Sophie Hennekam, Sally Macarthur, Dawn Bennett, Cat Hope and Talisha Goh
The purpose of this paper is to examine women composers’ use of online communities of practice (CoP) to negotiate the traditionally masculine space of music composition while…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine women composers’ use of online communities of practice (CoP) to negotiate the traditionally masculine space of music composition while operating outside its hierarchical structures.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employed a mixed methods approach consisting of an online survey (n=225) followed by 27 semi-structured in-depth interviews with female composers to explore the concept and use of CoP. Content analysis was used to analyze the survey responses and interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to interpret respondents’ lived experiences as relayed in the interviews.
Findings
The findings reveal that the online environment can be a supportive and safe space for female composers to connect with others and find support, feedback and mentorship, increase their visibility and develop career agency through learning and knowledge acquisition. CoP emerged as an alternative approach to career development for practicing female music workers and as a tool which could circumvent some of the enduring gendered challenges.
Originality/value
The findings suggest that online CoP can have a positive impact on the career development and sustainability of women in male-dominated sectors such as composition.
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Sophie Hennekam and Dawn Bennett
The purpose of this paper is to examine the precarious nature of creative industries (CIs) work in Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, with a focus on job security, initial and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the precarious nature of creative industries (CIs) work in Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, with a focus on job security, initial and on-going training and education, and access to benefits and protection.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports from a largely qualitative study featuring an in-depth survey answered by 752 creative workers in the three locations.
Findings
Survey data identified common themes including an increase in non-standard forms of employment and the persistence of precarious work across the career lifespan; criticism of initial education and training with particular reference to business skills; the need for and challenges of life-long professional learning; and lack of awareness about and access to benefits and protection. Respondents also reported multiple roles across and beyond the CIs.
Practical implications
The presence of common themes suggests avenues for future, targeted creative workforce research and signals the need for change and action by CIs educators, policy makers and representative organizations such as trade unions.
Originality/value
While precarious labour is common across the CIs and has attracted the attention of researchers worldwide, a lack of comparative studies has made it difficult to identify themes or issues that are common across multiple locations.
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Yin Ma and Dawn Bennett
With a focus on Chinese higher education students, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between students' perceived employability and their levels of academic…
Abstract
Purpose
With a focus on Chinese higher education students, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between students' perceived employability and their levels of academic engagement and stress.
Design/methodology/approach
The study engaged 1,155 students from three universities in China. Students responded to an online survey, reporting their confidence in relation to their perceived employability, academic engagement and stress in life. The authors employed structural equation modelling to explore students' confidence in each employability attribute and to assess perceived employability relation to academic engagement and perceived stress.
Findings
The results suggest that self-perceptions of employability are positively associated with students' academic engagement and negatively associated with perceived stress. Perceived employability mediated the majority paths.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies to examine perceived employability in line with academic engagement or stress and the first study to do so in China.
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Sophie Hennekam and Dawn Bennett
The purpose of this paper is to examine artists’ experiences of involuntary career transitions and its impact on their work-related identities.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine artists’ experiences of involuntary career transitions and its impact on their work-related identities.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews with 40 artists in the Netherlands were conducted. Self-narratives were used to analyze the findings.
Findings
Artists who can no longer make a living out of their artistic activities are forced to start working outside the creative realm and are gradually pushed away from the creative industries. This loss of their creative identity leads to psychological stress and grief, making the professional transition problematic. Moreover, the artistic community often condemns an artist’s transition to other activities, making the transition psychologically even more straining.
Originality/value
This study provides in-depth insights into how artists deal with changes in their work-related identities in the light of involuntary career transitions.
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Dawn Bennett, Sherry Bawa, Subramaniam Ananthram and Tim Pitman
The study sought to determine whether there are gender differences in self-perceived employability of students enrolled in Australian higher education science, technology…
Abstract
Purpose
The study sought to determine whether there are gender differences in self-perceived employability of students enrolled in Australian higher education science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an online measure comprised of Likert style and open text items, STEM students (n = 3,134) reported their perceived employability in relation to nine dimensions of employability identified from the literature as having relevance to careers in STEM. Analysis determined whether student confidence differed according to gender, field of study, study mode, age, and engagement with work.
Findings
Female students in STEM reported higher mean factor scores in relation to their self- and program-awareness, self-regulated learning, and academic self-efficacy. Male students were more confident in relation to digital literacy skills; these findings were consistent both overall and across several fields of study within STEM. Gender differences were observed across study mode, age, and engagement with work.
Originality/value
The analyses of students' perceived employability provide important insights into the formation of a STEM “identity” among female students. The study has implications for policy, higher education, the engagement of girls in early STEM education, and future research.
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Yin Ma, Dawn Bennett and William E. Donald
Our study aimed to understand how a negative career shock (CS), caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a global crisis, impacted employees’ career success and life satisfaction in China.
Abstract
Purpose
Our study aimed to understand how a negative career shock (CS), caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a global crisis, impacted employees’ career success and life satisfaction in China.
Design/methodology/approach
Employees (n = 737) from industries adversely impacted by COVID-19-related restrictions (e.g. (a) catering, hotel and tourism; (b) construction and real estate; (c) finance; (d) technology; (e) logistics and (f) manufacturing) responded to an online survey on a negative CS, subjective career success, objective career success (OCS), life satisfaction and protean career orientation (PCO).
Findings
A negative CS was negatively associated with OCS and life satisfaction. Subjective and OCS were positively associated with life satisfaction. PCO moderated the association between a negative CS and OCS.
Practical implications
The practical contribution comes from informing strategies for individuals and employers in China to enact when facing future chance events on a national or global scale.
Originality/value
The theoretical contribution of our research comes from advancing the conservation of resources theory by considering the impact of a negative CS as an independent variable and PCO as a moderator on career success and life satisfaction.
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Jenny Fleming and Neil J. Haigh
While the intended outcomes of work-integrated learning (WIL) are well documented, significant challenges arise when the stakeholders have different understandings and…
Abstract
Purpose
While the intended outcomes of work-integrated learning (WIL) are well documented, significant challenges arise when the stakeholders have different understandings and expectations. The purpose of this paper is to examine the alignment of stakeholder views on the defining features of cooperative education as a model of WIL.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretive case-study methodology, incorporating questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, was used to determine the views of students, workplace supervisors and university academic supervisors involved in a sport cooperative education program.
Findings
Students, workplace supervisors and academic supervisors shared a perception that the students’ development of employability skills and their acquisition of experience in industry were the primary intended outcomes. As an associated benefit, students would be work-ready. Ideally, cooperative education experiences should also provide opportunities for students to learn to integrate theory and practice, further develop their personal and professional identities, and learn to navigate the important ethical aspects of being a professional.
Practical implications
While the employability emphasis in the findings aligns well with government agendas, graduates need to be prepared for complex and dynamic workplaces, and to be future ready for careers that are yet to exist. WIL curricula need to explicitly address this expanded agenda, which in turn needs to be communicated clearly to all stakeholders.
Originality/value
This paper challenges stakeholders in WIL to move beyond a focus on preparing students for the “now” and to reconsider the learning outcomes that should be imperative for university education in the twenty-first century.
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Since joining Bennett College in 2008, Dr. Oh has directed 17 undergraduate students’ research projects in applied mathematics. The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Dr…
Abstract
Since joining Bennett College in 2008, Dr. Oh has directed 17 undergraduate students’ research projects in applied mathematics. The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Dr. Oh grants from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities – Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP). The grants allowed her to mentor eight mathematics majors/minors in summer research for four years (2009–2012). Based on the four years of successful undergraduate research (UGR) experiences, she, together with Dr. Jan Rychtar from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), received funding for two summers National Research Experience for Undergraduates (NREUP), an activity of Mathematical Association of America (MAA), funded by the NSF in 2013 and 2014. During the six years of funded UGR, Bennett students made 33 presentations at regional, state, and national conferences; two teams won the outstanding student presentation award and first place for presentation. Three papers were published; two of them by Dr. Oh and one of them with a UGR coauthor. Three projects resulted in manuscripts. As a result of the UGR experiences in 2015, Dr. Oh received three more grants: the MAA NREUP, the NSF’s Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics (CURM), and the NSF’s Preparation for Industrial Careers in Mathematical Sciences (PIC Math) program awarded grants. A grant was also submitted to HBC-UP-Targeted Infusion Projects: Computational Mathematics at Bennett College.
Overall, the six years of UGR at Bennett College attained the three goals of: (1) enhancing the quality of undergraduate STEM education and research for a deeper appreciation in those disciplines; (2) supporting increased graduation rates in STEM undergraduate education of females; and (3) broadening participation in the nation’s STEM workforce as well as enrollments in graduate schools.