Diana K. Young, Alexander J. McLeod and Darrell Carpenter
In response to the tech skills gap, this research paper aims to examine the influence of occupational characteristics, gender and work-life balance on IT professionals'…
Abstract
Purpose
In response to the tech skills gap, this research paper aims to examine the influence of occupational characteristics, gender and work-life balance on IT professionals' satisfaction with and commitment to their chosen occupation. In addition, the authors explore occupational differences across these investigated factors.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employed a survey research method and partial least squares (PLS) modeling using 293 responses collected from professionals representing five clusters of Information Technology (IT) occupations. Authors further conducted exploratory post-hoc analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests to check for significant differences in key constructs across five IT occupational clusters.
Findings
Occupational characteristics were found to be significantly related to respondents' occupational satisfaction while work-life balance was associated with their level of occupational commitment. Authors also found that that the influence of work-life balance on occupational commitment was more positive for females than for males. Finally, significant differences were found for task significance, task variety, task autonomy, work-life balance and compensation across the five occupational clusters examined.
Originality/value
A key contribution of this study is the focus on IT professionals' satisfaction with and commitment to their chosen occupation rather than a job, organization or profession. Accordingly, the authors contribute a nuanced understanding of an occupation as a facet of job, professional and career outcomes. Authors also explore how gender moderates the influence of work-life balance on occupational commitment. Finally, rather than treating the IT profession as a unified whole as has been done in most prior studies, authors explore satisfaction and commitment related differences across occupational clusters.
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Xinqi Lin, Yuxiang Luan, Kai Zhao, Teng Zhao and Guolong Zhao
Given its importance, career optimism (CO) has drawn much attention from researchers. Fruitful evidence has been accumulated; unfortunately, a quantitative review is still…
Abstract
Purpose
Given its importance, career optimism (CO) has drawn much attention from researchers. Fruitful evidence has been accumulated; unfortunately, a quantitative review is still lacking, which would limit the continuous development of this field. To address this, this paper uses the meta-analysis technology to evaluate the links between CO and its antecedents and outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used Hunter–Schmidt method random effect meta-analysis technology to systematically evaluate the true score correlations between CO and its antecedents and outcomes.
Findings
Among the CO antecedents, this study found significant links between CO and agreeableness (ρ = 0.11), career adaptability (ρ = 0.55), career knowledge (ρ = 0.43), career decision self-efficacy (ρ = 0.52), social support (ρ = 0.30), conscientiousness (ρ = 0.54), extraversion (ρ = 0.38), gender (ρ = 0.07), GPA (ρ = 0.11), neuroticism (ρ = −0.42), and openness (ρ = 0.27). Moreover, among the CO outcomes, significant links have been found between CO and academic satisfaction (ρ = 0.43), career choice satisfaction (ρ = 0.44), career decisiveness (ρ = 0.37), depersonalization (ρ = −0.48), and emotional exhaustion (ρ = −0.59).
Originality/value
By conducting the first meta-analysis of CO, our study contributes to the CO literature. Additionally, our study increases the knowledge of CO, which would help leaders in the school or workplace to understand the significance of CO better and thereby take actions to intervene and increase students or employees' CO.
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Diana Barron and Angela Hassiotis
There is now a vast amount of available information, research and policy on the transition of young people with learning disabilities to adulthood. These sources are informed by…
Abstract
There is now a vast amount of available information, research and policy on the transition of young people with learning disabilities to adulthood. These sources are informed by different professional philosophies and practices, resulting in a heterogeneous mass of data that can be confusing, contradictory and repetitive. In this review we provide an overview of recent publications about services for young people with learning disabilities at the time of transition, with particular focus on those with mental disorders including neurodevelopment disorders and/or challenging behaviour. We discuss their relevance to good practice and the implications for the future development of services for people with learning disabilities in the UK. We argue that, despite the qualitative differences between the experience of transition to adulthood for young people with learning disabilities and that of other young people, the principles of service provision remain the same. Developments in research and clinical practice in this field ought to reflect good practice, as well as embracing new methodologies, and benefit from advances in adolescents without learning disabilities.
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This chapter analyzes the role of grassroots organizations as natural helping systems for women’s empowerment in the rural areas of central Mexico. For almost three decades…
Abstract
This chapter analyzes the role of grassroots organizations as natural helping systems for women’s empowerment in the rural areas of central Mexico. For almost three decades, productive projects have been the preferred strategy by the Mexican government in order to alleviate extreme poverty and promote women’s empowerment. Even if the impact of productive projects on women’s empowerment has been limited, grassroots organizations are created in order to have access to financial resources that have promoted the collective dimension of women’s empowerment. Through semi-structured interviews and participatory observation, this study retrieves the experience of women’s leadership, frustrated by changing public policy, local corruption, and political use of the social policy. In those difficult circumstances, grassroots organizations are fundamental tools for women’s well-being as they promote a specific understanding of empowerment, where family, community, and relatedness are values more important than competition and individualistic achievements.
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Sharon-Marie Gillooley, Sheilagh Mary Resnick, Tony Woodall and Seamus Allison
This study aims to examine the phenomenon of self-perceived age (SPA) identity for Generation X (GenX) women in the UK. Squeezed between the more ubiquitous “boomer” and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the phenomenon of self-perceived age (SPA) identity for Generation X (GenX) women in the UK. Squeezed between the more ubiquitous “boomer” and “millennial” cohorts, and now with both gender and age stigma-related challenges, this study looks to provide insights for understanding this group for marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts an existential phenomenological approach using a hybrid structured/hermeneutic research design. Data is collected using solicited diary research (SDR) that elicits autoethnographic insights into the lived experiences of GenX women, these in the context of SPA.
Findings
For this group, the authors find age a gendered phenomenon represented via seven “age frames”, collectively an “organisation of experience”. Age identity appears not to have unified meaning but is contingent upon individuals and their experiences. These frames then provide further insights into how diarists react to the stigma of gendered ageism.
Research limitations/implications
SDR appeals to participants who like completing diaries and are motivated by the research topic. This limits both diversity of response and sample size, but coincidentally enhances elicitation potential – outweighing, the authors believe, these constraints. The sample comprises UK women only.
Practical implications
This study acknowledges GenX women as socially real, but from an SPA perspective they are heterogeneous, and consequently distributed across many segments. Here, age is a psychographic, not demographic, variable – a subjective rather than chronological condition requiring a nuanced response from marketers.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first formal study into how SPA identity is manifested for GenX women. Methodologically, this study uses e-journals/diaries, an approach not yet fully exploited in marketing research.
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Diana Popescu, Dan Laptoiu, Rodica Marinescu and Iozefina Botezatu
This paper aims to fill a research gap by presenting design and 3D printing guidelines and considerations which apply to the development process of patient-specific osteotomy…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to fill a research gap by presenting design and 3D printing guidelines and considerations which apply to the development process of patient-specific osteotomy guides for orthopaedic surgery.
Design/methodology/approach
Analysis of specific constraints related to patient-specific surgical guides design and 3D printing, lessons learned during the development process of osteotomy guides for orthopaedic surgery, literature review of recent studies in the field and data gathered from questioning a group of surgeons for capturing their preferences in terms of surgical guides design corresponding to precise functionality (materializing cutting trajectories, ensuring unique positioning and stable fixation during surgery), were all used to extract design recommendations.
Findings
General design rules for patient-specific osteotomy guides were inferred from examining each step of the design process applied in several case studies in relation to how these guides should be designed to fulfill medical and manufacturing (fused deposition modelling process) constraints. Literature was also investigated for finding other information than the simple reference that the surgical guide is modelled as negative of the bone. It was noticed that literature is focussed more on presenting and discussing medical issues and on assessing surgical outcomes, but hardly at all on guides’ design and design for additive manufacturing aspects. Moreover, surgeons’ opinion was investigated to collect data on different design aspects, as well as interest and willingness to use such 3D-printed surgical guides in training and surgery.
Practical implications
The study contains useful rules and recommendations for engineers involved in designing and 3D printing patient-specific osteotomy guides.
Originality/value
A synergetic approach to identify general rules and recommendations for the patient-specific surgical guides design is presented. Specific constraints are identified and analysed using three case studies of wrist, femur and foot osteotomies. Recent literature is reviewed and surgeons’ opinion is investigated.
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Yongmei Ni, Andrea K. Rorrer, Diana Pounder, Michelle Young and Susan Korach
Informed by learning transfer theory, the purpose of this paper is to validate the instrument measuring educational leadership preparation program (LPP) quality attributes and…
Abstract
Purpose
Informed by learning transfer theory, the purpose of this paper is to validate the instrument measuring educational leadership preparation program (LPP) quality attributes and graduates’ leadership learning and to assess the direct and indirect relationships among them, as reported by program graduates.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses data collected from the 2016 INSPIRE-G Survey, which gathers information from LPP graduates in the USA on their perceptions of program quality and leadership learning. Structural equation modeling was used to determine which program quality factors directly and indirectly influence graduate leadership learning.
Findings
The results suggest significant relationships between the assessed LPP attributes and leadership learning. Faculty quality and program rigor and relevance (PRR) had the strongest association with leadership learning, although the relationship between faculty quality and learning was fully mediated by PRR. Internship experiences and peer relationships were also important predictors of leadership learning. Studying with a cohort had a small but positive relationship with graduates’ leadership learning, although the relationship was fully mediated by perceived peer relationships.
Originality/value
This study further validates the INSPIRE-G Survey and affirms the imperative role of leadership preparation as a predictor to graduate reported learning outcomes and learning transfer. Moreover, this study illustrates the importance of leadership preparation by demonstrating positive relationships between program quality features and reported leadership learning outcomes. Finally, the INSPIRE-G instrument demonstrates its utility as a reliable measure of program quality, which opens the door to large-scale and longitudinal studies of the transfer of learning from leader preparation to practice.
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Neda Moinolmolki, Juana Gaviria-Loaiza and Myae Han
Nowadays children from immigrant families are the fastest growing group of youth in the United States. Despite the fact that emerging research has highlighted the significance of…
Abstract
Nowadays children from immigrant families are the fastest growing group of youth in the United States. Despite the fact that emerging research has highlighted the significance of strong partnerships between families and high-quality early childcare/education programs, many immigrant families face numerous barriers in accessing high-quality childcare/early education as well as establishing strong partnerships with centers. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the emerging challenges that immigrant families face in navigating the U.S. early childhood education system. This chapter first briefly reviews the literature on the role of family involvement in early childhood education within the general U.S. population. This is followed by a review of the unique funds of knowledge that immigrant parents engage in while interacting with their children at home. Then this chapter explores the barriers of immigrant families in developing strong partnerships with early childcare/education programs such as, communication, limited parental English proficiency, lack of public funding, acculturation, education, and cultural perceptions of involvement. Furthermore, this is followed by a focus on two distinct rising immigrant populations within the United States, Hispanic (specifically non-refugee) and refugee populations, and their unique sets of obstacles. Lastly, recommendations are provided for future practitioners and policymakers to support the establishment of stronger immigrant family and professional partnerships within early education and childcare settings.
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Jairo Salas-Paramo, Diana Escandon-Barbosa and Agustin Ramirez-Urraya
A large part of the most recent studies in innovation focuses on the need to investigate the cultural differences between countries. Many of the approaches used focus on Hofstede…
Abstract
Purpose
A large part of the most recent studies in innovation focuses on the need to investigate the cultural differences between countries. Many of the approaches used focus on Hofstede as the most recognized perspective in international business. The Hofstede perspective requires a deeper analysis of the most profound components in the countries, such as values and beliefs. The purpose of this study is identify the drivers in creating innovation trajectories over time, focusing on different values that influence the innovation processes. These trajectories allow investigating the comparability in the innovation performance of the countries.
Design/methodology/approach
Time-series analysis is performed to achieve the research’s goal, considering the innovation inputs and people’s values and influence on innovation output. The Global Innovation Index and the World Value Survey (WVS), which comprise data from countries on different continents, were used in this investigation. The trajectories analysis technique examines differences in innovation trajectory among countries with cultural orientations toward traditional, secular, survival and self-expression values.
Findings
In the literature, it can be found that in more socially open societies, the results in innovation are higher than in societies with opposite values, as is the case of traditional vs secular rationale. On the other hand, societies with a tendency toward self-expression will be characterized by a constant search for individual liberties that promote the search for scientific and technological alternatives for problem-solving, contrary to those with survival characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
Considering the results obtained in the study about the values and their relationship with innovation at the country level, the main limitation is the WVS information. This limitation is based on the need to complement the information obtained with other sources of information that allow comparisons to be made from the different cultural approaches that exist.
Practical implications
The findings allow us to contemplate a more general vision of the cultural factors that affect the social dynamics and, therefore, the industrial and commercial dynamics of a country. The managers can use this type of results in the design of strategies that allow them to contemplate adaptation processes that are more appropriate to the cultural contexts in which they operate are worked on in this research.
Social implications
One of the main contributions is related to the possibility of understanding the relationship between the cultural dynamics of a country and the results in innovation, especially in the time.
Originality/value
The trajectory analysis, specifically Inglehard’s perspective concerning cultural dimensions and innovation, has not been used in the literature. This type of analysis will make it possible to have studies that allow subsequent comparisons to be made with other perspectives, especially at the country level.
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S.M.R. Tabatabai and K.M. Mosalam
A system for optimum reinforcement design and non‐linear analysis of reinforced concrete structures is presented. The specially‐tailored program ORCHID (Optimum Reinforced…
Abstract
A system for optimum reinforcement design and non‐linear analysis of reinforced concrete structures is presented. The specially‐tailored program ORCHID (Optimum Reinforced Concrete Highly Interactive Dimensioning) is utilized for the reinforcement design and optimization. The commercially available program DIANA (DIsplacement ANAlyzer) is adopted for the non‐linear analysis and evaluation of the different reinforcement designs provided by ORCHID. It is demonstrated how the two programs intended to complete two separate tasks can be integrated in an environment for performance‐based reinforcement design ensuring cost‐effectiveness through optimization and structural safety through satisfying serviceability conditions. Examples of a one‐way slab in bending and a deep beam in membrane action, highlighting the specific aspects of such an integrated analysis/design environment, are provided.