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1 – 10 of 23Existing research has established that women drop out of engineering careers in part because of a dissatisfaction with their career development, but women's understanding of…
Abstract
Purpose
Existing research has established that women drop out of engineering careers in part because of a dissatisfaction with their career development, but women's understanding of career development in engineering has been as yet largely unexplored. This paper aims to explore female engineers' experiences of navigating their careers and their perceptions of barriers to career development, through the lens of the intelligent career framework (ICF).
Design/methodology/approach
The in-depth interviews of this study were conducted with female engineers in the UK and analysed using template analysis.
Findings
The authors identified three structural barriers that participants felt hinder women's career development in engineering: (1) promotions are more likely to be given to people who are widely known – more often men; (2) promotions are more likely to be given to people on whom high status is conferred in this context – more often men and (3) promotions are more likely to be given to people who conform to the ideal worker ideology – more often men. The women also offered a series of counter-narratives in which they reframed the behaviour they witnessed as something other than sexism.
Originality/value
The findings highlight the significant and systemic bias against women's career development through gender stereotypes in workplaces and an implicitly gendered organisation that hinders the development of the three competencies needed for career advancement. The authors describe a range of counter-narratives that the participants use to help them to make sense of their experiences. Finally, the authors illustrate the application of the intelligent career framework (ICF) as a lens to view the career development culture of an organisation.
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Mille Mortensen and Charlotte Andreas Baarts
The purpose of this paper is to explore the interplay of organizational humorous teasing and workplace bullying in hospital work life in order to investigate how workplace…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the interplay of organizational humorous teasing and workplace bullying in hospital work life in order to investigate how workplace bullying can emerge from doctors and nurses experiences of what, at first, appears as “innocent” humorous interactions.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on an ethnographic field study among doctors and nurses at Rigshospitalet (University Hospital of Copenhagen, Denmark) field notes, transcriptions from two focus groups and six in-depth interviews were analyzed using a cross-sectional thematic analysis.
Findings
This study demonstrates how bullying may emerge out of a distinctive joking practice, in which doctors and nurses continually relate to one another with a pronounced degree of derogatory teasing. The all-encompassing and omnipresent teasing entails that the positions of perpetrator and target persistently change, thereby excluding the position of bystander. Doctors and nurses report that they experience the humiliating teasing as detrimental, although they feel continuously forced to participate because of the fear of otherwise being socially excluded. Consequently, a concept of “fluctuate bullying” is suggested wherein nurses and doctors feel trapped in a “double bind” position, being constrained to bully in order to avoid being bullied themselves.
Originality/value
The present study add to bullying research by exploring and demonstrating how workplace bullying can emerge from informal social power struggles embedded and performed within ubiquitous humorous teasing interactions.
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Nadia Zainuddin, Julia Robinson, Jennifer Algie and Melanie Randle
This paper aims to examine driving retirement and its impact on the well-being of older citizens. The concepts of value creation and destruction are used to understand older…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine driving retirement and its impact on the well-being of older citizens. The concepts of value creation and destruction are used to understand older consumers’ experiences with the self-service consumption activity of driving. This paper formally introduces the concept of value re-creation, as a means of restoring the overall value lost from the destruction of certain components of previous value structures. In doing so, this paper explores the different ways that resources across the micro, meso and macro levels of the ecosystem can be re-aligned, in order for older citizens to maintain their well-being after driving retirement.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative, individual-depth interview approach was undertaken with 26 participants living in New South Wales, Australia. The participants comprised of both drivers approaching driving retirement age, as well as driving retirees. Thematic analysis was undertaken to analyse the data.
Findings
The findings identified that emotional value in the forms of freedom, independence/autonomy and enjoyment, functional value in the forms of convenience and mobility and community value are created from driving. Driving retirement destroys certain components of this value (e.g. enjoyment and convenience) irrevocably, however freedom, independence/autonomy, mobility and social connectedness can still be maintained through re-aligning resources across the micro, meso and macro levels of the ecosystem. New components of value are also created from driving retirement. These include peace of mind, which contributes to the re-creation of the emotional value dimension, and cost savings, which creates the new value dimension of economic value. These changes to the value structure effectively re-create the overall value obtained by individuals when they retire from driving.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this work is the formal introduction of the concept of value re-creation at the overall and value dimension level, and development of a conceptual model that explains how this value re-creation can occur. The model shows the resource contributions required across all levels of the ecosystem, expanding on existing conceptualisations that have predominantly focussed on resource contributions at the individual and service levels.
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P. Rani Thanacoody, Timothy Bartram, Michelle Barker and Kerry Jacobs
This paper aims to investigate the career experiences of female academics in a Western and in an Indian cultural setting in order to gain an in‐depth understanding of the factors…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the career experiences of female academics in a Western and in an Indian cultural setting in order to gain an in‐depth understanding of the factors contributing to their career progression. The paper also examines the factors such as national culture, gender stereotypes and leadership, work and family conflict, mentoring and informal networks that impact on the career progression of women academics in two different cultural settings, namely Mauritius and Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
Thirty in‐depth interviews from two universities were used.
Findings
The findings illustrate that the barriers to progression are remarkably similar to women from both universities despite their different cultural background. Women in the Mauritian context face a considerably more conservative cultural climate that may negatively impact on their career progression. Women from both cultural settings face significant barriers to career progression in their academic roles.
Originality/value
This paper compares Australian and Mauritian women academics experience in academia. The paper also offers practical guidance that can be used by management and women academics to facilitate career progression of women in academia.
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Dave Doyle and Michelle Cornes
In this article we draw on ‘practice wisdom’ to reflect on the development of interprofessional partnerships for older people in a metropolitan borough in North West England. We…
Abstract
In this article we draw on ‘practice wisdom’ to reflect on the development of interprofessional partnerships for older people in a metropolitan borough in North West England. We suggest that most interprofessional partnership working continues to sit outside mainstream services, and that integration and seamless service remain a significant challenge. We focus on local plans for service reconfiguration (‘Go Integral’) and their likely implications for non‐traditional services such as intermediate care and falls prevention. Finally, we show how social care and social work values can be used to glue the system together so that it becomes easily accessible and meaningful to older people.
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Michelle M. Arthur, Robert G. Del Campo and Harry J. van Buren
The purpose of this paper is to consider whether golf functions as a networking barrier for women in professions that require networking for career success.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider whether golf functions as a networking barrier for women in professions that require networking for career success.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from 496 golf courses, in addition to demographic data and data about salaries in sales, managerial, and marketing and sales professions in the USA, were used to assess if differences in tee box placement between men's and women's tees would predict participation and salaries in networking‐oriented professions.
Findings
The analyses indicate that differences in tee box placement between men's and women's tees did predict differences in participation and salaries in networking‐oriented professions. It was found that the greater the distance between men's and women's tees, the lower the salaries and participation rate for women. This effect was greatest for the marketing and sales profession.
Research limitations/implications
Golf is one networking barrier among many, and so other networking barriers that have deleterious effects on women's advancement and success should be explored. Further research might include observational studies of mixed‐gender golf groups, and might also explore whether women choose not to pursue networking occupations or women are not selected for jobs that require networking on the golf course.
Social implications
Companies should be aware of how venues selected for networking might have disparate impacts for men and women, and select venues that are as gender‐neutral as possible.
Originality/value
This paper is, to the authors' knowledge, the first empirical investigation of gender relations in non‐traditional work settings with female participation and earnings in occupations that require networking for career success.
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Breeanna Campbell, Michelle Curran, Raymond Inkpen, Mary Katsikitis and Lee Kannis-Dymand
Metacognitive beliefs and processes have been found to perpetuate anxiety and depression in youth and adults. However, the presence of metacognitive beliefs in children with…
Abstract
Purpose
Metacognitive beliefs and processes have been found to perpetuate anxiety and depression in youth and adults. However, the presence of metacognitive beliefs in children with autism spectrum disorder is somewhat unclear and has received limited research attention to date. The purpose of this paper is to explore metacognitive beliefs in children with autism and associations with anxiety and depression.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 23 high functioning participants (17 male and 6 female) between the ages of 8 and 12 (M=10.38) diagnosed on the autism spectrum completed the study. Participants completed the Revised Children’s Scale of Anxiety and Depression and the Metacognitions Questionnaire for Children.
Findings
Correlation analyses revealed that positive and negative metacognitive beliefs were found, as hypothesised, to be prevalent in this sample.
Originality/value
Despite methodological limitations, this is one of the first research evaluations to provide evidence for metacognitive beliefs in high functioning children with autism and comorbid anxiety or low mood.
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Oli Preston, Rebecca Godar, Michelle Lefevre, Janet Boddy and Carlene Firmin
This paper aims to explore the possibilities in using such national, statutory data sets for evaluating change and the challenges of understanding service patterns and outcomes in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the possibilities in using such national, statutory data sets for evaluating change and the challenges of understanding service patterns and outcomes in complex cases when only a limited view can be gained using existing data. The discussion also explores how methodologies can adapt to an evaluation in these circumstances.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines the use of data routinely collected by local authorities (LAs) as part of the evaluation of innovation. Issues entailed are discussed and illustrated through two case studies of evaluations conducted by the research team within the context of children’s social care in England.
Findings
The quantitative analysis of LA data can play an important role in evaluating innovation but researchers will need to address challenges related to: selection of a suitable methodology; identifying appropriate comparator data; accessing data and assessing its quality; and sustaining and increasing the value of analytic work beyond the end of the research. Examples are provided of how the two case studies experienced and addressed these challenges.
Research limitations/implications
• Quasi-experimental methods can be beneficial tools for understanding the impact of innovation in children’s services, but researchers should also consider the complexity of children’s social care and the use of mixed and appropriate methods. • Those funding innovative practice should consider the additional burden on those working with data and the related data infrastructure if wishing to document and analyse innovation in a robust way. • Data, which may be assumed to be uniform may in fact not be when considered at a multi-area or national level, and further study of the data recording practice of social care professionals is required.
Originality/value
The paper discusses some common issues experienced in quasi-experimental approaches to the quantitative evaluation of children’s services, which have, until recently, been rarely used in the sector. There are important considerations, which are of relevance to researchers, service leads in children’s social care, data and performance leads and funders of innovation.
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Hybrid career has been discussed in the literature for some time but is still an emergent concept. The study investigated the careers of university professional staff working in…
Abstract
Purpose
Hybrid career has been discussed in the literature for some time but is still an emergent concept. The study investigated the careers of university professional staff working in universities in Australia and the UK to better understand the careers of this underresearched cohort of staff. The findings were used to extend the theory of the hybrid career.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 139 career stories were collected via an open-ended question in an online survey. Inductive thematic analysis was used to create themes and theorise career pathways relevant to the participants' careers.
Findings
It was found that participants had a hybrid career orientation (HCO) based on their essential values and their reciprocal relationship with their employer. Four career pathways emerged from the data: intra-organisational advancement, inter-organisational advancement, work–life balance and dead end.
Research limitations/implications
There is a need for future research to investigate the HCO, both to add depth to the understanding of careers for university professional staff in universities and to examine the hybrid concept in other settings.
Practical implications
It is suggested that by grouping staff into career pathways, human resource practitioners could provide more targeted interventions to ensure that staff are motivated and productive for the benefit of the organisation.
Originality/value
The research has extended the concept of the hybrid career and discovered four career pathways relevant to university professional staff.
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Sujin Kim, Michelle Hood, Peter Creed and Debra Bath
Using latent profile analysis, the authors explored the career profiles of young adult tertiary students (N = 468, 73.9% women; mean age 20 years) to determine the relative…
Abstract
Purpose
Using latent profile analysis, the authors explored the career profiles of young adult tertiary students (N = 468, 73.9% women; mean age 20 years) to determine the relative importance of traditional career orientation (TCO) and protean career orientation (PCO) beliefs for them.
Design/methodology/approach
Young adults studying at university can aspire to traditional career experiences as they believe organizations will support their professional and career development. However, since the development of newer career models, the TCO model has received little research attention compared to the PCO.
Findings
The authors found that the dominant profile exhibited average levels of TCO, PCO and career competencies, and that this mixed profile was associated with more mature career identity development and greater organizational commitment. A second profile, with low TCO, average PCO and career competencies, showed a similar level of career maturity to the mixed profile, but exhibited less organizational commitment. A third profile, with average TCO, low PCO and career competencies, especially vocational identity awareness, was related to less career development and organizational commitment.
Originality/value
The findings suggest that a mixed traditional-protean orientation is common in young adult tertiary students and that the development of a vocational identity is important for positive career outcomes, regardless of orientation.
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