Education Commons^™

What Help Do Faculty Perceive Is Needed To Improve Their Community Engagement Through Outreach?, Kiyomi D. Deards, Saundra Wever Frerichs, Patricia Wonch Hill, Julia Mcquillan

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

• A survey-based needs assessment at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a research-intensive land grant university, explored ways to meet the goal of increasing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outreach
• 40% of surveyed faculty reported barriers to doing STEM outreach
• Over 50% of faculty reported an inability to individually resolve barriers to STEM outreach in ways that ensure broader community engagement in their research through outreach
• Using a sociological lens, the current study examined institutional-level barriers and enablers to faculty engaging in outreach
• Results suggest several institutional approaches to STEM outreach, including creating infrastructure with experts in science communication; providing science …

Why Does The Importance Of Education For Health Differ Across The United States?, Blakelee R. Kemp, Jennifer Karas Montez

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The positive association between educational attainment and adult health (“the gradient”) is stronger in some areas of the United States than in others. Explanations for the geographic pattern have not been rigorously investigated. Grounded in a contextual and life-course perspective, the aim of this study is to assess childhood circumstances (e.g., childhood health, compulsory schooling laws) and adult circumstances (e.g., wealth, lifestyles, economic policies) as potential explanations. Using data on U.S.-born adults aged 50 to 59 years at baseline (n = 13,095) and followed for up to 16 years across the 1998 to 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement …