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21 – 30 of 109Ann Scheck McAlearney, Jennifer Hefner, Julie Robbins and Andrew N. Garman
Despite hospitals’ efforts to reduce health care-associated infections (HAIs), success rates vary. We studied how leadership practices might impact these efforts.
Abstract
Purpose
Despite hospitals’ efforts to reduce health care-associated infections (HAIs), success rates vary. We studied how leadership practices might impact these efforts.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted eight case studies at hospitals pursuing central line-associated blood stream infection (CLABSI)-prevention initiatives. At each hospital, we interviewed senior leaders, clinical leaders, and line clinicians (n=194) using a semi-structured interview protocol. All interviews were transcribed and iteratively analyzed.
Findings
We found that the presence of local clinical champions was perceived across organizations and interviewees as a key factor contributing to HAI-prevention efforts, with champions playing important roles as coordinators, cheerleaders, and advocates for the initiatives. Top-level support was also critical, with elements such as visibility, commitment, and clear expectations valued across interviewees.
Value/orginality
Results suggest that leadership plays an important role in the successful implementation of HAI-prevention interventions. Improving our understanding of nonclinical differences across health systems may contribute to efforts to eliminate HAIs.
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This chapter theorizes academic libraries and library workers as partners in social justice work in higher education, linking the core concerns of critical librarianship (or…
Abstract
This chapter theorizes academic libraries and library workers as partners in social justice work in higher education, linking the core concerns of critical librarianship (or Critlib) to library leadership practices that can enable and facilitate widening participation as a political project. 1 Widening participation, as a policy imperative and higher education practice, attempts to improve access to higher education among underrepresented groups. However, rooted in the logic of marketized, neoliberal higher education, liberal approaches to widening participation are instrumentalist and contribute to a cultural discourse which reproduces inequity and unequal educational outcomes.
Drawing on Nancy Fraser's model of social justice and critical sociology of education, particularly the work of Penny Jane Burke and Diane Reay, this chapter develops a critical theory of library leadership which radically reframes widening participation practice as a project of recognition and inclusion. In connecting the rich scholarship of Critlib movement, particularly critical information literacy and library pedagogies, to shared commitments to social justice between library and other education workers, this chapter deepens our theoretical understanding of libraries' contributions to widening participation.
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Trudy Bates, Cati S. Thomas and Andrew R. Timming
This paper explores employment discrimination against gender diverse job applicants and employees in Western Australia (WA).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores employment discrimination against gender diverse job applicants and employees in Western Australia (WA).
Design/methodology/approach
Using grounded theory, this study draws on semi-structured interviews with respondents (n = 20) who identified as trans women, trans men, nonbinary or agender. Thematic analysis focused on the multiple dimensions of disadvantage experienced by respondents, including subtle, not so subtle and overt types of employment discrimination.
Findings
The authors’ results point to several reasons why gender diverse individuals (GDIs) may fear the labor market, including difficulties in concealing their stigma and acquiescence to discrimination. On the other hand, our results also point to sources of organizational support, including encouragement from direct line managers and colleagues who are also Allies.
Practical implications
The results of the research have important implications for sociological frameworks surrounding dramaturgy, stigma, aesthetic labor, organizational silence and social identity. Practical implications for employers, employees, human resource (HR) professionals and trade unions are also articulated.
Originality/value
Whereas previous studies have prioritized the discriminatory experiences of GDIs in the US and European labor markets, this study reports on gender diverse voices in WA. Furthermore, recent work on this topic has been experimental and largely quantitative, whereas the present study offers a compelling set of profound narratives, thereby addressing calls for qualitative research that foregrounds the complexities and nuances of lived experience for GDIs and renders their voices heard.
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Andrew R. Timming, Chris Baumann and Paul Gollan
The paper aims to examine the effect of employees' perceived physical attractiveness on the extent to which their voices are “listened to” by management.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to examine the effect of employees' perceived physical attractiveness on the extent to which their voices are “listened to” by management.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an experimental research design, the paper estimates main effects of employee attractiveness and possible moderating effects of employee race and gender as well as the gender of their “managers.”
Findings
The results suggest that, with few exceptions, more physically attractive employees are significantly more likely to have their suggestions acted upon by managers than less attractive employees, pointing to a powerful form of workplace discrimination. This finding holds across races, with more attractive white, black, and Asian employees exerting a more impactful voice than their less attractive counterparts, although the moderation appears to be stronger for whites than ethnic minorities.
Research limitations/implications
The results have important implications for the extant literatures on employee voice, diversity and discrimination.
Originality/value
This is among the first studies to demonstrate that less attractive employees suffer from an “employee voice deficit” vis-à-vis their more attractive counterparts.
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Purpose – At the turn of the 21st century, popular claimsmakers made a series of claims about the benefits of volunteer work for youth: that volunteering would reduce youthful…
Abstract
Purpose – At the turn of the 21st century, popular claimsmakers made a series of claims about the benefits of volunteer work for youth: that volunteering would reduce youthful self-absorption with peer groups, introduce youth to people different from themselves, foster macro-level understandings of social problems, and connect youth to the community. This article examines youths’ experiences of volunteer work in order to determine which claims are realized and how.
Methodology/approach – I conducted in-depth interviews with 45 youth, aged 15–23, who engaged in volunteer work with a wide variety of organizations.
Findings – Youth did not always realize these claims and when they did, many did so through mechanisms different than those suggested by popular claimsmakers.
Research limitations/implications – Because this is an exploratory study which uses a purposive sample, the findings provide direction for future researchers to more fully investigate how youth realize the benefits of volunteering and under what conditions.
Practical implications – In order to make volunteering a valuable experience for as many youth as possible, volunteer coordinators need to be cautious of uncritically absorbing public claims.
Originality/value of paper – Youth speak for themselves about the value of volunteering and challenge popular claims made about youth and volunteerism.
Andrew Clark, Nathalie Colombier and David Masclet
It is known that the self‐employed are generally more satisfied than salaried workers. The aim of this paper is to test whether this phenomenon is particularly found for the…
Abstract
Purpose
It is known that the self‐employed are generally more satisfied than salaried workers. The aim of this paper is to test whether this phenomenon is particularly found for the first‐generation self‐employed.
Design/methodology/approach
French and British panel data are analysed, which include information on various measures of job satisfaction, and the respondent's parents' occupation. Job satisfaction regressions were run in which the first‐ and second‐generation self‐employed were distinguished between.
Findings
The study finds that first‐generation self‐employed (those whose parents were not self‐employed) are more satisfied overall than are the second‐generation self‐employed. The findings are consistent between the British and French data.
Research limitations/implications
While the results are the same in the two countries considered, further validation work should extend the analysis across countries. While the authors are fairly sure that the second‐generation self‐employed do worse, they cannot precisely distinguish between comparison to one's parents, constrained occupational choice, and selection effects due to lower barriers to self‐employment entry.
Originality/value
The authors believe that this is one of the first papers to distinguish between types of self‐employed in terms of their higher satisfaction. The finding that parents' labour force status continues to have a significant impact on their children's job satisfaction argues for a more systematic consideration of intergenerational factors in the analysis of labour markets.
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As CD‐ROM becomes more and more a standard reference and technicalsupport tool in all types of libraries, the annual review of thistechnology published in Computers in Libraries…
Abstract
As CD‐ROM becomes more and more a standard reference and technical support tool in all types of libraries, the annual review of this technology published in Computers in Libraries magazine increases in size and scope. This year, author Susan L. Adkins has prepared this exceptionally useful bibliography which she has cross‐referenced with a subject index.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nature and content of the laws relating to market abuse with a view to determining whether they only offer a civil law remedy for the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nature and content of the laws relating to market abuse with a view to determining whether they only offer a civil law remedy for the State. The three categories of insider dealing as defined by the Criminal Justice Act 1993 clearly offer a criminal law based response, but as is shown here virtually all cases of market abuse can potentially be a basis for a criminal prosecution.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology adopted is to consider the other relevant areas of law, namely the Fraud Act 2006, the law of conspiracy to defraud and the law relating to misleading communications under s.397 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and then to determine whether between them they cover all the areas of behaviour caught by the definitions of market abuse.
Findings
The consequences of this paper are that the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority now have the option in almost any case of market abuse of considering whether a criminal or civil law approach is appropriate.
Originality/value
The approach adopted over the last two years by the prosecuting authorities of using the criminal law to a greater extent in serious cases of insider dealing can now be extended to market abuse generally where it is thought appropriate.
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Laura Brianna Cole, Jerod Quinn, Aysegul Akturk and Briana Johnson
This study examines a general education, hands-on and 100 per cent online laboratory course to better understand the prospects for fostering green building literacy through…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines a general education, hands-on and 100 per cent online laboratory course to better understand the prospects for fostering green building literacy through experiential online education.
Design/methodology/approach
The mixed-methods research design included pre- and post-course surveys (n = 42) together with semi-structured interviews mid-semester (n = 10) and four to six months post-course (n = 5). Data were collected for two semesters.
Findings
Students experienced significant increases in green building knowledge and skills, environmental sensitivity and pro-environmental behaviors from the beginning to the end of the course. Qualitative results indicate that the hands-on laboratory assignments were the primary pedagogical interventions affecting change. Interviews four to six months after the course revealed that motivation, convenience and supportiveness of the context were key factors impacting the pro-environmental behaviors that were maintained versus those that were discontinued by students when the course was over.
Practical implications
This paper shares effective approaches used to deliver an online course with hands-on laboratories that lead to positive increases in sustainability knowledge and behaviors stretching beyond the semester.
Originality/value
While online and experiential learning are both well-studied themes in higher education, very little empirical work examines experiential online learning, and this is particularly the case for online laboratory courses. The work here contributes to the understanding of general education online laboratories that are designed to increase knowledge and behavior change through hands-on experiential learning techniques.
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