donchenko_angliyska_ddlya_psikhologiv_i_sotsiologiv

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UNIT XI

I. Read and translate the text:

Brain Drain: a Natural Phenomenon?

Nowadays we are hearing less and less about how detrimental brain drain is to Russia. Have we, like the rest of the world, begun to see it as something natural?

The consolation is that these days, leaving the country does not necessarily mean saying good-bye forever. Indeed, in recent years, for every scientist who emigrates for good, there are four who are working on a contract basis. Their lifestyle is like a watchman's job - one shift returns, and another leaves. They usually receive temporary grants, and travel from country to country.

Often they simply go because they can't continue their research at a contemporary level in Russia, due to the lack of equipment, reactants, or the fact that they just can't get the information they need. In the meantime, the level of this «internal scientific emigration» is at least twice as high as its «external» counterpart.

According to the official emigration statistics, most of our emigre scientists and pedagogical workers ended up in Germany, although those who emigrate to Germany usually end up changing their professions. So, in fact, three quarters of the people who actively work in the field of fundamental sciences are currently employed in the United States and Canada. Others go to Israel and Australia, while recently they've also started heading out to Latin American countries like Panama, Columbia and Mexico. There are also more exotic destinations like Trinidad, Namibia and Jamaica. They comprise the Russian scientific diaspora.

The term diaspora, or «dispersal», has historically been used to characterize people who are drawn to one another

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across a distance. The ethnic-Russian scientific diaspora, which is scattered throughout the entire world, was able to become «glued together» very quickly with the help of computer communication systems.

First the Russian scientists had mailing lists; now they also have Web sites. One of the most popular mailing lists is the INFO-RUSS project, which links over 1,200 subscribers. This form of correspondence is open to everybody. According to recent calculations, approximately 14,000-18,000 scientists from Russia have been working abroad in the field of fundamental sciences.

Lately, the processes of intellectual migration have become more stable and have taken on more civilized forms. Today, the West is buying out Russian young programmers. Fourth-year students studying at faculties of computational mathematics and cybernetics can now receive stipends from foreign organizations. There are representatives of firms recruiting students to work abroad standing by at the famous technical schools.

A big-name professor may choose the specific universities he would like to work in, but his students are willing to take any job, even one that has nothing to do with major science. They are being hired to create virtual casinos, and to develop banking services and new telecommunication technologies.

But science schools can't exist without students. And Russia needs to hang on for about another 10 years, until it gets some fresh blood. The only people to count on are the kids who are currently in third and fourth grades.

II. Answer the following questions:

1.What problem is the article devoted to?

2.Is brain drain a natural phenomenon? What do you think?

3.Why do Russian scientists leave their Motherland?

4.Do all of them leave forever?

5.What countries do they go to?

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6.What does the term «diaspora» mean?

7.How do the Russian scientists contact each other?

8.How many scientists from Russia are working abroad?

9.What specialists are of high demand abroad?

10.What expects Russia in future?

III. Choose the facts from the article to characterize:

1.The problem of emigration as it is.

2.The Russian scientific diaspora.

3.The INFO-RUSS project.

4.Work perspectives for young specialists abroad.

IV. Express your personal opinion of brain drain problem. Is it as dismal as it seems to be?

V. Translate the following word-combinations into Russian:

Detrimental brain drain; the rest of the world; to emigrate for good; temporary grants; scientific diaspora; exotic destinations; the process of intellectual migration; to create new communication technologies; some fresh blood.

VI. Reproduce situations in which these wordcombinations may be used.

VII.How would you treat the statement: «The level of «internal» scientific emigration is at least twice as high as its «external» counterpart»?

VIII. What do you think why the author compares the lifestyle of emigre scientists with a watchman's job? Give your arguments.

IX. Review the article.

X. Develop the following situation:

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Your close friend, a graduate of the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics, is leaving Russia for Germany. What possible questions can you ask him, being much surprised with his decision?

XI. Read the article and say why it is headlined in this way.

Burnout and How to Recover from it (After Donna Cobble)

Q.: I am approaching the mid-point of my career and I am experiencing extreme dissatisfaction with the career I began so eagerly twenty years ago. I am in a consistent state of frustration, and those things about my work which once gave me such pleasure no longer seem to matter. A good friend has suggested that I am expe¬riencing career

«burnout». Could this be the case, and if so, what can I do?

A.: Much is being said about burnout; often in jest, and employees sometimes don't realize that burnout is very real and has distinct warning signals.

There are three major symptoms of burnout, and it is important to understand that individuals are frequently unable to identify these symptoms themselves, hence requiring the guidance of a trusted family member or friend to point them out.

•Physical exhaustion - There is a general feeling of tiredness for no apparent reason. Soon fatigue, nausea, muscle tension, stomach pains, and headaches will appear, and eventually there will be changes in eating and sleeping habits accompanied by a constant low energy level.

•Emotional exhaustion — This is expressed through feelings of frustration, hopelessness, helplessness, depression, sadness, and apathy about work with those feelings of apathy spilling over into other activities and relationships.

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•Mental exhaustion - A dissatisfaction with themselves, their jobs, and life in general, while feeling inadequate, incompetent, or inferior. During this phase, individuals become convinced something is wrong with them since the work that once provided so much pleasure has become boring and stale.

Career burnout occurs over a period of time and cannot be instantly «cured». However, there are some steps an employee can take to move in the right direction.

•Understand your personal workstyle and ways of reacting to stress, and of identifying work and behaviour patterns that no longer work for you.

•Reassess your values, goals, and priorities, making certain the career goals you set early on are still realistic and appropriate in today's workplace.

•Maintain a lifestyle which demonstrates a healthy balance between work, home, family, leisure, friends, spiritual, etc.

•Cultivate a social support system which includes close friends from all areas of your life.

If you think you may be experiencing burnout, understand that it is possible to come out of it happier, healthier, and stronger.

XII. Answer the following questions:

1.Is the problem raised in the article social or psychological?

2.Can burnout be a reason for emigrating to another country?

3.What are the first symptoms of this phenomenon?

4.What is physical exhaustion characterized by?

5.How is emotional exhaustion expressed?

6.What are individuals dissatisfied with experiencing mental exhaustion?

7.Does career burnout have any social consequences?

8.What should be done to overcome this situation of self-imbalance?

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XIII. Make up a list of word-combinations that may characterize the state of burnout and ways to cope with it.

XIV. Use these word-combinations in your review of the article.

XV.Answer: Have you ever experienced a similar state in your life? Could you possibly describe your sensations? What did you undertake to relieve the situation?

XVI. Make up a questionnaire on the problem of career burnout. What format would you choose for this questionnaire?

XVII. Read the text and render its contents in Russian:

Looks: Appearance Counts with Many Managers

(by Sherry Buchanan)

There is something downright undemocratic about judging managers' abilities on the colour of their eyes, the size of their lips, the shape of their noses or the amount of their body fat. Yet looks matter a lot more in hiring and promotions than employers will admit to others, or even to themselves.

Airlines and police forces have long had height and/ or weight requirements for their staff, arguing that being physically fit and strong - not too fat or too small - is in the interest of the public's safety. In some cases, unhappy employees are challenging the arbitrary rules, which have been used by the airlines to recruit only good-looking women; in other cases, employers are trying to be fairer to avoid lawsuits. Scotland Yard requires its male employees

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to be at least 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 meters) tall and female employees to be at least 5 feet 4 inches. The Yard decided to accept shorter women a few years ago to conform with Britain's equal-opportunity rules.

Air France still requires its female cabin crew to be between 1.58 meters and 1.78 meters, and men to be between 1.70 meters and 1.92 meters. They must also have a «harmonious silhouette.» And British Airways grounds any member of its cabin crew — pilots excluded - if they are 20 per cent over the average weight for their height.

Being short or overweight may affect people's careers in other industries in more subtle ways.

Being too small or overweight is only one way that looks can have an impact on someone's career. Academic research at Edinburgh University, New York University and Utah State University shows that the better-looking a person is, the more positive qualities they are thought to have and the more positive impact that has in a career.

There is some evidence, however, that women who are too attractive — unless they are television commentators or have other high-visibility jobs — do not rank well as managers. There is enough research now to conclude that attractive women who aspire to managerial positions do not fare as well as women who may be less attractive.

Some French employers and recruiters decide whether a manager is right for the job based upon looks. In some cases, morphopsychologists - a term coined by a French neuropsychiatrist in 1935 - attempt to determine personality traits according to a job applicant's face, eyes, mouth, nose, ears and hands.

Unfortunately, morphopsychology has become a criterion for recruitment in some countries. When it is used as the sole criterion, it is a catastrophe.

«Some people hire you because of the colour of your tie; why not the shape of your ears?» said Frederique Rollet, a psychotherapist in Paris who is the author of several books on morphopsychology.

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XVIII. According to the text above, are the following statements true or false?

1.Good-looking people are often more successful than others.

2.British Airways does not allow its pilots to work if they are 20 per cent overweight.

3.Attractive women have problems reaching managerial positions.

4.Morphopsychology is sometimes used as the only criterion when selecting candidates.

5.Employers' attitudes to «unfair» recruitment practices have not changed.

XIX.	Discuss in the group.

1.Do you think a certain type of appearance is necessary for some jobs? Explain why.

2.In your opinion, is morphopsychology a useful recruitment technique?

3.How are employment practices monitored in your country? Give examples.

XX.If you were a manager, would you employ;

a)a woman with pink hair;

b)a man with a beard;

c)unattractive people;

d)a heavy smoker;

e)an overweight person.

XXI. Speak on:

a)requirements to be employed for airlines and police forces;

b)female chances for managerial positions;

c)morphopsychology,

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XXII. You are a manager. What application form would you offer for a candidate to fill in?

ХХШ. Make up a questionnaire for employment practice. Do you consider suck a questionnaire to be a useful recruitment technique?

XXIV. Translate the text in writing:

Female Status Attainment

When the Canadian sociologists analyzed their data on female status attainment, they also found some surprising results. First of all, native-born Canadian women with fulltime jobs come from higher-status family backgrounds than do their male counterparts. On the average, their fathers have nearly a year more education and hold higher-status occupations. Second, the average nativeborn Canadian working woman has a higher-status occupation than do similar males.

Finally, the correlations between women's occupational prestige and their fathers’ education and occupational prestige are much lower than for men. Moreover, these same findings have turned up in American studies; it has now become standard practice to include women in status attainment research. How can these patterns be explained?

First of all, women are less likely than men to hold fulltime jobs and are especially unlikely to work the lower their job qualifications. For many married women, especially those with young children, low-paying jobs offer no real economic benefits; the costs of working (including child care) are about equal to the wages paid. In consequence, low-paying, low-status jobs are disproportionally held by males. This fact accounts for women having jobs of higher average prestige. But women are also underrepresented in the highest-prestige jobs.

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As a result their occupational prestige is limited to a narrower range than that of men, which reduces correlations with background variables. That the average working woman's father has more education and a better job than does the father of the average employed male can be understood in the same terms. More qualified women come from more privileged homes; the daughters of the least-educated and lowest-status fathers aren't in full-time jobs.

In fact, the husbands of working women have occupations with higher than average prestige. This is because of a very high correspondence between the occupational prestige of husbands and wives when both are employed full-time. People who marry tend to share very similar levels of education and similar family backgrounds. Indeed, divorce and remarriage contribute to the similarity of husbands and wives in terms of occupational prestige.

These findings must not cause us to overlook the fact that women long were excluded from many occupations and are still underrepresented in elite managerial and professional careers. What they do show, however, is that within the special conditions outlined here, female status attainment does not differ much from that of men.