appear to follow the same patterns as society as a whole, and women…

Studied the relationships among academic achievement, learned helplessness, and psychological adjustment (self-esteem and depression), controlled for gender and age, for 1,580 students with data collected in grades 3 and 4, 6 and 7, and 8 and 9. Results show that academic achievement is directly and indirectly related to the pattern of…

Studied equity in education during a national recession in Finland in which the supply of special services for children decreased. Results for a sample of 906 sixth graders and their teachers show a considerable gap between need and supply. The selection process was biased against boys in remedial \instruction and internalizing children in…

Asked 2 samples of Norwegian adolescents, about 2,500 10th graders and about 200 7th graders, who they most wanted to be like. More boys mentioned public figures, usually sports stars, movie stars, and pop artists, and more girls mentioned personal acquaintances. Compares results to those from a 1914 survey. (SLD)

Compared the self-concept and self-esteem of Estonian (n=196) and Finnish (n=165) adolescents during their final year of comprehensive schooling, the Estonians being the last graduates of the "Soviet School." Results showed a more positive attitude towards education and the classroom environment for Finnish students, especially for girls. (SLD)

Investigated approaches of 549 students to learning in Finnish general upper secondary school through the Learning Process Questionnaire (J. Biggs, 1987). Finds significant differences between students' approaches to learning in the different form levels. Approaches to learning were also related to gender and mathematics and English grades. (SLD)

The dimensionality of school marks in compulsory schools was examined using databases (BACE72 and BACE73) on 200,000 Swedes born in 1972 and 1973 who had received a school-leaving certificate. Marks for 17 subject areas were analyzed for multidimensionality, and gender differences in ranked abilities were noted. Factors affecting achievement were…

Selection effects in the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test due to socioeconomic status (SES) were studied using data from longitudinal studies (n=8,222). Results show that subjects from low SES groups constitute the most positively-selected group even though they obtain the lowest test scores. Gender and grade differences are discussed. (MAK)

Influences of heredity and environment on educational and occupational choice in mid-life and elderly cohorts were studied using longitudinal twin data (413 pairs). For both education and occupation there is a trend toward increasing genetic variance for females in comparison to males in the younger cohort. (SLD)

A subtest of the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test dealing with interpretation of diagrams, tables, and maps (DTM) was studied to see whether the position or other characteristics of test items affected the noted gender differences in results. Results with 116,017 students show an effect of position on gender differences. (SLD)

A study investigating interactions between imagery instructions and aptitude variables is presented. A group of 7 fifth-grade classes was given imagery instructions in the reading of a short text, while another group read the text in a regular way. Three different outcomes covering different types of learning were registered. (Editor)