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1 – 10 of 759Isabelle Guérin, Sébastien Michiels, Christophe Jalil Nordman, Elena Reboul and G. Venkatasubramanian
In 2003, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in southern India, Jayaram Jayalalithaa, gave a speech about the “silent revolution” of the empowerment of Indian women. But 15…
Abstract
In 2003, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in southern India, Jayaram Jayalalithaa, gave a speech about the “silent revolution” of the empowerment of Indian women. But 15 years on, regrettably, the promises of that revolution do not seem to have been fulfilled. Thanks to the various programs set up to champion women’s empowerment (involving local NGOs, public programs, and international support), women are now more prominent in certain public spaces and are able to play a genuine advocacy role with regard to the public authorities. Girls education has also significantly improved. But it has not brought about improved employment opportunities. Women are in fact losing out on paid employment (as is the case in India as a whole). They are also heavily indebted (not only from microcredit, but also informal lending and lending from private financial companies). Their indebtedness is disproportionate to their income, and compared to men. Moreover, women almost exclusively put debt toward the social reproduction of families. Reduced opportunities for paid employment and massive debt have hit Dalit women particularly hard. The analyses of this chapter use data collected over more than a decade in a rural area of Tamil Nadu, drawing together ethnography and quantitative data, including panel data (2010–2016). They shed light on the complexity of social change, intertwining forms of domination (here, caste, and gender), and the ambiguous qualities of so-called empowerment programs, whose impacts have been various and unexpected.
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G. Meunier, Y. Le Floch and C. Guérin
To model magneto‐harmonic devices including solid conductors with holes when the skin depth is very small.
Abstract
Purpose
To model magneto‐harmonic devices including solid conductors with holes when the skin depth is very small.
Design/methodology/approach
The 3D finite element magnetic scalar potential formulation combined with the surface impedance condition approximation is used. It allows the modelling of thin skin depth effect at low cost.
Findings
The paper shows how to use surface impedance condition for solid conductors with holes, when using the magnetic scalar potential. Specific equations must be added to respect Ampere's theorem. The paper establishes these equations and the coupling with the finite element formulation. The final system of equations is symmetric.
Research limitations/implications
The formulation allows to treat linear material in the magneto‐harmonic assumption.
Originality/value
The use of surface impedance condition with the 3D finite element magnetic scalar potential formulation is well known. The originality is to take into account holes (multiply connected conductors).
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Kathryn Roulston, Deborah Teitelbaum, Bo Chang and Ronald Butchart
The purpose of this paper is to present considerations for developing a writing community for doctoral students.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present considerations for developing a writing community for doctoral students.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reflects on data from a self-study of a writing seminar in which the authors were involved. The authors examined students’ writing samples and peer-review comments, email correspondence, online discussion board postings, meeting minutes and participants’ reflections on their participation in the seminar.
Findings
While doctoral students described benefits from their participation in the writing seminar, the paper provides a cautionary tale concerning the challenges that can arise in the development and delivery of interventions that focus on developing writing communities involving doctoral students.
Research limitations/implications
This article draws on findings from an examination of a writing intervention to consider potential challenges that faculty and students face in developing writing communities. Findings may not apply to other kinds of settings, and they are limited by the small number of participants involved.
Practical implications
The paper discusses strategies that might be used to inform faculty in the development of writing communities for doctoral students.
Social implications
The authors’ experiences in developing and delivering a writing seminar highlight the importance of the process of trust-building for students to perceive the value of feedback from others so that they can respond to the technical demands of doctoral writing.
Originality/value
There is a growing body of work on the value of writing interventions for doctoral students such as retreats and writing groups. These are frequently facilitated by faculty whose area of expertise is in teaching writing. This paper contributes understanding to what is needed for faculty who are not writing instructors to facilitate groups of this sort. Participants must demonstrate a sufficient level of competence as writers to review others’ work; develop trusting, collegial relationships with one another; and be willing to contribute to others’ development and make a commitment to accomplishing the required tasks.
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Susan Carter, Qiyu Sun and Farrah Jabeen
This study aims to broaches several endemic challenges for academics who support doctoral writing: writers are emotionally protective of their own writing; writing a thesis in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to broaches several endemic challenges for academics who support doctoral writing: writers are emotionally protective of their own writing; writing a thesis in English as a second language is a challenging, complex task; and advising across cultures is delicate. Giving constructive feedback kindly, but with the rigour needed to raise writing quality can seem daunting. Addressing those issues, the authors offer a novel way of working with writing feedback across cultures.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study research team of two candidates and one supervisor stumbled onto an effective way of working across cultural and institutional difference. What began as advisory feedback on doctoral writing became an effective collaborative analysis of prose meaning-making. The authors reflected separately and collectively on how this happened, analysed reflections and this narrative inquiry approach led to theories of use to writing feedback practice.
Findings
The authors cross between theory and praxis, showing that advisors and supervisors can create Bhabha’s post-colonial third space (a promising social space that sits between cultures, beyond hierarchies, where new ways of thinking can be collaboratively generated) as a working environment for international doctoral writing feedback. Within this zone, Brechtian alienation, a theory from theatre practice, is applied to prompt emotional detachment that enables focus on writing clearly in academic English.
Research limitations/implications
Arguably the writing feedback session the authors described remains bound by the generic expectations of a western education system. The study is exegetical, humanities reading of practice, rather than a social science gathering of empirical data. Yet the humanities approach suits the point that a change of language, attitude and theory can give positive leverage with doctoral writing feedback.
Practical implications
The authors provide a novel practical method of supporting international doctoral candidates’ writing with feedback across cultures. It entails attracting the writers’ interest in theory and persuading them, via theory, to look objectively and freshly at their own writing. Also backed by theory, a theoretical cross-cultural space allows for discussion about differences and similarities. Detachment from proprietorial emotions and cross-cultural openness enables productive work amongst the mechanics of clear academic English text.
Originality/value
Underpinned by sociocultural and metacognitive approaches to learning, reflection from student and supervisor perspectives (the data), and oriented by theory, the authors propose another strategy for supporting doctoral writing across cultures. The authors demonstrate a third space approach for writing feedback across cultures, showing how to operationalise theory.
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Natasha Kitano and Murray Lane
The purpose of this research is to assess the impact of the synchronous online teaching strategy on higher degree research students, particularly those dealing with isolation. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to assess the impact of the synchronous online teaching strategy on higher degree research students, particularly those dealing with isolation. The aim is to enhance their coping mechanisms and writing productivity, fostering a supportive learning environment.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of a synchronous online teaching strategy designed for Higher Degree Research students who may experience isolation. The strategy incorporated activities involving writing, reflection, and peer interaction, targeting students who prefer social and solitary learning.
Findings
The results indicate that the teaching strategy significantly benefited a majority of higher degree research students, promoting skill improvement in writing, reflection, and meaningful connections within the student community. Notably, it exhibited the strongest positive correlation with solitary learners, particularly in terms of social connection, reducing their sense of isolation.
Research limitations/implications
This research underscores the potential of tailored teaching strategies in addressing isolation among Higher Degree Research students, acknowledging limitations including reliance on surveys. The study’s findings have significance for pedagogical design in online and blended learning environments, offering strategies to combat isolation and enhance the student experience while supporting diverse learning preferences. Further investigation into different learning contexts and demographics is also warranted.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the field by demonstrating the positive impact of a synchronous online teaching strategy on higher degree research students, particularly those prone to isolation. It emphasises the value of tailored approaches in enhancing their educational experience and combating feelings of solitude.
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David F. Feldon, Kathan D. Shukla and Michelle Anne Maher
This study aims to examine the contribution of faculty–student coauthorship to the development of graduate students’ research skills in the sciences, technology, engineering and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the contribution of faculty–student coauthorship to the development of graduate students’ research skills in the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by quantitatively assessing rubric-measured research skill gains over the course of an academic year compared to students who did not report participating in coauthorship with faculty mentors.
Design/methodology/approach
A quasi-experimental mixed methods approach was used to test the hypothesis that the influence of STEM graduate students’ mentored writing mentorship experiences would be associated with differential improvement in the development of their research skills over the course of an academic year.
Findings
The results indicate that students who co-authored with faculty mentors were likely to develop significantly higher levels of research skills than students who did not. In addition, less than half of the participants reported having such experiences, suggesting that increased emphasis on this practice amongst faculty could enhance graduate student learning outcomes.
Originality/value
Qualitative studies of graduate student writing experiences have alluded to outcomes that transcend writing quality per se and speak directly to the research skills acquired by the students as part of their graduate training. However, no study to date has captured the discrete effects of writing experiences on these skills in a quantifiable way.
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The objective of this study was to investigate and explore the emotion experiences of employees in a work context. A non-probability sample (N=52) was taken from the mining…
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate and explore the emotion experiences of employees in a work context. A non-probability sample (N=52) was taken from the mining industry in the North West and Gauteng Provinces of South Africa. Data collection was done through a phenomenological method of semistructured in-depth interviews and observations. Content analysis was used to analyze and interpret the research data through open coding. The main goal was to determine the emotion experiences of employees, and the following three themes were extracted on the basis of three research questions: what are the particular emotions employees experience at work; what are the specific events or situations that lead to these emotions; and how do employees manage or control these emotion experiences. Some of the emotions experienced were anger, aggression and frustration, disappointment, and suspicion, skepticism and cynicism. The specific events were divided into three levels namely organizational, group, and individual level. Some of these events included organizational culture, lack of managerial support, supervisory relationships and ineffective communication, relationships at work, and role conflict. It was also found that employees make use of emotion work, emotional intelligence, and emotional distancing and detachment to regulate and manage emotion experiences.
The chapter looks for the conditions of a contribution of microcredit to poverty alleviation.
Abstract
Purpose
The chapter looks for the conditions of a contribution of microcredit to poverty alleviation.
Methodology/approach
It uses socioeconomical hypotheses for defining a direct and fast positive effect of microcredit on the income of the poorest. The contribution raises ten issues or conditions at a micro, meso and macro level.
Findings
It is not often that these ten conditions are all completely met. So, the impact of microcredit is generally low as regards the alleviation of poverty. The problems to achieve them are linked to the specificities of the clients and of the prevailing institutions in various sub-Saharan Africa countries.
Originality/value
The chapter clearly identifies the limits of microcredit and their reasons.
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John Kammeyer-Mueller, Hui Liao and Richard D. Arvey
Scholars studying downsizing and performance often concentrate on one aspect of the phenomenon at a time without addressing the totality of factors influencing organizations. The…
Abstract
Scholars studying downsizing and performance often concentrate on one aspect of the phenomenon at a time without addressing the totality of factors influencing organizations. The result is that some proclaim improvements from cost trimming and strategic focus, while others assert deterioration in performance due to employee resentment and negative societal reactions. This review integrates disparate findings using the stakeholder theory of the organization, developing a model relating organizational actions to stakeholder evaluations and reactions, which ultimately affect profitability and survival. Research propositions are developed based on evidence from a wide variety of literature bases, including organizational behavior, management, sociology, finance, and medicine. Additionally, implications of this model for future theory and research regarding organizational downsizing are developed.
Bernard Paya, Virgiliu Fireteanu, Alexandru Spahiu and Christophe Guérin
This paper presents the results of a series of tests made in order to validate the magneto‐thermal module of the new FLUX3D v3.40. The tool was conceived to solve the coupled…
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a series of tests made in order to validate the magneto‐thermal module of the new FLUX3D v3.40. The tool was conceived to solve the coupled problems of electromagnetic and thermal phenomena. The solving method of the program considers a thermal‐transient problem during a certain period of time and it solves, at each time step, the thermal and electromagnetic equations (in quasi‐stationary magneto‐harmonic formulation), alternatively. We have modelled the inductive longitudinal welding of steel pipes. The results of 3D simulations are compared with measurements on a laboratory device.
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