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1 – 10 of 36Chronic illnesses often go unnoticed mainly due to their invisibility and lack of understanding both at home and in the workplace. In this chapter, I use an autoethnographic…
Abstract
Chronic illnesses often go unnoticed mainly due to their invisibility and lack of understanding both at home and in the workplace. In this chapter, I use an autoethnographic approach to engage with my “emotionally charged” lived experiences of living and working with a stigmatized chronic illness – irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) – in a highly patriarchal Pashtun society where women are expected to perform various social roles despite of illness and are often silenced to male domination. IBS is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain, abnormal bowel function, and bloating, in the absence of any structural abnormalities, and has a significant impact on one’s life. As I navigate through my experiences of suffering from a chronic illness and the emotional labor involved therein, I shed light on the challenges I face as a woman in managing work and life and as I silence my pain and emotions to fit into the roles of a “professional” academic, a “good” wife, a “good” daughter, a “good” sister-in-law, a “good” daughter-in-law, and so forth. I have used both the lens of stigma to reflect my sufferings and normalization to demonstrate my resilience and (re)adjustment to the new life. In doing so, pain and emotions do leak out during intense situations but silencing chronic illness is mostly strategic as it protects us from being excluded, marginalized, and stigmatzed both at work and home.
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Tiffany L. Gallagher, Arlene Grierson and Catherine A. Susin
This two-year study illuminates the experiences of technology coaches (digital learning coaches [DL] and science technology engineering and mathematics/literacy coaches [STEM/L]…
Abstract
Purpose
This two-year study illuminates the experiences of technology coaches (digital learning coaches [DL] and science technology engineering and mathematics/literacy coaches [STEM/L]) as they engaged in their own professional learning (PL) facilitated by a faculty researcher.
Design/methodology/approach
Technology coaches from different school districts and their respective colleagues participated in book studies as part of their PL. They reflected and debriefed individually and collaboratively with a researcher facilitator. Data were collected through interviews, field notes at meetings, observations, researchers’ reflections and artefacts. Qualitative data analysis methods were employed.
Findings
The findings offer a glimpse into (1) benefits of cross-district collaboration, (2) challenges finding resources for coaching, (3) career-long desire to learn and (4) time to build and sustain cross-collaborations.
Practical implications
Conclusions suggest that DL and STEM/L coaches benefit from their own dedicated, differentiated programme of PL supported by each other (as from other districts) and a researcher facilitator. Educational implications are offered for researchers and other school district stakeholders for consideration for them to foster coaches’ collaborative PL.
Originality/value
Importantly, this project is an exemplar of how to support coaches’ PL and growth through researcher facilitation of cross-district collaborative learning.
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Krystal Wilkinson and Clare Mumford
One in six people globally are affected by infertility, and many turn to fertility treatment in a bid to have a child(ren). While many countries offer work-related legislative…
Abstract
One in six people globally are affected by infertility, and many turn to fertility treatment in a bid to have a child(ren). While many countries offer work-related legislative protections and provisions for those who are successful in conceiving a child, in the form of maternity and paternity-related supports and protection again discrimination – the same cannot be said for those struggling to conceive. There are similar inequalities when it comes to workplace policy and support. Drawing on data from our two-year research study on “complex fertility journeys” and employment, this chapter sets out the work-life challenges that arise when individuals find themselves navigating the considerable “reproductive work” of fertility treatment alongside the demands of paid employment, and how affected employees respond. It also touches on the challenges experienced by line managers tasked with offering support. The chapter concludes with implications for practice in terms of making organizations more “fertility friendly,” which should extend beyond support for attending fertility treatment appointments to include awareness raising, manager training, and support for the varied outcomes of treatment cycles, including involuntary childlessness.
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Michelle Attard Tonna, Christine Helen Arnold, Marie-Christine Deyrich, Karen Marangio, Shraddha Kunwar and Tara Ratnam
The disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated a move from face-to-face teaching to fully online teaching, creating new challenges and opportunities for educators. In…
Abstract
The disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated a move from face-to-face teaching to fully online teaching, creating new challenges and opportunities for educators. In this chapter we explore how instructors' practices were affected by this emergency situation and the nature of changes in their conception of teaching/learning and their roles as teacher educators. Data from interviews and narratives contributed by a large number of educators spanning a variety of educational and geographical contexts have been analyzed using Lewin's three-stage model of change. This is cross-referenced against a theoretical framework informed by a sociocultural view of teaching and learning to examine the transformative nature of teaching and learning promoted by pandemic pedagogical practices. The findings show that educators' practices have necessarily had to evolve or even change significantly in order to fit the new online instructional mode. However, it is not possible to establish that these were largely transformative in nature beyond serving the existing institutional outcome needs more or less efficiently. This implies that further investment is needed in teacher education to facilitate remote teaching, redesign teaching, and reconsider technology in new ways which go beyond it being a simple tool for the transmission of knowledge. Equally important would be to support educators to put ‘Maslow before Bloom,’ meaning that safety and well-being must be given priority over teaching and learning as the mental, emotional, and physical challenges experienced during the pandemic will continue to linger post pandemic.
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Helen M. Achat, Joanne M. Stubbs, Rakhi Mittal, Suzanne Schindeler and Nicole Gilroy
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge healthcare systems worldwide. The authors examined the lived experiences and perceptions of healthcare workers (HCWs) in managerial…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge healthcare systems worldwide. The authors examined the lived experiences and perceptions of healthcare workers (HCWs) in managerial and senior positions to explore the pandemic's effects on well-being and valued organisational responses.
Design/methodology/approach
Using purposive sampling, the authors conducted 39 semi-structured interviews with senior staff including health service administrators, heads of department and senior clinicians at a designated COVID-19 facility in New South Wales, Australia. Interviews were conducted from November 2020 to February 2021 to reflect on experiences during the height of the pandemic in 2020 (mid-March to the end of May 2020).
Findings
Workplace experiences affecting HCWs' well-being included being shunned by others, fear of infecting family, fear of the unknown, concerns about personal protective equipment, lack of direction from above and increased workload. Organisational interventions to protect the health and safety of HCWs and their patients included redeployment, improved communication, effective management committees, education and mental health supports.
Practical implications
Organisations can minimise worker-identified factors threatening their well-being during a health crisis by applying broad-ranging initiatives including inclusive and open communication, promoting flexible work practices, providing up-to-date guidelines and policies and fostering camaraderie between workers.
Originality/value
The voices of senior clinical and managerial staff have been largely unheard during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors addressed this deficit by describing their experiences and insights regarding the pandemic's impact on well-being and the organisation's responses to simultaneously safeguarding its staff and providing quality patient care.
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Helen Chiappini, Nicoletta Marinelli, Raja Nabeel-Ud-Din Jalal and Giuliana Birindelli
The purpose of this study is to analyze the intersection of research on impact investing and its closely related financial vehicles.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyze the intersection of research on impact investing and its closely related financial vehicles.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper explores 196 articles collected from Scopus and Web of Science using bibliometric and content analysis methodologies.
Findings
Despite a growing academic interest in impact investing, scholars generally investigate impact investing as a social phenomenon, using the specific financial mechanism of social impact bonds. This perspective potentially deflates the complex nature of impact investing, which actually combines both social and financial targets and uses a plurality of financial vehicles to reach its goals.
Practical implications
The emerging themes identified will provide both academics and practitioners additional tools to further the debate on impact investing and the understanding of its potential and limits according to the different financial forms it takes. This review should pave the way for a discussion about the boundaries of the social impact sector itself.
Social implications
Despite the strong international commitment toward impact investing, tensions still exist. A comprehensive overview on the relevant aspects not yet thoroughly investigated will foster the growth of impact investments.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first holistic overview of impact investing, that jointly examines both literature on impact investing and literature on the correlated financial products used in the industry. The result is a comprehensive report of what is known about impact investing in its different financial forms, opening up new pathways for future studies.
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The issue of energy efficiency is becoming increasingly prevalent globally due to factors such as the expansion of the population, economic growth and excessive consumption that…
Abstract
Purpose
The issue of energy efficiency is becoming increasingly prevalent globally due to factors such as the expansion of the population, economic growth and excessive consumption that is not sustainable in the long run. Additionally, healthcare facilities and hospitals are facing challenges as their operational costs continue to rise. The research aim is to develop strategic frameworks for managing green hospitals, towards energy efficiency and corporate governance in hospitals and healthcare facilities.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employs a qualitative case study approach, with a sample of ten hospitals examined through interviews with senior management, executives and healthcare facilities managers. Relevant data was also collected from literature and analysed through critical appraisal and content analysis. The research methodology is based on the use of grounded theory research methodologies to build theories from case studies.
Findings
The research developed three integrated conceptual strategic frameworks for managing hospitals and healthcare facilities towards energy efficiency, green hospital initiatives and corporate governance. The research also outlined the concepts of green hospitals and energy efficiency management systems and best practices based on the conclusions drawn from the investigated case studies.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to the initiatives and experiences of the healthcare facilities studied in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Originality/value
The research findings, conclusions, recommendations and proposed frameworks and concepts contribute significantly to the existing body of knowledge. This research also provides recommendations for hospital managers and policymakers on how to effectively implement and manage energy efficiency initiatives in healthcare facilities.
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This study aims to provide a social accounting of early women's football as a form of consciousness raising, and to provide a platform to raise questions about the path of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to provide a social accounting of early women's football as a form of consciousness raising, and to provide a platform to raise questions about the path of the future of the women's game.
Design/methodology/approach
Newspaper archival materials supplemented by books and journal articles.
Findings
British woman's football was repressed for 50 years by the football association.
Research limitations/implications
This is a discussion paper, rather than a full academic manuscript.
Practical implications
This paper is designed to enable questions to be raised about equality, and what that means in 2022.
Social implications
There is an opportunity to reconsider a “feminine” version of the field of football.
Originality/value
There is an opportunity to use feminist theories to consider the past and future of women's football.
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