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This paper focuses on recent research and a series of field studies looking at the issue of learning difficulties among the Black and minority ethnic population. The research considers the hypothesis that Black and minority ethnic people experience the same levels of learning difficulty as the rest of the population. Some studies suggest that general prevalence may actually be higher, and that multiple incidence may be more frequent among certain minority ethnic communities. The literature indicates that Black and minority ethnic communities are much less aware of what services are available, take‐up is lower still, and there is a common view that services are unwelcoming or inappropriate.

Health inequalities exist between ethnic groups, an important example of this being infant mortality with babies of mothers born in Pakistan having double and babies of mothers born in the Caribbean having 63% higher rates than the national average. West Midlands Ethnic Minority Liaison Committee (WELCOME) and partners organised a conference to arrive at consensus among experts and stakeholders and to make recommendations around reducing infant mortality. One key area discussed, which is often contentious, was cousin marriage: its potential impact on infant and perinatal mortality and what health service response to this should be. Recommendations included: the setting up of a community genetic service in areas with higher risk of recessive disorders as a consequence of cousin marriage; genetic education to the wider public and health professionals; and community engagement, including community and religious leaders. This paper outlines how these recommendations were arrived at, the potential barriers identified in addressing this issue and the process by which service change was achieved with an aim to improve the outcome of infant and perinatal health among groups with higher burdens of genetic disorders in Walsall.

This paper examines a premarital genetics program focusing on congenital deafness, conducted in Israel with a Bedouin minority group characterized by consanguinity, a religious ban on abortion, and high prevalence of genetic diseases. Building on interviews with counselors and counselees as well as observations of the interactions between them, the analysis describes the professional, communal, public and private arenas of negotiation that surround the process of genetic counseling.

Focusing on an interview conducted with a Bedouin respondent on the subject on genetic counseling, this paper offers a symbolic interactionist framework for juxtaposing theory and practice, research and implementation, observation as well as intervention. The analysis exposes the interview as an arena for negotiation using constructs such as performance, impression management, micro-politics, weak and strong languages, and cultural difference.

There is a growing recognition that social norms play a key role in perpetuating gender- and age-based violence, and that tackling social norms must be an integral component of prevention and response interventions to ensure meaningful progress towards the ambitious targets of eliminating gender-based violence (Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] Target 5.2) and violence against children (SDG 16.2) by 2030. However, existing research often fails to adequately capture life-course and context-specific complexities. To explore these challenges, this chapter focuses on adolescents’ vulnerabilities to violence in Afar, one of the Ethiopia’s most disadvantaged regions. Drawing on findings from the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) mixed-methods 2018 baseline research, and using a socio-ecological framework, the chapter highlights that while the patterning of violence experienced by adolescent girls and boys is shifting across generations at the micro-level, gender- and age-related social norms remain deeply entrenched in both migrating and settled pastoralist communities. At the meso-level, institutional barriers to addressing adolescents’ experiences of violence include a lack of basic infrastructure, a dearth of confidential reporting spaces, limited adolescent- and gender-friendly personnel within the police and justice sectors, and poor coordination. At the macro-level, the chapter underscores the significant disconnect between Ethiopia’s progressive national policies and adolescents’ experiences of violence, reflected in the availability and quality of prevention and response services. The chapter concludes that to adequately tailor services to local realities and tackle adolescents’ specific vulnerabilities, a fine-grained analysis of the gendered and generational experiences of violence in its diverse forms is critical.

This chapter explores the implications of patrimonial politics in the Dutch East India Company empire in the context of establishing a settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa in the mid-seventeenth century. The Cape extended the reach of Company patrimonial networks with elite Company officials circulating throughout the Indian Ocean empire and consolidating their familial ties through marriage both within the colonies and in the United Provinces. These patrimonial networks extended to the Cape as elite Company officials created families locally or married Cape-born women. As the colony grew, the Company created a class of free-burghers some the wealthiest of whom were tied directly into elite Company patrimonial networks. But from the early eighteenth century onwards these elite Company networks came into conflict with the evolving free-burgher patrimonial networks with which they were in direct competition. This paper argues that local patrimonial networks can evolve in a settler colony that challenge the elite patrimonial networks of the imperial elite.

ß-thalassemia is a hereditary disorder due to mutation in the ß-globin gene on chromosome 11. Out of 200 known ß-globin gene chain mutations recognized, it is better to identify the most common mutation in specific regions and ethnicity for cost-effective molecular diagnosis of this disorder. Therefore, this study aims to practice multiplex-amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) PCR on patients with thalassemia in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to investigate the most common mutations in the ß-globin chain gene.

Twenty-two individuals (patients, their parents and non-affected siblings) with signed consent were studied from six consanguineous families of ß-thalassemia. Blood samples were collected for DNA isolation. For the detection of mutations in the ß-globin gene, ARMS-PCR was used. The amplicon was visualized through 2% Agarose Gel.

The most common mutations among different ethnic groups in the study area residents were Fr 8-9 (+G) and IVS 1-5 (G> C). The prominent enhancing factors for ß-thalassemia are inter-family marriages and lack of awareness.

Multiplex ARMS_PCR is the most valuable technique for assessing multiple mutations in a single reaction tube.

Due to extensively found ethnic and regional variations and a high rate of consanguinity, the Pashtun population has a great risk of mutations in their genome. Therefore, ARMS-PCR is a cost-effective mutational diagnostic strategy that can help to control disease burden.

Limited studies using ARMS-PCR for mutational analysis in the ß-globin gene are conducted. This study is unique as it targeted consanguineous families of KP Pakistan.

Family business.

Specialized undergraduate courses, Elective MBA courses.

This case study uncovers the remarkable story of the relentless growth and sporadic weakening of Nurul Ain (NA) Limited, a family business conglomerate with major operations in the Eastern region of Africa. The case provides an opportunity to follow the different stages of development of this family-owned organization through a sequence of strategic events and family dynamics that led to its recurrent success, decline and rejuvenation. Despite the numerous successes of NA Limited since its establishment in the early 1990s, the ambiguous relationship between family, ownership and management systems has caused a ripple effect of strategic, structural and governance challenges that threaten the sustainability of the family business. Nowadays, the founder faces the pressing challenge of ensuring his legacy remains intact and is passed over to his chosen successor, who, in turn, is confronted with the dilemma of joining the family business or pursing an independent career outside NA Limited. Shedding light on the complexity of today’s family-run organizations, the case allows examining the effectiveness of strategic decision-making in an emerging market context by applying a variety of family business principles, theories and frameworks.

Discuss the sources of competitive advantage and the typical challenges that family firms face in the context of emerging markets. Perform a comprehensive corporate diagnosis and examine the specificities of strategic management process in family businesses. Assess the succession management practices in family-run organizations and design a profile of successful successor. Discuss the effectiveness of various corporate governance mechanisms in the context of family-owned enterprises. Evaluate the strategic choices of the top management team and offer recommendations for securing the family business longevity.

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CSS 11: Strategy.

This study aims to try and understand under what cultural conditions entrepreneurship will thrive and prosper, whether under shame or guilt cultures.

The authors use basic game theory to model the conditions under which entrepreneurship will thrive. The authors anticipate that guilt cultures allow for the development of a rules-based culture that allows for the development of impersonal exchange, whereas shame cultures, which are relationship-oriented, focus on strong ties and hence lack the means to expand firms from small and medium family/clan-based businesses.

Empirical results are completed to see whether guilt-dominating cultures are more conducive to having larger firms and whether guilt-dominating cultures have less informality. The authors find support for the latter but lack the right data to test the former.

The authors use a new measure of culture to see how it impacts entrepreneurship.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a qualitative explanation, understanding, and policy suggestions on the socio‐economic causes, effects, and challenges facing nomadic rural girls' street hawking in cities of Northern Nigeria. The aim is to present the paper as a source of literature that will serve as a future document in formulating inclusive policies for the girls as explained in the section on educational policy options.

Research orientation and design involved qualitative phenomenology that explored girls' street hawking experiences. Study sites included three major Nigerian cities and three villages of the girls. Purposeful sampling was used to select 20 girls between ages eight and 15 and female parents as primary participants, while two traditional and religious leaders from each of the villages, and one administrator of the local state nomadic education commission served as secondary participants. Snowball samples of three male parents of the girls in each village were used as part of data validity. Data collection technique involved unstructured focus group interviews, participant observations, and video recording of the girls at home, at markets, and at streets in the cities. Ethical issues were addressed by obtaining oral and written consent of participants orally and in writing using the native language for clarity and understanding of their role. Data analysis of interview involved transcription and the repeated reading of the transcripts that identified major themes. Observational data were converted to field notes and analyzed for patterns of ideas that support major themes of the analyzed interview data for validity. Triangulation process of checking validity was used with sample of snowball participants as state educational administrators of nomadic education, religious leaders, amongst others.

Major findings are presented as themes on major economic causes of the girls' street hawking of dairy products as a part of family gender division of labor, poverty level of most families, preparing girls for self‐reliance and economic independence, and to augment family income. Social causes include Islamic religious pressure of teaching youth self‐reliance in preparation for early marriage, to finance wedding expenses, to acquire material possessions as child brides, for family honor, to accrue income to maintain their bodily aesthetic needs, group street hawking as a means to girls socialization, and exposing girls to suitors as future husbands, amongst others. Challenges facing the girls include lack of safety, exposure to forms of abuse, and being left behind in basic literacy, amongst others.

This paper is of significant value due to its novelty. It will serve as primary literature on minority West African pastoral girls' impact on rural‐urban migration, their challenges, and their position in the current world social policy of the Department for International Development and UNICEF Girls Education Project.