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We study to what extent schools increase or decrease environmental and genetic influences on educational performance. Building on behavioral genetics literature on gene-environment interactions and sociological literature on the compensating and amplifying effects of schools on inequality, we investigate whether the role of genes and the shared environment is larger or smaller in higher-quality school environments. We apply twin models to Dutch administrative data on the educational performance of 18,384 same-sex and 11,050 opposite-sex twin pairs, enriched with data on the quality of primary schools. Our results show that school quality does not moderate genetic and shared-environmental influences on educational performance once the moderation by SES is considered. We find a gene-environment interplay for school SES: genetic variance decreases with increasing school SES. This school SES effect partly reflects parental SES influences. Yet, parental SES does not account for all the school SES moderation, suggesting that school-based processes play a role too.

In recent decades, female students have been more successful in higher education than their male counterparts in the United States and other industrialized countries. A promising explanation for this gender gap are differences in personality, particularly higher levels of conscientiousness among women. Using Structural Equation Modeling on data from 4719 Dutch university students, this study examined to what extent conscientiousness can account for the gender gap in achievement. We also examined whether the role of conscientiousness in accounting for the gender gap differed for students with a non-dominant ethnic background compared to students with a dominant ethnic background. In line with our expectations, we found that conscientiousness fully mediated the gender gap in achievement, even when controlling for prior achievement in high school. This was the case among both groups of students. These findings provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the gender gap in achievement in postsecondary education settings. The current study suggests that the use of conscientiousness measures in university admission procedures may disadvantage male students. Instead, the use of such measures may be a fruitful way to identify those students who may benefit from interventions to improve their conscientiousness. Future research could examine how conscientiousness can be fostered among students who are low in conscientiousness.

In learning, errors are ubiquitous and inevitable. As these errors may signal otherwise latent cognitive processes, tutors--and students alike--can greatly benefit from the information they provide. In this paper, we introduce and evaluate the Systematic Error Tracing (SET) model that identifies the possible causes of systematically observed errors in domains where items are susceptible to most or all causes and errors can be explained by multiple causes. We apply the model to single-digit multiplication, a domain that is very suitable for the model, is well-studied, and allows us to analyze over 25,000 error responses from 335 learners. The model, derived from the Ising model popular in physics, makes use of a bigraph that links errors to causes. The error responses were taken from Math Garden, a computerized adaptive practice environment for arithmetic that is widely used in the Netherlands. We discuss and evaluate various model configurations with respect to the ranking of recommendations and calibration of probability estimates. The results show that the SET model outranks a majority vote baseline model when more than a single recommendation is considered. Finally, we contrast the SET model to similar approaches and discuss limitations and implications.

Background and Context: Valid assessment of understanding of programming concepts in primary school children is essential to implement and improve programming education. Objective: We developed and validated the Computerized Adaptive Programming Concepts Test (CAPCT) with a novel application of Item Response Theory. The CAPCT is a web-based and resource-efficient adaptive assessment of 4489 questions measuring: the understanding of basic sequences, loops, conditions (if & if-else statements), debugging, multiple agents, procedures, and the ability to generalize to a new syntax. Method: Data was collected through an existing online adaptive practice and monitoring system called Math Garden. We collected 14 million responses from 93,341 Dutch children (ages 4-13). Findings: The CAPCT demonstrated good psychometric qualities because 75% of the variance in question difficulty was explained by differences in item characteristics. The CAPCT demonstrated robustness against adding new participants and adding new items. Differences in player ability (i.e., understanding of CS concepts) were due to differences in age, gender, the number of items played, and prior mathematical ability. Implications: The CAPCT may be used by teachers to identify the level of programming concept understanding of their pupils, while researchers may use the CAPCT to construct and validate effective teaching resources.

There are concerns that ability tracking at a young age increases unequal opportunities for children of different socioeconomic background to develop their potential. To disentangle family influence and potential ability, we applied moderation models to twin data on secondary educational track level from the Netherlands Twin Register (N = 8847). Delaying tracking to a later age is associated with a lower shared environmental influence and a larger genetic influence on track level in adolescence. This is in line with the idea that delaying tracking improves equality of opportunity. Our results further suggest that this is mostly because delaying tracking reduces the indirect influence of family background on track level via the test performance of students. Importantly, delaying tracking improves the realization of genetic potential especially among students with low test scores, while it lowers shared environmental influence on track level for students of all test performance levels.

With the advent of computers in education, and the ample availability of online learning and practice environments, enormous amounts of data on learning become available. The purpose of this paper is to present a decade of experience with analyzing and improving an online practice environment for math, which has thus far recorded over a billion responses. We present the methods we use to both steer and analyze this system in real-time, using scoring rules on accuracy and response times, a tailored rating system to provide both learners and items with current ability and difficulty ratings, and an adaptive engine that matches learners to items. Moreover, we explore the quality of fit by means of prediction accuracy and parallel item reliability. Limitations and pitfalls are discussed by diagnosing sources of misfit, like violations of unidimensionality and unforeseen dynamics. Finally, directions for development are discussed, including embedded learning analytics and a focus on online experimentation to evaluate both the system itself and the users' learning gains. Though many challenges remain open, we believe that large steps have been made in providing methods to efficiently manage and research educational big data from a massive online learning system.

In this article, a science interest network model (SINM) is introduced and a first empirical test of the model is presented. The SINM models interest as a dynamic relational construct, in which different interest components, that is, affective, behavioral, and cognitive components and related motivational components mutually reinforce one another within the development of interest. The dynamical relational perspective hypothesizes that the mutual interactions between interest components underlie the development of interest. Applying the SINM to the PISA 2015 data of 2 countries, that is, the Netherlands and Colombia, we were able to not only illuminate the structure of interactions between the different variables (i.e., indicators) in the networks of different groups of adolescents but we could also make predictions about which variables are of structural importance within the interest construct and as such worthwhile to test as potential candidates for intervention. Additionally, we were able to replicate earlier findings of the literature, namely that (a) enjoyment is central within the interest network and that (b) important structural differences exist in the interest network across countries, which, for instance, point to differences in domain specificity of interest between countries. While the network approach is sensitive to structural differences in science interest across countries, the network structure is stable across subgroups within countries. Future studies are proposed to test theoretically important assumptions of a dynamical perspective on interest, such as the causal role of different interest components in the development of interest.

An optimal learning climate is crucial for the quality of residency training and may also improve residents' well-being and empathy. We investigated the associations of learning climate with residents' work-related well-being. A multicenter questionnaire study was performed among 271 surgery and gynaecology residents in 21 training programs from September 2012 to February 2013. Residents were asked to complete work-related well-being measurements: work engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale), job and specialty satisfaction (measures from Physician Worklife Study), and physician empathy (Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy). The Dutch Residency Educational Climate Test was used to evaluate learning climate. Multivariate adjusted linear regression analyses were used to estimate associations of learning climate with work-related well-being measures. Well-being measures were completed by 144 residents (53.1%). Learning climate was evaluated by 193 residents, yielding 9.2 evaluations per training program on average. Overall learning climate score was positively associated with work engagement [regression coefficient b = 0.58; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18-0.98; p = 0.004] and job satisfaction (b = 0.80; 95% CI 0.48-1.13; p < 0.001). No associations were found between learning climate and empathy and specialty satisfaction. Residents' work engagement and job satisfaction are positively related to the learning climate and may be further enhanced by improved learning climates of training programs.

The study explores how parents' occupational field affects gender differences in educational fields. On the one hand, the theory of direct transfer predicts that adolescents enter fields similar to those of their parents because of intergenerational transmission of occupation-specific resources and that adolescents are more likely to draw upon the resources provided by the higher-status parent. On the other hand, the theory of sex-role learning predicts that boys and girls are more likely to choose more gender-stereotypical fields of study because they learn 'appropriate' gender-role behaviour from their parents' occupational field and that boys are more likely to learn this behaviour from their father and girls from their mother. We use longitudinal data collected from adolescents and their parents in the Netherlands (N = 2,497) and tested our hypotheses using multiple-group structural equation modelling and multinomial regression analyses. In line with sex-role learning, results show that especially mothers who are employed in a more feminine occupational field influence their daughters to enter a more feminine field of study (health, biology, agriculture and veterinary) and their sons to enter a more masculine field of study (science and technology). Mothers' occupational field therefore not only influences girls' field of study, but also boys'. This study highlights the role of horizontal characteristics when examining which field of study adolescents enter. Contrary to the stratification literature, which primarily focuses on fathers, this study concludes that mothers play a more important role in gender differences in fields of study.

Writing down spoken number words (transcoding) is an ability that is predictive of math performance and related to working memory ability. We analysed these relationships in a large sample of over 25,000 children, from kindergarten to the end of primary school, who solved transcoding items with a computer adaptive system. Furthermore, we investigated the nature of transcoding difficulty of over 300 two- and three-digit numbers. All data come from a Dutch sample, meaning that transcoding is complicated by decade-unit inversion: 24 is pronounced as "four-and-twenty." Omission to invert the digits of a spoken number when writing it down is an inversion error: the incidence of these declined but did not disappear in later elementary school. Furthermore, transcoding ability mediated the relationship between visuospatial working memory and mathematics performance, a strong effect that declined with age. Inversion error making mediated this same relationship in an inverted U-shaped curve, peaking around grade 2 (8 years old). At the item level, structural characteristics related to inversion and irregular pronunciation of units and decades explained a large part of the variance in item difficulty. We conclude that number transcoding is an important ability to develop mathematical proficiency and discuss the implications of these findings.

The apprenticeship tradition in conservatoire education assumes that teachers' expertise is the main source for the development of future music professionals. However, the professional practice of vocalists is nearly completely based on collaboration, such as with other vocalists, instrumentalists, accompanists, orchestras, conductors, or stage directors. In this study experiences of students, alumni and teachers of one conservatoire in The Netherlands with collaborative learning practices in two vocal conservatoire courses were examined using student questionnaires and teacher interviews. Despite the assumption that the collaborative environment of group lessons would represent the ideal situation for learning to collaborate, group lessons did not explicitly lead to the collaborative and professional skills needed for musical practice. The main explanation for this might be that evaluated group lessons in this study were not designed with a learning goal of collaborative learning and working. A purposeful design of lessons in which content and pedagogy are aimed at developing these skills would enhance a culture of collaboration including both students and teachers, and as such mirror professional practice.

This article is concerned with the emergence of the science-business (SB) profession and the role of the SB professional (SBP) in both academia and business. Transferring science to markets can take a variety of routes depending on the stage of development and the people and skill sets involved. An SBP may co-develop opportunities for exploitation as part of a team in a university or in the business world in a spin-off or a mature company. In both settings, the SBP connects with scientists and co-develops knowledge or technology into an exploitable commodity. The need for this type of professional was the starting point for a new curriculum: a 3-year bachelor's programme in science, business and innovation that integrates fundamental sciences (physics, chemistry, mathematics), life and health sciences, energy and sustainability sciences, business/social sciences, innovation and entrepreneurship. The authors provide the context and rationale for the development of the programme and discuss how it meets its objective to address a critical skills need in both academic and business sectors.

This study aims to explain why boys and girls in secondary education choose different educational tracks. We argue that adolescents internalise gender expectations as to what is "appropriate" male and female behaviour in their gender ideology. Gender ideology can affect educational choices by influencing (1) how adolescents evaluate their competence in certain subjects (competence beliefs), (2) what they find important in a future occupation (occupational values) and (3) what school subject they prefer right now (subject preferences). Longitudinal data collected among adolescents at age 15 and 16 (N = 1062) are used. Multinomial path models show that gender ideology shapes boys' occupational values and subject preferences, whereas for girls it shapes their competence beliefs. Only for boys this leads to gender-stereotypical educational choices, however. Our results support the idea that gender expectations are stricter for boys than for girls and may prevent men from entering more feminine career tracks.

In this study we examine whether and why human and social resources increase charitable giving. Using the Giving in The Netherlands Panel Study 2003, we find that people with more extended networks and higher education are more generous. However, these effects can be completely explained by financial resources, church attendance, requests for donations, and pro-social personality characteristics. People with more extended social networks are mainly more generous because they receive more solicitations for donations, and are more integrated in extended religious networks that promote charitable giving. The generosity of people with higher formal education can be explained by their larger financial resources, and stronger verbal abilities. Whereas the effect of education seems mainly causal, that of network extension appears largely spurious. (Contains 10 notes and 3 tables.)

A small proportion of deaths result from the use of drugs with the intention to hasten death without an explicit request of the patient. Additional insight into its characteristics is needed for evaluating this practice. In the Netherlands in 2001, questionnaires were mailed to physicians that addressed the decision making that preceded their patient's death. Cases of ending life without an explicit request of the patient were compared with similar cases from 1995 and with cases from Belgium, Denmark, and Switzerland. In the Netherlands in 2001, patients receiving life-ending drugs without their explicit request were most often 80+ years old and had cancer. Most of them were incompetent patients nearing death. Characteristics of this practice in 1995 were quite comparable, as were characteristics of this practice in Belgium, Denmark, and Switzerland. The use of drugs with the intention to hasten death without an explicit request of the patient is part of medical end-of-life practice in the studied countries, regardless of their legal framework, and it occurs in similar fashion. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study used retrospective interviews with 87 relatives to describe the experiences of patients who died by euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (EAS) in the Netherlands. Most of the patients suffered from cancer (85%). The relatives were most often a partner (63%) or a child (28%) of the patient. Before explicitly requesting EAS most patients (79%) had spoken about their wishes concerning medical end-of-life decisions to be made at a later date. Hopeless suffering, loss of dignity, and no prospect of recovery were the most prevalent reasons for explicitly requesting EAS. According to the relative, in 92% of patients EAS had contributed favourably to the quality of the end of life, mainly by preventing or ending suffering. (Contains 4 tables.)

In the Netherlands there has been ongoing debate in the past 10 years about the availability of a hypothetical "suicide pill", with which older people could end their life in a dignified way if they so wished. Data on attitudes to the suicide pill were collected in the Netherlands from 410 physicians, 1,379 members of the general population, and 87 relatives of patients who died after euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide. The general population and relatives were more in favor than physicians. Fifteen percent of the general population and 36% of the relatives thought a suicide pill should be made available.

In this article, we investigated the influence of mother's occupational status on her child's educational outcomes and to what extent this depends on father's occupational status. Based on the Breen and Goldthorpe (1997) model, we expected that mother's occupational status positively affects the educational outcomes of her child, although this influence may be weaker than father's influence due to remains of traditional gender roles in the Netherlands. Second, we expected that daughters benefit more from mother's occupational status than sons. Finally, we derived from the dominance model (Erikson, 1984) that the positive influence of mother's occupational status becomes weaker when father's occupational status is higher. The three hypotheses were tested with datasets from the LISS panel in 2012 on 1.176 Dutch participants who grew up in dual earner households. The results of multilevel regression analyses show that mother's occupational status indeed has a moderately positive effect on her child's education level. This effect does not differ between sons and daughters and is independent of fathers' occupational status. Unexpectedly, father's occupational status does not affect his child's educational level when mother's occupational status is taken into account. This suggests that in dual earner households mother's occupational status is more relevant than father's occupational status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we compared the effects of smallgroup constructivist and explicit mathematics instruction in basic multiplication on low-achieving students' performance and motivation. A total of 265 students (aged 8-11 years) from 13 general and 11 special elementary schools for students with learning and/or behavior disorders participated in the study. The experimental groups received 30 minutes of constructivist or explicit instruction in groups of 5 students twice weekly for 5 months. Pre- and posttests were conducted to compare the effects on students' automaticity, problem-solving, strategy use, and motivation to the performance of a control group who followed the regular curriculum. Results showed that the math performance of students in the explicit instruction condition improved significantly more than that of students in the constructivist condition, and the performance of students in both experimental conditions improved significantly more than that of students in the control condition. Only a few effects on motivation were found. We therefore concluded that recent reforms in mathematics instruction requiring students to construct their own knowledge may not be effective for low-achieving students.

De effecten van het vaccinatieprogramma worden zichtbaar in de dalende besmettings- en sterftecijfers en het "voorzichtige optimisme" van minister van Volksgezondheid Hugo de Jonge midden mei heeft zich inmiddels vertaald naar het massaal boeken van buitenlandse zomervakanties. Op basis van de vier functies van het onderwijs (gelijke kansen bieden, efficiënt indelen naar vaardigheden, voorbereiden op de arbeidsmarkt en bevorderen van actief burgerschap) onderzochten zij wat voor effect de pandemie heeft op de onderwijspositie en verdere onderwijsloopbaan van deze jonge statushouders. Op basis van paneldata verkregen op drie verschillende momenten tijdens de crisis, concluderen de auteurs dat tijdbeschikbaarheid en relatieve hulpbronnen (specifiek in de vorm van opleidingsniveau) aan het begin van de pandemie voorspelden wie van de ouders de meeste zorgtaken op zich nam, maar verder in de crisis nam deze impact af. [Extracted from the article]

Every five years, the Dutch government employs sand replenishment to combat coastal erosion and to accommodate sea level rise. However, the transportation of sand from the North Sea to the coastline has negative societal consequences such as air pollution and habitat loss. Through a social cost-benefit analysis, this study raises the question of whether the current replenishment policy is optimal for preserving the coastline. The alternative approach studied in this analysis is the installation of the nature-based solution of shellfish reefs that hold sand and adapt to rising sea levels. Implementing shellfish beds would reduce the need for sand deposition, thereby decreasing emissions and aligning with climate goals such as the Green Deal Shipping. Moreover, shellfish provide extra benefits such as denitrification and biodiversity conservation. By weighing the costs and benefits against each other, deploying shellfish reefs for coastal defense along the Dutch coastline is found to be welfare enhancing. Despite the positive result, the sensitivity analysis reveals two nuances. First, the placement of shellfish beds is only beneficial for society when they also give provisioning services like food supply. Second, there is uncertainty regarding the sand retention capacity of shellfish beds and the ecosystem development of shellfish. Conducting pilot studies can provide more insight to reduce these uncertainties. This study raises the question of the adequacy and long-term viability of the current sand nourishment policy in the Netherlands in the context of climate change and the increased frequency of extreme weather events. • Using shellfish reefs for coastal defense along the Dutch coastline is welfare-enhancing. • Provisioning services are key to generating net benefits from shellfish reefs. • Nature-based solutions should be considered in coastal management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

De inleiding van een I special issue i rond een crisis die ons allen zo ineens trof, en waarvan de tijdlijn nog lang niet afgerond is, geeft in de eerste plaats de gelegenheid om tegemoet te komen aan archiveringsdrang; om de maatschappelijke impact van het coronavirus te documenteren. De analyses tonen aan dat er in de opvattingen over COVID-19 inderdaad twee clusters van opvattingen te onderscheiden zijn; echter, Keijzer en Mepham stellen ook vast dat de clusters niet makkelijk te voorspellen zijn aan de hand van al bestaande meningen over politieke zaken (maar wel beter dan op basis van ideologische identificatie) en dat de variatie binnen deze clusters te groot is om te kunnen spreken van polarisatie. Op basis van paneldata als onderdeel van het SOCON-onderzoek (Sociaal-Culturele Ontwikkelingen in Nederland) stellen Begall en Verbakel vast dat in tegenstelling tot hun verwachtingen van een toename van egalitaire opvattingen over rolverdelingen, er juist meer traditionele opvattingen worden opgetekend, en dan vooral onder mannen die hebben thuisgewerkt terwijl hun partner uit huis werkte. [Extracted from the article]

The use of reporting final examinations in the Netherlands is described. Each October a public report is published by Cito, supplying information about the achieved level of education and describing observed psychometric qualities of the measurement instrument. General information needs are provided by the National Bureau of Statistics. (LMO)

Describes the way foreign languages have been taught in the Netherlands, the way reading comprehension in a foreign language is tested there, and educational objectives that should be taken into consideration in teaching foreign languages. (GT)

Hospital of diagnosis is shown to have an impact on the probability of undergoing a resection in different types of gastrointestinal cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the inter-hospital variation in resection rates and its impact on survival among patients with non-metastatic colon cancer. All patients diagnosed with non-metastatic colon cancer between 2009 and 2014 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. Multilevel logistic regression was used to examine the variation in resection rates among hospitals. The effect of variation in surgical resection on overall survival was assessed using Cox regression analyses. Relative survival was used as an estimate for disease-specific survival. 38164 patients, treated in 95 different hospitals, were included in the analysis. After adjustments, resection rates varied between hospitals from 88 to 99%. This variation increased among patients older than 75 years, from 79 to 98%. Crude overall 5-year survival was 64%. After adjustment, no significant difference in overall or relative survival between hospitals with higher and lower resection rates was observed. Resection rates are important to consider when interpreting hospital outcomes. There is a significant variation in resection rates in patients with non-metastatic colon cancer among hospitals in the Netherlands. This variation increases in the elderly. No significant effect on survival was found. This could imply that undertreatment may play a role as well as that some patients might not benefit from surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of greening schoolyards on children's (age 7-11) play and non-play behavior during recess. Five primary schools in The Netherlands took part in a longitudinal prospective intervention study using a pre-post design with a baseline and two-year follow-up. At baseline, all schoolyards were paved. Between baseline and follow-up all schools greened their schoolyards. During recess at baseline and follow-up, the play behavior of children in grades 4, 5 and 6 in different target areas was videotaped with multiple cameras and afterwards coded using the cognitive play categories and non-play categories of the Play Observation Scale (Rubin, 2001). Video recordings of 352 children at baseline, and 325 children in 66 target areas at follow-up, were divided in equal time frames of 30 seconds. Each child's behavior was coded at the 30th second of the time frame, yielding a dataset of 17046 observations. Results show an increase in observed play, as compared to non-play, behavior, after greening. Furthermore, there was an increase in games-with-rules, a small increase in constructive and explorative play behavior, and a decrease in passive non-play behaviors. This impact of greening was stronger for girls compared to boys. These findings strengthen the empirical basis for greening schoolyards by providing data from a large scale quantitative study with a controlled, longitudinal pre-post design. • Video recordings of children's play before and after schoolyard greening suggest a positive impact of the greening. • Children display more play, as compared to non-play, behavior after greening of the schoolyard. • Play behavior became more varied after greening, with more observations of constructive and exploratory play behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract: In many countries there is an ongoing debate on the choice of an adequate set of indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental policy and the sustainability of current developments. Experiences in the Netherlands, in the past decades, have shown that this is a never-ending debate. Political preferences for certain types of indicators change over time and differ between the various stakeholders. Therefore, any set of indicators should be broad enough to be resilient to changing political climates and to facilitate discussions between various stakeholders on trade-offs between economic and ecological targets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, the relation between job characteristics and health is examined. The main aim is to investigate what role different dimensions of jobs play in explaining employees' health, deriving hypotheses from medical sociology and the organizational psychological literature. The dataset used to test the hypotheses is the Time Competition Survey (2003, N = 894), a large scale survey conducted among employees and managers in 30 Dutch organizations. Ordinal logistic regression methods are used to analyze these data. The results indicate that job demands have a stronger effect on employees' health than income, job control and job challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the concept of transnationalism as a point of departure, I examine the expanding linkages between Filipinos in the Netherlands and their communities of origin in the Philippines. The emerging linkages and relations between migrants abroad and their home communities also include other actors and institutions, such as government agencies and NGOs. The empirical evidence based on the Dutch-Filipino connections suggests that these transnational linkages have the potential to promote sustainable development in the migrants' home communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Second World War Dutch society has become more open. Intergenerational mobility increased and homogamy decreased. To be able to choose between alternative explanations for growing openness, it would be helpful to know whether this is a new, post-war phenomenon or the end of a long term trend. Data from the Historical Sample of the Netherlands allow us to investigate this question for the province of Utrecht between 1850 and 1940. Results concerning intergenerational, marriage and career mobility all point in the same direction. Although total mobility increased, relative mobility chances remained by and large the same. Explanations for growing openness have to be sought in recent phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In social inequality research, the impact of mothers' position on the transmission of family resources to children is often neglected. We ask what the effects of mothers' and fathers' status were on their sons' and daughters' status attainment in the nineteenth and early twentieth century in the Netherlands, and how these effects changed over time. We use occupational information in marriage record data to investigate the status of 465,790 sons and 157,967 daughters. Mothers' occupational and employment status mattered for both sons' and daughters' status attainment. Over time, the gender-specific influence of parental status on children's status remained stable, while the cross-gender impact of parental status on daughters' status attainment increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Younger siblings are more likely to choose fields similar to their older siblings. • Sibling influence is more likely to occur between siblings of the same sex. • Age, education level and specific field chosen by older siblings are unimportant. • Sibling influence occurs irrespective of parental influence. • Siblings are an important aspect of the home environment influencing field choices. This study evaluates sibling similarities in field of study choices after secondary education in the Netherlands. Based on social learning theory, it was argued that younger siblings follow their older sibling's field of study choices. This is more likely to occur when siblings differ more in age, older siblings are higher educated or when siblings are of the same sex. Data from the fifth wave of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in the Netherlands were used. We analyzed 4556 children in 2923 families using conditional logit models. Congruent with the social learning theory, younger siblings follow their older sibling's fields of study, especially when they are of the same sex. There is no evidence that sibling similarities are dependent on differences in age or education level of the older sibling. They are also present irrespective of parental influence and independent of the specific field chosen by the older sibling. Siblings are therefore – next to parents – an important aspect of the home environment that shapes field of study choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the mathematical calculation of job positions available for people in the Netherlands. The municipalities calculate the positions occupied by older people and the jobs available for the younger generation through various mathematical statistics applied on different age groups. A survey was conducted by the Dutch municipality on the positions occupied by people from 1830 to 1971. The survey emphasizes on the impact of social factors like immigration, population and education on the employment.

Background: Parents of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) experience high levels of stress in the daily management of their child's illness. Parents need continuously available support and information, yet online support programs are lacking. e-Powered Parents was developed to fill this gap; it is an online program consisting of (1) medical information, (2) an interactive part, and (3) four training modules (stress management, setting limits, communication, and coping). Prior to a large-scale evaluation, we conducted a feasibility study that consisted of an effect study and a process evaluation.Objective: The objectives of our study were to (1) identify the outcome measures that are most likely to capture the potential benefit, (2) evaluate the potential effectiveness and effect size, and (3) evaluate recruitment, reach, the dose received, and context.Methods: We conducted a feasibility study with a two-armed, wait-list randomized controlled trial (RCT). Prior to baseline, parents (n=146) were randomly allocated to group 1 or group 2. After completing the baseline questionnaire, parents in group 1 were given access to e-Powered Parents, while those in group 2 received usual care. At the 6-month follow-up (T1), all parents received a questionnaire and parents in group 2 were given access to e-Powered Parents as well. After 1.5 years, through an extra measurement (T2), we evaluated the effect of long-term exposure. Outcomes were the child's quality of life (Child Vulnerability Scale), parental stress (Pediatric Inventory for Parents) and fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory), self-efficacy in communication with health care professionals (Perceived Efficacy in Patient-Physician Interactions, PEPPI-5), and parental perceptions of family management (Family Management Measure). Floor and ceiling effects and percentage of parents showing no change in scores were calculated. We used linear mixed models to evaluate the potential effectiveness and effect sizes using the intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses. In the process evaluation, we evaluated recruitment, reach, the dose received, and context using a questionnaire sent to the parents, log-in data, and a focus group interview with health care professionals.Results: At T1 (n=86) and T2 (n=51), no significant effects were found on any of the five outcomes. The PEPPI-5 showed ceiling effects and high percentages of parents showing no change between the measurement times. The information and interactive part of the intervention were used by 84% (57/68) of the parents in group 1 and 49% (32/65) of the parents in group 2. The information pages were visited most often. Overall, 64% (85/133) of the parents logged in to the training platform and 31% (26/85) actually used the training modules.Conclusions: We did not observe any significant effect on any of the outcomes. This could possibly be explained by the minimal use of the intervention and by parents' heterogeneity. For continued participation, we recommend a tailored intervention and further studies to find out whether and how online programs could be used to support parents in the management of their child's CKD.Trial Registration: Netherlands Trial Registry NTR4808; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=4808 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/719rCicvW). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]