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1 – 10 of 21Maddy Power, Bob Doherty, Katie J. Pybus and Kate E. Pickett
This article draws upon our perspective as academic-practitioners working in the fields of food insecurity, food systems, and inequality to comment, in the early stages of the…
Abstract
This article draws upon our perspective as academic-practitioners working in the fields of food insecurity, food systems, and inequality to comment, in the early stages of the pandemic and associated lockdown, on the empirical and ethical implications of COVID-19 for socio-economic inequalities in access to food in the UK. The COVID-19 pandemic has sharpened the profound insecurity of large segments of the UK population, an insecurity itself the product of a decade of “austerity” policies. Increased unemployment, reduced hours, and enforced self-isolation for multiple vulnerable groups is likely to lead to an increase in UK food insecurity, exacerbating diet-related health inequalities. The social and economic crisis associated with the pandemic has exposed the fragility of the system of food charity which, at present, is a key response to growing poverty. A vulnerable food system, with just-in-time supply chains, has been challenged by stockpiling. Resultant food supply issues at food banks, alongside rapidly increasing demand and reduced volunteer numbers, has undermined many food charities, especially independent food banks. In the light of this analysis, we make a series of recommendations. We call for an immediate end to the five week wait for Universal Credit and cash grants for low income households. We ask central and local government to recognise that many food aid providers are already at capacity and unable to adopt additional responsibilities. The government's – significant – response to the economic crisis associated with COVID-19 has underscored a key principle: it is the government's responsibility to protect population health, to guarantee household incomes, and to safeguard the economy. Millions of households were in poverty before the pandemic, and millions more will be so unless the government continues to protect household incomes through policy change.
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Ruth Annette Smith, Andrea White-McNeil and Faizan Ali
The purpose of this paper is to determine the students’ perceptions of an on-campus foodservice operation at an identified historically black college and university (HBCU) and its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine the students’ perceptions of an on-campus foodservice operation at an identified historically black college and university (HBCU) and its effect on their satisfaction and dining frequency.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 685 students was conducted to collect data. Partial least squares based structural equation modeling is used to test the proposed structural model with SmartPLS 3.0.
Findings
Results confirm that quality of food, ambience, value for money, food and beverage options and service quality have a positively significant impact on students’ overall satisfaction with the on-campus foodservice operation and dining frequency. As such, all the hypotheses are supported.
Research limitations/implications
These findings indicate that on-campus foodservice operators should focus on quality of food, ambience, value for money, food and beverage options and service quality to achieve student satisfaction. This in turn could positively impact the institution’s reputation, student retention and the marketability of the institution to future students.
Originality/value
This study would help on-campus foodservice operators to better understand the impact of the various elements of foodservice experience which will lead to students’ overall satisfaction and dining frequency, particularly in a HBCU setting.
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This study examines English faculty perceptions of the Writing Center at American Design University in Qatar (ADU-Q) through a social capital analysis. This was part of a larger…
Abstract
This study examines English faculty perceptions of the Writing Center at American Design University in Qatar (ADU-Q) through a social capital analysis. This was part of a larger study that took a sociocultural approach to English faculty perceptions of writing center work at ADU-Q. One of the emergent themes in that study was the lack of students’ language skill transfer from English courses to their disciplines. This finding has critical implications for the development of writing center and writing-across-the-disciplines work by uniting the fields of Composition, TESOL, and writing center research.
Maddy Power, Neil Small, Bob Doherty and Kate E. Pickett
Foodbank use in the UK is rising but, despite high levels of poverty, Pakistani women are less likely to use food banks than white British women. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Foodbank use in the UK is rising but, despite high levels of poverty, Pakistani women are less likely to use food banks than white British women. The purpose of this paper is to understand the lived experience of food in the context of poverty amongst Pakistani and white British women in Bradford, including perspectives on food aid.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 16 Pakistani and white British women, recruited through community initiatives, participated in three focus groups (one interview was also held as a consequence of recruitment difficulties). Each group met for two hours aided by a moderator and professional interpreter. The transcripts were analysed thematically using a three-stage process.
Findings
Women in low-income households employed dual strategies to reconcile caring responsibilities and financial obligations: the first sought to make ends meet within household income; the second looked to outside sources of support. There was a reported near absence of food insecurity amongst Pakistani women which could be attributed to support from social/familial networks, resource management within the household, and cultural and religious frameworks. A minority of participants and no Pakistani respondents accessed charitable food aid. There were three reasons for the non-use of food aid: it was not required because of resource management strategies within the household and assistance from familial/social networks; it was avoided out of shame; and knowledge about its existence was poor.
Originality/value
This case study is the first examination of varying experiences of food insecurity amongst UK white British and Pakistani women. Whilst the sample size is small, it presents new evidence on perceptions of food insecurity amongst Pakistani households and on why households of varying ethnicities do not use food aid.
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Bob Doherty, Jonathan Ensor, Tony Heron and Patricia Prado
In this article, we offer a contribution to the ongoing study of food by advancing a conceptual framework and interdisciplinary research agenda – what we term “food system…
Abstract
In this article, we offer a contribution to the ongoing study of food by advancing a conceptual framework and interdisciplinary research agenda – what we term “food system resilience”. In recent years, the concept of resilience has been extensively used in a variety of fields, but not always consistently or holistically. Here we aim to theorise systematically resilience as an analytical concept as it applies to food systems research. To do this, we engage with and seek to extend current understandings of resilience across different disciplines. Accordingly, we begin by exploring the different ways in which the concept of resilience is understood and used in current academic and practitioner literatures – both as a general concept and as applied specifically to food systems research. We show that the social-ecological perspective, rooted in an appreciation of the complexity of systems, carries significant analytical potential. We first underline what we mean by the food system and relate our understanding of this term to those commonly found in the extant food studies literature. We then apply our conception to the specific case of the UK. Here we distinguish between four subsystems at which our “resilient food systems” can be applied. These are, namely, the agro-food system; the value chain; the retail-consumption nexus; and the governance and regulatory framework. On the basis of this conceptualisation we provide an interdisciplinary research agenda, using the case of the UK to illustrate the sorts of research questions and innovative methodologies that our food systems resilience approach is designed to promote.
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Eda Atasoy, Harun Bozna, Abdulvahap Sönmez, Ayşe Aydın Akkurt, Gamze Tuna Büyükköse and Mehmet Fırat
This study aims to investigate the futuristic visions of PhD students at Distance Education department of Anadolu University on the use of learning analytics (LA) and mobile…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the futuristic visions of PhD students at Distance Education department of Anadolu University on the use of learning analytics (LA) and mobile technologies together.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative research study, designed in the single cross-section model, aimed to reveal futuristic visions of PhD students on the use of LA in mobile learning. In this respect, SCAMPER method, which is also known as a focused brainstorming technique, was used to collect data.
Findings
The findings of the study revealed that the use of LA in mobile can solve everyday problems ranging from health to education, enable personalized learning for each learner, offer a new type of evaluation and assessment and allow continuous feedback and feedforwards; yet this situation can also arise some ethical concerns since the big data collected can threaten the learners by interfering with their privacy, reaching their subconscious and manipulating them as well as the whole society by wars, mind games, political games, dictation and loss of humanity.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited with the views of six participants. Also, the sample of the study is homogeneous in terms of their backgrounds – their age range, their departments as PhD students and their fields of expertise.
Practical implications
The positive perceptions of PhD students provide a ground for the active use of LA in mobile. Further, big data collected through LA can help educators and system makers to identify patterns which will enable tailored education for all. Also, use of LA in mobile learning may stimulate the development of a new education system including a new type of evaluation and assessment and continuous feedback and feedforwards.
Originality/value
The widespread use of mobile technologies opens new possibilities for LA in the future. The originality of this research comes from its focus on this critical point.
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Mohammad Ghazi Shahnawaz and Nasrina Siddiqi
With issues like increasing student dropout rates, low productivity and compromised quality, research in higher education is faced with a number of paralyzing challenges in India…
Abstract
Purpose
With issues like increasing student dropout rates, low productivity and compromised quality, research in higher education is faced with a number of paralyzing challenges in India. This study aims to locate the role of toxic academic supervision in relation to decreased quality of research.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a sequential mixed method design, the research begins with a quantitative analysis, which is then followed by an in-depth qualitative exploration.
Findings
The results of mediation analysis in this study reveal that students who experience toxic research supervision have a weak sense of identification and are also poor at self-disclosure, which results in increased distress and reduced engagement and productivity. Moreover, identification and self-disclosure have also been found to partially mediate the relationship between toxic supervision and distress. Furthermore, a thematic analysis of this study provides a detailed behavioral profile of toxic academic supervisors and highlights the consequences of such supervision with regard to students' well-being and productivity.
Research limitations/implications
In terms of theoretical contributions, the study provides evidence that the concept of toxic leadership has applicability outside of the organizational context; in the educational sphere as well and that the toxic leadership scale can be successfully used to assess the severity of toxic supervision within the academic domain, and corrective actions can be taken to mitigate the effect of such supervisory style on students.
Practical implications
The study not only highlights the repercussions of toxicity in academia and higher education but also provides a detailed and in-depth description of the personality traits and behavioral idiosyncrasies of toxic supervisors, which can help in the early identification of toxic tendencies and can enable us to mitigate and prevent toxicity from the academic space and to ensure a conducive environment for students in higher education. Overall, the present research has important implications for researchers, academicians as well as policymakers.
Originality/value
The study is the first of its kind in terms of both, objective and methodology.
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Robert Gregory and Daniel Zirker
The purpose of this paper is to reconsider, from a historical perspective, New Zealand’s reputation as a country largely without corruption, with particular reference to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reconsider, from a historical perspective, New Zealand’s reputation as a country largely without corruption, with particular reference to the colonial government’s confiscation of Māori land in the 19th century and beyond.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on published historical commentary.
Findings
The findings are that much of the Māori land confiscation was rendered legal for illegitimate purposes, and that the colonial and successive New Zealand governments abrogated the country’s foundational document, the Treaty of Waitangi, signed between the colonial government and many Māori chiefs in 1840. Adverse consequences for Māori have been felt to this day, despite the Treaty settlements process that began with the Māori renaissance in the mid-1970s.
Originality/value
The academic analysis of corruption in New Zealand has seldom if ever adopted this historical perspective.
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Rogers Rugeiyamu and Ajali Mustafa Nguyahambi
The world is experiencing democratic backsliding such that the situation is down back to 1986. This has resulted in the global shrinking of civic space for civil society…
Abstract
Purpose
The world is experiencing democratic backsliding such that the situation is down back to 1986. This has resulted in the global shrinking of civic space for civil society organizations (CSOs). NGOs engaging in advocacy activities are seen to be among the CSOs affected. Using four NGOs cases from Tanzania, the study contributes to the civic space debate by uncovering how advocacy NGOs become resilient.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is anchored in interpretivism and a cross-sectional case study design, following a qualitative approach path. Data were collected through interviews and a documentary review.
Findings
Results show that several strategies such as complying, building community back-up, collaboration, strategic litigation, using digital media and changing the scope are applied. However, strategies face obstacles including scope limitations, expected democratic roles, high cost, changes in the scope and being outsmarted by the government, and hence their effectiveness is questionable.
Research limitations/implications
This study focused on advocacy NGOs. More studies can be conducted for other advocacy-related CSOs on how they become resilient.
Practical implications
While NGOs are allowed to exist in the country, their freedom continue to be curtailed. Even the effectiveness of resiliency becomes temporary and depends on the political will of the existing regime.
Originality/value
Tanzania NGOs have to build strong bonds with citizens, expand the scope of strategies and use deliberative democratic principles to educate the government to change laws and tolerate plural political culture. Also, NGOs in other countries with confined civic space can apply the same.
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Muhammad Asif, Prem Chhetri and Rajiv Padhye
This paper explores the interaction and impact of political disruptions on textile supply chain performance in Pakistan. A qualitative approach is adopted to explore the linkages…
Abstract
This paper explores the interaction and impact of political disruptions on textile supply chain performance in Pakistan. A qualitative approach is adopted to explore the linkages and relationships between political disruptions and supply chain disruptions and performance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at 25 different textile manufacturing firms. This study confirmed the prevalence of severe and variegated impacts of political disruptions on the textile supply chain. Supply chain disruption is found to be a key mediating factor that directly and indirectly affect supply chain performance through an increased production and delivery lead-time, transportation delays, interruptions of raw material supplies to plants and distributors and the restricted access to workplaces for suppliers and workers. The linkages are represented through vicious circles that illustrate the interactions and inter-relationships between disrupted supply chain and performance. This study provides empirical evidence to help government to formulate pertinent labour laws and industrial policy to mitigate political disruptions and minimise deleterious effects of supply chain disruption on production and distribution networks whilst respecting and protecting the democratic rights of people.
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