Becoming an IT Person: Field, Habitus and Capital in the Transition from University to Work

Transitions from university study to graduate work in new industries such as information technology (IT) are not well understood. As the IT industry is a significant recruiter of graduates and an important component of the UK economy, the transition into the IT profession needs to be understood better. In addition, understanding the transition into IT work may contribute to a broader understanding of transitions in the new industries more generally. We focus on three cases selected from a broader longitudinal project and take as our starting point graduates’ perspectives on their transitions. We use Bourdieu’s conceptions of field, habitus and capital to move beyond existing policy discourses which tend to concentrate exclusively on the qualities of graduates. Specifically, we argue that, to understand transitions we need to focus on the work and the organisational context (field), the habitus of the individual making the transition, and the resources (capital) that individuals may deploy. That is, individual transitions are better understood by considering field, habitus and capital and the interactions between them.     

“The True Story of Insy Winsy by A. Spider”

This paper investigates how the writing of some Year 6 children was influenced by exposure to the work of a contemporary author of children’s literature and through reading a variety of fairy stories, traditional tales, fables and nursery rhymes. Their growing awareness of the way in which story structures are constructed in particular genres resulted in some thought–provoking short stories which exhibited intertextual references linked to life experiences and to parts of other texts they had read.     

Sustaining Change in Universities: Continuities in Case Studies and Concepts

Tertiary Education and Management - My book, CreatingEntrepreneurial Universities, based onmid-1990s research in five Europeanuniversities, set forth five ``pathways oftransformation'' by...     

Vendor-assisted e-selection and online ordering: optimal conditions

In response to demands from libraries, a number of library materials vendors have converted their in-house working databases into e-selection and online ordering tools for their customers. Some libraries have embraced these new sources to select titles and then export bibliographic, ordering, and invoice records into their automated acquisitions systems. These libraries have integrated the use of the vendor databases (e.g., GOBI, Collection Manager, Otto-Editions, I libri) into their daily selection and ordering operations. This article will address the forces behind this new approach, some results, the benefits, implications, trade-offs, and optimal conditions for success of this acquisition method. The authors will assess these issues through a more in-depth examination of the experiences at the University of North Carolina Academic Affairs Library and at the University of Chicago Libraries as well as findings in the literature.     

The information-seeking behaviour of doctors: a review of the evidence

This paper provides a narrative review of the available literature from the past 10 years (1996-2006) that focus on the information seeking behaviour of doctors. The review considers the literature in three sub-themes: Theme 1, the Information Needs of Doctors includes information need, frequency of doctors' questions and types of information needs; Theme 2, Information Seeking by Doctors embraces pattern of information resource use, time spent searching, barriers to information searching and information searching skills; Theme 3, Information Sources Utilized by Doctors comprises the number of sources utilized, comparison of information sources consulted, computer usage, ranking of information resources, printed resource use, personal digital assistant (PDA) use, electronic database use and the Internet. The review is wide ranging. It would seem that the traditional methods of face-to-face communication and use of hard-copy evidence still prevail amongst qualified medical staff in the clinical setting. The use of new technologies embracing the new digital age in information provision may influence this in the future. However, for now, it would seem that there is still research to be undertaken to uncover the most effective methods of encouraging clinicians to use the best evidence in everyday practice.