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This research examine participation in a dual enrollment program and a student's race and socioeconomic status. In addition to examining the college retention and graduation rates (student success) of dual and non-dual enrolled students, this study looked at potential race and socioeconomic disparities.

A quantitative ex post facto research design using logistic regression was used to analyze data from the University System of Georgia (N = 28,664) to determine the relationships between participation in a dual enrollment program, students' race and socioeconomic status and their retention and graduation.

Findings from this quantitative study indicated that the predictor variables dual enrollment participation, race and socioeconomic status were significant in predicting retention and graduation outcomes.

This study adds to existing research indicating that students from different races and socioeconomic statuses, who participated in a high school dual enrollment program, are being retained beyond the first year in college and graduating at higher rates than non-dual enrolled students.

Industry 4.0 is exacerbating the need for offsite construction (OSC) adoption, and this rapid transformation is pushing the boundaries of construction skills towards extensive modernisation. The adoption of this modern production strategy by the construction industry would redefine the position of OSC. This study aims to examine whether the existing skills are capable of satisfying the needs of different OSC types.

A critical literature review evaluated the impact of transformative technology on OSC skills. An existing industry standard OSC skill classification was used as the basis to develop a master list that recognises emerging and diminishing OSC skills. The master list recognises 67 OSC skills under six skill categories: managers, professionals, technicians and trade workers, clerical and administrative workers, machinery operators and drivers and labourers. The skills data was extracted from a series of 13 case studies using document reviews and semi-structured interviews with project stakeholders.

The multiple case study evaluation recognised 13 redundant skills and 16 emerging OSC skills such as architects with building information modelling and design for manufacture and assembly knowledge, architects specialised in design and logistics integration, advanced OSC technical skills, factory operators, OSC estimators, technicians for three dimensional visualisation and computer numeric control operators. Interview findings assessed the current state and future directions for OSC skills development. Findings indicate that the prevailing skills are not adequate to readily relocate construction activities from onsite to offsite.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is one of the first studies that recognises the major differences in skill requirements for non-volumetric and volumetric OSC types.

This chapter explores the way three teachers developed their primary science teaching in English schools, in an educational climate where training policies and financial pressures result in few opportunities to do so, meaning many schools resort to in-school support. The training needs of primary teachers vary according to their experience and backgrounds. This research project used a combined model of Lave and Wenger's (1991) community of practice with Bourdieu's social theory model (1999, 2004), specifically on science capital, to explore the opportunities for primary science development as well as teacher agency and identity within the primary school. The research consisted of three case studies of primary teachers, using co-teaching and semi-structured interviews to develop a greater understanding of teachers' beliefs and development in science teaching. Thematic analysis was used to organise and interpret the data using the theoretical framework outlined. The combined theoretical models proved useful in considering the ‘science capital’ as part of their identity as a teacher; they contributed to a school or field. The nature and amount of science capital had an impact on the potential for their science teaching development as well as their identity and agency within the school community of practice.

Outside of Europe and the United States, the knowledge on skills dynamics is scarce due to a lack of data. We therefore assess whether online data on vacancies and applications to a job board can help fill this gap. We propose a taxonomy with three broad categories – cognitive, socioemotional, and manual skills – and 14 commonly observed subcategories, which we define based on unique skills identified through keywords and expressions. The taxonomy is comprehensive but succinct, suitable for developing and emerging economies, and adapted for online data. We then develop a text-mining approach to implement the taxonomy. Based on Uruguayan data from the job board BuscoJobs, we find that our model is able to assign skills to 64% of applicants' employment spells and 94% of vacancies. While online data are usually skewed toward highly qualified work, we show that our data include meaningful numbers of vacancies and applicants of intermediate and even lower qualification levels. Our approach relies on data that are currently available in many countries, thereby allowing for country-specific analysis that does not assume that occupational skills are constant across countries. This is key as we find considerable differences between our findings and those using US O-NET data. Finally, we end with an illustration of how our approach can inform the analysis of skills dynamics. To our knowledge, we are the first to explore this approach in the context of emerging economies.

Controversy has long swirled over the claim that Donald Trump's base has deeply rooted authoritarian tendencies, but Trump himself seems to have few doubts. Asked whether his stated wish to be dictator “on day one” of second term in office would repel voters, Trump said “I think a lot of people like it.” It is one of his invariable talking points that 74 million voters supported him in 2020, and he remains the unrivaled leader of the Republican Party, even as his rhetoric escalates to levels that cautious observers now routinely call fascistic.

Is Trump right that many people “like” his talk of dictatorship? If so, what does that mean empirically? Part of the answer to these questions was apparent early, in the results of the 2016 American National Election Study (ANES), which included survey questions that we had proposed which we drew from the aptly-named “Right-Wing Authoritarianism” scale. Posed to voters in 2012–2013 and again in 2016, those questions elicited striking responses.

In this chapter, we revisit those responses. We begin by exploring Trump's escalating anti-democratic rhetoric in the light of themes drawn from Max Weber and Theodor W. Adorno. We follow this with the text of the 2017 conference paper in which we first reported that 75% of Trump's voters supported him enthusiastically, mainly because they shared his prejudices, not because they were hurting economically. They hoped to “get rid” of troublemakers and “crush evil.” That wish, as we show in our conclusion, remains central to Trump's appeal.

Degree apprenticeships are becoming more established within the higher education sector, however within England there are growing concerns around the completion rates of apprentices. Whilst there are a number of factors which could be impacting this, the support structure surrounding apprentices throughout their programme is a key consideration. This study aims to investigate the support relationship between construction degree apprentices and their work-based mentors through the lived experiences of both the apprentice and the mentor.

This study adopted a qualitative cross-sectional approach, collecting data from three focus groups involving Level 6 apprentices from a higher education institution and their work-based mentors based in England. The data was analysed inductively using NVivo 12 software to identify codes and key themes.

The relationship between the apprentice and their work-based mentor is key to the success of degree apprenticeships. The data analysis recognised three key themes: knowledge of the apprenticeship process, support structure and employer provider relationship.

This study is an original contribution addressing a gap in the literature around higher-level apprentices and their work-based mentors, generating and analysing new primary data, identifying ongoing issues and formulating subsequent recommendations for practice. There are also implications for the current English apprenticeship model and those seeking to adopt or adapt it more widely.

This study proposes a novel method utilising a speech-word pair bipartite network to examine the correlation structure between members of parliament (MPs) in the context of the UK- China relationship.

We construct MP-word pair bipartite networks based on the co-occurrence relationship between MPs and words in their speech content. These networks are then mapped into monopartite MPs correlation networks. Additionally, the study calculates correlation network indicators and identifies MP communities and factions to determine the characteristics of MPs and their interrelation in the UK-China relationship. This includes insights into the distribution of key MPs, their correlation structure and the evolution and development trends of MP factions.

Analysis of the parliamentary speeches on China-related affairs in the British Parliament from 2011 to 2020 reveals that the distribution and interrelationship of MPs engaged in UK-China affairs are centralised and discrete, with a few core MPs playing an integral role in the UK-China relationship. Among them, MPs such as Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, David Cameron, Lord Hunt of Chesterton and Lord Howell of Guildford formed factions with significant differences; however, the continuity of their evolution exhibits unstableness. The core MP factions, such as those led by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and David Cameron, have achieved a level of maturity and exert significant influence.

The research has several limitations that warrant acknowledgement. First, we mapped the MP-word pair bipartite network into the MP correlation network for analysis without directly analysing the structure of MPs based on the bipartite network. In future studies, we aim to explore various types of analysis based on the proposed bipartite networks to provide more comprehensive and accurate references for studying UK-China relations. In addition, we seek to incorporate semantic-level analyses, such as sentiment analysis of MPs, into the MP-word -pair bipartite networks for in-depth analysis. Second, the interpretations of MP structures in the UK-China relationship in this study are limited. Consequently, expertise in UK-China relations should be incorporated to enhance the study and provide more practical recommendations.

Firstly, the findings can contribute to an objective understanding of the characteristics and connotations of UK-China relations, thereby informing adjustments of focus accordingly. The identification of the main factions in the UK-China relationship emphasises the imperative for governments to pay greater attention to these MPs’ speeches and social relationships. Secondly, examining the evolution and development of MP factions aids in identifying a country’s diplomatic focus during different periods. This can assist governments in responding promptly to relevant issues and contribute to the formulation of effective foreign policies.

First, this study expands the research methodology of parliamentary debates analysis in previous studies. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to study the UK-China relationship through the MP-word-pair bipartite network. This outcome inspires future researchers to apply various knowledge networks in the LIS field to elucidate deeper characteristics and connotations of UK-China relations. Second, this study provides a novel perspective for UK-China relationship analysis, which deepens the research object from keywords to MPs. This finding may offer important implications for researchers to further study the role of MPs in the UK-China relationship.

This study proposes a novel scheme for analysing the correlation structure between MPs based on bipartite networks. This approach offers insights into the development and evolving dynamics of MPs.