Mustafa Öztürk and Oren Pizmony-Levy
This study aims to investigate the dispositions of early career teacher educators as young academics toward sustainability and accountability for sustainability issues. Through…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the dispositions of early career teacher educators as young academics toward sustainability and accountability for sustainability issues. Through their interpretations, concerns, awareness and ownership of sustainability, the study portrays how a global phenomenon is articulated specifically within the local context of teachers colleges in Turkey.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was designed as a survey, and the data were collected through a cross-sectional online questionnaire. The sample (n = 72) was limited, through purposeful sampling, to early career teacher educators teaching and being trained in well-established Turkish teachers colleges to become prospective faculty members of newly founded teachers colleges across the country. The data were analyzed primarily through quantitative methods. For the analyses, STATA software was used to perform descriptive and inferential statistics.
Findings
The general results indicated that the participants were highly concerned about sustainability problems. However, their concerns were not reflected to the same degree on their perceived awareness and ownership of education for sustainable development (ESD). Hunger and poverty, loss of biodiversity, climate change and epidemic diseases were all perceived to be urgent more in the global context. On the other hand, unemployment, refugees and terrorism were perceived to be locally urgent problems. Different agencies within the community were addressed to be accountable for different types of sustainability problems. The accountability for economic, environmental and societal problems were mainly placed on governments. Additionally, individuals/families and educators were held more accountable for environmental issues, while corporations and super powers were held more accountable for economic issues. As for societal issues, educators, individuals/families and non-governmental organizations were addressed to be more responsible.
Originality/value
The significance of the study is mainly twofold. If sustainable development is conceptualized with a futuristic viewpoint that attaches a great importance to next generations' needs, focusing on the dispositions of early career teacher educators as young academics is a reasonable way of addressing the current gaps and eliminating the future inefficacies. Building on the assumption that ESD would remain imperfect without the commitment of teacher educators who have the potential to bring changes in educational systems and shape knowledge and skills of future teachers, in turn future generations; this study becomes even more valuable as it includes specifically the academicians in the field of teacher education.
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Pathiranage Padmali Manesha Peiris, Ahu Tatli and Mustafa Bilgehan Ozturk
The aim of this study is to explore how women in Sri Lanka cultivate entrepreneurial personae to navigate the various gendered roles they situationally enact, as they attempt to…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to explore how women in Sri Lanka cultivate entrepreneurial personae to navigate the various gendered roles they situationally enact, as they attempt to secure legitimacy and acceptance and overcome their otherness. Drawing on Goffman's theorisation of symbolic interaction, this study investigates how gender informs the performance of entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka. In this way, the study engages with the challenges women in the Global South navigate while undertaking entrepreneurship, and it contributes to the critical entrepreneurship literature on the intertwined nature of gender and entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
Following feminist standpoint epistemology (FSE), this qualitative study focuses on women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka by examining the performance of entrepreneurship through 44 life history interviews (LHIs) and 40 Field Observations conducted over a seven-month period.
Findings
The findings reveal that women carefully cultivate entrepreneurial personae by striking a balance between entrepreneurial ideals and patriarchal social expectations around womanhood. The findings of the study present how the entrepreneurial personae are constructed by way of appearance, mannerism and setting, which presents opportunities for future research to explore the dramaturgical aspect of gender and entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the growing body of feminist research surrounding women entrepreneurs, by drawing on insights from the lived experiences of women entrepreneurs in the Global South. This study also expands Goffman's theorisation of audience segregation and shows that a subject's understanding of the audience shapes their personae. A further contribution of this research is how space becomes an extension of the personae at play.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify critical gaps in the conceptualization and interpretation of sustainability by investigating the postgraduate research (theses and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify critical gaps in the conceptualization and interpretation of sustainability by investigating the postgraduate research (theses and dissertations) conducted with a reference to sustainability in Turkish higher education institutions and synthesizing the underlying themes and trends pertaining to sustainability issues in the local discourse.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a mixed-method design. The sample (n=343) consists of the theses and dissertations conducted over a ten-year period in Turkish universities. Data analysis procedures include a quantitative investigation through numbers to address the level of value attached to postgraduate research on sustainable development; a content analysis on the focus and scope of each study to determine prevalent sustainability themes and dimensions frequently addressed in the studies; and a collocation analysis conducted on the texts of the studies to depict linguistic and cultural connotations of sustainable development in the local discourse and key terms that frequently collocate with sustainable development in the Turkish context.
Findings
Neither a sufficient number of direct references to sustainability nor a substantial increase in the number of studies throughout the decade is depicted. Only one-third of Turkish universities steer postgraduate research on sustainability, which is not evenly distributed to various institutions across the country. Three-quarters of the studies are conducted within economy-related and engineering-related programs. The social dimension of sustainability is under-researched. The topics tend to ply between environmental and economic edges. Turkey, as a word, is collocated frequently with the concepts of external debt, current deficit, energy, policy, and EU. Linguistically, the concept of sustainable development is predominantly associated with economic growth in the majority of the studies. Sustainability is contextualized mostly with making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable and promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment, and decent work.
Originality/value
The value of the paper lies in the paucity of studies tracking the research initiatives taken on sustainability, assessing research trends in postgraduate programs of higher education institutions, and looking into a global concept from a local perspective in a developing country, Turkey.
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This chapter considers the conflicts which arise at the intersection of the free exercise of religion and sexual minority rights in the domains of work and non-work activities…
Abstract
This chapter considers the conflicts which arise at the intersection of the free exercise of religion and sexual minority rights in the domains of work and non-work activities. Specifically, by examining the key features of various discrimination cases from the US and UK contexts, the chapter identifies the possible tensions between different minority groups and the negotiation and settlement of their respective interests and entitlements. In an effort to reconcile the seemingly competing claims made for equality, the chapter considers a theoretical middle range within which the existing debates may be addressed through the careful application of Isaiah Berlin’s theory of positive and negative freedoms in public life. The use of Berlin’s theory contributes to the analysis of the justice standing of religious and sexual minority groups, what protections minority groups in conflict must be accorded vis-à-vis each other, and the nature of remedies which should be accorded to each group in theory and practice.
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Mohd Fadzli Bin Abdollah, Hilmi Amiruddin and Mohamad Jabbar Nordin
This study aims to scrutinise the impact of fibre length and its composition on the tribological attributes of oil palm fibre (OPF) polymeric composite as an alternative brake…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to scrutinise the impact of fibre length and its composition on the tribological attributes of oil palm fibre (OPF) polymeric composite as an alternative brake friction material.
Design/methodology/approach
Fabrication of the sample was conducted by using a hot-compression method. The tribological test was carried out by deploying a ball-on-disk tribometer. Analysis of the data was then done by using the Taguchi approach as well as analysis of variance.
Findings
The results indicated that all design variables (fibre composition, length and treatment) are not statistically significant, as all p-values are greater than 0.05. Remarkably, irrespective of the fibre treatment, the wear rate and coefficient of friction (COF) distribution suggested that a smaller fibre length with a high fibre composition might enhance the composite’s tribological performance with COF of 0.4 and wear rate below than 1 × 10–9 mm3/Nm. The predominant wear mechanisms were identified as micro-cracks, fine grooves and fibre debonding.
Research limitations/implications
In this study, all-inclusive scrutiny needs to be carried out for further exploration.
Originality/value
The main contribution and novelty of this study are opening a new perspective on the formulation of new substances from bio-based material (i.e. OPF) that possess superior tribological characteristics for friction-based applications.