Michelle McClelland, Sara Grobbelaar and Natasha Sacks
This paper aims to explore the growth of the South African additive manufacturing (AM) industry over the past 31 years through the lens of the innovation system (IS) perspective…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the growth of the South African additive manufacturing (AM) industry over the past 31 years through the lens of the innovation system (IS) perspective, examining the actor dynamics and mechanisms that facilitated or hindered the industry’s development.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a case study research approach, analysing semi-structured interviews with eight South African AM experts and documentary evidence. The IS framework and the realist evaluation perspective were used, using a context-intervention-mechanism-outcome (CIMO)-based event history analysis (EHA) framework to explore the actor dynamics and mechanisms of the case study.
Findings
The study used a case study research approach, analysing semi-structured interviews with eight South African AM experts and documentary evidence. The IS framework and the realist evaluation perspective were used, using a CIMO-based EHA framework to explore the actor dynamics and mechanisms of the case study.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the South African AM industry literature by providing an overview of the industry events over the past three decades and analysing the industry through the IS framework. The study is among the first to analyse the development of the South African AM industry, presenting innovation scholars and managers with valuable decision-making support by providing insights into the innovation activities performed during each stage of the industry’s development, who performed them, the sequence in which they were performed and the outcomes they delivered.
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Since the early 2000s there has been increased attention on the professionalisation of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce in many OECD countries. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
Since the early 2000s there has been increased attention on the professionalisation of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce in many OECD countries. This study focuses on what Australian early childhood educators holding the lowest level of qualification – Certificate III are experiencing in relation to their professional capital in a sector that is experiencing wide-spread and ongoing reform. The study identifies the human capital, social capital and decisional capital of these educators, then explores the interconnections.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper was funded by the Australian Research Council. The qualitative data consider the capabilities of certificate-qualified educators and how these are enabled or constrained within the workplace. The corpus of data for this study consists of 14 interviews with Certificate III-qualified educators from three locations across Victoria, Australia. Hargreaves and Fullan’s (2012) forms of professional capital (human, social and decisional) act as organisers for the themes identified through a thematic analysis.
Findings
Themes identified in the data speak to inequity in access to professional learning, the valuing of life experiences, clear divisions of labour that impact what knowledge is valued, and differences in educator agency in the decision-making process. Many certificate-qualified educators experience a workplace culture that lacks trust in an individual’s professional competence and does not appreciate collegial knowledge and skill building as a collective enterprise.
Originality/value
The conceptual framing of this study provides a unique way to explore the experiences of certificate-trained educators. The study introduces the idea of using exploratory categories and the identification of levels of human, social and decisional capital. This type of study involving this cohort of educators is unique.
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Howard S. Rasheed and Michelle Howard-Vital
In 2001, the Elementary and Secondary Act legislation was reauthorized in the U.S. as The Leave No Child Behind Act (NCLB) to place special emphasis on the importance of basing…
Abstract
In 2001, the Elementary and Secondary Act legislation was reauthorized in the U.S. as The Leave No Child Behind Act (NCLB) to place special emphasis on the importance of basing educational practice on empirical research. The reauthorization also required that America's public school systems become more accountable for the learning of students, for improving the educational achievement of all students, and for closing the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged segments of the student population.
Mike Hartill and Michelle Jones
The importance of including victims of abuse within prevention responses has recently received some attention within the sport sector. This chapter reports on a UK initiative…
Abstract
The importance of including victims of abuse within prevention responses has recently received some attention within the sport sector. This chapter reports on a UK initiative, funded by a national sport agency, which aimed to provide a platform for individuals with a ‘lived experience’ of child abuse in a sport context to deliver awareness-raising events for stakeholders within the sport sector. Interviews were conducted with the participants to explore their experiences. This chapter reports on their primary motivations for participation, the concerns and anxieties they experienced, as well as wider issues relating to engagement with the sport sector. The discussion reflects on the challenges and potential of such activity and will be of interest to those with a personal experience of abuse, practitioners and researchers working with survivor-activists and those working in safeguarding and child/athlete welfare more broadly.
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Pi-Shen Seet, Janice Jones, Tim Acker and Michelle Whittle
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons managers of non-Indigenous backgrounds move to, stay in, and leave their positions in Indigenous Art Centres in remote…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons managers of non-Indigenous backgrounds move to, stay in, and leave their positions in Indigenous Art Centres in remote areas of Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study used structured in-depth interviews of 21 managers of Indigenous Art Centres to explore their reasons for staying in or leaving their positions.
Findings
The study finds that managers are not drawn to remote Art Centres for financial gain, or career advancement. In contrast, a broader range of pull factors beyond the job – in particular, the Indigenous community/environment and personal/family reasons – influence managers to stay or leave the job. However, the reasons for choosing to leave are qualitatively different from reasons given by managers who stay, pulling some managers to stay, whilst pushing other managers to leave. Significantly, shocks, in the form of threatening and frightening situations were also influential in explaining turnover.
Research limitations/implications
This research was limited to Art Centre managers in remote Australia and may lack generalisability in other countries.
Originality/value
The study adds to the few field studies that have investigated issues related to recruitment and retention of managers in the creative arts sector in remote areas. It contributes to the literature by extending push-pull theory to aspects of the entrepreneurial career process, albeit among “accidental entrepreneurs”. In addition, the authors have also incorporated “shocks” as catalysts to understanding career deliberations, and that threatening and frightening situations were especially influential in explaining decisions to stay or go.
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Daphna Motro, Andrea Pittarello, Kevin P. Nolan, Comila Shahani-Denning and Janet A. Lenaghan
To determine how different voluntary leaves of absence (parental vs. community service) affect individuals’ preferences for working with either male or female supervisors. Drawing…
Abstract
Purpose
To determine how different voluntary leaves of absence (parental vs. community service) affect individuals’ preferences for working with either male or female supervisors. Drawing on role congruity theory, the authors examined whether individuals would least prefer supervisors who took voluntary leave that violated role expectations.
Design/methodology/approach
In Study 1, participants (n = 372) evaluated supervisors who took different forms of leave (none vs. parental vs. community service). In Study 2 (n = 202), the authors tested an intervention to reduce negative bias toward males taking community service leave. In both studies the authors examined the sex of the supervisor (male vs. female) on perceptions of typicality and supervisor preference.
Findings
Males who took community service leave were perceived as most atypical and were least preferred as supervisors. However, providing relevant research-based information about typicality reduced this bias.
Practical implications
The results show that people respond negatively toward males who take community service leave. Managers can help reduce this bias by providing relevant research-based information regarding community service leave.
Originality/value
This work is among the first to explore the consequences of community service leave and how it interacts with supervisor sex. The authors also identify a simple way to reduce bias against males who take community service leave.