Search

The overall purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which retirement is a contextually embedded, family decision rather than an individualized, male-centric one. Using data from a 2010 survey of married pre-retirees ages 35–70 in Michigan, US, we created a General Linear Model to predict expected retirement age. The model incorporated the effect of spousal and family variables on expected retirement age, and because the work/family interface is highly gendered, we explored interactions with gender. The study used a life course perspective in its framing and analysis, and found that expected retirement age was related to both personal and family characteristics and that the relationship of spousal and family factors were gendered and complex.

Qualitative research differs from survey research in that it positions research closer to the natural setting, granting a more active role to respondents in the research process and focusing on discovery. A preferred policy research approach integrates the flexibility of qualitative research to study dynamic situations about which there is limited knowledge of expected outcomes and the descriptive power of quantitative studies to detail phenomena in large, heterogeneous populations. Field studies provide local policymakers information on the needs and implementation concerns of their constituency population. Fieldwork can assist policy researchers in designing national surveys by determining important variation at the local and regional levels. Field research helps to identify community members who will cooperate in answering a preliminary survey and discuss the shortcomings and merits of the instrument's items and instructions. Preliminary ethnographic research allows investigators to assess the concerns, beliefs, knowledge, and viewpoints of those who hold a stake in policy issues and helps to frame the research problem.

Individual savings are critical for retirement as government and employer-based provisions fade or become less secure. Rural communities are vulnerable given their higher proportion of elderly and more who rely on Social Security. Using a telephone survey of working-age residents in Michigan's rural Upper Peninsula, this research investigates factors associated with participation in tax-advantaged retirement plans that have largely replaced defined-benefit pension plans for earmarked retirement savings. The project also identifies factors predictive of making maximum contributions to those retirement plans. We consider several distinct categories of variables to reflect the social embeddedness of economic action. In addition, the research included community variables describing aspects of respondents' social context, a new component of the savings discourse, which we show to be significantly related to saving outside a tax-advantaged retirement plan and making maximum contributions to a tax-advantaged retirement plan.

The debate on rural restructuring is extended by redefining families and households and their study; by considering the contributions of family scholarship to rural sociological issues; by assessing the methodological implications and challenges of integrating a family focus in rural sociology; and by reengaging rural sociology around important policy issues. The structure and dynamics of family and household shape explanations of rural experiences. By integrating and building on family studies, rural sociology can enrich its knowledge base and further its relevance and power of explanation.

Financial planning for retirement is a lifelong process constrained by financial literacy, resources, and competing demands for resources across the life course. Further, social structure shapes the availability of options for funding retirement. The social and economic frameworks surrounding retirement planning are changing, and policy makers and researchers question whether retirement expectations have adapted. To explore this question, this research used k-means cluster analysis of a 2010 survey data set to identify natural groupings of Michigan adult preretirees based on their expectations of income sources for retirement. The cluster analysis identified six distinct groups that hold very different expectations. Most had expectations that are not consistent with projected changes in social structure and resource availability and those that did were more likely to occupy traditionally privileged statuses including being White, male, and married.

The purpose of this study is to examine the myths that surround rural areas and the expectations parents have of family life based on residence in a rural Michigan county. In face-to-face interviews with rural parents, we find that expectations for the creation and maintenance of family life are often at odds with the economic, political, and material conditions of rural living. Yet, parents adhere to myths about self-sufficiency, safety, family life, and community solidarity, myths that are separate and distinct from beliefs and perceptions they have of what family would be in an urban area. Myths about rural places are incorporated into parents' perceptions of their family life. Parents' perceptions are shaped by farm or nonfarm rural residence, whether they grew up in a rural or urban area, and whether or not they have other family or kin that live in the same rural county.

We combine a telephone survey of working-aged adults in the continental US with Census 2000 county and zip code tabulation area data to explore attachment to place. Using results of the 2000 US Census, we define cultural and economic regions. Our modified “Great Plains” area is that portion of the region that is experiencing population decline. We explore how attachment to place is different between the Great Plains and other regions of the US. Our measure of attachment to place is a question on the amount of additional income respondents would require to move to a similar community 500 miles away. We identify three respondent groups: unconditional migrants, conditional migrants, and unconditionally rooted. Basic tabulations and regression analysis reveal differences between the Great Plains and other regions. Natural amenities present in the community appear to play a role in shaping respondent attitudes towards relocation. Why are They Moving Away? Comparing Attachment to Place in the Great Plains to the Rest of the Nation A large proportion of the Great Plains has faced substantial out-migration in recent years. To better cope with this situation, policy makers need information on reasons why people choose to leave or stay in a community. It is easy to attribute human movement to simple job opportunities, but the true picture is more complex. A community is more than just a dot on a map. It is where our lives take place. It is the group of friends we‟ve known for years. It is the office where we got our first jobs. All of our institutions, our activities, and our identities are emplaced in a The Online Journal of Rural Research and Policy Vol. 4, Issue 1 (2009) 2 community (Gieryn 2000 1 ). So when an individual is deciding to move away from a community, there is more at stake than dollars and cents. The United States population is highly mobile, with fully 45.7% of persons over age 5 moving between 1995 and 2000 (U.S. Census, 2003 2 ). Nationally, the majority of these moves are within a region (U.S. Census, 2003 3 ), but the Great Plains is notable for its propensity for outmigration. Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas all experienced net outmigration in the 1995 – 2000 period. A declining place wishing to stabilize its population must reduce movement away, increase inward movement, or both. From a practical standpoint, keeping current residents seems less challenging, and motivates our focus on the determinants of attachment to place in the Great Plains. A migration decision involves more than comparing incomes and costs of living in a potential destination and origin together with the out-of-pocket expenses of closing the old house and setting up a new house. In addition to job prospects, people consider many other conditions and attributes of the sending and receiving communities when deciding to migrate. A decision to move out of a community also reflects an individual‟s (and household‟s) utility that considers an array of different factors. In addition to these factors, attachments to place change over time. As we finish our education, have children, or buy a retirement home, our attachment to community changes to reflect our tastes and preferences at the time. So attachment to place varies not only from person to person, but across the lifespan. In addition to local amenities and community attributes, individuals are tied to broader regional culture systems and institutions that shape individuals' utility. For example, an individual living in a place with a unique regional identity and culture, like Appalachia, may have a different attachment to place than a person who lives in a more culturally homogenized location. In this paper, we test to see if it is reasonable to assume that attachment to community is uniform across the United States, or if different regions exhibit differing levels of attachment to place ceteris paribus. The various regions in the United States exhibit very different cultures, values, and preferences. The Great Plains region in particular has been experiencing lower net migration rates than other regions in the United States for many decades (Rathge & Highman, 1998 4 ). Migration trends have been traditionally explained by economic and amenity factors, but perhaps determinants of migration are different in the Great Plains. The relationship between an individual‟s willingness to move and various other factors may help in the understanding of problems and solutions that are specific to the Great Plains. To explore how attachment to place differs between the Great Plains and other regions, we developed and analyzed a national telephone survey to measure attachment to place. Respondents were asked how much additional income it would take for them to move from their current community to a similar community 500 miles away. Answers ranged from $0, by those who are apparently desperate to move, to infinity (no amount could ever move me) for individuals firmly anchored in their communities. Why are They Moving Away? Vol. 4, Issue 1 (2009) 3 This financial representation of willingness to move reflects individual-specific utility, and is expected to vary from person to person, from county to county, and perhaps region to region. In this paper we explore the relationship between willingness to move and individual, community, and regional characteristics. We also test to see if willingness to move is uniform throughout the continental United States, or if certain regions, the Great Plains in particular, demonstrate significantly higher or lower willingness to move. By better understanding willingness to move, policy makers can be equipped to make more informed decisions regarding population retention and growth in their respective communities, and understand which demographic characteristics and community amenities are most critical.

We employ a multi-method approach to more fully explore determinants of greater than expected rural county-level increases and decreases in the proportion of working poor in four states. An econometric model by Anderson, Goe, and Weng (2007) using 1990 and 2000 Census data in the North Central region of the U.S. supplies the error terms to identify our outlier counties. We show that counties performing better than expected may be more self-reliant than counties performing worse than expected (Michigan), that regional attributes contribute greatly to overall performance (Ohio), that the structure of local employment patterns also influences outcomes (Missouri), while devolution of federal government and long-term commuting patterns may also affect outcomes (South Dakota). Future efforts should attempt to replicate these research strategies and may serve to inform the direction of best practice in federal data collection efforts.

The purpose of this article is to examine the formal and informal organizational and environmental structures and processes that influence the opportunities, achievements, and satisfaction of women administrators in postsecondary education. A model is developed that synthesizes the research from human capital and structural approaches to occupational mobility and applies it to university contexts. Emphasis is placed on the structural factors, including organizational characteristics, and membership in formal and informal networks. A set of hypotheses is derived from this model. Gaps in current literature and research and proposed avenues for future research are discussed.

The extent of assumed sex differences in preferences for work attributes is explored utilizing data from five representative national samples. The results indicated only minimal differences in preferred job attributes between males and females. Both sexes identified meaningfulness of the work as the most important job attribute, and rank ordered the other four attributes studied in the following sequence: promotion, income, security, and hours. Factors such as education, occupational prestige, age and one's commitment to continue working were more important than sex of the respondent as predictors of job attribute preferences. However, these status variables did not affect the relationship of sex and job attribute preferences. Furthermore, these factors had approximately the same relative predictive value for both males and females. Nevertheless, these statistically significant predictors explained a small proportion of the variance in job attribute preferences. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Campus Affirmative Action officers are conspicuously absent from the research literature on the impact of Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity mandates in higher education. This study reports opinions of AA/EEO directors in research and doctorate-granting institutions concerning the impact of AA/EEO officers on the professional ranks of the academy and investigates the influence of various organizational, program, and individual variables on those views.

Sex differences in job satisfaction are explored utilizing data from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) General Social Surveys, 1974–1982. Theoretically, differences in job satisfaction ar...

The use of affirmative action programs to implement equal opportunity policies and end employment discrimination has created controversy from its inception. Debate over the necessity, advisability, impact, and effectiveness of such programs is a longstanding theme in both the popular and scholarly literature. As mandated by law, institutions of higher education have been among the earliest organizations to adopt formal affirmative action programs and to incorporate such policies as explicit goals of the organization. Additionally, higher education is often viewed both by members of the educational establishment and the public at large as the central societal institution implementing meritocratic norms and values of equal opportunity. Paradoxically, there is a clear history of failure to meet these standards. For all these reasons the university provides an ideal setting to study issues raised in the ongoing debate over affirmative action.

Conjugal labor involvement of rural couples is based on the employment status and number of jobs held by both husband and wife. A significant proportion of rural couples are underemployed (that is neither spouse is employed) as well as overemployed (that is 1 or both spouses hold 2 or more jobs). Conjugal labor involvement types are distinctive patterns for integrating work and family roles and are significantly associated with educational level age life-course stage farm occupation and residence and husbands housework involvement. However as suggested by status enhancement theory couples adoption of distinctive patterns of labor involvement is not associated with significant differences in marital quality as indicated by levels of tension sociability and communication. Data from a statewide mail survey of nonmetropolitan households in 1981 (N=770 couples) are examined with multivariate analyses. Implications for family counseling and policy are presented. (authors)