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Global staffing has remained a main focus within the field of international human resource management (IHRM) since the 1970s. However, research in the psychological contract (PC) of expatriates is limited. The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences in PC breach and violation for organisational expatriates and self-initiated expatriates (SIEs).

A survey questionnaire was developed covering 52 organisational expatriates and 119 SIEs from 35 countries/regions working in China. Four follow-up focus group interviews including four organisational expatriates and 12 SIEs were conducted to further explain the findings of the survey.

The findings indicate that organisational expatriates experience significantly lower levels of PC breach and violation than SIEs. Three broad thematic areas arose from the triangulation of focus group interviews, including uncertainties in functioning of contracts, differences in job securities and career development opportunities, and cultural differences.

Employers should give a comprehensive orientation and cultural training to meet the needs of SIEs. Moreover, long-term career advancement paths should also be provided to SIEs to alleviate their vulnerability and insecurities working abroad.

The study contributes to the scholarship of self-initiated expatriation and PCs and give implications to IHRM strategies.

Mentoring can be an important source of support, particularly for those who are in the early stages of their career in academia. Drawing upon data from a larger study, the authors investigated opportunities for mentorship, factors that hinder or support mentorship and the value of mentorship from the perspective of early career academics (ECAs).

Using a mixed-methods approach and social identity theory, the authors collected data via a survey and follow-up interviews with members of staff at the Open University, of which 19 ECA experiences were contrasted with 17 academics who received mentorship but were not early career.

ECAs and non-ECAs had equal access to mentoring, but mentoring seemed to be more visible and accessible to ECAs. Factors deemed to support mentorship included mentors having empathy and confidentiality. Mentorship was valued by ECAs because it helped to provide them with support that was in addition to their line management and to help them make sense of “being an academic”. From the data presented, mentorship supported ECAs in their academic career and identity development in higher education.

This research provides a mixed-methods approach to investigating early career mentoring within the context of a higher education institution in the United Kingdom. It considers the topic of mentoring of both junior and more senior staff who are often working at a distance to the institutional setting and provides a theoretical perspective in terms of social identity for academics.

This empirical study aims to demonstrate how the combination of trace data derived from technology-enhanced learning environments and self-response survey data can contribute to the investigation of self-regulated learning processes.

Using a showcase based on 1,027 students’ learning in a blended introductory quantitative course, the authors analysed the learning regulation and especially the timing of learning by trace data. Next, the authors connected these learning patterns with self-reports based on multiple contemporary social-cognitive theories.

The authors found that several behavioural facets of maladaptive learning orientations, such as lack of regulation, self-sabotage or disengagement negatively impacted the amount of practising, as well as timely practising. On the adaptive side of learning dispositions, the picture was less clear. Where some adaptive dispositions, such as the willingness to invest efforts in learning and self-perceived planning skills, positively impacted learning regulation and timing of learning, other dispositions such as valuing school or academic buoyancy lacked the expected positive effects.

Due to the blended design, there is a strong asymmetry between what one can observe on learning in both modes.

This study demonstrates that in a blended setup, one needs to distinguish the grand effect on learning from the partial effect on learning in the digital mode: the most adaptive students might be less dependent for their learning on the use of the digital learning mode.

The paper presents an application of embodied motivation in the context of blended learning.

Learning from incidents (LFI) is an organisational process that high-risk industries use following an accident or near-miss to prevent similar events. Literature on the topic has presented a fragmented conceptualisation of learning in this context. This paper aims to present a holistic taxonomy of the different aspects of LFI from the perspective of front-line staff.

The 3-P model of workplace learning was used to guide a thematic analysis of interview data from 45 participants, exploring learner factors, learning context, learning processes and learning products.

The analysis was used to create a taxonomy of 21 aspects of learning, grouped into themes using the 3-P model of workplace learning. Many of the aspects of learning reflected previous literature, such as the importance of open communication. The analysis additionally demonstrated the interconnected nature of organisational and individual level learning, as well as how formal resources are needed to support informal learning in this context.

This study presents a holistic taxonomy of LFI from the perspective of front-line staff, addressing a known challenge of LFI literature being fragmented. Additionally, it provides examples of how aspects of organisational learning would influence individual-level learning and vice versa, adding to the relatively sparse number of studies that have explored this aspect. Finally, the paper highlights how informal learning in contexts where workers continually need to make sense of unseen hazards depends on formal learning activities and resources.