Specialisms for Generalists

The understanding of gender inequality for women entering work has not been subject to significant research or theorizing. This small study indicated that young women entering the workplace are subject to direct discrimination and by using an intersectionality approach this paper proposes that the intersection of gender and young age results in women being identified as the out-group, stereotyped and subjected to micropolitics. This paper also argues that the continued unequal power relations in organizations ensures that equality and diversity policies do not change the individual non-conscious processes that take place that allow the continuation of the glass ceiling.     

The effects of socioeconomic status on healthy life expectancy among different age groups of Japanese suburban elderly

This study aims to elucidate the effects of socio-economic status (SES), physical disability, comorbidity, and long-term care (LTC) on healthy life expectancy (HALE) among the suburban elderly in Japan. A questionnaire survey was conducted among all residents aged 65 years and older in a suburban area of Tokyo in 2001, with two follow-up studies being conducted in 2004 and 2007. In all, 7905 respondents were included for analysis. Data analysis was performed using survival analysis, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. The results indicated that improvement in SES of the elderly is associated with an extended life expectancy of living with good health particularly with regard to enhancing daily living capabilities and preventing the need for LTC. Significant age disparities were found in the relationship between SES and HALE among the Japanese suburban elderly. Furthermore, increased age and declining physical health within the high SES category appeared to override the significant effects of SES on HALE for the Japanese suburban elderly.     

Impact of Contact With Grandparents on Children's and Adolescents’ Views on the Elderly

Stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination against the elderly (ageism) may manifest themselves in children at an early age. However, the factors influencing this phenomenon are not well known. Using both explicit and open-ended questions, this study analyzed the influence of personal and familial parameters on the views of 1,151 seven- to sixteen-year-old Belgian children and adolescents on the elderly. Four factors were found to affect these views: gender (girls had slightly more positive views than boys), age (ageism was lowest in 10- to 12-year-old, reminiscent of other forms of stereotypes and cognitive developmental theories), grandparents’ health, and most importantly, quality of contact with grandparents (very good and good contacts correlated with more favorable feelings toward the elderly, especially in children with frequent contacts).     

Learning for revival; British trade unions and workplace learning A shorter version of this article appeared in 2004, as a Research Note in Work,Employment and Society, 18(2), 413–420.

Against a background of declining union significance and falling membership, this article reviews the recent development of trade union workplace learning in Britain. It is argued that the dominant framework within which this learning is currently undertaken is one of ‘employability’. Instead of an employability framework, it is suggested that an educational framework informed by ‘democratic citizenship’ better serves the need for unions and their members to engage with changes within the workplace and within the wider societal context.     

INTELLECTUAL VERSUS WISDOM-RELATED KNOWLEDGE: THE CASE FOR A DIFFERENT KIND OF LEARNING IN THE LATER YEARS OF LIFE

Lifelong learning and continued education are essential for older people who want to stay involved in a rapidly changing world. However, in the later years of life, it may be even more important to acquire the timeless and universal knowledge of wisdom. Whereas intellectual knowledge enables elderly people to stay involved in worldly affairs, wisdom-related knowledge helps them to prepare for the physical and social decline of old age and ultimately their own death. Moreover, while intellectual knowledge tends to decrease with advancing age, the relationship between wisdom and aging is potentially positive, provided that cognitive deterioration does not become pathological. By illustrating the difference between intellectual and wisdom-related knowledge in the areas of goals, approach, range, acquisition, effects on the knower, and relation to aging, it is argued that wisdom rather than intellectual knowledge is crucial for aging well.     

智慧政府视域下政府购买居家养老服务策略研究——基于成都市武侯区实证调研

智慧政府为政府职能由全能型向服务型转变提供了契机。在政府购买居家养老服务领域,智慧政府越发显示出其优越性,文章以成都市武侯区为实证调研对象,揭示智慧政府在构建购买居家养老服务领域新模式方面的成效和面临的挑战,指出在政府感知、机构发育和购买过程三个维度,政府应以大数据思维调和供需平衡矛盾,采取智慧政府干预养老服务市场、完善购买过程打造精明买家的优化策略。     

Explore the needs of the elderly with social awareness

With the growing trend in population aging, declining birthrates, and changing patterns in living arrangements, aging in place has become a primary choice for elderly people after retirement (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2010). Home care service has become a key aspect of successful aging so that recent studies started to examine how to serve the dailyneeds for the elderly by adopting new home care services, in particular technology-enabled services for better living. This study applied Maslow’s theory to conduct an in-depth assessment on elders need and examine the factors that influence their satisfaction.Based on the concept of the social change process model (Glofia 1983), the “social awareness” on seeking external (societal) help to solve the problem was proposed and tested on its moderating effects in satisfying elder’s needs. The results from the empirical testing reveal that that elderly people rely on assistance from others and home-care service providers mediating the service to satisfaction when they are in less favorable health and economic conditions.     

Wisdom In The Workplace

The Data → Information → Knowledge → Wisdom (DIKW) model of describing cognitive processes is one that HPT professionals can use to structure performance improvement efforts within a knowledge‐intensive workforce. Evidence of this is already emerging as the field embraces knowledge management (KM) technologies. Within the DIKW model, however, it is readily apparent that we have yet to grapple with the concept of managing wisdom‐the highest level of cognitive processing. This article presents a brief summary of relevant wisdom studies and discusses how these can be used responsibly for developing and managing wisdom in the workplace.     

On Defining “Wisdom”: Baltes,Ardelt, Ryan,and Whitehead

Wisdom has been a topic of religion and philosophy since the dawning of human civilization. But only during the last two or three decades wisdom has become a topic of empirical research in developmental psychology, adult and old age education, as well as in management and leadership studies. The aim of this paper is to elaborate a new definition of “wisdom,” in order to provide a more adequate foundation for empirical wisdom research. To reach this goal, two empirical wisdom theories (Baltes and Ardelt) and two philosophical wisdom approaches (Ryan and Whitehead) are presented, discussed, compared, and synthesized. The results show that despite the fact that Baltes’ definition of “wisdom” is somewhat wider than Ardelt’s, their approaches have many aspects in common. Additionally, also Whitehead’s ideas on wisdom are quite similar to Baltes’ core criteria concerning wisdom-related knowledge, but Whitehead mentions two additional aspects which go beyond Baltes’ approach. Further, according to Ryan, wise persons must have very few unjustified beliefs; this necessary condition for a wise person is neither mentioned by Baltes, nor by Ardelt or Whitehead. Based on the ideas of these four approaches, a new definition of “wisdom” is presented, in which wisdom is relativised to time indices and moral systems. This definition consists of a cognitive, an ethical, and a reflective component. Further it is shown that Fischer’s and Dawson’s Lectical Assessment System is a major candidate for measuring wisdom on the basis of our new definition.     

Inequalities and Agencies in Workplace Learning Experiences: International Student Perspectives

National systems of vocational education and training around the globe are facing reform driven by quality, international mobility, and equity. Evidence suggests that there are qualitatively distinctive challenges in providing and sustaining workplace learning experiences to international students. However, despite growing conceptual and empirical work, there is little evidence of the experiences of these students undertaking workplace learning opportunities as part of vocational education courses. This paper draws on a four-year study funded by the Australian Research Council that involved 105 in depth interviews with international students undertaking work integrated learning placements as part of vocational education courses in Australia. The results indicate that international students can experience different forms of discrimination and deskilling, and that these were legitimised by students in relation to their understanding of themselves as being an ‘international student’ (with fewer rights). However, the results also demonstrated the ways in which international students exercised their agency towards navigating or even disrupting these circumstances, which often included developing their social and cultural capital. This study, therefore, calls for more proactively inclusive induction and support practices that promote reciprocal understandings and navigational capacities for all involved in the provision of work integrated learning. This, it is argued, would not only expand and enrich the learning opportunities for international students, their tutors, employers, and employees involved in the provision of workplace learning opportunities, but it could also be a catalyst to promote greater mutual appreciation of diversity in the workplace.     

中国式般若学刍议

本文考察了东晋佛教领袖道安毕生宣讲般若经义、研究阐释般若理论的宗教实践活动,然后讨论了中国式般若学理论与玄学理论的实质性区别,提出：东晋兴起的中国式般若学是佛教非自觉汉化的产物,它的兴和衰主要取决于晋人对般若理论认识的程度,而与所谓的依附迎合玄学无关;曹魏时孕育中的玄学曾经受到已经流布九卅160）L,年的抽象、思辨的般若学的深刻影响,历史事实不是与此相反。     

Effects of Intergenerational Interaction on Aging

The world population pyramid has changed shape. However, this does not mean that societies have changed their negative concept of old age. Our study proposes an intergenerational service-learning program with 179 university students and 101 slightly depressed elderly people. The results show that the elderly people who interacted improved in well-being. Those interacting with the young people tended to lower their stereotyped perception of themselves, while the others tended to augment it. The young people tended to moderate their stereotypes of the elderly with or without interaction.     

Research on e-learning in the workplace 2000–2012: A bibliometric analysis of the literature

Research on e-learning in the workplace has proliferated over the past decade. Various topics on e-learning in workplace settings have emerged, showing the complex, dynamic and multi-disciplinary nature of the field. In this context, there is a need for an extensive, thematic overview of related studies for a better understanding of this broad domain. Using co-word analysis and text analysis methods, this study presents a bibliometric analysis of 324 articles on workplace e-learning published in academic journals and conference proceedings from 2000 to 2012. The results identify six research themes in the field, which are further categorized into four dimensions: e-learning for continuing education and professional development, e-learning in the healthcare sector (as one of the most prolific e-learning initiatives), use of social media for e-learning, and the integration of knowledge management with e-learning. By incorporating the analysis results with relevant reviews, this study offers a comprehensive picture and a holistic view of the workplace e-learning domain, and suggests directions for further work.     

Fostering wise judgement: professional decisions in development programmes for early career engineers

This paper reviews literature that explores the role of judgement in professional practice. It discusses how workplace decisions, work activities and reflection on these activities may contribute to the development of wise judgements, or ‘wisdom’, and how workplaces can leverage these activities for induction and transition to work programmes. This review of the literature is prompted by survey results inviting engineering graduates and professionals to identify the capabilities they believe are most significant to success in the engineering workplace. The requirement for sound professional judgement resonates in participant responses. The paper summarises views of expertise, the relationship between experience and the development of professional judgement and the broader contribution of expansive and participatory learning environments to developing professional judgement. It concludes that the organisation of work and job design can facilitate the articulation of new engineers to professional practice, and that organisational learning programmes can leverage workplace activities to foster wise judgement in graduate engineers.     

International scholarships and home country civil service: Comparing perspectives of government employment for social change in Ghana and Nigeria

Many international scholarships aim for national development outcomes, including reforms in government—an institution central to catalyzing social change on a national level. This paper examines alumni trajectories from one program whose graduates were expected to advance social justice at home. Focusing on Ghana and Nigeria, this research compares (a) alumni perceptions of home country governance and government employment and (b) its influence on alumni pathways. Results emphasize the importance of specific contextual factors identified by alumni, such as perceptions of government efficacy and workplace conditions, that influence their decisions to pursue government employment. Findings inform governments and scholarship funders, especially those aiming for government capacity building or social justice reform.     

Effects of Mexican Immigrant Parents’ Daily Workplace Discrimination on Child Behavior and Family Functioning

This study investigated Mexican immigrant parents’ reports of perceived workplace discrimination and their children's behavior, parents’ moods, and parent–child interactions. Parents of one hundred and thirty‐eight 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children were asked to complete one survey daily for 2 weeks (N = 1,592 days). On days when fathers perceived discrimination, fathers and mothers reported more externalizing child behaviors, and mothers reported fewer positive child behaviors. When mothers perceived discrimination, they reported more externalizing child behaviors; fathers reported more internalizing child behaviors. Parents reported worse mood on days with perceived discrimination. Perceived discrimination was not strongly related to parent–child interactions. For fathers, but less so for mothers, those whose psychological acculturation indicated separation had more negative relations between daily perceived workplace discrimination and child and family outcomes.     

A Human Capital Approach to Discriminations: Matching Workers and Jobs

ABSTRACT : Much of the research on discrimination in the labor force has focused on attainment for different groups, once differences in human capital had been accounted for. Unfortunately, this literature often uses proxies for human capital, like education and training, that may be already biased against certain groups who have limited access to quality developmental experiences. What is missing in this literature is a direct measure of individuals' capability such that the inefficiency of a biased market in allocating human capital to jobs can be more clearly identified. This piece will explore the role of a direct measure of human capital-cognitive ability-as one method to examine discrimination in the workplace. Bias is calculated by evaluating the match between worker ability and occupational complexity across different groups. The author highlights relevant literature on ability, occupational mobility, and occupational match and concludes with some propositions to guide future research.     

制约河南省老年人参与体育旅游因素调查分析

采用文献法、调查法、数理统计法等,对有可能制约到老年人参与体育旅游的个人、社会、行政、交通、时间、气象、环境等方面的因素进行了分析研究.结果显示影响老年体育旅游因素主要集中在体育旅游的安全保障、个人的身体健康状况、气候及体育旅游中服务质量因素.因此老年体育旅游的开发应建立在有安全保障的基础上,适合身体健康老年人休闲娱乐的体育旅游项目,培养专业的体育旅游人员,提高体育旅游的服务质量.建议政府出台优惠政策使多部门合作搭建老年人参与体育旅游的平台,加强鼓励旅游企业针对老年人开设具有老年体育特色的旅游项目,并通过舆论导向来促使老年人认识体育旅游产品适时适度的参与体育旅游活动保证老年体育旅游的持续发展.     

细读《红楼梦》中林红玉

《红楼梦》中的林红玉,无论在职场上还是在爱情上,都是一个积极主动的经营者。她积极表现,得到了凤姐非同一般的器重。她精心设计,成就了她与贾芸的木石姻缘。她的经营智慧及她性格中的很多元素都超越了同时代的人,都具有穿越时空的现代性,值得当下的我们思索和学习。     

Developing Competence at Work

In this paper, we explore the relationship between differing conceptualisations of competence, and the implications of these differences for the enacted workplace curriculum and its pedagogical epistemologies. We argue that when competence is understood as a set of stand-alone attributes that reside within an individual, it limits and over simplifies understandings of work, the context of the work, and the vocation of which that work is a part. We propose that instead of a static end product, competence should be viewed as a continuous process of development, of becoming, and of understanding the work individually and collectively. Drawing on an analysis of two workplace learning case studies, we illustrate the ways in which the work itself structures the enacted workplace curriculum and facilitates or constrains learning. The Singaporean case studies, one of trainee chefs in a high-end hotel and the other of trainee healthcare assistants in a nursing home, for the elderly provide sharp contrasts of differing conceptualisations of competence. Data was collected through analysing organisational policies on training and development semi-structured interviews with trainees and their workplace supervisors, unstructured, nonparticipant workplace observations of the trainees and supervisors as they carried out their daily work tasks.