ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst

Objective. This study investigated whether the gender composition of teenage children affects mothers’ employment in Mexico, and whether this relationship varies across mothers’ socioeconomic strata. Background. A vast literature has investigated relationships between motherhood and women’s employment, yet we know little about whether the presence of adolescent boys or girls affects mothers’ access to paid jobs. As family labor is quintessentially feminine and can hinder mothers’ employment, having an adolescent daughter may enhance mothers’ opportunities for paid work by sharing household responsibilities. Investigating this connection requires consideration of socioeconomic status (SES) disparities, as disadvantaged families often need to allocate family labor among their members. Method. Using the National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure, this study conducted linear probability, logistic, and Tobit analyses to predict mothers’ employment, with the sex composition of teenage children as the main predictor and mothers’ schooling as a potential moderator. Ancillary mediation analyses used data on mothers' domestic labor, while supplemental fixed-effects analyses assessed within-women effects using information from the Mexican Retrospective Demographic Survey. Results. Main findings suggest mothers with at least one adolescent daughter are more likely to engage in paid labor compared to those with only teenage sons, yet this association is concentrated among low-SES mothers. Ancillary analyses point to this link being mediated by mothers’ time spent on family labor. Conclusion. Mothers’ labor market opportunities in Mexico are jointly affected by SES and children’s gender.

In early 2025, the Editorial Board of the Journal of Map and Geography Libraries formed a working group to develop strategies to increase the rate of Open Access (OA) publication in the journal. In addition to the option for Gold OA, the journal has a zero-embargo policy that allows authors to post their articles in a repository immediately upon publication, i.e. Green OA. To assess the current status of OA publication in the journal, the working group began by inventorying all peer-reviewed reports and articles published from 2011 (Volume 7, Issue 1) to 2025 (Volume 21, Issue 1-2). This report shares our findings that 45.4% of peer-reviewed publications in JMGL are available OA and have a significant citation advantage over toll-access publications. We also report on the deliverables created for the editors to use when communicating about OA publishing options, including email templates and a “Gold vs. Green OA” comparison table. The discussion explores future directions that might be taken to better understand the context of OA publishing within and beyond this journal and summarizes the benefits of OA publishing for strengthening the profession of map librarianship.

Native plants evolve over time to have deep, specialized relationships in their environments. Movement due to changing environmental conditions is a normal part of that process. However, as humans move plants around, and change our ecosystems in other ways, we may outpace our ecosystems' abilities to keep up. This short comic provides an introduction to native plants and introduced plants, and explains why some plant introductions may lead to ecological imbalance (and be considered "invasive"). It also explores the impacts of climate change on plant communities. This is intended to be used as an educational resource for children K-5 (written for an approximately 3rd grade level). It includes glossary and discussion pages, though an art-page only version is also included.