Education and community viability in Western Alaska, 2012-2015

DATA ARE NOT SUPPLIED HERE DUE TO SENSITIVITY SURROUNDING HUMAN SUBJECTS. PLEASE CONTACT DR. LOWE FOR MORE INFORMATION. A cross-section of youth and young adults across the Bering Sea region were interviewed on their post-secondary educational opportunities facilitated by the Community Development Quota (CDQ) program. The overarching project research question was: Do opportunities in post-secondary education for youth contribute to the viability of Bering Sea communities and way of life? "Viability"is defined by the degree to which a community can balance in- and out-migration, sustain a context of livelihood diversification, and create bridges to resources external to the community. To answer the research question, the investigators therefore also asked: Are there differences between contributions of college degree earners and those of vocational training graduates? What is the effect of post-secondary education on rural community out-migration for youth in Alaska? What is the effect of post-secondary education on occupation selection among rural Alaska youth? What kinds of educational opportunities contribute to bridging youth with resources external to coastal communities? Are there academic, sociocultural, or economic constraints preventing students from completing their studies or training? Hypotheses tested included the following: 1) More educational scholarships are awarded than vocational training grants. 2) More women are applying for post-secondary awards. 3) Completion of post-secondary education is correlated with outmigration. 4) Participation in educational "bridging" programs contribute to completion of education or training. 5) The majority of respondents who did not complete their studies dropped out after one year. 6) The average time to completion of studies is much longer than the traditional four years. 7) Having a social support network contributes to completion of studies. 8) Lack of adequate academic preparation contributes to non-completion of studies. 9) Financial hardship/poverty contributes to non-completion of studies. 10) Most people leave Western Alaska to find employment. Data sets included: 1) Western Alaska regional profile summaries of U.S. Census and State of Alaska data on: demographics, employment, development, subsistence economy data, educational statistics, and subsistence harvest data. 2) Ethnographic fieldnotes; 3) Focus group interview transcripts from 31 students interviewed at the University of Alaska and Alaska Career Academy; 5) An SPSS data file of 351 survey responses for survey on Alaska rural youth scholarship outcomes.

由于涉及人类受试者的敏感性问题，本次未提供数据集。如需获取更多信息，请联系洛威博士。本研究对白令海地区的青年与年轻成年人开展访谈，主题为社区发展配额（Community Development Quota, CDQ）项目所支持的中等教育后教育机会。本项目的核心研究问题为：针对青年群体的中等教育后教育机会，是否有助于提升白令海地区社区的存续能力（Viability）与生活方式？此处“存续能力”的定义为：社区平衡人口迁入与迁出、维持生计多元化环境，并搭建通往社区外部资源的桥梁的程度。为解答该核心研究问题，研究者同时设置了如下子问题：1. 持有大学学位者与职业培训毕业生的贡献是否存在差异？2. 中等教育后教育对阿拉斯加农村青年的社区迁出行为有何影响？3. 中等教育后教育对阿拉斯加农村青年的职业选择有何影响？4. 哪些类型的教育机会能够帮助青年群体衔接沿海社区的外部资源？5. 是否存在学术、社会文化或经济层面的阻碍因素，导致学生无法完成学业或培训？本次测试的研究假设包括：1. 高等教育奖学金的发放数量多于职业培训资助金；2. 申请高等教育资助的女性人数更多；3. 完成中等教育后教育与人口迁出呈正相关；4. 参与教育“衔接”项目有助于完成学业或培训；5. 未完成学业的受访者中，多数在入学一年后辍学；6. 平均学业完成时长远长于传统四年学制；7. 拥有社会支持网络有助于完成学业；8. 学术准备不足会导致无法完成学业；9. 经济困难/贫困会导致无法完成学业；10. 多数阿拉斯加西部居民会迁出本地以寻求就业。本次研究的数据集包含：1. 阿拉斯加西部区域概况总结，基于美国人口普查与阿拉斯加州数据，涵盖人口统计、就业、发展、生计经济数据、教育统计及生计捕捞数据；2. 民族志实地笔记；3. 针对阿拉斯加大学与阿拉斯加职业学院的31名学生开展的焦点小组访谈转录文本；5. 针对阿拉斯加农村青年奖学金资助结果的调查数据集，包含351份有效问卷的SPSS数据文件。