Mothers on the Fast Track

Neuropsychological Evaluation of the Child: Domains, Methods, and Case Studies, Second Edition, is an updated and expanded desk reference that retains the first edition's organizational structure, strong practical focus, and lifespan developmental perspective. It is a unique compilation of published and unpublished pediatric neuropsychological test normative data that contains extensive discussion of assessment methods and case formulation. Addedfor the first time are instructive clinical case vignettes that explicate brain-behavior relationships in youth, from preschool-age through adolescence. These cases illustrate immediate and late effects that result from common and rare medical diseases and psychological disorders, and highlight key issues that arisewhen examining a child's maturational trajectory and brain-behavioral relationships using convergence profile analysis. Part I, Child Neuropsychology: Current Status, contains four introductory chapters regarding definitions, education and training, and professional roles; reasons for referral; typical and atypical brain development; and clinical practice considerations. In Part II, Clinical Issues, discussion covers the procedural steps of neuropsychological assessment, behavioral assessment techniques, observational data, and oral and written communication of results. These chapters are followed in Part III,Domains and Tests, by extended coverage of topics and tests related to the major neuropsychological domains: intelligence, executive function, attention and processing speed, language, motor and sensory-perceptual function, visuoperceptual, visuospatial and visuoconstructional function, and learningand memory. A final chapter addresses deception in childhood, reasons why a child might reduce effort and invalidate assessment, and the use of performance validity tests, symptom validity tests, and embedded validity indicators to assess noncredible effort. Each of the 16 chapters includes definitions, theoretical concepts, models, and assessment techniques that are essential knowledge for clinical and research pediatric neuropsychologists.In the past few decades the number of women entering graduate and professional schools has been going up and up, while the number of women reaching the top rung of the corporate and academic worlds has remained relatively stagnant. Why are so many women falling off the fast track? In this timely book, Mary Ann Mason traces the career paths of the first generation of ambitious women who started careers in academia, law, medicine, business, and the media in large numbers in the 1970s and '80s. Many women who had started families but continued working had ended up veering off the path to upper management at a point she calls "the second glass ceiling." Rather than sticking to their original career goals, they allowed themselves to slide into a second tier of managementthat offers fewer hours, less pay, lower prestige, and limited upward mobility. Men who did likewise-entered the career world with high aspirations and then started families while working-not only did not show the same trend, they reached even higher levels of professional success than men who hadno families at all. Along with her daughter, an aspiring journalist, Mason has written a guide for young women who are facing the tough decision of when-and if-to start a family. It is also a guide for older women seeking a second chance to break through to the next level, as Mason herself did in academia. The book features anecdotes and strategies from the dozens of women they interviewed. Advice ranges from the personal (know when to say "no," the importance of time management) to the institutional, withsuggestions for how the workplace itself can be changed to make it easier for ambitious working mothers to reach the top levels. The result is a roadmap of new choices for women facing the sobering question of how to balance a successful career with family.