Laura R. Shantz and Sylvie Frigon
In this article, we examine the ways in which older women’s experiences of imprisonment, aging, and health impact their lives. Specifically, we focus on the community…
Abstract
In this article, we examine the ways in which older women’s experiences of imprisonment, aging, and health impact their lives. Specifically, we focus on the community reintegration experiences of older women who have served long prison sentences, exploring the lasting effects of imprisonment and aging on their physical and mental health. Two separate Canadian studies of reintegration, consisting of interviews with older reintegrating women, as well as the professionals who assist them in the community, are used to highlight older women’s reintegrations. While researchers have argued that older women should face fewer challenges during reintegration and are more likely to succeed in the community than other reintegrating populations, we find that they experience many difficulties and barriers linked to their age, health and gender.
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Isla Kapasi, Rebecca Stirzaker, Laura Galloway, Laura Jackman and Andreea Mihut
This chapter evaluates the motivations that inform engagement in enterprise creation and operation by individuals experiencing poverty. An in-depth, empirical qualitative…
Abstract
This chapter evaluates the motivations that inform engagement in enterprise creation and operation by individuals experiencing poverty. An in-depth, empirical qualitative exploration of motives for enterprise amongst a sample of 42 people in the UK who are experiencing poverty conditions is presented. The results demonstrate that traditional push–pull thinking about enterprise motivation lacks nuance, specifically that the financial motive previously assumed to be prioritised in a context of resource deficit, in this research it was not. Second, push–pull motivations and intersections with intrinsic–extrinsic motivations are mapped, creating and developing a more refined understanding of enterprise motivations. Third, contexts and circumstances are recurrent factors reflexively informing motivations of those experiencing poverty and engaging in enterprise creation and operation.
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This research explores the subjective health experiences of women incarcerated in a provincial detention center in Ottawa, Canada.
Abstract
Purpose
This research explores the subjective health experiences of women incarcerated in a provincial detention center in Ottawa, Canada.
Methodology/approach
Narrative interviews conducted with 16 previously incarcerated women were analyzed to explore how health issues shaped their experiences in detention.
Findings
Women identified a set of practices and conditions that negatively impacted health, including the denial of medication, medical treatment, and healthcare, limited prenatal healthcare, and damaged health caused by poor living conditions.
Research limitations/implications
Findings suggest that structural health problems emerge in penal environments where healthcare is provided by the same agency responsible for incarceration. The incompatibility between the mandates of incarceration and healthcare suggests that responsibility for institutional healthcare should be transferred to provincial healthcare bodies.
Originality/value
This research responds to the lack of research on carceral health experiences within both penal scholarship and medical sociology, particularly in relation to women and those confined in jails.
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Teresa Villacé-Molinero, Laura Fuentes-Moraleda, Alicia Orea-Giner, Rocío González-Sánchez and Ana Muñoz-Mazón
This study aims to investigate how university students experience a skill transformation process aligned with the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This transformation occurs…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how university students experience a skill transformation process aligned with the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This transformation occurs through their participation in a service-learning programme alongside an international volunteering project. The theoretical framework for understanding this skill transformation process is based on the “rite of passage”.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative methodology is adopted by conducting 23 online surveys with volunteers (virtual and onsite) and five with coordinators across the rite of passage phases. Volunteering was carried out in five Mayan indigenous communities in Mexico as part of an international cooperation project with the goals of supporting community-based tourism development and strengthening volunteers’ skills in accordance with the SDGs.
Findings
Results show that international volunteering programmes for university students significantly enhance their interpersonal and professional skills, demonstrating strong potential for implementing the SDGs. These programmes provide learning and education opportunities for both volunteers and local communities. Volunteers gain a broader perspective on gender equality and cultural barriers. Additionally, volunteering supports sustainable tourism, economic worth and collaboration among institutions. Both volunteers’ personal characteristics (educational level and sociocultural context), as well as their sociocultural context, influenced the perception of the skill transformation process and learning about the SDGs. Finally, a new educational university programme in volunteering aligned with SDGs is proposed.
Practical implications
This research examines the practical ramifications of incorporating volunteer programmes into university courses. Universities must include these initiatives in their educational systems as a means of enhancing student learning.
Social implications
A new educational university programme in volunteering aligned with SDGs is proposed. This study suggests a shift in university mindset, as well as increased funding for training and adherence to the SDGs.
Originality/value
This study pioneers the rite of passage framework in an international volunteer tourism project facilitated by universities, emphasizing volunteering as a valuable tool for SDG implementation, considering the interrelationships between objectives.
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Teresa Tackett and Laura L. Lemon
This paper aims to better understand remote and hybrid employees’ experiences with the interconnection between employee engagement and well-being in relation to the participants’…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to better understand remote and hybrid employees’ experiences with the interconnection between employee engagement and well-being in relation to the participants’ lived experiences in nontraditional work roles post-pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
To better understand how employees’ experiences with remote work underscore employee engagement and well-being in post-pandemic nontraditional work roles, we conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with remote and hybrid employees in various industries across the United States.
Findings
This study has three major findings. First, participants experienced employee engagement and well-being as distinct yet connected, with well-being and engagement simultaneously being positive and negative. Second, employee engagement was driven by the organization, while in some cases, well-being focused more on the individual. Third, participants discussed how their experiences reflected a cyclical connection between engagement and wellbeing.
Originality/value
The findings from this study demonstrate that employee well-being leads to employee engagement. In this way, well-being at the individual level becomes a predecessor or antecedent to employee engagement. Therefore, well-being plays a role in how engaged an employee might be. Participants also offered unique perspectives on engagement and well-being in the workplace, conceptualizing well-being and employee engagement as both micro- and meso-level outcomes.
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Sut I Wong, Elizabeth Solberg and Laura Traavik
The present study investigates whether individuals having a fixed digital mindset (comprises fundamental beliefs about technological ability and organizational resources as work…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study investigates whether individuals having a fixed digital mindset (comprises fundamental beliefs about technological ability and organizational resources as work becomes more digitalized) experience greater helplessness working in virtual teamwork environments. The authors examine how perceived internal human resource management (HRM) alignment moderates the positive relationship expected between individuals' fixed digital mindset and feelings of helplessness. Together, the paper aims to contribute to a greater understanding of the personal and contextual factors that influence an individual's experience of helplessness in virtual team settings.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors test the hypotheses using time-lagged survey data collected from 153 information technology (IT) engineers working in virtual teams in Europe.
Findings
The authors find that individuals with higher levels of fixed digital mindset experience greater helplessness in virtual teamwork environments than individuals with lower levels. Furthermore, the authors find that having higher-fixed beliefs about organizational resources is positively related to helplessness when individuals perceive that the broader HRM system is misaligned with the virtual teamwork environment.
Research limitations/implications
The data were obtained from IT engineers in Europe, which is potentially limiting the generalizability of the authors' findings to other work contexts and cultures.
Practical implications
The authors' study helps leaders in virtual teamwork environments to better understand and manage the personal and contextual factors that could affect individuals' well-being and effective functioning in such settings.
Originality/value
The authors' research contributes to the scant literature investigating the personal characteristics important in virtual teamwork environments and the contextual factors important for aligning virtual teamwork designs with the organizational system. The authors extend this research by looking at personal and contextual factors together in a single model.
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Laura Innocenti, Silvia Profili and Alessia Sammarra
This study aims to examine the role that four distinct bundles (developmental, utilisation, maintenance and accommodative) of HRM practices play in enhancing work engagement among…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the role that four distinct bundles (developmental, utilisation, maintenance and accommodative) of HRM practices play in enhancing work engagement among chronically ill employees, and to analyse whether perceptions of discrimination on the grounds of illness can affect these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected through a quantitative survey using a sample of 669 chronically ill employees of a major Italian company.
Findings
This study's findings confirm the importance of discerning between positive, insignificant and negative effects of distinct HR bundles on chronically ill employees' work engagement. Furthermore, this study's results suggest that the positive effect of utilisation practices (i.e. practices aimed at enabling employees to make full use of existing, but not yet necessarily utilised, individual resources) on engagement is greater when chronically ill employees perceive a discrimination-free work environment.
Research limitations/implications
This study's findings confirm the importance of discerning between positive, no, and negative effects of distinct HR bundles on chronically ill employees' work engagement. Furthermore, this study's results suggest that the positive effect of utilisation practices (i.e. practices aimed at enabling employees to make full use of existing but not necessarily applied individual resources) on engagement is greater when chronically ill employees perceive a discrimination-free work environment.
Originality/value
The study highlights those HR bundles that have the capacity to positively affect the work engagement of chronically ill employees, a minority group rarely considered in HRM studies. Furthermore, the research identifies perceived discrimination on the grounds of illness as a contextual condition that may hinder the otherwise positive effect of HRM practices on the engagement of workers suffering from a chronic illness.