Search results

Based on literature providing evidence that Afrocentric hairstyles (e.g. afros, braids, dreadlocks) of Black women working in professional settings are often associated with negative stereotypes and biases regarding competency and professionalism, this chapter examines the extent to which these biases may be influencing the hairstyle choices of Black women employed in higher education. While academic workplaces tend to be more flexible and informal than non-academic settings, we found many Black women in higher education are, nonetheless, choosing to wear Eurocentric hairstyles. However, choice of hairstyle was influenced by academic discipline, type of institution and level in the university hierarchy.

In this article, we examine the demographic changes in the American population and look at communication and culture to make cross‐cultural communications more effective by resolving the problems that occur when communicating between co‐cultures. Therefore, for comparison purposes, we will look at the three major co‐cultures (African American, Asian American, and Hispanic American) as they relate to communication and what is considered the majority culture, European American, and their respective communication patterns. Finally, the authors present guidelines for training programs.

Al though we have legislation that, at least in theory, protects employees from discrimination, discrimination still occurs. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in all areas of employment on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex or national origin. This includes sexual harassment, a form of discrimination which involves “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment’ (www.eeoc.gov). However, it does not specifically protect against other forms of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the factors related to women’s ability to achieve and maintain abstinence from alcohol.

A rapid evidence assessment was carried out in four stages: definitions and research questions were agreed, search and selection were completed, data were extracted, quality of studies was assessed, and findings were synthesised and presented.

Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL and ASSIA were searched for cohort studies published in English during January 2000–February 2015. Expanded search terms for Women, Alcohol and Abstinence, and Cohort were used to identify relevant studies for inclusion, resulting in 1,040 records. Of these, 32 manuscripts from 31 studies were eligible for inclusion in the review. Alcohol-related factors such as increased quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption were related to lower likelihood of achieving and maintaining abstinence; treatment factors such as type of treatment and number of treatment episodes were related to higher and lower likelihood; demographic factors such as financial problems and poor housing status were related to lower likelihood; and psychological factors such as craving, other drug use and comorbid health problems were linked to lower likelihood.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time the factors related to the specific outcome of abstinence in women have been synthesised. Many of the factors found are also known to contribute to vulnerability for developing alcohol problems. The review revealed the paucity of studies with female only samples, or where results for women were reported separately.

The purpose of this paper is to present one approach to the measurement of impact in a professional doctorate in education that encompasses discipline-based coursework and practice-embedded research.

Quantitative and qualitative data on the impact of the doctoral program were collected at regular intervals, with a focus on students’ application of program content in their professional practice and on students’ professional growth.

The research design and the findings are discussed in the context of the larger debate surrounding the measurement of doctoral impact and the value of online doctoral degrees for practitioners.

This paper presents the systematic collection of data over four years in a newly developed professional doctorate in education.

Diversity has increasingly become a “hot‐button” issue in corporate, political, and legal arenas. While many organizations have embraced diversity, others still consider it merely an issue of compliance with legal requirements. Effective diversity management has historically been used to provide a legally defensive position; that is, a firm with a diverse workforce could argue that they were not guilty of discrimination because of the prima facie case based on their workforce demographics representing the demographics of the local community. However, in more recent years, the view of diversity has dramatically changed to a more proactive concept.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which growth-oriented small and micro-businesses (SMBs) are affected by regulations. Case studies from North-West England are used to investigate the relationship between attitudes and responses to regulation and the characteristics of business growth.

This research examines the relationship between regulation and growth using eight case studies of SMBs. The selected cases are proactive in seeking new market opportunities and innovative in terms of product development or business process.

Case studies confirm that owner-managers of SMBs experience high levels of regulatory burden. However, some growth-oriented businesses also recognise the advantages in being proactive in seeking regulatory knowledge. These advantages were particularly prevalent in cases where growth is driven by product innovation in relatively new product markets.

The study is based on a limited number of case studies in one region of England. Even so, interviews facilitate probing to increase understanding of the underlying reasons for attitudes towards regulation. The cases demonstrate that even very small businesses can use regulatory knowledge as a basis for business growth.

The findings suggest that networking in order to engage with regulatory regimes can generate competitive advantages and open up new market opportunities for small businesses.

This research contributes towards the debate on the impact of regulations on the economy at the micro level and in doing so highlights important nuances in the relationship between business growth and the regulatory environment.

In March 1999, postcard advertising company Boomerang Media introduced ‘School‐Cards™’ into 300 secondary schools across the UK. Today, these cards are available in 1,000 schools reaching approximately 1.4 million secondary pupils. These free postcards provide information of interest to pupils, ranging from educational, social and cultural messages to teenage products and issues. A small proportion of cards is available for advertising or sponsorship, within strict guidelines. Any form of commercial activity within schools is a contentious issue. Yet the popularity of SchoolCards™ suggests it is possible to win the support of schools and advertisers, whilst benefiting and appealing to the fickle teenage audience. This paper describes how the School‐Cards™ scheme was developed, from concept to implementation, analyses postcards' effectiveness as a communication tool and suggests considerations for companies seeking to promote their brands within schools.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between employee perceptions of diversity within the senior management, management and non‐management levels of their organizations and their perceptions of organizational performance.

Surveys were administered to 391 managers or professionals in 130 organizations located in the southeastern United States to determine their perceptions of diversity and performance within their organizations.

Regression analysis found strong support for the hypothesis that employee perceptions of diversity at the senior management level of an organization is positively related to perceptions of organizational performance. Likewise, there was support for the hypothesis that employee perceptions of diversity at the non‐manager level were positively related to perceptions of organizational performance.

The current study was based strictly on perceptual measures. Future research could also consider the use of more objective measures of diversity to gauge any potential differences between perception and reality. Considering that the sample was drawn strictly from the southeastern US, the conclusions may not be applicable to other cultures in other parts of the world.

Organizations need to be sure that they focus on initiatives that have a positive influence on employee perceptions of diversity within the ranks of senior management and non‐management.

This research sheds new light on the importance of employee perceptions of diversity within the various levels of employees in their organizations and organizational performance.