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Family background has been shown to be a strong determinant of educational attainment, yet relatively little is known about the role that family background plays in PhD attainment or in the selection into academic careers. In this study, we estimate sibling correlations from Finnish full population register data to comprehensively assess the importance of family background in selection into academia. Our results show that family background accounts for over a third of the overall variation in becoming a PhD and subsequently an academic -- a share which is up to four times as large as implied by conventional comparisons by parental education. However, we did not find evidence that family background would be an exceptionally strong determinant of doctoral outcomes when compared to other educational outcomes. Our findings further suggest that sibling similarities in PhD attainment and academic careers may largely be attributed to sibling similarities in prior educational achievement rather than to other family background characteristics.

Background: Previous research indicates that students lack sufficient online credibility evaluation skills. However, the results are fragmented and difficult to compare as they are based on different types of measures and indicators. Consequently, there is no clear understanding of the structure of credibility evaluation. Objectives: The present study sought to establish the structure of credibility evaluation of online texts among 265 sixth graders. Methods: Students' credibility evaluation skills were measured with a task in which they read four online texts, two more credible (a popular science text and a newspaper article) and two less credible (a layperson's blog text and a commercial text). Students read one text at a time and evaluated the author's expertise, the author's benevolence and the quality of the evidence before ranking the texts according to credibility. Four competing measurement models of students' credibility evaluations were assessed. Results: The model termed the Genre-based Confirming-Questioning Model reflected the structure of credibility evaluation best. The results suggest that credibility evaluation reflects the source texts and requires two latent skills: confirming the more credible texts and questioning the less credible texts. These latent skills of credibility evaluation were positively associated with students' abilities to rank the texts according to credibility. Implications: The study revealed that the structure of credibility evaluation might be more complex than previously conceptualized. Consequently, students would benefit from activities that ask them to carefully analyse different credibility aspects of more and less credible texts, as well as the connections between these aspects.

Sourcing -- identifying, evaluating, and using information about the sources of information -- assists readers in determining what to trust when seeking information on the Internet. To survive in the post-truth era, students should be equipped with sufficient sourcing skills. This study investigated the efficacy of a teacher-led intervention aimed at fostering upper secondary school students' (N = 365) sourcing during online inquiry. The intervention (4 × 75 min) was structured in accordance with the phases of online inquiry: locating, evaluating, synthesizing, and communicating information. During the intervention, teachers demonstrated why and how to source, and students practiced sourcing by investigating a controversial topic on the Internet. Students worked in small groups and their work was supported with analysis and reflection prompts. Students' sourcing skills were measured with a web-based online inquiry task before and after the intervention. Compared to controls, the intervention fostered students' abilities in three of the four skills measured (sourcing in search queries, credibility judgments, and written product). Depending on the sourcing skill, 4-25% of students showed improved performance. The students with low sourcing skills to begin with, benefited the most from the intervention. The study demonstrated that students' sourcing skills can be supported throughout online inquiry.

The marketisation and privatisation of welfare services such as early childhood education and care (ECEC) have been a global trend in recent decades. Earlier research suggests that market-based ECEC provision often leads to inequalities and stratification of service users. In Finland, as in other Nordic countries where provision of ECEC has traditionally been a public responsibility, ECEC services have also been undergoing marketisation and privatisation. Until now, especially in Finland, little has been known about service users of public and private ECEC or parental decisions between public and private ECEC. This study addresses that gap by showing that the clientele of private and public ECEC differ in their socioeconomic attitudinal characteristics. It appears that the combination of marketisation and privatisation of ECEC extends processes of educational and social distinction into the early childhood.

This article reports on a pilot study on the academic self-efficacy (ASE) of 245 Finnish pupils when studying according to a subject-specific curriculum for one week and an integrated curriculum the following week. The data consisted of selected items from the Class Maps Survey and self-reported grades of L1 and mathematics and were analysed using latent growth curve modelling and multivariate linear regression analysis. According to the results, the mathematics grades were associated with the level of and change in ASE: pupils reporting lower skills had lower self-efficacy at the beginning of the study. During the first week, ASE increased similarly among all skills groups; during the second week, only the math grades positively predicted variation across all pupils in rate of change in ASE. The increase in ASE during the second week was faster among pupils with low or good math grades than the pupils with higher math grades.

Research has shown that students differ in their abilities to evaluate the credibility of online texts, and, in general, many perform poorly on online evaluation tasks. This study extended current knowledge by examining students' abilities to justify the credibility of online texts from different perspectives, thus providing a more nuanced understanding of students' credibility evaluation ability. We examined how upper secondary school students (N = 73; aged 16 to 17) evaluated author expertise, author intention, the publication venue, and the quality of evidence when reading four texts about the effects of sugar consumption in a web-based environment. Additionally, we examined how students' prior topic knowledge, Internet-specific justification beliefs, and time on task were associated with their credibility justifications. Students evaluated author expertise, author intention, the venue, and the quality of evidence for each text on a six-point scale and provided written justifications for their evaluations. While students' credibility evaluations were quite accurate, their credibility justifications lacked sophistication. Inter-individual differences were considerable, however. Regression analysis revealed that time on task was a statistically significant unique predictor of students' credibility justifications. Instructional implications are discussed.

The aim of the study was to analyse literacy instruction activities and their associations with the reading performance of first graders in Estonia and Finland, two countries that share similar orthographies and educational systems but differ in the onset of formal reading instruction. The contents of 33 Literacy lessons in first grade spring were analysed and students' (N[subscript EST] = 415, N[subscript FIN] = 154) reading performance was assessed in first grade autumn and spring. The results showed that there were more similarities than differences between the countries in literacy instruction activities, but some country-specific interaction effects were found between students' reading performance and contents of the instruction. Especially the slopes of reading performance development among Finnish beginning readers differed from the other readers in both countries with respect to the content of literacy instruction. The results highlight the importance of responsiveness to students' needs in early school years literacy instruction.

Previous evaluation studies have rarely used authentic online texts and investigated upper secondary school students' use of evaluation criteria and deep reasoning. The associations between internet-specific epistemic justifications for knowing and credibility evaluation of online texts are not yet fully understood among adolescents. This study investigated upper secondary school students' (N = 372) abilities to evaluate self-selected authentic online texts and the role of internet-specific epistemic justifications in students' evaluation performance when solving a health-related information problem. Students selected three texts with Google Custom Search Engine and evaluated their credibility. Students' evaluation performance across the three texts was determined according to the different aspects evaluated (author, venue, intentions, evidence and corroboration) and the depth of their evaluations. Students also filled in the Internet-Specific Epistemic Justifications (ISEJ) inventory previously validated with pre-service teachers. The results revealed considerable differences in students' abilities to evaluate online texts. Students' beliefs in justification by authority and justification by multiple sources positively predicted their evaluation performance similarly in both topics. The findings suggest that the ISEJ inventory is also valid for upper secondary school students. Students should be explicitly taught to evaluate different credibility aspects and scaffolded to deeply engage with online information.

The present study investigated students' (N = 404) interpretations of the main message and use of modes in a persuasive multimodal video on vaccines. It also examined whether students' topic knowledge, language arts grades, and self-identified gender were associated with their interpretations. Students analyzed a YouTube video in which two entertainers demonstrated the importance of vaccinating children. Students' interpretations of the usefulness of vaccines varied in terms of quality of reasoning, which was associated with students' topic knowledge. Notably, many students' interpretations of the use of modes were incomplete, or they did not even mention certain modes in their response. The results suggest that students should be explicitly taught how to interpret different modes and their uses for argumentative purposes.

This longitudinal study covering two educational transitions examined 1,821 Finnish students' participation in and identification with school and their associations with students' academic achievement and truancy. The students were surveyed (a) at the end of primary school, (b) at the beginning of lower secondary school, (c) at the end of lower secondary school, and (d) in the first year of upper secondary education. In alignment with the participation-identification model, higher levels of participation in school activities at the end of primary school predicted higher levels of identification (i.e., feelings of belonging and valuing school) at the end of lower secondary school. This association was mediated by academic achievement. High levels of both participation and identification at the end of lower secondary school predicted lower levels of truancy in upper secondary education. The study indicates that promoting students' participation and identification during comprehensive school prevents student disengagement from upper secondary education.

This study investigated how sixth graders' credibility evaluation self-efficacy was associated with their ability to evaluate the credibility of online texts. Students (N = 265, Mage = 12.45) worked in a web-based environment, where they read and evaluated two more credible texts and two less credible texts that required confirming and questioning the texts' credibility, respectively. Students were asked to evaluate the author's expertise, the author's benevolence, and the quality of evidence in each text. They were also asked to assess their credibility evaluation self-efficacy during the task. The structural equation model indicated that students' self-efficacy was positively associated with their ability to confirm the more credible texts but not with their ability to question the less credible texts. The instructional implications of this study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to understand how well students (n = 274; Mage = 12.45) were able to identify the author, the main claim, and the supporting evidence (identification performance) and to justify the author's expertise, the author's benevolence, and the quality of the evidence (justification performance) while reading multiple online texts. The study also examined the contribution of prior topic knowledge and basic reading skills (word recognition and reading comprehension) to students' identification and justification performance. Students read two more and two less credible online texts about sugar effects on health. After reading each text, they responded to multiple-choice items that measured the identification and justification performance. Justifying credibility seemed more challenging for students than identifying the claim, evidence, and author. Word recognition and reading comprehension were statistically significant predictors of identification performance, whereas prior knowledge and reading comprehension were statistically significant predictors of justification performance. The findings offer new insights into the relationship between basic reading skills and credibility evaluation that can inform both theory and instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent European and global trends in education have been to promote inclusive education and expand education, resulting in the increased provision of special education. In promoting inclusive education, recent special education reforms have also aimed to curtail the rise in identification rates for students in special education, for example, by focusing more on early support and discontinuing fiscal incentives to identify students with special educational needs. Using official special education statistics, we studied how Finland's special education system reforms changed the share of students in special education. In addition, we examined variations in special education provisions among municipalities before and after the reforms, and identified municipal-level predictors of variations. This study utilised piecewise linear latent growth curve modelling to analyse changes, thereby providing an example of how this method can be applied in policy reform studies. The results indicated, in particular, that the funding reform has incentivised municipalities to decrease identification rates for students in special education and to diminish special education provision. However, different municipalities have different special education provisions and have changed these provisions in varied ways. In particular, we found that small and large municipalities differ in special education practices and reform implementation.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of prosociality, which is defined in terms of helping and benefitting others, between teacher collaboration and their turnover intentions. Prosociality was measured as prosocial impact and prosocial motivation. Design/methodology/approach: This study was conducted through a cross-sectional survey of 260 elementary and junior high school teachers in Japan. A structural equational model was employed to examine the mediating roles of prosocial impact and prosocial motivation in the relationships between teacher collaboration and their turnover intention. Findings: The results, first, supported the hypotheses: the high perception of teacher collaboration in school predicted high perceived prosocial impact; high perceived prosocial impact predicted high perceived prosocial motivation; and high perceived prosocial motivation predicted decreased turnover intention. Second, results supported partial mediating roles of prosocial impact and prosocial motivation between teacher collaboration and turnover intention. Research limitations/implications: Limitations of this study include cross-sectional data that may limit the potential for causal inferences, and self-report data. Future studies should incorporate alternative designs. Practical implications: Results indicate that teacher collaboration contributes to less teacher turnover intention via prosociality. Thus, to enhance teachers' prosocial impact, more opportunities to realise their collaboration should be considered. Originality/value: This is the first study to explore the relationships between teacher collaboration and turnover intention in educational organisations with prosociality, which resides as core goals and objectives of teachers.

This study aimed to construct and validate a quantitative measurement instrument to determine the structure of professional agency in working life. Empirical data (N = 589) were collected via a web-based, theoretically informed questionnaire, within the professional domains of education, healthcare, rescue services, and information technology. The questionnaire items incorporated theoretically based dimensions of professional agency. The structure of professional agency was initially analysed via exploratory factor analysis. Thereafter, using exploratory structural equation modelling, the structure of professional agency was investigated with a view to confirmation and validation. The results indicated that the structure of professional agency included three dimensions: Influencing at Work, Developing Work Practices, and Negotiating Professional Identity. These dimensions appeared to be separate from but closely linked to other work-related constructs, notably Learning at Work and Emotionally Meaningful Work. The study enriches current theory on professional agency by shedding light on its multidimensional structure. In presenting an instrument for measuring professional agency, the study can benefit scholars and work organisations with an interest in researching and fostering professional agency in various work and educational contexts.

Recently, the large-scale reforms of special education have been carried out in many countries. This study focuses on the latest Finnish reform of special education in compulsory education. As principals lead educational reforms in schools, their role in the implementation of reform is significant. The study explores principals' views on the changes in support arrangements after the educational reform. We used latent class analysis to identify the subgroups of principals who share similar views. In addition, we examined the relationship between the subgroups and individual, school, and municipal level factors using multinomial logistic regression analysis. Four subgroups were identified: improved pedagogical support (19% of principals), stability of support (54%), increased administrative support (14%), and weakened support (13%). Work experience as a principal, school size, schools' resources for special education, and region differentiated these subgroups from one another. Despite nationwide reform, the support arrangements and their changes differed among schools in the opinion of principals. We discuss the implications for the planning and implementation of the educational reforms.

We investigated the specificity of reading self-efficacy among second- to fifth-grade children in Finland (N = 1,327). Bandura (1997) theorized that efficacy beliefs can be assessed at different levels of specificity; however, empirical support for this view is scarce among young children. Efficacy beliefs targeting reading-related activities were assessed at three specificity levels (general, intermediate, and specific). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that these specificity levels are separable, but correlated, and the structure was invariant across gender and grade level. Self-efficacy factors were positively associated with reading fluency, but the strength of these associations varied according to specificity level. Findings suggest that reading self-efficacy in primary grades can and should be assessed at different specificity levels according to research aims.

Although coparenting has been widely studied, little is known about the daily processes of coparenting between mothers and fathers in early parenthood. Based on family systems theory and the ecological model of coparenting, we investigated new parents' day-to-day within-family processes of cooperative and tensioned coparenting. Mothers and fathers from 144 Finnish first-time couples completed daily mobile diaries for 7 consecutive days when their firstborn was 4–6 months old. The random-intercept cross-lagged panel model showed three types of within-family processes in daily coparenting, which we named continuity, spread, and shift. Continuity in cooperative coparenting occurred when a parent's previous-day cooperative coparenting positively predicted his or her own cooperative coparenting experiences the next day. We also found that coparenting experiences spread from one spouse to another: A parent's cooperative coparenting on the previous day negatively predicted his or her spouse's experiences of tensioned coparenting the following day. Finally, daily coparenting experiences also shifted from day to day: One parent's experience of tensioned coparenting the previous day positively predicted that parent's cooperative coparenting experiences the next day. No gender differences were found. These findings emphasize that the two daily coparenting dimensions seem to operate partly differently in daily life, as cooperative coparenting was slightly more often a cause and consequence in the observed processes than tensioned coparenting. Therefore, it seems that interventions should focus on enhancing cooperative coparenting. Moreover, the new concepts of continuity, spread, and shift are proposed as better descriptions of the three daily processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children have been found to report and demonstrate math anxiety as early as the first grade. However, previous results concerning the relationship between math anxiety and performance are contradictory, with some studies establishing a correlation between them while others do not. These contradictory results might be related to varying operationalizations of math anxiety. Aims: In this study, we aimed to examine the prevalence of math anxiety and its relationship with basic arithmetic skills in primary school children, with explicit focus on two aspects of math anxiety: anxiety about failure in mathematics and anxiety in math-related situations. Sample: The participants comprised 1,327 children at grades 2-5. Methods: Math anxiety was assessed using six items, and basic arithmetic skills were assessed using three assessment tasks. Results: Around one-third of the participants reported anxiety about being unable to do math, one-fifth about having to answer teachers' questions, and one tenth about having to do math. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that anxiety about math-related situations and anxiety about failure in mathematics are separable aspects of math anxiety. Structural equation modelling suggested that anxiety about math-related situations was more strongly associated with arithmetic fluency than anxiety about failure. Anxiety about math-related situations was most common among second graders and least common among fifth graders. Conclusions: As math anxiety, particularly about math-related situations, was related to arithmetic fluency even as early as the second grade, children's negative feelings and math anxiety should be identified and addressed from the early primary school years.

Because of a deeply gendered history of craft education in Finland, technology education has a strong gender-related dependence. In order to motivate girls into pursuing technological studies and to enable them to see their own potential in technology, gender sensitive approaches should be developed in technology education. This study explores differences between girls' and boys' motivation towards technology education in primary school (grades one to six). A questionnaire was carried out with pupils in grades five and six (n = 281). An Explorative Factor Analysis was performed on statements of motivation, and the independent samples t test was used to examine gender differences in pupils' motivation. Factor analyses showed that pupils' motivation structure consisted of nine factors. The results also showed gender differences in most factors. Compared to boys, girls were significantly more interested in studying environment related issues. They also felt it fundamental to obtain support and encouragement from teachers. Additionally girls enjoyed more than boys making useful and decorative artefacts for their homes. In contrast, boys liked more than girls building electronic devices and, in general, cared what kinds of artefacts were made in craft lessons. Boys were more self-confident; felt that they could learn new things; felt very enthusiastic about craft lessons and felt it was fun to learn how to operate different tools. These findings reveal obvious gender-based differences in pupils' motivation. Curriculum writers and teachers should therefore pay more attention to girls to assist them with seeing the relevance of technology in their everyday lives as well as technology related careers.

Facilitating mothers' work–family reconciliation upon their return to work can be considered a viable means of enhancing women's overall employment participation. This study examined return-to-work reasons among mothers with a one-year-old child, how these reasons are related to mothers' background characteristics, work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC) and whether having a partner home caring for the child protects against such conflicts. Results based on survey data collected from Finnish working mothers (N = 573) in 2016 showed four dimensions of return-to-work reasons: personal importance of work, work- and career-related worries, dissatisfaction with stay-at-home mothering and convenient work/childcare conditions. Higher personal importance of work was associated with lower levels of WFC and FWC, whereas higher work- and career-related worries were related to higher WFC and FWC. Higher dissatisfaction with stay-at-home mothering was associated with higher WFC and higher convenient work/childcare conditions with lower WFC. Having a partner on care-related leave did not protect against the conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uncertainties and growing social inequality young adults face in the labour market call for research on the link between young women's expectations about working life and the real options they have in seeking to combine work with care. Drawing on Sen's capabilities approach, this study contributes to filling this gap in the literature by examining how women in emerging adulthood in Finland foresee their future career and working life, and how these expectations are associated with socioeconomic and partnership characteristics and their expectations for work-family reconciliation. Survey data obtained from 527 young women aged 18–29 were analysed using latent profile analysis. Three distinct career/working life profiles were identified: confident (43%), cautiously confident (37%) and concerned (20%). The young women in the confident profile were the most advantaged and those in the concerned profile the most disadvantaged with regard to level of education, main activity, financial situation and region. Furthermore, the concerned women foresaw their options in their future career and in combining work with care as limited. The findings underline the importance of viewing individual decision-making processes related to work-family transitions within broader institutional and societal contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]