Understanding the entrepreneur as socially constructed.

The objective of this thesis, which combines two levels of analysis, is to explore the entrepreneur as a social construct and the socially constructed nature of entrepreneurship. It builds upon a limited number of extant studies considering the socially constructed nature of entrepreneurship by focusing upon achieving a Verstehen' of these 'constructions' as articulated in stories; thereby enhancing conceptual understanding. It achieves this by concentrating upon the key issues of constructionism, namely narrative and identity; and by triangulating these by using a qualitative approach and a variety of methodologies. These include social constructionism, semiotic analysis, biographical analysis, in-depth interviews, content analysis and action research. This approach is justified because, despite an increasing body of research into aspects entrepreneurial, our basic understanding of the many social facets which influence our perception of the entrepreneur remains unclear. Clarity of definition often eludes us, although we can describe and explain it in context. Consequentially, such constructions are subjective, descriptive, often nebulous and heavily reliant upon stereotype. By examining interrelated social constructs such as gender, class and ethnicity, which are embedded in and influenced by other constructs such as childhood, family, society, culture and so on this thesis extends our knowledge of entrepreneurial process. It allows us to understand subjective issues such as ethics, value, morality, legitimacy, traits, character and personality which become visible when articulated via narrative forms and storytelling mechanisms of myth, metaphor and fable. The findings suggest that our perception of entrepreneurs may owe more to narrative convention than to the lived experience of entrepreneurs. The review of academic literature, novels (fiction), biographies, autobiographies, newspaper articles, and a semiotic analysis of images and photographs associated with the entrepreneur found that although entrepreneurs are eulogised, not all practice moral entrepreneurship - thus signalling the many forms and functions of entrepreneurship, including the immoral, amoral and criminal. In identifying a universal storybook formula the thesis shows how entrepreneurial practice is influenced by heroic stereotyping and how entrepreneurship can be understood as a communicational construct; a living, evolving narrative; and enacted story. This formula spans different media with a consistency of themes and elements which demonstrates its socially constructed nature. The multi-methodology allows one to develop deeper understanding. The contribution of this thesis is the exploration of the philosophical, ideological and epistemological issues underpinning the ontology of entrepreneurship. This thesis by adapting a process of deconstructionism, analysis and reconstruction contributes by adopting a holistic approach uniting the constructionist and Verstehen' approaches as a heuristic tool through which to achieve a greater understanding of entrepreneurship as a socio-behavioural process. Moreover it considers entrepreneurial narrative as socially mediated behavioural scripts constructed from a wide range of inter-disciplinary knowledge best understood when assembled and read as a process. In taking cognisance of the individual entrepreneur as a person and in then examining psychological, sociological, demographic and linguistic factors affecting the application of entrepreneurship, the thesis maps entrepreneurial process as socially constructed. Mapping how social constructionism shapes perception necessitates looking at the practices and processes which constitute it as a socially negotiated interaction. This thesis extends knowledge of how social constructions are formed and perpetuated in society and displays originality by focusing on how social construction impact on the entrepreneurial process. The entrepreneur is often encountered in a literary format as a heroic male personage. Masculine ideology, rhetoric, mythology, and doxa reinforce this message marginalising female entrepreneurs with whom the construction may not resonate. Entrepreneurs are presented as 'likeable rogues' a perception reinforced by a semiotic pictorial format of 'bad boys' embedded in images of masculinity, class and criminality. This thesis bridges many theoretical approaches to entrepreneurship by using narrative and communication techniques to reveal how academic conceptualisations adhere to but differ from more popular concepts. The research develops a practical narrative based theory of entrepreneurship. This study presents the socially constructed nature of entrepreneurial knowledge and process in a way not done before. However, its most substantial contribution is that it takes the notion of entrepreneurial narrative, discourse, and constructions to a new level in taking cognisance of the plethora of plots, sub-plots and storylines which constitute the socially constructed narrative that is entrepreneurship

A Systematic Review of Mechatronic-based Projects in Introductory Engineering and Technology Courses

For well over two decades, engineering and technology educators have been deploying hands-on project-based learning activities in freshmen courses, in the hopes of inspiring students,increasing retention, and creating better educated graduates. Some of these educators have also been reporting the results of their efforts through papers published and/or presented in a widevariety of settings. In an attempt to understand the broad results of these efforts, this paper discusses the effects of mechatronic-based projects on the retention of engineering and technology students. To facilitate this discussion, we conducted a systematic review of well over 120 related sources of literature spanning the years from 1990 to 2014. This effort constituted a configurative review and allowed us to construct a methodically mapped landscape of the topicby applying a code or codes to each source. We will present the results of this effort, including abulations of the works that allow identification of the trends and gaps in the literature specific to the categories of Course Level, Content Delivery Method, Retention, Investment Level/Duration, Improvement Process, and Pedagogy. We will discuss our categorization strategies, and present conclusions about the efficacy of these approaches and the areas that appear most fruitful for additional research. In so doing, we hope to lay a strong foundation for future efforts towards improving the education of freshman technology students at a large land-grand, research-based university in the United States

See me, feel me, touch me, heal me: working with affect, emotion, and creation of transformative energies as a feminist curatorial practice

This research presents the gap contemporary curatorial discourses have in terms of feminist theory and work, as well as the gap principal contemporary discourses on feminisms and curating have in terms of discursive curatorial practices and independent curatorship. I argue, that the current discussions on feminisms and curating are narrowed down by governing art historical approaches, in which focus remains on representation instead of curatorial practice. Focusing primarily on exhibitions presenting art by feminist and/or women artists, the critique remains in the ways exhibitions are framed in terms of art historical narratives within museum institutions. The paradigm of feminist curating needs to be shifted to the realm of the curatorial, in order to extend the discussion to discursive feminist curatorial practices and the actual potential of feminist curatorial work with art. Within the curatorial, curating is seen beyond exhibition-making as a discursive practice with art, artists, spaces and audiences. Drawing from curatorial theory, affect theory, and feminist new materialist theory, I present a model for a feminist curatorial practice based on a process of thinking with art, and aiming at creating transformative energies through affective encounters with artworks. The practice relies on the political potential of affect, and engages the notion of affective transformation as an essential part of feminist work with contemporary art. Curating is discussed in relation to independent curatorhip, with reflection on my own practice. I analyse current discourses in the fields of contemporary curating, and curating and feminist thought, and present current views on feminist affect and new materialist theory. I discuss the topics through reflection on selected artistic and curatorial practices, exhibition projects, and two group exhibitions I have curated during the research process

Music Expectation by Cognitive Rule-Mapping

Iterative rules appear everywhere in music cognition, creating strong expectations. Consequently, denial of rule projection becomes an important compositional strategy, generating numerous possibilities for musical affect. Other rules enter the musical aesthetic through reflexive game playing. Still other kinds are completely constructivist in nature and may be uncongenial to cognition, requiring much training to be recognized, if at all. Cognitive rules are frequently found in contexts of varied repetition (AA), but they are not necessarily bounded by stylistic similarity. Indeed, rules may be especially relevant in the processing of unfamiliar contexts (AB), where only abstract coding is available. There are many kinds of deduction in music cognition. Typical examples include melodic sequence, partial melodic sequence, and alternating melodic sequence (which produces streaming). These types may coexist in the musical fabric, involving the invocation of both simultaneous and nested rules. Intervallic expansion and reduction in melody also involve higherorder abstractions. Various mirrored forms in music entail rule-mapping as well, although these may be more difficult to perceive than their analogous visual symmetries. Listeners can likewise deduce additivity and subtractivity at work in harmony, tempo, texture, pace, and dynamics. Rhythmic augmentation and diminution, by contrast, rely on multiplication and division. The examples suggest numerous hypotheses for experimental research

Imagining alternative and better worlds:Isabel Fletcher talks with Adele E. Clarke

In this interview, Adele Clarke and Isabel Fletcher discuss the different routes that led Clarke to science and technology studies (STS), the field’s increasing engagement with biomedical topics, and her perspectives on its character today. Clarke describes how women’s health activism and teaching feminist critiques of bioscience/biomedicine led her to participate in academic networks now known as feminist STS and trans-national reproduction studies. She reflects on the importance of inter-/trans-disciplinary collaboration in her work, but also raises concerns that the rapid expansion of the field has resulted in inadequate training for newcomers in the “theory-method packages” of STS, and hence poor quality scholarship. For her, the future of STS lies in approaches analyzing the complex intersections between technoscience, gender, race, (post)coloniality, and indigenous knowledges, and in its expansion beyond Europe and North America, to Asia, Central and South America, and Africa. In her following reflection, Isabel Fletcher considers the importance of inter/trans-disciplinarity for STS and highlights the role a politically engaged STS can play in imagining alternative and better worlds

Towards a realist social constructionism

Towards a realist social constructionism Social constructionism has often been seen as incompatible with realist approaches to the socialworld. This paper argues that critical realism is thoroughly compatible with moderate versions of social constructionism and indeed provides stronger ontological backing for it than the anti-realist approaches that are often associated with more extreme versions of social constructionism. The paper illustrates the argument by offering a realist account of how discourse may underpin processes of social construction. This is then applied to the case of the subject, an application that is framed as a critique of Judith Butler's performative account of the subject

Process improvement in the Greek public agencies

The purpose of this research is to explore process improvement in the Greek public agencies. This research is of particular interest because the Greek public sector context has some unique characteristics compared to the public sector of other countries. Firstly, the use of BPR, as a process improvement method to achieve cost reduction and efficiency increase, is politically enforced. This means that it may not be an appropriate process improvement method for the Greek public sector. Secondly, the changes that are taking place in the Greek public sector due to the Troika support mechanism may have an impact on process improvement in the Greek public agencies. These characteristics pave the way for exploring process improvement in the Greek public agencies. The abovementioned characteristics influenced the current research as follows. Given that the research started in January 2009, Document 1 was a research proposal about developing a BPR method for the needs of the Greek public agencies. This idea originated from the fact that Greek Public Administration had announced in 2007 Request for Proposals during the 4th CSF for reengineering its processes and services using BPR method. Greece signed on 6th May 2010 the agreement with Troika in order to fund its liabilities for the period 2010 – 2014

Towards a realist social constructionism

Social constructionism has often been seen as incompatible with realist approaches to the social world. This paper argues that critical realism is thoroughly compatible with moderate versions of social constructionism and indeed provides stronger ontological backing for it than the anti-realist approaches that are often associated with more extreme versions of social constructionism. The paper illustrates the argument by offering a realist account of how discourse may underpin processes of social construction. This is then applied to the case of the subject, an application that is framed as a critique of Judith Butler’s performative account of the subject.O construtivismo social tem sido muitas vezes visto como incompatível com abordagens realistas do mundo social. Este artigo defende que o realismo crítico é totalmente compatível com versões moderadas do construtivismo social e que, de facto, lhe fornece maior suporte ontológico do que as abordagens antirrealistas, frequentemente associadas a versões mais extremas do construtivismo social. O artigo demonstra esta teoria oferecendo uma descrição realista de como o discurso pode sustentar processos de construção social. Este argumento é, assim, aplicado ao caso do sujeito, numa proposta enquadrada como crítica da descrição performativa do sujeito de Judith Butler.Le constructivisme social a souvent été vu comme incompatible avec les approches réalistes du monde social. Cet article soutient que le réalisme critique est totalement compatible avec des versions modérées du constructivisme social et que, en fait, il lui apporte un plus grand support ontologique que les approches antiréalistes, souvent associées aux versions plus extrêmes du constructivisme social. L’article démontre cette théorie en proposant une description réaliste de la façon dont le discours peut soutenir des processus de construction sociale. Cet argument est ainsi appliqué au cas du sujet, selon une proposition encadrée en tant que critique de la description performative du sujet, de Judith Butler. El constructivismo social ha sido visto muchas veces como incompatible con abordajes realistas del mundo social. Este artículo defiende que el realismo crítico es totalmente compatible con versiones moderadas del constructivismo social y que de hecho le otorga mayor soporte ontológico que los abordajes anti-realistas, frecuentemente asociadas a versiones más extremas del constructivismo social. El artículo demuestra esta teoría ofreciendo una descripción realista de como el discurso puede sostener procesos de construcción social. Este argumento es, así, aplicado al caso del sujeto, en una propuesta encuadrada como crítica de la descripción del performance del sujeto, de Judith Butler