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India has been withstanding increasing pressure of enrolment in the higher education system, resulting in the creation of new universities in consonance with the recommendations of the Knowledge Commission (2007). Barring a few institutions of paramount excellence, the mushrooming universities fail to conform to equitability of quality and standards, that is teaching-learning-dissemination and research, except for accommodating higher gross enrolment ratio. It has resulted in an asymmetric and sporadic development of human resources, leaving a large basket of learners out of the pursuit for aspiring higher academic, research and professional enrichment. The country needs to develop an innovative common minimum curriculum and evaluation framework, keeping in view the trinity of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across the Indian higher education system to deliver human resources with equitable knowledge, skill and intellectual acumen.

The paper has been developed using secondary information.

The manuscript has developed an innovative teaching-learning framework that would ensure every Indian HEI to follow a common minimum curriculum and partial common national evaluation system so that the learners across the country would enjoy the essence of equivalence.

This research has designed a comprehensive model to integrate the spirit of the “DEI” value proposition in developing curriculum and gearing common evaluation. This would enable the country to reinforce the spirit of social equity and the capacity to utilise resources with equitability and perpetuity.

Physical environments, especially the sound environments of ILSs on a university campus, have become increasingly important in satisfying the diverse needs of students. Poor sound environments are widely acknowledged to lead to inefficient and underutilised spaces and to negatively influence students' learning outcomes. This study proposes two hypotheses to explore whether students' sound environment perceptions are related to their individual characteristics and whether students' preferences for the type of ILS are related to their sound environment sensitivities.

An investigation through a questionnaire survey has been conducted on both students' individual characteristics affecting their sound environment perceptions in informal learning spaces (ILSs) of a university campus and their sensitivities to the sound environments in ILSs affecting their preferences for the type of ILSs.

The research findings indicate that students' sound environment perceptions are associated with some of their individual characteristics. In addition, the results show that students' sound environment sensitivities affect their preferences for the type of ILS they occupy.

This study could help architects and managers of university learning spaces to provide better sound environments for students, thereby improving their learning outcomes. The article contributes valuable insights into the correlation between students' individual characteristics, sound environment perceptions and preferences for ILSs. The research findings add to the existing knowledge in this field and offer practical implications for enhancing design and management of university learning environments.

This study aims to ascertain the impact education for sustainable development (ESD) on knowledge, attitude and behavior among senior (last year undergraduate) Indian students.

This study is a cross-sectional causal investigation with descriptive design using survey method. It uses the knowledge, attitude and behaviors toward the sustainable development scales of the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD) for data collection and partial least-square structural equation modelling for empirically testing the proposed research model.

The study results establish the importance of sustainability education on knowledge, attitude and behavior. The impact of knowledge on behavior is direct and partially mediated through the attitudinal pathway – indicating central and peripheral routes sustainability related information processing and attitude formation. The results also indicate poor knowledge of the impact of socio-cultural issues on sustainability.

The study results will help assess the impact current ESD initiatives in India and redesign the ESD curriculum in line with ESD for 2030 initiatives to facilitate the achievement of UN’s sustainable development goals by 2030. This study is limited to senior students and offers scope for extension to other groups.

The study results can help redesign the sustainability curriculum at the school and undergraduate levels in the country in line with ESD for 2023 objectives. The results indicate an urgent need to include the impact of sociocultural issues on sustainability to sensitize Indian students towards the same.

This study contributes to the sustainability education literature by assessing the impact of sustainability curricula on sustainability knowledge, attitude and behavior among Indian senior students – hitherto uninvestigated. It also will help in the informed redesign/ improvement of ESD curriculum under the ESD for 2030 initiatives.

This article explores the education crisis in Cameroon, focusing on the personal experiences of teachers and the strategies they employ to reduce school dropout during the transitional phase from primary to secondary education.

Based on a teacher training programme, 31 interviews with primary and secondary school teachers were conducted. An exploratory research design with an inductive thematic approach was used to identify themes and establish code categories. This design allowed for flexibility in investigating contextual crisis factors by eliciting interpersonal stories and exploring the dynamics of each case.

Three types of dropout prevention strategies – either standalone or mixed – are identified, depending on network, opportunity or service factors. Network-based strategies are considered the most effective and popular, as school dropout is largely influenced by students’ social backgrounds, and teachers remain key players in community life. Lies and fictional narratives, through opportunity- or service-based strategies, create dishonesty and unrealistic expectations regarding final education outcomes. Each type of strategy has significant limitations due to the highly fragmented education system in the country.

The article reveals that school dropout prevention in Cameroon is hampered significantly by education disorganisation. Teachers’ individual practices are insufficient to convey the actual value of education and reverse dropout decisions made after careful consideration. A national pedagogy plan is needed to ensure continuity.

The current research aims at investigating the mediating effect of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on the link between entrepreneurial education and choice of the university among students. The main focus of this paper is that when entrepreneurial education is properly-implemented at universities, it leads to several positive outcomes such as positive eWOM. Therefore, if the entrepreneurial education is used as a marketing model, it can be considered as the innovative model for attracting more students. By implementing this model, the university can enhance its approach to cultivating a positive image, potentially leading to increased student enrollments.

The study used a sample of 483 undergraduate students in different universities. As well, it used a structured questionnaire during the data collection. Additionally, the study used partial least squares (PLS-SEM) in analyzing direct and indirect relationships.

The findings of this study suggest that entrepreneurial education and eWOM are critical factors for student selection to the universities. This is because eWOM significant mediates the link between entrepreneurial education and university choice.

This study used cross-sectional design. Therefore, future research can use a longitudinal design in examining the link between independent and dependent variables so as to look into the changes over time.

The study presents potential strategies that universities can employ to market their programs more effectively. By strengthening their entrepreneurial education initiatives, universities can enhance their reputation and create positive eWOM, which can lead to higher enrollments.

This study offers innovative marketing approaches for universities and their programs. Instead of heavily investing in advertising, the study suggests that strengthening entrepreneurial education initiatives can be a more effective marketing strategy. The findings suggest that a positive reputation generated by strong entrepreneurial education initiatives can lead to positive eWOM, which, in turn, influences university selection. Therefore, universities can consider enhancing their entrepreneurial education offerings to attract more prospective students. The study also highlights the notion that quality speaks for itself, while a lack of quality requires advertising.

Previous studies have mostly estimated there to be a symmetric effect in the Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow regarding the economic growth of Central, East and Southeast European (CESEE) countries. However, for the CESEE countries, as well as for the majority of countries around the world, there has been no study that has estimated the symmetric and asymmetric effect of outward FDI on economic growth. The main objective of this study is to estimate whether the relation between outward FDI and economic growth in CESEE countries is symmetric or asymmetric.

This study includes a sample based on eight CESEE countries. The authors used the linear and non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and annual data for the period from 1990 to 2020.

In the long run, in the linear ARDL model, a significant symmetrical effect due to OFDI on the economic growth of Romania and Slovenia was found, while in the non-linear ARDL model, a significant asymmetric effect of OFDI on the economic growth of Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia and Slovakia was found. In six out of the eight countries, asymmetry was found while symmetry was found in the other two. Poorer symmetry results can be ascribed to the lack of linear model neglecting the asymmetric behaviour of the positive and negative change decomposition as part of the OFDI movement, which leads to the wrong conclusion.

This is the first study to evaluate the asymmetric effect of outward FDI on the economic growth of eight CESEE countries.

This paper is determined to examine the role of body image and materialism in predicting the identity exploration of university students when conspicuous consumption is a mediator variable.

The study used a quantitative method. Data were collected from students of three federal universities in Nigeria. The sample size was 331. A self-report questionnaire was used to collect data and analysis was performed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling.

Findings reveal that materialism has a negative association in predicting the identity exploration of students. At the same time, there was a significant full and partial mediating effect of conspicuous consumption on the relationship between body image and materialism on identity exploration, respectively.

The study provides valuable information for parents in understanding how conspicuous consumption may influence their children’s identity formation. The findings can also be helpful for educators in the design of discussions and interventions for students on the social-psychological antecedents of conspicuous consumption and identity exploration. Government and regulatory agencies can use the study’s findings to shape student financial literacy and consumer protection policies.

This study makes both theoretical and methodological contributions to the existing literature. It provided concrete empirical evidence establishing a subtle connection between the symbolic self-completion theory and the identity status paradigm. It is also amongst the first single research conducted within the scope of these two theories in the Nigerian higher education context.

The study aims to investigate the nurse job enjoyment and their participation in medical affairs to enchance the quality of patient care in Saudi hospitals. In addition, this study also investigates the management team's role in patient care quality through the mediating effects of nurse job enjoyment and participation in medical affairs.

The present study used a self-administered survey questionnaire to collect data from registered nurses in Saudi hospitals. In this study, 600 survey questionnaires were distributed online (Google Forms) and received 266 valid responses (44.33% response rate). In addition, SmartPLS-4.0 was applied to validate the research constructs and test the hypotheses via partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

The study's findings indicate that the job enjoyment of the nurses and participation in medical affairs have positive and significant effects on the quality of patient care. In addition, the research findings also suggest that the management team of the hospitals has a significant indirect influence on the quality of patient care through the medicating effects of nurse job enjoyment and participation in medical affairs.

The findings of this study also offer various practical implications. This study showed the direct impact of the management team on job enjoyment, medical affairs and patient care quality. Therefore, hospital authorities and policymakers may emphasise clear communication, collaboration, respect and trust for the effective management team in providing higher-quality patient care. The present study suggests that hospital policymakers should strive to create a positive work environment, provide adequate resources, foster team spirit, offer incentives and allow flexible scheduling to ensure higher job enjoyment and increase nurse participation in medical affairs.

This study adds to the growing body of knowledge by investigating the effects of the management team, job enjoyment and nurses' participation in medical affairs on patient care quality. This study also enhances the theoretical depth by exploring the mediating impact of job enjoyment in predicting the relationships between the management team and the quality of care provided to patients. The present study provides guidelines for healthcare service providers or practitioners to focus on the nurses' job enjoyment and their engagement in medical activities to continuously improve the quality of patient care in the hospitals.

The purpose of this study is to explore and prioritize the factors that determine the social insurance contribution of unorganized workers.

A two-stage procedure was adopted to recognize and prioritize factors influencing the social insurance participation of unorganized workers: first, crucial factors influencing unorganized workers’ contribution towards social insurance were identified by employing exploratory factor analysis, and in the second phase, the fuzzy analytical hierarchal process was applied to rank the specified criteria and then sub-criteria by assigning weights.

Four broad factors were identified, namely, economic, political, operational and socio-psychological, that significantly influence unorganized workers’ contribution towards social insurance. Later findings revealed that the prime influencer of unorganized workers’ contribution is employment contracts followed by average earnings, delivery of quality services, eligibility and accessibility.

The research findings are feasible as the basic propositions are based on real-world scenario. The identification and ranking of factors have the potential to be used as a checklist for policymakers when designing pension and social insurance for unorganized workers. If it is not possible to consider all, the criteria and sub-criteria assigned upper rank can be given priority to extend pension coverage for a large group of working poor.

The key factors driving social insurance contributions have been highlighted by studying the stakeholders’ perceptions at a micro level. By comprehending the challenges, there is a possibility of covering a large section of the working poor into social insurance coverage.

This paper is believed to be one of its kinds to acknowledge a combination of factors that determine the contribution of unorganized workers to social insurance. This study is an empirical investigation to prioritize the essential drivers of social insurance participation by low-income cohorts in the context of emerging countries. The present approach of employing fuzzy logic has also very limited use in social insurance literature yet.

Despite the government’s efforts to protect domestic industries from foreign competition through tariffs, the industrial sector’s contribution to GDP continued to decline in Nigeria. Based on the scenario, this study assessed the symmetric and asymmetric effects of tariffs on industrial performance in Nigeria for the period 1988–2021. Tariff was captured with a tariff rate applied to the weighted mean of all products, while industry value added as a percent of GDP was used as a proxy for industrial performance.

Linear and nonlinear ARDL techniques were used for the analysis.

The symmetric (linear ARDL) results revealed that tariffs have a significant positive effect on industrial performance in both the short and long term. The asymmetric (nonlinear ARDL) results showed that a long-term asymmetry exists between tariffs and industrial performance. It revealed positive effects on industrial performance for both positive and negative tariff changes, with the negative change having a greater impact.

Generally, the results showed that the use of tariffs to protect domestic industries in Nigeria promotes industrial performance. The implication is that the declining contribution of the industrial sector to GDP in Nigeria is not a result of the tariff policy. It shows that the government should look beyond tariff policy to enhance the industrial contribution to GDP.

Nigeria should exercise caution in using tariff policies to protect domestic industries to avoid retaliation from their trade partners that could reverse the positive impacts.