Go Back to the Beginning: Career Development and the Challenges of Transitioning From the Military to Civilian Employment

This chapter examines the transition challenges facing military personnel to moving to civilian employment, a major issue for nations like the USA that have large armed forces. For such personnel, they seek to establish a career after a period of service and often without the credentials required for existing or future job vacancies. This chapter discusses the challenges of career transition from military to civilian employment, largely in the context of the US-based literature. The chapter proceeds to outline the range of obstacles to transition and then considers remedial measures to support transition ranging from pre transition to post transition support programs

Comorbidity, Pain, Utilization, and Psychosocial Outcomes in Older versus Younger Sickle Cell Adults: The PiSCES Project

Background. Patients with SCD now usually live well into adulthood. Whereas transitions into adulthood are now often studied, little is published about aging beyond the transition period. We therefore studied age-associated SCD differences in utilization, pain, and psychosocial variables. Methods. Subjects were 232 adults in the Pain in Sickle Cell Epidemiology Study (PiSCES). Data included demographics, comorbidity, and psychosocial measures. SCD-related pain and health care utilization were recorded in diaries. We compared 3 age groups: 16–25 (transition), 26–36 (younger adults), and 37–64 (older adults) years. Results. Compared to the 2 adult groups, the transition group reported fewer physical challenges via comorbidities, somatic complaints, and pain frequency, though pain intensity did not differ on crisis or noncrisis pain days. The transition group utilized opioids less often, made fewer ambulatory visits, and had better quality of life, but these differences disappeared after adjusting for pain and comorbidities. However, the transition group reported more use of behavioral coping strategies. Conclusion. We found fewer biological challenges, visits, and better quality of life, in transition-aged versus older adults with SCD, but more behavioral coping. Further study is required to determine whether age-appropriate health care, behavioral, or other interventions could improve age-specific life challenges of patients with SCD

Different on the inside... Third Culture Kids' transition experiences : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand

Third Culture Kids (TCKs) are children who have spent a significant part of their upbringing in a country or countries different from their passport country. This thesis explored the experiences of TCKs growing up abroad, and how this may have impacted their transition to their passport country, following high school. In particular, this thesis considered: the benefits of the TCK lifestyle; TCKs’ unique strengths; their cultural identity development; meaning of home and belonging; acculturation and the TCKs’ challenges during transition. It is envisioned that through increasing knowledge and understanding of TCKs, social workers, counselors, tertiary institutions and parents will be better able to address the specific needs of the TCKs during transition to their passport country. By means of a narrative approach to the research, the participants provided insights into their TCK lifestyle and the specific challenges they experienced during their transition back to their passport country. Consideration was given to the theoretical social work perspectives that can benefit social work practice when supporting TCKs. Subsequently, the implications for social work practice provision were established. The research findings identified the many benefits but also challenges to the TCK lifestyle. Much of the challenges TCKs experienced during transition to their passport country resulted from their sociocultural adjustment, highlighting the need for both social and cultural support during their transition. In addition to support, the findings revealed that the TCK lifestyle, cultural identity, family relationships, friendships have a significant perceived influence on the TCK’s successful transition to their passport country

Transition in Rural Communities

This metasynthesis examines transition planning and services in rural communities, especially those in Alaska. It considers the barriers and challenges to transition implementation, the cultural responsiveness of rural educators, the developments in and suggestions for transition services, and approaches and strategies for transition planning. It illuminates the importance of building community relationships and tapping into human resources. Finally, the metasynthesis stresses the rural educator's need for cultural sensitivity in rural Alaska Native communities

The self-perception of adult educators in Eastern Europe in the post-Soviet transitional period

This article addresses the self-images of adult educators in view of exercising their professional agency in contexts of social transformation after the fall of the communist regimes. It draws on research undertaken in Poland, Ukraine and Russia in 2009 which investigated the self-perception and self-evaluation of adult educators with regard to their own educational practice—vis-à-vis the challenges of transition in general and of the need of rethinking the dictatorial past in particular. The interviews with 91 adult educators in three countries illustrate the impact of socio-political change in the period of democratization on the concept of one’s professional identity. They also demonstrate how transition policies create dilemmas for practice which adult educators accommodate or resist. The article discusses how different self-images are linked to socio-political challenges of society in the transition times. It analyses the possibilities, challenges, impacts and constraints of different perception and forms of educational practice in the light of the current situation in three countries. (DIPF/Orig.

The new pensions in Kazakhstan : challenges in making the transition

In June of 1997 Kazakhstan embarked on a dramatic reform of its pension system, replacing the inherited pay as you go regime with one based entirely on fully funded individual accounts. This paper provides projections of the effects of this reform on income replacement rates and considers some possible adjustments to the system design, including those enacted in early 2005, that could address the projected outcomes of the reform. The initial reform which did not include any minimum pension guarantee is projected to result in a significant reduction in the individual income replacement rates derived from the pension system, especially for women. When the reform was mature and the old system fully phased out, women are projected to have received pensions at level of less than 15 percent of their pre-retirement earnings. Various potential adjustments to the reform, including the recent introduction of a citizens pension or"demogrant", are found to have the capacity to significantly raise these income replacement rates. The fiscal costs of alternatives are found to vary considerably due significantly to the degree to which they would target expenditures to lower income groups. The analysis of the original reform design and possible adjustments provides some useful lessons about the design of individual account systems in transition economies.Pensions&Retirement Systems,State Owned Enterprise Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Gender and Law,Youth and Governance

An Analysis of the Implementation of Program Budgeting in Georgia - Brief

This report discusses the challenges faced by the State of Georgia in the transition to program budgeting. FRC Brief 14

The EU’s Just Transition: three challenges and how to overcome them. Egmont European Policy Brief No. 59 March 2020

The EU’s ‘Just Transition Mechanism’ proposal has become highly contentious, bringing up issues of redistribution between countries. It faces three main challenges: overcoming a focus on national allocations; expanding the transition from energy to other sectors; and including the private sector and civil society in the transition. By effectively mainstreaming the idea of a just transition, the Commission can ensure that the current proposal not only becomes less sensitive, but also more effectively supports a fair shift to a zero-carbon society

Moving on : the challenges for foreign language learning on transition from primary to secondary school

Europe's commitment to language learning has resulted in higher percentages of pupils studying foreign languages during primary education. In England, recent policy decisions to expand foreign language learning at primary level by 2010 create major implications for transition to secondary. This paper presents findings on transition issues from case studies of a DfES-funded project evaluating 19 local authority Pathfinders piloting the introduction of foreign language learning at primary level. Research on transition in other countries sets these findings in context. Finally, it investigates the challenges England faces for transition in the light of this expansion and discusses future implications