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The purpose of this study is to investigate career choices by female graduates from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to determine factors that influenced their entry, abandonment or persistence of STEM careers.

Life history narratives were collected from a sample group of employed citizens and expatriate women (all STEM graduates) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Content of interview transcripts was analyzed for emergent themes of influence on these participants career decisions.

Four significant themes of calling were found: gift of intellect, belief in a faith, shared community and meaning of work. A typology of calling was constructed to reflect these themes influences on the entry, abandonment or persistence of women in a STEM career.

The results of this study were from a small sample of women in a particular country. The implication is to extend this study to a larger number of participants and to other countries to generalize the results.

Insight into career decisions of female STEM graduates impacts on employee recruitment and retention policies within those professions.

Research originality is evident, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, as this is the first study to explore the influence of calling for careers of STEM women working in the Middle East North Africa region.

Much time and effort has been devoted to designing and developing library Web sites that are easy to navigate by both new students and experienced researchers. In a review of the Southampton Institute Library it was decided that in addition to updating the existing homepage an alternative would be offered. Drawing on theory relating to user interface design, learning styles and creative thinking, an Alternative Library navigation system was added to the more traditional library homepage. The aim was to provide students with a different way to explore and discover the wide range of information resources available by taking a less formal approach to navigation based on the metaphor of physical space and playful exploration.

While academia continuously probes and advocates for a definition of a comprehensive, inclusive ideal, diversity, multiculturalism, and equity are bridging ties elements that must be considered. Currently, liberal arts colleges have the unique opportunity to shape equitable environments for all their members and become role models for other higher educational institutions. If there is an institutional commitment, and people are willing to work for a common goal, small colleges can undoubtedly offer the appropriate academic conditions where all faculty, staff, and students can achieve their highest personal and professional potentials.

This chapter discusses the role of chief diversity officer (CDO) on liberal arts campuses and how the CDO should take the lead as equity advocator and conveyor and help set the desired dialogue conditions. Among the topics examined is the institutional inclusion process which includes innovative and supportive new ideas and programs for equity among all members of the academic community. Also the hiring of underrepresented faculty members is crucial and can support the growth of enrollment and retention of diverse groups of students. Diversity and inclusion create common goals, and liberal arts colleges should rapidly move to allow the best hiring practices during the recruitment of new faculty members. Equitable learning conditions for all are as crucial as the creation of faculty evaluation systems that promote equitable opportunities. Liberal arts colleges have a historic opportunity to lead the way and become exemplary role models in practicing diversity and inclusion on campus.

The efficacy of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for schizophrenia in community and general psychiatric settings has been widely investigated and its practice recommended in primary and secondary care. In secure forensic mental health services the evidence is less established. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of group CBT for schizophrenia in a high secure hospital.

In all, 27 male forensic patients completed a manualised CBT group and were compared on primary and secondary outcomes to patients receiving treatment as usual (TAU). Primary outcomes were positive and negative symptoms as measured by the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS), Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) and the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS). A secondary outcome was interpersonal functioning as measured by the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-64).

CBT participants showed improvement on negative symptoms; affective flattening, alogia, anhedonia and avolition; in comparison to participants in TAU. CBT participants also showed reductions in delusions and hallucinations on the SAPS but not the PSYRATS. TAU participants improved on positive symptoms as measured by the PSYRATS. CBT participants showed reductions in overall interpersonal problems, and most notably in being socially inhibited and self-sacrificing. No iatrogenic effects of treatment were found; improvements in depression anxiety and stress were reported by group completers, which contrasted to experiences of the TAU group.

Absence of random allocation to CBP or TAU groups retains the risk of recruitment bias. Findings are preliminary given the sample size. Multiple outcome assessments increase risk of a type I error.

CBT for schizophrenia can be effective with clients in secure forensic mental health settings. Improvements in negative symptoms and interpersonal functioning appear to be particular gains. Self-report measures might be subject to specific demand characteristics in such settings.

The evaluation includes a comparator group in a high secure setting, which is typically absent in reported evidence for this population (Blackburn, 2004). The study also investigated changes in interpersonal functioning, which has previously been noted as an important but absent outcome in CBT for psychosis (Haddock et al., 2009). Iatrogenic outcomes were also considered in the evaluation to ensure no adverse effects were experienced from treatment.

The purpose of this paper is to report the preliminary evaluation findings of an integration programme in the children’s health care sector in the North West of England. The programme was led by the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) utilising a semi-autonomous working group model. It comprised horizontal and vertical integration. The evaluation reflects the emerging policy context of CCG leadership in the field of health care planning and commissioning.

The evaluation used a mixed method observational study design to obtain the views and opinions of stakeholders and measured their change over time. A series of initial semi-structured interviews was conducted with purposively selected key professionals in strategic positions to assist in designing a survey instrument. An online survey was launched at programme inception and repeated at five months. Respondents were members of five implementation working groups. Survey responses were subjected to a descriptive analysis and tests of correlation.

The data showed high levels of commitment and perceptions of shared vision and goals amongst respondents which were relatively stable over time. Responses also indicated that the programme was perceived to have a considerable impact on collaborative work but that this initial effect decreased over time. There were no significant attitudinal differences across sectors or professional groups.

The study demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of the multi-agency working group model to implement change. Whilst confirming initial positive effects of integration programmes on collaborative work, over time this appears to wear off to be replaced by increased levels of skepticism amongst participants. The author findings have implications for service commissioners and service planners engaging in vertical or horizontal integration of children’s services.

The purpose is to review the formation, event management, performance development and consumption of South East Australia’s inaugural 2018 Giiyong Festival with emphasis on the sociocultural imaginary and political positionings of its shared theatre of arts.

A trialogue between a musicologist, festival director and Indigenous stakeholder accrues qualitative ethnographic findings for discussion and analysis of the organic growth and productive functioning of the festival.

As an unprecedented moment of large-scale unity between First and non-First Nations Peoples in South East Australia, Giiyong Festival elevated the value of Indigenous business, culture and society in the regional marketplace. The performing arts, coupled with linguistic and visual idioms, worked to invigorate the Yuin cultural landscape.

Additional research was curtailed as COVID-19 shutdowns forced the cancellation of Giiyong Festival (2020). Opportunities for regional Indigenous arts to subsist as a source for live cultural expression are scoped.

Music and dance are renewable cultural resources, and when performed live within festival contexts they work to sustain Indigenous identities. When aligned with Indigenous knowledge and languages, they impart central agency to First Nations Peoples in Australia.

The marketing of First Nations arts contributes broadly to high political stakes surrounding the overdue Constitutional Recognition of Australia's Indigenous Peoples.

The inclusive voices of a festival director and Indigenous manager augment a scholarly study of SE Australia's first large Aboriginal cultural festival that supplements pre-existing findings on Northern Australian festivals.

Sexual violence prevention programs on college campuses have proliferated in recent years. While research has also increased, a number of questions remain unanswered that could assist campus administrators in making evidence-based decisions about implementation of prevention efforts. To that end, the field of prevention science has highlighted the need to examine the utility of booster sessions for enhancing prevention education. The purpose of this paper is to examine how two methods of prevention delivery – small group educational workshops and a community-wide social marketing campaign (SMC) – worked separately and together to promote attitude change related to sexual violence among college students.

The two-part study was conducted at two universities. Participants were from successive cohorts of first year students and randomly assigned to participate in a bystander based in-person sexual violence prevention program or a control group. Participants were later exposed to a bystander based sexual violence prevention SMC either before or after a follow-up survey. Analyses investigated if attitudes varied by exposure group (program only, SMC only, both program and SMC, no prevention exposure).

Results revealed benefits of the SMC as a booster for attitude changes related to being an active bystander to prevent sexual violence. Further, students who first participated in the program showed enhanced attitude effects related to the SMC.

This is the first study to look at the combination of effects of different sexual violence prevention tools on student attitudes. It also showcases a method for how to investigate if prevention tools work separately and together.