Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons^™

Latinos In Massachusetts Public Schools: Waltham, Michael Berardino

Gastón Institute Publications

This report provides a snapshot of current educational outcomes for Latino students in the city of Waltham. It is based on publicly available data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MADESE) that have been analyzed for the community by the Gastón Institute. Using the ethnoracial categories assigned by MADESE, the report focuses on demographic trends and the most recent educational outcomes of Latino students relative to other ethno-racial groups in the school district and to students statewide. The report has three sections:

The first section illustrates the demographic shift occurring in the Waltham Public Schools. The number …

The Pelagic Artisanal Fishing Of Mangapwani, Northern Unguja, Shavonne Stanek

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A total of 99 interviews were conducted. Over a period of 28 days from April 5- May 2, 2015, a total of 75 interviews were conducted with 72 fishermen, 2 drying processors and 1 Bwana Diko. During a 5 day preliminary period from March 12-16, 2015, a total of 24 interviews were conducted with 7 fishermen and 14 drying processors. The interviews focused on their work in the local fishing industry, the amount of fish caught and dried, and their opinions on the sustainability of their industry. The interviews were conducted using a translator who relayed the responses in English …

Confronting Cultural Challenges For Migrant Healthcare In Switzerland, Rebecca Weiss

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Switzerland is home to many migrants, and migration exacerbates health risks. In addition to physical health problems, migrants are more likely than Swiss nationals to face mental health challenges and cultural barriers, which complicate their experiences seeking healthcare. Similarly, clinicians encounter numerous challenges related to the special circumstances of migrant patients. As a response to the specific health needs of migrants, hospital networks and migrant support organizations promote the migrant health situation. However, these services are not ubiquitous in Switzerland, partly due to the partial freedoms of each canton to create its own health policy. This paper explores the barriers …

A “Universal Value”? Perceptions Of Democracy Across Race Among Young Voters In Durban, Sa, Svati Pazhyanur

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study seeks to explore perceptions of democracy among young voting age South Africans, and how they vary across racial communities. While perceptions of democracy encompass a broad range of topics, this study focuses on the more tangible aspects of youth engagement with democracy. This study questions what democracy means to young South Africans, how it plays out in daily life, how successful its implementation in South Africa has been, and what it would ideally look like in the future. Because youth engagement with these discussions will significantly affect democracy’s trajectory in the future, it is essential to understand young …

The Industrial Impact On Wetlands In Jinja And The Nexus Of Industry, Wetlands, And Community (A Rights-Based Sustainable Development Approach), Ranger Ruffins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Uganda is a beautiful country filled with an extensive amount of natural resources, one of the most profound being wetlands. It is said that these wetlands are a crucial source of food and water for almost 3 million people (NEMA, 2012 and Oguttu et.al, 2008). They also provide many more invaluable socioeconomic benefits for the country. As Uganda experiences increasing development as well as a rapidly increasing population, the wetlands become increasingly necessary, at the same time they become increasingly threatened. It is written in the 1995 Ugandan constitution that Ugandan policy is aimed at ensuring sustainable development for the …

Transnational Education Systems In Morocco: How Language Of Instruction Shapes Identity, Sarah Robertson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The North African country of Morocco boasts a rich history of linguistic diversity, which was further compounded with the introduction of the French language under the protectorate in 1912. Through a complicated mix of Fus’ha (Modern Standard Arabic), Darija (Moroccan Dialectical Arabic), French (historically the language of the protectorate), and most recently, the introduction of English, the system of education with respect to linguistic instruction is left in a bind. The divide between the public schools, private schools, traditional Arabic schools, and well-­‐ established French schools only grows, as the Moroccan Education system hurts for change. If language shapes education, …

Social Responsibility And Enterprise: A Case Study Of Les Eauxminéralesd’Oulmes Water Company In The Oulmes Region Of Morocco, Kathryn Seibold

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As Morocco continues its development efforts, one of the most visible disparities that remains is the divide between urban and rural development. Oulmes, a small town of under 10,000 people in the Khemisset province, is home to Les EauxMinéralesd’Oulmes, one of the wealthiest corporations in Morocco. While this would initially seem to be a major distinction in terms of opportunity for development, the area’s economy is primarily agriculturally driven, and by most indicators remains relatively poor. Les EauxMineralesd’Oulmes has a history of strained relations with the surrounding community following a 1999 strike of local workers. This project focuses on this …

The Role Of Grupo Nzinga De Capoeira Angola In The Empowerment And Development Of Children From The Community Of Alto Da Sereia, Mariana Cardona

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Despite Brazil being one of the largest economies in the world, exclusion and child poverty remain as some of the most pressing social issues throughout the country. Child poverty is extremely problematic in Salvador da Bahia, where children from underprivileged communities are vulnerable to violence, exclusion, drug trafficking and prostitution. Grupo Nzinga de Capoeira Angola is an organization founded by Mestra Janja Araujo in 1995, whose main mission is to defend the rights of children and adolescents, fight against racial and gender discrimination, preserve and promote Afro-Brazilian culture, and empower girls, children and women. This paper seeks to understand how …

Error In Demographic And Other Quantitative Data And Analyses, Thomas K. Burch Prof

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

This paper is about errors in statistical data. My remarks are in two parts. The first part deals with the proposition that the statistical data we consume, analyse and produce contain more error from more sources than we sometimes recognise. The second asks: How can we better deal with these errors?

The topic of error in statistics can become highly technical, but for the most part this is not a technical presentation. It deals with common sense and experience; much of it is anecdotal.

Vivre Et Travailler Plus Longtemps Dans Une Société Vieillissante: Vers Une Croissance Des Inégalités?, Yves Carrière, Jacques Légaré, Mélanie Léger St-Cyr, Chloé Ronteix, Viorela Diaconu

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

L’accélération du processus de vieillissement de la population canadienne se poursuit alors que les cohortes du baby-boom franchissent tour à tour l’âge de 65 ans. Plus nombreuses à franchir cet âge, elles y survivront aussi plus longtemps. Au nom de l’équité intergénérationnelle, plusieurs pays répondent à ce bilan démographique en réformant leur système de revenu de retraite pour favoriser le report de l’âge effectif de la retraite. Au Canada, sans que l’on ait adopté de telles réformes, on observe ce report depuis déjà une vingtaine d’années. Aussi souhaitable que soit le prolongement de la durée de vie en emploi, il …

Les Mouvements Migratoires Des Premières Nations : Reflets Des Inégalités, Marilyn Amorevieta-Gentil, Robert Bourbeau, Norbert Robitaille

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

Ce travail de synthèse s’inscrit dans le thème de la dynamique migratoire des Premières Nations, soit les Indiens inscrits et les Indiens non-inscrits, sous le prisme des inégalités. Réaliser une migration, c’est essayer de trouver un équilibre entre la situation actuelle d’un individu et celle qu’il aimerait avoir, pour améliorer ses conditions de vie. L’analyse de ces situations implique une prise de décision, qui mène un individu à choisir le type de migration qui lui apporte le plus de bénéfices.

Les Premières Nations constituent une population singulière au Canada. En plus d’être hétérogènes, elles présentent des caractéristiques sociodémographiques, culturelles et …

Bridging The Literature On Education Migration, Ann H. Kim, Gunjan Sondhi

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

This research synthesis examines key themes and findings on international students and education migrants in Canada. Our review focuses on research related to the first wave of international student mobility (ISM), and we define the literature broadly to include studies on international students, foreign students, visa students, study abroad students, sojourning students, unaccompanied minors for educational purposes, and education migrants at all educational levels and legal statuses. ISM to Canada can be divided into roughly two periods, pre‐1990 and post‐1990. Studies are drawn from across the social sciences with a focus on literature from the perspectives of sociology, geography, economics, …

Health Inequalities Among Older Adults In Developed Countries: Reconciling Theories And Policy Approaches, Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, Andrea Willson, Sandra Reiter-Campeau

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

Policies that are meant to support older people in Canada might worsen inequalities. Increasingly privatized pension schemes and lack of subsidized support services disproportionately reward those with the most social and economic means in old age. Those who benefit generally experience better health than those who are disadvantaged. Canada has opportunity to guard against such a skewed impact of programs for the elderly by drawing on approaches developed by the World Health Organization, international examples, and sociological theory and research. These approaches can to help design policies that transcend existing inequalities in older people, fostering more equitable health outcomes.

The Changing Nature Of Regional Poverty, John V. Moeser, Dillon Massey, Thomas J. Shields

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

We’re witnessing a dramatic change in the social geography of greater Richmond. It’s becoming more like that of the global south, where wealth is centered in the cities and poverty rings the outskirts of the city.

Les Oldest-Olds Canadiens : Une Population En Pleine Croissance, Mal Connue Et À Risque De Manquer De Services Adéquats, Jacques Légaré, Yann Décarie, Kim Deslandes, Yves Carrière

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

Dans les pays industrialisés, et au Canada en particulier, le vieillissement ne sera plus dynamisé par la baisse de la fécondité, mais bien par l’allongement de la vie. Cette baisse de la mortalité sera surtout aux grands âges.

Dans ce contexte, les réflexions de Peter Laslett (1989) et sa remise en question de l’approche traditionnelle du cycle de vie sont fondamentales. De trois étapes, il a montré le bien fondé de passer à quatre : l’enfance, les âges adultes, le nouveau troisième âge, qui va de la retraite à la vieillesse, qui devient le quatrième âge.

Ce rapport s’intéresse aux …

Microdemographic Determinants Of Population Recovery Among The Northern Ache, Jack D. Baker Jr, Kim Hill, A. Magdalena Hurtado, Adelamar Alcantara, Eddie Hunsinger, Webb Sprague

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

A pattern of population crash and rapid recovery is a common feature of the pacification and settlement experience of the Indigenous Peoples of tropical South America. In spite of the obvious importance of these events to the demographic and anthropological sciences as a whole, as well as their significant practical implications, little is known about the microdemographic determinants of these paired phenomena. Utilizing methods of asymptotic and stochastic demographic analysis, we reconstruct the microdemographic drivers of this history among one Indigenous population: the Northern Ache of Eastern Paraguay. We then explore the implications of these relationships for understanding the overall …

(In)Visible Minorities In Canadian Health Data And Research, Mushira Khan, Karen Kobayashi, Sharon M. Lee, Zoua Vang

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

This synthesis project is motivated by the apparent neglect of visible minorities in Canadian health data and research. The main question is: Are visible minorities invisible in Canadian health data and research? To address this question, we assess the nature, extent, and range of data and research available on the health and health care access of visible minorities in Canada. Specifically, we summarize: (1) mortality and morbidity patterns for visible minorities; (2) determinants of visible minority health; (3) health status and determinants of visible minority older adult (VMOA) health; and (4) promising data sources that may be used to examine …

Climate Variability And Human Migration In The Netherlands, 1865-1937, Julia Jennings, Clark L. Gray

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

Human migration is frequently cited as a potential social outcome of climate change and variability, and these effects are often assumed to be stronger in the past when economies were less developed and markets more localized. Yet, few studies have used historical data to test the relationship between climate and migration directly. In addition, the results of recent studies that link demographic and climate data are not consistent with conventional narratives of displacement responses. Using longitudinal individual-level demographic data from the Historical Sample of the Netherlands (HSN) and climate data that cover the same period, we examine the effects of …

Retirement Planning Among Middle-Aged And Older Hispanics, Luisa Blanco, Emma Aguila, Arturo Gongora, Beverly Weidmer, O. Kenrik Duru

School of Public Policy Working Papers

The goal of this study is to deepen the understanding of how middle age and older Hispanics plan for retirement, where we conducted four focus groups in the Los Angeles area with a total of 38 participants. Our study provides interesting findings, specifically for women since 84 percent of the participants were female. We find that that most participants, whether they were already retired or not, are not well prepared for retirement since they have been unable to save for retirement and have not made specific retirement plans, such as determining desired retirement age, estimating retirement budget, and collecting information …

Latinos In Massachusetts Public Schools: Holyoke, Michael Berardino

Gastón Institute Publications

This report provides a snapshot of current educational outcomes for Latino students in the city of Holyoke. It is based on publicly available data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MADESE) that have been analyzed for the community by the Gastón Institute. Using the ethno-racial categories assigned by MADESE, the report focuses on demographic trends and the most recent educational outcomes of Latino students relative to other ethno-racial groups in the school district and to students statewide. The report has four sections:

The first section illustrates the demographic shift occurring in the Holyoke Public Schools. Enrollment has …