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This paper makes a significant contribution to the growing field of digital inequality research by developing an operational definition of emotional costs. To examine this understudied aspect of digital inequalities, we build on Van Dijk’s concept of mental access. We define emotional costs as anxiety toward using information and communication technologies instigated by a lack of prior technology experience and limited computer access.

We examined the influence of emotional costs on lower-income students’ technology efficacy, academic efficacy, and computer application proficiency in the context of a computing intervention. Specifically, we examined the relationship between home and school computer usage with self-perceived technology efficacy, computer application proficiency, and academic efficacy. Data from surveys of 972 students were analyzed in order to better understand the importance of technology access on our outcome variables. We also investigated the possible mediation effects of emotional costs on our outcome variables.

The results revealed that home computer usage was a determinant of students’ self-perceived technology efficacy while shared school access was not. After conducting mediation tests, the results further indicated that emotional costs mediate the effects of home computer usage on technology efficacy.

We conclude that emotional costs might help explain why access inequalities lead to skill inequalities in the context of computing interventions and offer a replicable operational definition for future studies.

The objective of this study is to present evidence regarding how young people, who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) in South Africa, lack literacy skills and access to enabling resources to actively search and navigate information services systems that are primarily web-based. Information Poverty Theory is adopted to better understand the technological and social strata challenges experienced by young NEET people.

The study used semi-structured interviews for collecting data over two months in 2018, employing snowball sampling with 24 key participants, representing a diversity of educational backgrounds and previous experience of economic participation.

The findings of this study suggest that most interviewed young people, who are NEET, lack advanced information literacy and digital skills to access information services. The results also indicate that access to information services that are primed for online information is a challenge for most of these NEET young people residing in underserviced communities. The high cost of an Internet connection means that the Internet is out of reach for most low-income households. In communities that are underserviced with no adequate information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, people residing in such areas are subjected to living in circumstances where there is poverty and thus a lack of access to online information.

This paper reports on data collected in 2018 using intense interviews, while acknowledging limitations in terms of the sample size. Hence, it is not fully representative of the whole population of young people, who are NEET, residing in the Gauteng Province of South Africa.

The findings illustrate the need for further collaboration among relevant stakeholders to strengthen existing programmes and for stronger partnerships. The arguments presented herein enhance knowledge and understanding concerning the digital literacy skills divide that exists among young people who are NEET. It includes a discussion to contribute to policy development.

This study focuses on challenges young people who are NEET experience when looking for work and developmental opportunities. This qualitative study adopts Information Poverty Theory and uses prior studies to link the undertaken survey and research. It is expected that this study may serve as a pilot for future studies and may also contribute to the ongoing discussions around the use of ICTs on their use and access, especially the effect on young people when searching for information related to jobs and other developmental opportunities using online services.

Epidemics and pandemics tend to jolt people out of their ordinary living to a special state of crisis and suffering. The COVID-19 pandemic has not proven different, and this chapter and indeed the whole volume is a call to reflect on an ongoing state of volatility, uncertainty, complexities and ambiguity (VUCA). Where it is difficult to project an end to a pandemic as occurs presently, VUCA is even more significant, and the outcomes of these reflections can only augur well for present and future confrontations of a crisis. In this chapter, we have described our premises for understanding work values in a normative sense. Understanding the principles behind the stability and sustainability of these values will serve as a guide for the responsible management of changing workforce dynamics. While respecting the personal choices involved in work values, we outline some social and organisational factors that influence said dynamics.

Ethical principles play a key role in the attendant changes in the workforce ranging from rapid digitisation to remote working, to flexible work hours, and changing workspaces. New problems have arisen relating to the rising costs of working virtually, unequal opportunities in different economies, genders, and fields, and the rapid changes that are still ongoing. Some issues we have tackled include the challenge with employer–employee trust when supervision and workspaces are rapidly shifting, and the responsibility for well-ness and flourishing when the lines between work and the rest of life become blurred. We have recommended some attitudes that will promote integrity in all the stakeholders of a given workforce so that there is effective collaboration and individual growth.

Despite continuing socioeconomic and racial/ethnic gaps in many health care services, the National Healthcare Disparities Report (2004) documents parity in substance abuse treatment provision among individuals of varying socioeconomic and racial/ethnic backgrounds. This study investigates that achievement by analyzing the relationship between community socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disadvantage and organizational provision of substance abuse treatment, treatment need and utilization across United States counties, 2000, 2002 and 2003. Results confirm equity in service provision in poorer communities and those with higher concentrations of African Americans. Significant disparities remain, however, in communities with higher concentrations of Hispanics, youth and female-headed households. Limitations and implications for future studies of health care provision are discussed.

Rivers are very close to Indian culture and civilisation. Indians treat rivers as holy and connect them to their faith. Human-induced activities unintentionally pollute the water bodies. The present case revolves around an innovative social enterprise – PHOOL, which deals with the recycling of flowers offered by devotees at temples. Thus, preventing thousands of kilograms of floral waste from being dumped into rivers daily and polluting them. The idea was conceived to save the most revered river – the Ganges. These flowers are mostly loaded with pesticides and insecticides, which further merge with river water making it even more toxic, endangering marine lives. PHOOL collects flowers from various places of worship and recycles them into handcrafted incense sticks and biodegradable Styrofoam. This unique venture has also been patented for its process and technology of floral waste recycling. Their mission is to save and preserve the river Ganges and empower marginalised women by providing employment opportunities while at the same time giving a livelihood and a future to Indian child and the generations to come. The child could now afford schooling, in hopes of a better economic future in a healthier environment while maintaining all societal traditions. It is essentially a case of social entrepreneurship that aims to help readers understand the intricacies of starting and surviving a social enterprise and ensuring continual sustainability. To create the case, an interview was carried out with Ms Ekta Jain (Associate, Marketing and Communications, PHOOL), as well as a literature review and data were collected on the social enterprise and significant events that take place in the Indian social entrepreneurship ecosystem. PHOOL is a case on ensuring a balanced approach between the economy, environment and society. It aims at protecting and creating a balance between the environment, the economy and the society, generating a new inflow to the economy, providing a purpose in life for those most in need of it and a livelihood free from pollution and deprivation, and making the world a better place to live in. It is creating a balance between societal needs, the environment that requires protection, the economy and ensuring continuity.

One of the most significant worldwide transformations in education over the past several decades has been the drastic increase in women's access to colleges and universities. Research suggests that the trend of the narrowing gender gap in higher education is remarkable (particularly, among the industrialized nations), and sometimes it involves an interesting phenomenon – women outnumbering men, in what some scholars refer to as a “reverse gender gap” (Goldin, Katz, & Kuziemko, 2006; Woodfield & Earl-Novell, 2006; King, 2006; Mortenson, 1999). This higher education gender gap trend is consistent with a general global trend of narrowing gender gaps in education in recent decades. The data – at least, analysis of statistical data from countries around the world – support the contention that the disparity between men and women, at all levels of education and in terms of both academic achievement and enrollment rates, is not as dramatic as it once was (Arnot, David, & Weiner, 1999; United Nations Children's Fund, 2005).

The purpose of this paper is to create a nuanced understanding of the barriers women high-tech professionals face in Bangladesh. The main aim is to identify the extent to which these barriers are common across different contexts and to explore the barriers that are unique and situated in the local socio-cultural context.

In-depth interviews with high-tech professionals were conducted to identify and explore the barriers.

Although some of the barriers are common across different contexts, most of the barriers women professionals face arise due to the interaction between situated socio-cultural practices and gender. The dynamics of socio-cultural and patriarchal norms reinforce gender biases and gendered practices that afford men with greater control over resources and systematically limit women’s access to opportunities.

The study recruited 35 participants using snowball sampling. From a methodological perspective, future research could benefit from recruiting a larger, more varied sample using random sampling.

Women experience barriers due to both internal organizational features and external contextual barriers. The findings suggest that some of these barriers can be removed through governmental and organizational policies and through appropriate intervention strategies delivered in partnership with governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The study makes a unique contribution by using a macro-social lens to analyze the meso-organizational practices and micro-individual phenomena thereby providing a holistic view of the barriers faced by women professionals in Bangladesh.

This chapter investigates how normative beliefs attributed to insecure paid work and care responsibilities affect social understandings of the work–family boundary, and either challenge or reinforce traditional links between gender and moral obligation.

Within an interpretive approach and from a gender perspective, I present a discourse analysis of 41 interviews with Italian parents.

This chapter shows that women in the sample felt forced into blurred boundaries that did not suit their work–family normative beliefs. Men in the sample perceived that they had more boundary control, and they created boundaries that support an innovative fatherhood model. Unlike women, men’s boundaries aligned with their desires.

The specific target of respondents prevents empirical comparisons between social classes. Moreover, the cross-level analysis presented is limited: in particular, further investigation is required at the level of organizational cultures.

The study suggests not only thinking in terms of work–family boundary segmentation and integration but also looking at the normative dimensions which can either enhance or exacerbate perceptions of the work–family interface. The value of the study also stems from its theoretically relevant target.

This paper examines the changes suggested by maritime stakeholders to achieve gender equality in seafaring, a male-dominated profession.

Adopting a four-stage career cycle framework, this paper analyzes changes proposed by 423 industry stakeholders to promote gender equality in seafaring. These proposed changes were posted on the Day of Seafarers 2019 virtual wall set up by the International Maritime Organization, which served as a forum for industry stakeholders from all over the world to voice their opinions and suggestions.

The data analysis shows that the suggested changes reflect many challenges and barriers women seafarers face. While stakeholders from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries are more likely to call for changes to remove barriers in the retention and development stage, gender equality in seafaring in non-OECD countries is still seriously hindered by barriers in the recruitment stage. The paper also reveals that comparatively male stakeholders are less likely to appreciate the problems women seafarers face.

This paper takes a comparative approach, comparing the changes proposed by seafarers and other industry stakeholders from different parts of the world. This approach provides a nuanced understanding of issues related to gender equality in seafaring by showing that stakeholders from different backgrounds have different priorities.

In this introduction to the volume on Workforce Diversity, we review some of the critical issues that need to be addressed in thinking about and doing research on workforce diversity, and then we discuss where the topics addressed in this volume fit within the larger literature on diversity at work and how the contributions in the volume advance our understanding of workforce diversity. By necessity this is a brief overview. The papers in this volume elaborate some of the issues, but a great deal more needs to be done to fully understand how diversity both affects and contributes to workplace outcomes. We conclude with the observation that the issue of diversity in the workforce is inherently a political issue, and hence one where interests are often in conflict and sometimes contradictory. The challenge for managing diversity in the workforce is the ability to bridge such political differences, and so far, few organizations have met that goal.