Ego Integrity of Older People with Physical Disability and Therapeutic Recreation

Ego integrity, the last developmental task in Erikson's psychological theory, develops naturally among older people. However, the presence of loss–like physical disability–can considerably affect the quality of life, interactions, and well being of older adults. Hence, older people with physical disabilities need more assistance in accomplishing tasks of ego integrity. This study aimed to utilize traditional Filipino art to capture the essence of the lived experiences of a select group of older people with physical disabilities in relation to their ego integrity. Four Filipino elderly with physical disabilities were purposely selected for this study. Picture prompting and doodling sessions were held as pretest and posttest to ascertain the effectiveness of puni-making in facilitating ego integrity of participants. A series of interviews were pursued to elicit experiences and feelings of participants regarding their disability and old age. From the analysis of the triangulated set of data, two findings emerged. First, four activators of ego integrity, namely: work, family, belief in self and belief in God, were identified as essentials in the formation of the participants' ego-integrity. Second, shifts related to the activators were identified indicating ego integrity's source, meaning and connection elements have become more grounded, certain and integrated. The influence of puni-making in understanding the ego integrity of older people with disabilities was found to be a sound and novel recreational therapy. It can stimulate a select group of Filipino elderly for openness to share their subjective and yet illuminating life experiences.     

Theorizing Gender for Community College Research and Practice

Feminist theory uses gender as a lens to evaluate society's institutions and power hierarchies. Gender evolves as a social construction rather than an essential difference between the sexes, and it supports the so-called “hegemony of dominant men” in society. Socialization by gender enables discrimination in gender roles and occupations, and its main tool of segregation is a major strategy used by employers and other decision makers to engage effectively in discrimination. The extent to which the principle of gender organizes selection of field of study by students and faculty, and other facets of the community college campus, provides for a number of ongoing research questions.     

Innovation and network structural dynamics: Study of the alliance network of a major sector of the biotechnology industry

We study the large-scale topology and dynamics of maps of alliances in a major segment of the biotechnology industry. The results point to the joint dynamics of network and innovation. The study demonstrates that the network is scale-free. Competition for links translates into a dynamic exponent that seems to follow the fitter-get-richer model of network growth, with preferential attachment to firms holding key technologies. This network also shows a small-world effect. This work highlights the strategic importance of understanding the growth dynamics and structure of collaboration networks for the building of leading positions in industries led by sustained radical change.     

wastED rhetoric

ABSTRACT

Public Chef Intellectuals use restaurants as a topos to advocate for a more humane and sustainable food culture. They direct appetite both in the sense of creating delicious food and in the sense of articulating food politics. In a rhetorical analysis of Dan Barber’s experimental 2015 pop-up wastED, we find he employed three topoi in his rhetorical strategy to induce appetite: a glossary that situates his project within the context of our food system, a design that drew attention to the often-invisible nature of waste, and a plate that subverted expectations. These rhetorical places became material, interlocking arguments to help diners develop an appetite for what we now label as waste. wastED allowed Barber to create a space to reflect on what separates food from waste, prompting debate.     

Academic careers for graduate students: a strong attractor in a changed environment

Professorship has traditionally been the single most valued career path for graduates of PhD programs. Policies now encourage graduate students to directly or indirectly engage with non-academic organizations to encourage the next generation of researchers to explore alternative careers, including opportunities in industry and government. In this article, we use data from a survey of Quebec science and engineering graduate students to examine the impact of their participation in university-industry-government research partnerships on their professional preferences. We assess the degree to which exposure to non-academic realities through different training arrangements relates to career preferences, and how these preferences evolve over time. We show that the proportion of students who did not change their preferred career path over time is high, indicating that by the time students engage in a research-training program they already, for the most part, know what career they want to pursue. However, and although students with close ties to non-academic partners may initially be more interested in non-academic career paths, over time all categories of students become more attracted to academic careers. We conclude that faculty positions continue to dominate the professional dreams of fledgling researchers, a power of attraction that increases as students advance in their program, even when it involves industrial contacts.