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This paper aims to explore the differences in first-year and senior engineering students’ engineering agency beliefs and career goals related to sustainable development. The authors also sought to understand how topics related to sustainable development in engineering courses affect senior engineering students’ goals to address these issues in their careers. This work provides evidence of how students’ agency beliefs may be shaped by higher education, which is essential to workforce development.

Findings stem from two national surveys of engineering first-year (Sustainability and Gender in Engineering, n = 7,709) and senior students (Student Survey about Career Goals, College Experiences, n = 4,605). The authors compared both groups using pairwise testing by class standing.

The results indicate that undergraduate studies tend to reinforce students’ engineering agency beliefs to improve their quality of life and preserve the environment. Significantly more senior students selected career goals to address environmental issues compared to first-year students. In general, students undervalue their roles as engineers in addressing issues related to social inequities. Those topics are rarely addressed in engineering courses. Findings from this work suggest discussing sustainability in courses positively impact setting career goals to address such challenges.

The study compares results from two distinct surveys, conveyed at different periods. Nonetheless, the sample size and national spread of respondents across US colleges and universities are robust to offer relevant insights on sustainable development in engineering education.

Adapting engineering curriculum by ensuring that engineering students are prepared to confront global problems related to sustainable development in their careers will have a positive societal impact.

This study highlights shortcomings of engineering education in promoting social and economic sustainability as related to the engineering field. Educational programs would benefit from emphasizing the interconnectedness of environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development. This approach could increase diversity in engineering education and the industry, and by ripple effect, benefit the communities and local governance.

This work is a first step toward understanding how undergraduate experiences impact students’ engineering agency beliefs and career goals related to sustainability. It explores potential factors that could increase students’ engineering agency and goals to make a change through engineering.

The Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the use of preservatives and colouring matters in the preservation and colouring of food, have now issued their report, and the large amount of evidence which is recorded therein will be found to be of the greatest interest to those concerned in striving to obtain a pure and unsophisticated food‐supply. It is of course much to be regretted that the Committee could not see their way to recommend the prohibition of all chemical preservatives in articles of food and drink; but, apart from this want of strength, they have made certain recommendations which, if they become law, will greatly improve the character of certain classes of food. It is satisfactory to note that formaldehyde and its preparations may be absolutely prohibited in foods and drinks; but, on the other hand, it is suggested that salicylic acid may be allowed in certain proportions in food, although in all cases its presence is to be declared. The entire prohibition of preservatives in milk would be a step in the right direction, although it is difficult to see why, in view of this recommendation, boric acid should be allowed to the extent of 0·25 per cent. in cream, more especially as by another recommendation all dietetic preparations intended for the use of invalids or infants are to be entirely free from preservative chemicals; but it will be a severe shock to tho3e traders who are in the habit of using these substances to be informed that they must declare the fact of the admixture by a label attached to the containing vessel. The use of boric acid and borax only is to be permitted in butter and margarine, in proportions not exceeding 0·5 per cent. expressed as boric acid, without notification. It is suggested that the use of salts of copper in the so‐called greening of vegetables should not be allowed, but upon this recommendation the members of the Committee were not unanimous, as in a note attached to the report one member states that he does not agree with the entire exclusion of added copper to food, for the strange reason that certain foods may naturally contain traces of copper. With equal truth it can be said that certain foods may naturally contain traces of arsenic. Is the addition of arsenic therefore to be permitted? The Committee are to be congratulated upon the result of their labours, and when these recommendations become law Great Britain may be regarded as having come a little more into line— although with some apparent reluctance—with those countries who regard the purity of their food‐supplies as a matter of national importance.

THE HISTORY Wilbraham District Library (now re‐modelled as Fallowfield Cultural Centre) was first opened on 31st October 1932 by the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, Chancellor of the University of Manchester, amid a great deal of ceremony‐presided over by the Lord Mayor and in the presence of Manchester's hew Chief Librarian Charles Nowell. The Annual report of the Manchester Libraries Committee for 1932–33 states that the Earl dutifully borrowed the first book, The mediaeval woodwork of Manchester Cathedral by Henry A. Hudson. As early as 1923 the Libraries Committee had applied for the use of the important corner site occupied by the new library on the new housing estate in Wilbraham, believing this to be a “pivotal point” for the whole estate and the close proximity with the nearby school enabling “the services to co‐operate successfully in their work with children”.

Doing qualitative research with vulnerable urban populations such as street traders present significant methodological challenges, which many researchers may not be prepared to handle. This paper aims to provide a reflective account of the authors' fieldwork experiences while conducting a study with street traders in Harare, Zimbabwe.

This paper draws data from a qualitative case study conducted with street traders in Harare's Central Business District (CBD). In this study, mixed qualitative methods were used including focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews and photovoice.

The study’s findings suggest that researching street traders is a complex process that requires flexibility, adaptability and creativity of researchers across the following aspects: gaining access in unfamiliar research contexts, building rapport and trust with participants, managing ethical dilemmas and addressing power imbalances between researchers and participants.

While there is a growing body of empirical research on street trading in the global south, there are limited studies that discusses the practical fieldwork experiences associated with conducting primary research with such vulnerable and dynamic urban populations. The authors highlight strategies and practical steps that can be taken to address these challenges. This paper emphasizes the need for flexibility and adaptability in researching street traders, as it is akin to exploring uncharted territories where conventional methodological templates may not be effective.

This paper aims to examine the reaction of energy inflation to geopolitical risks in the European Economic Area between 1990 and 2015.

This study applies the nonparametric time-varying coefficient panel data model with fixed effects. In addition, to further reveal potential tail effects that may not have been captured by conditional mean-based regressions, the method of moments quantile regression was also used.

The findings of this study are as follows: first, as European countries get exposed to geopolitical tensions, it is expected that energy prices will surge. Second, the ability of geopolitical risk to trigger energy inflation in recent times is not as powerful as it used to be. Third, countries with a lower inflation rate, when exposed to geopolitical risks, experience smaller increases in energy inflation compared to countries with a higher inflation rate.

The findings of this study lead us to the conclusion that transitioning from nonrenewable to renewable energy use is one channel through which the sampled countries can battle the energy inflation, which geopolitical risks trigger. A sound macroeconomic policy for inflation control is a complementary channel through which the same goal can be achieved.

Given the increasing level of energy inflation and geopolitical risks in the world today, this study is an attempt to reveal the time-varying characteristics of the relationship between these variables in European countries using a nonparametric time-varying coefficient panel data model and method of moments quantile regression with fixed effects.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how individual attitudes toward using enterprise social media (ESM) impact trust, explicit and tacit knowledge sharing as well as work performance in emerging economies.

The authors use data from a survey of 293 employed individuals in Lagos, Nigeria, who work at organizations that have ESM systems.

The authors find that ESM usage is significantly associated with trust. However, ESM usage does not impact explicit or tacit knowledge transfer.

This paper provides empirical evidence that individuals who perceive high levels of performance expectancy will engage in ESM usage which in turn increases trust amongst colleagues. Human resource managers can argue that by adopting ESM, they can facilitate improved trust and collaboration through online engagement amongst employees. This is important for multi-national organizations wanting to expand into emerging economies where the organization and local workforce need to foster trust in knowledge sharing.

There has been little evidence regarding HRM use of ESM in emerging economies. By understanding individual attitudes toward ESM and how the use impacts knowledge sharing, the academic discussions concerning use of technology to enhance knowledge sharing can continue to evolve.

This study explores some of the key push and pull factors to consider in talent development and retention of competent employees by businesses operating in Namibia.

The participants in this study comprised of randomly selected white-collar employees in Namibia. The study adopted a qualitative research approach, utilizing online focus groups to gain insights related to white-collar labor turnover and retention. Thematic content analysis was employed during the data reduction process.

The findings revealed specific push and pull factors for consideration in developing talent retention strategies in contemporary business organizations.

Most of the extant literature on white-collar retention and labor turnover is based on Western contexts. The findings of this study contribute to the available literature by providing a perspective from the developing world, specifically, Namibia.

This paper aims to study the perceived usefulness and adoption of Koha Integrated Library System (ILS) by librarians in universities in Southern Nigeria.

The study adopted a survey method. The researchers designed a structured questionnaire using Google form and shared it online. Data were gathered from respondents whose libraries had adopted Koha.

Koha was highly perceived useful in acquisition, cataloguing, circulation and serials operations. There was moderate adoption of Koha generally. However, it was rarely adopted for making payment and placing of orders for book purchases and serial subscriptions. Perceived usefulness had positive influence on Koha’s adoption. Inadequate training of library staff on Koha use was a major challenge to Koha adoption. Hence, it was recommended that there should be regular training on the use of Koha and strategic decisions that would enhance the useful objectives behind the gunning for Koha, should be taken and implemented by the management of libraries.

The study highlighted the perceived usefulness of Koha and the extent to which it has been adopted by librarians in the university libraries under study. It will avail the management of these libraries the opportunity to re-evaluate if the ILS is well maximized in terms of adoption and usefulness.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the micro determinants of the extent of credit rationing experienced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana.

The study adopted the direct approach to investigating the presence of credit rationing. This involves the use of surveys permitting loan applicants to report on their credit market experiences. The multinomial logistic regression model was then applied to the survey data to arrive at the findings reported.

The study amongst other things confirms the existence of credit rationing in the SME sector. It also revealed that the extent to which SMEs are rationed varies and these variations are determined by the characteristic of the SME owner and the characteristics of the business.

The use of the survey method in investigating credit rationing could introduce some biases in the responses obtained. However, the lack of publicly available data did not permit the use of the indirect method which is based on the testing for possible violation of the permanent income hypothesis. Despite its weakness, the survey method remains the more realistic approach to investigating credit constraints especially in the data-constrained developing countries. The design and piloting of the questionnaire as well as the use a large sample size all went a long way to reduce any possible biases in the responses.

Despite the fact that a number of studies exist on SME financing problem in Ghana, available studies present the problem as if it were the same for all SMEs. Even though there is evidence to suggest that SMEs may be rationed in the credit market to different extents, currently, there are no known studies that have empirically investigated the various degrees of rationing and factors that determine the extent to which SMEs may be credit rationed. This paper thus attempts to contribute to the literature by unearthing these factors.