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This study aims to understand the role of seeking social support in the relationship between perceived helplessness, self-efficacy and satisfaction among graduate students during the pandemic, drawing upon the transactional model of stress and coping. Graduate students are composed of nontraditional students who are considered significantly different from traditional students. Nonetheless, research has yet to explore how seeking social support contributed to graduate students’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially to the relationship between feelings of helplessness and positive mental health. More specifically, this study examined how seeking social support from others mediates the relationship between perceived helplessness and self-efficacy, academic satisfaction and general life satisfaction among graduate students.

Using quantitative data collected from 545 graduate students at a large, research-intensive university in the USA, structural equation modeling was used to test our conceptual model.

The results of this study indicate that perceived helplessness has a direct and adverse relationship with self-efficacy. Social support mediates the negative relationship between the two variables, buffering the negative psychological experience students feel and leading to higher levels of self-efficacy and two domains of satisfaction. Self-efficacy is positively associated with academic and general life satisfaction among graduate students. Academic satisfaction positively predicts general life satisfaction, as well. A conceptual model was developed, yielding acceptable goodness-of-fit statistics.

This study adds to the postsecondary education literature and contributes to the larger discourse identifying the positive role of social support in supporting graduate students to cope with psychological challenges that may be exacerbated under stressful conditions.

Contrasting the Madisonian model of democracy with Westminster style arrangements, this chapter examines how American political scientists and policymakers expressed second thoughts about the constitutional settlement of 1787 and looked towards the British political system for possible reforms to their own. In particular, it details the arguments offered by Thomas Finletter, James MacGregor Burns, and others, from the 1940s through to the early 1960s that the United States might adopt certain features of the Westminster model. The chapter analyzes their proposals and the – essentially negative – reception that they received. It concludes by addressing the failure of these proposals and the endurance of fragmented government within the United States.

This introductory chapter underscores the urgent need to reimagine school leadership in the face of unprecedented challenges and uncertainties, including the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing struggles for racial justice, and declining trust in public institutions. The chapter argues that traditional, top-down leadership approaches no longer sufficiently meet the complex needs of students, families, and communities and advocates for paradigm shift toward more collaborative, adaptive, and equity-centered leadership practices. Leadership practices are suggested that build inclusive school communities, foster a culture of continuous learning, and prioritize the holistic well-being of every student are highlighted as crucial. Readers are challenged to rethink the very purpose and goals of education, moving beyond narrow measures of academic achievement to encompass the development of the whole child. Three key themes are introduced: (1) school characteristics and structures for facing future challenges, (2) leadership practices to initiate and support new organizational perspectives, and (3) innovative school organizations addressing crises and implications. The chapter asserts that transforming school leadership requires a fundamental rethinking of the structures, policies, and incentives that shape the work of educational leaders. Therefore, school leaders must be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to lead for social justice, build culturally responsive school communities, and create transformative spaces where all students can thrive. This bold vision requires leaders to approach their work with humility, curiosity, and courage as they navigate the complexities of educational leadership in the 21st century.

The purpose of this paper is to report a study of public accountability within the political and economic structures that characterise Pacific nations. The authors examine audit quality with respect to Pacific Island nations’ governmental reporting to investigate ways to improve accountability in a region that is economically and environmentally challenged.

The authors examine whether audit quality in Pacific Island nations is associated with the practical arrangements of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), taking into account external factors. The “practical arrangements” include the independence of a SAI (regarding its staffing and funding) and also the requirement for it to report to the Executive. The financial setting in each jurisdiction has been seen to impact the quality of financial reporting and auditing. The authors examine mediating factors such as income, political stability and education that may also impact audit quality. This study uses publicly available databases as well as jurisdictional annual reports and the associated audit opinions and management letters (where available). Jurisdictional reports on public financial management were also analysed.

The authors find that public sector audit quality is low in many Pacific countries, concluding that public accountability is impaired. While the authors recommend changes to the practical arrangements that can improve audit quality, the mediating factors also impact audit quality. They argue that a renewed focus on financial capability could enhance public accountability in these nations, but there are limiting factors that are difficult to overcome.

There are problems in providing accountability for public sector activities in Pacific nations. The authors suggest that improvements to the appointment and funding of SAIs to enhance their independence will help to reduce these issues.

The authors present a framework for analysing SAIs’ practical arrangements and audit quality that includes variables that may mediate the effects of these practical arrangements. They apply the model to 20 Pacific jurisdictions, showing that the practical arrangements of a SAI directly impact audit quality. Nevertheless, there are instances where audit quality is poor despite good practical arrangements, implying that mediating factors also play a substantial role in determining audit quality of a SAI.

The impact of diet quality on mental health has gained strong ground. However, most studies on this relationship were performed before COVID-19, a pandemic that was accompanied by high levels of psychological stress. Stress disturbs normal physiology, which makes studying diet quality and mental health under high stress a necessity. In addition, COVID-19 has been associated with disturbances in sleep and has increased the prevalence of mental health issues in women more than in men. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess food group consumption and sleep during different stages of the pandemic in relation to mental distress among men and women. Secondary data collected from adults 18 years or older between September 2018 and November 2021 was analysed. Temporal stages were divided into pre-COVID-19 (as a baseline), during the lockdown, and after the ease of restriction (two periods of different psychological stress levels). Regression analyses using a Difference-in-Difference (DID) event study or a Dynamic DID modelling were used. COVID-19 seemed to have a modulatory effect on food groups and mental health. The pandemic appeared to have either magnified the negative impact of certain food groups or changed the tolerance threshold for the beneficial ones. Across the board, women’s moods exhibited higher sensitivity to several food groups. COVID-19, a period of high psychological stress, differentially altered the impact of food on the mood of men and women; which proposes the need to further evaluate diet quality and mood under stressful conditions.

Pregnant employees experience considerable interpersonal discrimination. This study explores the range of possible reactions of observers to pregnancy self-disclosure, interpersonal discrimination and various allyship interventions, and the attentional processes that lead to those reactions. Consequently, it uncovers socio-cognitive processes underlying support for and backlash toward pregnancy in the workplace.

This study used a thought-listing technique to explore observers’ spontaneous thoughts related to pregnancy. Working adults were randomly assigned to read through one of the six scenarios depicting pregnancy self-disclosure, interpersonal discrimination and male allyship interventions (i.e. stating the organization’s anti-discrimination policy, confronting the transgressor by calling out sexism, pivoting the conversation to highlight the strengths of the pregnant employee and a hybrid intervention combining highlighting strengths and confrontation) after which participants listed the top three thoughts that came to their mind (1,668 responses). Responses were thematically analyzed to explore spontaneous reactions toward the pregnant employee, transgressor and ally in the scenario.

Surprisingly, across all scenarios, the most sexist thoughts emerged during pregnancy self-disclosure, even in the absence of any transgression. After a transgression occurred, any allyship intervention was better than none in eliciting lesser sexist backlash against the pregnant employee. Stating the organization’s anti-discrimination policy was most beneficial for the pregnant employee in eliciting the least sexist backlash but at the cost of generating unfavorable impressions of the ally. Calling out the transgressor’s bias elicited the most sexist backlash toward the pregnant employee, yet it created favorable impressions of the ally. In contrast, highlighting the strengths of the pregnant employee created the most favorable impression of the ally while eliciting a few sexist thoughts about the pregnant employee. Overall, the hybrid intervention was the most effective at balancing the competing goals of generating support for the pregnant employee, creating favorable impressions of the ally, as well as holding the transgressor accountable.

This study demonstrates that the type of allyship intervention critically redirects the attentional focus of observers to certain aspects of a discrimination episode and relevant schemas which can generate support or backlash toward targets, transgressors and allies, thereby advancing or obstructing equity and inclusion in organizations.