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This qualitative research aims to analyze the effects of the global crisis known as COVID-19 in family businesses in North Macedonia and defines the strategies that Albanian entrepreneurs have used to overcome the pandemic.

The purpose of this study is to conduct a gender comparison between the behaviors of ten men entrepreneurs with ten women entrepreneurs in the city of Skopje. The data we collected by the interview method. The interviews were conducted by phone from June 1 to June 15.

The results of this research show that women entrepreneurs have overcome the crisis through defensive strategy compared to men entrepreneurs who have used more offensive approach. Due to the pandemic, the majority of women entrepreneurs have lost incomes, labor and clients. Men entrepreneurs have maintained their employees with the minimum salaries, but they have suffered the same loss in the aspect of revenues and clients. Findings show that in the category of women-owned enterprises lower financial results have shown those who operate in the textile industry and beauty salons. In companies with men entrepreneurship, the biggest loss is estimated in the luxury jewelry industry and restaurants, while pharmacies, supermarkets and detergent manufacturing companies proved to be profitable. Even companies that have shown high financial performance have encountered considerable problems in supplying raw materials due to the pandemic. This research will help SMEs in our country with useful suggestions to make the right decisions for the mentioned issue.

There are some limitations in this study that should be considered a guide for future research. First, this research includes only Albanian entrepreneurs located in the city of Skopje. The investigation will be complete if we add a more significant number of Albanian entrepreneurs from more cities in North Macedonia. Second, considering that this paper's topic is new, we did not have enough literature to compare or enrich the study. Third, due to the current situation caused by the virus, we have faced difficulties in convincing entrepreneurs over the phone to respond in our questionnaires.

This paper addresses a new topic comparing Albanian entrepreneurs' behaviors based on their gender in overcoming the pandemic in Skopje, North Macedonia.

In this chapter, we analyze and reflect on how our cultural identities and educational experiences as international students who pursued a doctoral degree in the United States affected and influenced our teaching philosophy and praxis as professors and educators. In this sense, we examine how our cultural identities and experiences help us define and shape our teaching praxis in the contexts in which we teach. We both are professors of color – Latino and Latino-Japanese – who graduated from doctoral programs in the United States. Currently, we work and serve culturally and linguistically diverse students, including first-generation students, in public higher education settings in Chile and the United States. We used a collection of narratives to delve into the significance of these events in our praxis. As theoretical lenses, we analyze these narratives using cultural identity and the reflecting teacher to examine our practices and identities as educators. We both conclude that our reflections, experiences, and cultural identities have been instrumental in the process of developing a professional identity that guides our teaching praxis in ways that are critical and social justice oriented.

Distance universities are of great importance for establishing sustainability literacy, as they operate as multipliers for thousands of students. However, despite several advantages of e-learning environments compared to traditional class-teaching, there are still challenges regarding suitable e-learning tools and didactical models. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of several e-learning tools on students’ knowledge and skills growth and to compare two learning paths, synchronous vs asynchronous, exploring how each affects the level of students’ knowledge achievement and skills acquisition.

The empirical analysis is based on an online course “Participatory processes in environmental politics”. International MSc and PhD students who enrolled in the course were from FernUniversität in Hagen (Germany) and Aberta University (Portugal). The course was designed as the flipped classroom, applying different e-learning tools and activities, some synchronous and others asynchronous. A pre- and post-evaluation questionnaire was applied to evaluate students’ knowledge and skills. Descriptive statistical analyses were carried out on this data.

Results showed that in the synchronous group, knowledge about theoretical approaches to citizen participation and sustainable environmental governance improved to a greater extent, whereas the asynchronous group showed greater improvement in nearly all skills related to intercultural communication and e-learning. Also, in the synchronous path, students enhanced their knowledge on “research application” to a greater extent.

Evaluating the effectiveness of different e-learning tools on students’ sustainability knowledge and information and communication technologies skills is a fundamental issue. The study discusses these issues, contributing to enhancing the use of adequate and grounded e-learning models on sustainable development in higher education.