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Excellence education, in the form of honours, talent or plus programmes, is a relatively new, but broadly adopted, educational form in Dutch higher education. As not much is know about its effects, this dissertation aims to contribute to our understanding in two ways. First, in terms of individual employability related outcomes of excellence education, both from the perspective of participating students and from the perspective of employers. Are students extrinsically motivated the participate? And does excellence education give recent graduates benefits in employers’ recruitment considerations? The second aim relates to organisational effects. To what extent is excellence education a testing ground for education innovations, and to what extent are innovations diffused to the entire higher education institution? The results show that excellence education does indeed have perceived effects on graduates’ employability. With respect to the organisation, some diffusion effects were observed, but more can be gained.

Magistrsko delo preuči in vrednoti organizacijske učinke socialnega kapitala v Upravni enoti Litija. Spremljanje in vrednotenje socialnega kapitala, tudi virtualnega, na podeželju je pomembno, saj je socialni kapital eden izmed dejavnikov, ki prispevajo k dvigu kolektivne identitete, povečanemu medsebojnemu zaupanju in sodelovanju. Vse to privede do povezovanja in sodelovanja med akterji, ki z delom za skupni cilj dosežejo večji razvojni učinek. Ker je socialni kapital večplasten in težje merljiv pojem, v magistrskem delu s kombinacijo metod orodja SCAT ovrednotimo predvsem organizacijske učinke socialnega kapitala (socialni kapital organizacij, socialna mreža organizacij in učinki v prostoru). Ti se kažejo kot pomembno izhodišče tudi za izvajanje trenutnega pristopa LEADER/CLLD, ki temelji na odločitvah povezane skupnosti. V Upravni enoti Litija je registriranih 201 društev, ki se povezujejo z ostalimi organizacijami in tvorijo socialno mrežo. S pomočjo anketiranja (107 sodelujočih društev) smo preučili značilnosti socialnega kapitala znotraj društev in pridobili podatke za izvedbo kvantitativne mrežne analize, s katero smo grafično prikazali socialno mrežo in prepoznali pomembne vozliščne organizacije na preučevanem območju. Analiza poglobljenih polstrukturiranih intervjujev (13 predstavnikov organizacij) je pripomogla k razumevanju kognitivne in relacijske razsežnosti socialnega kapitala (medsebojni odnosi, zaupanje, vizija, skupni cilji, sodelovanje). Ključne rezultate izvedenih analiz smo predstavili predstavnikom vozliščnih organizacij socialne mreže na fokusni skupini (7 udeležencev), ki so s svojimi mnenji pripomogli pri evalvaciji pridobljenih rezultatov in prispevali h ključnim ugotovitvam dela. This master's thesis studies and assesses the organisational effects of the social capital in the Litija Administrative Unit. The following and assessing of the social capital (including virtual capital) in the countryside is important, because social capital is one of the factors that contribute to the rise of the collective identity, increased mutual trust and collaboration. All of this can lead to connecting and collaboration among local actors who reach a bigger developmental effect through the work for a common goal. This master’s thesis evaluates especially organisational effects of the social capital (social capital of organisations, social network of organisations and spatial effects) through a combination of SCAT tool methods, because the social capital is a multifaceted and harder-to-measure concept. They are shown as an important starting point for the execution of the current LEADER/CLLD approach, which is based on a connected community. In the Litija Administrative Unit there are 201 registered associations which connect with other organisations and form a social network. With the help of the surveys (107 participating associations) we studied the characteristics of the social capital within the organisations and gained the data for the performance of the quantitative network analysis, with the help of which we graphically showed the social network and identified important nodal organisations in the examined area. The analysis of the in-depth semi-structured interviews (13 representatives of organisations) contributed to the understanding of the cognitive and relational dimension of the social capital (mutual relationships, trust, vision, common goals, collaboration). The crucial results of the performed analyses were introduced to the representatives of the social network nodal organisations on the focus group (7 participants), who assisted the evaluation of the acquired results through their opinions and contributed to the crucial findings of the work.

Resumen El objetivo de esta revisión sistemática es evaluar la influencia de la testosterona circulante (efectos activacionales) y de la exposición prenatal a ella (efectos organizacionales) sobre la asunción de riesgos en conductas económicas, evaluando los trabajos de investigación existentes hasta la fecha acerca de la temática. La base bibliográfica analizada se obtuvo de distintas bases de datos especializadas en el ámbito de la psicología y las neurociencias. Los resultados obtenidos concluyen en una relación contrastada entre la testosterona circulante y la asunción de riesgo financiero. En lo referente a la exposición prenatal se evidencia un estado inmaduro de la investigación sobre la temática, ya que los pocos artículos disponibles difieren en gran medida en cuanto a metodologías y resultados. Se espera que este trabajo sirva como visión general del estado actual de la cuestión tratada, con vistas a unificar las metodologías y tratar de mejorar la calidad de las futuras investigaciones. Abstract This systematic review undertook to evaluate the influence of circulating testosterone (activational effects) and the pre-natal exposure to this (organisational effects) as regards risk-taking decisions in financial behaviour. An evaluation was also made on the research work to date on this subject. The bibliographic database analysed was obtained from different databases specialised in the field of psychology and neuroscience. The results obtained show a relationship between circulating testosterone and financial risk-taking. As regards prenatal exposure, research on this topic is still in its infancy, since the few articles found widely differ in methodologies and results. It is hoped that this study will serve as an over view of the current state of the topic, in order to unify the methodologies and to try to improve the quality of future research.

U radu se raspravlja o organizirajućim i aktivirajućim učincima spolnih hormona te o njihovu utjecaju na kognitivno funkcioniranje. Dosadašnja su istraživanja pokazala spolne razlike u nekim specifičnim kognitivnim sposobnostima. Žene su u prosjeku bolje u verbalnoj fl uentnosti, perceptivnoj brzini i točnosti, kao i finijoj motorici, dok su muškarci u prosjeku bolji u prostornim i matematičkim sposobnostima. Ove razlike u kognitivnom funkcioniranju dovode se u vezu s izlaganjem mozga fetusa različitim razinama spolnih hormona tijekom prenatalnog života. Studije na skupinama rođenim s genskim poremećajima, kao što su sindrom neosjetljivosti na androgene, kongenitalna adrenalna hiperplazija i Turnerov sindrom također upućuju na organizirajuće učinke spolnih hormona na kognitivno funkcioniranje. Nadalje, dosadašnja istraživanja pokazuju da povišene razine ženskih spolnih hormona u kasnoj folikularnoj i/ili lutealnoj fazi menstrualnog ciklusa potenciraju tipičan ženski kognitivni obrazac funkcioniranja, koji karakterizira veća učinkovitost u zadacima koje u prosjeku bolje rješavaju žene. Niske pak razine ovih hormona, koje karakteriziraju menstrualnu fazu ciklusa, potenciraju tipičan muški obrazac funkcioniranja, koji uključuje bolju učinkovitost u zadacima koje u prosjeku bolje rješavaju muškarci. U radu se također raspravlja o metodološkim razlikama u dosadašnjim istraživanjima organizirajućih i aktivirajućih učinaka spolnih hormona na kognitivno funkcioniranje, kao i o smjernicama za buduća istraživanja., This paper discusses the organisational and activational effects of sex hormones, and their infl uence on cognitive functioning. Previous studies have shown gender differences in specifi c cognitive abilities. Women generally show an advantage in verbal fl uency, perceptual speed and accuracy, as well as in fi ne motor skills, while men generally show an advantage in spatial and mathematical abilities. These differences in cognitive functioning are thought to occur as a result of foetal brain exposure to different levels of sex hormones during prenatal life. Additional evidence of organisational effects of sex hormones on cognitive functioning also comes from studies of subjects with genetic disorders, such as androgen insensitivity syndrome, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and Tyrner syndrome. Furthermore, former investigations have shown that increase in female sex hormone in the late follicular and/or luteal phase of the menstrual cycle intensifi es the typical female cognitive pattern of functioning with improved effi ciency in tasks which are usually better performed by women. At the same time, low levels of such hormones that characterise the menstrual phase of the cycle intensify the typical male cognitive pattern of functioning with better effi ciency in tasks which usually better performed by men. This paper also points to methodological differences between investigations of organizational and activational effects of sex hormones on cognitive functioning, as well a to the direction of future investigations.