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The COVID-19 pandemic forced universities to move towards distance learning, requiring increased use of digital tools and more independent learning from students. In this context, the present study examined two previously documented barriers that contribute to social-class disparities in universities: the digital divide and the experience of cultural mismatch. Cultural mismatch refers to the disconnect between the highly independent cultural norms of universities and the interdependent cultural norms common among working-class students. Our goals are to (1) replicate the findings related to these barriers in a European context (2) provide pandemic-specific data related to these barriers, and (3) examine how the digital divide and cultural mismatch relate to psychological factors and learning behaviors necessary for academic success. Two thousand two hundred and seventy-five students in France answered questions about their digital access/use, self-construal, psychological factors (i.e., sense of belonging, self-efficacy, intentions to drop-out from the university), and learning behaviors (e.g., attending class, asking questions). Results showed that working-class students have less digital access and value interdependence more than their middle/ upper-class peers, suggesting they are more likely to experience a cultural mismatch. Structural equation modeling revealed that both the digital divide and the experience of cultural mismatch undermines working-class students' psychological experience (e.g., belonging), which, in turn, hinders their learning behavior. The distance learning required by the pandemic led to increased needs for digital access and independence, and therefore more negatively affected working-class students, which could fuel and widen the social-class achievement gap. © 2023 The Author(s).
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Background: Although research on mathematics learning programs has taken off in recent years, little is known about how different person characteristics are related to practice behaviour with such programs. When implementing a mathematics learning program in the classroom, it might be important to know whether students with specific characteristics need more encouragement to make use of this learning opportunity. Objectives: Using a supply‐use model, we analysed the predictive power of students' cognitive characteristics (prior mathematics knowledge), personality traits (conscientiousness), motivational‐affective characteristics (mathematics self‐concept and mathematics anxiety), and family background characteristics (socioeconomic status and migration background) for practising with an adaptive arithmetic learning program. Methods: We used longitudinal data from 203 fifth graders from seven non‐academic‐track schools in Germany. Practice behaviour, measured by completed tasks in the learning program, was recorded weekly for every student over a period of 22 weeks. Results and Conclusions: The results of our multilevel analyses showed that mathematics anxious students practised less with the program. We did not find any relationship with the other characteristics. Takeaways: Our results suggest that mathematics anxious students need more encouragement when practising with a mathematics learning program;otherwise, they do not get the chance to benefit from the use. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: The use of mathematics learning programmes in mathematics education has recently intensified.It is important that students practice with such learning programmes regularly over a longer period of time in order for them to achieve learning success.Students differ in their mathematics learning behaviour. What this paper adds: Little is known about how person characteristics are related to practice behaviour with mathematics learning programmes.Students may differ in their use of a mathematics learning programme, which is why cognitive characteristics, personality traits, motivational‐affective characteristics, and family background characteristics may affect students' practice behaviour. Implications for practice: Mathematics anxious students practiced less with a mathematics learning program, and need more encouragement to benefit equally from the implementation in school.Teachers should keep in mind that after the initial enthusiasm, practice with a programme may decrease over time, especially after school holidays.
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This paper examines the policy enactments of education and care during the COVID-19 pandemic to understand the unique challenges facing low-income families in England as they sought to navigate this exceptional period of time. The global pandemic was a challenging time for all families as all but key worker parents/carers of primary school age children (5–11) were forced to become their child's educator. But the effects were experienced very differently by diverse socio-economic groups. Taking an interpretive approach based on the auto-biographical reflections of six low-income families located in the Greater London area, we carried out online family interviews using zoom to examine the problems created by government policy guidance in England during 2020–2021. The interviews were semi-structured to ensure space and coverage for the participants to share their unique experiences. Using policy-enactment theory, we add to existing knowledge of the impact of COVID-19 on low-income families by analysing the effects of enacting care and education on daily life, rhythms and routines. The intersections between gender and social class are also explored to show the disproportionate impact on women. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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Objectives: Eating practices of middle sectors from the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires during lockdown are described and analyzed, identifying changes, continuities and reasons regarding representations of healthy eating which have structured these practices before pandemic. Methods: As regards methodology, qualitative and quantitative data from primary sources were used within exploratory/descriptive design frameworks. Results and conclusions: Results show the central role acquired by everyday eating during lockdown;guided by a preexistent pattern of practices and representations associated to the tension between health and pleasure leading to body weight control.
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INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Infertility is a global health concern that affects couples worldwide. Economic, racial, and geographic disparities in reproductive medicine have long affected access to fertility care. These inequalities further worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic as fertility care services were systematically paused and treatments were delayed. At-home fertility tests emerged as a seemingly convenient, affordable and accessible option for all men seeking initial semen analysis testing and screening. We aim to study the racial and socioeconomic characteristics of a cohort of men utilizing at-home sperm testing kits in the United States over 3 years. METHOD(S): We retrospectively reviewed the records of 5,822 men who requested semen analysis at Give Legacy, Inc. (Legacy) facilities from 2019 to 2021. The demographic characteristics of these men were collected including their age, race/ethnicity, and place of residence. Further, the weighted median household income of Legacy customers was calculated using their personal ZIP codes and corresponding median income data from the U.S. census bureau. RESULT(S): The mean age (SD) of this cohort was 34.9+/-7.3 years. Among these 5,822 men, there were 3,936 (67.6%) normozoospermic men and 1,886 (32.3%) oligozoospermic men. The group consisted of predominantly white men (64.9%) with only 5.2% Black, 5.4% Latino, 8.9% Asian, 3.1% Arab, 2% Native Hawaiian, 2.4% Indian American, and 8.2% other groups. The geographic distribution of participants showed a majority of men from the Northeast (31.6%) and Pacific (23.4%) regions. The median household income of a Legacy customer is $108,858;significantly higher than the U.S. median household income of $70,784 (P<.01). CONCLUSION(S): Despite the fact that at-home, mail-in kits provide a better and more affordable access to initial fertility care, ethnic minorities and lower socioeconomic classes are still underrepresented in the population of men seeking fertility testing in this cohort. Further research is needed to understand the racial and socioeconomic drivers of the existing disparities in fertility care.
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Context: Beyond the biological impact of the pandemic in working life, socioeconomic consequences is also important for workers. This study aimed to investigate both biologic and economic impacts of the pandemic. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a structured questionnaire were applied by telephone to 233 workers who were diagnosed with coronavirus disease-2019 (Covid-19) at hospital. A pretest was applied before the data collection. The outcomes of the study were work-related Covid-19 transmission (WRCT) and pandemic-related economic worsening (PREW). Descriptive statistics is presented. Chi-square test is used in comparison of proportions. Results: Of the 233 workers, 52% were male (n = 120) and the mean age was 37.7 (±9.2) years. WRCT was observed in 73% of health care workers. PREW was 6.7 times higher in private sector (95% confidence interval = 3.1-14.5), especially in self-employed and small business owners. Drivers and sales workers were the unluckiest. Because they were affected in terms of both the WRCT and PREW. Conclusions: Within the framework of occupational health, the economic destructive effects of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the biological impacts should be considered with a holistic perspective. Protective policies should be developed especially for economically fragile groups against the pandemic such as self-employed, small business owners, and private sector workers.
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This study aims to empirically investigate how sport media consumption influences the relationships among the spatially explicit risks of COVID-19, resilience, and positive and negative affect, considering social class. To achieve this, we employed an integrated approach using spatial and aspatial analyses. The findings indicated that the negative effects of the spatially explicit risks of COVID-19 on resilience are mitigated by sport media consumption. In turn, an increased level of resilience enhances positive affect and reduces negative affect. Moreover, consumers in the upper class showed a more pronounced resilience process through sport media consumption than those in the lower class. This study contributes to the knowledge regarding the sport -resilience association by identifying the moderating effect of sport media consumption within social classes and addressing the spatially explicit risks of COVID-19. The present findings provide a basis for sport-based resilience strategies in times of adversity.
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Older adults are among the ones most exposed to social isolation because they've stayed at home for much longer during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research aims through multiple correspondence analysis being made along the axis of questions about what media use practice older adults have for coping with feelings of isolation, how they stay in touch with their social environment, and what kind of relationship their practices for coping with the feeling of isolation and for staying connected to their social environment have to their social status. The research focuses on the decisive roles of digital capital and social status. Television is seen to help older adults the most in overcoming the feeling of isolation, followed by telephone and smartphone calls, respectively. Older adults with higher social status tend to have higher digital capital and accordingly also use more diverse means of communicating to access quality information. The multiple correspondence analysis has revealed digital inequality to be an extension of social, economic, and cultural inequalities.
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The rage of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the downward trend seen in the economy, has further aggravated the downturn of the job market and diminished people's sense of wellbeing in recent years. To mitigate the detrimental effects of the pandemic on college students' employment, the Chinese government has further expanded the enrollment of postgraduate and undergraduate students. This study leverages data from the 2019 and 2021 waves of the Chinese Social Survey and constructs a difference-in-differences (DID) model to examine the effect of the higher education expansion (HEE) policy, initiated in 1999, on individuals' subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that HEE policy could significantly improve individuals' subjective well-being (SWB) during the pandemic, and that social class mobility emerges as a vital mechanism through which HEE policy impacts individuals' SWB. Furthermore, there is a local-ladder effect due to reference dependence, with socio-metric status having a greater impact on SWB than socioeconomic status. This study reveals that the level of an individual's happiness depends largely on whom they are compared with. This implies that the key focus of the HEE policy is to stimulate individuals' potential and motivation for upward social mobility, ultimately enhancing their overall sense of well-being. © 2023 by the authors.
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Objective: This research was carried out as a descriptive and cross-sectional study between January and April 2021 in order to determine the relationship between COVID-19 fear and COVID-19 hygiene behaviors in adults. Materials and Methods: The sample of the research consisted of 1876 individuals who accepted to participate in the online survey with the snowball sampling method and completed the research completely. Research data were obtained with an introductory questionnaire, COVID-19 Fear Scale and COVID-19 Hygiene Behavior Scale. In the analysis of the data, number-percentage calculations, mean, standard deviation, independent t test and ANOVA, Pearson Correlation and Linear regression tests were used. Results: The mean score of the individuals on the COVID-19 Fear Scale was found to be 19.51±.89 and the total mean score of the COVID-19 Hygiene Behaviors Scale was found to be 105.35±18.61. The COVID-19 fear level of the participants;It was determined that gender, education status, working status, place of residence, socio-economic status, individual with chronic disease at home, anxiety due to COVID-19, change in hygiene behavior, thinking that hygiene will prevent COVID-19 explained 21.4%. Variables of age, gender, education status, employment status, marital status, family type, presence of children, place of residence, socioeconomic status, individuals with chronic diseases at home, anxiety due to corona, change in hygiene behavior, thinking that hygiene will prevent corona, COVID-19 Hygiene The level of their behavior;It was determined that 14% explained. Conclusion: As the COVID-19 fear levels of individuals increase, the COVID-19 hygiene behaviors also increas. Amaç: Bu araştırma, yetişkinlerde COVID-19 korkusu ile COVID-19 hijyen davranışları arasındaki ilişkiyi belirlemek amacıyla Ocak-Nisan 2021 tarihleri arasında tanımlayıcı ve kesitsel olarak yapılmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Araştırma verileri, "Veri Toplama Formu”, "COVID-19 Korkusu Ölçeği” ve "COVID-19 Hijyen Davranış Ölçeği” ile elde edilmiştir. Verilerin çözümlenmesinde sayı-yüzde hesaplamaları, ortalama, standart sapma, bağımsız t testi ve ANOVA, Pearson Korelasyon ve Lineer regresyon testleri kullanılmıştır. Bulgular: Bireylerin COVID-19 Korku Ölçeği puan ortalaması 19.51±6.89, COVID19 Hijyen Davranışları Ölçeği toplam puan ortalaması 105.35±18.61 olarak bulundu. Katılımcıların COVID-19 korku düzeyinin;cinsiyet, öğrenim durumu, çalışma durumu, yaşadığı yer, sosyoekonomik durum, evde kronik hastalığı olan birey, COVID-19 nedeniyle endişe, hijyen davranışı değişikliği, hijyenin COVID-19'u engelleyeceğini düşünme değişkenlerinin %21.4'ünü açıkladığı saptanmıştır. Yaş, cinsiyet, öğrenim durumu, çalışma durumu, medeni durum, aile tipi, çocuk varlığı, yaşadığı yer, sosyoekonomik durum, evde kronik hastalığı olan birey, korona nedeniyle endişe, hijyen davranışı değişikliği, hijyenin koronayı engelleyeceğini düşünme değişkenlerinin, COVID-19 Hijyen Davranışları düzeyinin;%14'ünü açıkladığı belirlenmiştir. Sonuç: Bireylerin COVID-19 korku düzeyleri arttıkça, COVID-19 hijyen davranışları da artmaktadır.
ABSTRACT
Background: Tonsillitis is a common public health problem seen by otorhinolaryngology surgeons. It has socio-occupational and economic impact. Most of the tonsillitis is treated by antibiotic but some can lead to life threatening complication if not treated on time and not diagnosed the impending complication. Aim and Objectives: The objective of this work was to study the epidemiological and complications profile of acute and chronic tonsillitis and their distribution, followed by final outcome of the treatment adopted in the ANIIMS Portblair, ENT Department. Material(s) and Method(s): This is a retrospective study over a 12-month period from September 2020 to Aug 2021 including 225 patients who presented with tonsillitis and/or their complications were analysed. Their demography, clinical findings, types of tonsillitis, month wise distribution of types of disease and final outcome after medical treatment was analyzed. Result(s): Two hundred and twenty five (225) patients were studied. The mean +/- SD of cases studied was 23.32 +/- 12.98 years with minimum - maximum age range was 02 - 60 years. In this study there were 92/225 (40.9%) males and 133/225 (59.1%) females with a male to female ratio of 1:1.44. 76.88% of the patients showed a good outcome, 14.22% showed a moderate outcome, 07.55% showed an average outcome and 00.88% showed poor outcome. 19/ 225 (08.44%) of the patients who showed poor and average response were advised tonsillectomy after the COVID-19 pandemic in this study. Conclusion(s): Chronic Tonsillitis was a common throat disorder observed during COVID-19 pandemic. Males were more commonly affected. The increased attendance of patient's throat complaints was high due to awareness and similarity of symptoms of tonsillitis and COVID-19 disease. Low socio economic groups were more affected. The common types of tonsillitis were parenchymatous type, follicular type. Complications due to acute infection frequently observed were peritonsillar abscess, neck abscess. Medical treatment with Amoxycillin and clavulinic acid combination was highly responsive with 76.88% responding well.Copyright © 2023, Dr Yashwant Research Labs Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved.
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To those of us who have been consistently critical of leisure, we have mapped our critique of leisure onto discussions of leisure as a concept, as a tool, or as a social construct in society that has had serious implications on the gendered, the racialized, and the classed as disposable. Leisure is a life-politic that hides: dominant lifestyles, harmful environmental engagement, and political regimes. But in the midst of pandemic, there are two enemies, at the mirco- and macro-level to the life of a person via leisure that are becoming exposed at this time: 1) Person to Person;and, 2) The State to Person. With the coronavirus pandemic, it reveals a need to depart from a happiness and titillation orientation of leisure, and more a collective life-giving requisite in our research, instruction, and advocacy. For with COVID-19, leisure (as it is predominantly conceived) is the enemy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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This constructionist phenomenological dissertation study explored stories from nine working-class, first-generation college students, specifically how middle-class socialization on a four-year university campus located in the Mountain West region of the United States impacts the relationships with their parent(s)/guardian(s). My primary research question was: How does attending college at a 4-year public university influence first-generation, working-class students' relationships with the ir parent(s)/guardian(s)? My sub-research questions were: What role does middle-class socialization that occurs on a 4-year public university campus play in impacting this relationship? And what role does online learning/remote learning during this COVID-19 period play in impacting this relationship? I used Yosso's (2005) Community Cultural Wealth theory and Hurst's (2010) Loyalist, Renegade, and Double Agent study as the two main theoretical frameworks for this study. For data collection, I use semi-structured interviews, a researcher diary, and a panel of experts from the research site. My data analysis revealed eight significant shared stories amongst the participants. This manuscript style dissertation offers a deep dive into two of the findings, space and work ethic. Space was revealed as a class-influenced value. Space showed up as geographical space between family, privacy, such as having a private bedroom, and consistently sharing space with family to do chores together. Additionally, being a strong worker to be valued by both the student and their parent(s)/guardian(s), but difficult to demonstrate through coursework. The working-class parent(s)/guardian(s) defined working hard as physical labor. It was difficult for their student to demonstrate that they are working hard when their work does not require physical exertion. My conclusion chapter includes a brief description of the remaining six shared stories: Being successful in college to make sure their parent(s)'/guardian(s)' sacrifices were worth it, particularly if the parent/guardian immigrated to the United States;starting to value mental health;religious parent(s)/guardian(s) being nervous about their child being away from the church;transitioning from a strict household to an environment that encourages freedom of choice;transitioning from a high school where most of the students are of color to a predominantly white institution;and lastly, I found it significant that every participant was able to identify a specific program or service on campus that helped them be successful. Reflection questions and programmatic recommendations for higher education professionals are provided in the two manuscripts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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(1) Background: Online education has developed into a new form of education. However, the relationship between online education and subjective well-being has seldom been extensively studied in the literature. Thus, this study provides quantitative evidence regarding the effect of online education on subjective well-being. (2) Objective: The objective of this study was to reveal the net effect of online education on subjective well-being and explore the mediating roles of social class mobility and social tolerance between online education and subjective well-being. (3) Methods: Based on the 2019 China Comprehensive Social Survey data, the "counterfactual framework” was constructed using the propensity score matching method, and 1029 matched samples were analyzed. (4) Results: Online education is significantly positively correlated with subjective well-being (average treatment effect on the treated, ATT = 0.189, p < 0.01). Social class mobility and social tolerance serially mediate the relationship of online education and subjective well-being (the intermediary role of social class mobility is 0.0163;the mediating role of social tolerance is 0.0064). (5) Conclusion: This study confirms the positive predictive effect of online education on subjective well-being and affirms the multiple mediating roles of social class mobility and social tolerance between online education and subjective well-being.
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Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, youth researchers have reported increased inequalities between young people, but the social processes that drive these changes are not well understood. In this paper, we draw on rich longitudinal interview data following the same participants from a year before and into the midst of national lockdown during the pandemic in Norway to explore the unfolding of classed and gendered responses that were triggered in young people across the class spectrum. We find that advantaged, ambitious youths engaged in self-resourcing practices with support from their family that could make them even better positioned after the crisis. Youths that were socially vulnerable before the pandemic dealt with the situation alone and in highly gendered ways that seemed to amplify their insecure position in the peer group and community. Thriving youths from working-class communities engaged in lockdown practices that connected them deeper to the family and resourced them for gender traditional, local lives. Illuminating how a crisis prompts practices that increased emerging differences along classed and gendered lines, the paper shows that to grasp inequalities in the making, researchers must consider the importance and changing nature of resources - including relational resources in the family - over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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Schools have a duty of care to children that extends beyond educational performance to include wellbeing and welfare. Yet, research has highlighted the tensions that arise when ‘care' and ‘learning' are treated as binaries, especially when schools operate within unequal socio-economic conditions. Extended COVID-19 school closures brought these issues into sharp relief, highlighting the central role of schools as a front line service in the lives of poorer children. This paper provides qualitative insights into the classed experiences of extended school closure and the role and response of schools through the eyes of parents, teachers and principals in Ireland. We frame these responses in the context of the provision of a careful education, exploring the role of normative and affective relations in teaching and learning. Questions are posed in relation to schools as care regimes and the ‘mission creep' between educational and welfare provision in schools serving poorer children. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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This article examines how middle-class identity is experienced and employed by traditional and neo-middle-class identifiers in India. The economically and socially heterogeneous middle-class identifiers vote similarly, but we know very little about what they want out of politics. We focus on the subjective experiences of middle-class identifiers, we theorize the expressive function of middle-class identities, and we examine the socially and personally focused core values of traditional middle-class identifiers and neo-middle aspirers. We introduce the "Class as Social Identity" scale and analyze qualitative interviews with strong middle-class identifiers (Study 1) and the 2006, 2012, and 2014 World Values Survey India segments (Study 2). The interviews show that upper middle class and lower middle class identifiers express similar socially focused values but different personally focused values. The WVS analyses show convergence of upper-middle-class and lower-middle-class identifiers on conservation and self-transcendence in line with dominant political narratives and divergence on materialism, hedonism, and stimulation in line with their rising differences in income and every-day life pressures. We discuss the significance of these findings for the understanding of the political function of middle-class identities in India in the context of heightened Hindu nationalism and recent socioeconomic challenges aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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The onset of COVID-19 altered the way parents make decisions on safe activities for their children. Given the impact of this global pandemic, it is important to consider what decisions parents make when faced with the obstacle of keeping a child safe while letting them pursue extracurricular activities, such as sports. To this end, we examine decision-making of parents regarding whether or not they are comfortable allowing their children to participate in sport activities. For this purpose, we conducted two waves of surveys with youth sport parents in spring 2020 and fall 2020. The findings suggest that Black parents and female parents were more comfortable allowing their children to participate and that, in general, parents became more comfortable with local youth sport participation as the pandemic continued.
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The current study examined how families navigated the rules and admissions requirements of Washington, DC's common enrollment lottery for public preschool.Informed by ethnography and case study methods, multiple in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with two Black mothers and one White mother over the course of a year to understand their processes for navigating the school lottery. Despite the lottery telling parents to rank schools in the order of their preference, informal rules were identified via lottery preferences and prior waitlist information. Race shapedparticipants' school search processes as well, with both Black mothers indicating concerns regarding how some schools would treat their children. While all three participants reviewed DC data on waitlists, school quality, and academic curriculum, they still relied heavily on information from other parents to get specific experiences about schools. Despite an abundance of research supporting the importance of early childhood education on later outcomes, the mothers in this study downplayed the importance of preschool, perhaps in response to the level of effort expended on the lottery process.Their focus for the most part was on the later elementary years and beyond. Quantitative data on school demographics, waitlists, and school ratings are also analyzed to show how school- and ward-level structural constraints informed mothers' processes. The study occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a unique opportunity to show how families adjusted to school decisions during this historic event. By the last interview-about one year after the study began-all three mothers were participating in the lottery again. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)