Continuing professional and career development: the doctoral experience of education alumni at a UK university

This article reports on a study of alumni who completed their doctorates 2, 5 and 10 years ago at a Graduate School of Education in the University of London (n=162). It investigates the circumstances within which these research students started and completed their research and how they have subsequently used their studies, showing the particular place of the Ph.D. and the new Ed.D. in professional development in the field of education internationally. It questions current national proposals to ‘improve’ doctoral ‘training’ in the UK by enhancing students' employability and suggests that policy should be based on the actual employment and other life needs of postgraduate students in different disciplines. It argues that research students are paying for the privilege of satisfying their intellectual curiosity and making an original contribution to knowledge and are as concerned with personal growth as with vocational development.     

The Relationship of Supervisory Styles to Satisfaction With Supervision and the Perceived Self‐Efficacy of Master's‐Level Counseling Students

The purpose of this study was to determine whether supervisors' supervisory styles are related to master's‐level counseling students' satisfaction with supervision and their perceived self‐efficacy. Multiple regression analyses of data obtained for 82 participants indicated that particular supervisory styles were significant predictors of supervisees' satisfaction with supervision and perceived self‐efficacy. Findings can be used to enhance the training of supervisors.     

How reliable is marking in GCSE English?

In a re-marking exercise to investigate the reliability of marking in GCSE English examinations, the Principal Examiners' marks were adopted as 'true' marks for comparison with the actual or 'live' marks that had been awarded by the appointed examiners. A variety of approaches to investigating mark/re-mark reliability collectively led to the conclusion that marking reliability was particularly strong in the Higher tier of the specification that differentiates by outcome.     

A cross-sectional and prospective analyse of reallocating sedentary time to physical activity on children’s cardiorespiratory fitness

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with health benefits in children, improving cardiac morphology, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and biological outcomes. This study aimed to examine the substitution effects of displaying a fixed duration of sedentary time with a fixed duration of physical activity (PA) at different intensities on children’s CRF. A total of 315 children (136 boys) were assessed (age: 10.6 ± 0.6 years old). Outcomes at baseline and follow-up (16-months) were CRF determined using a maximal cycle test and sedentary time and PA measured with accelerometers. Data were analysed by isotemporal substitution analyses estimating the effect of reallocating 30 min/day of sedentary time by light (LPA), moderate (MPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA) on CRF. VPA was positively and significantly associated with CRF cross-sectional (β = 0.026, p < 0.001) and prospectively (β = 0.010, p < 0.001). Reallocating 30 min/day of sedentary time into VPA was positively cross-sectionally (β = 0.780, p < 0.001) and prospectively (β = 0.303, p < 0.05) associated with CRF. Conversely, relocating 30-minutes of sedentary time into 30 minutes of LPA and MPA was not associated with CRF. These results suggest that reallocating an equal amount of time from sedentary into VPA is cross-sectional and prospectively associated with a favourable CRF.     

Towards the university entrepreneurial mission: Portuguese academics’ self-perspective of their role in knowledge transfer

The role of the university in society and the economy is evolving. Universities produce knowledge that promotes technological developments, which are, in turn, critical to economic growth and competitiveness in the global economy. Therefore, it is increasingly expected that universities become more entrepreneurial and assume this third mission in order to promote innovation and development through the provision of technologies and business ventures. Drawing on data collected for The Changing Academic Profession Project – a comparative survey of the academic profession carried out in 19 countries from all over the world – this article explores Portuguese academic entrepreneurship engagement based on the involvement in the process of technology transfer as an activity performed in the context of research activities. It thus aims to contribute to knowledge about academics’ engagement in entrepreneurial activity. Results from this study suggest that Portuguese academics are fairly involved in entrepreneurial activities and that there is an overall positive attitude towards application of research to real problems. Furthermore, it was possible to see that academics involved in processes of technology transfer are not only focused on activities such as research but also service to the outside community. However, when comparing academics involved and not involved in entrepreneurial activities, several significant differences are found in their attitudes, perceptions and behaviours.     

The maturation of global corporate R&D: Evidence from the activity of U.S. foreign subsidiaries

This study empirically investigates the impact of foreign country factors like market size, technological strength of industries, and science and engineering (S&E) capability on the conduct of U.S. overseas R&D during the 1991-2002 period. We find that overseas markets primarily predict the entry of U.S. R&D, while the S&E capability of nations is strongly correlated with the post-entry intensity of U.S. foreign subsidiaries’ innovative activity. We also find important inter-industry differences: U.S. electrical, electronics, computer, and telecommunication industries are strongly drawn towards overseas S&E capacity; industries including Machinery, Automobiles, and Transport equipment are primarily attracted by the technological strength of foreign industry; U.S. R&D in Chemicals mostly follows overseas markets. We discuss the implications of our results to the global organization of innovative activity and innovation policy.