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The Maternity Protection Act is intended to protect the mother and the child from hazards, excessive demands and damage to health in the workplace, and from financial disadvantages and loss of employment. However, the objectives defined by the Maternity Protection Act—the safety and health of the pregnant employee on the one hand and the prevention of disadvantages in working life on the other—are not yet adequately achieved in the intensive care unit (ICU). Implementation of the Maternity Protection Act to the benefit of all involved parties should also be promoted in the specialist areas represented by the DIVI, in particular the work of pregnant physicians and nursing staff and other working specialists (respiratory therapists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, psychotherapists, and social workers) in the ICU. The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of the need to consider each pregnant and breastfeeding staff member individually and to work together to find a personal solution for continuing to work in the ICU. Possible ways and solutions to achieve this goal are outlined and practical examples are given for implementation in everyday clinical routine. These are also based on comprehensive presentation of activities according to a traffic light color-code system for all occupational groups. Arguments against pregnant employees working in the ICU are discussed and possible solutions are presented [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is crucial for the development of employability skills and has an influence on employment outcomes. Given the significance of WIL pedagogies for graduate preparedness and transitions into work, concerns have been raised on the barriers to access and participation in WIL for some cohorts of learners. Equity and inclusion in WIL, that is, considerations for diverse learners once enrolled into a subject or course with varying WIL components, is not a new concept with some guidelines purported over a decade ago. Designing WIL to accommodate for equity and inclusion, however, has presented challenges with few studies offering navigation for curriculum design. This paper draws on empirically sound curriculum design principles for inclusion for learner variability through Universal Design for Learning (UDL), to offer the UDL for WIL design framework. The paper presents conceptual and practical contributions for educators of WIL experiences to reduce barriers and integrate student voice to support all graduates' career transitions.

The globally expanding doctoral education and the diminishing availability of academic job opportunities have prompted an increasing proportion of PhD graduates to seek employment beyond academia, drawing a growing scholarly interest. However, the existing literature on doctoral career pathways tends to be fragmented and dispersed, given the idiosyncratic individual and educational characteristics of doctorates grappling with the complex structural factors. To depict a comprehensive picture of the diversifying employment trajectories of doctorates across various geographical, disciplinary and sectoral contexts, this study conducts a systematic review, scouring 831 pertinent journal articles from the Web of Science. Following a set of inclusion criteria, 31 papers were ultimately selected to identify the key factors shaping employment trajectories of PhD graduates at structural (national supply and demand), institutional (employers' perceptions) and individual (doctorates' characteristics) levels. Drawing on the boundaryless and value-based career theories, the authors develop a four-dimension analytical framework, within which the findings of the 31 papers in East Asian and Western contexts are analysed. Overall, stakeholders in Western systems generally recognise the trend of PhD graduates securing non-academic employment, whereas East Asian nations appear less receptive to this agenda. Meanwhile, due to their strong emphasis on research skills utilisation and employment stability, PhD graduates in certain economies find it challenging to pursue satisfying and successful careers, warranting increased attention. Building on the findings, we propose a four-quadrat model in an effort to provide a tool for evaluating the capacity to absorb doctoral workforces of specific systems by categorising the doctoral professions. Highlighting shared patterns observed across various higher education systems and distinct trends prevalent in specific economies, this paper addresses key topics in doctoral education and doctorate employment literature such as labour market conditions, employment outcomes, job satisfaction, skills (mis)matches and sustainable careers.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences between labour market requirements in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the 21st century and university graduates' level of knowledge, skills and aspects of competence (KSAs) qualification benchmark. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a discourse analysis methodology, which is a qualitative and interpretive method of analysing texts. The content for the analysis was extracted from Scopus, Ebscohost, Proquest, Google Scholar, Web of Science, news, publications, thesis papers, dissertations and other research papers. A narrative approach for analysing the content was adopted. Findings: The findings reveal that new graduates often encounter difficulties in searching for jobs due to a lack of awareness of how to conduct an employment search that best aligns their KSA with the requirements and needs of the labour market. The study concludes that to increase the employability of graduates, higher education institutions should reduce the KSAs gap by collaborating with the private sector and providing students with relevant, industry-based job experience before graduation. Originality/value: This study investigates the gap between graduate KSAs and labour market requirements in the 21st-century UAE. The findings of the study encapsulate the weaknesses and shortcomings of the current educational systems amid the reform agenda in the UAE. It also deliberates upon the state-of-the-art recommendations regarding making the country a knowledge-based economy and society.

Situated and Activity theories have exercised a significant influence in the field of vocational learning for some considerable time, both sharing a focus on bounded forms of work and forms of learning that facilitate learning in, or to changes to, bounded forms of work. Yet much learning occurs in unbounded contexts often referred to as projectification, where collaborations occur only for the life of a project thereby creating new contingent contexts for learning. Given the existence of this form of working and learning, what type of unit of analysis (UoA) is required to analyse that vocational working and learning in the context of projectification? To address this question, the paper advances the following inter-theoretical argument. Firstly, it is timely to develop a new unit of analysis (UoA) to capture the fractional (intermittent, discontinuous and concurrent) working and learning dynamics associated with the forms of projectification, where funding has to be procured in order to commence. Secondly, that unit of analysis is constituted by the concept of project assemblage, which is based on ideas from Actor Network Theory, Cultural-historical Activity Theory and Cultural Sociology. Thirdly, this new UoA enables researchers to identify the way in which project teams, where members are coming in-and-out, learn to use their different forms of specialist activity to enact objects, why team members will have different backgrounds and understandings of their work, why objects may not cohere, even though team members may treat them as unified and coherent, and how team members learn to incorporate one another's insights and suggestions, and establish a finalized object.

Lifelong education has proven to be a significant challenge in the policy arena. The combination of formal education and labor-centered institutions has pressed the development of different mechanisms to understand the role of human capital accumulation in socioeconomic mobility and organizational performance. While the narratives of lifelong education have primed labor and educational studies across developed economies, in the case of developing economies, those logics appear contested by development economics conditions. In this paper, I use the context of the expansion of the graduate educational market and its policy reforms to analyze how a developing economy copes with a change in the availability of a highly educated workforce. Using panel and pseudo-panel data, I examine the evolution of educational returns for the graduate workforce in Chile between 1990 and 2018, considering the differences between industries and public and private sectors. The results point out that there are no public-private differences and high heterogeneity across economic sectors. The policy- and individual-level consequences are discussed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has popularized online learning as a mode of teaching and learning in universities, thereby exacerbating college students' stress levels in multiple ways. To enhance the quality of college student training, it is crucial to investigate the impact of perceived stress on their online self-directed learning. Using questionnaire data from 969 college students across China, this study performed an empirical analysis of the influence of perceived stress on their online self-directed learning, while also exploring the mediating role of phone dependence and the moderating role of self-management ability. The findings indicate that, firstly, perceived stress has a significant and positive effect on college students' online self-directed learning. Secondly, phone dependence masks the positive impact of perceived stress on students' self-directed learning, thereby weakening the effects of employment and learning stress on their online self-directed learning. Thirdly, self-management ability positively moderates the relationship between employment, social, interpersonal, and learning stress and college students' online self-directed learning. Fourthly, rural college students' online self-directed learning is more susceptible to employment, social, and interpersonal stress; vocational college students' self-directed learning is more influenced by employment, social, and learning stress; and students in the "Double First-Class" initiative universities are more likely to develop phone dependence. Therefore, this paper asserts that using stress reasonably, controlling stress appropriately, channeling stress properly, and enhancing self-management abilities can aid college students in learning autonomous online.

Amid the backdrop of the global pandemic and other complex societal and organizational challenges, the demand for proficient people management skills among managers and leaders has become increasingly urgent. The ensuing narrative offers an account of a leadership development initiative tailored for line managers and delivered amid the pandemic. This account focuses on a specific facet of the training -- a series of online action learning sessions conducted between April 2021 and May 2022. The article commences by laying a contextual foundation for the project and profiling its participants. Subsequently, the paper delineates the precise action learning methodology adopted within the project, detailing its structuring and implementation. This is followed by the presentation of case studies featuring participants who engaged with the action learning process, delving into their training experiences and elucidating key outcomes pertaining to their learning, development and alterations in professional practice. Ultimately, the article culminates by reflecting on crucial findings and insights gleaned from the execution and assessment of the action learning initiative, thereby underscoring valuable recommendations for the future implementation of action learning in leadership development.

FinTech refers to a set of new technologies employed to improve and automate the delivery and use of financial services. This study aims to provide some insightful information to: (a) universities on how to offer their FinTech education, and (b) graduates so that they can make an informed decision on whether they should start their FinTech career journey. To achieve these aims, we explore the credentials of recent and long-time graduates who are working in the FinTech area by conducting a questionnaire survey involving 48 Australian FinTech companies and 83 FinTech practitioners working in various IT functions of these companies. Among the various findings reported in this paper, some of them are: (a) the most straightforward way to start the "technical-oriented" FinTech career is to earn an undergraduate IT degree, (b) possessing previous IT work experience is almost a norm for FinTech practitioners, and (c) for those FinTech practitioners with previous work experience in financial services, they may have a higher chance to be promoted to executives.

What happens when Initial Teacher Education shifts focus from preparing teachers as change agents to focusing on fast-tracking candidates into the profession? In this paper, we focus on the implications of the accelerated push in teacher education for key social justice and transformative aims of preparing critically reflective, culturally responsive teachers. We tease out what these emerging priorities mean for work of capacity-building for equity, diversity and social justice in teaching and teacher education. We unpack how alternative teacher education programmes that prioritise "employment" present both caveats and opportunities in this regard. We conclude by suggesting ways to harness existing challenges in the service of closer alliances between teacher educators, school staff, members of communities and the education departments for preparing a teaching workforce capable of responding to the needs of their students.

This paper investigates the effects of migration and work experience on university-to-work transitions of German university graduates. We use a job search model, signaling and social network theory to discuss different links between the duration of labor market entry, graduate mobility and work experience. We apply event history analyses and make use of administrative social security records to examine whether work experience and pre-study as well as post-study migration accelerates the labor market entry of graduates. Our regression results stress the importance of both mobility and work experience for the length of the transition period. However, whether the effect is beneficial or adverse depends on the type of graduate migration and previous employment.

Background: Despite the significant relationship between life satisfaction and education, less is known about the connection between life satisfaction and informal learning in the context of training and apprenticeship programs. This paper examines the influence of the LaunchCode program, a novel training and apprentice program in STEM, on participant's life satisfaction and optimism. We also explore mediating roles of STEM employment and earnings, as well as moderating role of participants' educational attainment levels. Results: We find high life satisfaction and optimism among those who completed both the training course and the apprenticeship component. In addition, we find a significant mediation effect of STEM employment on the relationships between program participation and current life satisfaction, as well as optimism, among the apprenticeship completers. Finally, we find a significant moderation effect of one's education level on the relationship between program completion and finding a STEM job, such that participants with a college degree are more likely to secure STEM employment through coursework alone. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the significance of apprenticeships in increasing life satisfaction and optimism, as well as the importance of STEM employment in explaining the significant effect of apprenticeships on life satisfaction and optimism. These findings suggest that what people do for a living is more important than how much they earn. However, while apprenticeships may offer an alternative route to the labor market, education may still facilitate connections to STEM employment in the absence of an apprenticeship.

In this paper, which draws on two years of qualitative research, I examine the ways in which refugees are positioned and position themselves in job training programs and in their initial US jobs. I provide examples of how 'factishes', a combination of facts and fetishes, are fabricated and position the refugees, and those working with them, in discourses associated with migration. Moving from notions of humanitarian aid to economic utility, trainers and employers position the refugees as economic stabilizers, capable of performing low-skill jobs, which US-born workers do not often choose, and which undocumented Mexican migrants do not 'deserve'. In doing so, they also position themselves as helpful humanitarians. The positioning is useful in securing initial employment for the refugees but not in longer term career advancement. Some of the refugees challenge the positioning, modifying the factishes to improve their employment prospects and possibly their long-term integration into society.

This paper aims to demonstrate the analytical potential of initial vocational education and training (iVET) in the debate on the costs of social mobility. It is based on extensive qualitative fieldwork with over 250 young people in Romania's iVET (around 20% of whom were Roma). Central to the discourses of young Roma are the experiences of discrimination, the absence of a "vocational habitus" and an awareness of credential inflation, despite the social and economic costs of attending iVET. The research calls for a recalibration of the narrative on social mobility, in an economic context where work is becoming increasingly precarious.

Twelve qualitative case studies in German and Canadian hospitals and IT companies were used in this mixed-methods study analysing the labour market outcomes of immigrants. The reported case studies investigate the immigrants' recognition, integration process and the usability of foreign qualifications, skills and work experiences in the labour market. Furthermore, the strategies and rationales of employers and employees within the recruiting process are analysed. Here, the focus lies on the transferability and obstacles of cultural and social capital across country borders as well as the relevant framework conditions. This paper refers to Bourdieu's approach towards different types of capital as well as the rational choice theory. The results demonstrate that immigrants in both countries face more obstacles accessing the labour market within the health sector than within the IT sector. The context of the recruiting situation strongly affects the strategies and behaviour of the employers or the recruiters. Within these sector- and country-specific confines, individual factors determine the immigrants' labour market success. Furthermore, the sector and the country affect the relevance of each individual factor in the recruiting process.

Employability development has become a central concern of higher education, with many students attending university to enhance their employability and career development. Universities offer a range of curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular employability-building activities, including work-integrated learning, mentoring and career counselling. However, participation in these activities, barriers to engagement and their impact on employability are unclear. This paper examines student engagement in diverse employability-building activities, barriers impeding participation and their perspectives on how activities develop aspects of employability. The methodological approach encompassed an online survey of recent bachelor graduates (n = 324) from two Australian universities and focus groups to further explore participants' experiences (n = 11). Findings showed relatively low participation rates in most activities, with the greatest engagement in external paid employment and work-related activities (e.g., internship). These activities were also perceived as the most useful for developing a sense of professional self, networks and securing work. Barriers to participation included work/study commitments, financial/health pressures and lack of confidence and awareness, somewhat varying by graduates' background characteristics. Benefits from activities varied by their type, along with students' personal characteristics. Findings highlight the importance of embedding employability-building activities in the curriculum and signal potential ways to increase engagement in diverse cohorts.

The fast-changing world of work has justified the need for contemporary, accessible and inclusive models of lifelong guidance, underpinned by principles of social justice and equity, that meet a range of needs, and have the ambition of leaving no one behind. While guidance provision is widely available across most education systems, guidance for the labour force is less accessible and often fragmented, varying in quality, scope, evidence-base and practice. For services to be fully effective adult and employment guidance practice must find ways to transfer knowledge and experiences of the daily practice of guidance, to advance professional learning and development, and ensure its assimilation into practice and policy for the benefit of clients. Drawing on qualitative data, this paper illustrates the role of praxis in informing a new model of employment guidance, the MEEG, and the challenges for adult guidance practice within activation-oriented public employment systems.

Purpose: Drawing on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, the authors examine how working in the hybrid workplace model (telework and flexible work) affects job performance via the intervening role of work engagement. Design/methodology/approach: The authors adopted a quantitative approach and collected data from 277 employees working in universities in Nigeria. Partial least square structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data and test the hypotheses. Findings: The findings reveal that flexible work, not telework, has a significant and positive effect on job performance. It also emerges that flexible work positively affects work engagement, and work engagement significantly mediates the relationship between flexible work and job performance. However, the findings do not support the effect of telework on work engagement and the mediating role of work engagement in the proposed relation between telework and job performance. Originality/value: The paper provides fresh insights by linking the components of the hybrid workplace model with job performance and employee work engagement and extending the JD-R model to the hybrid workplace setting. The practitioners can benefit from the findings of this study by factoring in the importance of the hybrid workplace model in designing policies and procedures to promote job performance.

Background: Access to an on-demand pericoital oral contraceptive pill – used to prevent pregnancy within a defined window around sexual intercourse – could offer women more reproductive agency. A contraceptive with this indication is not currently available in any market. This review aims to understand international user appeal for an on-demand pericoital oral contraceptive pill. Methods: Systematic scoping review, comprising 30 peer-reviewed papers published between 2014–2023. Results: Data from 30 papers reporting on research from 16 countries across five World Health Organisation regions suggests widespread user appeal for on-demand oral contraceptive pills that can be used peri- or post-coitally, especially among women who are younger, more educated or who have less frequent sex. Women of varying age, wealth, employment or relationship status, and with different prior experience of using modern contraceptives, were also interested. Women identified clear rationale for use and preference of these types of product: close alignment with women's sexual lives that comprised unplanned, spontaneous or occasional sex; perceived convenience and effectiveness; discreet use of pills to negotiate contextual circumstances that constrained their reproductive agency. Factors inhibiting use included knowledge barriers and attitudes of service providers, a lack of knowledge and misinformation among end-users, women's dislike of menstrual side effects and myths related to the effects of hormone content on future fertility. Conclusions: Introduction of an on-demand pericoital oral contraceptive pill could expand contraceptive choice for diverse women experiencing unmet need for modern contraception and constrained sexual and reproductive agency. Priorities for future research include: broadening the geographical scope of evidence to include SE Asia and the Pacific, and international rural and peri-urban settings; documenting the perspectives of adolescents and unmarried young people; identifying opportunities for innovation in the supply channels to enhance appropriate, affordable access to on-demand oral contraceptives; and unpacking how to bring new pericoital contraceptives to the market in a variety of international settings. Plain English Summary: Access to an oral contraceptive pill that is used as needed to prevent pregnancy and taken within a defined window around sexual intercourse (i.e. an on-demand pericoital oral contraceptive pill) could offer women more reproductive agency. Though not currently available in any market, our analysis from this review of international literature reveals widespread appeal among women for using this type of contraceptive product. Clear rationale supporting use and preference included: (1) closer alignment with women's sexual lives that comprised desired but unplanned, spontaneous or occasional sex than other contraceptives; (2) perceived convenience and effectiveness, offering benefits over other modern contraceptives; and (3) women feeling able to overcome social values and beliefs that constrained their reproductive agency. There were also barriers to use of this type of product, including knowledge gaps and attitudes of service providers, a lack of knowledge and misinformation among end-users, women's dislike of the side effects, and myths and misconceptions about the impact of the hormone content in pills on future fertility. Introduction of an on-demand pericoital oral contraceptive pill could expand contraceptive choice for diverse women experiencing unmet need for modern contraception and constrained sexual and reproductive agency. Priorities for future research include: broadening the geographical scope of evidence to include SE Asia and the Pacific, and rural and peri-urban settings; documenting the perspectives of adolescents and unmarried young people; identifying opportunities for innovation in the supply channels to enhance appropriate, affordable access to this type of contraceptive; and unpacking how to bring this new contraceptive to the market in a variety of international settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hospitality industry employs people with disabilities; however, as an emerging research area, little is known about the antecedents, experience, and consequences of disability employment in the sector. To address this gap, this article provides a systematic literature review of the peer-reviewed literature to improve the understanding of the employment of people with disability in the hospitality sector. This review analyzes papers published between 1990 and 2021 reporting on organizational programs established to increase the recruitment and retention of employees with disabilities. This resulted in 36 papers for systematic review analysis and answers three essential questions regarding employer initiatives to promote the employment of people with disabilities, barriers and facilitators to the employment of people with disabilities, and benefits and challenges of employing people with disabilities in the hospitality sector. Our review provides a conceptual framework that integrates the present body of literature. This review also identifies a future research agenda for the future study of disability employment in hospitality organizations by outlining five gaps in the literature, which include theoretical rigor, expansion of disability employment research scope, country context, methodological improvement, and disability diversity management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to review the literature extensively by analysing recent work and providing a guide for models, data sets and research findings. Design/methodology/approach: This paper reviews the literature extensively by analysing recent work and providing a guide for models, data sets and research findings within the context of capital market imperfections. The authors further break down the literature into closer-in-nature categories for reader's convenience and comprehension. Finally, the authors address gaps in the existing literature and propose government policies that can tone down the potential effect of credit rationing on employment. Findings: This paper provides a map of the literature so as to help future researchers in the relevant literature and give a short insight of what has been explored so far. Originality/value: This paper is original and is the result of a thorough review of an extensive literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the tensions between political sovereignty and global capitalist accumulation that arise from neoliberal globalization: in the context of neoliberal globalization, the role of the state was substantially altered, and competitiveness became important to sustain economic growth, employment and wealth. However, for this purpose, the internal stabilization of the economy also has to be ensured. Competition state-ness aims to reconcile domestic and global market dynamics. This paper addresses this challenge from a Cultural Political Economy perspective, arguing that the specific way this is done results from ideas, institutional selectivities and materiality. As the supranational level gained importance during globalization, this paper uses the European competition state project as an empirical example. It uses a Critical Discourse Analysis to analyze the economic imaginaries on competition of the European socio-economic strategy, Europe 2020. The central findings are two imaginaries on competition that address different market dynamics in the neoliberal political economy: the 'sovereign entity' that promotes a well-functioning domestic market, and the 'competitive entity' that aims to increase European competitiveness to thrive on the world market. Although tensions arise between the imaginaries, it is argued in the end that three strategies based on them constitute the European competition state project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sheds light on the internal heterogeneity within the informal economy by examining the working conditions of migrant informal workers in China. It presents the first attempt to test the WIEGO model on the relationship between informality, income, poverty and gender. Based on 107,020 samples of informal workers from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), economic, social and occupational health components of working conditions of migrant informal workers in five employment-status tiers are analysed. The results show the significant heterogeneity within informal workers in terms of their income, working intensity, labour contracts, social security, union and community support. The relationships between the informal employment tiers and income, poverty and gender show a pattern that is not fully in line with the WIEGO model, suggesting the complexity and plurality of heterogeneities in informal employment. The paper concludes by calling for research on regional varieties of the heterogeneity in informal employment worldwide to better understand the unfolding of the inequality-informality nexus in specific contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, there exists a huge debate for a long time on whether a double dividend, reducing pollution emissions and boosting employment, can be achieved by intensifying environmental regulations. In this paper, we use two data sets on provincial environmental legislation and Chinese manufacturing firms during 1998–2013, to estimate the impact of provincial environmental legislation on the firms' employment growth with a difference-in-difference (DID) model. Results showed that (1) after the implementation of environmental legislation, the employment growth of regulated manufacturing firms decreases significantly by 3.07%, and this result is robust to alternative tests. (2) Local environmental legislation reduces employment growth mainly via the influencing mechanism of the firm's entry and exit, export, and innovation. (3) The local environmental legislation has heterogeneous impacts on employment growth in different industries and different regions, and the estimated effect is more obvious in high-pollution industries and areas with strong enforcement. (4) Environmental legislation significantly improves job destruction and reduces job creation, resulting in a − 3.86% job net increase. Due to the long-term implementation of extensive economic growth mode, China's ecological environment has been deteriorating since the 1990s, and environmental pollution has attracted more and more social attention. Until 2013, the Communist Party of China put forward 'ecological civilization', and building a beautiful new China with harmonious coexistence between man and nature has become an important development strategy. Meanwhile, starting from the implementation of the Two-Control-Zone policy in 1998, China has implemented numerous environmental policies in just ten years. These environmental policies have greatly improved the quality of China's ecological environment, but their economic effects have been controversial. Given the special historical period, this paper helps assess the impact of Chinese environmental policies on employment and provides a more objective policy evaluation and implications for improving existing laws and regulations to achieve higher social welfare. To achieve this goal of balancing the improvement of the ecological environment and high employment level, environmental policies firstly should be flexible to ensure that the environmental standards follow the firm's characteristics and regional characteristics to avoid "one size fits all". Particularly, for regions with poor economic development or having a single industrial structure, the implementation cycle of the environmental policies should be extended to ensure that they have enough time to achieve industrial restructuring and complete the environmental protection goals. Secondly, we find that environmental legislation hurts employment growth by limiting export decisions, so the government should use multiple channels to stabilize export when implementing environmental legislation. Thirdly, technological R&D and innovation play an important role in the effect of environmental legislation on firms' employment growth. Therefore, the government should provide a more flexible environment for firms' R&D and innovation with appropriate fiscal policies and technical support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By utilising the National Graduate Survey (NGS) – class of 2005 and 2009/10 – this paper examines the effects of fields of study on the time it takes to find full-time employment that lasts at least six months among graduates of Canadian Universities. Within cohorts, the results suggest considerable differences in the duration to first job after graduation for various fields of study – with 'Agriculture, natural resources and conservation', 'Health and related fields', and STEM fields like Math, Computer Science, and Engineering landing jobs the quickest, respectively. In contrast, the graduates of 'Humanities' and 'Education' had the longest duration of finding employment. The results also show large differences between cohorts, with the 2009/10 cohort taking much longer to find employment. Lastly, this paper did not find clear evidence that the effects of fields of study on the duration to exiting unemployment changed across the cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Egypt's labor market transition dynamics post-Arab Spring based on the two most recent rounds of the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey conducted in 2012 and 2018. In addition to providing disaggregated level analysis by examining labor market transitions by gender, education, and age groups, our paper provides a cross-country perspective by comparing Egypt's labor market transitions with Jordan's. Regression analyses focusing on transitions to and from the dominant absorbing labor market states in Egypt – public sector employment for both genders, non-participation for women, and the informal sector for men – show that having a post-secondary education is associated with a lower probability of remaining out of the labor force (OLF) for women who were already OLF at baseline, while being married at baseline is found to be a significant predictor for women to stay out of the labor force if they were already so. As for men, the better educated are found to be more likely to secure formal employment, be it in the public or in the private sector, and also more likely to keep their public formal jobs once they secure them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States has long been a leading destination for immigrants looking for a better economic opportunity, refuge, or family reunification. The population of foreign-born residents in the US is immensely diverse in terms of country of origin, ethnicity, gender, age, and education. These characteristics can influence an immigrant's ability to integrate into American society. In this paper, I examine the impact of gender and level of education on the employment prospects of foreign-born residents from 2009 to 2022. First, my research concludes that higher levels of education lead to substantially better employment rates and wages for foreign-born residents. Second, my findings reveal that immigrant women, in comparison to their native-born peers, have made bigger strides in their labor participation, employment rates, and wages over the last decade versus immigrant men, who have remained more closely aligned with their respective native-born peers. I highlight some reasons why these two specific factors, gender and education, affect employment and wages and what policies could be adopted to improve the integration prospects for immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the mechanisms of tax incentives and R&D investments on employment absorption, constructs a panel data model with a sample of 4,255 Chinese technology-based SMEs, and adopts a random effect model for empirical evidence after various tests. The research results show that tax incentives and R&D investments of technology-based SMEs positively affect their employment absorption. The positive effect not only exists in the current period but also remains valid in the next period. R&D investment, operating profit margin, and remuneration have more significant positive impacts on employment absorption, while we should pay attention to control and reduce overhead costs. Finally, this paper gives corresponding suggestions and countermeasures from three levels: government, enterprises, and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Aim: This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of male nurses towards human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccination and to examine whether knowledge about the HPV vaccine affects attitudes and beliefs about HPV vaccines. Background: HPV is responsible for ≈5% of all cancers worldwide. Therefore, vaccination against HPV is recommended to prevent HPV infections and HPV‐related cancers in men and women. Methods: The study group included 383 male nurses who were asked to complete online questionnaires. The data were collected using the following tools: a sociodeomographical characteristics form, the Human Papillomavirus Knowledge Scale (HPVKS), and The Carolina HPV Immunization Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (CHIAS). Results: It was determined that the general HPV knowledge of the male nurses participating in the study was at a moderate level, but their knowledge of HPV screening test, HPV vaccination, and current HPV vaccination programmes were at a low level. Male nurses' HPV vaccination rates were relatively low, and most of them did not intend to be vaccinated. In addition, CHIAS Attitudes and Beliefs scores of the male nurses were at an average level and HPV knowledge affected the attitudes and beliefs of the nurses. Conclusion: These results demonstrate an opportunity to improve information and awareness about HPV and vaccines by nursing education. Summary statement: What is already known about the topic? Although HPV vaccination is recommended to prevent HPV infections and HPV‐related cancers in men and women, vaccination rates are far behind the target, especially for men. What this paper adds? Findings showed that male nurses' HPV vaccination rates were relatively low.Male nurses' knowledge about HPV and HPV vaccine was not sufficient.HPV knowledge affected the attitudes and beliefs of these male nurses. The implications of this paper: Nurses need to be aware of the HPV vaccine during their undergraduate education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between access to early childhood education and care (ECEC) services and family arrangements in the distribution of work in four Latin American countries. We find that households in which all children aged 0 to 5 receive ECEC services exhibit smaller gender gaps in unpaid work, mainly due to a decrease in the amount of time women devote to care work. Women in these households devote more time to paid work, such that the gender gap in total work does not differ between households based on use of ECEC services. However, use of ECEC services for children aged 0 to 5 is associated with reduced hours of unpaid work among women and an increase in women's hours of paid work. These findings confirm the importance of increasing access to early childhood care and education services to reduce gender gaps in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grandparents' retirement behavior has important support on mother's employment quality. This paper aims to estimate the influence of grandparents' retirement behavior on mother's employment quality, based on the China Family Panel Studies of 2018. The findings reveal a significant enhancement in mother's employment quality resulting from grandparents' retirement behavior. The mediating effect of grandparents' intergenerational caregiving explains approximately 68.77% of this improvement. Furthermore, the positive effect of grandparents' retirement behavior on mother's employment quality is more pronounced in families where the grandchild is older and in better health. Notably, the involvement of paternal grandparents yields more favorable outcomes compared to maternal grandparents. Findings from this study suggest that grandparent's retirement behavior play an important role in mother's employment quality through the provision of childcare assistance. Moreover, these findings highlight that the effectiveness of such support varies depending on the characteristics of both grandchildren and grandparents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The United States is increasingly recognizing period product insecurity, insufficient access to menstrual products and limited private spaces for managing menstruation due to financial constraints, as an issue impacting the well-being and dignity of Americans. One strategy to address period product insecurity has been distributing free period products via period supply banks. The outcomes of period product distribution outside the school setting are absent from the literature. Objectives: This study, a formative evaluation of the free period product distribution efforts of the Alliance for Period Supplies, aims to identify (1) characteristics of individuals receiving products from period supply banks and their experiences of period product insecurity and (2) health and social outcomes experienced by recipients of free period products. Design: Survey data collection occurred at two points: baseline and one-year follow-up. All study participants provided verbal consent. Methods: Between Fall 2018 and Spring 2020, 1863 baseline and 80 follow-up surveys were administered. Participants received free period products for themselves and/or a household member from one of 20 participating Alliance for Period Supplies period supply banks directly or from one of their 64 partner agencies. Results: At baseline, 72.4% of participants had to choose between buying period products and another basic need. One year after accessing a period supply bank, 36.3% of participants reported this experience (p = 0.018). Participants reported at baseline, on average, 7.8 days in the past year of avoiding seeing others, canceling appointments, or skipping work or school because they did not have access to period products. At follow-up, this was reduced to 1.2 days, on average, t (68) = 2.214, p < 0.05. Conclusion: Period supply banks play an essential role in facilitating access to period products and the resulting benefits. Our study highlights the need for sustainable, well-funded policies and interventions to address period product insecurity effectively in society. Plain Language Summary: How people in the United States benefit when they get free period products from a period supply bank Why we did this study: In the United States, many individuals cannot afford to buy period supplies and the other stuff they need to live. Period supply banks want to help by giving them free period products. Researchers do not know if getting free period products is helpful for individuals. What we wanted to learn: The Alliance for Period Supplies is a membership program for period supply banks. We wanted to learn about the individuals who get free period products and whether getting them was helpful. What we did: For a year, starting in Fall 2018, we asked 1863 individuals to fill out paper surveys. A year later, we asked 80 of those same individuals to fill out a second survey. We asked participants to take the survey if they got free period products from a period supply bank for themselves or someone they live with. Individuals only participated in the study if they told us they wanted to. What we learned: Individuals who cannot afford period products must navigate difficult decisions between purchasing products or choosing other basic needs. Providing free products through a period supply bank has lessened the burden on these individuals, reducing the number who had to choose. Individuals unable to afford period products may sometimes opt out of going places they want to go for pleasure or miss important events, like work or school, because they do not have period products. Getting free period products has eased these challenges, letting individuals participate more fully in activities and engagements without worry about period products. Why is this important: Period supply banks are essential places where individuals receive free period products. The period supply banks need more individuals, including our government, to donate period supplies or money to buy them so they can help more individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the role of high-speed rail (HSR) in promoting talent mobility and explores its heterogeneous impact in the employment distribution of local and neighboring regions. This empirical study uses data from 249 prefecture-level cities across the country from 2005 to 2018, combined with geographic spatial vector data. The results show that HSR connection significantly increases local city employment by 5.99%. This result is robust to a series of robustness tests. Heterogeneity results indicate that HSR connection has a significant positive effect on employment in eastern China and large cities, indicating a significant labor inflow from less-developed areas to more-developed areas. Moreover, HSR has a spill-over effect for employment in cities without HSR stations but within a 70 km radius. This spill-over effect is more salient for cities of medium size and in southern China. The mechanism analysis shows that the positive impact of HSR connection on employment mainly stems from the entry of new firms especially those in high-tech industries. This study not only highlights the important role of high-speed rail in promoting labor mobility and employment distribution but also provides strong evidence and insights on how to meet the demand for professionals in closed-loop system innovation and circular economy practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attrition intentions continue to impact workers within the architectural profession, despite a significant dedication of time and effort towards higher education, skill development and professional licensure. Moreover, it is a significant disruptor to sustainable business planning. This paper investigates factors impacting career wellbeing and longevity, registration status and attrition intentions across a group of architecture graduates to provide preliminary findings into the exit destinations of those having left or intending to leave the profession. Using a conceptual framework established through the literature, qualitative and quantitative data were collected through an investigative online survey across 32 architects and architecture graduates from [Name withheld] University's architecture program in Australia. Results reaffirm that no singular factor is responsible for attrition, although several themes are specific to architecture, as follows: salary versus expected hours worked, architectural registration difficulties and a discontent or lack of wellbeing within the role or work environment. The data suggest that common exit destinations for architecture graduates include roles similarly aligned within the built environment, such as landscape architecture, construction, real estate and urban planning. This paper contributes to a gap in understanding where exactly architecture graduates and professionals go when they leave and the motivating or demotivating factors that drive such alternative pursuits. It underscores the importance and value of addressing the wellbeing and career longevity of a skilled and valuable workforce in order to address and combat high attrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often presumed that when students complete a particular entry course at college, the acquisition of that qualification should grant access to the next, higher level of study. There is a dearth of academic research on the actual progression outcomes for so-called not in education, employment, and training (NEET) and disengaged youth, enrolled on an employability course. Purportedly, the employability qualifications should enable students to progress towards higher levels of study, but do they? Adopting a case study approach, research was conducted with seven tutors and 26 students enrolled on the 2013 and 2014 Level 1 Achieving Skills Course, an employability course delivered at The Site, a FE college in the East Region. The college’s database was also accessed to review success and progression outcomes. Highlighting discrepancy and controversy, key findings revealed that most participants were unable to progress onto higher level courses at The Site. Instead, they were recorded as either NEET or destination unknown. This paper reveals key factors impeding progression and the reification of NEET identities on this course. It calls for political debate and a sharper inspection into the quality of re-engagement provisions for so-called NEET and disengaged youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the impacts of unstable off-farm employment on the probability and stability of farmland rent-out and explore its mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach: The paper adopts Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Probit, Tobit, Order probit models with two-way fixed effects to conduct empirical analysis based on the balanced panel data collected in 2016 and 2023 with a national representativeness sample of 1,206 rural households in 100 villages across 5 provinces in China. Findings: The empirical results showed that unstable off-farm employment had negative effects on the probability of farmland rent-out, but it had no effects on the stability of farmland rent-out. The mechanism analysis showed that unstable off-farm employment affected the probability of farmland rent-out by decreasing the probability of purchasing houses in city and endowment insurance with high pension. Heterogeneity analysis indicated that the negative effect of unstable off-farm employment was much larger for the households with higher share of labor engaging in off-farm employment outside home county, elder members in the households and those located in the villages of mountain areas. Originality/value: This paper is the first to define the unstable off-farm employment from the perspective of incontiguous off-farm employment for several years, which could capture the normality rather than particular case in a certain year of off-farm employment among rural labors. Using these new measurements of unstable off-farmland, this paper examined the impacts and mechanisms of share of unstable off-farm employment on the probability and stability of farmland rent-out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper theoretically analyzes and empirically examines the impact and mechanisms of automated machines on employment in manufacturing enterprises, drawing on task-based model and using micro data from listed Chinese manufacturing enterprises between 2012 and 2019. Our findings reveal that: (1) Automated machines in manufacturing enterprises leads to a substitution effect on the total labor force, with a substitution effect on low-skilled labor and a creation effect on high-skilled labor in terms of employment structure. (2) Further analysis indicates that automated machines primarily have a positive effect on R&D and technical staff, a non-significant effect on sales staff, and a negative impact on production, administrative, and financial staff. (3) The primary influencing mechanisms of automated machines on employment in manufacturing firms are productivity effects and output scale effects, based on the mediation effect model. (4) Considering the industry linkage effect, we employ the input-output method and the Input-Output Table and find that automated machines for upstream (downstream) manufacturing enterprises will result in a substitution effect on employment for downstream (upstream) enterprises. The novelties and research contributions are as follows: (1) we conduct a structural decomposition of total employment, and further decompose employment positions into production, R&D, sales, finance, and administration. (2) We try to investigate the industry linkage effect about the impact of automated machines on the employment of upstream and downstream enterprises. (3) We use data from listed manufacturing companies, and the data of existing research are about provincial and industry-level data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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